Open Forum — Jason Preston

In the interest of providing an open forum for discussion which the school is apparently unwilling to provide us via e-mail, I have posted the full text of both e-mails I received and opened a page for discussion on my personal website.

There’s been a lot of political drama at Occidental recently (OK, well, for the past several years, including the temporary disbanding of the student government), and because this has recently involved one of my friends and a rather ridiculous amount of “things getting out of hand,” I wrote an article for the Oxy Weekly, and in it I provided a link to this page, where both of the relevant e-mails are reproduced, and the comments are open for discussion.

From: Benjamin Adlin
Sent: Wed 4/26/2006 5:11 PM
To: Emily Nathon; Jason Preston; Benjamin Torgersen; Benjamin Brown; Kory Schaff; Elena Abbott; Michelle Martinez; Lance Hannon; Grace Canby; Matthew Harter; Jeffrey Oakley; David Reynolds; Nikolai Schweingruber; Charles Wilson; Jessie Evans; Michael Lambert; David Arrizon; Hailey Crowel; Anna Gibson; Oliver Baron; Jeremy Susel; Adam Franks; Lucius Gretzinger; Kelly Hasegawa; Katherine Lonsdorf; Julia Granholm; Daniel Miller; Malcolm Read; Christina Moloney; Robby Nelson; Casey Unrein; Laura Wong; Alexander Black; Parisa Vassei; Deborah Weiser; Daryn DeVille; Gabrielle Meury; Ruben Farias; Eriza Bareng; Rita Molestina; Philip Barney; Philip Huffeldt; Mathieu Cailler; Dawn Yanagihara; Kate Kurtin; Matthew Srsich; Ethan Ambabo; David Marsh; Deanna Diaz; Tuan Ngo; Matthew Kuzio; Kara Abelson; Amy Laslett; Madeline Knaup; Patrice Hall; Elizabeth Shdo; Dennis McMillan; Daniel Hoffman; Douglas Thistlethwaite; Kayla Schott-Bresler; Kenna Cottrill; Laura Benjamin; Kevin Adler; Tessa Basford; Ashley Bennett; Naguine Bensimon-Tree; Stephen Bent; Samuel Betty; Thomas Boatwright; Noah Bonneville; Ryan Bowen; Eric Hubbard; Tyler Yuh; Kenjus Watson; Caitlyn Bridenstine; Erin Brinton; Alexander Brody; Eliza Callwood; Devon Carson; Nicole Castillo; Matthew Cheek; Brooke Clark; Abe Cohen; Meagan Colvin; Christopher Coulsby; Geoffrey Cromwell; Sheena Curtin; Kendra Dority; Molly Englert; Benjamin Falik; Daniel Fine; Melia Flagg; David Giffen; Elena Fuell; Amanda Gonzalez; Samual Grant; Sara Hamilton; Jack Hans; Carrie Harlow; Whitney Hawke; Jordan Hawkins; Sarah Hunt; Rachel Kay; Michael Heffner; Jonathan King; Sarah Kirshenbaum; Kathryn Kirkpatrick; Derek Steer; Jessica Lally; Deborah Linton; Katherine Lonsdorf; George Martinez; Erin McClelland; Marcella McMurray; Reed Mettler; Georgia Mischak; Ashley Morganstern; Caroline Murray; Kathleen White; Samara Neely-Cohen; Kelly Neukom; Shoshone Johnson; Anthony Ostland; Troy Palme; Caitlin Peel; Oscar Perez; Ryan-Jasen Henne; Elizabeth Peterson; Karen Quan; Alice Raymond; Wade Wilgus; Alexandra Rombough; Renae Rykaczewski; Eliza Schillhammer; Nicholas Shapiro; James Sharp; Adele Sillyman; Tope Sosanya; Alexander Supple; Michelle Talal; Joshua Talbot; Michael Wade; Devon Warnlof; Bryan Wiersma; Benjamin Wills; Bari Wolf; Jonathan Woodside; Daniel Zlotoff

Subject: Devon Puglia article

Friends,

I’m sending the below article to you because I found it interesting, and I thought that you might, as well. Personally, was impressed with Puglia’s firm grasp of the English language - I’ll leave my commentary at that.

Feel free to forward it to whomever you like.

- Ben Adlin

_________________________________________

Taken from The HM Record Online
(available at http://web.horacemann.org/record/archives/volume_101/101-22/oped/oped2.html)
‘Marriage has always been between a man and a woman’
Devon Puglia
Contributing Writer

This isn’t demagoguery. I don’t believe in depriving responsible citizens of their rights. And no one can possibly accuse me of being a homophobe. The one issue pleasing conservatives and vexing lost little boys like John Kerry is the debate over gay marriage. I’m proud to be one of a handful of Republicans in this school. Although I don’t agree with all conservative doctrine, there are moral and constitutional reasons why I believe President Bush is right in proposing a Constitutional amendment to ban gay marriages.

