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No need to shout, student activists

In Columns and Editorials on November 7, 2009 at 8:03 pm

In recent weeks there have been demonstrations both on campus and off made by a group of UWF students attempting to persuade others to take certain political action.

Sometimes this action is directly related to events that have happened in the greater Pensacola community. Sometimes they are asking students to join their fight against the system as a whole.

I watched one of their demonstrations on campus last week and noticed that the student body seemed largely apathetic to what they were doing. Even if I am slightly sympathetic toward their viewpoint, I still have to wonder if the old tried-and-true method of taking to the streets really works anymore.

It seems like this entire decade has been filled with protests by people from one side of the political spectrum or the other trying to convert people to their point of view.

When Bush was in office we had an ever-increasing number of Americans marching on the nation’s capital and asking for the War in Iraq to end, or for the impeachment of the President. In spite of all of their hard work and planning, nothing changed.

I never heard anybody say that their minds were changed because of the angry protesters on TV. If anything, they complained that these people were getting the attention that they got.

It certainly didn’t put a dent in Bush’s morale, either. It’s the same with the Tea Party protesters (I’ll be civil here and not call them “teabaggers,” as much as it makes me chortle with glee), the abortion protesters on 9th and Creighton, or the “Bible Baptists” who condemn motorists out on Davis Highway. People don’t want to hear it.

They look the other way, drown it out with their car stereo, or even shout offensive things back at the protestors. You don’t exactly endear people to your cause by being loud and obnoxious about it in public.

In fact, you risk turning people off to it altogether. I am not saying that this group of protesting students were necessarily jerks to anybody. I’m almost certain that they weren’t. I’m just saying that they shouldn’t be surprised if people were less than receptive to their message.

As we say in mass communication, “the medium is the message,” and nowadays if your medium is a bullhorn, you’re guaranteeing that people are going to take offense to what you have to say.

For my money, things like politics and religion are just way too personal to people for you to just change their mind on it like it’s a consumer product. I think the only real way you can change their mind on such matters is by just setting a good example for your cause.

As cheesy as it sounds, everything really is inter-connected, and if you don’t want to say it like that you can say that we’re all part of the same conversation. Everything we do communicates something.

You’re communicating with people just by how you act when you pass them in the hall. If you’re a cool guy, people are going to see that and want to know what makes you so cool and maybe want to get down with what you’re doing.

Just a suggestion.

Originally published by The Voyager for the University of West Florida.

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Socialism is now a four-letter word

In Columns and Editorials on November 7, 2009 at 7:58 pm

I hate talking about politics in this town. Being a non-conservative in Pensacola is like getting caught wearing the scarlet letter.

It sucks because whenever people want to talk about politics with me, I always wind up having to argue on the behalf of a certain ideology, even if that ideology isn’t mine.

I can’t just talk about it openly with people and share my thoughts with them.

They hear my point of view on it and immediately assign me to a label and begin arguing with me about it. And it’s funny because when they’re arguing with me, they’re actually just arguing with the label that they stamped me with.

Ever since last year’s election I’ve had people telling me that I’m a socialist because I voted for the Democrat and not the Republican.

What is this? It’s like the right has completely abolished the left wing of American politics, going so far as to say that anyone who isn’t on their side of the spectrum should be living in another country: an evil, socialist country. That’s not fair.

First of all, America actually has a socialist party, and it’s not the Democrats.

It is a legitimate third-party organization that had its own candidate for the 2008 election, Brian Moore.

Moore was on the ballot in eight states, including Florida, and had his best showing in Tennessee, a “red state!” Days before the election, Moore even went on The Colbert Report to dispel the claim that Obama was a socialist.

If I was a socialist, why did I vote for Obama and not him?

Second of all, I swing both ways. I voted for both Republicans and Democrats in the last election, and I try to decide where to cast my vote based on the issue, not on which party I favor more.

Moderates like me are the ones that decide these elections, and let me tell you something: the way that the right has been acting lately makes me want to vote for them even less than before.

All I see is this vocal minority of protesters that are always on the news trying to make the case that Obama is a Muslim, a socialist, a national socialist, a liberal democrat, a communist and an immigrant (and the Joker, which really makes no sense because the Joker was an anarchist who didn’t believe in having any kind of structure) all at the same time.

It’s like they’re going down a big list of groups that America has been at odds with and saying that he’s one of them, not one of us. He’s an outsider, an “other.” It’s textbook xenophobia, and it’s terrible.

