CalStuff: Extended

Crusade for Equal Rights for Same-Sex Couples is On!
For background of what I'm talking about, see this post, that explains all the details. We've come up with a gameplan of what needs to be accomplished, and Stage 1 involves passing the bill here at Berkeley and building the website. Passing the bill should be easy (here at Berkeley, everyone loves the gay), but building the website is something I could use some help with.

If anyone with any html skills can assist me with this, please let me know (calratto@berkeley.edu). We are planning on having a rather simple website with a left sidebar that lists the various sections (bill text, schools, contact, help FAQ...) and then the main section that would be almost entirely text. Basically, as easy and simple a website as would be possible to explain to people what we are trying to accomplish. Then, as this campaign picked up steam we could work on revising it into something more substantial. Thank you to everyone who has already suggested ways they can help out, I will be contacting you all soon.

# posted by Andy @ 1:40 AM

ASUC Bill In Support Of Equal Rights for Same-Sex Couples
[If you want to comment on this, please do so at the original post on CalStuff, found here.]

Authored by Andrew David Ratto and David Israel Wasserman
Sponsored by Senator B. Narodick

WHEREAS, Article XI, Section 1 of the ASUC Constitution embodies the Association’s commitment to “equal protection of the laws.” and

WHEREAS, college students have been at the forefront of previous struggles for equality, freedom and social justice, such as the Free Speech Movement, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Anti-Apartheid Movement; and

WHEREAS, there are at least 1,049 federal right granted to those who enter in a government-sanctioned marriage, and countless other rights from states that are denied to couples in same-sex relationships; and

WHEREAS, a California court recently ruled that denying equal marriage rights to same-sex domestic partners is a violation of the equal protection clause of the state Constitution; and

WHEREAS, public opinion is slowly moving toward wider acceptance of equal rights for same sex couples; and

WHEREAS, in an attempt to slow down this social progress, activists opposed to this change are attempting to pass state and federal constitutional amendments banning recognition of same-sex marriage or civil unions; and

WHEREAS, now is a crucial time to act in order to help remedy the social injustice that is plaguing our society; and

WHEREAS, college students have an opportunity to raise their voices and help draw attention to this issue and help create change

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Associated Students of the University of California supports equal rights for same-sex couples; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the ASUC Senate instruct the EAVP’s office to draft a letter voicing the concerns of the ASUC regarding this matter, to be included with this bill, and sent to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, State Senator Don Perata, State Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, U.S. Representative Barbara Lee, U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein and U.S. President George W. Bush; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Office of the President shall draft an op-ed column to be sent to the Daily Californian voicing the concerns of the ASUC about the injustices recognized in this bill and the importance for college students to stand up and attempt to make a difference.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the ASUC shall join with other schools as part of “Colleges Supporting Equal Marriage Rights” (CSEMR) and ask that we be included on the school list at www.csemr.org as a college that supports equal rights for same sex couples

3/17/2005

# posted by Allen L. @ 6:23 PM

Nathan Royer speaks on the Bears-United Situation

Attorney General Nathan Royer left a long comment, sharing his letters to both the people affected by the Bears-United Decision and to the ASUC (see this Calstuff post).

Letter to those affected by Bears-United Ruling
Letter to the ASUC Officials

To all the people affected by the Bears-United situation,

I just want to take the time to speak from the heart and get some things off my chest...

First of all, I want to say that I offer my sympathies to all the BU candidates who are suffering because of the irresponsibility of a few. I know you have put a lot of time and effort into your campaigns, and I wish things had not turned out this way.

Please understand that neither the elections council nor myself have any agenda against the Bears-United party or any other party. Obviously I have been accused of being partisan because of this situation. If you only knew me, to say that I am beholden to ANYONE'S wishes is completely contrary to the person I am. I take tremendous pride in being able to say that I am not anyone's boy-never have been, never will be. I was overjoyed when the Senate first placed their confidence in my impartiality by appointing me, and since that day, I have done nothing but try to live up to their expectations.

Since this whole thing started, I have been told I am partisan because of things like me having more Student Action Facebook friends than CalSERVE friends. First of all, this is hardly research/evidence befitting Cal students. There are dozens of reasons why I may have more Facebook friends from one party than another. I have Manny Buenrostro, who I have spoken to maybe 4 times, as a Facebook friend, while I don't have listed Brent Kastenbaum, one of the Senators I respect the most. I encourage all of you to use the reasoning capabilities that got you into this school before making or believing claims like this. Secondly, had I been particular to Student Action, I never would have prosecuted Rocky Gade or any of the other things they haven't liked. My apologies for going off on the Facebook example, but it illustrates the way things can become irrational in stressful situations.

