YAL trying to bring Tom Woods to Indiana but is getting called names instead

[Melissa]

Ok here is the email our Young friends in Indiana sent out to get Tom Woods to Bloomington latter this year and after you read it please read the report by the Herald Times about our young friends as not only do they try to make YAL members look bad but they actually resort to NAME CALLING.

Please write the Herald times to let them know what you think of this

Melissa


Dear Fellow Supporter of Liberty,

For the past year, Young Americans For Liberty at Indiana University Bloomington has fought hard to further the cause of liberty on IUB's campus. IU has yet to bring any speakers to campus who are vocal about constitutional government, individual liberty, free markets, or sound money.

Thomas E. Woods, Jr. embodies all of these values that are central to what Young Americans For Liberty stands for. Woods is an extremely accomplished individual. A two time New York Times bestselling author and senior fellow at the Ludwig von Mises Institute, he holds a bachelor's degree in history from Harvard and a master's, M.Phil., and Ph.D. from Columbia University.

Woods has also appeared on a variety of TV news shows representing the Austrian School of Economic thought. Furthermore, he is an expert on the current economic crisis, how it happened, why government intervention is the problem, and free market solutions to help put the USA back on it's feet.

Twice, this event was presented to the Union Board Lectures Committee at IU in order to obtain their sponsorship for the event, and twice it was rejected. However, Young Americans For Liberty strongly believes that it is imperative that the voice of liberty is heard on Bloomington's college campus.

YAL @ IUB has already raised over $2000 toward bringing Woods to campus. To make this event a reality, we need to raise a minimum of $4000. Woods is scheduled to come to campus on Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 to lecture about the financial meltdown from 7:00PM-9:00PM.

Prior to the event, from 5:30PM-6:30PM there will be a private sponsor's reception with Woods, which will give those individuals attending the reception the opportunity to have a meet and greet with Woods including taking photos and getting autographs. After the event Woods will do a book signing where a variety of his works will be available for purchase. T

he event will be open to the public on a first come, first serve basis. The following are the multiple levels of sponsorship:

Supporter $25* One Ticket for a reserved seat at the event**

Silver Sponsor $100 One Ticket for a reserved seat at the event One Ticket to invitation-only private reception with Tom Woods

Gold Sponsor $250 One Ticket for a reserved seat at the event One Ticket to invitation-only private reception with Tom Woods One Copy of Tom Woods' newest book "Nullification"

Platinum Sponsor $500 Five Tickets for reserved seats at the event Three Tickets to invitation-only private reception with Tom Woods One copy of Tom Woods' newest book "Nullification" 96 x 30 Table in entrance way of the event for your business or organization Your name, business, or organization published on all promotional materials.

*If you have made a contribution prior to the release of this letter, you qualify for the sponsorship level that corresponds with your donation amount. If you wish to make a second contribution, your net contribution will be considered toward your sponsorship level. **Student reserved seating is also available for $5 a seat (Please include "Student" in the donation memo and bring a valid Student ID to the door at the event). Campus Reform recently interviewed me and Ryan Guilliam, YAL's Media Director, at CPAC 2010 on the matter:

http://www.campusreform.org/videos/c...ns-for-liberty

Donate HERE

(https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/websc...=D9HG8PJNT8SQA)

to support the message of freedom on Indiana University's Bloomington campus.

In the name of Liberty,

Samuel Spaiser
President Young Americans For Liberty at Indiana University Bloomington



Herald times article with Writers email address

http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/sto...qp-7395699.sto

COMMENTARY
Group needs talking-to about bias
By Mike Leonard 812-331-4368 | mleonard@heraldt.com
March 7, 2010, last update: 3/6 @ 11:48 pm

It’s a favorite and well-worn tactic of the far right to complain that they’re abused minorities on college campuses and the hypocritical left is denying them their rights.

These are folks who come from the same ideological tree that touts majority rule when they find themselves in the majority. The same people who opposed civil rights in the 1960s and continue to show themselves as hostile to programs for racial and ethnic minorities. People who label pleas for fair treatment of gays and lesbians as preferential treatment.

The wing-nuts.

They’re at it again on the Indiana University campus, and you have to give them credit in the same way you admire mice for trying to become rats.

The issue this time is how IU and the Indiana Memorial Union Board are trying to keep a conservative firebrand from speaking on campus.

