Monday, December 30, 2013

Old Image of the Green Door






You don't really know the Green Door until you've been there during the off season, or even an off day. 4pm on a Monday and everyone is watching NCIS. Random Saturdays in the summer with drunk college staff members. The drunken experience that is the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

Never gonna forget u, favorite bar ever.

Friday, December 27, 2013

USA USA USA





very confused about this right now

why is the SMCM Seahawk looking like an America (USA #1) flag ???

what is the message here ???

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Winter Break

wow winter break

r u excited 2 b back home?

seeing the family

talking about the usual stuff

  • whats your major (malfunction hahah 1987 film Full Metal Jacket reference)
  • r u dating anyone (yall gettin some ???)
  • lookin 4 jobs? (hellz no)
maybe ur workin/twerkin a lil'. working the retail (GAP) or working at your parent's office (AKA gettin paid to facebook~)

gonna head to local bars, run into kids from high school, feel good/bad about yourself

gotta hit up that old drug dealer, hope he is still 'legit'

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Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Students Against Budget Cuts to the Arts

I mean, Students FOR The Arts

(always make your cause about a positive rather than a negative. point out what people SHOULD be doing, not the incorrect behavior

New facebook group upset budget cuts wow exciting news~  (actually try to get into the group to take a look for yourself because they discussions they are having are pretty interesting. really interesting to examine how a group self-organizes and self-regulates, group conflict, evolution of leadership roles, etc. pretty cool if ur into 'anthropology)

Kinda hard to join now tho since they made it private (which kinda brings up issues of visibility and transparency but w/e #youdoyou)


So the group is mostly upset over budget cuts, specifically to the Music department, specifically changing Brian Ganz from Faculty & Artist in Residence to just Faculty



I don't even speak other languages, but I'm pretty sure that would translate to "Live the Ganz"... pretty sure it should just be "Viva Ganz"

Anyway here is their basic argument/platform
Here is some basic information about what is going on with the music department. If you have any information regarding the other arts departments please feel free to share. Thank you!

Basically, certain members of the current administration are looking to restructure the contracts of both Brian Ganz and Jose Cueto. As of now the college pays them to both teach and perform because they are our artists-in-residence. These budget cuts would mean cutting their artist-in-residence status, which means no more concerts and only paying them to teach private lessons. This would likely mean that it would be financially impossible for Jose and Brian to remain with us. Our aim is to fight against these budget cuts to preserve the jobs of two integral members of the St. Mary's Community. 

The worth of department is often discussed in terms of Full Time Enrollment or FTE. This basically means the number of credits each student produces. As you all know, the music department has many 1 credit classes as opposed to other departments which primarily offer 4 credit classes. This means that the number of credits produced by each student is not a fair way of assessing the amount of the student body that is involved in the music department. We actually serve as many people as other medium sized departments at the school.

Another argument that is frequently employed is that Maryland taxpayers should not have to pay the cost of private lessons, which are a large expense of the music department. However, music students pay $190 extra a semester for private lessons which partially covers the $490 a private instructor is payed per semester per student. In addition, music majors and minors often overload on credits because many ensembles are required for the major and minor, which means paying another fee to alleviate the cost of paying teachers. 

And finally, there's Brian, who is estimated to have brought in a substantial amount of money from donors. The Zamanakos family that funds the Double A Cabaret has donated between 500,000 to 1 million dollars mainly in music but also in history because they fell in love with Brian Ganz's performing. Anyone who has been to Brian's concerts will know that these experience encompass much more than a passive listening experience; they open new horizons for students and community members. Everyone has something to learn from watching such inspirational performances. 

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this in support of the music department! I hope we can make a difference.
So IDK I can see why they are upset but

Budget cuts need to happen. And every department is making them. And the school is letting the departments make their own cuts, because, obviously, they are the ones that know best what they can cut. So, the Music/Arts department has, more than likely, made the decision on their own.

But it will be interesting to see how this plays out. They also planned a protest but it got cancelled. I don't understand how a protest gets cancelled but w/e~

As Goodpastor said "But what do you think?" Leave your thoughts in the comments.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Campus Farm is Finally Self-Sustaining

According to terrorist news organization The Point News the campus farm is self-sustaining! Exciting stuff!

I was on SGA when we gave the farm money for its funding (which I think was downplayed in the article, the farm would have failed without SGA funding) and honestly did not believe it would ever be self-sustaining.

I am incredibly proud and impressed with all the hard work of the farm's coordinators and volunteers. Great job guys!!!

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

When Slovenians come to America

They like to take in the local culture and customs


Like riding the motorized scooter at Wal-Mart

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Heard a rumor that the new prez is tryna kill hallowgreens

can anyone
confirm
or
deny

????

