ASNMU president Ben Stanley should resign from his position immediately to protect the integrity of NMU and its student government.
Stanley has a history of showing a lack of respect, not just for rules in general, but for most people he comes in contact with.
Last April, Stanley was disqualified from running for ASNMU presidency because he was responsible for breaking five ASNMU election rules, of the eight alleged, which were upheld by ASJ, including illegally posting campus literature and canvassing residence halls without proper approval.
In August 2009, Stanley was charged with one count of expired registration and one count of failure to show insurance, according to the April 14 Mining Journal article title “Man jailed for contempt of court.” It took Stanley more than three months to pay off his $40 ticket for expired car registration.
After these two counts, Stanley has been in and out of court for various reasons, including a chicken-at-large citation, three dog-at-large citations and two traffic citations. For these subsequent citations, court documents show Stanley took months to pay off his late fines.
He failed to show up to many court hearings, some of which Stanley requested himself. He finally was held in contempt of court for not showing up to another scheduled hearing. This one stemmed from an chicken-at-large citation.
Stanley went to jail, not for an chicken-at-large citation, but for showing an utter lack of respect for the court system.
“When you casually act like you can show or not show (in court) at your pleasure … it gets a little offensive after a while,” Judge Kangas said, who presided over Stanley’s contempt of court hearing. “It’s not about fines. It’s about treating everybody else like they don’t matter and you’re the only one who does.”
When Stanley was asked by Kangas if he knew he had “harassed everyone in this process,” Stanley agreed that he had.
The students of NMU deserve an ASNMU president that has demonstrated his or her commitment to helping others and following established rules. Ben Stanley has done none of this; he has done the complete opposite. Stanley said he wants students to hold him responsible for his actions and they should.
Ben Stanley cannot be trusted with the potential new power to appoint members of the ASNMU Judiciary, given that he can’t even follow ASNMU election rules or attend scheduled court hearings.
Without the resignation of ASNMU president Ben Stanley, ASNMU will lose the integrity that it has managed to retain over the years.
Stanley has no respect for rules or authority figures. This is bound to continue in his role of ASNMU president.
Geanyne • Sep 9, 2012 at 12:54 pm
I want to know WHY ASNMU has not removed this jokester yet? How they can expect to be taken seriously whilst holding this crackpot up as their leader is beyond me. You ask why the student body could care less what ASNMU is doing? Because look at how you discipline even your own kind, how can we take you seriously? Get real…
Josh • Apr 23, 2012 at 7:34 pm
As an alumni of NMU I must say, this is sad. In my 4 years at Northern the only thing ASNMU did for me was get the Starbucks lounge open all night, and even that has a quarter of the time but having it run by a guy who has no class, no respect, and clearly doesn’t realize what his actions say is wrong. ASNMU might not do much, but at least make it run by someone without a record. Just embarrassing.
Bob • Apr 20, 2012 at 3:43 pm
He should have paid the doggone ticket like any law abiding citizen. It would have garnered
him more respect in the greater community than to take the criminal route. He should not be rewarded with a position of responsibility. If I knew his background as an employer I would probably not view him as an asset to my company.
Scott • Apr 19, 2012 at 10:37 pm
Great editorial. I thoroughly agree. The ASNMU office, and especially the president, needs to be transparent. Stanley is already off to a bad start and is acting completely the opposite of transparent. Stanley claims he is there for the students and their needs, but that appears to be a lie. By his actions, Stanely shows he has no respect for the courts. He wouldn’t even be in this mess had he just paid the ticket. But because he refused to take responsibility for his actions he found himself in jail. I’m wondering just how much respect he’s going to show the students of NMU. If he doesn’t care for an institution that has the power to lock him up, what will he do for students? Probably nothing. Stanley needs to resign or be impeached.