This video is a little dark, but it sends an important message for this upcoming Fourth of July. It doesnÂ’t matter how much you drink, it doesnÂ’t matter how much you want to fit in, it doesnÂ’t matter how big of an idiot you are. Never, ever let someone launch a bottle rocket from your arse! This clip is NSFW, you have a partial of a girls butt and the language is a little on the harsh side.

Posted by: Contagion at 07:16 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Just a quick update on the Ex-Military not welcome at Bradley University. Unfortunately for me, Troy has gone on vacation and isnÂ’t due back for a while. Thus I canÂ’t get the name of the person who spoke with or the phone number he called to see if I could talk to someone there about the situation. At this time no one has responded to my original inquiry to BradleyÂ’s undergraduate admissions using the contact page on their website. At this time I have not received a response back.

HOWEVER! I did get a comment in the original post from Tom Richmond Director of Admissions Marketing and Communications at Bradley. He states:

I work in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions at Bradley Univeristy and I am glad to comment on this posting.

While I can not talk about individual applicants, I can comment on our admissions policies.

Admissions decisions are based upon a professional review of a complete student record with the intent to determine whether a student can succeed at the univeristy. Most of this decision is based upon the review of the student's academic record.

A variety of other factors are considered to help learn about a student's motivation, social skills, time management skills, goals, and a variety of important intangibles that can lead to college success.

Military service is one intangible that will never be looked down upon at Bradley Univeristy. In fact, service to our country is considered an assett in the application process and recent military veterans have been admitted.

I'm glad to take this opportunity to help clear up any misunderstandings.
We welcome applications from anyone who feels they might benefit from the Bradley experience.

He also sent me an e-mail via the account I use on here. Not the one I sent the original inquiry on. I wanted to make sure my spam filter didnÂ’t eat the response. Now I responded to Tom and explained that Troy and his mother are not the types that make up stories or are prone to lying. In fact IÂ’d have to say they pretty much are some of the most honest folk I know. Good stock in that family if you ask me. Since I am an objective individual, IÂ’m willing to concede that possibly there was a miscommunication or that someone in that office blurted out the first thing that came across their mind in a stressful situation. I just donÂ’t know yet. Until I can get the information from Troy, IÂ’m kind of stuck in a holding pattern.

A couple of commenters did pose questions to Tom, and I forwarded them on to him. From Laughing Wolf:

Quick question Tom: If what you say is true, then how do you respond to the following quote from someone in admissions: “Because you were in the military, you won’t fit in here.” This would seem to directly contravene what you say, so which is it? No spin, straight answer.

And from H~, which if I am not mistaken is Hubba Mother of Boudicca.

Tom, I do believe the intangibles mentioned "A variety of other factors are considered to help learn about a student's motivation, social skills, time management skills, goals, and a variety of important intangibles that can lead to college success." is learned better by serving in the military than any college campus.

Excluding those factors this young man is left to rely on his grades for admission. As you are well aware when people mature they become better students. My guess is he's matured more than most of your students in the same age bracket, but I don't know the man only his willingness to serve our country. I applaud your university for admitting those who make it possible for us to continue opening educational opportunities for all.

You mentioned you have admitted veterans recently. Do you know the percentage of veterans currently accepted to those denied admission?
In advance, thank you for the follow-up.

IÂ’ve forwarded both along to him just in case he doesnÂ’t go back and read the original commentsÂ… or that comment spammers get so bad I have to shut it down and he canÂ’t respond.

Posted by: Contagion at 05:33 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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One of my employees came up to me today and told me a story that literally knocked the words right out of me. Some of you may remember that two years ago I was trying to raise money for some troops going back to Iraq. Which, we did do a great job and they appreciated all of it. The story she told me regarded her son Troy (the solder pictured in the original post), who is now discharged from the military. He is trying to get into college and one of the universities he attempted to get into is Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois.

He received a rejection letter from the university, but it didn’t tell him why. Being curious he called the admissions office and when asked why he wasn’t accepted they told him, “Because you served in the Military.”

(Waits for readers to pick their jaws up off the ground or to stop swearing)

Yea, I had the same reaction. Now I thoughtÂ… maybe, maybe she was reading more into it. So I questioned her.

Did the letter say he was denied due to being in the military: No.

The lady he spoke with actually said, “You were denied because you were in the military”: Almost.

What did she say? Troy asked why didn’t I get accepted, the admissions officer said, “Because you were in the military, you won’t fit in here.”

Even though I was at work in front of all my direct reports I dropped the F-bomb.

I asked her for the phone number and the name of the lady Troy spoke with. I would like to call them and find out exactly what is going on there. Do they really deny ex-military personal from attending their private university? (Being a private university IÂ’m pretty sure they legally can do this.) And if they do is it really because they donÂ’t feel they would fit in?

This would piss me off if it happened to any soldier. But when itÂ’s not only the son of one of my wifeÂ’s friends but an employee of mine AND someone that I went out of the way to help previously. Yea, IÂ’m more then a little pissed off. Troy spent two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. One of his tours was 30 months, to state the obvious that is two and a half years! He worked hard, fought for us and comes back to the states to have some uppity higher education admin twit tell him no because he was in the militaryÂ… yea not while I take breath.

Once I get the information IÂ’m contacting the university and seeing what I can find out. And if I need, IÂ’m going to drive down there and let them know face to face how I feel.

Not today, not ever!

UPDATE: I couldn't wait for the number so I e-mailed their admissions office inquiring about their policy. It will be at least a couple of days before I get a response... if they respond.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:43 PM | Comments (13) | Add Comment
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I saw one of the stupidest driving maneuvers today. I was driving down State St, a six lane primary street in Rockford. Both sides of the road are packed with commercial businesses. Its six lanes because of the amount of traffic that traverses it. The speed limit on the section of the road I was driving down is 45 MPH. Of course being six lanes EVERYONE does at least 50-55 MPH down this stretch. That is unless there is a cop present then, everyone slows down to the speed the cop is going. On most cases the cop is also doing 50-55 mph.

I was stopped at a light when a squad car pulls up next to me. As we sat other cars started to accumulate, which is normal at a stop light. By the time it turned green, there had to be about a dozen cars waiting. Of course we all let the squad take the lead and set the pace. As we were driving along I saw a white Camaro, IÂ’m not sure what year, but it was a newer body style. It raced up to the congestion and started weaving in and out of lanes trying to get through. The driver looked to be a kid in his late teens or early 20s.

Maybe the kid wasnÂ’t paying attention, maybe he just didnÂ’t care, I donÂ’t know why but he squeezed between the squad car and a black SUV in the right lane. The Camaro almost hit both vehicles in the maneuver. Then the kid punched it and took off. Of course the cop flipped on the lights and went after the kid. That is when the kid slammed on his brakes and pulled over.

IÂ’m still trying to figure out what made this kid think that driving recklessly and speeding past a cop was a good idea.

Posted by: Contagion at 05:24 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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