Now granted, I don’t think all people who dislike Obama are racists, but when you see a major figure from the Tea Party movement admitting to Anderson Cooper that he thinks Obama is an “Indonesian Muslim turned welfare thug,” you can’t exactly say racism isn’t a factor.

I understand some people don’t like the idea of universal health care, but that’s not enough to justify saying disrespectful comments like that about a president that was democratically elected fair and square.

I mean, have you checked out which countries have universal health care?

All the cool ones! Even the patron saint of conservative media himself, Rupert Murdoch, hails from Australia, which not only has universal health care but also strict gun laws that have been proven to reduce crime! I mean that’s borderline hypocrisy.

The man behind FoxNews, the most jingoistic news network on TV, is not only from another country, but from a country where liberalism is proven to actually work!

Anyway, I’m going off topic. All I’m trying to say is that we need to stop throwing labels at each other.

I’m not a socialist, or a communist, or a liberal.

I’m Mike. And I believe that countries work better when people don’t go around reducing each others thoughts and feelings down to a single boring word.

Originally published by The Voyager for the University of West Florida.

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Atlantis won’t launch before Sunday

In NASA coverage, News on November 7, 2009 at 7:36 pm

After more than six hours of deliberation, the mission management team at Kennedy Space Center has decided not to allow space shuttle Atlantis to be launched before Sunday, Dec. 9, at 3:21 p.m. EST.

The statement implies that while there’s no possibility of it launching before it’s window on Sunday, the launch itself is of no guarantee.

The cause of the delay is random electrical trouble regarding the sensors in the shuttle’s liquid hydrogen fuel tank. Mission managers are investigating the wiring between the sensors and the shuttle’s onboard point-sensor box to check for an open circuit.

“As of today, no one has come forward with a good plan to improve our situation in a real hardware sense,” said Wayne Hale, the space shuttle program manager.

A possible solution was brought forth at the mission management team meeting that included changing the launch criteria to require all four sensors to be in working order prior to the launch rather than the usual criteria which allows for one faulty sensor.

This comes in sharp contrast what was stated during the Dec. 6 press conference, in which officials discussed the allowing of only two sensors to be in working order.

“We don’t want to get launch fever,” said Hale, “we want to make sure that when we launch it’s safe.”

The new proposal also includes restricting the launch window from its typical five minute period to only one minute. This is a fuel-conserving measure that ensures that the shuttle will have enough fuel to carry out the necessary parts of its mission.

Mission managers are also weighing the idea of launching without first determining the root cause of the sensor failures.

The announcement comes more than a day after mission STS-122’s original planned launch day. This brings the mission one day closer to the final day of its launch window, Thursday, Dec. 13.

Originally published by The Corsair for Pensacola Junior College.

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A look at the Columbus space lab

In NASA coverage, News on November 7, 2009 at 7:32 pm

NASA mission STS-122 will introduce a new technological innovation to the International Space Station, courtesy of NASA’s partner in the mission, the European Space Agency.

The new addition, Columbus, will attach to ISS and serve as a laboratory in which astronauts on the space station will engage in several different kinds of scientific experiments.

“What goes up tomorrow is an operating laboratory,” said Alan Thirkettle, the ESA’s International Space Station program manager, in a Dec. 5 press conference, “it doesn’t have to be outfitted, it’s all ready to go and ready to start work.”

The Columbus laboratory weighs approximately 13 tons, with two tons used specifically for scientific facilities, including over 1,102 pounds of scientific instruments.

The laboratory has twenty experiments on it’s agenda, some of which will begin within the first few days of the mission. Experiments will be done in a variety of different scientific disciplines, such as biology, fluid science, and the study of human physiology.

The goal of these experiments is not only to improve the quality of life in space, but here on Earth as well.

“We want to use this station to improve the lives our citizens,” Thirkettle said.

The program itself has cost the ESA approximately five billion euros to date, which translates to approximately seven billion US dollars.

The program was paid for through the combined efforts of 10 different European countries, with Germany contributing the highest with 30 percent of the funding. France was the second highest contributer, funding 25 percent of the program, and Italy contributed 17 percent.

In addition to the Columbus, the ESA will also be introducing the Automated Transfer Vehicle, a new kind of re-supply ship for ISS, the first of which will be launched in early 2008.

The ATV will contain five different kinds of cargo for re-supplying the space station, including up to 5.5 tons of dry cargo and one ton of water.

Once the ATV engages to ISS, astronauts can open the hatch and retrieve supplies from the inside of the vehicle. After the transfer is made, the vehicle will make its way back to Earth.

