By Matthew Boyle | mboyle@flagler.edu
I want an iPad. I never thought I’d ever say that sentence before, but Apple’s craze has finally hit me – again. I remember, way back, when iPods first came out, I didn’t want one. But, Apple found a way to make me want one- podcasts. I was hosting one at Boise State’s newspaper, The Arbiter, and couldn’t listen to it on the go without an iPod.
Now, as a ready-to-graduate journalist, I need an iPad. I’ve seen its functionality at work in the field and have heard nothing but praise from fellow reporters about the iPad’s magnificence as a reporting tool.
Now, though, I’ll have to find a way to pay for it- at $500 it’s kind of pricey. But, it’ll be worth it when I’m getting scoops from the field the old-time, shoe-leather journalists can’t even get from their offices.
It’s a portable reporter’s dream. Pull it out, flick it on and there’s my access to the entire world of information from anywhere. And, it’s smaller than many of the notebooks I carry around. So, here’s a toast to Apple for getting me, the skeptical consumer, on board so quickly. I’ll be buying an iPad with my next paycheck.
Monday, April 19, 2010
COA Executive Director fights ageism
By Matthew Boyle | mboyle@flagler.edu
The way Cathy Brown runs the St. Johns County Council on Aging like she thinks seniors should live their lives: with an upbeat, positive mentality. She won’t quit helping them until she physically can’t anymore.
Since she took on her role as the executive director at the St. Johns County COA in 1999, Brown has shunned ageist stereotypes by trying to show that the people she works with aren’t simply “old.” Everyone has his or her own personality and no one is the same.
“We desperately want to call them something, so then we can think about them not personally, and not think that they’re passionate or had their heart broken, or that they yearn,” Brown said. “We try to just think about them as a box.”
It’s unfair, she said. Why should seniors get put in a nursing home to die? Do they get a choice?
Brown is a hands-on director. She doesn’t manage from behind her desk; she walks around the St. Johns County COA’s campus to see what people want and what they need.
Shortly after she started at the St. Johns County COA, she asked some of the senior that were eating in the cafeteria what dish would make them happier. They wanted fried chicken, which is something the kitchen staff wouldn’t make because they thought it was “against the rules.” Brown looked up “the rules” to find that there wasn’t anything against fried chicken.
They got their fried chicken because Brown didn’t accept the status quo.
Brown chooses to go above and beyond what’s expected from the St. Johns County COA Executive Director. Way above and beyond.
“Loneliness is a terrible, terrible condition,” Brown said. “All people, I think, but I know for sure seniors suffer from loneliness, isolation and depression. To be marginalized by something that you are, your box, rather than who you are, is a terrible thing.”
Brown advocates for seniors. She encourages them to fill out their census information and send it back, regardless of what opinions they have of it. She wants them to get funding now and deal with whether the census is right or not later.
Brown’s most impressive accomplishment, though, is her dedication to the new COA River House. The elegant white building, adorned with black shutters, overlooks the Matanzas River and just recently opened its doors to St. Johns County’s seniors.
The fact that the building is finished and open for seniors countywide to use is amazing; what Brown had to do to get the project started is unbelievable.
Where the River House is now, she said, there were two trailers that functioned as office space for about 40 years. Once again, Brown questioned the status quo. She pitched the idea of building the River House there and moving the office space into what was previously the senior center.
“It [the River House] took a year to build and it took four years to conceive and then get support,” Brown said. “When anything marvelous happens, somebody’s got to have an idea and then somebody’s got to look and see what it takes to get it done and then really work at what I call ‘enlisting people,’ on behalf of that idea.”
Brown never sets goals based on what’s good for her. It’s always about what’s best for the community.
St. Johns County COA Communications Coordinator Susan Johnson thinks what keeps Brown going is simple: insanity.
She’ll never stop questioning the status quo and she certainly won’t quit helping the community. Ever.
“What else would I be doing?” Brown said. “You can only play so much golf.”
The way Cathy Brown runs the St. Johns County Council on Aging like she thinks seniors should live their lives: with an upbeat, positive mentality. She won’t quit helping them until she physically can’t anymore.
Since she took on her role as the executive director at the St. Johns County COA in 1999, Brown has shunned ageist stereotypes by trying to show that the people she works with aren’t simply “old.” Everyone has his or her own personality and no one is the same.
“We desperately want to call them something, so then we can think about them not personally, and not think that they’re passionate or had their heart broken, or that they yearn,” Brown said. “We try to just think about them as a box.”
It’s unfair, she said. Why should seniors get put in a nursing home to die? Do they get a choice?
Brown is a hands-on director. She doesn’t manage from behind her desk; she walks around the St. Johns County COA’s campus to see what people want and what they need.
