PANIC: SGA President Hates Government Transparency

Recently, Dear Readers, the preeminent SMCM blog has resumed liveblogging the SGA meetings, but now via twitter @SMCMLOL (previously the last liveblogged meeting was in 2012, and the first was in 2008).

But it seems that the current president (hey lets do a quick history lesson of SGA presidents: 07 - keith buzby, 08 - sunny, 09 - justin perry, 10 - ken benjes, 11 - mark snyder, 12 - ???, 13 - katherine brennan) is not fond of these live tweets. She recently sent an email out to the SGA body regarding her views.

Hello all!

I just wanted to remind you guys of a couple things for SGA, it's just basic stuff to keep in mind. 

Just remember to be respectful in Senate and be paying attention and if we could keep side chatter to a minimum that would be awesome.  Last night there was way too much of that and it leads to time being wasted.  

Next thing is about social media, you're in Senate for a reason so if you don't want to be in it don't be wasting your own time on Facebook.  Also whoever is in charge of the SMCMLOL twitter could you please just stop that would be great.  

We only have a couple more months so lets just hang in there.  

Thanks everybody! If you guys have questions about things just let me know. 

Best, 

Kate 

• "Side Chatter" what r u, a teacher ???
• The only "time wasted," is the time you ain't wasted (Proverbs 27:17)
• "could you please just stop that would be great" 

could you please just stop that would be great
could you please just stop
please just stop
just stop
stop

Kate doesn't give a reason to stop. Why does Kate want the live tweeting to stop? Does she not want the student body to know what is going on? Does she not want 507 followers to know what is going on in the Senate? Does she hate government transparency? Is she literally a fascist ???

I mean I can see how it could be a "distraction" but w/e that's the nature of SGA at a small school. I once dated a girl who was the secretary of the UMD SGA. They had political parties, everyone had BlackBerrys, and it was very serious. There was no room for bills banning emails with all capital letter subjects.The SMCM SGA accomplishes a lot. Club funding, gender neutral housing, geothermal heating for the new river center, service trips to Nicaragua, and many other things. Live tweets take the SGA away from something that a student may visit and think of once in their entire career into something that they can connect to, become interested in, and ultimately gain some understanding of. Weekly constituent emails aren't enough (if they even get sent out).

Information is never the enemy. And any liberal arts student should realize that.

These technologies can make life easier, can let us touch people we might not otherwise. These things can profoundly influence life. I'm not downplaying that.  -- Steve Jobs

SGA Meeting 2/18

These days we cover the SGA meetings a little differently. We are evolving, staying hip, staying 'funky fresh', avoiding staleness (via bread in the great room).

We have discovered the preferred social media platform of the youths, of the urban crowd, of the geeks and nerds of the world.

Twitter.

(which we have had since 2009 #relevant)