Some things never change


Saturday, September 21, 2013

Sports Rock but NARP is a Mean Term




         Don’t be mean!!!!! People on this campus are supposed to be cool, *alt*, tree dwellers who spend their time being friendly and saying things like “Ask not what the St.Mary’s River can do for you, but what you can do to contribute to the St. Mary’s Arboretum Association.


         Athletics are important and team sports are an integral part of  growing up via Grow Up by Simple Plan. HOWEVER, those that do not participate in physical team activities should not be labeled as NARP’S aight? They may be non athletic and regular but who gives a flying hoot? Athletic people are regular too ya know. May I add that said NARP’S could be secretly badass lax players or have an amazing half court shot.


Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Wknd Observations


Okay. It’s hot as hell on campus. I mean hot as in the new 1st years (that does include the ones who simply refuse to remove their lanyards) and I mean the fact that it’s so friggin humid outside. Speaking of new people, fresh faces, and confused students who don’t understand where Margaret Brent Hall is, this weekend was weird. Yes, ill admit, it was just like any other weekend at SMCM where peeps get drunk, lose their phones in LQ, and sweat whilst roaming from the crescents to the greens. But it was weird in that I heard no drunken roasts of Jurgo which I thought I would.


ALSO, keep on keeping SMCM weird by leaving Keystone’s and Bud Light’s on the grass! Imagine if the “I’m Shmacked” producers wanted to make a movie of our college. Do you think they would want to see a big mess of miscellaneous alcohol on our beautiful, historically preserved campus? Okay maybe the answer to that question is yes, but whatever.

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Public Safety Gossip

Just learned that circa 2007/08 there was a PS officer who was hooking up with students and then got fired for it.

Thursday, September 5, 2013

New Structures in the Graveyard


IDK what these things are, but they look new and are kinda cute


Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Green Fire Hydrant


There are several green fire hydrants near Calvert on South Campus. It seems like a great way to troll firefighters since they are pretty hidden looking.

It's a good idea to place them near Calvert like this too, since Calvert never burned down or anything in the past...


Tuesday, September 3, 2013

PANIC: Someone has Stolen a Pillar!

Now that school is back in session I am back on campus (since I am a "student") so I went around documenting some changes. Look forward to boring/moderately funny posts in the coming days.


Now as you can see, one of the posts near Calvert is missing. Did someone steal it? Did Urgo steal it? Did someone run a car into it, just like a few years ago near the Statehouse?



Monday, September 2, 2013

Friday, August 23, 2013

Happy Friday Sush

You go you, you earned/deserve those "Cheese Balls"


huh TGIF am I right???

IDK how do 'yall' fell about cheese balls? I'm really more of a Cheetos (via cool corporate mascots) fan myself. I enjoy the density of Cheetos(TM), rather than the low density cheeze ball, cheeze poof, etc variety of cheese based snack.

But what do yall think, leave your favorite 'TGIF' snack/drink (alcohol duh #wasted #it's5o'clocksomewhere) in the comments

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Happy Birthday SMCM LOL BLOG

Wow, it's been 5 years since "I," a 'st. mary's college of maryland "student"' started this blog.

June 10 2008 huh wow it's been a long time

Can't believe I haven't graduated yet

If you wanna check out some great posts uh don't bother hahah, there are no great posts

some great memories about this bloggin blog:

  • 90 pages of this blog printed out and presented to me, with 'problematic issues' highlighted
  • "I'm pretty sure 69% of the reason I made out with you is because of this blog" - an IRL 'girl'
  • "I hate you because of that blog" - an IRL 'girl'
  • "Please blog about me" - an IRL 'girl'
wow this blog has 'survived' 4 prezzies and probably a dozen directors of public safety (miss u santiago, dude who lied about his credentials)

huh wonder what the future will bring (more via, grammatical errors, and horrible posts about nothing, with the occasional actual news post that 'matters')

comment with yalls favorite 'bloggin post'

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

PUBLIC CALLOUT: Laura Creech

Last week I ran an 'amazing' (probably 'best' article since the Urgo House for Sale article) blog post about Roger Stanton (currently on unpaid academic leave #byebye) exchanging drugs 4 sex. The post quickly spread all around the internet (like a beach ball at a Nickelback [see attached video] Concert ) because it was some juicy gossip.

But some did not believe. Some were not true believers. Some will not be saved when the 'author' of this 'blog' returns to campus (hopefully never).

