TheRaDiKaL: When did you arrive @ UF & what are some of the first campus organizations you got involved with.
Frank Bracco: When did you arrive @ UF & what are some of the first campus organizations you got involved with. I arrived at UF in Fall 2006 and focused largely on my classes, work, and running (I was training for a half marathon at the time). I did attend two organizations regularly - but I will refrain from mentioning their names. I also tried to get involved with the Swamp Party during the Fall. After not being slated (LJ lived in Graham at the time), I was told by Josh Weiss and Kevin Reilly to attend the party meeting after the SoE's mandatory meeting. I sat in the back of the Swamp Party's meeting but during the roll call Kevin Reilly, Mike Patrone, and Josh Weiss did not recognize me from when we spoke earlier and sent Lauren Asher back to "remove me" from the room (note it was Reitz Union meeting room). I sill thought I would have an opportunity to get involved, so I stopped by the table a couple times and asked if I could volunteer but the response I always received was, "we would get you in touch with your candidate". Since that incident I have been attending Senate to figure out why some people are excluded and others are not.
TheRaDiKaL: Initially what first drew you to the Pants Party and what kind of a Student Body President do you think Bruce Haupt would have made?
Frank Bracco: Initially what first drew you to the Pants Party and what kind of a Student Body President do you think Bruce Haupt would have made? During Fall 2006, I remember Bruce standing out in Turlington everyday campaigning and interacting with regular students. Looking at Swamp during that time, I did not see any of their "leadership" out on the campaign trail being as active as Bruce. When the Spring Elections arrived, I originally was going to volunteer just to help with Pants but David, Bruce, and Jordan invited me to hang out during the slating process to learn more about the party. From there everything just sort of clicked and I ended up slating.
Bruce Haupt is an amazing guy! I am not sure Bruce would have enjoyed being Student Body President, but I know tons of people would have enjoyed watching him attempt to change Student Government. The big thing about Bruce is he always seems to prosper when interacting with people and he comes across as a down-to-earth, average guy. His attitude allows people to loosen up when they interact with him and the connection seems genuine.
TheRaDiKaL: When you decided to apply for Chomp The Vote, what were your thoughts going into the application process and then once hired? Did you feel you'd get a fair shake and how did everything play out?
Frank Bracco: When I applied to Chomp the Vote, I was actually surprised I received an interview. At the time I applied for both External Affairs Director and Chomp the Vote Director; both times Mr. Moseley was there to greet me as I arrived to the office and gave me a "good luck" speech as we walked to the conference room. I got to know Mr. Moseley during the Spring campaign; for some reason we always seemed to be campaigning in the same place (my one Pants Pole to Mr. Moseley and his two or three volunteers). Later on that Spring, Tyler Antar and I had a meeting with Mr. Moseley to talk about what he would expect from a Chomp the Vote Director during his time as Student Body President. At the time, Tyler Antar was the acting CTV Director thanks to a nod from Jason Lutin.
In the end, there were some pretty notable candidates that passed over, especially Tyler. I do, however, feel like the process worked pretty well and I did get a fair shake. When I was confirmed I tried to reach out to all of the individuals that applied but none of them really didn't seem interested, so Tyler and I put together a Chomp the Vote team the best way we knew how and ran with it.
TheRaDiKaL: In your opinion, how did CTV evolve from its inception under Jared Hernandez to your term. Could you give us some stats &
figures, some idea of what you accomplished?
Frank Bracco: I do not necessarily want to offend anyone, but my understanding (and from the numbers I have seen) tend to indicate CTV had a large number of volunteers and IFC support; in fact, I believe IFC even donated the money for the Chomp the Vote shirts at the time. All the evidence I have seen also shows that Jared's CTV registered somewhere between 3000 and 4000 individuals with other organizations (voluntarily or forcibly under the umbrella of Chomp the Vote) providing another 4000 or so. I think the most notable example the numbers game is when Michael Moore came to town: approximately 1,000 students registered that day with "Chomp the Vote". In reality, 1,000 students registered at the event, of that approximately 500 were with College Republicans.
