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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 27, 2000)
Integrity important to Conley’s run CONLEY from page 1_ - prompted by friends and sup porters to consider running. “I had to think about the whole thing,” Conley said “I had to think about whether or not it was worth the year it would take up. I had to think about how it would affect the other things I wanted to get done. It wasn’t something I had to do.” Eventually, with enough prod ding, Conley agreed to run in early November of 1999. But it took the process of weighing the options to like reading a term paper on the word “I want to say that we won without any lying or any dirty tricks,” Conley says of die party. “That we won based on the issues we had on the platform.” Issues. Impact has a few of solid worth. Conley’s strongest beliefs seem to lie in work with diversity and connecting the Culture Center to the Nebraska Union. Students who use the Culture Center, he thinks, have lit tle interaction with students in the union, and vice versa. Conley also hopes to bring get there. This is, sometimes, how it works. And with Conley, a junior sociology major, oth ers saw the potential for a student body presi dent before he did. He was smart. He had worked on a cam p a i g n before, help ing Voice presidential candidate Andy Schuerman get elected last year. John has a lot of empathy for people because he’s been through so much, and he’s been successful. He can put himself in other people’s shoes easily.” Lalna Zarek John Conley’s sister entertain ment acts to the cam p u s through the University Program Council. He lets Ellis speak at length on this topic; it seems to be her baby more than Conley’s. There are other issues, such as get ting more use out of the Library 110 class, but, for the most part, Conley is He naa worked inside ASUN as a member of a sexual orientation subcommittee, but he was not a governmental lifer, susceptible to the lethargy many members have. And as a resident assistant in Harper Residence Hall, he was a leader. But he did not dominate a vtoo3FHedejgotips behgard He considered tftbit ideas. ,T$(is; process, oydfand ovetagahvVas Cdniey/a inodus opefandi. And yet ^jhen Cotiley felt strongly as he dMin Nove*nber 1 thlpgs hap pen swiftly. On Nov* 1 of that year, a homeless man was beaten on campus, ft left^Ccmky “outraged. Hflong with friend Natalie Hoover, g Conley helped organize a&$tiii nom feed at a home less sheftf^It lingers eveCno^s a defining moment. Nearly everyone who talks about himagtpeSthathis mobi lization of the feed and his strong Stance against the beating reflect ms character 4 * i|t “John has a lot of integrity and said Jaron Luttich, an Impa^campaign aHyiser and one Ofltauiiain recruiters ofConley inrNo\^pbeN 1999. “He paid for part oPlhat Mijod himself. YoulSbk foj a per son that^ou think could be presi %deht on our campus, and John ffc tfc^t person.” Luttieh added again: “Hehas jfrlo|of integrity!” issues tegpty -an overused word that Ute beeomea catchphrase for God (Promise Keepers) and coun try (the Marines) alike. But with Conley, the idea of incorruptibili ty hits horae a litde harder, if only because, he brings it up all the time, How the campaign is run with it. How his rumfcftg mates - first presidential ctmttidate Brad Bangs and second vice Amy Ellis - have it, too. How the other favorite in the race - Empower candidate Heath Mello - doesn’t. Following the campaign is a little VV/UVV1 11VU with the operation of the ASUN govern ment, which meets once a week as a group on Wednesday nights. The entire organization has grwon weary, Conley says, and it’s reflected in the lack of interest from the student body, as only 13.2 percent voted in 1999. “Whatever percent of tjie peo ple who voted,” Conley says, “that*s how many were really ;««fking thqr tails off in ASUNT “God, you have people com jag id there with their sweats on and looking like they just woke up and people bringing food in.” It takes time for Conley to arrive at that exact phrasing, a few minutes to choose die right words. 2Peliberate. At many meetings, Conley says, ASUN senators just come and go as they please. “DcsfOfcp, thing,” he says, “leave or st^y.lf you can’t sit still for a couple hours.-;.” Conleyjippes to Tiring some more accountability to the pro ceeding^) check on his senators if they don’t rethemself •&*One thing about John is that when he cares about something or someone Jifewafats to see the right Kthing dfce^fcjd Conley’s sister, Laitffc.*Zarek, a student at Northwestern University. “And hqk sometimes angry when he sSespeople-doing what he doesn’t think they should.” Family Ties Zarek has played an undeni ably pivotal role in Conley’s life and sheds insight onwhat shaped Conley as the person he is now. Zlrek and Conley met in grade school, notlong after Conley had moved to Gothenburg from Pennsylvania. Conley grew up in a single parent household near Pittsburgh, where his biological mother, Nancy, was a waitress. They were poor. Often, Conley ate the same food day after day. al didn’t have a Jot growing up,” he says. In Gothenburg, Conley and Zarek became fast friends. In fifth and sixth grade, Zarek says, they had “one of the cute little boyfriend-girlfriend things.” Eventually, that grew into a brother-sister relationship. Conley became close to Zarek’s parents, Rick and Patricia, whom Conley calls Pops and Mama Z. In junior high, he moved in. Conley’s birth mother still lives in Gothenburg. He says they have a good relationship. Laina Zarek says Conley loves his moth er, but that “they don’t see eye-to eye on things.” “John has a lot of empathy for people because he’s been through so much, and he’s been success ful,” Laina Zarek says. “He can put himself in other people’s shoes easily.” Building time When Conley decided to put himself in the shoes of a presiden tial candidate, he handled it in the same straightforward manner he’s accustomed to. He gets Ellis, another friend from Gothenburg and current ASUN senator, as the second vice president. Conley also knows that greeks - members of fraternities and sororities - vote most in the elec tions, so he names Bangs, a mem ber of Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity, as the first vice president. Impact begins to compile a list of senatorial candidates and sup porters, influential student leaders who might be able to sway votes. Understand, this all takes place within the stratosphere of the campus’ academically successful and highly involved. Though Conley knows first hand the common nature of most students - he is an RA, after all - he believes in motivated individu