Monday, September 17, 2007

WSA affiliates with SAM & USSA, a "left-wing radical outlet"

This past Wednesday, the Western Student Association passed resolution 0708-02, officially aligning the WSA with a super-university organization named the Student Association of Michigan, or SAM. This is the group responsible for the organizing of the upcoming student rally in Lansing on Sep 26th. The intent of this rally is to increase government funding of higher education in Michigan by lobbying legislatures. Grand Valley's student government has chosen not to join SAM and MSU's government is not participating in the rally.

In making the case for this resolution, the authors of the resolution indicated the SAM had been formed by a representative from the United States Student Association.

The USSA was formed by a merger of the National Student Association (NSA) and the National Student Lobby (NSL). These organizations both have a very storied past, and one which we should be concerned about, especially when officially affiliating our student government with a group organized by the USSA.

Here is some disturbing information directly taken from the United States Student Association's website:
Until 1948, the NSA was associated with the International Union of Students, which had aligned itself with the Communist bloc. 1951 the NSA condemned "McCarthyism."

The 1950s brought financial difficulties, and in 1951 three of NSA's five staff positions were eliminated. When the CIA made the association a secret offer of large-scale funding the following year, the NSA president accepted. For the next fifteen years, a clique of "witting" officers and staff worked closely with the CIA, while others in NSA leadership, particularly those who worked solely on domestic issues were kept in the dark. CIA-backed foundations underwrote as much as eighty percent of the total NSA budget some years, and CIA-linked alumni wielded significant influence in the association. During this period some officers and staff used their positions to gather information on student leaders abroad for the agency, and some alumni worked to ensure that NSA took "correct" positions on controversial questions. High-ranking NSA leaders obtained draft deferments [from the Vietnam War] and other help from the government, and some went on to work for the CIA more directly when they left the association.

In 1966 a California Congressman attacked NSA on the floor of the House, citing a State Department grant that had funded a trip to Vietnam by the NSA president, and urging Congress to "consider requiring the Department to cease its support of this radical organization which is subverting American foreign policy." By this time, NSA "radicals" were receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars a year from the CIA.

The 1967 NSA congress passed a resolution endorsing the Black Power movement's struggle "by any means necessary," and withdrew NSA from membership in the cold war international group it had founded. Delegates cheered when a network television commentator called NSA "a left-wing radical outfit."

In 1972 NSA's president traveled to North Vietnam to gather evidence of US violations of international law, hoping to lay groundwork for a war crimes trial. Actions like these earned NSA a place on President Nixon's infamous "enemies list," and caused division among activists as well. In 1971, a group of California students broke away, dissatisfied with NSA's militancy and focus on the war. They formed a new group, the National Student Lobby (NSL), to lobby the states and the federal government on issues such as economic access to higher education.

But the pendulum was already swinging back. In 1974 NSA created a separate foundation to carry out non-political work. This move allowed the association to become more involved in lobbying, and encouraged cooperation with NSL. In August 1978 a joint meeting of the two groups overwhelmingly approved a merger, naming the new group the United States Student Association.
Outside of the USSA's far-left past, it has strong roots to many left-wing groups today. The "SLAP" program is a pro-union affiliation with the Jobs for Justice campaign, a group that encourages universal health care, massive unionization of our workforce, anti-trade/globalization, and is pro-immigration. The Student of Color Campus Diversity Project is a program with the goal of promoting affirmative action programs on college campuses.

The USSA also supports the DREAM Act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) which "would repeal the federal provision and allow immigration relief to undocumented immigrants."

Upon further research into the USSA and its puppet organization SAM, we now can see that the WSA has officially affiliated itself with a radical left-wing group which will no doubt begin pushing its agenda onto us. In resolution 0708-02, the WSA is authorized to paid dues of up to $200 to SAM. The resolution also allows the WSA to resign from SAM at any time.

With these facts now come to light, I urge the President of the WSA to strongly consider the ramifications of officially aligning Western students to such an organization and to resign from SAM, refusing to financially support it, unless SAM officially condemns the USSA and vows to break any and all ties with the organization. The student body of WMU cannot affiliate itself with a group as radical as the USSA who's far-left beliefs do not represent the opinions of WMU students.

6 comments:

Conservative First said...

Nice work.

Anonymous said...

