The SGA was accused of initiating the passage of a smoking ban policy on Western’s campus in this column in a recent issue. Amber Nold wrote an extended comment on line at griffonnews.com about how the research wasn’t done right and we had delivered misinformation. Look on the website now. You will see the document which clearly states that the SGA is recommending the smoking ban.

Smoking Ban Proposal: Page 1, Page 2

Now who needs to do the research? If the question is coming from administration then the answer from the SGA should be short and to the point. The position of SGA should be a piece of paper with one capital N and one capital O. That is the students position and the SGA members have all sworn to represent the students during their campaign.

SGA has failed.

SGA should have spent the $100,000 used to pay for those desks, which should have been administration’s responsibility, for an ad campaign instead. The campaign should explain how students are going to take a more active role in their education and supply their own student services. The campaign would help students understand the benefits of paying an additional $175 budget replenishment fee each semester so students could run the entire second floor of Blum Union.

But, the SGA is only going to introduce a $75.00 increase in fees. That will get us no additional power or services than we are seeing now. If the amount was $175.00 we could take over the second floor of Blum Union and have control of all of the student services.

The administration will never again be so motivated to bargain this favorably for students to take power. SGA is missing the opportunity to take control completely and rewarding administration by buying furniture for them. Get off your elbows and fight. Do the job you were elected to do. Represent the students.

Student Governor, Peter Gregory wants a smoking ban. He said so in a recent email. He sits on the board. Now, out of nowhere, the board is supposedly pushing a smoking ban? It smells a bit too fishy. SGA is now busying itself finding the terminology the students want to put in the ban?

-NEWS FLASH- We don’t want the ban. That is the position and language that needs to go to the board. If SGA wants to represent students, then that is their only position option. SGA needs to learn to say no to administration.

There is a published document at griffonnews.com which shows the SGA recommending the smoking ban. The SGA has no defensible position. They are wrong on these issues. They have chosen to position themselves against what the students want concerning the smoking ban, they have spent students money kissing administrative backside to the point we will soon be piping sunshine and fresh air to them. They refuse to take advantage of the financial position of this campus to gain student control of student services.

Tell Peter Gregory and those like him to go to a non-smoking school. We were smoking here long before he was born. Smokers built this school literally and figuratively. Smokers built a dam good school that some students are proud to be a part of. Those who don’t like Western the way it is should go to some other school.

The SGA is not fighting or arguing for the student’s position. Instead students see a gift to administration costing students $100,000 with no return of benefits what so ever for all students. SGA is missing a golden opportunity to rule this campus and administration is probably laughing behind closed doors at the way SGA is so easily played.

The $1.9 million raised by a $175.00 fee would replenish the state appropriations cuts that the administration is begging for and get students some much-needed clout on this campus. The SGA could be the most powerful force on this campus if they would just play to win this money game.

As it is, they are loosing badly. They are not fighting against the smoking ban. They are supporting it against student’s wishes. They are refusing to fight for the decision the students made clear in more than one student vote. They are spending large amounts of money for things that are the responsibility of administration with no additional benefits to all students. They are refusing to take over student services and have left students to the whims of a budget-poor administration to supply what it calls student services.

If the present SGA leaders could extract themselves from Western’s administration and start representing students soon we would have a chance to become a truly student-operated campus. We could affect the power to hire and fire our own advisors and student services team and evaluate them on our terms. We could help the administration get back $1.9 million in appropriation cuts. Western could be a place of student leadership and student courage. The SGA needs to wake up, help administration regain financially and put students in a better position to improve their future and the future of this university.

I wanted an old-fashioned real Christmas tree until I found out that pagans of Northern Europe started this tradition long before the birth of Christ. They used the cut trees and bring them inside their homes to remind them that their crops would soon be green again. It also was a sign of worship to the gods of fertility and agriculture.

