Meetings! / LBGTQ Rally

In a previous post, I have commented that you can boil down my job to two main functions: meetings and & paperwork. Boy, if this is ever the week for meetings.

The previous weekend was a rowdy one for my building and there were quite a few documentations for a building this size. That results in student meetings throughout the week. I have two meetings related to NACURH. I have a few hall government and staff one on ones. I have a meeting with a council co-chair, a meeting with my counseling center liaison, two NBC Village meetings, a staff development.

I was really surprised about how quickly the week was gobbled up by meetings this week. That's the last time I ever make a comment about how I haven't had many meeting lately.

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I also wanted to give a huge shout-out to the Rainbow Alliance for HOPE and the LGBTQ Council for co-sponsoring a rally from noon to 1:00 PM today in front of the Polk Library. There were speeches, cheers and a good crowd. For the 30 minutes that I could be there, I carried a "Straight, but not narrow" sign.

Their message was clear. It has always been a struggle fro LBGTQ students, faculty and staff to find equality. The climate is worse than ever with the passing of this amendment. I am hopeful the message will get out there and people will act.

Intolerance

So, I knew the day was coming. While working the desk today, I was informed that a religious group was protesting in front of the Polk Library. I assumed that is was the old guy that stands on the steps of the library and tells us all that we are going to hell. I was wrong, it was a larger group and they certainly had drawn some attention to themselves. Curiosity got the best of me, so I went to take a look before my afternoon meeting.

As I took a look at the secne, I was greeted with a large banner stating, "Homosexuality is sin". I am not sure where to begin on how frustrating this is to me. I am a Christian and I can not figure out where Jesus ever said that homosexuality was a sin. You're not going to find it...go for it, take a few minutes, search. Jesus taught love & compassion, not hatred. When I saw that sign and was ashamed for some of my fellow Christians.

I just can't condone this kind of intolerance as a Christian.

Most importantly, I was impressed by the amount of students that came out to challenge the individuals involved. I heard lots of good dialogue and good discussion. I am hopeful that this will get people to think about the importance of the upcoming election day. A shout out goes to Ken Fager as well carrying the Vote No on the Amendment sign right by the banner.

Now you all know where I stand on this issue. I would welcome your thoughts on this topic as well.

At Least They Can't Lose This Week...

The Packers have a bye week. That's great, at least they can't lose. I can say that I did watch the game yesterday, but I found myself distracted by movies and other stuff on TV because you got the sense the Packers were never going to really get to the point where they might actually win.

However, the Packers were in the game the entire time. They even had the ball with time running out. They could have at least tied the game, or possibly won. Favre fumbled the ball with about 30 seconds remaining...heartbreaking, but typical of a Packers season in which the youth and inexperience of this team show through week after week. They are now 1-4.

I do want to give credit to the secondarym, which played much better without Ahmad Carroll. Heron ended up with over 100 yards rushing. That was nice to see from a back-up as well. I will definitely enjoy not seeing the Packers this weekend. I can see some better teams play football.

Daily Shout-Out: Goes to the NFL schedulers for thankfully given the Packers a week off now. The team, and especially the fans, need it.

Other News:

• I am cautiously optimistic about where things go after OshCon. I am thinking about starting a campaign in the spring semester for residents and friends that are interested. That way, football is done.
• The SAFE Training session from last night was a success! We had 28 folks attend the session. That must have broken some SAFE Training record.
• I attended church yesterday and was able to see the new pastor preach. I will say this...I do like the way he runs the service. I think he has a great knowledge of the bible, but I think he tried to say too much in a short amount of time. I think he took 3-4 sermons and put them into one.
• Preparations begin for the 30th birthday spectacular. Look for news in the near future.
  

Days Until the Wedding: 223