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!
THE ISSUES
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
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.
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.
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!
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!
THE GENESIS
Alex and I are currently big pushing the RECAPTURE campaign because we are running for AS President and Vice President, but the ideas behind it have a much older origin.
Last summer Alex and I collaborated on the documentary project “Quoth the Raven,” a film about one man’s struggle with faith, Christ, and Christianity. This experience brought us into many discussions about the role of faith in today’s society. It was much to my excitement that I had at last found another who shared my views on what the Church was doing right and where the Church could improve.
January found Alex and I at Denny’s, having a midnight discussion about our vision for Christianity at large and the similarities we found at Biola. During the course of our conversation, we realized how strategic Biola is for the vision of RECAPTURE—the University is a microcosm of Christianity; the problems Biola faces are the same that the Church as a whole faces, and the steps of RECAPTURE for each entity echo each other.
It was then that Alex and I decided that the proper thing to do would be to take the enormity of the vision and begin at Biola, running for the AS Presidency. The specifics which we have to chosen to advocate spring out of the widespread vision of RECAPTURE—being a forward-thinking global center for Christian thought and action.
Thus when we say we want to improve internet at Biola, we are not merely complaining about perceived inadequacy of delivery of a felt need, but we are advocating the proper equipment of the current generation of Biolans to RECAPTURE our culture. The same idea informs our stance on mail service, food service, the endowment, the NCAA, the facilities, and everything else we have chosen to stand for.
Each of these is just a tiny portion of the grand vision of RECAPTURE; though the details may seem mundane, they are a series of simple and strategic elements of a vision that will forever shake the way the world turns.
Last summer Alex and I collaborated on the documentary project “Quoth the Raven,” a film about one man’s struggle with faith, Christ, and Christianity. This experience brought us into many discussions about the role of faith in today’s society. It was much to my excitement that I had at last found another who shared my views on what the Church was doing right and where the Church could improve.
January found Alex and I at Denny’s, having a midnight discussion about our vision for Christianity at large and the similarities we found at Biola. During the course of our conversation, we realized how strategic Biola is for the vision of RECAPTURE—the University is a microcosm of Christianity; the problems Biola faces are the same that the Church as a whole faces, and the steps of RECAPTURE for each entity echo each other.
It was then that Alex and I decided that the proper thing to do would be to take the enormity of the vision and begin at Biola, running for the AS Presidency. The specifics which we have to chosen to advocate spring out of the widespread vision of RECAPTURE—being a forward-thinking global center for Christian thought and action.
Thus when we say we want to improve internet at Biola, we are not merely complaining about perceived inadequacy of delivery of a felt need, but we are advocating the proper equipment of the current generation of Biolans to RECAPTURE our culture. The same idea informs our stance on mail service, food service, the endowment, the NCAA, the facilities, and everything else we have chosen to stand for.
Each of these is just a tiny portion of the grand vision of RECAPTURE; though the details may seem mundane, they are a series of simple and strategic elements of a vision that will forever shake the way the world turns.
THE PLAUSIBILITY
A note to those in doubt:
The vision of RECAPTURE is enormous—world changing in both scope and depth. Therefore, the ideas that are a part of the AS campaign are huge; some will change this year while others may take a decade to come to fruition.
However, whether or not a certain idea may or may not be immediately fulfilled is not a fair criterion for judgment. This limited thinking has plagued the Church (and hence Biola) for far too long, leading to today’s fragmentation and cultural irrelevancy.
A key tenet of the RECAPTURE philosophy is to be forward-thinking. It is not only a wise modus operandi but it will be necessary to create and implement a strategic plan for excellence among Christians if Christianity (Biola at the forefront) is to regain its place at the forward echelons of human civilization.
Let’s bring this in to the current topic: the AS Presidency. Practically speaking, the President is charged with a) leading the Associated Students organization, b) being the voice of the students to the administration, and c) communicating both back to the student body. We have high goals for each area, but they are appropriate given the position in which Biola finds itself.
We will lead the Associated Student organization toward greater collaboration between all of its services, the departments, clubs and organizations on campus, and the students themselves in the specific ways we have mentioned elsewhere in this blog. This can be accomplished immediately; it is our challenge to ensure that the process continues after our administration.
We will voice the concerns of both current and graduated students to the administration over services, facilities, athletic competition, fiscal preparedness and responsibility, and overall quality of education immediately. It will then be the responsibility of the new President and his staff to respond to those concerns if Biola is to continue as a student focused organization.
We will implement the aforementioned plan to increase communication from both AS and the administration immediately. Our plan is so simple yet effective that it is nearly certain that it will continue through years to come.
Again, Alex and I have formulated the RECAPTURE campaign as a specific way to begin a paradigm shift that will influence the global panorama for the cause of Christ beginning right here at Biola University, and you can rest assured that we will not rest until every measure has been taken to give life to that vision.
The vision of RECAPTURE is enormous—world changing in both scope and depth. Therefore, the ideas that are a part of the AS campaign are huge; some will change this year while others may take a decade to come to fruition.
However, whether or not a certain idea may or may not be immediately fulfilled is not a fair criterion for judgment. This limited thinking has plagued the Church (and hence Biola) for far too long, leading to today’s fragmentation and cultural irrelevancy.
A key tenet of the RECAPTURE philosophy is to be forward-thinking. It is not only a wise modus operandi but it will be necessary to create and implement a strategic plan for excellence among Christians if Christianity (Biola at the forefront) is to regain its place at the forward echelons of human civilization.
Let’s bring this in to the current topic: the AS Presidency. Practically speaking, the President is charged with a) leading the Associated Students organization, b) being the voice of the students to the administration, and c) communicating both back to the student body. We have high goals for each area, but they are appropriate given the position in which Biola finds itself.
We will lead the Associated Student organization toward greater collaboration between all of its services, the departments, clubs and organizations on campus, and the students themselves in the specific ways we have mentioned elsewhere in this blog. This can be accomplished immediately; it is our challenge to ensure that the process continues after our administration.
We will voice the concerns of both current and graduated students to the administration over services, facilities, athletic competition, fiscal preparedness and responsibility, and overall quality of education immediately. It will then be the responsibility of the new President and his staff to respond to those concerns if Biola is to continue as a student focused organization.
We will implement the aforementioned plan to increase communication from both AS and the administration immediately. Our plan is so simple yet effective that it is nearly certain that it will continue through years to come.
Again, Alex and I have formulated the RECAPTURE campaign as a specific way to begin a paradigm shift that will influence the global panorama for the cause of Christ beginning right here at Biola University, and you can rest assured that we will not rest until every measure has been taken to give life to that vision.
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