Not that this is a reputable news source but I would like to commend Blake Nussbaumer for writing a decent article about his friend Nik, you might get a call from Fox news soon because they need some new writers to write "fair and balanced" news. (check it on facebook for yourself http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1048822195&sk=friends type in nik [until blake upgrades his profile security] ).

For the record: I've served on the Student Reps with Nik for the past year and some of the comments I've heard that he has made about immigrants and the DREAM act are quite disturbing to me as not only a Midwesterner of the great state of Wisconsin but an American citizen who's relatives were immigrants. I respect Nik and his strong religious and political beliefs but this isn't something that the UW-System needs. I wouldn't put it past Nik to try and stop potential stem cell research at UW-Madison that could be lifesaving because it goes against his religious beliefs, again not something the UW-System needs. Nik also was very much in the support of the "budget repair bill" which would strip the rights of the UW-System employees (including but not limited to the: administrative, teaching, and supportive positions) I don't feel this is what a potential representative of the students of the UW-System should be advocating for.

In defense of Blake, as his journalism instructor at UW-Waukesha, I read his first draft of this story, which was a generic look at students applying for seats on the Board of Regents. I urged him to revise his article to focus more on Nik, because Nik is a local student. Some people see conspiracies in things where there are none. I'll also point out that you never point out any inaccuracies in the article, so we can assume your objections are personal, not factual. P.S.: If you don't think this is a reputable news source, then why do you bother using it?

I find it interesting that this person is replying without identifying them self. I also find it interesting that their attack seems directed at personally discrediting me about my service to the students. To set the record straight, the Dream Act never came up in discussion at UW System Student Reps, and only twice at United Council of UW Students (of which minutes and official documentation are available). As for my position on the Budget Repair Bill, it never came up in discussion at UW System Reps, and my personal opinion of the Bill does not matter as Student Government, UW System Reps, and United Council are all non-partisan organizations or governing bodies. What that means, which our friend above seems to have overlooked, is that I took an oath to fight for and govern all students whether they are Republican, Democrat, Socialist, Moderate, or even an Environmentalist. I keep my personal and professional life separate because it’s my job to do so, as laid out in the Constitution of the UW-Waukesha Student Government Association and I intend to follow that document and our integrity contract. The same goes for my religious beliefs, as I represent students who are not Christian or are even a different denomination then me thus equaling potential differences in beliefs.

Additionally, these so called allegations arose during United Council's elections held at UW-Baraboo, not UW System Reps. I ran for Vice-President; running a clean campaign of uniting all students regardless of their political beliefs and opposing the split-off of UW-Madison and instead giving all schools the flexibilities offered to UW-Madison as my major campaign positions. The rest may be found here on my campaign website: http://myeducationmatters.jigsy.com/. It was on the last day before voting that these allegations were made during the closing remarks by another candidate for Vice-President. I had no rebuttal and could not refute these untruthful accusations, thus I lost the election. Not only are these accusations not true, but our friend above isn't even repeating them correctly and is confusing the organizations at which the allegations were made. This I believe makes him or her look rather foolish and ruins their credibility. Its people like this who not only bring down student organizations such as United Council or UW System Reps., but in general makes people lose faith in our political system. It’s a shame that this goes on, but we live in a democracy and people are welcome to their opinions, but I wish they would actually seek to debate those differences opposed to making blind accusations that only lead to the destruction of civil discourse.

If anyone has any questions, please email me at: rettn3381@uwc.edu.

After reading the above blog, I'm seeing the paradox of being an elected official. One is considered two-faced for saying one thing but doing another. Yet, as an elected official, it's one's duty to represent everyone. That is an impossibility, my friends. As seen in recent elections, the size of the majority is barely larger than the minority. Thus, the citizenry represents an almost even percentage of two extremely variant forms of thought. How can the winner of such a slim majority represent everyone? We need to accept the reality that if our party loses, we will probably not like the laws and budgets that get passed for the next few years. All the more reason for term limits. It is unfortunate that our system is deadlocked due to stubborn partisanship verses the evolution of our government for the betterment of our nation. In the case of this Board of Regents position, it's a selection, not an election. Based on the comments above, it seems that Mr. Nettinger subscribes to predominantly conservative views but vows to represent the "traditional student" of a 2-year college. Being that traditional students are both conservative and liberal it seems logical to have students of both political views vying for this position. Being that he won the election for Student Government President at UWW, it stands to reason that his political platform represents the traditional students who vote. If Devil's Advocate has legitimate fears, perhaps he/she should apply for the job as well.

I find it interesting that you talk about how you are exercising your freedom of speech but then say that I can't support or talk about issues on facebook without violating my position as a non-partisan representative of the students. I also find it funny that you have insinuated that I am using this as a venue to promote myself for the position and that some how the fact that I would be campaigning for myself is some how against the rules or wrong. Not only would I not have any problem with campaigning or promoting myself, which was not my intention here, but as Mr. Helbig stated in his response to your initial comment; he urged Mr. Nussbaumer to add me to the article to give it some substance as he originally wrote it on just the position it's self. To additionally defend Mr. Nussbaumer, this article was due and submitted as a final project for a class before Governor Walker extended the deadline for the applicants (The previous deadline was back in April).

As for my support of Walker or Ryan, I will continue to support them in my private and public life while also fighting against things I oppose in both my private and public life. To say that I can't support or work with someone who is in power now would be a terrible position for me to take as a student leader if I expected to get anything accomplished. To cut oneself off from the regime in charge because you personally disagreed with them would be very foolish. Not everything that Walker and the Republicans are doing is negative to students. I would site the freezing of financial aid, making it illegal for the state to raid University funds, and the geographical representation of the Board of Regents. There are things which I don't support, such as the split of UW-Madison from the UW-System or the 5.8 percent tuition raises expected without flexibilities to all campuses. I would have worked with Doyle had I been UW-Waukesha President last year, even though I didn't agree with him on policy because that's what my job requires and what my constituents expect of me. As for any LGBTQ policy issues or any others for that matter, I would look at addressing them if any students would bring those concerns to me. Otherwise I focus my time on issues that affect every student regardless of beliefs or orientations, mostly policies revolving around access and affordability. That way I can invest what time I have as a student leader into positively affecting the most students.

This is much ado about nothing. It's not the Presidency for God's sake. One needs to know when to stop arguing and just move on. Excessive defensiveness conveys weakness. Is this discourse increasing your chance of being selected? It's not an election so you don't need to defend your position. Best wishes on your efforts for the Board of Regents. Meanwhile, before running for office, you'll need to develop a thicker skin for malcontents. They will always be there.