The Yule log was my next idea. If I couldn’t have a tree at least I could have a log. I could decorate it with mistletoe and holly. If you read the box, Mistletoe is considered a sacred plant by pagans and was used to represent fertility. Holly berries were considered food of the gods. The very word Yule was the pagan word for wheel and is symbolic of the pagan sun god Mithras. His birthday is on the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. Yule logs were burned as worship to honor the sun and the god Mithras.

Okay, I thought. Forget the log. I’ll just burn a candle. I then found that those same pagans practiced burning a candle to honor Mithras also. I guess if they didn’t have a Yule log prepared, lighting a candle meant the same thing.

If you knew me well you would know that I have a decent voice and like to sing. Caroling was the next obvious choice for me. The Romans had the idea first. Turns out, getting all dressed up and singing to entertain your neighbor during the Christmas season (Saturnalia season if your Roman) was practiced by Romans to worship Saturn their god of agriculture.

So, I’m left with parties with family and friends. There will be lots of eating drinking and gift giving. No, that won’t work either because Dec. 25 is actually an ancient Babylonian party day that was practiced by gluttonous eating excessive drinking and giving of gifts. It was to celebrate the birth of the son of Isis, goddess of nature.

To top it all off, most historians believe that Dec. 25 was not the birthday of Jesus Christ anyway. It is very unlikely that shepherds were in the fields on a cold Judean winter night. Experts place his birth about six months after Passover. That puts his birthday in early September.

Holy smoke! Jesus Christ and I are both Virgos. I’m going to have a great break now!

Not that I’m into any of that horoscope stuff.

11 There is a generation that curseth their father and doth not bless their mother.
12 There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.
13 There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up.
14 There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.

You’re supposed to realize you’re getting old when you sound like your parents. If that is true, I’m in trouble, because sometimes when I speak I hear my grandfather.

It happened just the other day. I said “This country is going to hell in a hand basket!” I then knew I had truly obtained grandparenthood. When my grandfather said those words, he was concerned about President Nixon having erased several minutes of a tape recording from the oval office. If only the whoas of Watergate were the level of problems we face today.

Today’s problems are much greater and I shutter to think of the absolute fit my grandfather would have today if he were still here.

I began to think about generations of change. I found out what may be wrong with my generation while viewing the video “America’s Godly Heritage” by David Barton, produced by WallBuilders, Texas. The problems this country faces today, Barton says, can in some cases be traced to public education received since my generation started school.

I started school in 1965 in a small rural Missouri town. The stage for great changes in public education began in 1962-63 and were well established when I began those impressionable years.

The Supreme Court of the United States in 1962-63 decided that there could no longer be prayer in school at all. In 1963 they forbid reading or teaching from the Bible.

It is hard for anyone my age or younger to imagine a Bible lesson or referenced Bible reading in school. It just wasn’t done. We were born too late to even miss it in our normal day at school. The Bible used to be referenced and lessons were taught from those Holy pages until the Supreme Court rulings.

At the time of those rulings, according to Barton’s Video, 97 percent of Americans were self proclaimed Christians. All of the other religions and non religious persons made up 3 percent of the population. Without precedent the Supreme Court with its majority vote ruled in favor of the 3 percent.

I can remember the Ten Commandments hanging in the hall of my grade school and high school, but those too were removed by the court in 1980. The court’s ruling read something like this. If a child is exposed to the Ten Commandments day after day they may read them and some of them may begin to obey them. So, they were removed.

In the aforementioned video, Barton shares some statistics showing the results of the court’s actions.

Unwed teenage pregnancy is up 400 percent since 1963. That is 15 to 19 year old girls and these statistics are adjusted for population increases in America.

Divorce rates before 1963 had been declining for decades but since that time they are up 117 percent. The United States is number one in divorces today.

Single female-parent households with no spouse present are up 300 percent since 1962. That is more than double the population growth factor.

Unmarried couples living together has increased tenfold. That’s 1,000 percent. Without a moral compass for five decades, the last two generations stumble now on little things like the definition of marriage.