But yes these days you can find LIVE UPDATES of the SGA meetings on twitter

@SMCMLOL

#jointheconversation and tell your senators how you feel and what to do

below is a lazy transcript of the last meeting

• SMCMLOL SGA time
  01:16 AM 19 Feb 2014
• SMCMLOL looks like it's gonna be a long meeting
  01:17 AM 19 Feb 2014
• SMCMLOL students are speaking up to support funding travel to the nicaragua service trip
  01:21 AM 19 Feb 2014
• SMCMLOL chris true was supposed to speak but he didn't show up
  01:23 AM 19 Feb 2014
• SMCMLOL i have no idea who chris true is
  01:23 AM 19 Feb 2014
• SMCMLOL victoria cain wrote legislation to sponsor a ski trip
  01:24 AM 19 Feb 2014
• SMCMLOL the ski/snowboard club died. who knew.
  01:25 AM 19 Feb 2014
• SMCMLOL @NewHatShelby OH.
  01:26 AM 19 Feb 2014
• SMCMLOL according to ~sources~, chris true is in charge of laundering the SGA's money
  01:27 AM 19 Feb 2014
• SMCMLOL JK
  01:38 AM 19 Feb 2014
• SMCMLOL by law amendment to end food at general club meetings
  01:38 AM 19 Feb 2014
• SMCMLOL the bylaw amendment is a buzzkill
  01:38 AM 19 Feb 2014
• SMCMLOL i go to my friends' clubs when they have food sometimes
  01:39 AM 19 Feb 2014
• SMCMLOL no floor leaders
  01:40 AM 19 Feb 2014
• SMCMLOL do club leaders ever use club money to buy pizza for themselves
  01:43 AM 19 Feb 2014
• SMCMLOL i hope so
  01:43 AM 19 Feb 2014
• SMCMLOL i think that's why you have to get your club members to sign that they ate w/e food the club got
  01:45 AM 19 Feb 2014
• SMCMLOL by law passes
  01:46 AM 19 Feb 2014
• SMCMLOL evan can't find the legislation
  01:55 AM 19 Feb 2014
• SMCMLOL legislation to divert unspent club funds from the special carryover fund to funding travel for the nicaragua trip
  01:57 AM 19 Feb 2014
• SMCMLOL one time the SGA diverted unspent club funds from the special carryover fund to buy a ice skating rink
  02:00 AM 19 Feb 2014
• SMCMLOL that was in 2011
  02:01 AM 19 Feb 2014
• SMCMLOL @ahumanstory i didn't go because it was really cold
  02:05 AM 19 Feb 2014
• SMCMLOL the recreational shooting and marksmanship club requested money for ammo in emergency fund appeals
  02:06 AM 19 Feb 2014
• SMCMLOL some girl who's not in the SGA just tried to talk
  02:08 AM 19 Feb 2014
• SMCMLOL out of order, obviously
  02:08 AM 19 Feb 2014
• SMCMLOL RIP using club money to buy pizza for parties #embezzlement
  02:08 AM 19 Feb 2014
• SMCMLOL oh yeah, the nicaragua service trip bill passed @ahumanstory
  02:10 AM 19 Feb 2014
• SMCMLOL anuli has to pee
  02:16 AM 19 Feb 2014
• SMCMLOL chris true is a man of mystery
  02:17 AM 19 Feb 2014
• SMCMLOL now we're guessing about what chris true would've presented about
  02:18 AM 19 Feb 2014
• SMCMLOL fashion report: cats are in because of shelby perkins
  02:22 AM 19 Feb 2014
• SMCMLOL program board has a snapchat
  02:22 AM 19 Feb 2014
• SMCMLOL send programs board your weirdest snaps
  02:23 AM 19 Feb 2014
• SMCMLOL it's smcmpb
  02:23 AM 19 Feb 2014
• SMCMLOL no proposed tuition increases this year
  02:25 AM 19 Feb 2014
• SMCMLOL don't be belligerently drunk in front of the trustees
  02:26 AM 19 Feb 2014

LIVEBLOGGING SGA via TWITTER

huh check us out oooon Twitter 2nite for a SGA livebloggin'

https://twitter.com/SMCMLOL

@SMCMLOL

Huh look who started following me on the Twitter

huh not sure how I am feelin' about this

Victory!

Mere hours after publicly shaming @SMCMconf3ssions on 'twitter' they have changed their logo and 'apologized'.

Wow amazing #progress. What will they call this event in the future, LogoGate? #logotheft???

This was a pretty solid A+++ apology.

Or was it?

It seems like they are sorry about the "confusion." I am not sure what confusion they are talking about... I don't think anyone was confused regarding this issue.

I mean, one time I was driven to Sheetz (don't drive drunk [too much] yall) and the next day I woke up with a sandwich in my pocket and a receipt. But the receipt was for two hot dogs (AKA 'hoddogs' they are 2 for a $1). This was 'confusion theft.' I was tweeted an apology to Sheetz for the confusion as to how transactions work. But I don't think there was confusion in this situation. Also this may have contributed to Sheetz no longer being open at 2AM on weekends. 

Phew finally changed the world is safe again via lack of piracy.

In the end I think this 'gimmick twitter account' now has more followers than yesterday so I guess the moral of the story is...

CRIME PAYS

(I have no idea what that image is but I found it on google let's hope I didn't steal it~)

Logo Theft!

