Date: 13 May ‘08
TO: www.Alumnishockerblackandgolds.com
Political Snippets
• Is there anyone left in Wichita that hasn’t noticed the Eagle’s inconsistent rationale and biased on the verge of bigoted – defined as unreasoned intolerant bias – positions on a given issue re one institution vis another in the state system of higher education? How is it do you suspect the Eagle justifies having no problem praising Jon Wefald for emphasizing football at K-State, resulting in and transforming the KSU campus “from a place nobody wanted to be to a place students lined up to get into”; the football effort “crossing over into every walk of life at K-State”; resulting in “increasing enrollment “from 16,000 in 1986 to 23,000 in 2008"; resulting in “increasing private gifts from $6 million to $100 million”; but football is forbidden at WSU by the Eagle, who uses its 55 gallon barrels of ink ever chance it gets to damn anyone suggesting football at WSU as the solution for our 20 year old bleeding of traditional student problem. No sir, it is verboten by the Eagle for WSU to have football to attract traditional students and alumni private gifts. The inconsistently of the Eagle’s position is never explained, and no rationale is ever offered to explain the Eagle’s bigoted bias; for the reason that none exists that would have any merit with the folks of Wichita. It is only the Eagle’s political toadying and sycophant pandering to Dr. Beggs and his commitment to Dr. Hemenway and the KU folks who hired him, in order to obtain the position; that is the interest of the Eagle, not the best interests of the university or the folks of this community – we submit. The Eagle not doing its duty for the community, notwithstanding wants you to rush right out and buy another paper, to be spoon fed and told how to think, just like the politically motivated quisling scribblers at the Eagle.
• Well, the emperor is at it again. It seems the students at the WSU student newspaper had the audacity to express views on issues the emperor disliked. So, it was time for the president to appoint a committee (read gorilla group) consisting of administrators, journalism faculty and two student-government representatives – the later two in a frivolous attempt to contend some credibility of the gorilla group – to study, lets see, the “quality” of the articles the student newspaper prints that displease the emperor. But we are told and are required to believe that none of this is for the purpose of applying a chilling affect upon the first amendment of the Constitution, and the students’ right to print their views on issues. And why are we required to believe this absurdity; because Dr. Beggs tells us so. He pretends he is as innocent as a half dozen vestal virgins. Query: why is the university administration, surrogates and sycophants of the emperor, involved at all? If it is the students’ newspaper, and it’s the students money, why is it does Dr. Beggs control whether or not the students’ funding is returned to the students’ newspaper. It’s not the university’s money in the first instance, it’s the students’ money, and the university simply satisfies the collection function for the student body. But Dr. Beggs has a unique view of money. If he gets his hands on it in any fashion, “it’s my money”. It matters not whether it is mill levy money or student body money; if Dr. Beggs gets in the loop at any juncture, in his mind it becomes his money. And, if it is his money, he can use the money in political or mafia fashion, and dictate behavior he considers to be appropriate and more importantly supportive of his view of issues. It’s sort of like Don Colione making an offer you can’t refuse, except money is the medium and no one gets shot, at least not at this stage of the exhibited leadership. The implied threat is if you don’t agree, you don’t get the money, and your student newspaper gets shut down.
So, it’s not surprising the students at the newspaper became alarmed, and considered whether they would be required to involve legal action to obtain their moneys and to exercise their Constitutional right to free speech and freedom of the press. Knowledge of this potential student action, immediately obtained Dr. Beggs attention to the fact that he had stepped on his dork, so to speak, and that litigation over Constitutionally granted rights would not be in his best interests. Says Dr. Beggs in thereafter hurriedly announcing the students would receive their money:
“The way I see it, the conditions have been met – the committee (read gorilla group) has been appointed.”
“That group will make whatever recommendations it is going to make, but that’s not linked to funding. ... That’s not how I interpreted what was asked.”
Say what!!! What “conditions” were set in the first instance? And guess who set the conditions, the emperor himself. And now we are to believe the conditions that have been met, is simply the forming of the committee (gorilla group), which hasn’t made any determinations yet, that anyone knows of. So, nothing to worry about, the emperor was just appointing a committee. To study what? Answer:
“It’s legitimate that as long as student fees are being used to fund it, concerns about quality should be looked at.”
But why not the students checking about the quality of their paper, if they have concerns, not Don Beggs’ gorilla group looking at Don Beggs’ concerns he has with articles he disagrees with?
And what is this mental masturbation about: “That’s not how I interpreted what was asked.” Who is it did the asking? Answer: Dr. Beggs. So now Dr. Beggs is interpreting what Dr. Beggs asked. He wants us all to believe he didn’t know what he ask, and subsequently when he interpreted it, he found that he hadn’t threatened withholding the students moneys from the student newspaper at all. Ripsit itsit rexit flaxit, administrative speakese to cover his intended mafia type action. Isn’t it just amazing: this gymnastic administrative speakese – that probably took his (gorilla group) a couple of days to figure out – that the public is spoon fed and required to believe. And why are we required to believe this mental masturbation? Because Dr. Beggs tells us so. The interpretation says more about the insulting belief of Dr. Beggs in the lack of intelligence of the public and his ability to require his mental masturbation to be believed, in the first instance; than it does even about the lack of merit of the mental masturbation itself.
