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.