The CRNC has launched its cutting-edge activism progam, S.T.O.R.M. The site is similar to Facebook, and allows members to connect with College Republicans around the country. S.T.O.R.M. comes equipped with tools to assist state federations and chapters complete tasks and encourage involvement.

The CRNC has finally reached the 21st Century when it comes to technology, and S.T.O.R.M. puts College Republicans light years ahead of our Democratic-counterparts.
Any College Republican can become a member. You should join in the excitement today by visiting http://storm.collegerepublicans.org/. (h/t CR Nation)

JMU CR’s are having a meeting on Monday, February 25 in Taylor 400 at 7:30 PM. This meeting is open to any and all who are interested in Conservative ideas and/or the Republican party. Come by for some good times and interesting discussion.

“I was born in a welfare state, Ruled by bureaucracy, Controlled by civil servants, And people dressed in grey, Got no privacy got no liberty, ‘Cause the 20th-century people, Took it all away from me.” ~#10: “20th Century Man” by The Kinks

Rep. Goodlatte spoke for over an hour to JMU CRs this week. He took on subjects like McCain, net neutrality, the Iraq War, and FISA. WHSV covered the event and Bridgewater CRs came by to meet the Congressman. Goodlatte encouraged folks to friend him on Facebook. He already has 500 friends!

Goodlatte told the crowd that the media and citizens too often, “complain about government spending after the money is spent”. He urged those who want a balanced budget to pay attention now so that they can influence the adoption of the budget.

The 6th District Congressman also thought it would be a good idea to shorten and make fairer the way we nominate presidential candidates. While he does not advocate Congressional intervention, he does believe in rotating the order of the small states that vote first, delay voting until at least May, and schedule the order of states in January of the same year to avoid candidates literally moving to early states.

“So why do you feel the need to kill peoples happiness?”

~Anonymous JMU Urinetown actor commenting about Archimedes critical theatre review

Senate Democrats today played what Lt. Governor Bill Bolling called a “shell game” in passing the Virginia budget for the coming biennium. Because of a proposed $641 million shortfall, Democrats are in a panic trying to fund many of Governor Tim Kaine’s pet projects, including a massive expansion of pre-K education that would essentially establish a state-run babysitting service.

One way the Democrats tried to fix this gap was to move money from the state’s Lottery Proceeds Fund and use it for other priorities. They would have succeeded had Lt. Governor Bolling not stepped in and laid down the law. While the motion originally passed 22-18, Lt. Governor Bolling declared that the bill failed, citing a Constitutional provision requiring a 4/5 majority to redistribute Lottery Fund money.

Citing Article X, Section 7-A of the Virginia Constitution, Bolling slammed Democrats for illegaly moving Lottery Fund money without the requisite 4/5 vote. Since all Lottery Fund money must be returned to VA localities for education purposes, it cannot be used for any other budgetary item without a 4/5 vote in both Houses.

At JMU students have three basic options for buying textbooks. In order of highest to lowest expense; students can buy books from JMU’s official bookstore, the off campus Outpost, and online.

Students are in a conundrum though. If you buy books online you must do so well in advance of the beginning of your class because of shipping time. If you order online you risk the possibility that you will drop the course or the books won’t extensively be used in the class. This is why I buy my books from the Outpost. Problem is, the Outpost does not have an extensive stock. By the time I buy my books I find the Outpost is sold out of many textbooks. I am then forced to buy my books at the ridiculously overpriced on campus bookstore.

Students are swindled out of money in two other ways. First, the new edition of textbooks scam. Approximately every two years textbooks are republished with a new edition. Textbook companies do this because of the strong market for used textbooks, which cuts into their profit margin. This semester my Econ professor told students to buy the first edition of our classes textbook online. The two year old first edition textbook cost $9 online. But most students ran into the problems listed above and were forced to buy the second edition of the textbook at JMU. The second edition cost them $126. This same professor noted on the first day of class that he edited both editions and the second edition contained nothing meriting a second edition.

The other racquet in textbooks is professors assigning books they’ve written. Professors get a cut of the price and are therefore more likely to assign more than one book. If you are a student on a budget without a scholarship, good luck in college. I hear Dining Services is hiring!

Found this little gem buried deep in the JMU homepage. If you have time, and are in need of a laugh, you can read the whole thing here. Some choice excerpts [with my comments]:

• Pre-attendance: On-campus recruitment visits (academic and social) must reflect everyday campus life more accurately. [so our recruiters should show up hungover, disheveled, and in sweatpants and flip-flops?]
• Considering classroom dynamics, there exists a need for creating safe spaces for diversity by making faculty more aware of sensitive issues.[huh? safe spaces? what are we gonna have, the 'diversity corner'?]
• Programs should be strengthened to help minority students in transition as well as keeping them motivated to participate in existing programs.[wow, this isn't demeaning. in transition? are they recruiting college students or relocating wild animals?]
• International students, and some minority students with weaker undergraduate backgrounds, may have more difficulty with the high volume, fast paced educational model than other students.[umm aren't we supposed to be judging people on their merits?]
• The ability to speak English is believed to be important for job success at JMU. Few positions would be available to anyone not proficient in English. The poultry industry serves as an excellent model as to the requirements of employing predominantly non-English speakers.[what better univeristy employee than the illiterate foreign poultry butcher? i mean, who better to advise you as you begin your career?]
• Although most classified positions have been traditionally filled from the local workforce, minorities have not applied for classified staff positions at JMU at the same rate as the demographic shift occurring in the local population…This situation is a result of the Shenandoah Valley’s conservative nature which is not always seen as “open” to increased diversity. [f***ing conservatives, denying all those nice univeristy jobs to those poor, deserving poultry workers.]

Gilmore will be speaking at Liberty University (Lynchburg, VA) on Friday, Feb. 22 @ 6:00 in DeMoss Hall room 1101, hosted by the Liberty University College Republican chapter.

All CR’s who are in the area are invited to attend. Media or interested people with questions should contact Liberty First Vice Chair Andrew Chestnut at archesnut (at) liberty.edu