The SLIPS blog: a posting in two parts

Part 1: introductions

This is the State Local Illinois Politics (SLIPS) blog. You’re here because at some point you expressed interest in SLIPS. Because it is very difficult to find times that we all can meet, I thought this would be a good way to organize meetings and even plan events.

If you don’t know much about SLIPS, there’s not too much to tell. We’re a non-partisan law student group that tries to bring speakers to campus who are in someway connected to state and local politics. We’re interest driven—and by that I mean, if anyone has an idea of someone they want to bring to campus or an issue they want to know more about that has some relation to Illinois politics, then this is good place to make it happen.

That being said, let me introduce myself: my name is John Maki, and I helped found SLIPS last year. Currently, I’m the Society’s president, but all that means is that I do a lot of the grunt work. I’m a political junkie and basically love most subjects connected to politics. This semester, I’m planning to bring to campus Johnnie Lee Savory. When Johnnie was 14 years old, he was wrongfully imprisoned for a double-homicide. He spent 30 years in an Illinois State Penitentiary. Johnnie has an amazing story, and I’m hoping to start an effort that law students can plug into to help his cause.

If you like, please use a post to introduce yourself and talk a little about your interests, and the kinds of issues and people you’d like to bring to campus through SLIPS.


Part 2: Our first meeting

If you haven’t already, please register your ideal time to hold public events. Right now Monday evening has a strong lead. This is not to say that all events will be held on this night; however, I do want to use it to plan our first official meeting, which is tentatively schedule for the week of September 24-27.

Illinois Politics 101: the state budget and beer.

Last year, we talked about doing an informal event where we all did some informal research on Illinois politics and then got together to talk about it over beers. This never happened, but I thought it would be a good idea for a first meeting.

As native Illinoisans probably already know, this summer was a crazy time down in Springfield. Despite that fact that the Democrats control the governor’s office, the legislature, and the attorney’s general’s office, the state government could not pass a budget.

This fiasco is in many ways a perfect window into the crazy world of Illinois politics. In the next week or so, I’ll be posting news article and podcasts that talk about what happen. I also wants to invite anyone who has something to share on the budget or Illinois government in general to post it.

One last thing: While you’re voting on your ideal meeting time, explore the side column. Right now there are two resources for state politics: the Capital Fax and a google new’s source. If you haven’t read it before, the Capital’s Fax is the insider’s guide to what is going on in Springfield. It’s basically a rundown of stories and gossip straight from the capital. Definitely worth checking out. (Sidenote: SLIPS member and moot court stud, Pete Senechalle knows the guy who runs the site, and we were hoping we could get him to come talk to our group. Then we heard he charges 1K per lecture.)

That's it for now. Check back later for more posts and information about future meetings.

Agenda for Tuesday's SLIPS meeting at Flapjaws

1. Student Activities Fair: you may remember, this is where student groups get together for new and returning students to check out. The fair will be Wednesday, September 5, from 4-6:30. I am told there’ll be a nacho-taco bar.

2. Discuss first event of the year: Illinois politics 101 and beer. For our first event, I propose that we do an informal discussion about how Illinois politics work at the state level. Given the craziness of the budget process this summer, it might make some sense to organize the talk around the budget and the state’s key political players and constituencies. I think it also makes sense to drink beer.

SLIPS Meeting: August 28th, Noon, at Flapjaws

SLIPS first meeting of the year will be held at Flapjaws this coming Tuesday at noon. The meeting will last about a half an hour. We'll discuss the upcoming semester, as well as the upcoming Student Activities Fair, which will be Wed. September 5, from 4-6:30.