Shortly after she started at the St. Johns County COA, she asked some of the senior that were eating in the cafeteria what dish would make them happier. They wanted fried chicken, which is something the kitchen staff wouldn’t make because they thought it was “against the rules.” Brown looked up “the rules” to find that there wasn’t anything against fried chicken.
They got their fried chicken because Brown didn’t accept the status quo.
Brown chooses to go above and beyond what’s expected from the St. Johns County COA Executive Director. Way above and beyond.
“Loneliness is a terrible, terrible condition,” Brown said. “All people, I think, but I know for sure seniors suffer from loneliness, isolation and depression. To be marginalized by something that you are, your box, rather than who you are, is a terrible thing.”
Brown advocates for seniors. She encourages them to fill out their census information and send it back, regardless of what opinions they have of it. She wants them to get funding now and deal with whether the census is right or not later.
Brown’s most impressive accomplishment, though, is her dedication to the new COA River House. The elegant white building, adorned with black shutters, overlooks the Matanzas River and just recently opened its doors to St. Johns County’s seniors.
The fact that the building is finished and open for seniors countywide to use is amazing; what Brown had to do to get the project started is unbelievable.
Where the River House is now, she said, there were two trailers that functioned as office space for about 40 years. Once again, Brown questioned the status quo. She pitched the idea of building the River House there and moving the office space into what was previously the senior center.
“It [the River House] took a year to build and it took four years to conceive and then get support,” Brown said. “When anything marvelous happens, somebody’s got to have an idea and then somebody’s got to look and see what it takes to get it done and then really work at what I call ‘enlisting people,’ on behalf of that idea.”
Brown never sets goals based on what’s good for her. It’s always about what’s best for the community.
St. Johns County COA Communications Coordinator Susan Johnson thinks what keeps Brown going is simple: insanity.
She’ll never stop questioning the status quo and she certainly won’t quit helping the community. Ever.
“What else would I be doing?” Brown said. “You can only play so much golf.”
Great Recession builds youth integrity
By Matthew Boyle | mboyle@flagler.edu
Flagler College senior Dave Hiller admits he has to work harder to get into graduate school after he finishes his degree in December.
Since the start of the Great Recession, as I expect we’ll come to call this economic downturn in the near future, Hiller said he’s been facing fiercer competition to get better grades and build professional experience.
“A college or university is more likely to accept someone with a 3.5 GPA than a 3.2 or 3.1 [GPA],” Hiller said. “I’m just trying to get better grades.”
The Great Recession taught students like Hiller, who originally said he doesn’t think the economic downturn affected him, to be more responsible and build integrity if they want to achieve their goals in life.
Once the economic recovery settles, the hardworking cream of America’s crop will be rightfully awarded the top jobs in noteworthy professions while the lower grades of today’s youth will fill in the rest. The Great Recession casts negative light on handouts and promotes hard work.
Kerry Takach, a Fall 2009 Flagler graduate, who majored in communication, is already beefing up her job application process. She has applied for 14 public relations or newspaper jobs locally, but only heard back from two companies that said they were not hiring at this time.
Takach is getting more creative in how she applies for jobs. “I’ve gotten a little more daring in my cover letters,” she said.
She’s developing new writing skills, and, even though it isn’t a “requirement” for anything, she reads anything and everything about her dream field: fashion. Unlike the thousands of wannabes in the fashion world, who think they have the “eye” needed for the fashion communication business, Takach stays current on the industry’s trends and analyzes the field.
Takach radiates the positive effects of the Great Recession on America’s youth. She is down on her luck. She is a college graduate without a job or a job offer in her field. But, she keeps trying to put herself in a better position to get where she wants to go in life.
Flagler student James Tyer thinks the Great Recession will lead to some short-term positive societal changes, but doesn’t see any long-term improvements happening in America. He said greed is the root of all of American economic problems.
“We’ve seen how much this [recession] has affected people, so we’ll hopefully come out a little bit better off,” Tyer said. “The only way to solve our problems [in the long term] is a social reform of our values.”
Tyer thinks Americans should focus less on material goods and possessions and revert back to traditional capitalistic fundamentals like moderate spending.
I would love to see Tyer’s recommendations come through but, practically speaking, I just don’t think a complete social value overhaul is likely, or even possible. The way I do think the Great Recession’s back end will benefit America’s future, though, is by making us work.
The Great Recession brought the youth of America back to the fundamentals. If you work hard and are enthusiastic about your profession, then you will be rewarded. If you slack off then you will pay the consequences.
The economic downturn also taught us to spend our money wisely and make sound financial decisions, or at least better financial decisions than before.
“It [the Great Recession] was people pretty much taking out money they didn’t have,” Tyer said. “The economy really is a crazy thing.”