als. He brings up former president Ronald Reagan as a model for these beliefs. The trickle-down theory, only for representative government. “At first, you’re only going to get a few Conley did rush during his fresh man year but didn’t opt into the fraternity system. “There’s some great things about it,” Conley says, “especially in the way that they’re able to get together and get things done.” He figures that getting things done, with his way of working, won’t be a problem. Being non greek and not a part of the estab lishment is an advantage in his eyes. Because his main opponent is Empower and its presidential can didate, Heath Mello, and they embody both the greek system and lifelong ASUN membership. Mello worked his way up through the ranks in ASUN. He has made the rounds and been to the senato rial meetings. Conley also worked with Mello on the Voice campaign last year. Conley knows Mello. Some traits he admires about him. Others, Conley does not. Mellowing out To Conley’s credit, he says lit tle in the Daily Nebraskan or in public debates attacking Mello’s positions nor some of the asser tions Mello makes, many of which Conley see as distortions of the truth, or false entirely. But as time goes on in the campaign, Conley’s answers grow more candid and unflattering when discussing “Mr. Mello.” “Mr. Mello will say one thing to you, something to someone else,” Conley says. “He tells my running mates things I never said, and he tells me things they never said. And he expects it not to get back to us.” Conley believes Mello lacks integrity, or at least the kind nec essary to become president. Mello is many things Conley is not. He is more outgoing, spontaneous and random. He is not deliberate. He has a tendency to dominate con versations rather than hear them out. people who really care about things Conley says. “I > could walk around my floor and ask guys if* they wanted to play foot ball. And a few would. But there’d always be those guys who’d ask, ‘Well, who else is going?’ “ Yo u round up a few more guys, and then those guys that were saying no earlier, now they want to^go. I want to say that we won Without any lying or any dirty tricks. That we won based on the issues we had on the platform.” John Conley Impact presidential candidate He is a better speaker than Conley. His image is more polished, more pre pared. Mello is good in debates, good at giving the right answer. It is all part of what Conley once called “Mr. M e 11 o’s pleaser persona.” Mello then, in some ways, rep resents the very things A lot of people only want to get involved if this person or that per son is doing it. So you go alter the people who will get involved any way and then get the others.” Conley believes in working within the system and winning people over to his side. He is not disaffected nor is he disillusioned. He has issues, but they fit in the comfortable settings of the better ment of campus, like many other parties and many other presidents of the past. But Conley figures he’s different. Part of it is being non-greek, which some people consider the kiss of death in the campaign. Conley resists - the lack of con servation, off-the-cuff decisions. As the election moves on, Conley speaks as often about how damaging Empower’s reign would be as he does about what he will do with the office. He wants to win, but he also wants not to lose. One reason, Conley says, is that Mello was once part of the Impact party and wanted to run as second vice president. Conley said no but agreed Mello could run for senate. In an Impact meeting docu ment marked Nov. 17, 1999, Mello is shown as having the responsibility to educate senators on duties and dealing with the electoral commission as part of his campaign duties. Luttich, one of the campaign advisers, had reservations about Mello, which he relayed to Conley in an e-mail given to the Daily Nebraskan. While Luttich saw Mello as valuable to the inner workings of ASUN, he didn’t want Mello at some of the top level meetings, nor for him to be involved until it was “absolutely necessary.” The e-mail, and Conley’s response, which acknowledges Mello’s tendency to take over meetings but yet sees him as a valuable senate trainer, seems to imply Mello was in for the long haul with Impact. A few weeks later, on Nov. 29, Mello left the party and formed Empower. Mello wrote in an e mail to Conley that he hoped “we can still maintain a normal rela tionship in the future because I want to value a relationship with you higher than offices.” Conley says that would have been fine, had Mello not used some of the ideas for his party that Impact came up with on its own. In fairness, some of these ideas, which include improving campus communication and keeping certain government offices open later, aren’t under any patent. Mello could have had them before anyone else did, as he claims or simply adopted them as he liked. It’s hard to plagiarize in politics. But Conley asserts Mello even lifted Impact’s party colors of blue and orange. Luttich con curs. “I remember it very well because we were talking about how blue was the best color, and John said, ‘Why not go ahead and throw orange in there, make us look like the (Denver) Broncos.’ And Heath comes out with blue and orange.” Mello denies the claim. If it was a color swipe, it’s like ly it won’t do much to sway the election. But of these little things, grudges are bom. Conley wants to win, yes. But he also wants to beat Heath Mello. The interlude There’s three other parties, A Team, Duff and Fishpond, and well, they’re nice tittle third par ties, good to have around, Conley says, for competition. Luttich is good friends with Duff president Jason Kidd and first vice presi dent Kevin Sypal. A-Team is truly unconven tional, with no senators and only its three executive members. Conley likes them, especially A team president Joel Schafer, a complete outsider who wants things changed entirely. Fishpond is the work of even fewer members; in fact, it is a one man show - Josh Hesse, who plans to put fish in the union foun tain. In early February of this year, these three parties are in their infancy stage. Conley says he is interested to see which ones stick around, if any. He’s not sure any of them will. Duff and A-Team are not critical threats yet. Fishpond isn’t either. Conley is sure it will be Impact vs. Empower, outsider vs. establishment, integrity vs. charm, a kick in the pants vs. busi ness as usual. In short, John Conley vs. Heath Mello. And Conley is off and running, in his same meas ured way of working. “We’ll do it right, and we’ll be clean,” Conley says. “And we think we’ve got as good a chance as Empower does.”