Email for Protest against Mitch Daniels' Purdue Presidential Nomination

Hello,

I am contacting you on behalf of the Public Protest Against Mitch Daniels as Purdue President in regards to the recent nomination of Mitch Daniels for the position for Purdue President and . The board of trustees, who are responsible for choosing the new president, has a major conflict of interest regarding Daniels' nomination: 8 of the 10 members were appointed by him.[1] Daniels also had just extended the terms for three of the trustees on Tuesday.[2] In addition, the committee that was entrusted to search for qualified people has at least one major partner who knows Daniels by name as well as being a Purdue graduate. [3]  One other major concern is that in the Indiana Code of Ethics, a state employee cannot be employed as a lobbyist for a year after his position has been terminated. [4] One of the major duties of a university president is to lobby for funds from various groups.

Purdue University Senate Special Advisory Committee Report submitted to the Presidential Search Committee of the Board of Trustees that " it is essential that the next President be a recognized scholar with academic credentials equivalent to a tenured Full Professor. A successful President must understand the culture of a successful academy in order to convey that perspective to the Board of Trustees for policy decisions that advance the academy. Those advances should include recognition and promotion of the contributions of all sectors of the Purdue community, including the regional campuses." [5]

Time magazine states in a recent article, "colleges and universities are catalysts of economic development, stewards of public health, incubators of social policy and laboratories of discovery."[6]  This has never been more true as our generation finds itself protecting the very institutions that our ancestors have built; we will fight for our right to a fair education. Daniels does not have the qualifications recommended for the position he has been nominated for, and his record for education as governor is dismal at best. This is an opinion that has been echoed by Morris Levy, a current

Professor at Purdue and a Past Chair of the Purdue University Senate.[7]
The protest will be held on Saturday, June 30th on the Purdue University Memorial Mall from 10 am to 9 pm. Both students and guests will be speaking at the event and anyone is welcome to say a few words.

Please spread the word about the protest and the questionable nature of Daniels' nomination. Your support would be greatly appreciated.

There is a petition on change.org, http://www.change.org/petitions/purdue-university-trustees-eliminate-governor-mitch-daniels-from-consideration-for-purdue-president?utm_campaign=share_button_modal&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition

and a facebook page for the protest, https://www.facebook.com/events/165225290269367/

The press release: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-_vzxuVbPVvTlVpYWxmM3JobDQ/
Here are some articles that have been published about the recent nomination, as well as a link to the trustee by-laws.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iUhcChFLQySm74Or99lVkBpGt1pg?docId=aafbd71a84f24ea486c03680ac12cc51
http://www.indystar.com/article/20120621/NEWS/120621017/Mitch-Daniels
http://www.wrcbtv.com/story/18842101/daniels-expected-to-be-named-purdue-president
http://www.purdue.edu/bot/by_laws/
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/indiana-gov-daniels-named-purdue-president-16619968#.T-Pps7X9_8l

References in this email:
[1] http://stateimpact.npr.org/indiana/2012/06/21/its-official-mitch-daniels-will-lead-purdue-as-universitys-next-president/
[2] http://www.purdueexponent.org/campus/article_92bd284a-b530-5247-a308-b2b7f1563a01.html
[3] http://www.indystar.com/article/20120621/NEWS04/120621053
[4] http://www.in.gov/ig/files/Ethics_Exec_summary.pdf
[5] http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CPoBEBYwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jconline.com%2Fassets%2FPDF%2FBY184245123.DOCX&ei=ZgDkT4ijCOLj0QGppKmYCg&usg=AFQjCNH0WBymJCmSJ5zCUqyFu2QuZlE7WQ&sig2=9tvuarNzhjArxkr4ndx83Q (this link opens a word document.)
[6]  http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1937938_1937934_1937914,00.html
[7] http://www.jconline.com/article/20120621/NEWS0501/306210056/Open-letter-from-Purdue-faculty-Daniels-hire

Due to the nature of the content of this message, I am considering it public. However, if you reply to the message, you may request for your response to be kept private and I will respect your wishes.



Thank you,
Colleen Winters
Purdue Student
Class of 2015

Well, pants. A soliloquy about politics.

What is wrong with America? Or, at least, what is wrong with our media? I personally would like to slap whomever decided that we need to have flashy people to make our decisions. Why not choose substance over sparkle?
I'd love to run for government, but my current restrictions are:
1. Not of age
2. Still in college
3. Don't know much more about politics than some of the (former) president hopefuls this year.

Granted, I read Time Magazine and unfortunately it's my primary news source beyond the internet. But at least there's a few things I like about it. For one, they make sure to have a few conservative opinion pieces every month. I do read these and while I usually disagree with their viewpoint, I respect their opinion. Another point is that they print these fantastic letters to the editor that really give a perspective on how people are viewing their articles. And three, Joel Stein. 'Nuff said.