From America’s youth of the Great Recession, Wall Street’s bigwig bankers and Washington’s politicians can learn to stop spending Monopoly money and stop expecting everything to be handed to them.
Flagler College senior Dave Hiller admits he has to work harder to get into graduate school after he finishes his degree in December.
Since the start of the Great Recession, as I expect we’ll come to call this economic downturn in the near future, Hiller said he’s been facing fiercer competition to get better grades and build professional experience.
“A college or university is more likely to accept someone with a 3.5 GPA than a 3.2 or 3.1 [GPA],” Hiller said. “I’m just trying to get better grades.”
The Great Recession taught students like Hiller, who originally said he doesn’t think the economic downturn affected him, to be more responsible and build integrity if they want to achieve their goals in life.
Once the economic recovery settles, the hardworking cream of America’s crop will be rightfully awarded the top jobs in noteworthy professions while the lower grades of today’s youth will fill in the rest. The Great Recession casts negative light on handouts and promotes hard work.
Kerry Takach, a Fall 2009 Flagler graduate, who majored in communication, is already beefing up her job application process. She has applied for 14 public relations or newspaper jobs locally, but only heard back from two companies that said they were not hiring at this time.
Takach is getting more creative in how she applies for jobs. “I’ve gotten a little more daring in my cover letters,” she said.
She’s developing new writing skills, and, even though it isn’t a “requirement” for anything, she reads anything and everything about her dream field: fashion. Unlike the thousands of wannabes in the fashion world, who think they have the “eye” needed for the fashion communication business, Takach stays current on the industry’s trends and analyzes the field.
Takach radiates the positive effects of the Great Recession on America’s youth. She is down on her luck. She is a college graduate without a job or a job offer in her field. But, she keeps trying to put herself in a better position to get where she wants to go in life.
Flagler student James Tyer thinks the Great Recession will lead to some short-term positive societal changes, but doesn’t see any long-term improvements happening in America. He said greed is the root of all of American economic problems.
“We’ve seen how much this [recession] has affected people, so we’ll hopefully come out a little bit better off,” Tyer said. “The only way to solve our problems [in the long term] is a social reform of our values.”
Tyer thinks Americans should focus less on material goods and possessions and revert back to traditional capitalistic fundamentals like moderate spending.
I would love to see Tyer’s recommendations come through but, practically speaking, I just don’t think a complete social value overhaul is likely, or even possible. The way I do think the Great Recession’s back end will benefit America’s future, though, is by making us work.
The Great Recession brought the youth of America back to the fundamentals. If you work hard and are enthusiastic about your profession, then you will be rewarded. If you slack off then you will pay the consequences.
The economic downturn also taught us to spend our money wisely and make sound financial decisions, or at least better financial decisions than before.
“It [the Great Recession] was people pretty much taking out money they didn’t have,” Tyer said. “The economy really is a crazy thing.”
From America’s youth of the Great Recession, Wall Street’s bigwig bankers and Washington’s politicians can learn to stop spending Monopoly money and stop expecting everything to be handed to them.
Flagler administration needs wake-up call
By Matthew Boyle | mboyle@flagler.edu
It’s 6:16 on a Monday night and Chuck Riffenburg is talking on his cell phone on the front steps of the Proctor Library.
Unlike other students, though, Riffenburg is talking business. Even though he finally got the Flagler College administration to approve his Hunger Initiative project, he still has to do all the legwork.
Riffenburg’s Hunger Initiative is a rarity at Flagler in that it’s actually getting done. Other student-proposed projects die early and die often. They barely ever make it past all the administrative roadblocks, for better or for worse.
Student Government Association President David Matulewicz thinks the administration suppresses student-proposed projects.
“We don’t have any ability to actually do anything,” he said. “Someone can veto [a project] at every level of it [the approval process]. When you have four, five or six layers of veto power, how is anything supposed to be done?”
Riffenburg said a combination of determination, having the right motives and “divine providence” helped him moving.
Riffenburg has the determination. As for his motives, he doesn’t want a basic resume plug. Instead, he said he knows it’s the right thing to do. As for the “divine providence” factor, Riffenburg said all the pieces fell together for the project and it feels like it was meant to be.
Riffenburg spends several hours a day working on the Hunger Initiative project and has since he proposed it midway through last semester. He puts about the amount of work a full-time job requires.
“It’s so difficult because there’s so many different parties involved,” Riffenburg said. “You have to bring everyone in before you can make anything concrete.”
Matulewicz thinks all the bureaucratic nightmare students have to go through to get anything done boils down to one thing: the Flagler College administration lacks respect for its students.
“Maybe if we were sheep, this would be a wonderful shepherd of a college,” Matulewicz said. “But I’m not a sheep.”