Since religion has been barred from our public schools the SAT test scores which were stable for decades before 1962 have plummeted year after year.

America is number one in violent crime today. Since 1962 it has increased by 470 percent, which more than quadruples the population growth rate factor of our nation.

Barton leaves you in his video with a quote from George Washington:

“The propitious smiles of heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which heaven itself has ordained.”

Recently Bott Radio Network sponsored a rally of ministers and religious leaders held in Kansas City, Mo. where Congressman Bob McEwen spoke about how Christians are losing a battle they refuse to fight.

“Politics is simply a question of whether decisions are made for people, or whether people are allowed to make decisions for themselves and we make that choice when we cast our ballot,” said McEwen. He shared statistics during the presentation revealing that only half of the people who consider themselves conservative Christians are registered to vote. Of those registered only half are actually voting.

If conservatives want to see and understand why America is getting further and further away from God, they need to look no further than the mirror. McEwen quoted statistics showing nearly 60 percent of Americans consider themselves Christians. If those people would vote consistently for Bible based conservative legislators, the country would have no other course than becoming a godly country. We would then, it should follow, be in line for his blessings.

In his book “Politics: Easy as P.I.E.” McEwen tells us what those blessings really mean. Keep in mind that America has only 4 percent of the worlds population. McEwen writes:

“Have you ever wondered why America is the richest, most powerful nation on earth? It isn’t that we work harder or that we’re smarter. It isn’t by accident that we create every year more inventions than the rest of the world combined. It isn’t by accident that we have won more Nobel peace prizes than the rest of the world combined. We create more jobs, more music, more books, more community plays, and more symphonies than the rest of the world combined, because we have the most freedom to do so.”

That freedom that he speaks of was brought to us by God-fearing men who set this nation up as a Christian nation. Twenty-nine of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were seminary graduates and acting ministers of God. “Under God” for more than two centuries we have developed, with God’s blessing, into the strongest and greatest nation in the world. Things have been going so well that conservative Christians have become complacent when it comes to their government. Political participation has dwindled the representation of 60 percent of the
nation to only 25 percent of them voting.

So, how do we turn this godless nation around? First look into the mirror. Are you registered to vote? If not find a friend who is involved in politics. Chances are he or she is able to register you. If not, go to the county court house and get registered. It is simple and you can register up to 30 days before the election. Then educate yourself about candidates and issues. Consider how you feel about the issues and vote for those candidates that best meet your convictions. America is a Christian, Godly nation and it is high time we prove it in the ballot box.

Students have stood helpless as class sizes grow with increased enrollment and fewer instructors to cover subjects in a timely fashion to facilitate graduation. The frustration of some students has pushed them toward other campuses to complete their degree.

Timely maintenance of buildings and grounds along with expansion opportunities of the campus have been set aside. The administration has had to cut back on employees in every department. Key, long-term people are not being replaced. Quality student services have been somewhat steady so far but can’t be sustained at the present level.

It is time for students to start paying more. The administration’s hands are tied by Senate Bill 389, which prohibits tuition increases based on increased costs. The application of higher student fees is the only way to keep the quality of Western’s education and experience high.

If administration could have, they would have increased tuition several times in the last decade. They also missed opportunities in the past to increase tuition in accord with senate bill 389, but they opted to keep tuition low. With increasing costs of uncontrollable things such as insurance and utilities Western’s budget is in trouble.

When students are asked to pay an additional fee it should go for student services only. Students will probably go along with the idea and vote to support their own services. Those services are located on the second floor of Blum and include SGA, student engagement, diversity, healthcare, and many other areas of student life.

The Vice President of Financial Planning, Mel Klinkner reported the administration cost for those services other than SGA is about the same as the state’s last budget cut of $1.9 million. To cover the cost of student services students would need to pay an additional $175.00 per semester. If administration increased tuition when they could have students would be paying more of a tuition increase than this.