I will give you my only (and it should be the only one needed) explanation for my position on this situation, and my position on ASUC matters in general as they relate to me. I am truly sorry if you feel that I am in any way partisan, but please realize that I am a person who lives by principles. In the Constitutional description of the role of Attorney General, it says I am to uphold the Constitution and By-Laws of the ASUC. I have structured my efforts all year around fulfilling that duty to the best of my abilities. Please don't misconstrue this to mean I am a legalistic hardass by any means. I realize that sometimes people deserve forgiveness and an extra chance, but when extra chances have been given, and opportunity has been extended equally to all involved, and yet there is still no compliance, I must do what I feel is right by sticking to the rules and guidelines established by the student body.

All right, so far I have been spilling the softer side of me that is hurt and sympathetic about this situation-now for the other side. Since I do live by principles, I want to make it clear that I will not be intimidated by threats and accusations. You are my friend, my colleague, possibly even my authority, but I am not afraid of you. I will not be intimidated by accusations that I have sex with underage girls. I will not be swayed by threats of press releases to national media. I am not intimidated by threats that my entire past will be exposed on TV. I am not worried about my name being trashed in lecture halls. I do not fear lawyers, congressmen, or your connections.

Finally, the outcome of this situation is really going to be determined by the legislative and executive bodies. And guess what? Because this is not a personal or political vendetta, whatever the outcome, I will be okay with it. I am not going to be angry at BU leaders, I will not ignore them when I see them on campus, and they are welcome at my parties. I realize many are going to take this letter as me being self-righteous and trying to portray myself as better than others, but that is not the case. I just want to say what I feel.

Best regards to all of you,
Nathan Royer

Dear ASUC Officials,

I know you are probably sick of hearing about this, but it is a conviction of mine that grows stronger every day. I want to give some further reasoning as to why the Elections Council took the position it did regarding Bears-United. I am most definitely trying to persuade you that we had NO CHOICE; all I ask is that you give due, careful consideration to what I say.

Think for a moment about the various consequences of what some Senators have said we should have done: allowed a little extra grace and accepted the forms 15 minutes late. The resulting fiasco would have been just as bad as the current situation, and here's why.

The By-Laws set the point of no return so that we can accomplish another By-Law mandated duty: arranging the ballot AT the candidates meeting. It says specifically that the ballot must be arranged at that meeting. Period. We could not have waited another 15 minutes for a form we weren't even sure was coming. We could not have waited until the next day. Don't you understand that? Student Action, can you honestly say you would not have sued us if we had?? I know somebody would have.

We began arranging the ballot at the point of no return, and were well into the process by the time BU returned their forms. What did you want us to do, start over?? Be reasonable. CalSERVE, can you honestly say you would have given up Justine's #1 spot and negated everyone else's fairly obtained positions on the ballot? Can you honestly say you would not have sued if we had started over? I know somebody would have.

The point is: what did you want us to do, break this By-Law or that By-Law, and be subjected to another lawsuit? For all the talk I hear about students rights, I have heard surprisingly little about the rights of the 100+ other candidates in the race. Whether you choose to believe it or not, the fact is SOMEONE ELSE would have suffered if we had done things differently. I hate that any group has to suffer, but if one has to, I think it should be the one who actually did the deed.

Again, please just consider these thoughts. Thanks for reading another long letter...my apologies.

Sincerely,
Nathan Royer

# posted by Allen L. @ 1:08 AM

2005 ASUC Election Ballot in Full

Thanks to this post from the Cal Patriot Blog. They also have a copy as a word document.

You'll notice that all the former Bears-United Candidates are now running as independents, as a result of the party not turning in the proper forms early enough (see this Calstuff Post)

2005 ASUC ELECTIONS BALLOT

President
20.JUSTINE LAZARO - CalSERVE (Cal Students for Equal Rights & a Valid Education)
21.Zach "Morris" Liberman - Independent
22.Rebecca "Slander and Libel" Brown - SQUELCH!
23.MANUEL "MANNY" BUENROSTRO
24.RONALD CRUZ - Defend Affirmative Action Party (DAAP)
25.ALFRED TWU - Independent

Executive VP
26.ANIL DARYANI (ASUC Senator) - Student Action/UNITE-Greek/APPLE- Engineering
27.BILLY "TWO-TERM SENATOR" WANG (ASUC Senator) - Independent
28.Ben "4SIGHT NOT 4SKIN" Narodick - SQUELCH!
29.CAMILLE PANNU - CalSERVE (Cal Students for Equal Rights & a Valid Education)