Mitt Romney appears to be the only Republican with a chance. The other ones appear just to be mudslinging and working the media.
And unless any of them decide to go against traditional republican values and support gay rights, I'm not voting for any of them.

Going home

Coming home after being at college is like revisiting a hookah joint after being smoke-free for a few years: you really, really don't miss it.
The place is a pig sty. My dorm room is messy, yes, but I have everything in a place and I regularly throw out bad food. At home, were peaches in the refrigerator from my last visit. That's seriously gross, as it was well over a month and a half ago. They were soft beyond reasonable measure and one of them had mold. Seriously, folks?
The microwave is disgusting. There's food on the buttons and the inside is splattered. I think if my family didn't have a cleaner come through every other week, then the whole place would look like that microwave.Heck, where my computer is, my dad has already invaded it with his daily supply of chocolate and peanut butter in the form of mini reese's cups.
My mom moved a bunch of things out into a storage unit, and claimed that she would "sort through them later." Last time I checked, she has done a grand total of zero sorting. The garage is getting messier again, and soon we'll have the same problem all over again. Lovely, mom, lovely. This is why I wanted to get you some help from that TLC hoarding show.
I think if you allowed my dad to work in a room that had fresh cooked or fried chicken delivered every day and movies streaming to the computer, plus a bathroom that wouldn't stink too much, he would never leave the room. I'm thinking that he only gets off his computer to eat, or read a book (it's usually what they used to call a "dime novel"), or go to work (where he, surprise, surprise, gets on the computer again).
I cannot complain about my sister, except that she will likely resent having to do her own laundry but will take it as a nuisance that comes with college.

Food is delicious

I came home this weekend for break from college. It was nice, though the house stank of cat pee (something I don't miss at school) and everything on the floor of my room got rearranged (again, not something I miss).
Though two positive things came out of it: Seeing my psychiatrist and cooking my own food.
Don't get me wrong, both of these are actually really great. My psychiatrist is like a second grandfather (spoilers: I only have one) and he is simply wonderful. It was really just a meeting with him and most of the time I just spouted out how wonderful college was. I am having a good time at college, so being home was kind of weird.
My parents had a package of tempeh left in the fridge from... I think July? It wasn't past its expiration date so I did cook it up with what we had in the fridge. Friday night, I cooked it with what salvagible fruits and veggies there were in the fridge (grapes and snow peas, I kid you not. Side note, pan fried grapes with apple cider + apple pie spice is delicious). Saturday I insisted we get some real food, so mom took me shopping and I loaded up on fruits, juices, green beans, and stuff I wanted to take back to college.
Each package of tempeh has 2 servings in it, so I had the other half today for lunch. I cooked up the green beans in advance so that they were partially cooked by the time I added everything else in, and tossed in some frozen onions(! what is mom thinking) and put in some olive oil plus spices. I also got some orange bell pepper, which went in at the same time as the tempeh. Lots of seasonings, per usual, and I also put in apple cider vinegar and lemon. Somehow, the lemon counteracts the vinegar flavor... mostly. Majoram did the rest. Damn I love that stuff, no idea why. Also put a little bit of rum in; the alcohol cooks out and just leaves the flavor. I also shoved in some almond slices for the heck of it. Maaaan the result was tasty, though the onions were nearly indistinguishable from the almonds.

Dorm food is pretty good, since there's a ton of variety, but the dessert section is divine. Likely the only reason I haven't gained a ton of weight is because I am limiting myself to only having dessert for one meal of the day... which is tough.

I love food.

Coupons and freebies

Yes, there (sort of) is such a thing as a free lunch. It's called going to a business fair. All the booths want you to be interested in what they have, so they will give you stuff so that you remember "hey, I got a great coupon for [insert business here], I should visit them."

I managed to get a whole bunch of stuff, and I know other students got more. I managed to feed myself by going to three different pizza stalls, each vying for the clientele that is the freshman class that had come to the fair. So my loot included:

about a half dozen cups (two of which change color)
3 magnets
3 darwinism stickers
a car sticker in the shape of a pizza slice
pens
free candy and food
lots of fliers and callout dates
COUPONS!
bags
bottle opener (I don't drink!)
contact lense case
nail files
whistle/light combo
keychains
dry shampoo spray (!)
tissues
one of those causes bracelet
2 buttons

Dang a lot of stuff. Plus some of the booths probably gave out hundreds of items...
Plus I went into one of the bookstores (which had been at the fair, giving out these giant black mesh bags - looked good for laundry!) and they had a coupon book in there too! Had a $500 gift card to some fancy-sounding online retailer.

Plus in this giant coupon book that one stall was giving, there was a coupon for Best Buy. These guys NEVER have coupons. Plus a ton of other deals.