That being said, Jared's Chomp the Vote was extremely visible and included commercials, radio ads, and, of course, the failed limo service. Jared legitimately wanted to carry Chomp the Vote forward for future Gators but it failed for the next two years. When Tyler resurrected Chomp the Vote, and I took it over in the Spring/Summer of 2007, we couldn't find a student in SG that had been involved with Chomp the Vote to help us craft our approach. We decided to take a more grassroots approach and pounded the pavement as many school days as possible. In the end we registered approximately 2,400 students for an election most students did not care about because they believed their vote would not matter. We also held several events, attended a great deal of organizational meetings, and even begun to make inroads into the Greek Community. We also promoted the local elections, which was really one of the main vision's Jared and Jess Johnson had with Chomp the Vote.
Was the Chomp the Vote team successful during the Moseley Administration? I guess I will leave that up to the reader to decide. When I was confirmed, many people stated (on this blog and elsewhere) that this would be an election no one would care about and they would be surprised if we could break 500 registrations. I believe our team went above and beyond the expectations concerning registrations, and we also did some amazing education and mobilization work for a team whose core membership was half-a-dozen or so at any given point in time. Arguably, Chomp the Vote was one of the most successful non-partisan voter registration, education, and mobilization efforts outside of California during the primary season at a university. Tyler and I also did plenty of interviews with students, local and regional newspapers, public interest groups, other universities, national think tanks, and even a national radio talk show (Hannity: "Chomp the Vote is liberal group heading up the Don't Tase Me Bro' protests on the UF campus!", thanks Tyler). I believe the true success of Chomp the Vote is measured by the fact random students still recognize Tyler, myself, and other members of the Chomp the Vote team and regularly ask us about voter registration. Ultimately, we may have not reached all of the grandiose ideas Tyler, Alan Rezaei, Mr. Moseley, and myself had for Chomp the Vote but I would give our efforts a solid B+ and we were definitely the one of the most productive team inside Student Government at the time (although I might be a little bias).
TheRaDiKaL: Who are some of the people that actually worked for you directly and/or behind the scenes to make Chomp The Vote as successful as it was during your years? And how much leeway were you given as director insofar as funding, programming, and staffing for your agency?
Frank Bracco: With Chomp the Vote, Tyler, Alan Rezaei, Ben Cavataro, Rilwan, and myself were the 'core team' (putting in a couple days a week). There was also a 'secondary team' which was usually the CTV Directors (like Brett Roth) that I would see or hear from once a week or so. Finally, there was a couple dozen other people that came out at random points during the semester to offer an hour or two. Under President Moseley, I had nearly free reign on the programming and staffing of Chomp the Vote. The financial aspect was a slightly different story.
Chomp the Vote was created by an "executive order" under Jamal and was never codified. I refer to this has Ryan Day's folly: everyone thought it was codified but Chomp the Vote was really functioning as a "shadow agency". In fact, the position of Chomp the Vote Director was even made exclusionary by a certain Senate President before the position was even defined elsewhere in statutes. Financially, this meant I really had no legal say whatsoever. Realistically, Chomp the Vote was actually budgeted through the local lobby line. I presented David Drescher with a budget in the summer and it was my responsibility to make sure Drescher signed off on everything before I asked Ms. Sandy to file an SAR for me. President Moseley and David took a hands-off approach and let the Chomp the Vote team do whatever it pleased (within limits of course).
TheRaDiKaL: Will you admit publicly that once you were hired that you may have been ordered, or perhaps advised, to tone down your involvement with TheRadikal.com? And if so, by whom?
Frank Bracco: Sure, this is something I would like to set the record straight on. I have always been pretty active on the blogs but when appointed to the Chomp the Vote Executive Directorship, I thought it would be inappropriate for me to comment on items unrelated to Chomp the Vote. I brought my concerns up with David and Mr. Moseley and they both agreed with me on this matter. I was not ordered from taking part in The Radikal's lovely conversations. In fact, Mr. Moseley encouraged me to use The Radikal if anything relating to Chomp the Vote came up.