God knows that I haven’t been a good Catholic. I’ve been to more synagogues than I have churches, I can recite those first few lines from the billions of Bar Mitzvahs I’ve been to, and I can’t remember the last time I’ve prayed (I should get on that though; second term grades are coming out soon). But, to defend my religious knowledge, I do know that Adam and Eve were the first people on Earth - not Adam and Steve.

Throughout time, marriage has always been between a man and a woman. Frankly, I hope it will continue to be. I know it is a poor argument to make that because marriage has always been between a man and a woman, we shouldn’t change it now. Slavery existed for thousands of years, and we all know how atrocious that institution was. But gay marriage is a deeply rooted cultural issue, and permitting it challenges some of the American people’s most deeply cherished beliefs. Over 70% of Americans believe that marriage is defined as being between a man and a woman. Proposition 22 passed with an overwhelming majority in California, labeling marriage as a union between a man and woman. Although the government is certainly meant to protect the beliefs of the minority, the fact is that cultural issues sometimes need to be settled by a consensus. And that is just what we need to do now.

Normally I wouldn’t support a Constitutional amendment. I like my Constitution the way it is. But when renegade judges grant marriage licenses based on their personal views, I am outraged. When myopic mayors trying to pick up the homosexual vote come out and support gays in their crusade, I am disgusted. These things perturb me because of their utter neglect for the very foundations of our government. In 1996 President Clinton “felt everyone’s pain” and enacted the Defense of Marriage Act. The Act did have a little something to say about the definition of marriage: “the word ‘marriage’ means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word ‘spouse’ refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife.” Either I’m crazy or that’s Federal law right there. Federal law is supreme. Sophomoric judges and mayors need to stop thinking about votes or personal beliefs, and need to start recognizing and adhering to Federal rules. Moreover, they need to cease being detrimental to a stable American culture. A ban on gay marriage would be beneficial to American culture.

It behooves our lawmakers to protect our children from gay marriage. When my sister was six, I was playing with her in the park and she noticed two males kissing each other. She was extremely confused by this, and asked why they were touching each other in the manner that they were, as she had never seen or heard of two people of the same gender being sexually attracted to one another. I had to explain that sometimes men are in love with men and women are in love with women. It placed me in an extremely awkward position as an older brother, and I certainly wish she had not noticed the couple. One might argue that children should be aware of homosexuals, that homosexuality is present in our culture, and that we should educate our youth regarding it. Yet, people are outraged over that Janet Jackson incident at the Super Bowl. Many feel that children and families should not be subjected to the exposure of a breast. But for some reason people should be subjected to homosexuals? Public displays of homosexual affection, something that clearly confuses young children? I am not saying that gays should never show affection, or should be separated from everyone in society. But I am arguing that gay marriage will only confuse children more and will only increase the amount of exposure to our youth. One might say that child exposure to homosexuality isn’t a bad thing. But then again, is anyone ready to teach a six-year-old what oral sex is, or what anal sex is, or what heroine is? The bottom line is that children aren’t emotionally mature enough to understand these issues, just like they aren’t psychologically capable of comprehending homosexuality. Moreover, if we do legalize gay marriage, despite its harmful cultural and societal consequences, it will lead into more homosexual adoption, something that simply cannot be tolerated. Children who are adopted by gays grow up lacking certain masculine or feminine qualities, which are necessary for individuals to properly function and live comfortably in America. When a child adopted by a gay family grows up, he or she will be continually mocked, and will wonder why every other child has a mommy and a daddy, when he or she has parents of the same sex. It is simply harmful to the future of American citizens, and we have to stop gay marriage before its effects become too great.

To reiterate, this isn’t about deprivation of rights, or homophobia. Banning gay marriage is about protecting our governmental structure and deeply treasured personal and religious beliefs. I will support any amendment outlawing gay marriage, primarily because I myself think that such a ban will appropriately shield our children from things that they aren’t able to understand. Although under the Fourteenth Amendment citizens cannot be deprived of their rights and deserve equal protection under the law, gay marriage is a different issue than integrated schools, or a woman’s right to vote. This is religious, and because such an issue cannot be left under the jurisdiction of states (for the same reason slavery could not feasibly function under state prerogative), any constitutional amendment regarding this issue is a good one.