Originally published by The Corsair for Pensacola Junior College.

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Millions nearly cut from sheriff’s budget

In Financial News, Local News, News on November 7, 2009 at 7:30 pm

A motion to reduce the Sheriff Office’s budget by $2.5 million was rejected on Thursday at the Board of County Commissioner’s second public hearing regarding the county’s new budget.

The idea was brought forth by County Commissioner Mike Whitehead and was rejected by the other members of the board 3-2.

“For the men and women of law enforcement it’s important for us to have the equipment and the resources to combat [the] growing criminal element,” said Lt. Jerry Cox, one of many sheriff’s deputies who had attended the hearing, “I just felt that Commissioner Whitehead has a personal agenda for political reasons.”

The motion was part of a larger process by the Board of County Commissioners to lower property taxes and make cuts to the budget for the 2008/2009 fiscal year. Whitehead had made it clear during a Sept. 4 hearing that the sheriff’s budget would be a preferable place to make multi-million dollar cuts.

“I’m not picking on the sheriff here,” said Whitehead during Thursday’s hearing, “[his budget is] the biggest chunk. It is what it is”

During the board’s previous budget hearing Whitehead had remarked that the $900,000 in budget cuts that the sheriff’s office had already made was not enough considering that the budget itself is for $79 million.

Despite warnings from other board members that cutting costs could mean reducing the number of law enforcement officers, Whitehead asserted that the cuts could be made from less important areas.

“I still believe that there’s room in this thing and you’re missing a huge opportunity if you don’t take advantage of it today,” Whitehead told the board members.

Some believe that Whitehead’s recent defeat in the local elections last August have rendered him a loose cannon.

“[Commissioner Whitehead] doesn’t have anything to lose right now,” said Eric Haines, an Escambia county deputy with the Police Benevolent Association, “He can come out and say what he wants to without fear of retribution.”

At their previous meeting the board had unanimously voted to roll back property taxes from 8.017 mills to 6.9755 and to set the millage rate for the sheriff’s municipal services taxing unit, or MSTU, at .6850.

Thursday’s hearing was the final step in deciding upon the budget for the next financial year. The MTSU is a special funding source that is provided with a separate property tax rate from the rest of the county.

Property tax rates are expressed in mills, which are $1 for every $1000 in property value.

According to Chairman Gene Valentino, this is the single largest tax cut in the history of Escambia County.

Originally published at Ricksblog.biz for the Independent News.

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Launch scrubbed again due to failing sensors

In NASA coverage, News on November 7, 2009 at 7:29 pm

Confirmation came from mission managers at 7:24 a.m. EST today that a Sunday launch for space shuttle Atlantis had been cancelled.

At approximately 6:50 a.m. EST this morning, the third of four liquid hydrogen sensors on the LH2 fuel tank of NASA’s space shuttle Atlantis failed its simulated tests.

This was in violation of the revised criteria put forth by mission managers yesterday which stated that all four sensors must be working properly throughout the duration of the launch proceedings for the launch to continue.

“Two or three minutes after [a simulated test] was done they were all ‘dry’,” said NASA Test Director, Doug Lyons, “then we saw system number three go from ‘dry’ to ‘wet,’ which was a failure.”

As was stated by the mission managers during the press conference on Saturday, Dec. 9, if a scrub were to occur the launching proceedings would become a series of testing exercises to troubleshoot the sensors.

All indications point to the malfunctions being caused by an open circuit somewhere in the wiring between the shuttle and the fuel tanks. Mission managers will convene today at 9 a.m. EST to discuss when another launch may be attempted.

The malfunctioning sensors have been behind the grounding of Atlantis since Thursday, Dec. 6, when two of them failed simulated tests.

Mission STS-122, in which Atlantis delivers a payload consisting of the European Space Agency’s Columbus laboratory module to the International Space Station, has been consistently postponed ever since.

Originally published by The Corsair for Pensacola Junior College.

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Launch window slammed shut on STS-122

In NASA coverage, News on November 7, 2009 at 7:22 pm

After a meeting held on Dec.9 to assess the faulty fuel sensors of space shuttle Atlantis, mission managers at Kennedy Space Center have decided to not launch the shuttle within it’s December launch window.

The shuttle was set to launch earlier that morning, but the proceedings were cancelled when its engine cut-off sensors failed a series of simulated tests.