He’s right. Flagler’s bigwigs need to let students make their own choices and either screw up or succeed.
Stetson University of DeLand, Fla., a small private institution with roughly the same size student body as Flagler, allows its student government to disburse all student funds. If Flagler allowed our SGA to distribute student organization funds, you might actually be able to get something done.
Stetson’s SGA President Akeel St. Jean said his internal SGA budget is $28,000, almost three times more than Flagler’s entire SGA budget of about $10,000, internal and external. St. Jean said Stetson’s SGA has a “significantly higher” budget for distribution to non-SGA student organizations.
Why doesn’t Flagler’s administration allow our SGA to distribute student funds?
“There’s a handful of people at this school who just feel that students cannot be responsible for their own education,” Matulewicz said. “There are people in key positions who don’t care about students.”
Stetson also allows its SGA to make decisions and change laws.
“The student government [at Stetson] weighs in and has a vote on new faculty,” Matulewicz said. “The student government [at Stetson] can vote to change rules.”
Matulewicz said that he couldn’t put together a relief fundraiser for the earthquake victims in Haiti because, once again, of the bureaucratic nightmare that would’ve been a roadblock in front of him.
The answer to all Flagler’s power problems is simple: give students the power to make choices, start programs and projects and disburse all student organizations’ funding.
The end result is a win-win for Flagler’s administration, too.
If it works, administrators look great and can claim the success as their own. If it doesn’t, shift back to the way it is now and blame all the problems on the sheep.
It’s 6:16 on a Monday night and Chuck Riffenburg is talking on his cell phone on the front steps of the Proctor Library.
Unlike other students, though, Riffenburg is talking business. Even though he finally got the Flagler College administration to approve his Hunger Initiative project, he still has to do all the legwork.
Riffenburg’s Hunger Initiative is a rarity at Flagler in that it’s actually getting done. Other student-proposed projects die early and die often. They barely ever make it past all the administrative roadblocks, for better or for worse.
Student Government Association President David Matulewicz thinks the administration suppresses student-proposed projects.
“We don’t have any ability to actually do anything,” he said. “Someone can veto [a project] at every level of it [the approval process]. When you have four, five or six layers of veto power, how is anything supposed to be done?”
Riffenburg said a combination of determination, having the right motives and “divine providence” helped him moving.
Riffenburg has the determination. As for his motives, he doesn’t want a basic resume plug. Instead, he said he knows it’s the right thing to do. As for the “divine providence” factor, Riffenburg said all the pieces fell together for the project and it feels like it was meant to be.
Riffenburg spends several hours a day working on the Hunger Initiative project and has since he proposed it midway through last semester. He puts about the amount of work a full-time job requires.
“It’s so difficult because there’s so many different parties involved,” Riffenburg said. “You have to bring everyone in before you can make anything concrete.”
Matulewicz thinks all the bureaucratic nightmare students have to go through to get anything done boils down to one thing: the Flagler College administration lacks respect for its students.
“Maybe if we were sheep, this would be a wonderful shepherd of a college,” Matulewicz said. “But I’m not a sheep.”
He’s right. Flagler’s bigwigs need to let students make their own choices and either screw up or succeed.
Stetson University of DeLand, Fla., a small private institution with roughly the same size student body as Flagler, allows its student government to disburse all student funds. If Flagler allowed our SGA to distribute student organization funds, you might actually be able to get something done.
Stetson’s SGA President Akeel St. Jean said his internal SGA budget is $28,000, almost three times more than Flagler’s entire SGA budget of about $10,000, internal and external. St. Jean said Stetson’s SGA has a “significantly higher” budget for distribution to non-SGA student organizations.
Why doesn’t Flagler’s administration allow our SGA to distribute student funds?
“There’s a handful of people at this school who just feel that students cannot be responsible for their own education,” Matulewicz said. “There are people in key positions who don’t care about students.”
Stetson also allows its SGA to make decisions and change laws.
“The student government [at Stetson] weighs in and has a vote on new faculty,” Matulewicz said. “The student government [at Stetson] can vote to change rules.”
Matulewicz said that he couldn’t put together a relief fundraiser for the earthquake victims in Haiti because, once again, of the bureaucratic nightmare that would’ve been a roadblock in front of him.
The answer to all Flagler’s power problems is simple: give students the power to make choices, start programs and projects and disburse all student organizations’ funding.
The end result is a win-win for Flagler’s administration, too.
If it works, administrators look great and can claim the success as their own. If it doesn’t, shift back to the way it is now and blame all the problems on the sheep.
Going through the motions
By Matthew Boyle | mboyle@flagler.edu
I sealed the large manila envelope filled with examples of my best work, a polished resume, letters of recommendation and my essay about the future of journalism, slapped five stamps on it and shoved it in the mailbox at the post office.