It makes since to pay for our own services and also have more control over student services. SGA could have control over the budget to cover the second floor of Blum and administration could get back one of the years of state appropriations cuts. The student fees would only freeze the campus budget where it was last year.

We will never have administration this motivated to cooperate with us again. We need to collect the fees and take control of our own services and have a greater voice on campus to hire and fire those who serve us and advise us.

There would be a power struggle to negotiate between administration and the SGA. The students probably wouldn’t get complete control to hire or fire state employees but we could have a greater voice with a vote from the senate of confidence or no confidence of each employee each time the SGA administration changes.

We would be giving the SGA president and senators more power and control over student services. Their budget could go from half a million to nearly $2.5 million overnight. What better way to prepare these leaders of tomorrow? Give them real world problems along with the people and finances to solve them.

How many times do students have to say no by voting down a smoking ban. Please! SGA, stop the insanity. We have voted down the idea of a smoking ban several times and those who think we all voted by mistake, or we didn’t really mean it, think we need to vote again until they get their way.

This was a smoking campus when they got here. If they want to go to a smoke free school then they need to go do that. Stay away from my freedom.

You have to question the intelligence of any student who looks at Missouri Western and sees something they do not like and then they decide to come here to change everyone’s freedoms to suit their behavior. If you don’t like people enjoying a cigarette or cigar between classes outside of the buildings then go to another school.

We smoke here.

We smoked in front of you when you toured the campus with your parents. There are ash trays everywhere outside. You selected this school for what I hope is a good reason that still exist. Cling to that and deal with the smokers.

Maybe your test scores were too low and you couldn’t get into the school of your choice. That is no one’s fault but your own. If you have to go to an open enrollment school then deal with the consequences you caused.

There are problem smokers. They hang around the doors and refuse to smoke in the designated areas. It is a real problem and I have been saying for years that they do so at their own risk. Western’s administration can and will ban smoking if the expense of littering becomes too large of a problem. If smokers would follow the rules, there would be nothing for non-smokers to complain about.

The “smoke banners” also use the tired excuse that they are worried about smokers health and second hand smoke. It is not true. Second hand smoke a few times a week while in college has never been documented as the cause of someones health problem.

If they want a health related cause to champion on this campus then, why not attack the number one health problem here, STDs.

There is a reason the health center hands out free condoms at the front counter. Notice they do not hand out nicotine gum!

The proposed ban is futile. When you get to vote on this issue again please vote to keep our campus free! (again)

Thanks

I’m tired of waiting.

Lets take some time to get the time line right. The presidents healthcare plan included violating the first amendment. Put simply he is forcing individuals and business entities to purchase health insurance for their employees that includes contraceptive devices, sterilization surgeries and abortions in direct violation of their beliefs.

The president must have, in part, agreed that this is a violation of the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States because he created a compromise. He stated that the organizations and businesses didn’t have to pay but the insurance companies would have to provide these products and surgeries for free.

Insurance companies do not provide surgeries and products for free. So, they will have to add it to the bill. I know the president knows this. Any citizen of these United States knows this, and I am told he is one.

His plan:

All non-waivered employers will pay for insurance policies who will provide abortion and contraceptive products.

His compromise:

All non-waivered employers will pay for insurance policies who will provide abortion and contraceptive products.

Do you see the difference? I don’t either. So, if the first was a violation of the first amendment then why are we supposed to be happy with the compromise? I’m not.o has the power to, is violating a constitutional amendment. (again) Where are the minute men? I’m ready to sign up and support whoever is fighting for my rights and I know I am not alone on this. We beat back tyranny once in the backwoods of this country, and some are getting ready to do it again.

Like most Missouri Western State University students I had heard some of the things that the Tea Party supposedly stood for. I heard they were conservative, Bible-thumping, gun-toting racists. I’m sure like any other group of humans there are some of every derivation, but only the truly extreme individuals are exploited and used as the example to satisfy sensational media.

