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JerseySmarts.com

Unexpected Good News For Those In Need

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Earlier today, USAToday.com ran a story about some of those government stimulus checks that have not reached their intended recipients yet. Turns out that the government is diverting checks away from those who owe back taxes, child support payments, student loan debts, and other government-related debts. From the article:

So far, 1.8 million rebate checks have been intercepted by Treasury Department computers showing that individuals owe money to federal or state governments.

The biggest beneficiaries: parents who are owed child support.

I think this is great news. A population which can certainly use some extra help during these economic times is getting it from their own rebate checks plus they’re getting some money that they should have already received in the first place! Of course there is the larger population of deadbeats who not only are not receiving their checks, but haven’t made their various payments to the government. This is another population that could use some help. But that’s for another rebate program at another time.

Don Imus Really Doesn’t Like Black People

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Well, here’s some breaking news from the world of radio: Don Imus REALLY doesn’t like black people. Earlier today, Don Imus was speaking about Dallas Cowboys CB Adam “Pacman” Jones, who has dealt wtih a slew of legal troubles dating back to his time as a student at West Virginia. Jones recently decided to ditch the name “Pacman” in an effort to revamp his damaged image and leave his troubled past behind.

Imus and Warner Wolf discussed Jones’ meaningless public relations move on-air this morning:

Wolf: “Defensive back Adam ‘Pacman’ Jones, recently signed by the Cowboys. Here’s a guy suspended all of 2007 following a shooting in a Vegas night club.”

Imus: “Well, stuff happens. You’re in a night club, for God’s sake. What do you think’s gonna happen in a night club? People are drinking, they’re doing drugs. There are women there, and people have guns. So, there, go ahead.”

Wolf: “He’s also been arrested six times since being drafted by Tennessee in 2005.”

Imus: “What color is he?”

Wolf: “He’s African-American.”

Imus: “Well, there you go. Now we know.”

Wow. There have been two early, albeit entirely different reactions to this rather new story. Some are calling for the immediate termination of Imus this afternoon, while others are arguing that Imus meant that it is no surprise that Jones has been arrested so frequently given that police profile blacks. Both groups are morons.

The notion that he was attacking the subject of racial profiling with his comments is absurd. Please. If he wanted to pontificate on such a complex and sensitive subject, surely he would have offered more than simply, “Well, there you go. Now we know.”

Don Imus is racist. Accept it. Don’t listen. And if you don’t want to support the companies that advertise on his show, then don’t. It’s his act, it’s what he gets paid to do, so why the hell is anybody actually surprised or even outraged at his recent comments? It was only a matter of time.

Mike Huckabee vs. Ocean Township, NJ

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After listening to Governor Mike Huckabee make a great comment during the ABC News Presidential debates tonight, I had to quote him here. When asked about illegal immigration and what he would do, Governor Huckabee said a bunch of things, but one quote caught my mind:

“When people live in the United States, they ought to have their head up – they ought not to live in fear. Everytime they see a police car, they shouldn’t run and hide. Nobody ought to live like that in this country.”

Ha ha ha ha!!! Governor Huckabee!

I like Governor Huckabee – I really don’t have any major gripe against him, but at this point in the campaign I really don’t have a desire to learn much more about where he stands on each issue (remember, as an independent I can’t vote in New Jersey’s primaries without declaring a party – which I won’t do). But let me make this comment about Governor Huckabee’s quote up there…

As a person with a larger-than-normal degree of empathy, I can appreciate the fact that illegal immigrants are forced to live in a manner that many of us find abhorrent. Yet while I find the Governor’s statement to be a great political quote and one worthy of repeating, I wonder when a candidate will step up and make the same, truthful comparison about the good old boy system that has ravaged New Jersey and many other areas of this country.

In other words, I lived through some of the worst abuses of civil liberties that I’ve ever seen when I was a college student renting a home in Ocean Township, New Jersey. Police officers sat outside of our house, they routinely followed my roommates into the driveway of our home and questioned them at all hours of the day (and night), they would open up the front door of our house at 2am and walk through and tell us they were “just checking” even when only 2 people were home. It was a disgusting abuse of power that took place 6 – 8 years ago and to this day my roommates and I have a great disgust for the Ocean Township law enforcement and a much greater disgust for the anti-college student feeling in Ocean Township.

We ARE the people who see police cars with “Ocean Township” on the side of them and we attempt to run and hide because we know that in this town you can be arrested (or at least given a big money ticket) for simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It’s happened to my former roommates, it’s happened to our friends, and it’s happened to me damn it. And I don’t buy the crap that we were “rowdy college students living in family neighborhoods.” Bullshit on that! We weren’t nearly as rowdy as the “family” that lived two doors down from us with the high school-aged daughter who was selling drugs to half of the town. Our rent (our very HIGH rent, I might add) paid the same taxes the rest of the town paid. And, we added a great deal to the local economy.

