If you’re a student on campus, you most likely received the email from WSA vice presidential candidate Ben Firke ’12, decrying the “smear campaign” of presidential candidate Bradley Spahn ’11 and reiterating his support for Micah Feiring ’11. A few of us Wesleyingers were surprised by the email’s introduction:
Bradley Spahn is a friend of mine and I have tremendous respect for him. However, I have been troubled by the tone of his campaign and the personal attacks he has made over the past few days. Brad’s smear campaign has resulted in Wesleying refusing to post his attacks and the Argus condemning the tenor of his campaign, and it has troubled me to the point where I can no longer remain silent.
Whoa whoa whoa. Hold yer horses, y’all. This shitstorm’s getting windy. Commentary after the jump.
Let’s back up for a sec. Unlike the Argus, Wesleying does not have a hierarchical, sometimes paid staff that is organized to present monolithic editorial opinion. It should be obvious that we don’t take sides in WSA elections. We’re just a smattering of bloggers, at best loosely organized and most often on totally different pages. If you took our collective posts as comprehensive opinions, you’d conclude that we all support over-sized marijuana cigarettes instead of actual students.
Here’s what did happen: after one blogger posted Jeff Stein ’10‘s letter in support of Bradley Spahn, some of us got freaked out by the letter’s attack-like tone. Wesleying should be a place for debate, but we mostly agree that it should be a place for constructive conversation about making this campus the kind of place we all want it to be. It shouldn’t be a place for bellicose personal sentiments directed against individual students. We can all hate on Delmar Crim together, but it’s less fun to shit on one of our own.
Given that Wesleying doesn’t collectively take a stance on the election, it doesn’t really make sense for Ben to use our content or our actions in support of Micah’s candidacy. We don’t really take a position at all. Mostly, we like to provide information and then have a fun time pointing out the absurdity of it all. If we do have an opinion in the matter, it’s probably in support of Giant Joint. And, that said, there are certainly some Wesleying bloggers who think that the GJ campaign is ridiculous. We try to have a little something for everyone. So please keep us out of your campaign attacks?
Geez. I’ll breathe a little easier once this election is over. One Wesleying alum asked, “who’s been spiking all the drinks at Usdan with Haterade?” I have no idea. Can someone spike the kegs with chill pills tonight?
If you really want to be informed on the whole situation, there’s no use pretending that Jeff’s letter isn’t posted on the ACB (along with comments saying that Wesleying was “sovietized”). I’m sure that Ben’s email will be posted there, too. You can read it if you really want to, and draw your own conclusions about the issue. Other material worthy of your attention: the Argus’ critiques of campaign attacks and excessive campaigning; Argus coverage of the student-run café and the proposed open container rules; a Wespeak in support of Micah’s student-run EMT program and a Wespeak that expresses doubt about his qualifications on the same issue; the Argus’ coverage about the new financial aid committee, of which Brad is co-chair; various Argus articles about Ben’s activities as head of the dining committee; Argus and Wesleying coverage of the presidential debate; and previous Wesleying posts regarding the election. Feel free to suggest other worthy links in the comments.
[EDIT: 4/22, 5:04]
More online coverage to mull over: Over at Aural Wes, O))) has an incendiary anti-Micah, pro-GJ piece about being on the other side of the 190 High incident last summer.
yeah…I see Brad’s got his CSS groupies out on the offensive, but he’s the one that started throwing the shit, a tactic to mask the fact that he hasn’t done shit. Sound political reasoning? I’ve got no sympathy for him.
yeah…I see Brad’s got his CSS groupies out on the offensive, but he’s the one that started throwing the shit, a tactic to mask the fact that he hasn’t done shit. Sound political reasoning? I’ve got no sympathy for him.
I was here this summer – Micah singlehandedly managed to throw away a good portion of the public zine library housed in old student center without notifying anyone (while everyone was away on summer break). Really fucking bizarre thing to do.