TheRaDiKaL: Our nation is in the midst of a foreclosure-nightmare, unemployment is up, there's a weak dollar, there's global warming, wars on two fronts, and over 150 banks including Indymac, Washington Mutual, and Wachovia have all gone under. In an election in that may redefine, even possibly save America...how do you assess Executive Director Brett Roth's job performance in Chomp The Vote? Using your tenure as the litmus test.
Frank Bracco: Bracco left this one BLANK; refused to respond upon follow-up.
TheRaDiKaL: What do you think weighed more in Roth's hire - the fact he hails from a house rumored to be on the fence for Spring 2009 or the fact he's totally inexperienced and quite possibly useless to the organization? Any chance this agency will ever get phased out?
Frank Bracco: Chomp the Vote only became an agency under the Moseley Administration and I can definitely see it being phased it if another string of failures occurs (a la Hannah Hillman style). I cannot say why the Executive Committee decided to appoint Brett Roth, but I can say Tyler Antar did not get a fair shake. Unfortunately some individuals on the Executive Committee, believing they understood the background of Chomp the Vote, refused to even acknowledge Tyler Antar as the person to resurrect Chomp the Vote. All these individuals had to do was speak with Mr. Moseley or Jason Lutin to learn the role Tyler Antar played in Chomp the Vote.
TheRaDiKaL: Please tell us what it was like to run for Vice President under the Orange & Blue Party? How does Tommy Jardon compare to
Bruce Haupt, both in your experiences on the campaign trail and as potential leaders of the UF-SG?
Frank Bracco: Very good question! Running as Vice President was perhaps one of the best experiences I have had at the university. Being an executive candidate allowed me to meet so many students and hear some many ideas concerning how the university and Student Government should function. It is amazing how many people actually have opinions on SG and the how the university works but refuse to exercise their power at the ballot box.
During the Orange and Blue run, I did not have as much interaction with Tommy as I had with Bruce during Pants. I think that just generally had to do with us having different schedules. In my mind, Tommy has always come across as more of a partisan leader to me (someone that will be the head of the Florida GOP in the future) whereas Bruce is more of your "everyman" guy (your hype man). Both Bruce and Tommy can do the groundwork and both are extremely intelligent and able to do the planning but they approach their allocation of time differently. My impression is Tommy is more of planner and strategist while Bruce is more a "people person". As Student Body President, Tommy would have been someone that put pressure on the administration to listen to the students while Bruce would spent more time interacting with the average student.
TheRaDiKaL: Do you believe enough women hold influence and/or any real leadership posts in today's Independent movement? Do you consider Orange & Blue to be as Independent as say, the Pants Party?
Frank Bracco: During Pants,we did have some female candidates and everyone had input into the party's strategy. Those in truly leadership positions included Liz and Eve. While I cannot say for certain how the Gator Party functioned, I do believe that our female candidates had more influence than their female candidates. The Orange and Blue Party has definitely allowed more ladies to get involved in Student Government and hopefully we will see an increase in active, independent thinking Senators after the Fall Elections.
Do I consider Orange and Blue as Independent as Pants? O&B has a completely different energy and has reached more members of the student body. If you consider the amount of students reached as a measure of success, Orange and Blue is creating a whole new level of success for independent parties.
the following scenarios:
O&B Sweep of District D: Seats in District D have only been won twice by an independent party. If memory serves me correctly, they were parties that had house support as well. I could see us cherry-picking some seats off in D; this is one of the districts I have money on.
O&B Landslide @ Hume: Unlike my comrades, I believe Hume isgoing to be very close. Mark and I have a wager going on what the results of Hume will be.
O&B remains united in Spring '09: I don't know why it would not be.
O&B factions off in two: Somehow I doubt this would happen. Keep your eye on Gator though!
Gator Back Johnson '09: Two months ago I would have told you Jordan was a lock; today my response would be there doesn't appear to be any other viable candidate. I have heard from individuals in Greek Life, SG, and FBK that Spring should be very interesting so I guess we will just have to see how it plays out.
Mark McShera: Potential new leader of the Independent movement
once the Action/Pants generation graduates.