External VP
30.LINDA SALINAS - CalSERVE (Cal Students for Equal Rights & a Valid Education)
31.SHARON HAN - Student Action/UNITE-Greek/APPLE-Engineering
32.Mark "90s TEEN POP IDOL" Thomas - SQUELCH!
33.JORDAN S. MIKES - Independent
34.ALEJANDRA "Ali" CRUZ - Defend Affirmative Action Party (DAAP)

Academic Affairs VP
35.BRANDON "B Safe" SMITH - CalSERVE (Cal Students for Equal Rights & a Valid Education)
36.JOSIE HYMAN - Defend Affirmative Action Party (DAAP)
37.MATT "RED HUNTING HAT" WERNER - Independent
38.ANDY "BIG GAY HOMO" RATTO - SQUELCH!
39.JASON DIXSON (ASUC Senator) - Student Action/UNITE-Greek/APPLE- Engineering

Student Advocate
40.Mahin Ibrahim
41.MITCH "BALLS DEEP" RODRICKS - SQUELCH!
42.YVETTE FELARCA (ASUC Senator) - Defend Affirmative Action Party (DAAP)
43.Vikrum Aiyer - Independent
44.KIREN "THE PIMPSTRESS" RIZVI - Independent
45.Nare Avagyan - Independent

Senators
50.MICHAEL "MIKEYBOBAK" ALAVI - Independent
51.Drew DeHaven Hall - Independent
52.Aaron "The Shit Shoveler" Diek - Independent
53.Amy Morrison - Independent
54.Ed "Represent Co-Ops" Martinez - Independent
55.Tom Shook - Independent
56.Geoff Danker - Independent
57.Chris "Topher" Warren - Independent
58.Tom Geddes - Independent
59.MIKE XING - Independent
60.Tina Garcia - Independent
61.Amanda Cook - Independent
62.Sara Tarano - Independent
63.SEPIDEH "SEPI" MOUSAKHANI - Independent
64.Sima Namiri-Kalatari - Independent
65.NARE AVAGYAN - Independent
66.ALFRED TWU - Independent
67.David Kim - Independent
68.BILLY "TWO TERM SENATOR" WANG (Incumbent) - Independent
69.Jennifer "Clean up the Senate" McClean - Independent
70.Tyler Humphrey - Independent
71.JESSE YANG - Independent
72.Richard Noroski - Independent
73.BEN "THE FINE BURGER" FEINBERG - Independent
74.RAMA TAVVA - Independent
75.Michael "Grad Student Issues" Ferguson - Independent
76.Uriridiakoghene "Ulili-UNO" Onovakpuri - Independent

77. suken "VOTE STUDENT ACTION" vakil - Affirmative Action for HOT BABES and GOOD GRADES

78. ARSALAN SALAMAT - Student Action
79. EMILIE "Leads the Way" SALEH - Student Action
80. ERNIE MACIAS - Student Action
81. JAIME HIRAISHI - Student Action
82. JOY "Bring mo’ Joy to Cal" MOH - Student Action
83. KI-HONG "KING KONG" LEE - Student Action
84. LISA PUTKEY - Student Action

85. NEVIN "CAL MAN" TREHAN - Student Action
86. NIMA "NEMO" RAHIMI - Student Action
87. OREN "O.G." GABRIEL - Student Action
88. SEAN PHILIP McBRIDE - Student Action
89. VISHAL K GUPTA - Student Action

