(Click image to enlarge)
On Saturday, February 19th, the House of Representatives voted 235-189 to pass a continuing resolution that eliminates funding for public broadcasting. I put together this handy chart on why PBS is worth saving. Find out how you can fight back at 170 Million Americans.
FULL DISCLOSURE: I am Creative Director for PBS KIDS but a life-long supporter/watcher of PBS ;)
I embarked on my summer journey intent on making poor decisions. I called it the #summeroffun. It involved hashtags, friends, and good times (with plenty of poor decisions along the way).
While that may not sound sage, or what one should purposefully set out to do, I was intent.
Suffice to say, I made plenty of ‘poor decisions’ this summer. The Dillon of just a few months ago would have told you that making poor decisions is quintessentially collegiate, and that one must ultimately partake in a series of mistakes simply to grow. I would have said, how can one graduate college without a handful of stories of intoxication, or, like, without liking the floor and sucking the door (or whatever it is I did that one time….)? Suffice to say, Dillon of last thought that in order to cast singularity, to find fulfillment, one had to jump through a series of cultural hoops and obstacles.
Think of it as a 21st century Maslow’s hierarchy, except with debauchery.
The irony is, now that I have a chest of stored away stories of ultimately ‘poor decisions’ from this summer, I have realized that I have been filling that drawer ever since I can remember. Maybe perhaps without so much flare, but through the years I like to think I’ve learned plenty, and done plenty of ‘dumb things’.
Maybe I did learn something from the consequences of the #summeroffun, but maybe those lessons weren’t taught off of a hangover, or dilly-dadiling around town. Rather, maybe the ultimate lesson I’ve learned this summer is that I’m not necessarily bound to the existence I’ve been born into (no matter how indelibly inseparable past is to existence), the life I’ve always thought I should live, or the predisposed genetics and circumstances of being.
Perhaps instead, I now have (or have always begrudgingly had) the agency to live life how I want, and be successful along the way, no matter what I had mentally conceived as existence. I am perhaps a modern Raskolnikov.
Maybe this has turned into some ranting cluster-fuck of sudo-existentialism, but I guess what I want to say is:
I’ve lived this #summeroffun to the fullest. And despite the poor decisions and lessons learned, life has always given me plenty of consequences and lessons to grow from. Maybe I should stop this unceasing quest to fulfill a collegiate quest of ‘finding self’, and accept that no matter how many layers an onion has, no matter how many heuristics of existence one can think up, an onion will always be an onion and self may perhaps never be fully defined. Does it matter how much achievement one can achieve, how much fulfillment one can strive to have in life, if that person’s quest for more blinds them to their already bountiful blessings and joys?
And while one can always pile more tuna onto a sandwich, sometimes that sandwich, maybe like life, is already filling enough? I guess I now have that to chew on for a while.
Fuck, maybe I did learn something from the #summeroffun. Or maybe not in the slightest. But I guess that’s life.
At least I probably now have embarrassing photos being held for retribution!
Voting is unnecessarily complicated this year. Here is how you vote:
1: goto http://myweb.du.edu
2: click Enter Secure Area
3: log in using your DU ID and password
4: click Surveys
5: click your respective voting group (Senior Student Senate Vote, etc)
6: select your preferences
7: once you have made all your selections, click Survey Complete
With 7376mb used, it’s finally time to upgrade my Gmail! For those of you who know me well, this is a time for celebration. A true milestone and accomplishment. I feel proud.
I updated the Saferide map, hopefully it is a lot easier to use! You can see it above, or download a copy at http://dillondoyle.com/saferide/
Because of my bill to get these made into outdoors signs and hung up at the shuttle stops, we will soon have a easier to use and access saferide.
While the signs are on their way, our work isn’t done. I want to create a mobile website that uses GPS to track the vehicles, I want to make the shuttle work for you.
How can we work together to make the shuttle better?
I can’t believe it’s that time of the year again.
Spring Quarter Re-Licensing is upon us, and I think we have made an incredibly simple and quick process this year. We are here to help, and we will be having office hours all next week to help your organization.