It’s a canard.

Last fall, the IU Young Americans for Liberty approached Union Board and asked the group to sponsor a speech by Thomas E. Woods Jr., a senior fellow at the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, Ala. Never heard of it? You’re not the Lone Ranger.

It wasn’t a “how can we work together to bring in this speaker?” kind of request. It was a “give us $4,000 or we’ll scream bloody murder that you’re a bunch of leftist elitists” deal.

The Union Board lectures director at the time checked in at the economics department, got the “cuckoo-cuckoo” whistle from a faculty member and dismissed the arrogant demand, probably a bit too tersely, by saying Woods lacked “sufficient academic credibility.”

And so the YALs complained to the news media and scored a “IU doesn’t (heart) conservatives” splash.

The YALs came back at Union Board this semester, after a new board of directors had been seated, and made the same request for money to bring in Woods. They were rejected again. But this time, the Union Board students spoke slowly and clearly and still, the YALs didn’t get it, or didn’t want to.

YAL member Margaret Marrow complained to The Herald-Times, repeating what the previous lectures director had said, which isn’t applicable now. “IU previously spent $45,000 to bring John Edwards, a disgraced liberal politician, to speak on campus, but refused Woods a speaking opportunity despite his more reasonable speaker’s fee of $4,000.”

Woods may be a friend of Fox News, but he has never been a U.S. senator or serious contender to become president of the United States. And neither IU nor Union Board refused Woods a speaking opportunity. Union Board simply declined to throw money at a program that was already planned.

“We told them we were very willing to work with them, but Union Board is a programming board, and we work with organizations from the ground up in the planning and execution of events,” current lectures director Erika Hall said last week. “We’re not here to just hand out checks.

“They had already negotiated with an agent and booked everything and had everything set up,” she said. “They weren’t willing to work with us and go at this thing hand-in-hand. They were really taking this edge that we’re biased, and our response was, no, that’s not it. But they refused to accept that.”

YAL President Samuel Spaiser confirmed that on Friday. “The fact that they said we were too prepared, that just seems a little bit ridiculous to me,” he said. “They seemed really genuine and friendly, and a lot of people said they had no issues politically. Many people stressed it was not an issue of political philosophy. But their argument felt very superficial, I will say that.”

Transparency is superficial? Who writes these people’s talking points, Karl Rove?

The Union Board Lectures committee includes about 10 volunteers and can include anyone from campus, even YAL members. When a proposal comes to them, they analyze it: Does it fit Union Board’s mission statement? Is it a timely event? Will it be of interest to students and/or the community?

If the idea meets muster, it goes to the entire body of about 20 Union Board directors. They go over the proposal, ask many of the same questions, and vote on it. If it passes, then it goes back to the Lectures committee, which works on every aspect of the planning and execution of the event.

“There is a professional development aspect to being on Union Board. That’s why we’re here,” Hall explained. “Committee members get hands-on experience in booking venues and finding the right people to contact and seeing if we have the technology in place and the room set up. All of those kinds of things. We are absolutely willing to work with any campus group to do a project, but doing the project is how members learn.

“We explained that over and over,” she said. “It’s not ideology. It’s the aspects of programming. If another group came in with everything planned out and done and all they wanted was a monetary contribution, we’d say the same thing.”

Spaiser derides the Union Board decision on a national Campus Reform Web site, where, wouldn’t you know it, other campus far-right groups are using the same tactics to ambush student groups and universities with false claims of ideological bias.

“I felt like they thought if they kept pushing the media aspect, we’d give in,” Hall said. “We don’t make special exceptions. We are a programming board. And this is how things have worked at Union Board for 101 years now.”

[mczerone]

Wow, so many misconceptions.
One paragraph that is particularly bad:

Woods may be a friend of Fox News, but he has never been a U.S. senator or serious contender to become president of the United States. And neither IU nor Union Board refused Woods a speaking opportunity. Union Board simply declined to throw money at a program that was already planned.

The only aspect of FoxNews that is friendly with Tom Woods is the Judge.

So lecturers that are already popular, have massive money machines behind them, and do nothing but perpetuate State power do deserve extra payment from sycophantic brown-noser boards?

And YAL never said that they were being denied the right to bring Woods to speak, but the author imputes this whining to them, to make the decision not to sponsor the event seem less harsh. Certainly they aren't under an obligation to throw money at any speaker who is invited by a student group, but then where does a state-owned Union Board get the power to pick and choose what type of speech to sponsor and what type to let flounder?

