President Kelley, I want the truth

See what I did there? I threw in a little “A Few Good Men” reference. I am so witty. Ok I’m not, but you get the point. As I’m sure most of you are aware, but for those of you who are not, both the Herald and Forum recently printed articles saying that Summit League commissioner Tom Douple was approached by UND president Robert Kelley and athletic director Brian Faison and they told Douple to publicly say that the Summit League would not consider accepting UND until the nickname fiasco was resolved.

I have multiple issues/thoughts about Douple’s allegations. First, it is no secret that President Kelley has been more than compliant with the SBoHE decision to retire the Fighting Sioux nickname. He has put up little-to-no fight (relatively) to keep the nickname. This is likely due to the fact that he has no real ties to the nickname. Before taking the reigns at UND in 2008, he was previously dean of the College of Health Sciences and professor of medical education and public health at the University of Wyoming so his reason for fighting tooth and nail to keep it are few, if any.

The same can be said about Brian Faison. He took over in 2007, after he was the Special Assistant to the President and Major Gifts Officer at New Mexico State University. Faison and Kelley were seen as “outsiders” when they took their respective positions and that may very well be the case. But that leads me to the most obvious point stemming from Douple’s comments. What did Douple have to gain by saying Kelley and Faison pressured him?

Since the UND/Summit League courtship has ended, UND announced they were accepted into the Big Sky Conference on November 1, 2010. So why would Douple, over two months later, make these statements? I understand things happen behind closed doors that few people learn about. But these allegations have raised some very troubling questions about UND’s leadership. To me, it seems like some shady, back-room shenanigans are taking place that are contrary to what current students and alumni would like to see happen.

What was most troubling to me was Kelley’s response to the allegations. Instead of adamantly denying he said those things, he simply stated that he “[doesn’t] recall ever putting pressure on Tom (Douple) as he implied.” He doesn’t recall? Either he remembers or he doesn’t. We need a more definitive answer.

Cyberbullying/Cyber-harassment/Cyberstalking

Call it what you want to call it, we all know what it is. This has been a prevalent topic in the news throughout 2010. But why does it happen? The answer to this question in everyone's mind probably sounds like this: because people (kids mostly) are extremely mean. But the 'why does this happen' question I am trying to get at is why is cyber-negativewordofyourchoicehere happening at all? What can we be doing in order to prevent a.) people from being so mean to others online and b.) people from taking other's words so personal? Is there anything that can be done to prevent it? I am well aware that we will not be able to censor every mean word someone says. But something needs to change. 

Here you go Kevin

North Dakota House Bill 1212

This bill would prohibit alcohol at college sporting events with minors present. A person may not possess or sell alcohol in the presence of minors at public or nonpublic college sporting events of student athletes.

I posted this on the Book earlier so I apologize if you have already experienced my complaining... 

Here is the text of the bill:

A BILL for an Act to create and enact a new section to chapter 5-01 of the North Dakota CenturyCode, relating to the possession and sale of alcoholic beverages at college sporting events; and to provide a penalty.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF NORTH DAKOTA:

SECTION 1. A new section to chapter 5-01 of the North Dakota Century Code is created and enacted as follows: 

Prohibition of alcohol at college sporting events with minors present - Penalty. A person may not possess or sell an alcoholic beverage in the presence of a minor at a public or nonpublic institution of higher education sporting event of student athletes, whether on

the real property under contiguous ownership or control as the location of the sporting event or on the real property of the institution contiguous to that location. The contiguity of property is not broken due to a highway or other transportation corridor. A violation of this section is a class B misdemeanor.

I feel like I am on an episode of Punk'd right now. I can not fathom a scenario where something like this would pass. Or can I?

Jaxon

I decided to post a picture of my son to make my blog not seem so empty. The "1" on his shirt is for his favorite Amendment... the 1st.

Jaxon on his first birthday