Category Archives: Daily Daily

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DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed herein reflect only those of the author, and not the DNC, DCCC, DSCC, the cast of the upcoming (but still so far awaaaay) revival of Arrested Development, and the pandas.

+ Rick Synder unveiled his budget for the 2014 fiscal year, which does increase education funding very slightly, including a 5 percent year-over-year growth in spending and a 2 percent increase to University appropriations. As Rep. Jeff Irwin put it so well, “As far as just the macro level — a small increase for higher education given the very large decrease that he provided back in 2011 — this small increase still leaves us falling behind other states and other nations with less funding for higher education than we had just a couple years ago,” In other words, Gov. Snyder basically got rid of the entire education budget in 2011, and now he’s throwing some pennies at it in an attempt to make up for it. Not impressed.

+ There will also be a gas tax to fix Michigan’s held-together-by-duct-tape infrastructure, and Gov. Snyder will generously take all of the federal money for the healthcare exchanges.

+ Thursday in the North Campus Research Complex, an “unconference” was held, emphasizing entrepreneurship in a non-traditional way. This was done by climbing the trees and feeding squirrels, two of the three things you can do on North Campus, the other being eating breadsticks at the Blue Apple, of course.

+ Union members assembled Thursday night to discuss the new right-to-work law that Gov. Snyder signed into law on Dec. 11, essentially killing the unions. Short version of Thursday night’s meeting: “Uh, yeah, this is messed up.”

+ Viewpoint from the Daily: “So Lance cheated? So what?” So what indeed. I mean, he came out to OPRAH. Everyone knows sitting down with Oprah will make you spill all your secrets. What I’m saying is she’s magical.

+ Another Viewpoint (The Daily got the GEMS today!): “Am I “whipped” for really taking the time and effort to see if this girl I met is my princess?” Jezebel, here we come.

+ Sportz: At the women’s basketball game there were breast cancer survivors and the game was played in their honor. This was an actual cool thing.

+ Crime Notes: Normally we paraphrase these for humorous purposes but I’m going to let this one speak for itself: “A five-gallon container of floor-coating was dispensed on a stairway between 5 p.m. Feb. 4 and 9 a.m. Feb. 6, University Police reported. There are no suspects.” A crime, or the best game of slip and slide ever? You decide.

+ Coalition For Tuition Equality, Wednesday at 7PM, Third Floor, Michigan Union. Then go up the stairs and go to the…

+ ThoughtfulDems Meeting, Wednesday at 8PM on the red couches. And you might even get an opportunity to write one of these Daily Dailies, which is guaranteed to be better than this one.

+ FemDems Presents a Sex-Ed Kick-Ass Thursday at 8PM in the Parker Room of the Michigan Union. I hear there will be demonstrations of all of the contraceptives.

The views expressed herein are solely those of the author and no one else, including all the Democratic groups with initials, The Lockview and its thirteen types of grilled cheese, Chris Brown, or anyone/anything else.

+ A program called MCubed, headed by Mark Burns, chair of the department of Chemical Engineering, gives money to aid projects at the University. I have come up with some foolproof ideas to apply for an MCubed grant, but so far they’ve all involved cats and/or 1970s era Bill Clinton. I’ll keep thinking.

+ Bottom line: Everyone needs to vote for Prop 2 to preserve collective bargaining rights. Because even if Rick Snyder says he’s going to avoid anti-bargaining legislation, the Republicans in Lansing may very well have other plans. Also, our very own Lauren Coffman, Communications Director, was quoted in the Prop 2 article, giving a very good sum-up of the need to constituitionally preserve rights for everyday workers especially compared to Rachel Jankowski’s “uh, well, he said he wouldn’t take them away” defense.

+ In case someone is living under a rock, Gretchen Driskell, the first female (and longest running) Mayor of Saline, is up against incumbent Mark Ouimet for the 52nd House seat. This is probably THE most important seat for Democrats as it is the most flippable to our side. There are two Driskell events coming up for MSU Week that you should sign up for if you care about Lansing having Democrats fighting for you.

+ Everyone should read the section about celebrity dating, especially the adorable story about Matt Damon marrying his bartender Luciana.

+ Sports: The U of M volleyball team got whooped in straight sets to Michigan State. I really really hope this isn’t a harbinger of things to come. However, our hockey team beat… uh… Rochester Institute of Technology in a 7-2 victory! The Michigan Difference, folks.

+ Newsflash: The Arb is cool.

+ Crime Notes: Some youngsters stole a cell phone. Meh, whatever. But how dare they steal $1 from the Amer’s tip jar! Seriousnote: Anyone who steals from a barista’s tip jar is an absolutely terrible person and they hate America.

+ Don’t forget to go to Kick-Ass Thursday TONIGHT in the Wolverine Room of the Union at 8 PM to hear our amazing Representative Jeff Irwin talk about the upcoming House Races and why it’s so important to get involved in the upcoming MSU Week.

+ In case you’re not getting my subtle hint, sign up for MSU Week. And the Phonebank for Obama that is tomorrow from 11-4 in Room 3 of the League.

Disclaimer: The following snark, wit, and what some might call “humor,” represent simply the author’s tired and highly caffeinated thoughts.

I almost bought a pumpkin bagel this morning, so I’m feeling kind of adventurous. Because of that, I have your Daily Daily:

+ Rachel Jankowski, Chair of the College Republicans, is allowed to remain chair of UMCR by a CSJ ruling, despite the College Republicans’ best efforts to send her job overseas.

+ I am not going to complain about the gross overrepresentation of the College Republicans in today’s Daily because their feature on the economy shows a blatant inability to stick to a party message, a clear indication that nobody supports the Republican Party platform.

+ Crime note reports that a laptop was stolen from a library on North Campus. In an attempt to bring attention to laptop thefts on North Campus, DPS is preparing a documentary entitled “Dude, where’s my Macbook?”

+ Willard Mitt Romney forgets how orders of magnitude work when claiming that he has the support of “the 100 percent.”

+ So the Judging a Book by its Cover column, in which “Daily Arts writers go against the famous idiom, choose a random book and make assumptions about its contents based on the cover art” is my new favorite column.

+ What was in the Viewpoints today? Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. A gripping Viewpoint, prepared by our very own Annika Doner, reminds us of the progress we’ve made since the repeal of DADT one year ago today.

Your day in Dems:

+Come to ResHall Dems tonight at 6:45 in the MoJo dining hall. If you would like to apply to be a Dorm Captain, fill out this Google Form today.

+We have a Field Team meeting on the 4th Floor of the Union tonight.

+Kick-Ass is in the Kalamazoo Room of the League, where we will be celebrating the repeal of DADT Stonewall Style.