Shea Parrish: Wish we could have gotten her more involved, but
Shea is pretty busy elsewhere on campus.
Tommy Jardon: Oh boy, how do I respond? An unpredictable genius that talks with his hands, haha; for all the disagreements we have, I respect Tommy more than the vast amount of individuals I have met through SG.
Pedro Morales: Pedro, Cecilia, Jordan McBee, Justin Bell, and
Brittany McCants were all part of the "moderate block" that taught me about Student Government. Good people!
Gavin Baker: My big experience with Gavin was his call into the jazz show I host; he won some tickets.
Ryan Nelson: Wish he could have finished his good-bye speech.
Kim Cruts: Very energetic individual, although scary when she is mad (I know from experience).
Ryan Day: y experience with Day has been different than most.
Day always came across as a straight shooter with me. No matter as much as I was told to dislike him, he always did right by me personally; I even got him a graduation card.
Cain Norris: Needs to work on his ground game, haha.
(Thanks for deleting from Facebook -- you're a born leader!)
Kyle Huey: The hardest working man of the Spring 2008 Election
Season.
Eric Wolf: Has always been good to me even when we haven't seen eye-to-eye.
Glenda: Always willing to help me out, even listens to me on the radio sometimes :-).
Sandy: Most helpful individual when I was Chomp the Vote
Director.
Stan: Stan's the Man! The other independents really need to give Stan a chance, he is a straight-shooter with the institutional knowledge to back it up. I got to know Stan more for his work with non-profits outside of SG because I serve on the city's Community Development Advisory Board.
Sam Miorelli: Misunderstood and a hard worker. Derserved more in ACCENT, because he got passed over he became the bitter Sam we all "know and love". His brother, Sunshine Sam, is way cooler :lol:.
Jordan Johnson: Someone to watch for the Spring.
Naadira Renfroe: I have not had many interactions with her.
Jordan Loh: Sincere but sometimes too moderate; a good guy to me.
John McCain: Good personality but I do not agree with his
stances.
Barack Obama: Still do not understand his platform.
Ralph Nader: More power to ya' - keep those unsafe cars (and
politicos) off the roads!
Bob Barr: Odd choice for the ticket but polling well in some states.
56 comments:
Oh man, you didn't use the Alligator cartoon of me :tear:.
What can I say, I am a pretty PC guy. If anyone has any legit questions, chances are I will respond to them.
Frank is an upstanding and gracious man. He's too good of a guy to say so but Tommy has never been anything but a monstrous piece of shit towards him, most especially when they were on the exec ticket together.
I read that Roth's CTV registered over 1000 students on the last day, they did that without paying 50k Michael Moore.
"In the end we registered approximately 2,400"
Frank had over 9 months, This semester CTV registered over 3,000 in 1/3 the time.
Fail Frank, Total Fail!
Under frank CTV had begun to make inroads into the Greek Community?
Wasn't Roth his Greek Affairs Director?
Tommy as leader of the Florida GOP, yeah maybe when he starts liking girls that might happen.
In Frank's defense...this was only the most important election since the Civil Rights & anti-war movements, culminating in the '68 election.
Registrations during huge years compared to registrations during off-years is hardly fair.
Roth didn't register 1000 people on the last day, the Roth CTV registered 1200 people in total.
Fail, epic fail! Even the Republicans registered more than that
Anon. 1:27PM: We registered 2400 from the first day of school to the end of the Fall Semester. That isn't 9 months, it is less than 3 ½ months. In fact we had over 1,000 in the first month alone. We also registered people over the summer (Summer 2007) and during the Spring as well. It is unfortunate we did not register more, but it was a primary everyone said would not matter. On the flip side, we were one of the most successful college registration programs during the primaries (outside of California).
Secondly, CTV is more than registration: it is Student Government's non-partisan voter registration, education, and mobilization program. We were at an organizational meetings at least twice a week, we started getting into the Greek Houses, we starting getting in the resident halls, and we held some of Student Government's largest events (outside of ACCENT and SGP).
So, were there things myself and the team could have done better. Of course! Hindsight is 20/20, but national press coverage and one of the largest on-campus turnouts in recent history for an election most people believed did not matter shows that we did some things right.
