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President Degenfelder turns ASUW into private monarchy

David Demic — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 20:47:58 +0000

I had a resolution after last year’s drama show: Do not start trouble with our student government, Associated Students of the University of Wyoming, for at least a week. And I tried. I really did. But when student body president, Megan Degenfelder, starts making poor choices, my hands are bound—or rather, furiously typing.

Here’s the situation: At ASUW’s Tuesday night meeting, Brian Degenfelder, who just happens to be Megan’s brother, was appointed to be ASUW’s Director of Public Relations and Bryan Dugas, who just happens to date Megan, was appointed the Chief of Staff. I’m sure pointing out the obvious will cause some bad blood, but seriously Megan? You only see this kind of political decision-making in monarchical countries, and I don’t think our fiercely independent state would be cool with the notion of a “Royal Degenfelder Family.”

But I want to be fair. Both Bri/yan’s have certain skills that make them qualified for the jobs they received. I will be the first to agree that Dugas has been serving ASUW well. That is in spite of my opinion that it is a bit too coincidental that he was last year’s election’s official, and right after Megan was voted president, the two became a Facebook-official couple.

However, you don’t have to watch “The Office” to realize relationships are something that just happen at the work place, so I won’t dwell on it.
On the other hand we have Brian Degenfelder. He actually worked for the Branding Iron and hence has some experience with newspapers. Well, when it comes to taking pictures.

Here is my biggest problem with our current situation. Megan did not give a fair chance for other potential candidates. What do I mean with fair? Instead of waiting for a few weeks and recruiting from a student pool that just arrived at the University of Wyoming, she chose to elect her brother into office, which will certainly look nice on his future resume. Is he the only qualified student for the position? What about freshmen, non-traditional students, international students, transfer students or anybody else who didn’t grow up in the same state, town and house as someone who is already representing us? I think this just shows how little promising to increase “awareness of diversity on campus” means as an election promise.

Here is another scenario. What if Brian Degenfelder isn’t cut out for the job? What if he doesn’t do his job? Is Megan Degenfelder just going to fire him? Let’s say she does, how would she explain that to him and her parents? There is truth to the saying “Don’t mix your business and personal life.” Yet, it seems that Megan Degenfelder is on the path to disaster when it comes to playing favoritism.

And finally, let me outline the absolute irony of this situation: Hiring your boyfriend will already cause unnecessary comments, no matter how qualified he might be. But hiring your brother —in addition—as the director of PUBLIC RELATIONS is a point-blank bullet to your reputation. I was hoping that with Vice President Ty McNamee’s energetic charisma and Megan Degenfelder’s experience in ASUW and Director of PR (also ironic), ASUW would be able to reinvent itself. However, I still see the same old B.S. we’ve seen over the last few years.
So let me be the first student on campus to say that I am truly disappointed. This is not the representation I expected from my president.

David Demic

Relations cause trouble in ASUW

Zachary Laux — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 20:46:51 +0000

At least one ASUW senator questioned the ethics of appointing, Associated Students of the University of Wyoming President, Megan Degenfelder’s brother as director of marketing and promotions in Tuesday night’s meeting.

“I thought it was interesting that both our president’s boyfriend and brother were hired. I thought it might be a conflict of interest,” ASUW Senator, Alex Sullivan-Brink said.

ASUW approved Brian Degenfelder as the director of marketing and promotions.

ASUW also appointed Bryan Dugas, Degenfelder’s boyfriend, as Chief of Staff, but Sullivan-Brink did vote for Dugas. “He has been an awesome senator, and he will do great in his new position so I voted for him,” Sullivan- Brink said. “But it seems a little coincidental that 40 percent of our staff has either dated or is related to our president.”

The senate also appointed:

Debit Karki as director of diversity
Lindsey Wellman as director of programming and sustainability
Ben Mckay as director of finance
Jon Hunzeker as director of student cultural affairs.