The delay means that mission STS- 122, in which the shuttle delivers a new laboratory module to the International Space Station, can be initiated no sooner than Jan. 2, 2008. Mission managers will keep the shuttle at its launch pad while various tests are carried out to isolate the problem.

“All of our efforts are going to be, first of all, to do some troubleshooting… to try and capture this failure,” said LeRoy Cain, chair, mission management team.

In the meantime, the flight crew of mission STS-122 will be returned to Houston, Texas. Although there is less than three years left in the space shuttle program, mission managers are confident that the delay of mission STS-122 will in no way hinder the completion of the International Space Station’s construction.

“The team is disappointed, but highly motivated… to get [mission STS-122] back into a launch posture,” said Doug Lyons, space shuttle test director.

The troublesome electrical failures happen intermittently during the filling of the liquid hydrogen fuel tank.

On the morning of Dec. 9, at about three minutes after a sequence of simulated tests to the sensors, a failure of the third sensor was declared. Due to revised launch criteria that was commissioned after the original launch day was postponed, if a failure of any of the four sensors was noticed the shuttle was not to launch.

After the launch was aborted mission managers used the rest of the day for tanking tests.

Originally published by The Corsair for Pensacola Junior College.

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A mouse among elephants

In Columns and Editorials on November 7, 2009 at 7:10 pm

Since the start of the semester and my first column, I have received numerous compliments from people all over campus who enjoy “Vultures.” I don’t know where these people stand politically or who they voted for, but I value every one of them as readers regardless.

My column is not about soapboxing, it’s about giving everyone something interesting to read, and hopefully getting a laugh once in a while as well. That’s why even though my values usually don’t match those of some of the people in the White House, I am making sure that none of my readers feel alienated from this column.

This Monday, President George W. Bush visited Pensacola to talk up his fellow Republicans Charlie Crist and Jeff Miller before the election on Nov. 7. Despite the fact that it was meant to be a quick speech and he wouldn’t be taking any questions, I still knew that if “Dubya” was in town I’d have to catch him.

The whole presentation before Bush spoke was similar to the mood before a rock concert or something. I felt like a lot of the anticipation was in simply waiting to see a famous person. Maybe politicians are taking America’s infatuation with celebrities and using it to their advantage. I’ve talked to politicians before, I’ve worked for politicians before, and this wasn’t like going to see a politician speak. It was more like going to Times Square and waiting for Britney Spears to look down and wave from the TRL window.

The actual speech was more or less a rerun of all the other speeches he’s made for the mid-term election. Bush talked up the local Republicans, then spent most of the time assuring everyone that everything that has happened in Iraq has been on purpose and that Democrats don’t have what it takes to protect the country or properly fight a war. (That was kind of interesting coming from someone who took us to war without the foresight of an exit strategy. I’m just saying.)

Towards the end, he started to tug the WWII heart strings, bringing up how Japan had once been our enemy after attacking our base at Pearl Harbor, but is now an ally. Even though Japan has established itself as a pacifist nation after the horrific nuclear blasts that rocked its soil over a half-century ago, the word “pacifism” was gracefully left out of W’s speech.

Bush even had some jokes too. At one point I swear I heard him say that 500,000 multiplied by 4 is 2,000. But I could be wrong; I’m actually very terrible with math.

Ideas are a funny thing, aren’t they? Republicans have an idea. Democrats have an idea. Terrorists have an idea. The founding fathers had an idea. I have an idea. I also have a column to write it in. But at the end of the day, ideas are only something that pop in and out of our brain (usually while we should be thinking about something else).

Reality is what really matters. Reality is where everything is happening and where we all find ourselves once we finish thinking about all these great ideas. And in reality, we’re all human (even Bush) and we should all be cool with each other instead of inheriting the beef between two opposing political parties.

I really must admit that I’m a sucker for unity, and it was really nice seeing several thousand people in one place all very happy and optimistic.

But when you divide people in half and tell this group to be happy over here and the other to be happy elsewhere, then it isn’t really unity. In unity there is no duality, no division, and no opposition. In reality there is unity, in ideas there is division. Don’t let your ideas distract you.

Originally published by The Corsair for Pensacola Junior College.

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Money in, money out

In Financial News, News on November 7, 2009 at 7:10 pm

This year PJC plans to spend more than $48.4 million to maintain its operations.

In order for the school to organize its funds and plan for the upcoming fiscal year, the faculty must decide upon an operating budget.