There goes my life. A manila envelope full of stuff I did.
I can’t believe everything that defines me as a professional and a graduate school candidate was in that envelope. I couldn’t fit the countless hours I’ve spent teaching myself HTML, photography and videography or writing and reporting stories.
The envelope didn’t have enough room for my passionate journalistic debates with other students and faculty. It was too small for my volunteer work with the Society of Professional Journalists.
How does a person that opens these packages on the other end decide who’s worthy and who isn’t? If whoever he or she is on the other side isn’t seeing all of me in my manila envelope, I would be the other applicants share the same dilemma.
I sent my envelope to the graduate program at the School of Communication of American University in Washington, D.C. Interim Director of Graduate Services Jill Grinager said 18 students are accepted out of more than 250 applicants. How can they tell who’s “good enough” by what’s in that envelope?
I haven’t just applied to graduate schools. I’ve been keeping my options open and have been looking for jobs too.
I e-mail resumes, cover letters and clips to every job listing possible but only get bites from about one out of a hundred publications. Hiring editors that do reply usually respond with something like, “I like your stuff but we don’t have any openings right now. Sorry.”
The editor of the newspaper I did an internship at last summer likes my work ethic but doesn’t have any openings. He doesn’t expect any to open up in the near future, either.
What about my professional network? Let’s see. I’ve sent e-mails and left voicemails for every editor, reporter, writer and professor. They either don’t respond or reply with “Sorry. I can’t help you right now.”
Why should I keep going through the motions if none of them are working? What’s the point? My drive was gone.
I had to dig my passion for journalism out of the heap of meaningless tasks. How though? Everything that my professors and mentors have been telling me to do wasn’t getting any results. I pushed networking. I perfected my resume. I had more clips and published works than I could ask for. I still wasn’t getting any results.
Every day, I ran out to the mailbox at my house when the mail came. There wasn’t anything for me from American University or from anywhere else that interested me.
If I wasn’t at home when the mail came, I called my mom and asked her if I got anything. Every time, the same reply, “No, sorry Matt.”
How are we supposed to keep on keeping on when we don’t know what, if anything, is ever going to come of our efforts? What’s the point?
Should we follow the advice of professors and mentors blindly? It’s worked for me in the past when I was trying to secure and unpaid internship. But, now, I’m fighting for a job. I can’t work for free anymore.
USA Today executive editor John Hillkirk said to Penn State’s Daily Collegian that now would be a great time to be a young journalist if newspapers and media outlets weren’t struggling with business challenges.
So what? The business people can’t figure it out so that means I can’t get a job? Nor can any other driven students?
When I hear about a student or a recent graduate landing a job or even just scoring an interview, I’m shocked in amazement for them. When we graduate, we’ll be lucky if we’re employed in the field we specialize in.
Too many people I know plan on delivering pizzas, waiting tables, tending bar or selling insurance. It’s not fair for any of us.
We’ve all heard about the recession and that it’s bearing down on us all. But, until now, when I’m looking for jobs and applying to graduate schools, it never sank in. These are tough times for all of us. And, now, we have to go out into the world and face them. None of us have any clue what’s next.
As for now, all I can do is wait. I have no control over what happens on the other end of the line. Nor do I even know who’s making a decision about my future with just the contents of a manila envelope.
So, I hope whoever opens that manila envelope likes me. If that person doesn’t like my stuff, I’m screwed.
To the person opening the envelope: I can do the work. Just give me a shot.
I sealed the large manila envelope filled with examples of my best work, a polished resume, letters of recommendation and my essay about the future of journalism, slapped five stamps on it and shoved it in the mailbox at the post office.
There goes my life. A manila envelope full of stuff I did.
I can’t believe everything that defines me as a professional and a graduate school candidate was in that envelope. I couldn’t fit the countless hours I’ve spent teaching myself HTML, photography and videography or writing and reporting stories.
The envelope didn’t have enough room for my passionate journalistic debates with other students and faculty. It was too small for my volunteer work with the Society of Professional Journalists.
How does a person that opens these packages on the other end decide who’s worthy and who isn’t? If whoever he or she is on the other side isn’t seeing all of me in my manila envelope, I would be the other applicants share the same dilemma.
I sent my envelope to the graduate program at the School of Communication of American University in Washington, D.C. Interim Director of Graduate Services Jill Grinager said 18 students are accepted out of more than 250 applicants. How can they tell who’s “good enough” by what’s in that envelope?
I haven’t just applied to graduate schools. I’ve been keeping my options open and have been looking for jobs too.
I e-mail resumes, cover letters and clips to every job listing possible but only get bites from about one out of a hundred publications. Hiring editors that do reply usually respond with something like, “I like your stuff but we don’t have any openings right now. Sorry.”