Zachary Laux

‘Ideological divide’ exists between ASUW candidates

Branding Iron — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 04:26:08 +0000

This year’s race for the job of ASUW President/VP is particularly interesting for a number of reasons. The divide between the two campaigns is strikingly clear.

An ideological divide between the two running parties has not been present in years past. Alex Sullivan-Brink has been notably visible this year promoting progressive causes.

Brink’s public advocacy of marriage equality for members of the LGBTQ community and his vocal objections to the rhetoric and ideology of Ann Coulter stands in stark contrast to the clearly conservative views Megan Degenfelder has displayed in her opposition to the visit of Bill Ayers and support of Coulter’s recent appearance at UW.

The intense division between the two camps is also visible in their platforms.

The “DegMac” ticket, as it has come to be called, has been propagating a message centered on the credibility of ASUW and campus wide sustainability.

The Brink-Unangst campaign, on the other hand, has been running a campaign very much based on issues pertaining to campus wide programs, such as holding the UW administration accountable for money it promised for Half Acre improvements in return for an increase in student fees, and ensuring SafeRide remains a program controlled by students.

I have been largely disappointed with this year’s ASUW administration.

The failure of the student radio station, the blatant lies told to the Branding Iron regarding staff terminations, dogmatic comments made by an ASUW executive to members of the Multicultural Research Center, and threats from a top ASUW executive to the Branding Iron through the use of coded language are pretty good reasons to be looking forward to the change in leadership.

The Deg/Mac ticket has spent a great deal of time talking about the integrity of ASUW. I am not entirely sure what this rhetoric means.

Many words could be used to describe this year’s ASUW administration, but it’s clear to me that integrity is not among them.

My support and my vote in the upcoming election will be going to the Brink-Unangst ticket.

I know all of the candidates involved in the race fairly well, and at the end of the day, I think they are all smart people who have a decent work ethic.

But I cannot imagine supporting a ticket that in any way participated in the actions of the acting ASUW’s administration.

Email the author: rkubiche@uwyo.edu

Branding Iron

The Branding Iron is a Student Media project. Student Media gives University of Wyoming students valuable experience in writing, editing, advertising, sales, graphic design, photography and production through its publications with the guidance of professional staff members. If you find a mistake in an article, e-mail us at bi@uwyo.edu. We will make sure to torture the poor soul until it's corrected. Just kidding. We probably won't do anything, since we're busy studying for finals.

ASUW exec. dishonest about resignations (With Audio)

ksutherb — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 07:00:00 +0000

David Demic’s Interview with Liz Brown regarding controversy

Reasons for fall semester resignation of Nealsoney are not what they seem

How truthful should a student government that handles roughly $1 million be? My guess is I am not the only student who wants a “very” as an answer.

Yesterday, the BI received a letter from Tyler Nealsoney concerning his “resignation” from the position of ASUW Director of Public Relations and Marketing last fall.

The letter was written and signed by ASUW President Cameron Nazminia, Vice President Liz Brown and former Chief of Staff Liz Rader.

The letter reads, “… at this time we have decided to terminate your [Nealsoney’s] current employment with ASUW…We will accept your resignation as the ASUW Director of Public Relations and Marketing prior to Tuesday, November 23, 2010.”

Yet, this is not the information we received from Brown.

On Dec. 3, 2010, the BI published an article in which Brown was asked during an interview whether there were considerations of termination prior to Nealsoney’s resignation. Brown said that the resignation was “voluntary” and anything suggesting termination were “only rumors.”

Sure, if you tell someone they have to resign or else they are fired, they are going to choose resignation.

However, can that truly be considered voluntary?

I respect ASUW and I certainly appreciate that students such as Nazminia and Rader have the drive and determination to run a student government. At the same time, I consider it highly inappropriate for an ASUW executive to withhold information from the student body for whom they serve.

Since it was only Brown who stated that the resignation was voluntary, the BI contacted her to ask for a statement. In the phone interview, I asked Brown again whether the resignation was completely voluntary, to which she replied, “It was voluntary; he did resign.”