Finally, Staff at the Supervisor of Elections as informed me what Chomp the Vote's actuals actual numbers were this year and it isn't what you think they are. I encourage you to do some investigating. I also encourage you to look into the number of programming permits filed by Chomp the Vote this semester and the number of times CTV was mentioned in the Alligator and other press sources in the region.
Roth didn't register 3,000. Call the Alachua County Supervisor of Elections Office, the number they'll give you is around 1,000. Roth is just making shit up (just like the rest of these worthless pieces of shit in SG)
I know that John Clayton Brett gets obsessed about on here...but since Bracco was part of the Moseley admin, wouldn't JCB have had to pick him too?
What's the story behind that? Is this another testament to his genius or a folly that ended up helping the O&B party?
That wasn't a JCB pick, it was a choice of last resort. Trivia question: who can name the other candidates? There were three others in contention.
There were more than three: Frank Bracco, Justin Bell, Tommy Jardon, Tyler Antar, Josh Simmons, and some other random frat dude. That makes six
What's with Frank's FBK membership drive on facebook? Chances of him getting it? I say 10%
10%? Wow.
Agency director, worked for an FBK-backed regime, like James Argento (doesn't have a bad word to say about anyone), got milked by Moseley when his administration was literally dying for good PR; didn't trash Roth when everyone expected him to...
Only 10%? Wow.
Ran with an indie party, shit-talked the other candidates tactlessly in debates and stole private documents?
It isn't even 10%. He's not getting it.
And I didn't ask how many people applied, 6:25, I asked which three other than Bracco were in contention. JCB didn't make that call, it wasn't worth his time.
8:15 am is definitely Kim Cruts or Ryan Day.
And JCB used to brag about the Bracco pick...so somebody is wrong here.
Christian, be a good journalist and get after this one - you might find something sexy...
If Leslie can get it, anybody can.
Christian, isn't Frank a turncoat now? According to his Facebook group, this is his second time applying to FBK!
Frank told me he believes his chances are at zero. He likely created the group out of desperation. I guess he thinks poeple like Reilly and Goldberger will keep him out. It's too bad, he has people on the exec board that respect him. His loss, I will enjoy torturing him at the FBK reception.
CTV was non existent on campus this semester. Instead of actively registering voters, Roth prefered to delegate that duty to Student Vote.org. What a lazy ass
Frank has been in the gray area since he accepted the CTV position. However, he's proven himself 10x as much as his system-suited colleagues.
I just think 10% is a pretty shameless low-balling of a guy that we all know had strong backing from Ryan Moseley. There was a time when Moseley had nothing going right...and then Bracco & CTV became Alligator-sweethearts --- and who was front & center, ready to take credit?
Ryan and his little PR-pet, Kim Cruts.
Thing is, one person can't get Frank in FBK when there are many more who will enjoy blackballing him. Maybe Moseley could use some of his clout to get Bracco in, but honestly, do you think Moseley is likely to waste the reputation and power he does have on a guy that's demonstrated he doesn't fall in line and ran against Reilly?
He had a chance, but decided to run with O&B.
11:33 AM, Your head must be up your ass. Frank never said a foul word about any of the systems candidates. Frank and Kevin were 'friends' because of Agrusa, Yooni was Moseley's Chief of Staff, and Paul was liked by everyone at the time. The only person more diluted than you is Frank. He was used by the system to make it look like SG included a diverse group of students and was dumped immediately after Moseley left.
I just heard Frank on the radio. he sounds funny when i um drunk. i shold call in and bother him
I'm sorry. I just have to say something I thought was funny in the interview. Sam Miorelli deserved more in ACCENT? HA!!! He was a Director of A/V Tech for ONE semester and thought he was qualified to be chairman?
He didn't even do a good job for that one semester.
You should get a Day Q&A, it would be interesting to compare with JCB (not that either would agree to it)
My eyes are fried from studying; six hours today and no where near done. :(
I never said Sam was qualified for Chairperson when he applied to ACCENT last year, but he didn't even get offered staff position. That was what made Sam the ol', bitter Sam.