The budget itself is compiled by various areas of the administration, such as planning, fiscal resources, and business affairs, according to Gean Ann Emond, vice president of business affairs. These different areas work separately to come up with a budgeting strategy that pertains to their individual department needs.

The different areas gather to formulate an overall operating budget, taking into account the needs of each individual area, as well as the goals of the school in general.

Once the budget is complete, the school waits for state legislature to allocate the funds that are needed.

The process of creating the operating budget might seem incredibly arduous, but as Emond explained, it isn’t as much trouble as it sounds.

“It could be overwhelming if you think about it. It is an awful lot of money,” Emond said, “And it’s all taxpayer money, for the most part, and student fees. The people at the college have a responsibility to the taxpayers, to the students, to do the best job that we can do with those dollars that they’ve given us.”

About 73 percent of the $49.1 million expected in revenue this year comes from state support, while about 25 percent is collected from student fees such as tuition, lab fees and application fees.

As far as revenue goes, the school is doing quite well for having just survived two extremely crushing hurricane seasons, Emond said. Usually it takes about three years for schools to fiscally recover from such devastating weather.

Although PJC has taken a hit from declining enrollment, the state has helped to boost the school’s recovery by allocating an extra $439,219 in tuition refunds.

PJC’s share of state lottery funds amounts to nearly $3.6 million.

“There are three sources of funds [to be allocated],” said Vance Land of the PJC business department, who wrote a dissertation on the lottery’s funding of public schools. “The funds go to the winners of the games, then to administration of the lottery and then is distributed to education.”

The budget’s allotted expenditures include $36.5 million, or about 75 percent, towards personnel costs, including payroll from administrators to faculty, technical support and student assistants.

Expenses to maintain the college, like travel, utilities and maintenance amount to about $11.7 million or 24 percent of the budget.

Capital outlay, like learning materials for the library is about $180,000.

Originally published by The Corsair at Pensacola Junior College.

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Cheese coney contends with costumed cow

In Columns and Editorials on November 7, 2009 at 7:08 pm

Through the large screen holes in front of my face, I could see the crowd cheering for me as I stepped into the center of the makeshift arena. I was nervous, not because of the impending showdown, but because of possible health risks of attempting the rigors of combat while wearing something so hot and heavy.

My fingers pruned in the sweat that was collecting in my three-fingered over-sized cartoon glove. My legs bounced as I walked into the makeshift arena; it’s the only way to walk in shoes as large as mine. I lifted my hands into the air, provoking the crowd.

I turned to see my opponent, the giant man-sized cow, enter the arena. He was a big fucker, but the relative comfort of my costume gave me an edge. I also had the crowd on my side, a bevy of people shouting “Go Weiner!”

I couldn’t let them down. They were counting on me. I was a hot dog. And I was ready to grind some beef.

The space that served as our arena was meant for the kids from a local karate class to perform, one of many attractions at the festival for the grand opening of a branch of AmSouth Bank. I was there representing the Sonic I work at on 9th Ave. My costume was a giant cartoon representation of a Sonic Extra Long Cheese Coney. The man-cow was the mascot of Chick-Fill-A, or however you spell that place.

After I asked some of the karate kids to let me spin around one of their bo staffs for some pictures, the employees of AmSouth who were hosting the festival came up with having the two fast food mascots duke it out.

I’d like to take time here to just give you an idea of what I looked like in the costume. I practically act like a cartoon character anyway out of my own volition in my daily life. Putting on the costume and the big Mickey Mouse gloves and silly clown shoes gave me a chance to let that side of my personality take control and create a whole new character to live in.

There were no preconceived guidelines for how this giant bipedal meat byproduct walked, talked, and behaved. I created this character from scratch. I allowed my body to bob a little as I walked, and made sure to let my arms dangle and exaggerate each step I took. I spoke with a muttered, nervous shout, which developed from just the simple anxiety of being trapped in a hot musty costume and having to talk to strangers. It was this whole act, and the festival goers loved it.

Alright, back to the fight. Combat itself was tricky, especially since the Cow and I were both in ridiculous over-sized costumes and had no idea where a vital spot like the eyes, nose, or throat might be behind the masks we were pummeling. After about a minute the bank employees called out for the two of us to hug and make up, and that was the end of that.

In retrospect, there was no real victor, but we both got some good shots in that made for some really funny photos. I gave a bow and let the crowd cheer some more, then coolly went back to walking around and entertaining little kids.

Originally published by The Corsair, for my column, “Vultures on a Carousel.”

This article won me the 2007 FCCAA State Publications award for Best Humor Writing.

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