She went on to say that the issue was a personnel matter and said that she has the letter of resignation. When asked about the letter she and the other two executives had written, she said, “Yes, he was given the choice and he chose to resign willingly.”

When asked whether it was truly “voluntary” for a person to be given such a choice, she said that we had all the facts we needed for this case and that she was “really not interested in talking about it.”

The complete interview is available online at brandingirononline.info and on our Facebook page.

In Brown’s defense, the interview was conducted over the phone, yet I expect much more from a vice president for the students of our university.

At least we as the staff of the BI are very interested in talking about the issue of facts.

Letter from ASUW Execs: ASUW Chief of Staff Liz Radar, ASUW Vice President Liz Brown, ASUW President Cameron Nazminia

Note: The bellow image is a copy of the letter from ASUW execs to Tyler Neasloney informing him of his expected termination or resignation. The Branding Iron was initially told by ASUW Vice President that the letter shown bellow was a rumor not fact.

Letter from ASUW Execs: ASUW Chief of Staff Liz Radar, ASUW Vice President Liz Brown, ASUW President Cameron Nazminia

Email: David Demic

ksutherb

ASUW race campaigning begins today

ksutherb — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 05:52:39 +0000

ASUW election season is here as the application deadline to run for office ends today.

“I encourage the student body to explore the platforms of all of the candidates in order to ensure that the right people are chosen for the job,” ASUW Sen. Kyle Zakar said. “Student Senate plays a vital role at UW and it is important for individuals to be involved and have a say in who represents them.”

The ASUW election committee worked on raising awareness about the upcoming elections by giving away pie slices to promote their upcoming pie social event in the Union Monday afternoon.

Campaigning will begin after the application deadline ends today. Until then, names of students running are not available to the public, election committee chair Bryan Dugas said.

Pre-campaigning is prohibited by ASUW based on the assumption that if campaigning starts too early, the majority of students will lose interest in hearing about the election when it is time to vote, Dugas said.

“Last year’s elections showed, really, very strong voter turnout, as about 30 percent of the student body participated,” Dugas said.

The election committee could not provide specific information about this season’s candidates.

Email: Andrea Knous

ksutherb

ASUW takes bold stance on smoking

ksutherb — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 04:50:21 +0000

ASUW is working to reinforce an existing regulation that does not allow smoking within 15 feet of campus buildings.

“We were asked by numerous students to consider this,” Sen. Noah Hull said. “At this point, we are merely in the phase of information gathering as the UniReg has been in place for a number of years.”

The regulation, UniReg 2-180, has been in place since 2008 but has not been well enforced.

In an effort to better administer the regulation, ASUW wants to move ashtrays further away from buildings.

ASUW has met with UWPD, the University General Counsel’s Office, the Laramie City Attorney’s office and the Laramie City Manager concerning the issue.

Also, Student at Large Jason Custer, will send out a campus survey for ASUW to gauge student opinion on the issue.

“If the indication we get from students is that the vast majority are in favor of a smoke free campus, then we most definitely wish to head in that direction,” Hull said.

“However, the number one goal at this point is to educate people that choose to smoke about this UniReg and how the smoke can waft its way into buildings quite easily. We hope that with just a reminder as such, it will solve the bulk of the issues on campus.”

Work is also underway to establish consequences for those failing to adhere to the regulations.

Hull will answer any questions that students or faculty may have concerning the resolution. A copy of the regulation can be found on ASUW’s website.

ksutherb

ASUW Radio DJ Expresses Frustrations

rochak — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 17:26:28 +0000

As a radio DJ for ASUW Radio, during the past year I have
seen it go from a decent student organization to a mediocre shell of what was.
Initially created during Matthew Haigler’s presidency, it’s purpose was to
bring an untried and untested media delivery. Support and enthusiasm was pretty
high for the spring and there were a great amount of shows to be listened to.
They didn’t all cater to one genre or one belief. While there weren’t too many
listeners per show, there were enough shows to have fairly good listener base.

