RECAPTURE

worldwide collaboration for paradigm shift

Thursday, April 5, 2007

THE CONCESSION

To our fellow Biolans:

We would first like to extend our thanks to the Biola community for your participation in this AS election. Alex and I have been encouraged not only by all of the great ideas of our fellow candidates, but also by the amazing turnout of voters over the past two days. This demonstrates a growing interest in the welfare of this institution among the student body, a trend that we truly appreciate.

After a truly close election, we have been in discussion with Jared and Tiffany and we have every confidence in their abilities to represent Biola this year. We encourage all of our supporters to rally around them in the next year, uniting as a Student Body to collaborate for the cause of Christ.

Though we have not been selected to become next year’s AS President and Vice President, we still have much passion to push Biola toward a higher standard. In the next year, we would ask you to stand alongside us as we push toward the launch of the Isaiah project. As you may know, the Isaiah project will unite Christians across vocational, ethnic, and geographical barriers in order to shape the global panorama in the cause of Christ. A statement on the future of the Isaiah project will be posted following spring break on this blog.

At the same time, we implore the new administration to push for excellence, taking Biola to new heights and greater influence without compromising this Institution’s tradition and original vision.

We would like to thank those that ran alongside us this election. Your passion and energy for Biola is inspiring, and the spirit of camaraderie in this campaign was truly refreshing.

We would like to thank those in support of the RECAPTURE vision and of us. Your tireless efforts carried each of us personally through the weeks that have transpired. We would ask you to continue to collaborate with us in the coming year as we begin the initiative behind the Isaiah project.

Once again, we would like to thank our Biola peers for your consideration of our candidacy. Each of us has grown through this process and hope that perhaps some of you may have as well.

We are confident that God will continue to bless Biola this year and in the years to come.

THE ELECTION

The results of the AS election by the numbers:

A total of 1126 ballots were cast in the runoff election.

AS President run-off election results:
Jared Gibo and Tiffany Jones - 564 votes
Bradley Clarke and Alex Carpenter - 562 votes

A total of 1300 ballots were cast in the original election.

AS President
34% - Jared Gibo and Tiffany Jones (440 votes)
33% - Bradley Clarke and Alex Carpenter (429 votes)
9% - Andrew Webb and Amanda Zook (114 votes)
24% - Marcello Crivella and Jasmine Kahookele (317 votes)


A note on the election confusion:

Jared and I had a discussion late Thursday night about the different options presented to us, and we mutually agreed that the best way to decide the election would be to hold a recount and let those results stand.

Jared and I both knew and implicitly agreed to the runoff as a one-day election process. We each had the same amount of time to campaign, and we were each given equal opportunity in the entire election process.

Therefore, both Alex and I agree that Jared is the fair and rightful winner of the election and we encourage the student body to support the outcome of this election, Jared’s presidency, and AS as an organization.

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

IT'S A RUNOFF!!!

Alex and I have just received word from Cory that though we did exceedingly well at the polls over the last couple days, we did not secure the requisite 51% majority vote necessary according to the AS Constitution for the declaration of a winner.

Tomorrow, Wednesday the 4 of April, there will be a one-day runoff election between Jared & Tiffany and Bradley & Alex. The polls will be open until 7 pm, so please go out of your way to support RECAPTURE.

Alex and I truly want to RECAPTURE the vision among the students of Biola University to be a global center for Christian thought and action. A vote for us will mean voting for a Presidency that will raise the bar among both students and staff, beginning a paradigm shift that will surely change the global panorama for the cause of Christ.

In the midst of our excitement, we’d like to extend our compliments on a well-run campaign to both Marcelo & Jasmine and Andrew & Amanda. It has been a pleasure to exchange ideas and represent Biola alongside you in the last weeks, and we know that God will bless you for your work.

Again, please remember to vote for RECAPTURE today!

Monday, April 2, 2007

THE MEDIA

Just got an email from one of the members of EagleVision that the election coverage appeared on the Wednesday, March 28 show. The piece is very well put together and features all the Presidential candidates. The show can be found at http://www.mcom.biola.edu/ev/.

THE SPEECH

Good morning, Dr. Cook, esteemed faculty, and my fellow students. As we share a glimpse of the vision we have for Biola, please realize that this is not the full picture, but the condensed version edited for the sake of time.

We would like each and every one of you to RECAPTURE with us. As our vision reads, we hope to RECAPTURE among the Biola student body the vision of being a forward-thinking global center for Christian thought and action. In other words, we want each one of you to join us in our pursuit of making a lasting impact in our culture. We want to RECAPTURE what our culture has told us is impossible – all for the sake of bringing the truth of the gospel to the center of local and global attention. Each one of you is integral in this process.