I, like many, based my interpretation of the Tea Party Patriots on what I had heard, but I wanted the facts so I asked her to define what she and her group were about.

“The principles of the Tea Party Patriots are America’s core principles,” Martin said. “Our mission is to restore America’s founding principles of fiscal responsibility, constitutionally-limited government and free markets.”

The Tea Party’s definition of fiscal responsibility is not overspending and not burdening our children and grandchildren with our debt. It is a fact that my five-year-old daughter owns about $54,000 of that debt.

Our country is about 14 trillion dollars in debt, and it is growing daily. Fiscal responsibility sounds great but I don’t know if Americans really know what it means to cut spending enough to make any real difference in our debt load.

It could mean cutting services for those who believe they need it and believe they are entitled to it. I believe if those cuts come too fast and too severe the non-privileged my turn on the privileged (whoever they are?). America is becoming polarized and so is Washington. The gridlock of polarization in Washington obscures any resemblance of government.

I also long for a constitutionally-limited government. I’m not like my friend in the Occupy Wall Street movement who told me recently that the constitution has been rendered useless. I believe it can still work if the government would take a moment and check its laws against what the founding fathers intended and what the constitution says. It is being overlooked and misinterpreted too often.

In recent years the idea of free markets has completely eluded the government of the United States. We have stepped in and bailed out banks and large corporations because we were afraid of what would happen if we allowed capitalism to work. If capitalism had been allowed to work some companies would have gone under. Someone would have purchased those companies for a song. The debt would have been written off. The new company would thrive and hire people and start the money engine all over again.

Capitalism used to divide the winners from the losers. Now, the government picks them. No one wins and no one loses. Banks are afraid to loan money now and companies are afraid to invest in anything including people. Capitalism has failed the Occupy Wall Street group and I don’t blame them for protesting against it.

I wish I could show them how it works with a recent example. I just can’t; there are no recent examples. The United States government should have left capitalism alone. It could have corrected our economy and still has a chance if those in power wish to use it properly.

Martin authored an article titled Why ‘Occupy Wall Street’ Doesn’t Compare, recently that ended this way. “We want Congress, the full Congress composed of our representatives, to make the necessary and difficult decisions to cut spending today. We’re not looking for phantom cuts over some mythical 10-year period that will never come. The nation’s problems are real, tangible, and present today. And the full Congress must deal with them—today.” I agree.

I’ve often wondered what people type in these places and why. Now people can just wonder about me, as always.

Life’s good when you’re strange!

I’ll blog a bit latter today after I get home and unpacked.

Have a great Sunday.

Randy Gingrich is a very personable law enforcement officer and his wife is a teacher. The extended family has of course donated time to Newt’s campaign when ever they could and keep their personal careers on track. Randy seemed comfortable talking to me about his family so I had to ask the very personal questions concerning Newt’s ex-wife and her claims that Newt had asked her for an open marriage during his marriage to her.

His reply seemed very sincere and heart felt. “I remember family vacations with her and how close we were,” Randy said. “I don’t know where this is coming from.” It appeared that he had some answers rehearsed about how the media and others have an interest in seeing Newt’s apparent successes in South Carolina and in the Republican Party diminished.

Local papers here in Charleston put Newt’s debate performance at a B+ and he is favored to win the primary here today.

I can’t help but notice that reading left to right across Yahoo’s opening page today they show photos of Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich in that order. It appears that mainstream media just can’t give Newt his due. The article’s headline claims that Newt will have continuing problems even if he takes South Carolina.

If you have been following me on Facebook and this column you already know that I feel the winner of every debate is the American voter. I am a small part of media who was there and saw Newt Gingrich literally assaulted by CNN on the onset of the debate.

Like Newt, I was appalled at CNN’s opening of the debates with such a blatant attack on a candidates character. CNN is now talking about redemption and forgiveness after the tongue lashing delivered by Newt. I have seldom personally witnessed the power of the American system of government at its best and worst in the same evening.