I was here this summer – Micah singlehandedly managed to throw away a good portion of the public zine library housed in old student center without notifying anyone (while everyone was away on summer break). Really fucking bizarre thing to do.
Ben’s email was the least personal attack yet in this. It was strictly policy based. Shut your stupid CSS mouth and stay out of stuff you don’t understand.
Ben’s email was the least personal attack yet in this. It was strictly policy based. Shut your stupid CSS mouth and stay out of stuff you don’t understand.
the WSA is a joke get a fucking life
the WSA is a joke get a fucking life
STOP COMMENTING ON THIS WE DONT GIVE A SHIT
STOP COMMENTING ON THIS WE DONT GIVE A SHIT
yeah…I see Brad’s got his CSS groupies out on the offensive, but he’s the one that started throwing the shit, a tactic to mask the fact that he hasn’t done shit. Sound political reasoning? I’ve got no sympathy for him.
yeah…I see Brad’s got his CSS groupies out on the offensive, but he’s the one that started throwing the shit, a tactic to mask the fact that he hasn’t done shit. Sound political reasoning? I’ve got no sympathy for him.
I am proud of Wesleying for answering the misuse of its coverage in a calm and impartial way, and for providing further resources for learning constructive information about the candidates. However, I myself will not pretend to be calm or impartial about the e-mail in question. It greatly angers me that Firke sent an e-mail decrying one candidate for personal attacks which was, in itself, a blatant and hurtful personal attack. He has obviously not considered the divisive effects that campaigning in this way will have on our community and seems to have forgotten that Bradley and his friends are fellow students deserving of respect.
I am proud of Wesleying for answering the misuse of its coverage in a calm and impartial way, and for providing further resources for learning constructive information about the candidates. However, I myself will not pretend to be calm or impartial about the e-mail in question. It greatly angers me that Firke sent an e-mail decrying one candidate for personal attacks which was, in itself, a blatant and hurtful personal attack. He has obviously not considered the divisive effects that campaigning in this way will have on our community and seems to have forgotten that Bradley and his friends are fellow students deserving of respect.
i’m with abraham drinkin’
i’m with abraham drinkin’
Firke can stick blood wherever he wants, just don’t implicate wesleying’s good name
Alright Wesleyan, we’ve got a serious problem on our hands:
There’s a malicious little elf going around stuffing sand up everyone’s vaginas!
…. At least that seems like the only explanation for everyone giving way too much of a shit about something so deeply unimportant. Chill, Wesleyan, just chill.
Firke can stick blood wherever he wants, just don’t implicate wesleying’s good name
Alright Wesleyan, we’ve got a serious problem on our hands:
There’s a malicious little elf going around stuffing sand up everyone’s vaginas!
…. At least that seems like the only explanation for everyone giving way too much of a shit about something so deeply unimportant. Chill, Wesleyan, just chill.
My only crit is that this is maybe too soft on immaturity. I wish we could hold WSA politics to a higher standard than national politics.
My only crit is that this is maybe too soft on immaturity. I wish we could hold WSA politics to a higher standard than national politics.
wow wesleying’s even getting defensive.
also, it seems like Firke wasn’t out for blood, he was just stickin’ up for his running mate
wow wesleying’s even getting defensive.
also, it seems like Firke wasn’t out for blood, he was just stickin’ up for his running mate
Aural Wes??? They don’t even know how to write about music, much less politics. they just rant and rant and rant.
Aural Wes??? They don’t even know how to write about music, much less politics. they just rant and rant and rant.
From Aural Wes: “Instead, a couple times a year a handful of self-selecting bureaucrats-in-training try to delude us into thinking that opening a small cafe and starting the green fund are examples of student empowerment. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to have a place to get coffee at 1am and the green fund sounds totally legit. What I object to is the pretense that those things are anything more than bones thrown by the administration, let alone valuable enough to justify the self-important posturing of current and aspiring members of the WSA.”
Word.