Over the course of last fall and the beginnings of the new semester, management
failed. Do not let Zach Taylor talk about the ignorant and blissfull state that
he was and is still in about not being able to play music libraries outside of
the alt rock genre that he bought. At our one meeting during the fall, it was
explicit that we were not to play our own cds and purchased music because it
was not lawfull.

Zach Taylor either knew about something and refused to tell us
or never knew and still enforced his own policies. From both a student and DJ
standpoint, issues need to be cleared up so our student funds aren’t wasted.

Paul Ogle

Computer Science Student

rochak

Student Radio misses the mark

Bob Vernon-Kubichek — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 04:38:05 +0000

I served as the assistant manager of the UW Student Radio in the spring of 2010, and as the programming director during the fall of 2011. My background in radio also extends to the role I served while attending the University of Utah, where I worked as the station manager for K-UTE, the university’s student radio station. I feel this is important to note, as my following criticisms should be based on my experience and knowledge of the field.

The time I spent working to build UW Student Radio can largely be summed up by frustration, anger, and more frustration. This was, quite simply, not a program that had to die.

While the question of how this program could have worked is complex, the factors behind its death are quite simple.

The failure of UW Student Radio, and there in the failure of General Manager Zach Taylor, is the result of a seemingly endless series of misunderstandings, a complete lack of vision, and the kind of intellectual weakness that seems to pervade the culture of student government-run projects.

Although the program had low hopes for listenership last year, it was running a full daily schedule with over 40 student DJs doing shows ranging from international music to comedy talk. While it was a program that arguably needed a serious focus on marketing, we were successful at building the infrastructure the UW Student Radio needed in order to get off the ground.

This year, the radio station died, largely due to a music policy that restricted music to only songs owned by the radio station. This collection was largely edited classic and alternative rock, which left little room for diversity.

Due to this policy, the International Students Association was forced to cancel their show, as were other DJs who had hoped to play music other than alternative rock. The reason behind this policy was based on a failed understanding of the law regarding online music. In an interview with the Branding Iron, Taylor commented that although “university has an ASCAP [American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers] and BMI [Broadcast Music Incorporated] license…we’re not sure as to what those actually cover, as far as formatting and things like that.” Last semester as the director of programming, I spoke to ASCAP, BMI and the UW legal counsel, and was assured that we were legally able to play any music covered under those organizations.

After conveying this to Taylor, he either ignored or did not understand my advice, and instead took the position that the station should follow a format centered on urban and alternative music.

Either Taylor lied to the BI, or he was too lazy to track down the answers to those questions.

A radio station without the ability to play music is arguably a bad model for a successful program. The law did not bind it; it was instead unfamiliarity of the laws that bound it, laws that one would think to be critical to running a radio station, online or not.

While the majority of the blame can, and must be, put on the shoulders of Taylor, ASUW President Cameron Nazmina and Vice President Liz Brown owe the students answers to why an individual received student money while failing to live up to the most basic job requirement.

During the fall semester of 2010, UW Student Radio ended with few shows, almost no listeners, and little music to speak of. Taylor should have been dismissed, just as other ASUW executives were who were “underperforming” earlier this year.

Students deserve answers as to why this program and staff should be allowed to continue to receive student funds, when it has failed completely.

Taylor should resign from his post and allow student funds to go elsewhere, rather than continuing to collect compensation for a job that for, all intensive purposes, no longer exists.

Email: Bob Kubichek

Bob Vernon-Kubichek

ASUW radio calls it quits

ksutherb — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 05:33:19 +0000

By the end of the semester, students will have to look elsewhere if they want to listen to a student-run radio. Based on concerns with consistency, some legal issues and general policies, ASUW executives and ASUW Student Radio General Manager Zach Taylor decided to establish a committee to evaluate the program, Taylor said. Until changes have been implemented, the student radio will not broadcast, starting May 8 and lasting until next school year, he said.

