Freshman initiation
If the Senate were a fraternity, Sen. Gary Stanislawski, R-Tulsa, was initiated on Tuesday.
Stanislawski presented Senate Bill 604 to the full Senate Tuesday morning. The bill creates an Internet-based instruction task force that will basically make sure students using the Internet for instruction, are indeed really doing what they say they are.
Stanislawski probably didn’t expect a lot of questions or debate on the bill since it passed out of committee with little trouble. But as one the first freshman senators to present a bill, the elder statesman of the Senate had something else in mind.
Sen. Tom Ivester, D-Sayre, started the grilling, asking Stanislawski if the server for the Internet instruction would be outsourced to India or Mexico. It may have been a serious question, it’s hard to tell.
The questions began to unravel when Sen. David Myers, R-Ponca City, lodged the acquisition, “Aren’t we increasing government when you do something like this?”
Senators were snickering. Stanislawski look flustered at first. He took a few deep breaths and answered the question, with “That’s a great question…”
At one point he blurted out, “I’m just a freshman senator.”
Exactly.
The highlight of the debate was when Sen. Johnnie Crutchfield, D-Ardmore, asked if the task force would use the social networking site, Twitter to meet and discuss their issues.
“Do you plan on using the process called Twittering? Can you tell me what Twittering is?” Crutchfield asked.
By this time Stanislawski had figured out the game. He was lobbing back as senators grilled him for more than 20 minutes.
“Was this freshman initiation?” Stanislawski asked.
The games didn’t end there. As Senators voted, they all voted against Stanislawski’s bill and then changed their votes at the last minute. His bill passed the Senate 46-0.
Senators applauded, patted Stanislawski on the back and shook his hand. Yes, this was freshman initiation and Stanislawski survived the equivalent of a Senate swirly.
Julie Bisbee
Capitol Bureau
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Funny. I had no idea the Senate engaged in such hijinx!