The editor of the newspaper I did an internship at last summer likes my work ethic but doesn’t have any openings. He doesn’t expect any to open up in the near future, either.
What about my professional network? Let’s see. I’ve sent e-mails and left voicemails for every editor, reporter, writer and professor. They either don’t respond or reply with “Sorry. I can’t help you right now.”
Why should I keep going through the motions if none of them are working? What’s the point? My drive was gone.
I had to dig my passion for journalism out of the heap of meaningless tasks. How though? Everything that my professors and mentors have been telling me to do wasn’t getting any results. I pushed networking. I perfected my resume. I had more clips and published works than I could ask for. I still wasn’t getting any results.
Every day, I ran out to the mailbox at my house when the mail came. There wasn’t anything for me from American University or from anywhere else that interested me.
If I wasn’t at home when the mail came, I called my mom and asked her if I got anything. Every time, the same reply, “No, sorry Matt.”
How are we supposed to keep on keeping on when we don’t know what, if anything, is ever going to come of our efforts? What’s the point?
Should we follow the advice of professors and mentors blindly? It’s worked for me in the past when I was trying to secure and unpaid internship. But, now, I’m fighting for a job. I can’t work for free anymore.
USA Today executive editor John Hillkirk said to Penn State’s Daily Collegian that now would be a great time to be a young journalist if newspapers and media outlets weren’t struggling with business challenges.
So what? The business people can’t figure it out so that means I can’t get a job? Nor can any other driven students?
When I hear about a student or a recent graduate landing a job or even just scoring an interview, I’m shocked in amazement for them. When we graduate, we’ll be lucky if we’re employed in the field we specialize in.
Too many people I know plan on delivering pizzas, waiting tables, tending bar or selling insurance. It’s not fair for any of us.
We’ve all heard about the recession and that it’s bearing down on us all. But, until now, when I’m looking for jobs and applying to graduate schools, it never sank in. These are tough times for all of us. And, now, we have to go out into the world and face them. None of us have any clue what’s next.
As for now, all I can do is wait. I have no control over what happens on the other end of the line. Nor do I even know who’s making a decision about my future with just the contents of a manila envelope.
So, I hope whoever opens that manila envelope likes me. If that person doesn’t like my stuff, I’m screwed.
To the person opening the envelope: I can do the work. Just give me a shot.
Obama plays politics too much
By Matthew Boyle | mboyle@flagler.edu
President Obama reached too far across the aisle this week by asking former President George W. Bush to intervene in a Northern Ireland peace process dispute.
Since taking center stage of politics, Obama has mastered politicking. He appointed former presidential primary election opponent Hillary Rodham Clinton his Secretary of State. Obama’s Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, served in the same role and capacity as he did for President George W. Bush.
Obama takes the old saying, “keep your friends close and your enemies closer,” much too far.
What’s next? With the exception of asking Sen. John McCain to help him negotiate with health care companies or appointing former Alaska governor Sarah Palin the White House Press Secretary, a job she might actually be prepared for with her outstanding speech preparation tactics, Obama is at his limit of reaching across the aisle on American soil.
But, we all know people in power develop habits. So, when Obama runs out of former and potential future adversaries in the United States to politick to, he’s going to have to look elsewhere.
Where can Obama look? Well, Osama bin Laden, assuming he’s still alive, may turn out to be a great Attorney General. bin Laden is known for not letting anyone off the hook, something that may come in handy when we investigate and prosecute bank CEOs for wasting our money.
Speaking of wasting our money, for a new Secretary of the Treasury, how about Kim Jong Il? He runs a communist regime, an experience that may help Americans actually share money and spend wisely.
For a new Chief of Staff, I would recommend Obama hire Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Ahmadinejad runs a tight ship in Iran and, although he’s technically Iran’s president, he’s used to working for a higher power.
For the Department of Homeland Security, Obama has a plethora of United States enemies to choose from. He could look to former or current al-Qaida organizers, Taliban regime officials or pretty much anyone else that leads a military organization in a country that dislikes the United States.
Another way Obama could go with appointing a head of Homeland Security is to name Cuban President Raul Castro or Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to lead. With an appointment of a Latin American leader, Obama would be sending the message that border control and legal immigration are important to him.
For his Department of Agriculture, Obama should consider appointing Mexican President Felipe Calderon secretary. By having a Latin American leader heading a department that deals with lots of immigration issues, Obama will be able to keep a close eye on the hot-button issue.
What about secretaries for the Department of Commerce and the Department of Labor? Obama could look to Latin American leaders to fill these positions as well but a better option would be people who lead in the People’s Republic of China. Though China is just entering the global economic scene, Chinese economic leaders have experience regulating four times as many people as in the United States. Also, most American companies have everything manufactured in China or other Southeast Asian nations.