It is not my job to declare a winner in these debates or the primary. The winner is determined by the voter. We are facing the most important election of our time. If you are not registered to vote you need to educate yourself about the candidates and the issues.

You can register to vote with the aid of any of the student political affiliations at Missouri Western. I’m sure they would love the opportunity to assist you in registering to vote and give you information about their candidates positions.

If you watched the debate you already know that we witnessed four polished professional speakers and masters of debate. Big deal. Each had many points in the debate that I can agree with. I wish I could take the parts I like from each of them and make for myself the best candidate ever.

Let’s get to the background of the day. First, the stage for these debates had five lecterns this morning and four tonight after Governor Perry dropped. Second, we find that Rick Santorum won the Iowa primary. Santorum had a great night at the debates. Third item, Newt Gingrich’s x-wife is reporting that he asked her for an open marriage while they were married. I don’t believe her story for a minute. Ask any married man. We may think we want an open marriage but we don’t ever ask the wife for permission.

Mitt Romney did well tonight and probably held his lead. He is far to moderate for me. He was forced to explain the difference between his healthcare plan for Massachusetts and Obama care. There isn’t much difference so it shouldn’t have taken near as long as it did.

Then, to the shame of CNN, Ron Paul who practiced medicine for years was overlooked on most responses, even those dealing directly with healthcare.

So, who won? It’s my hope that you the voter won. You were given an opportunity to watch the republican candidates as they attack each other and the president. How much is real? How much is true? It is up to us to find out. If you are looking for me to make up my mind so you can vote the same or opposite because you either think I’m either cool or not, your doing it wrong.

These debates seldom have a clear winner. It is as it always has been. You must get involved and understand the candidates and the issues that are important to you.

It’s possible that these debates, full of displays and posturing, will someday be unnecessary if people begin to get involved and participate in their government. Being there reminded me of the Coliseum in Rome. I watched as these would-be gladiators tore each other’s ideas and policies apart. Sometimes it wasn’t pretty.

There needs to be a better way for candidates to discuss ideas in a more constructive way. There are perks to doing things this way however, I had drinks with Gingrich’s brother. I’ll write more on that later.

I filled out the clearance information for CNN a couple of weeks ago and got the word last Sunday that I have been cleared to attend. Look for me in the crowd during the program which will be broadcast live from 8 p.m. till ten p.m. EST tomorrow January 19th on CNN and CNN.com.

I plan to keep everyone at Missouri Western informed about my trip by posting these little stories so follow me on thegriffonnews.com to see how things go.

I have to get up at four in the morning to take the red eye to Chicago and after an hour and a half layover I’ll be headed to Charleston South Carolina to be in the midst of presidential candidates and all that goes with it.

For now I need to get to bed.

Talk to you soon.

I’ve checked in with tonight’s moderator and CNN Anchor, John King. I supplied a question for him to ask. I just want to know how, how soon, and how much can each of the candidates affect the economy in a positive way?

Those of you not following me on facebook didn’t get the part where I hate airports. I love to fly but just don’t like the airports. I think I was meant to have my own private jet.

And, I need an assistant who will work for free.

The Tea Party Patriots have set me up in a very nice three room suite. I will be shooting a video there and have it on youtube soon I hope.

Time is slipping away and I must get ready. The doors open at 5:30 this evening and will close at 7:15. The security is tight as you can imagine.

I will not be allowed to photograph, video, or record anything. I am not even allowed in the area with my cell phone. I’ll just have to go back to tablet and pencil. God I love good old fashion journalism.

I plan to get the information to you as soon as I return to my room tonight.

Stay with me this will get interesting.

Ellis

I’m flying Southwest. It is not my favorite but very user friendly. Also, bags fly for free. I’ll probably send you another message when I reach Chicago.

Sweet dreams.