Some like Laura Creech.


oh. just "some persons (sic) blog." wow is that all that I am~

(please note that yes I do play candy crush saga, jurassic park builder, and simpsons tapped out, and engage in snapchat sexting)

Laura Creech, I thought you went to a public honors college, I thought you would know that u can trust 'me'. What happened

what happened

~am i really all the things that are outside of me~ - the animal collectives

when will u learn to believe ???

Monday, August 19, 2013

PANIC: Railing at the Campus Center Missing

PANIC! The railing leading up to the Campus Center is missing! Who could have stolen it? Someone who hates the elderly, disabled, and people who need railings?

huh well at least with this missing railing there is now a sweet cup/beer holder outside the campus center, conveniently located in the ground

Kinda disappointed to see Chip Jackson's presidency (idk I guess that is over already?) going in the direction of removing hand rails. #disappointed

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Urgo's Time at Hamilton

Several of you, dear readers, have informed me about several articles regarding Urgo's last months at Hamilton College in 2010 before he became the president of SMCM.

I spent a sold hour trying to read and understand the whole situation and by the time I got a solid grasp of the whole situation he had already been ousted so it was a moot point.

Also I meant to post this ~months~ ago sorry bbs

Huh look who started following me on the Twitter


huh not sure how I am feelin' about this

Monday, August 12, 2013

SMCM Professor Arrested for Paying for Sex with Oxycodone

Over the weekend the St. Mary's County Police continued with "Operation Risky Business: Sex for money/drugs" by targeting individuals looking for sex online.My guess would be that they looked through Craigslist 'Casual Encounters' and began contacting individuals through there, possibly through some sort of entrapment situation. One of those arrested was St. Mary's Psychology professor Roger Dean Stanton.


Stanton paid the undercover officer for specific sexual acts (idk what but I hope it was something weird) with ten 5mg pills of Oxycodone (idk probably worth about $50?). He also had some weed (duhhhh).

Really unfortunate situation. Really dumb decision on his part, especially considering his wife works at the college too.

Did yall have Professor Stanton? What was he like? Leave some comments yall~

11:30AM UPDATE: According to "sources" (Todd Eberly) Stanton got tenure back in May. 

Speculation over how these individuals were targeted. What section of Craigslist 'Casual encounters' were they going through? 

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Admissions has changed their name



Admissions has changed their name on Facebook from "The Office of Admission" to "The Office of Admissions" 

Can u spot the difference (via puzzles in HIGHLIGHTS MAGAZINE at the dentist office)
Here's a hint:

S

That's right, they added an "s" to their name.

huh big changes over there, guess this is a part of their plan to recruit 100+ students

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Gov Cup

Muldoon spotted!

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Keep St. Mary's Weird is Dumb


I've talked about this 'phenomenon' before via previous blog posts (click over there) but idk it's still popping up I guess??? [huh editor's note, there was more posted here before but it got all corrupted via computers #conspiracy]

Issues:

  • "Keep Calm And..." wow cool great Internet meme to use hahah wow whats up (wazzup) 2010. Next thing you know they'll be making a Harlem Shake video (haha nevermind somebody already did)!
  • Mustache. I don't 'get' mustache culture like why is that mustache up there why is a mustache weird why is there a mustache on this 'poster'. I literally have a mustache and I don't get this.
  • Weird. IDK I GUESS IVE HARPED ON THIS BEFORE but I really don't get it. 
Like I guess the 'idea' of 'STAY WEIRD' is to be creative and interesting, but taking a decade old slogan and reusing it for your own purposes is the complete fucking opposite. It's not weird to use an Austin slogan from the 90s that was meant to support local business, it's just tacky.

Hey but I dunno am I totally off base and just a 'crumudgeon' (via being annoyed by some aspects of internet culture) feel free 2 sound off (haha wow 'sound off' what is this, 1983???) in the comments~

Monday, July 29, 2013

Sush~


luv u buddy

Monday, July 22, 2013

To the alum I met yesterday

Yesterday I was at work lifeguarding and noticed someone wearing a SMCM sailing shirt. She was a recent grad. I think she believes this is my full time job and that I am only lifeguarding with my SMCM education BUT LET ME TELL U I ALSO HAVE A REAL JOB please don't judge me thanks.

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Career Center Sure is Great!

Was 'chillin' on the facebook today (via it's my day off #chill) and saw a great post from the Career Development Center

hahah wow cool

some scathing social commentary about the current generation

I can imagine how the conversation went

director: "yes let us make fun of the population we are here to serve"
web lackey: "yes good idea, and as a department that strives to be professional, let us post some of those "memes" all the 'millennials' are talking about"
director: "ah yes, proceed"

also making fun of Jersey Shore isn't even a thing anymore

On the real, what are you thinking? Maybe this is part of the reason that a lot of students complain about the CDC and its inability to help students and alumni. They are too busy posting out of date memes about fucking Jersey Shore Guido hair fashion.