I say that the Union Board needs to be disbanded, or forced to support all speakers equally. Free Speech and equal protection demand nothing less.

These are folks who come from the same ideological tree that touts majority rule when they find themselves in the majority. The same people who opposed civil rights in the 1960s and continue to show themselves as hostile to programs for racial and ethnic minorities. People who label pleas for fair treatment of gays and lesbians as preferential treatment.

There's so much left-right pigeonholing, straw-manning, and "you're not us, so you must be them" in this article, I can't believe that the author cares about anything that isn't their favorite Nascar driver enough to have actually gotten a job.

[RedStripe]

1. That YAL group should use this publicity to their advantage "the speaker that they don't want you to hear" etc.

2. Sounds like the local YAL may not have been as diplomatic as they could have been. Usually you can win over gatekeepers (especially low level ones like these) pretty easily through some flattery and minimal work - ask "what could we do to change your minds? what sort of input would your committee require before considering the event for funding?)

I should have put these in reverse order. Try number 2 before resorting to number 1. Maybe they tried what I suggest in #2; can't tell from the article.

[Melissa]

I dont think these young People went up to the board an demanded money and were rude about it.

Here are some comments from the article

http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/sto...k1Njk5LnN0bw==

[sspaiser]

Originally Posted by RedStripe

1. That YAL group should use this publicity to their advantage "the speaker that they don't want you to hear" etc.

2. Sounds like the local YAL may not have been as diplomatic as they could have been. Usually you can win over gatekeepers (especially low level ones like these) pretty easily through some flattery and minimal work - ask "what could we do to change your minds? what sort of input would your committee require before considering the event for funding?)

I should have put these in reverse order. Try number 2 before resorting to number 1. Maybe they tried what I suggest in #2; can't tell from the article.

Yea, I tried #2, and that resulted in this article. They had firmly made up their mind when I was allowed the question/answer session in front of the Union Board. They made that clear. Which is why I'm baffled at that quote in Leonard's article that says that the Lectures Committee was willing to work with us. I went to them to see what I could do to negotiate. Thus, what you have now is #1. Which is still a work in progress.

Thank you for your input and suggestions.

Sam Spaiser
President
Young Americans For Liberty at Indiana University Bloomington

[RedStripe]

Originally Posted by sspaiser

Yea, I tried #2, and that resulted in this article. They had firmly made up their mind when I was allowed the question/answer session in front of the Union Board. They made that clear. Which is why I'm baffled at that quote in Leonard's article that says that the Lectures Committee was willing to work with us. I went to them to see what I could do to negotiate. Thus, what you have now is #1. Which is still a work in progress.

Thank you for your input and suggestions.

Sam Spaiser
President
Young Americans For Liberty at Indiana University Bloomington

Sorry to hear that - I was honestly hoping that you had simply not been polite/diplomatic enough... otherwise you've got a tough road ahead. Good Luck.

See if you can raise the funds through other means, and then use the board's denial in your favor by making that a major part of your advertising/promotional campaing.

[mczerone]

Originally Posted by Melissa

I dont think these young People went up tk this board and#demanded money end were rude abkut it.
%0H
Here are somm comments from the article

http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/sto...k1Njk5LnN0bw==

A commenter suggested that the YAL should be happy because IU had Ann Coulter on campus.

What if the general public understood that the YAL was probably more "liberal" on many issues than Democrats?

[angelatc]

What idiots! Have any of them actually heard Woods speak? He's one of the most charismatic and animated guys on the lecture circuit today. He's got a new book coming out that will very likely end up in the NYT's top 10 again, too.

And he only charges $4,000?

Ah, the ignorance of youth.

[specsaregood]

Originally Posted by Melissa

Here are somm comments from the article
http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/sto...k1Njk5LnN0bw==

This comment/reply combination is full of win.

The university should seriously look at asking the "wing nuts" to study somewhere else. Bloomington is not the place for them.

reply:

We need all the "wing nuts" we can get.There are a lot of loose screws in this town.

LOL

[angelatc]

Tom Woods is a "wing nut?" Yeah, those Faux talking heads are all on board with Woods' message. I mean, I hear them talking about imperialism and standing armies all the time.