my thoughts about life.
As most of you know, I’m traveling to the Republic of Ireland on March 13 as part of the Pittsburg State University Choirs Concert Tour 2010. Instead of being boring and just posting a text itinerary, I whipped this up in Google Earth so you can “fly” above and see my destinations from the air. (Google Earth plug-in recommended for full effect).
I’ll be sure to post a ton of pictures!
Before last year, I’d never heard of anything called “Kansas Days.” I’ve lived in our fair State since right after I turned eight, and think of myself as a Kansan, albeit with some experience in the “Outside.”
Then, when I started college in the fall of 2008 and decided to transform my TV-screaming into real action and became (heavily) involved in politics, I realized the school lunch theme week of “Bison Burgers” and “Sunflower Shortcake” and “Prairie Potatoes” wasn’t the only modern-day celebration of our Statehood. Thank goodness.
This year, thanks to my good friend and political mentor Virginia Crossland-Macha, I attended Kansas Days in Topeka for the first time this weekend. My fellow CR, President (and Vice Chair-elect of the Kansas Federation of CRs) Michelle Bringle-Hucke and her husband, Josh Hucke (of local fame) joined in for the fun, as well.
At the first annual Brownback Red Boots event (that thankfully pre-empted an event where that blasted former governor of Kansas was speaking), we heard a very enthusiastic Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels tell of how his state has managed to do relatively well through the current recession by using some financial common sense and spending less than they take in. Our group was the first to mob meet him after his speech.
George Weston, Sen. Sam Brownback, Michelle Hucke, Gov. Mitch Daniels, and Me
We attended the Second District Meeting the next morning with Virginia and my favorite former national delegate, Mary Alice Lair. It was relatively normal, until it wasn’t: our own Rep. Lynn Jenkins mistakenly said “Senator Tiahrt,” much to my pleasure, and much to the chagrin of Rep. Jerry Moran, who is Tiahrt’s primary challenger, and retiring Secy of State Ron Thornburgh endorsed my family reunion relative, Libby Ensley, to replace him (that’s more of a disclaimer than an endorsement. I’m only related by marriage).
Later on, at the tense KSGOP Winter Meeting, Moran didn’t even show.What DID show, though, was the complete lack of articulated direction. It’s not that the party doesn’t have direction; it’s that they have no way of getting their message out. Their idea of “new media” is a template website and rarely updated Facebook and Twitter pages. Their email newsletter was a great idea, until it died sometime over Christmas. It was recently resurrected, but apparently not as a daily, as before, since I’ve only gotten one this year. We also saw first hand the political might of the tea party movement in the state, as a one group is mounting a campaign against the current platform and, in reality, the process itself. Expect some terse words to fly.
My favorite event by far, though, had to be the Todd Tiahrt for Senate rally. As I’m sure you’ve gathered by now, I’ve chosen to personally endorse and support Todd in the race for Sen. Sam Brownback’s seat. You could positively FEEL the electricity and excitement in the air. Everyone in that room seemed to just know that we didn’t just have a shot at winning; we all knew we were going to.
These events are always filled with networking and new names. Many you leave feeling that the other person could really care less about who you are personally and instead only wants what you can give them. That’s to be expected, at least somewhat, since this is politics. That’s why I enjoy meeting other activists and why my favorite new activist acquaintance just happens to be Vicki Tiahrt. Both she and Todd and their family are some of the most genuine people I’ve ever met in politics. They’re no more assuming than my next-door neighbors. In fact, they could very well be my next-door neighbors. That’s how authentic they are. It was refreshing.
In all it was a great weekend. We made some new contacts for our organization and learned so much. Michelle gained a new position, and I met some very helpful and interesting people. I can’t wait to see what God does in 2010.
Among other things, I’m a Computer Science major at Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, KS. If you follow me on Twitter, you also know that I’m a major Mac-head. Now, you’d think the two would fit nicely together, but old prejudices against the Mac platform die hard (and if you’re thinking of a Mac between 1993 and 1998, I might agree with those prejudices). Dark years aside (we all have them: Think Windows ME!), the Mac is a great platform, and it’s now the leading notebook computer on college campuses nationwide. As the world moves closer to a platform agnostic and generally less Windows-centric way of doing things, people all over are embracing Macs and Linux computers, and as all my free market subscribers know, competition is the key to a better product.
Now, most of you who are used to my political blathering are probably wondering where in the heck I’m going with this. Hold on, I’m getting there.
While I love my University and truly believe in it, there are a few areas where it needs to play catch up. Platform choice is one of them. For something that is so important to the future, it’s amazing how far behind they’ve fallen. Just as its important for anyone to be exposed to different ways of doing things, its doubly important for the people who will design the applications of the future to have access to as many major platforms as possible. While we having Dell PCs running some form of Windows XP out the wazoo, OS X is nowhere to be found.
That’s why I’m asking for your help.
Do you have an older, Intel-based Mac sitting in a corner gathering dust or barely used? Would you be willing to make (what I think/hope is a) tax-deductible donation to a growing Best in the Midwest University? We’ve also been ranked in Princeton Review‘s Best 290 Business Schools. Your donation would be used to add OS X-based instruction to currently offered computer science classes, giving students a broader worldview than Windows and a sampling of Linux (CentOS).
How are you doing this? How can I be sure my donation will be properly handled?
Right now I’m simply looking for interest. One of my professors made a comment last week in class that the University would offer OS X-based instruction if the hardware was available, specifically, if someone was willing to make a donation. I decided to do my best to take him up on it. If there is sufficient interest, I’ll present my proposal to the University, and we’ll get the ball rolling. This day in age, there’s no excuse for not supporting a platform with an 8+% market share and a 20+% installed base.
I still have questions…
I’d love to chat with you. You can email me here.