Wow it's been a month!!!

phew, really needed that 1 month break to recuperate after all those changes to the school

wow so looks like there have been lots of new changes??? guess everybody already knows that we got a new president...

CHIP JACKSON

yes granted he only gets 2 be president for a 'month' but man I am so proud of him. look at u chip, guess ur just a 'chip off the old block' hahaha

wow but let us all remember that July 2013 will forever be the month of the Jackson presidency. wonder if he is related to Andrew Jackson and will attempt to kill many American Indians and destroy the central bank of the United States [lol can u guess my major???]?

wonder if he will get his portrait in the library
wonder if urgo will
wonder if chip will somehow fuck this up (he won't, don't u worry)

wow on the real tho, seems like the next interim prez will be a cute old white dude for the next year, idk you have probably all seen the email (especially since they actually send them to alumnis 2 now) so im not really gonna waste time talking about him, gotta move on, gotta go fast, via sonic the hedgehog

did you know hedgehogs are mad slow ??? kinda makes u think...

but hey yah we r 'back'

guess whos back
back again
guess whos back
guess whos back
guess whos back

(it's Britney bitch)

Monday, June 10, 2013

ALUMNI WEEKEND 2013 RECAP

wow what a weekend! despite all the rain it was an amazing time.

yes yes, I did eventually 'give up' on liveblogging but only because I still have AT&T and still don't get reception down in Historic St. Mary's city.

but here are some highlights

  • Admissions is using the "I am St. Mary's" slogan these days which is kinda interesting
  • ate some crabs
  • slept in a bed BOTH NIGHTS which is an improvement from previous years when sleeping locations included a bench, random boat, bridge, professor's office in Monty, floors
  • Dave Chase was kinda mean 
  • Ben and I secretly hopped into the back of a Gator Cart (probably sold to the school by Paul Schulteis?) and laid down while the cart went all around campus and did some donuts in the grass (via now that URGO is gone [more like, URGONE] people can drive/park on the grass) and it was like being on a roller coaster
  • Someone told me that they drank 50 beers which is kinda scary but also impressive
  • Taught a lot of people what 'turnt up' means
  • Probably bullied too many people
  • Danced with older women
  • Swam
  • My entire body is incredibly sore
But you know probably my favorite memory is this. I was swimming on Saturday and didn't know what to do with my phone, so I found a random person and asked him to hold onto my nice phone (Galaxy S3) and to return it to LQ16 if I did not see him again. And you know what, Saturday night I'm playing some ledger and that dude walks in with my phone. Really made me appreciate the sort of people that St. Mary's has helped to develop.

also still hungover

Friday, June 7, 2013

ALUMNI WEEKEND 2013 LIVEBLOG

At the alumni council meeting. It is 9am.i am too drunk for this nonsense. Cannot Deal. Lotta nerds here like chip Jackson (luv u) and Joanne gold water and others. I hope everyone else is also very drunk still bit based on the fact that they can talk coherently I am guessing they are not. Nerds. Paul shulteis is here, blesse ur john deer tractors. Can't believe that many people buy lawn mowers. Someone mentioned 30,000 foot questions, wtf does that mean. Ravioli ravioli give me the formuloi People here are dressed and nice looking. I am wearing a swim suit and a button down shirt with buttons open #jimmybuffett Wtf is this nerd talking about This dude is boring
9:40: HOOKUP COUNT: 2

9:35: Wait I used to HATE LEDGER but now that I am 'okay' at it I think it's really fun~

9:30: talked to a lot of old friends, HOOKUP COUNT: 1.

9:15:  I finally can play ledger successfully!!!

6:00: drinking margaritas at plaza delteco/alteco/i dont remember

5:45: all checked in

4:00PM: Fuck this traffic
2:05PM: I can leave work in 10 minutes. In 11 minutes I will be on the road. Probably gonna stop at a "Mexican" restaurant on the way down (via happy hour margaritas #worklife) with some friends. Stop by Plaza Tolteca (new place, since Cerro Grande shut down/moved) and grab a 'drink' (or 7) with me.