The vision of RECAPTURE has been around in various forms since last summer, as we were neighbors in summer housing. Last fall, in conversations with our peers, our residents, and with each other, the vision began to come into focus. One day I came to my good friend Bradley with the idea to run, knowing that he and I were committed to leading others to impacting the world for Christ. A long conversation at Denny’s, followed by much prayer and council, has led us to this point. I’d like to invite my friend, my brother, and my running mate, Bradley Clarke.



Thank you, Alex. I’d like to reiterate that the vision of RECAPTURE is truly the lifeblood of this campaign. Everything that we propose springs from a desire to have maximum impact for the cause of Christ.

As RAs this last year, Alex and I served in the trenches, living both the good and the unfavorable moments with our residents, listening to their concerns and sympathizing with their struggles. One of the major issues that we believe must be addressed is the contract. If our residents are to live by this document, it cannot be a 56-page burden. We would collaborate with Residence Life and the University to simplify the contract, advocating the creation of a one page document which would highlight all the factors that make Biola distinct and inspire residents to take ownership of their choice to submit to Biola’s standards.

Communication is a central issue for every candidate this cycle, and rightly so, as it is one of the three main items in the AS President’s job description. Our plan is simple and straightforward: Alex and I will have weekly podcasts, internet radio broadcasts which detail everything from highlights of the Senate to our collaboration with the new administration. We will create the Associated Students Public Access Network, making the complete and entire goings on of each and every meeting public for all of Biola to observe. We will create online interactive polls in which students can directly voice their opinion to their senators and to us. We will maintain our blog that we already operate with the most current of information. All of these will be assembled in one website, easily accessible by each and every student at Biola, therefore bringing AS communication fully into the 21st century and empowering students by allowing the free flow of information. In short, the student body will know what AS is doing.

RECAPTURE is about putting the learning each student has acquired at Biola into practice, empowering students to impact their world directly for the cause of Christ. To that end we have a two-step plan: Through AS we will hold forums to increase unity among the different vocations represented here, locking arms in ministry, learning from each other in how to reach our culture and becoming a generation that rises up to the challenges which lie ahead. Alex and I will work with clubs and organizations on campus such as SMU to provide students with opportunities for vocational mission.

RECAPTURE is an enormous vision—this is very intentional. The church has long suffered a lack of vision that has led us to our current place of fragmentation and cultural irrelevancy. Alex and I are aware that the fullness of RECAPTURE may not be realized in one year. We are, however, capitalizing on our unique position at the centennial of the University and the simultaneous change of administration to lay the groundwork for a paradigm shift that will alter the global landscape in years to come. At the same time, we will lead the Associated Students organization toward greater collaboration between all of its services, clubs and organizations on campus. We have just explained our specific goals to increase communication at Biola. We will voice the concerns of students to the administration over services, facilities, and overall quality of education immediately as soon as we take office.

When I transferred here, I was aware that every student, including myself, was being prepared to change the world for the cause of Christ. However, I do not find myself alone in saying that through years in the classroom I had lost some of that passion I had when I arrived. Alex and I both thoroughly and truly believe that we must RECAPTURE the vision to be a forward-thinking, global center for Christian thought and action if Biola is to continue to exist for any reason other than self-sustention.

Therefore, I humbly ask you to join with Alex and I by supporting RECAPTURE as you go to the polls today. Thank you for your time and may God increase Biola and each one of you through this election process and in the coming year.

THE DAY...

...rather, the days have arrived. Election chapel is this morning at both 9.30 and 10.30. For those of you who won't be able to make it, a transcript of our speech will be posted here by 11 am allowing you to make an informed decision before you vote.

Thank you to all the students who put up with a mess of signs for the past couple of weeks... just a couple days left on that.

Regular election ends Tuesday night...

One final comment- please take advantage of the fact that Biola is a small campus by taking the time to talk to all the candidates. You can reach me via BUBBS or at bradleyandalex@yahoo.com. I'll be checking both compulsively throughout the process.

Thank you all very much for your consideration.

Sunday, April 1, 2007

THE WEEKEND...

Perhaps you have noticed that I haven’t mentioned anything on the blog for the last couple of days. I have been on retreat with my RA staff in beautiful Idyllwild since Friday, but now it’s nose back to the grindstone.

Over the weekend, I was discussing my ideas about the amendment of the Biola contract with my fellow RAs, and their response to simplification was very positive. My boss, the Resident Director of North Horton, indicated that it would likely be an idea that Residence Life would want to collaborate with Alex and I to implement.

In my spare time I was able to write a series of new posts. Their topics include a word about our excellence of experience, the plausibility of RECAPTURE, and the genesis of the vision.

A couple of reminders: Tomorrow (Monday 4.2) is election chapel. Alex and I (along with the rest of the candidates) will give our speech in both the 9.30 and 10.30 am chapels before voting commences over Monday and Tuesday (4.2-3). Don’t forget to support RECAPTURE when you go to the polls!