Blog by Sumana Harihareswara, Changeset founder

09 Apr 2002, 8:43 a.m.

Earplugs are innovation itself! Last night people were watching…

Hi, reader. I wrote this in 2002 and it's now more than five years old. So it may be very out of date; the world, and I, have changed a lot since I wrote it! I'm keeping this up for historical archive purposes, but the me of today may 100% disagree with what I said then. I rarely edit posts after publishing them, but if I do, I usually leave a note in italics to mark the edit and the reason. If this post is particularly offensive or breaches someone's privacy, please contact me.

Earplugs are innovation itself! Last night people were watching a movie in the living room, loud, but when I inserted my earplugs (which I got at the GRE test facility), I couldn't hear it at all, nor could I hear any street noise. Amazing!

Also amazing -- amazingly annoying -- are the tireless campaigns of this year's student government elections. Lots of blatant name-recognition scams without regard for substance, such as substance goes in student elections. Much shouting.

I care very little as to which particular people fill the roles of Incompetent President, Incompetent Senators, and so on. So I thought, "Well, I'll just vote on the propositions." And then I saw that the propositions aren't so much, how do you say? relevant. Resolutions favoring diversity, housing, religious excuses for senators to miss Senate meetings, and my favorite: a description of the student government's monthly publication and the question, "Have you ever read the ASUC Monthly?"

A survey question?! On a ballot? Next time I go to a YMCA some first Tuesday in November, will I see a proposition reading "Do you like George Wendt? Do you like beans?"

Oh, one exception to my general disdain for the candidates: Bret Heilig. I know him, I know that the ASUC made his life hell last year because he actually enforced election laws, he has dignity and integrity, he'll be the only name on my ballot for Senate.