90. SAPNA MEHTA - CalSERVE (Cal Students for Equal Rights & a Valid Education)
91. SANK "Green Party" SRIDARAN - CalSERVE (Cal Students for Equal Rights & a Valid Education)
92. ALBERTO "BETO" GONZALEZ - CalSERVE (Cal Students for Equal Rights & a Valid Education)
93. JOSIE ALVAREZ - CalSERVE (Cal Students for Equal Rights & a Valid Education)
94. Anthony "Transfer/APA" Lin - CalSERVE (Cal Students for Equal Rights & a Valid Education)
95. VAUGHN VILLAVERDE - CalSERVE (Cal Students for Equal Rights & a Valid Education)
96. RITA ENCARNACION - CalSERVE (Cal Students for Equal Rights & a Valid Education)
97. TAYLOR "Women's Party" ALLBRIGHT - CalSERVE (Cal Students for Equal Rights & a Valid Education)
98. LIZ HALL - CalSERVE (Cal Students for Equal Rights & a Valid Education)
99. JUSTINE "for President" LAZARO - CalSERVE (Cal Students for Equal Rights & a Valid Education)
100. CAMILLE PANNU - CalSERVE (Cal Students for Equal Rights & a Valid Education)
101. BRANDON "Vote for Ashley" SMITH - CalSERVE (Cal Students for Equal Rights & a Valid Education)
102. LINDA SALINAS - CalSERVE (Cal Students for Equal Rights & a Valid Education)
103. DENA TAKRURI (Incumbent) - CalSERVE (Cal Students for Equal Rights & a Valid Education)
104. NATASHA DANDAVATI - CalSERVE (Cal Students for Equal Rights & a Valid Education)
105. AHMAD HUZAIR - CalSERVE (Cal Students for Equal Rights & a Valid Education)
106. CHITHALINA "Service Party" KHANCHALERN - CalSERVE (Cal Students for Equal Rights & a Valid Education)
107. JACKIE "Jo" KELIIAA - CalSERVE (Cal Students for Equal Rights & a Valid Education)
108. MAX "Labor Party" BESBRIS - CalSERVE (Cal Students for Equal Rights & a Valid Education)
109. ASHLEY K. THOMAS - CalSERVE (Cal Students for Equal Rights & a Valid Education)

110. LI-ANN PUNZALAN - UNITE-Greek
111. KEVIN PERKINS - UNITE-Greek
112. DAVID "RIDE THE WAVE W/ DAVE" - UNITE-Greek
113. EDWARD LAM - UNITE-Greek

114. Ben "4SIGHT NOT 4SKIN" Narodick - SQUELCH!
115. BECCA "BOOBS" BOORSMA - SQUELCH!
116. Perry "I LOST A BET" Fetterman - SQUELCH!
117. Alisa "TOTAL DOUCHE" West - SQUELCH!
118. Simon "12in JEW NOSE" Ganz - SQUELCH!
119. Morgan "BARELY LEGAL" Wadsworth - SQUELCH!
120. Rebecca "Slander and Libel" Brown - SQUELCH!
121. Mark "90s TEEN POP IDOL" Thomas - SQUELCH!
122. Ethan "FOUR MORE YEARS!" Weiner - SQUELCH!
123. Christine "Vote STUDENT ACTION" Lee - SQUELCH!
124. Colin "I FUCKED YOUR MOM" Elzie - SQUELCH!
125. DANNY "DANIEL BRADY BLOWS" MARSHALL - SQUELCH!
126. Daniel "DAN MARSHALL BLOWS" Brady - SQUELCH!
127. Tahl "realFREAKYnaughty" Stein - SQUELCH!
128. MITCH "BALLS DEEP" RODRICKS - SQUELCH!
129. ANDY "BIG GAY HOMO" RATTO - SQUELCH!

130. SHALINI BHASKER - APPLE-Engineering
131. IGOR "Get Jiggy With It" TREGUB - APPLE-Engineering
132. CHRIS ABAD - APPLE-Engineering
133. MATT JONES - APPLE-Engineering

134. Melissa Jones - Berkeley College Republicans

135. YVETTE FELARCA (Incumbent) - Defend Affirmative Action Party (DAAP)
136. RONALD CRUZ - Defend Affirmative Action Party (DAAP)
137. ALEJANDRA "Ali" CRUZ - Defend Affirmative Action Party (DAAP)
138. YVE LARIS COHEN - Defend Affirmative Action Party (DAAP)
139. KWAME AGYEPONG - Defend Affirmative Action Party (DAAP)
140. MICHELLE RESTREPO- Defend Affirmative Action Party (DAAP)
141. PAOLA NICTE CUBIAS - Defend Affirmative Action Party (DAAP)
142. YENI GARCIA-AGUILAR - Defend Affirmative Action Party (DAAP)
143. JOSIE HYMAN - Defend Affirmative Action Party (DAAP)
144. MARTHA EDITH HERNANDEZ - Defend Affirmative Action Party (DAAP)
145. VANESSA RANCANO - Defend Affirmative Action Party (DAAP)
146. NIMISHA D. BHAKTA - Defend Affirmative Action Party (DAAP)
147. DANIEL PHILIP DWORKIN - Defend Affirmative Action Party (DAAP)
148. ALEX BRATKIEVICH - Defend Affirmative Action Party (DAAP)

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Nathan Royer speaks on the Bears-United Situation

2005 ASUC Election Ballot in Full