“The basic goal of this committee is [to] slowly build toward something that works. If you continue to do what we’re doing, which is implementing small changes while still trying to run the radio station and having enough of that carry over, it takes a really long time to build the radio station you want,” Taylor said.

The committee, which is still being formed, will hold its first meeting in a week, Taylor said.

ASTEC Coordinator Andrew Hays is heading the committee, with the goal of bringing consistency to the radio, Taylor said.

Hays said he has considered a few ways to increase consistency, but that he is also going to rely on committee investigations to create an infrastructure that could function within ASUW while still utilizing a student presence.

“Right now, I’m more interested in seeing what the students think is correct,” Hays said.

Whether the student radio will remain within ASUW is another consideration, Taylor said.

“I like being ASUW; it gives us a lot of strength,” he said, “but student radio also fits in kind of well with Student Media and I think that partnership, if it could be built, would be a very good partnership for us to have. Pursuing avenues like that is what’s going to be important to that committee.”

The possibility of the student radio joining Student Media is not a new idea.

“We were working with the representatives from the student radio a year ago on whether that was the direction the students wanted it to head, but it never got off the ground,” Student Media Supervisor Cary Berry-Smith said.

In case discussion reached the point of a possible merger, the Student Media board, governed by 11 members, would have to give its approval prior to any new media the department undertakes, she said.

Other considerations, such as feasibility, would also have to be considered by Student Media.

“Any time we add another product, there are resources that will be impacted. We have to consider how the new product fits with our present situation and how it might impact our future operations,” Berry-Smith said. “Adding the radio station could be beneficial or detrimental depending on how it’s done.”

The first step would be communication, she said.

“After initial discussion, then we would need to go back to our respective groups and discuss the possibilities,” she said. “Funding, oversight, resource and personnel issues would need to be resolved.”

Other than organization, the student radio has had to address other concerns, such as legality concerning music played by the student DJs.

“We have an FCC license,” Taylor said. “[But] the FCC is completely different from the groups that monitor music, and so I think we’re kind of figuring out where all that stuff lies. It turns out the university has an ASCAP [American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers] and BMI [Broadcast Music Incorporated] license, but we’re not sure as to what those actually cover, as far as formatting and things like that.”

The student radio received input from entities ranging from KCSU to the university lawyers, with varying answers as the outcome, he said.

“Trying to figure out where exactly that lies is a completely different problem in itself,” he said.

So far the university has not faced any charges, and Taylor said he did not expect that to change.

“Granted, I say that with a hope and a prayer, because I suppose it still could happen,” he said. “Honestly, I personally believe that it won’t happen, but at the same time, we couldn’t keep running that way. I mean in all good consciousness, among other things, it just wasn’t logical to keep doing that.”

Email the author: ddemic@uwyo.edu

ksutherb

ASUW reviews supplemental budget

ksutherb — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 04:35:53 +0000

Don Richards, director of government and community affairs for UW, visited ASUW Tuesday night to discuss the university’s position at the legislature in Cheyenne.

Richards said he had been speaking to the legislature over the last few days to defend UW’s supplemental budget request.

He also reminded senators that ASUW took a stance on several of the debated issues and went to Cheyenne to help lobby for the university’s position.

Among the line items in the supplemental budget is $6 million to cover the 20 percent increase in UW’s employee health insurance program.

The university is also requesting $3.6 million to increase the number of volumes in the library to reach the requirements for entering the Great Western Library Alliance. Currently, UW’s library collection is not what it needs to be to join the GWLA. The alliance would allow access to extensive resources, including materials other libraries in the alliance own.

The university is also requesting $3.5 million for matching grants to entice wealthy donors to make donations, Richards said.

Richards told ASUW that the university spends more time tracking bills and testifying in front of the legislature than any other body in the state.

He said the university has been involved in bills concerning everything from food regulations to ensure students can have bake sales in the union without consent of the health department to keeping tabs on sex offender registration in order for there to be an elementary school on campus.

In other business, ASUW heard from Andrew Hayes of ASTEC who updated the senate on ASTEC’s event increases last semester.