From: Israel Matos
Sent: Mon 5/1/2006 12:59 AM
To: Aaron Jacobs; Aaron Losey; Aaron Mass; Aaron Mun; Aaron Patterson; Aaron Steinberg; Abe Cohen; Abiel Garcia; Adam Schawel; Adam Androlia; Adam Branson; Adam Franks; Adam Gonzalez; Adam Reilly; Adam Rossi; Adam Stites-Hallett; Adamaka Ajaelo; Adele Sillyman; Adrian Cavallini-Gardner; Adrian Ferenc; Adrian Salas; Adriana Guarderas; Adrienne Spivak; Ahuva Zaches; Aiden Wallace; Aimee Oyenoki; Aja Howse; Alan Terusaki; Alan Wong; Alana Dietze; Alayna Santos; Albert Ramos; Albert Vazquez; Aldo Antonio Garcia; Ale Andra Polkinghorn; Alejandra Malhotra; Aleksander Sedzielarz; Alena Mihas; Alessandra Farley; Alessandra Valconi; Alex Graves; Alex Pressberg; Alexa Eubank; Alexa Gould-Kavet; Alexander Albertine; Alexander Altman; Alexander Black; Alexander Brody; Alexander Combs; Alexander Drecun; Alexander Lee; Alexander Nye; Alexander Ochoa; Alexander Ramon; Alexander Schned; Alexander Smith; Alexander Supple; Alexandra Cooper; Alexandra Denis; Alexandra Orenich; Alexandra Rombough; Alexandra Snow; Alexi Ashe; Alfonso Berumen; Alfredo Gamiz; Alice Fazlollah; Alice Hammond; Alice Lee; Alice Martinez; Alice Raymond; Alicia Egan; Alis Brito; Alison Dempsey; Alison Eisel; Alison Kjeldgaard; Alison Newcomer; Alison Reed; Alison Williams; Allegra Finelli-Thomsen; Allison Beresford; Allison Jurkovich; Allison Peck; Allison Tamaki; Allison Truscheit; Allyson Buller; Alma Parada; Alyce Brookfield; Alyson Tamamoto; Alyssa Hagen; Amanda Armstrong; Amanda Bozovich; Amanda Clark; Amanda Fruta; Amanda Gonzalez; Amanda Haas; Amanda Iseri; Amanda Lee; Amanda Lounsbury; Amanda Martin; Amanda Navetta; Amanda Ross; Amanda Tonkovich; Amber Penland; Amelia Abernathy; Amelia Simoncelli; Amy Christine Smith; Amy Gregg; Amy Jo Shepro; Amy Larson; Amy Laslett; Amy Romer; Amy Smith; Amy Sojot; Amy Unger; Amy Zonis; Ana Guardado; Ana Romero Jurisson; Anahit Aladzhanyan; Anais Janoyan; Anastasiya Sutyagina; Anders Engdahl; Andrea Chicas; Andrea Cole; Andrea Cova; Andrea Derlet; Andrea Freeman; Andrea Lane; Andrea Nieves; Andrea Rodriguez-Scheel; Andrew Blythe; Andrew Carlin; Andrew Chan; Andrew Collins; Andrew Dakopolos; Andrew Grinberg; Andrew Gutierrez; Andrew Hallett; Andrew Hsu; Andrew Kinder; Andrew Leferink; Andrew Rogier; Andrew Shang; Andrew Singer; Andrew Star
Subject: YOUR 2006 Election - Fear & Loathing on the Oxy Campus

Fellow students,

There is treachery and deception amongst our ranks. A certain politician who WILL be named has conspired to turn our school’s Presidential election into a filthy disgusting mudslinging campaign. This candidate has cleverly disguised his ploy as a “school discussion” on the topic of gay marriage and gender neutral housing. The shameless politician who calls himself Matt Kuzio, has enlisted the help of his friends in disseminating emails all over the school through club lists about these forementioned issues and the stance his opponent, Devon Puglia, supposedly holds about these issues.

Lest we lose ourselves in the confusion of all the shit Kuzio has managed to throw up on the wall, let me say this clearly and succintly: THEY ARE LIES AND HALF TRUTHS designed to make Devon look horrible and win the election. Although results haven’t yet been publicized, after you read what i’m about to write you, i won’t be surprised if a complete disqualification of the low-life Kuzio is demanded by the student body.

Kuzio’s minions reached deep into the past and managed to find an article Devon wrote for his high school paper in 2002 as part of a point-counterpoint spread. The topic was Gay Marriage. Devon was assigned counterpoint, which meant he had to write AS IF he were opposed to it, something he did CONTRARY TO HIS OWN OPINIONS. That is to say, Devon is for Gay marriage. But for the sake of discourse and presenting the topic to his high school through the paper he had to write it. The views expressed in his article are not his own views, but rather those of someone who is against the issue.