As far as running opposite Gator Party: if that automatically disqaulifies me from FBK then so be it. Democracy is about choices, you cannot offer the students a choice if there is no alternative. I would much rather give the students a choice for something that can actually impact us all rather than roll over and play dead. In truth, me running against Kevin and Co. actually gave SG credibility.
What Kevin won't tell you is we spent a lot of time talking when Mr. Agrusa was deciding whether to run for office. One of the big topics we talked about was what would increase voter turnout. At that point in time it was VERY LIKELY that there would not be an opposition party in the Spring. Everyone knew that no opposition would result in the students completely writing off SG for the next couple of years. It is bad enough students don't care about SG now, but having no competition would have brought turnout to 2500-3000. The students and the Administration barely respect SG now, imagine what would happen if turnout is that low. So I made a choice: if offered an Exec Ticket position, I would take it because 1) the students would have a legitimate choice (and therefore at least keept SG on their radar), 2) I had some great ideas about how to make SG more efficient, and 3) I felt would be the best person for the job at that point in time.
note from previous comment: 10:52 AM, are we talking about the same time periods? I was talking about Fall 2007 when ACCENT was under Blank. Sam applied for VC and a Directorship if I am not mistaken. He didn't even get offered a staff position. Result: Big, bad, Sunshine Sam!
So since Frank seems to think I'm "bitter" about ACCENT and the talking keyboards seem to have their facts straight, I figure I'll explain once again my involvement in ACCENT and how it helped transition me from a relegated indie flyer boy into an ideological leader:
I was the Director of AV/Tech in ACCENT for 3 semesters in a row, being named Best Director one of those semesters. I was regularly promised by first Evan, then "Brownie" (as well as then-nobodies like MGB) that my lack of AEPi affiliation would not hinder my ability to rise within the organization as I continued to serve. I applied for VC of Productions my third semester in ACCENT and was assigned the Director post a third time in favor of an AEPi. Remember: at this time I wasn't that involved in indie politics being ignored in Unite and blackballed from exec in ACTION by Grove. The VC slight hurt, but I kept working and the deliverables I produced were raved about by the agents we sent them to after the shows. I used my own equipment to make them since ACCENT was too cheap (despite a long memo to Evan that was resubmitted to Brownie) to buy proper computer or video equipment to do the contractually-obligated job.
After 3 semesters involved in ACCENT, believing that you should either move up or move out in an organization, and tired of being passed over for less-qualified AEPi's, I applied a fourth time and made it clear that I had done all I could do at the Director position and believed my resume and my history of doing more office hours, flyering, and show work than required made me the best of the two applicants for VC Productions that semester. I was obviously denied that (told in fact by other AEPi's in ACCENT that I should've known better than to even apply for it) and further not even offered any other position in the agency.
I'm not bitter about it, I knew what I was getting into by the time I'd done it for one semester. But that being said, I know the agency well and the people involved in it and I don't accept the smoke they blow on failed shows and I'm not afraid to use my story to personalize and explain just how damaging the legacy position system is to the integrity of our SG. My experience in ACCENT didn't make me decide that the indies were right about Gator/Swamp; I knew that on my own. My experience in ACCENT convinced me to write the checks and put in the hours trying to defeat them.
JCB has never accomplished anything.
Frank, I am probably more qualified than Sam to be in ACCENT and even I didnt get a position, yet I'm not bitching about it. Sometimes you just have to realize that there are more qualified people out there than you.
If Sam's big ego can't take that fact, that is his problem. He shouldn't turn it into anything more than that.
When Sam was in ACCENT the only person doing more work than him was the Chair and even that might be debatable.
ACCENT and SGP are both cancerous sores on this campus. They are mismanaged to the point of shameful.
Frank,
Do you really think you have a shot at FBK? Is there anyone you're close with that can give you a straight answer? Do you have any serious connections?
Frank is closer to people in FBK than you think but not enough for anyone to risk someone in their house for him.
I'll give you that one...SGP needs work.