Appointing a secretary for the Department of Energy would be an easy decision. Almost every country that matters with the exception of the United States has signed onto the Kyoto Protocol.
Also, for an ambassador to the United Nations, Obama could pick any president or leader of any country worldwide. They all hate us.
When Obama said he wanted “Change,” he meant it. But I certainly don’t think anyone expected our president to turn into Miss America. World peace isn’t possible, Mr. President. Stop trying.
President Obama reached too far across the aisle this week by asking former President George W. Bush to intervene in a Northern Ireland peace process dispute.
Since taking center stage of politics, Obama has mastered politicking. He appointed former presidential primary election opponent Hillary Rodham Clinton his Secretary of State. Obama’s Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, served in the same role and capacity as he did for President George W. Bush.
Obama takes the old saying, “keep your friends close and your enemies closer,” much too far.
What’s next? With the exception of asking Sen. John McCain to help him negotiate with health care companies or appointing former Alaska governor Sarah Palin the White House Press Secretary, a job she might actually be prepared for with her outstanding speech preparation tactics, Obama is at his limit of reaching across the aisle on American soil.
But, we all know people in power develop habits. So, when Obama runs out of former and potential future adversaries in the United States to politick to, he’s going to have to look elsewhere.
Where can Obama look? Well, Osama bin Laden, assuming he’s still alive, may turn out to be a great Attorney General. bin Laden is known for not letting anyone off the hook, something that may come in handy when we investigate and prosecute bank CEOs for wasting our money.
Speaking of wasting our money, for a new Secretary of the Treasury, how about Kim Jong Il? He runs a communist regime, an experience that may help Americans actually share money and spend wisely.
For a new Chief of Staff, I would recommend Obama hire Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Ahmadinejad runs a tight ship in Iran and, although he’s technically Iran’s president, he’s used to working for a higher power.
For the Department of Homeland Security, Obama has a plethora of United States enemies to choose from. He could look to former or current al-Qaida organizers, Taliban regime officials or pretty much anyone else that leads a military organization in a country that dislikes the United States.
Another way Obama could go with appointing a head of Homeland Security is to name Cuban President Raul Castro or Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to lead. With an appointment of a Latin American leader, Obama would be sending the message that border control and legal immigration are important to him.
For his Department of Agriculture, Obama should consider appointing Mexican President Felipe Calderon secretary. By having a Latin American leader heading a department that deals with lots of immigration issues, Obama will be able to keep a close eye on the hot-button issue.
What about secretaries for the Department of Commerce and the Department of Labor? Obama could look to Latin American leaders to fill these positions as well but a better option would be people who lead in the People’s Republic of China. Though China is just entering the global economic scene, Chinese economic leaders have experience regulating four times as many people as in the United States. Also, most American companies have everything manufactured in China or other Southeast Asian nations.
Appointing a secretary for the Department of Energy would be an easy decision. Almost every country that matters with the exception of the United States has signed onto the Kyoto Protocol.
Also, for an ambassador to the United Nations, Obama could pick any president or leader of any country worldwide. They all hate us.
When Obama said he wanted “Change,” he meant it. But I certainly don’t think anyone expected our president to turn into Miss America. World peace isn’t possible, Mr. President. Stop trying.
Idahoan experience reshapes axiom of people
By Matthew Boyle | mboyle@flagler.edu
Idaho’s air smelled fresh and looked clean too. The smog I grew up with in the Northeast was gone. A view of pristine, snow-capped mountains surrounded me on each side in the distance and everywhere I went there were well-kept city and community parks.
One thing I was sure Idaho would have wasn’t there, though. I thought there were supposed to be potato farmers and rednecks everywhere but there weren’t. The people in Idaho weren’t that much different than the people in Massachusetts.
My friends went to school, did their homework and worked part-time jobs at supermarkets and fast-food joints. They went to the movies and to house parties to have fun on the weekends.
My friends’ parents worked in offices and went out to nice restaurants. Most of them went to college.
After my junior year of high school, my dad took a job in Boise, Idaho. It was the first time in my nearly 18 years of existence that we moved. I had lived in the same house in Canton, Massachusetts for my entire life.
My new house was huge. Real estate was much less expensive in Idaho than in Massachusetts. In my house in Canton, we had three bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms. In my new house, we had five bedrooms and three full bathrooms.
The new kitchen sparkled with freshly polished granite counters and the fancy cabinetry made my mom happy. I especially liked the under-cabinet lighting.
John, my new house’s builder, would come by every once in a while to fix anything that wasn’t working properly. Because my parents bought the house brand new, we got this “special” treatment.