Wow that's amazing! It seems abundantly clear now that we can not longer approach the WSA for money in good conscience. If we really stand behind our beliefs, we cannot support the WSA by allowing it to remain a principle funding organization of the things we do. Besides as both Matt and Allan have pointed out, any government is a huge evil…I do not see how we have supported the WSA for so long. No More WSA Money!!! Good work Matt!

Conservative First said...

Let's see. Anonymous liberal comments were posted on three consecutive posts at 11:13, 11:17, and 11:20 AM by "jack simmons", "exposer of frauds" and "now doubting myself" respectively. What are the odds of that?

The first and third are laughable attempts to pretend to be Repubicans and the second lies about the text of the Second Amendment. They were clearly all posted by the same person. Looks like "exposer of frauds" just exposed himself.

Michael Fisk said...

Yeah, mobying isn't cool, and it isn't even a particularly good job of it. Also, as a point of future reference to the blog's "secret admirer," just because it's a blog doesn't mean that you should get away with using poor grammar. Your English teachers must be so proud of you.

I'm familiar with the USSA, and am somewhat surprised by the association. I don't see the advantages of WSA allying themselves with this outfit, nor do I think that the USSA is a properly representative organization of university students in America. If they're supposed to be the voice of us, then how come they sound more like our professors?

Personally, however, I think that this whole rally in Lansing is pointless. Have people forgotten what the original purpose of public higher education was? The aim for getting government into the university racket was to make it financially available to as many in society as possible. Anymore, those in lower-income households will find it cheaper to attend a private university than they will a public school in Michigan, because the private schools actually do a better job of price discrimination through financial aid... the public universities at present only benefit a select few, mostly those that wouldn't get grants and scholarships from a private university.

Rather than giving out more money, Lansing ought to send out an ultimatum to our state universities: Work to reform your costs or we're cutting you loose to fend for yourself. The current situation isn't doing anybody any favors except for the protected and privileged, and it's high time that this gets exposed for the joke that it is.

Loreliza said...

Hi. I went to the rally today, and I just wanted to say a few things. First of all, I had a 3.986 GPA in high school and a 31 on the ACT. I was offered more money from WMU than any private Michigan college, and WMU's degrees are worth more. So am I part of the "protected and privileged?" I have to work 2 jobs to help my parents pay for me to go to school. My dad can't retire until I graduate, and my mom had to pick up another job to help pay for me to have an education. I didn't get ANY money from FAFSA. Does that make me "protected and privileged?" Cutting taxes means cutting funding from the schools. cutting funding from the schools means higher tuition. Higher tuition means more students not being able to pay for college. More students not being able to pay for college means a job with less pay. A job with less pay means a worse economy for Michigan. A worse economy for Michigan means more college graduates (the "protected and privileged," as you so put it) moving OUT of Michigan. More people moving out of Michigan means an even worse economy. Michigan is the lowest state right now for funding higher education, and as a result, more and more students move away from Michigan to find a better life. As one of the speakers said today, "Who wants to sail on a sinking boat?"
Secondly, the USSA is bad because it supports a program that supports universal healthcare and unions? Oh, and we must not forget that it is also anti-globalization and pro-immigration. Do you even realize what globalization has done to the entire world's economy? It has made the rich much richer and the poor much poorer. I am not necessarily for or against immigration, because I think that it has its good and bad sides to it. I think immigration is good because it gives people the opportunity to live a better life. I think it's bad when people come illegally. I am neither Republican nor Democrat, but after reading this blog, I have to say that I must be more liberal than I thought if this is how conservatives think. I don't understand how a group out for basic human rights is considered bad, but I guess it's because you're too far in the right wing to even see anybody who's not.
Those are my thoughts. Feel free to attack them if you want, but I probably won't read them. I think that people who are not Republicans won't read this (I wouldn't have, but I was looking for any coverage of the rally today) because it is so incredibly offensive.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Sincerely,
A supporter of WSA, USSA, and SAM

Loreliza said...

I forgot to mention in my previous message that I received $1,200 per year from WMU. That was the scholarship that was higher than any private college in Michigan. Does this make me "protected and privileged?"
There were a lot of Republicans at the rally today, and I think that a lot of them would be offended if they read this blog. Just a thought.
That's what's so great about our country, though. We can say what we want without punishment. Only the realization that we offended somebody somewhere, but that is going to happen anywhere you go. Freedom of speech was a radical idea. You are utilizing a left-winged idea to make a point. That was me making a point. Thanks again for taking the time to read this.