On the other hand, ACCENT couldnt be run any better than it is. It provides an extraordinary service to the students and other sg funded groups.
I was in ACCENT with Sam. He did at MOST the bare minimum of what his job entailed. Trust me, if he is telling you he put in time, he is lying.
Sam is such a failure of a politician. That comment shows the entitlement and pretense that dominates everything he says. Running against him this spring is going to be too easy.
Anon 6:51 PM: Feel free to Facebook message me or e-mail me and we can go out to lunch and talk about all things SG and FBK. I am a pretty open person, so you can get my thoughts on anything that your heart desires.
6:51...
Answer: No.
2:43 PM:
Dude...where do you buy your pot?
Everybody knows that Sam is going to Levin for his law degree, and when McShera is elected Student Body President, Sam will get to run ACCENT.
2:43 PM is Marc Adler or Peter Allende. Clearly
DICKTOR FOR PRESIDENT.
FBK is coordinating a hit on Frank Bracco. The final vote total will 11-111, the same vote total received by Nina DeJong. A former President, Andy Comiter, will con him - just as Peter Allende conned Nina.
This ritual is reserved by Blue Key to make a strong and clear statement to the unsuccessful applicant.
Several people saw McShera out with Jordan Johnson last night in midtown. Looks like we may we looking at some sort of hybrid ticket.
Wait a second, did Sam call himself an ideological leader? Wow.
What is Frank doing after graduation?
Word on the street is that the online voting lawsuit is about to get dismissed. Big hit to Sam and Tommy's cred IMO.
You do all know that Frank actually doesn't think he is getting in to Blue Key right? The fact that you all are paying so much attention to his application likely inflating his ego to the size of Sam's.
Anon 14:42 PM: Thanks for the vote of confidence that I will even be found qualified to be put up for a vote.
Some thoughts on 12:42's comment:
I agree with your point about making a statement, particularly with regard to keeping people in line -- party line that is. On the other hand, while it is making a statement to the "unsuccessful applicant to Florida Blue Key," does this statement make any difference generally?
What I mean is that a leadership honorary is judged on the quality of its membership; do they exhibit leadership? My question: Is FBK even relevant in this respect anymore?
I'm biased, but my analysis is no. There are plenty of people who don't get into FBK (as well as some who do) who are very successful because of the work they do. It's not their "majors" or their "ins" politically. Leadership is about making some positive difference in whatever sphere of the world you're in. It's not gaining some artificial title or authority.
I would challenge any FBK aspirant to look at who's getting into FBK each tapping class. Are these really UF's top leaders? I may be wrong, but it seems that these are people that play the game. They're great at following the handful of honchos in FBK, but they don't lead. They do what they're supposed to, and hope they win the lottery and are chosen for the next position.
So, are they the best of the best at UF? More importantly, do law schools and employers think so? I'd say no. FBK, as a "leadership" honorary, just doesn't do honor to its founding principles.
Bruce
Disclosure: I applied to FBK in Fall 2006 after the Pants Party campaign, was highly recommended in the interview, and was rejected on the vote. I was never worried about FBK as a resume bullet; I thought of it as a fun networking tool and future football tailgate option. You can call me bitter or say that my own reasoning for joining were weird, but that's the truth of it. Seriously, UF does have other actual leadership honorariums.
Hey, if anyone is interested, starting next week I'm going to be posting HD videos of Senate and possibly some committee meetings at http://www.sg-span.org/. This past Wednesday's session is already up, but it was more of a test run and suffers from poor audio due to the cheapo HD camcorder I was trying out. (Pity it's crippled by audio quality, of all things. The video is great considering it was only $170...) I should have that worked out by Tuesday, one way or another.
Awesome job Graham, the IMAGE camera has pretty decent audio, but I cannot release the video since it is property of SG and as a volunteer (rather than someone with a position) I cannot make the call as to whether the video is part of the public record. I would, however, encourage you to file a records request if you are interested in recieving a copy of any of the meetings that have been recorded.
2:17: screw HD, we just need good audio quality.
Anon 12:42, I thought Comiter and Frank were friends? I could be wrong, but that's the impression Frank gives everyone.
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