BONUS: One of the few photos of me from my first Alumni Weekend:

**~lookit dat booty~**
**~lookit dat booty~**
**~lookit dat booty~**

8:50AM: 5.5 hours until I can leave work and head down to St. Mary's. Reading a book on Investing #RetirementAccounts #RothIRA. ~feelin old~

8:08AM: Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me yer ears. This is the LIVEBLOG for the 2013 Alumni Weekend. Here is how it works (twerks):
  • I enjoy my weekend of being an alumni
  • I blog about it, posting updates w/timestamps
  • u read it
  • u enjoy it
The updates will be in such a way that newer updates will be at the top. I hope to update every so often, but it is also very likely that I will just forget to so plz stay 'tuned'

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Budget Meeting 6/5/2013 PANIC

There was a Budget Meeting yesterday. Urgo was not present, and probably won't be for future meetings and discussions, so as a "campus community" we should "mentally move on." Dad (via Urgo) went out for cigarettes and hasn't come back since (via seasons 16, episode 19 of the Simpsons when Nelson explains that his Dad went out for cigarettes and said 'smell ya later', but then he never smelled Nelson again #sad #bullies).

Anyway, Dorothy Fisher (who I have never met but she has cool lipstick) was there and transcribed a bunch of the questions and answers which is super rad. They are below~ thx bb #grateful(dead)

[Editor's Note: The Q&A is in live-blog format, so it's in reverse order, so read it from the bottom up plz. I bolded some 'cool' questions]

Meeting over everyone go home
friendly reminder to submit q’s to the budget committee via that google doc
Q- can there be a schedule of alumni weekend, or should we just go to the waterfront for 48 hours?
A- ok yeah we’ll send that out to faculty and staff
Q- will admissions committee be present during alumni weekend?
A- yes

Q- think about alumni who are also staff when thinking about branding because they know some shit
A- yeah
Q- why the fuck was there a shortfall?
A- idk but we need to look at data and self-evaluate
Q- hesitation about branding?
A- what are ‘authentic’ messages of St Mary’s? How do we communicate those messages?

Q- is board looking at branding’s relationship to budget shortfall?
A- we have a consulting company (which is obviously pretty shitty?) but this is so sudden (??) that no specific conclusions have been drawn
Q-What is happening with the gallery? (Who asked this? It wasn’t me…)
A-Reduction in operating budget. Cristin will have to decide how the gallery is maintained. The art storage facility has needs that need to be addressed. Selling some of the art is possible, but very complicated and would require we use the money to support the collection. The gallery will probably be kind of open.
Q- what about short-staffed staff depts?
A- this is a tricky one. no deets yet. concerns have been heard

Q- is college’s ‘branding’ changing?
A- short answer yes. Long answer not sure how this will need to change

Efforts to strengthen transfer pipeline for the base and others
Reduced personnel is not going to mean increased workload for remaining personnel. If anything, reduced services
Aaaaand there is now a new student/ family helpline, and admissions is trying to get out the message for first years that everything is stable
Also there is some kind of roster for enthusiastic alumni
Q- what about implementing alumni interviews? Not even as screening but as a persuasive tool
A- this is a great idea, which will be given to admissions

Q- can we harness the alumni to get a lot of energy and also dollars?? Specifically alumni weekend is like tomorrow, so hop to it
A- St Mary’s is all about people, community, stick to our talking points, ask alumni for money this weekend and also ideas

Q- wtf is up with budget increases in specific disciplines?
A- specific alumni gifts (I was wondering this too)

Q- are we asking Rich Edgar to come back??
- long applause-
A- it has been proposed, but isn’t currently in the cards

Also we’ve gotten an assload of donation money recently. Not sure if this is the same $$ mentioned in the email about jurgo or whether this $$ goes toward budget shortfall
Q- continued support for admissions while it reevaluates etc?
A- we need everyones good energy used for publicity and be tactical about reducing budget for fund raising and admissions
Q- is there alumni involvement w/ budget issues??
A- idk
(Beth Rushing is going to take the issue of Alumni back to budget committee for discussion)
also there was a weird discussion about pins that i didn’t understand
Q- will eliminated positions come back when things get better?
A- proposals for all new positions come to budget committee, which is transparent and recommends to president which new budget expenditures get put in place—it sounds like eliminated positions are really gone?
Q- why is the block grant a good thing?
A- it provides a tremendous amount of autonomy and has preserved us through many times of financial hardship—we might tweak block grant but it is here

Q- what about facilities improvements
A- 10% cut to projects this fiscal year. Long term facilities master plan was just completed, basically everything is going to be put off and the plan will be reevaluated and adjusted
A- Anne Arundel hall is state money so it’s going ahead anyway
Q- (convoluted) but I think it was about bloated administrator salaries?
A- no one has thought about this yet but they need to and it will definitely a topic of consideration
Q- why aren’t staff eligible for wage increase?
A- because the state doesn’t earmark money for that specifically and it just comes in a block grant which is different from other colleges and now that we have no money we can’t? Someone also shouted out that they would rather have less or no raise than have people lose their jobs
Q- WHAT CHANGES IN ADMISSIONS ARE BEING PLANNED
A- independent and committee reviews are underway, no actual changes yet
Q- how has commitment to academics actually played out?
A- filling vacant faculty spots, more proposed reduction of academic dept budgets than is necessary to best optimize what comes from where (this didn’t make sense to me)
A- also everyone on the committee wants to hear what you think about budget cuts

