Is Lusk’s Call Smoking Gun in SGA Bribery Case?
UCF SGA, Videos — By Staff on October 1, 2009 at 2:15 pmKnightNews.com’s cameras were rolling during a public hearing where the SGA Elections Commission played audio tape evidence of SGA Sen. Will Lusk’s conversation with an influential College Republican about the possibility of Unite Ticket members paying UCF’s College Republicans more than $500 in membership fees during a conversation about securing the club’s endorsement.
The conversation Lusk had was with CJ Cooper, who said she recorded the conversation after Lusk was told he was being recorded.
The SGA Elections Commission found Lusk in violation of its bribery statutes, and disqualified him from the race with a major violation. Lusk has so far refused to comment to us regarding whether he’ll appeal, apologize, or just move on.
So what do you think?
Is this a smoking gun that proves Lusk committed bribery, or should Lusk fight this conviction to the SGA Judicial Council on appeal?
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17 Comments
Hey everybody, I just farted!
I feel like I’m watching Jersey Shore when I hear this girl talk. If this is seriously who runs UCF’s organizations and our SGA, then we are in serious trouble. I’m expecting for someone to jump out of nowhere and start fist bumping
Personal attacks towards anyone involved proves of low intelligence. With that being said, CJ Cooper is a brilliant person who is not afraid to stand up for what she believes in. Not everyone may agree with her views, but if you did, as I do, you would realize she follows code of honesty, integrity and respect. Someone called her “hard-headed” and “non-compassionate”, if I were her I would take hard-headed as a complement as she is not flaky in her decisions, she wont back down, and has firm values and beliefs. As for compassion, I can say that as far as I know CJ’s a darn good conservative republican who would fight for America and any hard working American- I think that’s compassionate enough.
Thank you CJ Cooper for doing what you feel is right, and for being a strong republican that this country so obviously needs right now. I am behind you 100%.
I hope I don’t get sued over my username. Hopefully CJ won’t find it. But yeah, she’s a ra-tard and is as transparent as the bleach soaking through her skull.
Casey Jo=Sleazy liar..you can hear it in her voice.
The only people who believe cj are either oblivious to the situation or too naive to know. Anyone with a brain can see right through that girl.
I don’t get how easily people fall prey to her schemes!? Its so obvious! You haven’t fooled everyone.
Dear “Not a bribe”,
No one just randomly decides to record conversations. OBVIOUSLY something struck up a red flag in the conversation to make her boyfriend, NOT her (you would know this if you knew your facts), decide to record the conversation. WHeny ou are constantly approached by crazy people such as Lusk, eventually you decide to act on the constant negative comments and bribery.
CJ did the right thing, and people need to stop pretending to be her on here. This isn’t greek rank.
Cj is a great girl with a good heart, anyone with morals would have done the same thing.
Once again… Could people please stop posting comments under my name.
hey look at me!
http://collegeclicktv.com/videos?fr_story=c9be493dbeed80915f5f78359c0ff6c6e737994f&fr_chl=dd90f2b5a4651987559ce046deee4e8037f1341d&search=
Didn’t CJ run on a senate ticket with Democrats last year? I’m confused why she would care now.
After reading the comments I totally agree with “Common Sense”.
I don’t know much about SGA, but I think its really weird that the girl CJ would record a conversation. Seriously, who does that? She must be a pretty paranoid person.
I have a friend who ran on the Unite ticket and he told me that CJ was intentionally not invited on the ticket because of her hard-headed non-compassionate reputation in senate. This whole messed up situation definitely proves it.
Whoever that Will guy is shouldn’t care anyway cause personally i think senate is a joke. No one on campus even knows whos on senate.
To the first comment on this page, boy do you have alot to learn.
First off, if you had attended the hearing you would know that Will Lusk thought the dues were $10 per member. He stated that in the hearing, so $520 is exactly what he thought dues would be.
Second, the reason CJ says $520 is because before the recording started is when HE stated it. of course she did not start recording until the red flag came up, she had no reason to. Once he stated the bribe, she started recording, so you miss the main part, but you get the point.
