http://www.statenews.com On a Friday morning each month, MSU Board of Trustees member Donald Nugent wakes up early and spends three hours driving to MSU from his home in Frankfurt for a meeting. And despite the lengthy drive, Nugent has only missed one board meeting since 2001. en-us Gryphon 2.2.3b-tsn (woodward)/Foundry5 Sat, 11 Oct 2008 15:43:24 -0400 webmaster@statenews.com http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/view/24337 It’s Frankfort, not Frankfurt. Thu, 09 Oct 2008 08:43:10 -0400 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/view/24337 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/view/24348 Two things: 1. The traditional German spelling is actually, “FrankfUrt”. Since it is a German-style town (or it used to be) I don’t see the problem with spelling it either way. 2. I actually liked the fact that the State News did a write-up on this. Please keep these coming on the all of the trustees up for election. I, for one, don’t know much about these candidates since it’s not something that gets good news coverage. His horrible attendance really helps me in deciding which way to vote. If you don’t have the time to show up, then don’t run for office. I realize it adds some prestige to your law practice, but when it comes to my tuition money I’d like to know that the people in charge of it actually show up for their meetings. Thu, 09 Oct 2008 10:08:45 -0400 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/view/24348 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/view/24350 It’s funny – I’ve never really thought much about the trustee positions when voting, just randomly picking someone. I was looking over the ballot this year, and figured I’d select both Libertarians that are on the ballot just to provide more support for the party. Then I saw that my boss is one of the Libertarians running! He’s a good guy, runs his own business out of Portland, MI, and is active in the community. He’s a Spartan alum (I assume you have to be to be a trustee? Or no?), and I’ll for sure be voting for him in a month! Thu, 09 Oct 2008 10:19:24 -0400 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/view/24350 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/view/24354 Gosh can’t you guys give him a break? His brother was freaking running for President of the United States! It’s not like he didn’t want to go, he just has had other responsibilites that other trustees did not have to face! This is ridiculous! Thu, 09 Oct 2008 11:30:20 -0400 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/view/24354 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/view/24355 its Frankfort, I know because I live close to it, and it is one hell of a drive Thu, 09 Oct 2008 11:33:40 -0400 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/view/24355 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/view/24367 Disappointed, Having a sibling trying to win a nomination for a political party carries zero real responsibilities. Being an elected Trustee carries several, most important of which, in my opinion, would be attending and participating in the Board meetings. He has attended fewer than 80% of meetings since 2001. (But I would bet he didn’t miss their recent retreat at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac.) This column is not ridiculous. It is ridiculous for you to defend his performance with such a poor excuse. Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:32:42 -0400 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/view/24367 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/view/24381 I think missing meetings is inexcusable. I think that they should be held contractually liable to attend 100% of the meetings, unless they are excused by the President of the University for an emergency, or in the case of legal proceedings, if they are required to report to court by a judge. McNamara works for the cable board. Did 7 family emergencies or 7 mandatory meetings pop up at the cable board? She is in charge there, can’t she reschedule meetings around her obligations? Thu, 09 Oct 2008 16:24:24 -0400 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/view/24381 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/view/24533 I believe this is a valid issue. I served on the Board for 16 years and drove 8 hours, one-way, for the first five years. I remember missing only three meetings—two when my parents died and one with an emergency appendectomy the morning of a Board meeting. While it is true to say the committee work leads up to final action presented at the formal meeting, a Trustee’s presence at the formal session records the vote on final action. Almost as distressing to me is the presence of only one or two Trustees at major, important events such as the President’s State of the University address and Faculty/Staff Award recognition events. The current system of nominating and selecting unknown Trustees is worthy of review. Unfortunately, the general public has little knowledge of the Board candidates and typically votes by Party line. As this is an unpaid position, however, it is hard to fault the candidates for choosing to avoid the types of expenses common to other statewide elections to become a “known quantity.” Other than WKAR and a small number of candidate forums, there is little media pursuit of candidate credentials or biographies. More the misfortune for educating the public. The current process for selection of MSU, University of Michigan and Wayne State Boards is based upon the 1963 Michigan Constitution; any change to the process would require a Constitutional amendment. By the way, there is no requirement for a Board member to be an alumna or alumnus of the University. Sat, 11 Oct 2008 15:43:24 -0400 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/view/24533