Q- dept chair budget cuts were proposed
A- they did a good job and if they have more ideas Beth rushing wants to know about them?
Q-enrollment data
A- final numbers won’t be real until the fall, but we need to plan for 3.5 mil
A- this is a problem that will be with us for a few years, and once we solve this in the short term we will need to keep thinking long trtm
Chip Jackson chokes up: “These are tough times for the college. Don’t let it be divisive.”
Discussion of living wage and furloughs etc: there will definitely be furloughs. there will also not be the recently state-mandated 3% cost of living increase but there will still be wage increases? Lowest end of pay scale gets highest increases. Same with furloughs. Low end of pay scale will get fewest furlough days.
20 vacant positions will “not not be filled” and 18 vacant positions will not be filled
Personnel: it’s possible to solve shortfall without layoffs???
Consistent discussion about implementation of transparency
4 principles for budget reductions:
1) preserve core academic principles
2) focus on teaching
4) work on unfilled positions rather than cutting people
(Sorry, I missed #3)
Budget stuff now:
enrollment level def means 3.5 million budget reduction
Kate Chandler is on budget committee! Also a lot of cool faculty! Also staff, students and administrators! Good.
Q- new/interim pres needs to be willing to conduct internal review and understand ‘soul’ of the college

Q- why doing pres search and admissions reevaluation simultaneously?
A- issues are complex but a ‘course correction’ can still be executed in the short term
Q— why are we using an organization to find a candidate for an interim president rather than looking at internal candidates?
A— we are looking for someone with wide range of leadership experience, not just student life or faculty or fundraising
Q— what is the long term efficacy of these presidential searches—this is the 3rd in 4 years? we need to think longer term than this
A— small, efficient, transparent committee? They’re not sure yet? Counseling with other people who do these kinds of searches (that’s a job?)
Q-  student/faculty involvement in search for short and long term presidents?
A- “A representative” from student faculty staff each. Balance of inclusive and efficient
External agency is seeking interim president. Expect person by July or August. “Not just a placeholder” —not an internal faculty/admin person then
Increasing board involvement on campus. Seeking ideas about how to interact with students more.
liveblogging budget meeting commencing

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Urgo: A Postmortem

I liked Dr. Joseph Urgo from the very first day I realized I could combine his name into Jurgo (I think multiple people realized this at the same time, idk). I still like him and still think he was a pretty okay President. There are definitely some things that he did that I disagreed with like:
  • Restructuring of Admissions and Financial Aid(e)
  • Firing of Edgar
  • Pat Goldsmith
  • "failure to engage with student activists re: living wage and meatless mondays"
  • Rebranding as a more "elite/quasi-private" school
  • Fedoras
  • Leslie's massive power over staff 
But what I really liked about him, more than Maggie, was that he was visible. I met Maggie twice, and only because of my involvement in SGA. And granted, he was probably very visible to me because it was his first year, and he wanted to make a good/visible presence that first year, so my thoughts and memories are a bit rose-tinted I suppose. So here are some of my fond memories of the man:
  • Inviting he and his wife to dinner at our Townhouse Senior Year
  • Vespa Scooter
  • Weekly Open Hour
  • Weekly Radio Show
  • Beard
  • Baldness
  • Kinda funny and very casual with students
  • Let us get eat crabs and drink at his house (buy it now for only 900k!)
  • p chill dude
So IDK I mean it's definitely easy to blame this whole situation on Urgo, and probably a lot of it is his fault, but I still liked the dude I guess. That said, my favorite Townie made this for the blog, a SMCM Red Wedding~

 So leave your thoughts in the comments, what his "legacy" will be (via hot or not)

