Posted on 04/25/2010 1:46:47 AM PDT by iowamark
After sending out an e-mail promoting Conservative Coming Out Week at the University of Iowa, Natalie Ginty said she received nasty e-mails calling her a Nazi-fascist and telling her she would burn in hell.
Ginty, the chairwoman of the UI College Republicans, said she was hurt by the comments, but she didn’t let them deter her from voicing a perspective she said isn’t heard on campus frequently.
“A lot of Republicans don’t speak up here,” she said, noting that many conservative students feel isolated in the predominately liberal Iowa City.
Conservative Coming Out Week, which began Monday and goes through Saturday, is designed to promote College Republicans and provide conservatives a place to meet like-minded individuals.
They began the week by passing out “Nobel Peace Prizes” on the Pentacrest — an attempted jab at Obama, who received the award last fall.
But this year, Ginty said, the group has tried to be more politically correct. The members screened a documentary about the George W. Bush presidency and played a game in which members attempted to identify conservative celebrities.
Even with this emphasis, the group caught flack for its use of the phrase “coming out,” most commonly used to describe the process of publicly acknowledging one’s sexuality.
Ginty said that while the situations aren’t identical, the College Republicans were trying to accomplish a similar goal this week by appearing in public.
“We’re just trying to get our community to know who we are,” Ginty said.
Deb Derksen, a cochairwoman of the Johnson County Republicans, supported the Republicans for speaking their mind on a liberal campus.
“It’s important that you feel like you’re being backed by the adults who are in the community,” she said.
Some UI Republican students said they felt this event was a chance to open up.
UI junior Hillary Block said she sometimes refrains from speaking in class for fear of having classmates judge her. “It’s kind of hard in this town,” she said.
But UI sophomore Chris Nienart said that while he is aware of the political tensions on campus, he doesn’ t feel that people discourage him.
“I don’t feel like I’m being pushed out,” he said.
Republicans have traditionally been in the minority in Johnson County.
Democrats dominate with 40,574 registered voters to the Republican 16,359, which has been on a steady decline over the last five years, according to the Johnson County Auditor’s Office.
But this weeks’ events weren’t just for conservatives.
Dressed in red and blue T-shirts and sprinting across the patchy green grass, a handful of UI Democrats and Republicans gathered at Hubbard Park on Thursday to indulge in some friendly competition.
The games —including bocci ball, Frisbee, and football — were friendly despite the occasional playful political jabs on the field.
“Some people have reservations about it, but people are willing to look past their political division and play,” said Dane Hudson, the president of University Democrats.
“It’s a good way to do something together without conflict,” said UI freshman and University Democrat member Margaret Murphy.
http://gazetteonline.com/local-news/education/2010/04/23/ui-law-students-get-political-tips-from-grassley
“”UI law students get political tips from Grassley
A University of Iowa College of Law class was able to get a taste of what real world politics are like.
Sen. Chuck Grassley spent an hour on Friday talking to a UI Law School class about their year-long project about about transparency and conflicts of interest in the medical field.
Grassley, who said he has worked to ensure there is legislation passed regarding transparency between doctors and pharmaceutical companies, said he loves getting a chance to talk to students about the politics behind the bills.
Joe Moser, a 24-year-old second-year law student said it was interesting to see how drafting a bill in a classroom setting was different from the real world where he said political compromises often have to be made.
Items like special interest groups, and incentives or gifts given to doctors for certain treatments from companies, and transparency between doctors and patients, are some of the topics that the class discussed during the project.
“In class we’re removed from politics, but a lot of times in the real world there is political resistance,” he said, adding that Grassley highlighted what would likely pass in their project and what would likely have to be modified.
“It was a really good reality check,” said second-year law student, 25-year-old Nick Lacina, who said he learned a lot from the senator’s visit.””
Thanks for posting this.
I will forward it to my sweetie, a Hawkeye alum (and recovering liberal...lol) who has his chest sticking out about how many Iowa guys were picked up in the NFL draft.
:)
Time was, leftist writers attempted to smear conservative / libertarian thinking at an abstract level. In effect, they strained to convince the undecided that to subscribe to pro-freedom views marked one as either "stupid or evil." Well, it appears that we'll be denied the "stupid" choice henceforward. That doesn't bother me; what about you?
Freedom, Wealth, and Peace,
Francis W. Porretto
Curmudgeon Emeritus of Eternity Road
Dear sir or madam or whatever that is in between:
Thank you for your very enlightening email that referred to my conservative position as being Nazi or neo-Nazi.
I would like to recommend that you sue your High School history teacher for his/her failure. You see Nazis were socialists, National Socialists to be exact. Yes, I know that this must be a shock to you but Hitler was a liberal, a socialist, a real schmuck. Yes, Obama’s methods are closer to Hitler’s than they are to mine.
Thank you again for demonstrating your colossal ignorance. Obviously, I will not be concerned by any comments coming from someone who follows Hitler’s beliefs.
Sincerely,
A Conservative.
OK, for those who don’t recognize satire. The preceding pretend email was a satirical response to any lib accusing a conservative of being a Nazi.
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