Attached you will find a simple one-page document outlining the streamlined application and areas in which the USG evaluates student organizations to ensure a fair allocation process.
We know that a little under two weeks is a short period of time, but we hope that our new application is simple to use, and we are here to help you!
You can fill the application out online at the URL above.
Applications are due April 9th at Midnight and appeals are scheduled for April 17th.
Let me know if you have any questions!
This Friday March 5th I was honored to speak at the Colorado Capital. The legislature had just passed a bill that will employ thousands of Coloradans, yet even with our continued efforts we are still feeling the burden of the greatest recession since the great depression.
Here are my remarks as prepared:
Our New Promise of American Life
My name is Dillon Doyle and I attend the University of Denver. I am fortunate to have good health, good friends, and a great Colorado education.
Today I stand here as a Junior in college, about to graduate with an uncertain future laid before me.
While having a college education improves one’s future living conditions, too many young workers aren’t able to afford school. Tuition is rising at an unprecedented rate. Budgets are being slashed. America has gone from a leader in education to a county with one of the top high-school dropout rates in the industrialized world.
Everyday I talk to graduates who are living at home, struggling to find work. Of those who are lucky enough to find work, the condition of young workers is deplorable. One-third of young workers do not have healthcare. Nearly half of low-wage young workers report having no paid sick time. More than half of young workers have no retirement plan, leaving these individuals literally without a future. Without the promise of a better tomorrow, we are forced to put our lives on hold.
We stand on a precipice, with two possible futures ahead of us. One of renewed prosperity and spirit, one of further demise. I was always taught to try my hardest. I was told, “the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph”. Well, I am here to say this is one tough conflict, but I see a glimmer of hope and possibility.
We must act today. We must choose which path to follow. We are faced with a pressing and immediate future.
That’s why I’m here today.
2010 must NOT mark the start of another lost decade. We must work together to ensure a new promise of American life. We need jobs. We need education. We need to secure living wages and strong benefits today so we can create and foster growth tomorrow. We need a better life and above all we need a more hopeful future. I know tomorrow will be a brighter day, and I know that together we will make sure American life continues to inspire ambitions for the future.
Today I feel accomplished.
I like to remind myself when I am feeling burdened, stressed, or generally beaten: good things will happen to those who try for something better.
We had over 100 students come out to community cleanup day! While I was disappointed with the virtually non-existant turnout from the community, I know we made a huge difference.
Check out the photos at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2033196&id=1280370102&l=00aa359492
I can’t wait for a brighter tomorrow, and I know that by working hard everyday I can make tomorrow’s sunrise even more spectacular (well with a little coffee I can ;) )
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
On Friday, a Delegation of Sodexo Workers, Students & Community Members on the DU Campus Delivered Hundreds of Petition Signatures Demanding Higher Worker Standards As Well As the Freedom to Form a Union
On Friday, January 15th a delegation of higher education food service workers with Sodexo at the University of Denver along with students and community members delivered hundreds of petition signatures from the workers, DU students, and local community members to the Sodexo Administration on campus asking Sodexo to raise standards for all Sodexo workers as well as asking for the freedom to form a union.
Too often, food service workers in higher education make low wages without access to affordable healthcare for their families. Many workers in the industry do not receive adequate training, or wages and benefits that are commensurate with the responsibilities and contributions front line food service workers make. This leads to a work environment that too often produces high turnover, poor morale, and inconsistent service.
“We care a lot about the safety of the students, but also about the safety and welfare of our families. Right now, it’s hard to make ends meet and consequently, our health care is unaffordable. Plus, some of us are being punished for improper work procedures when we have not received adequate training. That’s why we want a real voice on the job,” said Diana Sotoa, a Sodexo worker on the DU campus.
“Despite the recession Sodexo’s profits are soaring. Sodexo boasts it is a good corporate citizen, touting their participation in anti-hunger and antipoverty programs. We are here today to hold Sodexo accountable to these claims, and to win a better future for these workers and their families,” said Ecumenical Benedictine Monk and DU Alum David Garner.