live-bloggin test


Tuesday, June 4, 2013

And to go out not with a bang, but a whimper

After three years as president of St. Mary’s College of Maryland, Dr. Joseph Urgo has decided, for personal and professional reasons, to move on in his career.  He has requested that the Board of Trustees not renew his contract.  “I leave with mixed emotions because I have enjoyed my time so much at St. Mary’s College,” said Dr. Urgo.  “Leading St. Mary’s College for the past three years has been a tremendous privilege and a great pleasure.   The College’s legislative charge of high academic standards and financial accessibility, while challenging, is an inspirational mission.  In parting, I wish my friends and the good people of St. Mary’s the very best. ”
 During Dr. Urgo’s three years in office, the College endowment grew by nearly 30%  and the College received two $1M gifts earmarked for need-based financial aid, and an additional $1M gift for academic programs.  The College received additional state support through legislation that will fund a two-year tuition freeze and secured a performance-based funding project aimed at raising College retention and graduation rates. In all, the legislation amounts to a 14% increase in state funding for the College and the first legislated increase to the block grant since that method of funding was established in 1992.
Throughout his tenure as president, Urgo has supported broad access to education in the liberal arts and sciences, speaking and writing often on St. Mary’s public mission.   Joe and Lesley Urgo have been strong advocates for the natural beauty of the campus and under Lesley’s volunteer efforts, established the College Arboretum.
The Board is grateful for Dr. Urgo’s commitment to St. Mary’s College of Maryland and his advocacy for liberal arts education.  The Board wishes Dr. Urgo well in his future endeavors

President Urgo's House is For Sale



http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/47157-S-Snow-Hill-Manor-Rd-Lexington-Park-MD-20653/37587679_zpid/

That is all.

Alumni Weekend

Wow yall alumni weekend in like three days...planning on leaving 'twerk' (that is what c00l kids call work) around 2:30 and then getting some 'mexican food' (aka Margaritas #its5oclocksomewhere) with some friends.

Kinda wanted to go to Cerro Grande but....apparently it's been closed


R.I.P. bb ~only the good die...young~

Luckily there are a bunch of new 'mexican' restaurants around these days #phew (more on that another time)

ANYWAY

I got a 'smart phone' now and I've been thinking about 'liveblogging' Alumni Weekend, and I would like some input from yall regarding what I should 'liveblog' about.

Here are some possible ideas:
  • People that I see
  • Interactions with faculty/staff
  • Reviews of the various events
  • Stories from talking with old people
  • A running total of the number of people I see that I have hooked up with 
  • SGA Reunion
  • IDK other things
So hey this weekend there should be a lot of updates or maybe one big update that keeps growing, be sure to check it out when you are recovering from the two-day hangover Monday at 'work'. Or maybe I'll just totally forget. And leave some livebloggin suggestions in the comments kthx.

Monday, June 3, 2013

Regarding "grammar"

Recently there have been a lot of "criticism" (via the comments section) regarding the "grammar" of this "blog." (hello i would like to point out that if you look to the left <--- b=""> I put the 'period' inside of the 'quote' which is grammatically correct so yes i could learn u a thing or 2 about the grammars)

I think maybe there were a lot of shoobies (via Rocket Power) who just don't "get it" but thats okay hey i luv u all, feel free to stay 'awhile' and check out 'old articles'

~sticks n stones may brake my bones, but words may never hurt me~  (via antiquated notions of bullying)

SMCM is going to be fine… as long as we stop Kenjes

Note: This ‘guest post’, whatever the hell that is, is directed at Alumni. If you’re a current student, get off the internet and go back to being drunk and not having responsibility – trust me.


Seriously, SMCM is going to be fine. I love the outpouring of concern and passion for our alma mater but 15 years ago our school was best known for the massive amount of narcotics done on campus and today that’s not even in top 10 things we are known for.


It’s going to take more than a budget deficit, fewer freshpeople (wish we had that senior year) and a poorly written op-ed by an uptight, right-wing reactionary spinmeister to take down the Seahawks. KaKAAAA!


What ya’ll should be worried about is the fact that this rag-tag, sorry excuse for a web log run by a baby-eating drunk is still up and running. You know Kenjes makes money off this (Editor's Note: $600 so far)?


Is no one else concerned that this old dude with a creepy beard still spends all of his time stalking college students? Someone told me they let him near high school kids too, that’s kind of messed up. I ran into him at an O’s game and he was legit just standing outside the student section leering at minors. Leering.


Seriously, this shouldn’t be allowed near children.


While we are on the subject of things that are bad for SMCM and possibly small children, can we talk real quick about the number of recent grads threatening not to donate over all this ish? First of all, I highly suspect if you’re saying that, you weren’t exactly about to write a check – you’re not fooling me.


Second of all, your reaction to a budget deficit and high tuition is to cut off funding to the school? Don’t get me wrong, I am not worried… they’ll survive without a few $10 contribs but that doesn’t exactly send the message, ‘we are here for you and want to be a part of the solution.’


Our reaction should be to cut out a few drinks at the next Bocci league mixer and throw some money St. Mary’s way. AND make sure you tell them to put yours in unrestricted because restricted funds are terrible in a budget crisis and stupid in general.


As an aside on the topic of drinks, who else misses the hell out of $7 pitchers at the Door…? 7 bucks gets you like a shot of beer in the real world and it never comes with a pizza.