So I love Governor Huckabee’s comment that no one in America should live in fear of the police. But what happens when the local police (or an entire state’s police system) has turned into nothing more than a civil liberties abusing fundraising arm of the politicians? It’s disgusting and if America really wants “change” then we all need to start by no longer permitting the vast abuses of power that we see at the local level.

Sigma Pi Fraternity Press Release

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Since local outlets RARELY cover any positive fraternity news, here is a press release written by Brett Stevens of Monmouth University’s chapter of Sigma Pi Fraternity:

DELTA-BETA CHAPTER OF SIGMA PI FRATERNITY AT MONMOUTH UNIVERSITY NAMED BEST CHAPTER IN THE NATION!

Fraternity brothers from Monmouth University’s chapter of Sigma Pi Fraternity, International returned home from their 2006 national convention with their arms full of awards. The Delta Beta chapter closed in the mid-1970s, but reopened in 1991, though the chapter has endured many highs and lows on their way to their current accomplishments. Over the last half decade the chapter underwent a fraternal rebirth by dedicating themselves to first being the best Sigma Pi brothers that they could be –shattering stereotypes in the process. Shedding petty, campus-based inter-fraternal fighting, rearranging alumni advisors, establishing an alumni organization, and working with the international Executive Office were all key components of Delta Beta’s turn-around.

Their efforts, though sometimes misunderstood by their host institution, paid off in dividends at Sigma Pi Fraternity, International’s 48th Biennial Convocation. At this conference, awards were given out for everything from operational performance to educational excellence to community and campus service and more. Delta Beta chapter came home with the top award in almost every category.

Sigma Pi Fraternity’s Delta Beta Chapter, currently the largest fraternity at Monmouth University, was awarded with the 2004 – 2006 Grand Sage’s Cup, an award given to the number one chapter of Sigma Pi Fraternity, International for the last two years. There are currently 118 chapters of Sigma Pi Fraternity, so this award is certainly a mark of distinction for the chapter. Along with the Grand Sage’s Cup, the chapter won the Grand Chapter Award for their top 25 performance and the Grand Council Award for their top 12 performance.

Delta Beta was also one of only two chapters in the entire fraternity to win the Beyer-Fryburg Award for scoring perfectly on the fraternity’s efficiency self-evaluation reports. In addition, the chapter won 11 All-Sigma Pi Collegiate Honors out of a total of 30 given out. These awards recognize brothers who carry at least a 3.25 GPA and are involved in myriad extracurricular activities.

Monmouth University and Sigma Pi Fraternity alumnus Joe Palazzolo, Delta Beta’s Chapter Director since 2003, was awarded with his second consecutive Most Outstanding Chapter Director award. These awards follow Monmouth University’s S.O.A.R. Awards where Dr. Joseph Mosca, the Delta Beta’s Faculty Advisor, was awarded Faculty Advisor of the Year Award. These awards show that while the chapter functions at an extremely high level, the alumni foundation around these young men is arguably the best it nation (Sigma Pi’s Regional Director for New Jersey was also awarded the “Best in the Nation” award).

Back in April 2006, the Delta Beta chapter hosted a Sam Spady/Alcohol Awareness Week as their annual ACE Project. For their efforts, the chapter was awarded the 2006 ACE Project of the Year Award.

The ACE Project and Recruitment Chairman Brett Stevens was awarded with the Frank E. Gray Scholarship for aiding Sigma Pi Fraternity in expansion. Delta Beta Chapter was also flattered at Convocation to have two members serve on the prestigious International Philanthropy and International Nominating Committees, respectively. Finally, the chapter was awarded with certificates of excellence for exceeding pledge goals and exceeding initiate goals; Delta Beta increased their membership by over 100% in the last year alone and has maintained 100% retention of pledges over the last two years.

Sigma Pi Fraternity invites anyone who has any questions about or wants to comment on the above information to contact Joe Palazzolo, Delta Beta Chapter’s Chapter Director and the new Regional Director of Sigma Pi Fraternity for New Jersey. More information is also available by calling Sigma Pi Fraternity’s Executive Office in Brentwood, Tennessee at (800) 332-1897.

Sigma Pi Fraternity was founded in 1897 at the Vincennes University, in Vincennes, Indiana and is headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee. The Fraternity is one of the fastest expanding men’s college organizations in North America, with 118 active chapters and 14 colonies in the United States and Canada, and over 85,000 alumni. The Fraternity teaches its core standards and values of scholarship, leadership, and service through educational programming, and is the only Greek organization with an international philanthropic program, The ACE Project, specifically designed to give back to our host institutions.

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