Kuzio’s minions then without investigation or warning spread word of this article via email, portraying it as truth or Devon’s actual opinion. No effort was made to actually confirm these suspicions with Devon himself. Let me repeat: THESE SUSPICIONS WERE NOT INVESTIGATED. Instead they were immediately packaged and sold to the student body, who ate it up.

I wonder if Kuzio and his friends think the rest of us are asinine idiots, because they surely played us as such. Even I, who personally know Devon, called his political worthiness (and person) into question. That is, until I investigated these rumors myself. Here is that conversation I had with Devon, via AIM:

TheVanFund: yo
Devo 617: whats up
TheVanFund: hey
TheVanFund: i wanted to ask you about these emails i’ve been getting
Devo 617: yeah
Devo 617: dont believe them
Devo 617: are you still getting them?
TheVanFund: nah
Devo 617: ok cool
TheVanFund: i wanted to know what the deal was though…
Devo 617: well
Devo 617: my school newspaper
TheVanFund: did you write that article?
Devo 617: point-counter point
Devo 617: at the time gay marriage was a major topic
TheVanFund: right
Devo 617: and they didnt have anyone to write the piece against gay marriage
Devo 617: so they forced me to write it
Devo 617: the ironic part is that im for gay marriage
TheVanFund: yea, we do that at the weekly too
Devo 617: exactly
Devo 617: and so
Devo 617: my high school newspaper is online
TheVanFund: right
TheVanFund: so they dug up some dirt
Devo 617: and a bunch of people decided to take it out of context
TheVanFund: i c
Devo 617: and send it to the whole school
Devo 617: without ever actually asking my views on the subject
Devo 617: so its fucked up
Devo 617: and i can understand how someone might think im homophobic or somehting
Devo 617: because of the content
Devo 617: but i was just trying to espouse the views of those who were debating the issue at the time
Devo 617: and none of it reflects my personal view
Devo 617: thats why the writing and argument is so poor
Devo 617: its also from like 4 years ago
Devo 617: be right back
TheVanFund: ok
Devo 617: so yeah
Devo 617: thats basically it
TheVanFund: so what do you think of gender neutral housing?
Devo 617: i support it
Devo 617: i think certain wings of a couple dorms should be used for it
Devo 617: because if people support it, then i support it
Devo 617: theres nothing wrong with dedicating a dorm or certain parts of dorms for gender neutral housing
Devo 617: it should be an option, but should not be imposed on everyone

So there you have it, straight from Devon’s mouth. I find it interesting that Kuzio, the candidate that was “all about the issues,” had to degrade himself to this level of political bashing just to win a school election. If he does this now, before he’s even elected president, what can we expect of him over the next year? How can we even trust someone like this? If anything, this election is very clearly reminscent of our school’s last election, where Jason Antebi engaged in similar but wholly more blatant political mudslinging.

I applaud Kuzio’s efforts for at least trying to disguise his ploy. Maybe he doesn’t think we’re as stupid as Antebi did. After all, the emails I received came from Oxy Conscious mostly (as well as other clubs of which I belong to the email list), presented as a voicing dissent of opinion to the issues mentioned and Devon’s supposed stance on them. Too bad they were all based on rumors instead of hard facts. But if they would have gone on facts, they would have found out they actually agreed with Devon’s pro gay marriage and pro gender neutral housing positions.

But of course, none of them were written by Kuzio. That would be too obvious. How curious though that he belongs to and has high rankings in all of the clubs that disseminated these emails to their members. Makes sense. After all, if I wanted to spread some horrible rumor about my political opponent and win the election, I’d most certainly get my friends to do it and I would definitely do it using the easiest and most effective medium: email.

Hence my email. Some of you will delete this email and do nothing. Some won’t even care. After all, its a stupid college election, right? Maybe, but its YOUR college, and you deserve an HONEST candidate. Besides, I don’t know about you but I’m pretty pissed about being bamboozled by Kuzio and his little rumor mill, even if it was only until I took it upon myself to find out the truth. We cannot keep letting our candidates break the rules of the election and hope to have any sort of worthwile government or school for that matter.

What’s my point then? DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. ANYTHING. Talk to your friends about it. Write an article or a paper about. write an email to Dean Avery about how disgusted you are with this year’s election and Kuzio’s behavior. Go find out for yourself. Ask Devon what he really thinks about the issues and what’s going on. Just do SOMETHING. Because apathy will destroy not just Devon’s cause, but OUR cause also.

Yours truly,

Israel

P.S. Hey Kuzio! Don’t you know this is a small school? Everybody sees your dirty laundry whether you want them to or not.