Painting of The Green Door available at the Campus Store for $200. You can also just buy The Green Door for $250.


But back to baby-eating Kenjes – he is the real threat. Has anyone explored the possibility that the drop-off in admissions rates resulted from parents finding this blog? Would you send your kids to a school constantly watched and internet-ed about by a bro whose beard looks like it could sustain the ecosystem of a Peruvian rainforest? No way. You just wouldn’t.


I am just saying the board can fire Urgo and huff and puff all they want but if you want the source of SMCM woes, look no further than that smiley face/boat train wreck of a ‘logo’ above – seriously a monkey throwing feces could design a better logo (that’s by the way how I designed The Point News logo, minus the monkey).


Oh and if they do fire Urgo, again, the school will be ok. Yeah, we all love the guy – he has that classy beard (in contrast with Kenjes’ creepy one) and he actually cares about students but there are evidently some issues… firing a bunch of people who seemed pretty competent at their job, leaving 100+ slots open and digging us in to a budget deficit – maybe the distant, rule-by-rocket launcher approach Maggie took has some merit?
This happened.


All I am really trying to say is, I love you all and I am so pumped for alumni weekend. And at some point we need to have a little Team SMCM meeting and figure out what to do about the creepy blogger who is scaring off new students. Boom, problem solved – world saved. Roll credits.


Always yours,
Dave


Dave Chase
Classiest Class of 2012
Former Big-wig, The Point News Publications


PS. Big shout out to Greg ‘12 and Jess ‘11 who got married last weekend at Brome Howard! Seahawk lovin’

If you would like to write a "guest post" on the topic of your choosing, shoot me an email smcmstudent@gmail.com

Friday, May 31, 2013

GUEST POST: so i hear there was a story in the baltimore sun about smcm?

so a lot of folks are upset about this terrible shitty article in the Baltimore Sun the other day which is understandable since the piece reads like it was researched by skimming halfway thru the list of SMCM’s first year seminars but ending up on youtube watching a montage of eric cartman whining about hippies instead. Some have focused their criticisms on Anne Neal herself, using the sort of language people always seem to feel more comfortable directing at women. realistically though, when a nonprofit president like Neal places an op-ed, the writing is the product of a team effort more often than not -- so it's worth taking a look at the team.

the American Council of Trustees and Alumni was founded by Lynne Cheney -- after 9-11 she used it to attack academics who opposed her husband's war(s). now, they’ve rebranded themselves as advocates for “academic freedom” crusading against "political correctness" -- most notably with their vocal support for ousted harvard president Larry Summers when he caught flak for arguing that women are underrepresented in science and engineering because they aren't as smart as men.

like most think tanks babbling about “market-oriented solutions,” ACTA doesn’t publicly disclose their donors, but they do have ties to charles koch, the kevin bacon of right-wing pigfuckers. oh and did i mention that edwin meese, best known for vocally opposing miranda warnings, having the national guard beat down beat down student protesters, and militarizing the war on drugs as Reagan's attorney general sits on their board too? shit!

ACTA put out a report whining that too few students are required to take a course on shakespeare, lamenting that students are instead encouraged to study "popular culture" -- apparently, critically analyzing work produced for mass appeal only has academic value if it was written before people figured out they should shit and eat in different rooms. really, the entire op-ed drips with that same parochial mentality that education's value can only be measured in terms of quantifiable knowledge about particular dead white men -- she literally invokes our WGSX program for laughs.

and this clayton christensen guy she quotes, his studies in "disruptive innovation" look at technological advancements that displace older markets (iTunes replacing CDs, etc.) one of his favorite examples is how for-profit online degree mills like the University of Phoenix (with help from "reformers" like ACTA) will eventually supplant traditional higher education. To these folks, education is just another industry to make money off of, and educators are only here to tell us factoids about the war of 1812 before we join the workforce. fuck changing lives.

bottom line, St. Mary's has an amazing faculty and staff, and blaming rising tuition on their -genuinely- innovative approach, rather than the financial crisis and the pressure it's put on state budgets, is bullshit. i have a lot of love for SMCM as an institution and it's facing hard times right now, so I guess my point here is don't let this hack distract you, or at least don't let the feelings this editorial evoked in you go to waste.

this isn't just about Anne Neal or even SMCM, shit like this is happening nationwide. chicago just shut down 50 public schools under this same market fundamentalist "narrowly defined results at all costs" mentality. there's a social mission inherent in public education -- we rely on it to make up for our sins, to provide for equality of opportunity and the american dream and all that shit, but it can’t do that if we let the Anne Neals and Arne Duncans of the world turn it into another way to make a quick buck.