Third, CJ is definitely NOT talking over her boyfriend when he says “We are recording you.” It is clear as day. If he didn’t hear it, they cannot be held responsible because it was stated loud and clear. Either way, it was a bribe.
Finally, an endorsement is a bribe. An endorsement from CR ensures that many volunteers come out and help to get votes, so numerous votes would be gained. Not to mention that many people who know CR endorsed him would vote for them based on CR ideals.
Will Lusk was so obviously guilty, the only person who said it was not a major violation was a friend of his on the committee, who must have felt bad that everyone else saw the obvious violation.
CJ has received numerous threats and insults, and all she did was report an event that occured. If people are too scared to report things, our entire SGA will be corrupt.
Will Lusk can appeal, but facts are facts. Not to mention he had the conversation on speakerphone too, which he admitted during the hearing, so there’s was no expectation of privacy.
Great job being a good citizen and student CJ! As for Will Lusk, he is corrupt and does not deserve to be a part of Senate, the organization that represents our student body.
Does anyone even care about this? Do ya’ll even do anything besides just run for some “senate seat” and then put it on your transcript for Grad School? KnightsNews is wasting their time and should spend it making more documentaries about the bathrooms on campus.
endorsement is a favor for future returns. this is so obvious you must be retarded not to realize that he is trying to bribe them for their support
As a UCF Alumni, and former senator, I think SGA senate is a waste of time. Its a bunch of people who sit around an office doing (for the most part) nothing but socializing and debating over stupid issues. As a senator for 4 years, I can’t remember 1 time when senate actually helped the student body. Senate gives a select few organizations money, distributing it unfairly and inconsistently. Not to mention that if an organization wants to receive funding for an event they have to do backflips (sarcasm) for the senate to get it. However, its not hard for some senators to accept huge paychecks of student money for all the time they spend socializing and buying new furniture for their office. The speaker of the senate makes $700 every 2 weeks.
If I was a student at UCF I would want to see the senate be more approachable, more fair, and most of all put on activities that the student body can enjoy. I know someone may say the senate funds 100s of activities, which is true, but they are just giving out student money for activities to be put on, they are not involved in the activities in any way.
The other way senate spends (wastes) their time is editing statues (the rules of senate). I would say more time is spent on doing this then helping students. What do good statutes do for students? Nothing, nothing at all.
How do I know all this? I was a former senator, committee vice chair, committee chair, and speaker of the senate. Yes, I took that huge paycheck. But now looking back as a law school student, I realize how much more the senate could have done and how much more they could do. I think that if someone in student government put as much time into their school work, as they did worrying about an election or impeaching a fellow senator, they would be better off, and UCF would be better off.
First off, learn to spell correctly.
Secondly, who cares what you think?? The elections commission already voted 7 to 1 in favor that Lusk committed bribery and even posted the statues in a memorandum that was sent to SGA Election Officials and other officials at UCF. Stop being mad because your friend is a dumbass and didn’t think about the consequences of his actions. As a Senator, he should have known better. In the real world, if you knew, could have know or should have known then legally he is at fault. My advice…build a bridge and GET OVER IT!
Finally this recording was released! LISTEN TO THE FACTS!
#1 – Will Lusk never mentioned ANYTHING about a monetary donation to the College Republicans.
-Casey brought up the amount of $520!
-Will asked a hypothetical question “so if everyone on my ticket became members…”
-Dues for the College Republicans for 52 students would be $1,040 which is a joke in itself, no student has that amount of money at their disposal.
#2 You can tell by Casey’s tone near the end that she is trying to set Will up and catch him doing something wrong on the recorder.
-”So what you’re saying is, if we endorse you, you would work harder for us?”
-Will: “No, absolutely not that would be blackmail” He clearly know that is wrong.
#3 While her boyfriend (forgot his name) is yelling “I’m recording you” Casey is talking over him. How could Will possibly hear that? then give consent to being recorded.
-In my eyes the recording doesn’t even matter because either way, it’s not a bribe.
#4 EVEN IF YOU STILL THINK THIS IS A BRIBE, remember a bribe is defined “a prize, reward, gift, or favor bestowed or promised with a view to influence the action of another to vote for a particular candidate/ticket.”…an ENDORSEMENT is not a VOTE in the SGA senate elections.