I was updating my 'twitter' account earlier today when I noticed a novelty account called "SMCM (sic) Conf3ssions. It seemed like your average novelty twitter account, until I took a closer look.

Let us zoom in a bit (via CSI: Miami, Las Vegas, New York) and see what is up with this dude

WHAT IS THAT LOGO? IS THAT MY LOGO?

I commissioned the logo a few years ago and someone (idk Sean Allerd???) emailed me a logo and I was pretty pleased. At least I think that is what happened, I don't actually remember the email, I just remember waking up Saturday morning and suddenly my blog had a logo. As Hemingway said, "edit the logo and layout of your blog drunk, be surprised about it sober."

As you can see this gimmick account has not been used very much. And why would anyone want to leave their bed? Here is a short list of great things to do in your bed

• sexual intercourse
• sleep
• eat breakfast
• eat lunch
• make a blanket fort
• sexual intercourse

I confronted the account owner via 'tweeting at them' #confrontation

 And they actually got back to me pretty quickly

 You are correct, gimmick blogger, it is a good one.



Pretty sure this counts as 'plagiarism'. Gonna report him to J-Board and get him expelled for plagiarism.

SMCM Crushes

I was on twitter the other day (yo follow me @SMCMLOL i follow back~) when I noticed a new follower, @SMCMCrushes.

At first I thought it was some weird "yo tell us ur crushes and we'll match you up with someone who also has a crush on u~" but it's actually pretty entertaining. Essentially you 'anonymously' direct message your crush to the owner (who could it be!?!?) and then they tweet it out. Most are pretty funny, and only a few are legitimately creepy. Highlights:

• "I would talk feminism and Tolkien with Marissa Muldoon for hours if I could. That marriage proposal was only mostly a joke."
• "Too bad that bio babe Lexy McCarty is taken, her gluteus maximus is anatomically perfect."
• "the boys basketball team"

Because I am merely a "student" I only recognized three names at most, but check it out anyway maybe? I think sort of thing is good for creating the "community" that everyone has been 'striving for' lately. Cute, harmless, and kinda funny.

Is this just the new 'send a note with "do u like me circle yes or no"' but now with the Internet? Should these people just take a shot or 2 and go confess their crushes irl ??? (answer: yes, it works at 69% of the time tbh)

Who do u have a 'crush' on? Are crushes even a thing after middle school ??? Are u gonna 'pursue' your crush during senior week (don't wait that long!!!) ???

A Daily Grind Employee Live Tweets Her Experience

The other day/morning a Daily Grind employee decided to live tweet her experience working the morning shift of The Daily Grind.  It was kinda interesting/funny, so I have posted it here, but removed the name in case she doesn't want it out there etc. 

I applied to work at The Daily Grind once, but I never actually turned in my application, so IDK if that counts as applying via they never got my application.  Seems like a chill place to work.  I have helped close a few times, via helping friends finish more quickly so that they can come party. 

Gum Tree

I was browsing the twitterverse the other day (@SMCMLOL) and noticed some rumblings about a 'gum tree'  I wasn't really sure what a gum tree was so I did some INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM on the subject and some GONZO JOURNALISM via taking photos of this elusive tree.

I scoured my sources as to where I could find this tree.  After tweeting a few of my followers they left me with one clue:  the path to the Campus Center.  I slowly made my way towards the pond, it was a cold day.  Suddenly I looked to my left, and there it was.

A colorful tree, with fucking gum on it.  Why the hell is there a tree with gum on it?  This is the weirdest thing I have ever heard of.  But apparently it's thing in Philadelphia, and now it's a thing here via cultural appropriation.  The Philly Gum Tree was a tree on South Street in Philly that had gum on it.  Then in 2008 it got cut down for some reason.  I think that pretty much sums it up.

Oh man look at all that gum!  So, I am judging this attempt at a tradition, but I bet that when people started throwing shoes up in the Shoe Tree in the year (whenever that happened) people probably thought it was dumb.  And to be honest I still think this is dumb because it is littering and I don't like littering, but whatever.  But it's kinda cool and different, and I guess I can't fault someone for trying something new.

Also I don't like gum and literally don't understand the appeal of gum.  Why not just eat food.