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.”
