Comments on: Anti-Gay Slavs Voted Out of Student Government in Sacramento Community College

By: California_Nutcase

California_Nutcase — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 04:03:32 +0000

It's amazing that while the anti Prop 8 circus is going on in San Francisco, the same week a federal judge in Sacramento hands a pro Prop 8 ruling against American River College's board of trustees for illegally invalidating student elections in 2008 because the student government took a public stance in favor of Prop 8.

By: bob

bob — Sat, 15 May 2010 21:42:20 +0000

So the anti-antigay ppl got back on the council, and the world became a better place. Right? NOT. They’re not so different i say. This group also follows their own agenda and doesn’t care what anyone has to say against it.

By: Kindra Pring

Kindra Pring — Wed, 06 May 2009 19:56:54 +0000

Daniel Karavan is actually an incumbent. But the Student Association elect wishes to welcome this three with open arms. Honestly, with the exception of Yuriy, I can’t really blame them for their actions. It’s the environment they’ve grown up in. Having these three with us will (A) help us live up to our promise to represent a diverse group of people and (B) help us reach out to them. I think being around us in that setting will be good for them and help them see that we have nothing to hide. We aren’t in this to push any controversial agenda. Just the students agenda – cheaper textbooks, better parking, more student events.

Again, because I can’t say it enough, thank you to all student voters. 9%, while it doesn’t seem like a lot, is a huge change from what it used to be, a measily 1 or 2%.

Kindra Pring
ARC Student Association
Secretary-Elect

By: Timothy Kincaid

Timothy Kincaid — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 20:48:15 +0000

Kel,

Thanks for the clarification.

By: Kel Munger

Kel Munger — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 20:07:04 +0000

Also, yes, Anna Choban is Viktor Choban’s younger sister. He’s also got a brother that’s involved in this.

Kel

By: Kel Munger

Kel Munger — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 20:04:47 +0000

No, the members of the Slavic slate who were elected were NOT incumbents.

Elected were:
Slavik Gurmeza (Dir. of Public Relations)
Anna Choban (Student Representative)
Daniel Karavan (Student Representative)

The leaders of this group, Yuriy George Popko and Viktor Choban, were defeated, as were incumbents Alex Malash, Vladimir Musorivischi and Yana Kulinich.

I suspect that the biggest issues on campus were things like the rock concert (which raises a lot of money for scholarships), cutting the funding for all the clubs, refusing to fund Earth Day (they said it was “idolatry” because it was “Earth worship”), and the mess they made of the book rental program.

ARC is a commuter school–the largest community college in CA–and most of the students are working while going to school. They just don’t have time for this crap.

For more on Popko & Choban, who are really the ringleaders of this group, see my article in the Sacramento News & Review: “Things to do in Sacramento with a megaphone” http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/content?oid=873290.

Also, Popko and co. are challenging the results of the election. They claim that faculty and administrators interfered in the voting (they were on hand to verify students were eligible to vote). There are also complaints about illegal election materials (including one voter guide in Russian, complete with scriptural citations–I’m still trying to get that translated).

Kel Munger
Sacramento News & Review

By: Bruce Garrett

Bruce Garrett — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 22:38:32 +0000

“Actually, their “activism” hasn’t been limited to only anti-gay actions but also such things as fighting a rock-n-roll venue…”

Okay… At a guess, I’d say this was probably what got them voted out of office, finally.

The fight against the religious right in a nutshell: They win votes on The Homosexual Menace, often presenting themselves as moderate on other social issues. Then after they get elected they go to work on a whole range of culture war stuff that PO the voters and they get voted out.

That happens often enough and the voters start becoming wary of appeals to The Homosexual Menace. So they try to ratchet up the fear mongering a little more. And that nutty NOM ad is the result.

By: Allan

Allan — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 21:02:07 +0000

Congratulations to those who voted. Congratulations to those who won. Shame on those who abandoned us by not caring to vote for two days. Shame on the Slavs and Mormons. Prosecute the “christian” attacker, if you haven’t, because he will do it again, perhaps worse, to someone else. We’re still trying to get hands on one of their gang who is a murderer and fled the country. They will all do that if given the chance. They will beat and murder gays and flee. They will. Guaranteed. Watch for it.

By: cowboy

cowboy — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 19:42:38 +0000

Were the three incumbents that were re-elected the three Mormons?

By: Zeno

Zeno — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 15:59:29 +0000

It's true: community college students are seldom very involved with student government on their campuses. They're usually focused on attending their classes and then dashing off to their jobs or families. This created an opening for the right-wing Christian alliance at American River College. Their antics over the past year, however, caught people's attention and the voter turn-out at this week's election was about 9% (nine times the usual amount). The incumbents were nearly wiped out. Does it matter? I think so. When the student council endorsed Proposition 8 last year it was used as a talking point up and down the state: The largest community college (36,000 students) in northern California was against same-sex marriage! Did the council speak for the entire student body? In reality, no. In formal terms, yes, the student association is the official voice of the student body and the conservative Christians exploited that. The new student council will tend to campus business rather than boosting a right-wing political agenda.