And this from a man of letters, with jurisdiction, legal responsibility, and mission to see to it that the university teaches not only course subjects; but also principles of our society, and good citizenship, including principles such as the Constitution’s First Amendment prohibition against the abridgement of freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
But perhaps we have finally found an issue about which the Eagle will not genuflect and mindlessly support Dr. Beggs, notwithstanding the public good; an issue that goes directly to the existence of the Eagle itself.
• “IT WOULD NOT BE IN YOUR BEST INTEREST TO ASSOCIATE WITH THAT GROUP”. There he goes again, in mafia fashion, threatening who? Would you believe a state representative, Steve Huebert of Valley Center, District 90. And what group pray tell, is Rep. Huebert threatened not to associate with. You guessed it: Alumni Shocker Black & Golds. Lets see. Alumni, means all of our little group of university patriots graduated from WSU, unlike our emperor Dr. Beggs, who isn’t even a Kansan, but brought his carpet bag from Illinois. As Kansas citizens, most of us born and raised in Wichita, we have a built in interest and legal right to approach our representatives seeking statutory changes that could solve our concerns; and particularly is that so when the changes we request would cost the taxpayers nothing, and would greatly benefit our university, its representation, and the uniquely in the state, the presently double taxed citizens of our Wichita /Sedgwick County community.
The subject of which I speak, is our little groups determination that past history has taught us that if Dr. Hemenway and the KU folks continue to request candidates to apply for the WSU president position, commit them to policy matters as a condition of their selection as president, and then based upon their commitment, select them as the next president of WSU; that the best interests of WSU will in fact not be served. In short, if we are ever going to be represented by a president who does not in practical application owe his allegiance to the KU folks, then it will be necessary to change the procedure by which such candidates are presently selected by the Board of Regents.
Accordingly, I volunteered to do the legal research and draft the statute language necessary to ensure that whoever our next president is, that he be selected by a joint committee of the Senate and House Education Committees, and would thereafter not be committed to policy matters in closed executive session, and not owe his allegiance to the KU folks; but instead owe his allegiance to the university he legally represents, and the legislative Senate and House Joint Education Committee that selected him. But we needed some legislator to introduce the Bill. One member of our little group is a state representative, but he is on the minority side of the isle. He could rally the minority side of the isle, but we needed some representative from the majority side of the isle to introduce the statute changes. Four members of our group are DU fraternity brothers of representative Steve Huebert who is also a WSU graduate, and they suggested I contact him to see if he would be interested in and could support the legislative changes sufficient to introduce a Bill for the necessary changes.
During our discussions, I made it plain to representative Huebert that I would only provide the legal research and information if he would commit not to divulge our attempt to president Beggs, who I was sure would do what he could politically to kill our attempt; which we thought could be accomplished with little fan fair as it cost nothing and required no funding, as perhaps an add-on to the appropriations bill prior to sine die of this years legislative session. Mr. Huebert asked if I minded if he talked to Dr. Beggs about the return of football. I said fine, you have a right to talk to him about anything you want, as long as you agree not to advise him of our attempt to make legislative changes to the selection process for whenever and whoever the next president of WSU will be. He agreed not to disclose the information I would provide him, or our stated attempt, to Dr. Beggs. Now, it just could not be any clearer than that, and the folks in our little group all knew that was the condition and substance of our agreement with their fraternity brother, and they all felt we would be able to trust and work with representative Huebert.
Guess what? When it come time to work with the minority side of the isle to offer some bill language supported by both sides of the isle, the state representative in our little group contacted Steve Huebert, and was advised: “President Beggs wouldn’t agree to the introduction of the language.” In short, whether to ingratiate himself with the president, or for whatever reason, representative Huebert in treacherous fashion took the issue to Dr. Beggs, with the predicted result of his opposition. So representative Huebert in fact put the issue to Dr. Beggs for his approval, and emperor Beggs vetoed the potential legislation before it could even be presented. Moreover, representative Huebert also advised the state representative member of our little group, that Dr. Beggs also advised him: “IT WOULD NOT BE IN YOUR BEST INTEREST TO ASSOCIATE WITH THAT GROUP”. Who is this Dr. Beggs: to, in mafia fashion, intimidate the introduction of legislation for which he should have no legitimate interest – the selection of his successor – and to further attempt to intimidate any future association of a state representative with a group of WSU alumni, that happen to disagree with Dr. Beggs abject failure in some 10 years of his reign, to stop the bleeding of traditional students at WSU, and to refuse to ask the Board of Regents for a single dollar in state Board of Regents Capital Improvements moneys for WSU, while KU and K-State continue to receive hundreds of millions of state moneys for capital improvements. [See Position Paper to Regent Gary Sherrer, Board of Regents, dated 9 Nov. 2007, posted on www. Alumnishockerblackandgolds.com]
What is obvious with the student newspaper circumstance, as well as with the Alumni Shocker Black & Golds opposition to two of Dr. Beggs policies, is that if you disagree with the Dr. Beggs, there is hell to pay, if he can accomplish it behind the scenes and out of the public view. Not exactly a man of letters willing to openly debate issues on the merit of the issues in democratic fashion that our forefathers fought for; but rather: steely committed to his own however misguided KU committed views; unwilling to substantively consider reasoned criticism; willing to threaten state representatives to not associate with a WSU alumni group he dislikes with opinions different than his own; chagrined and chapped at alumni and students who would have the audacity to disagree with him; and moreover, vindictive about it. It seems Dr. Beggs has declared war. This is serious stuff. God forbid anyone should rile the hackles of Dr. Beggs.
cc: The South Central Kansas Delegation
Some 200 Community Leaders