John was a local. He was born and raised in Idaho. I asked him how many potato farms were in the area around our new neighborhood and he said there weren’t any. I was surprised.
My friends in Canton told me there were going to be redneck farmers everywhere. So did my family in Massachusetts. But there weren’t any redneck farmers near me. The people were the same.
I worked at a supermarket in one of Boise’s suburbs, Eagle, Idaho. My job was to stock the shelves for the stuff that sold fast like milk, bottled water, store-brand soda, eggs, dairy products and bread. For the time period leading up to Thanksgiving, I was responsible for keeping the stuffing, gravy and canned vegetable shelves full. During that pre-holiday sales rush, the citizens of Eagle bought frozen turkeys from the store’s meat department and bags of potatoes from the produce department.
Contrary to what I had thought beforehand, apparently the people in Idaho didn’t grow their own potatoes or raise their own turkeys. The Idahoans bought their potatoes, turkeys and vegetables at the store just like the people in Massachusetts.
After I made a few friends at my new high school, Mountain View High School in Meridian, Idaho, I accepted an informal invite to a party on a Friday night. I didn’t want to drive, so my friend picked me up. He wasn’t driving a beat up red pickup truck. He was driving a little red sport car.
We pulled up to the party in his fiery red Mitsubishi Eclipse with the convertible top down. The music was blaring but he wasn’t playing country music. We were listening to Dr. Dre.
The people inside sported American Eagle and Abercrombie & Fitch polo shirts. They wore Adidas and Nike sneakers and rocked Lucky and Tommy Hilfiger jeans. They weren’t wearing overalls, leather boots or flannel button-down shirts. No one was donning a cowboy hat.
I thought I was flying into Redneckville USA. Instead, I discovered that people everywhere are pretty much the same.
Idaho’s air smelled fresh and looked clean too. The smog I grew up with in the Northeast was gone. A view of pristine, snow-capped mountains surrounded me on each side in the distance and everywhere I went there were well-kept city and community parks.
One thing I was sure Idaho would have wasn’t there, though. I thought there were supposed to be potato farmers and rednecks everywhere but there weren’t. The people in Idaho weren’t that much different than the people in Massachusetts.
My friends went to school, did their homework and worked part-time jobs at supermarkets and fast-food joints. They went to the movies and to house parties to have fun on the weekends.
My friends’ parents worked in offices and went out to nice restaurants. Most of them went to college.
After my junior year of high school, my dad took a job in Boise, Idaho. It was the first time in my nearly 18 years of existence that we moved. I had lived in the same house in Canton, Massachusetts for my entire life.
My new house was huge. Real estate was much less expensive in Idaho than in Massachusetts. In my house in Canton, we had three bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms. In my new house, we had five bedrooms and three full bathrooms.
The new kitchen sparkled with freshly polished granite counters and the fancy cabinetry made my mom happy. I especially liked the under-cabinet lighting.
John, my new house’s builder, would come by every once in a while to fix anything that wasn’t working properly. Because my parents bought the house brand new, we got this “special” treatment.
John was a local. He was born and raised in Idaho. I asked him how many potato farms were in the area around our new neighborhood and he said there weren’t any. I was surprised.
My friends in Canton told me there were going to be redneck farmers everywhere. So did my family in Massachusetts. But there weren’t any redneck farmers near me. The people were the same.
I worked at a supermarket in one of Boise’s suburbs, Eagle, Idaho. My job was to stock the shelves for the stuff that sold fast like milk, bottled water, store-brand soda, eggs, dairy products and bread. For the time period leading up to Thanksgiving, I was responsible for keeping the stuffing, gravy and canned vegetable shelves full. During that pre-holiday sales rush, the citizens of Eagle bought frozen turkeys from the store’s meat department and bags of potatoes from the produce department.
Contrary to what I had thought beforehand, apparently the people in Idaho didn’t grow their own potatoes or raise their own turkeys. The Idahoans bought their potatoes, turkeys and vegetables at the store just like the people in Massachusetts.
After I made a few friends at my new high school, Mountain View High School in Meridian, Idaho, I accepted an informal invite to a party on a Friday night. I didn’t want to drive, so my friend picked me up. He wasn’t driving a beat up red pickup truck. He was driving a little red sport car.
We pulled up to the party in his fiery red Mitsubishi Eclipse with the convertible top down. The music was blaring but he wasn’t playing country music. We were listening to Dr. Dre.
The people inside sported American Eagle and Abercrombie & Fitch polo shirts. They wore Adidas and Nike sneakers and rocked Lucky and Tommy Hilfiger jeans. They weren’t wearing overalls, leather boots or flannel button-down shirts. No one was donning a cowboy hat.
I thought I was flying into Redneckville USA. Instead, I discovered that people everywhere are pretty much the same.
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