Written on Tuesday, August 21st, 2007 at 9:32pm by Alan Bedenko | 9 Comments

Bohunk


Channel 4’s Luke Moretti has been doing a series on WNY’s crumbling infrastructure, including the crumbling Cemetary Road Bridge in Lancaster. Lancaster school buses won’t cross that bridge anymore. Moretti interviewed RIT Civil Engineering Professor Dr. Abi Aghayere, who back in May, said,

“I think I would give this a red flag. I would want this bridge to be fixed right away. … They’re taking a risk. You are just rolling the dice. That’s what I would call that. You’re taking a risk.”

State Senator Dale Volker (R-Depew) doesn’t think it’s a big deal at all. Instead, he took a derogatory potshot at Dr. Aghayere. He said that Channel 4 brought “some bohunk” from Rochester to say the bridge was in bad shape.

Now listen again to what Volker calls Aghayere during the public meeting and according to the Oxford English Dictionary ["bohunk"] is a derogatory term meaning, “an immigrant from central or south-eastern europe, one of inferior class, a low rough fellow, a lout.”

Who is Dr. Aghayere?

Aghayere, originally from Benin-City, Nigeria, in West Africa, came to RIT in 1996. Previously, he was a structural engineer with Halsall Associates Ltd. in Toronto, a research associate in civil engineering at the University of Alberta in Canada, a teaching and research assistant at the University of Alberta, and a lecturer in civil engineering at the University of Ilorin in Nigeria.

At RIT, Aghayere developed the Structural Loads and Systems course and the structural design certificate program, and he pioneered the development of online courses in civil engineering technology. He serves as the faculty associate for scholarship in CAST—mentoring faculty by developing strategies to facilitate scholarship—and he chaired the CAST scholarship committee.

I’ll take the “bohunk”’s word over the intemperate Senator Volker’s when it comes to the safety of our infrastructure. He should be ashamed, and owes not only Dr. Aghayere, but the people of Lancaster an apology.

Aren’t you tired of being insulted by Albany politicians like State Senator Dale Volker?

Tagged with:

9 Comments

  1. starbuck says:
    August 21, 2007 at 9:59 pm

    Volker is awful in many ways. Somebody ran against him last time but I forgot who. Anyhow he got totally clobbered, whoever it was. On the positive side, retirement should be coming soon for old Dale. On the negative side, whomever replaces him will likely be pretty bad too. Probably not as much of a jerk on a personal level, but just as bad as Volker in terms of doing the tax-spend-pork type of stuff. Or maybe after 2010 census that district will be gerrymandered out of existence if he retires then.

  2. steve says:
    August 22, 2007 at 8:03 am

    Remarkable that the longer he is in office, the more thin-skinned he becomes. More chilling, though, was the video of his finger-pointing argument with a Lancaster resident. His intemperance degenerates into near bullying.

    Dale is the most current poster child for term limits.

  3. STEEL says:
    August 22, 2007 at 9:42 am

    I have heard bohunk used by females to describe a very good looking male

  4. Adam K says:
    August 22, 2007 at 10:41 am

    starbuck, the guy who ran against him was Tom Casey, who would not be the type of Senator you describe, he’s a good guy.

    Don’t worry about Volker, he’ll be gone in what, 17 months?

    The enrollment is only 40% -30% Republican, which is competitive.

    If that sounds insurmountable remember that Erie County (49-28 Democrat) elected a Republican County Executive twice, that NY state (47-27 Democrat) elected a Republican Governor twice.

    So if the democrats get a good candidate, run a couple ads showing Volker swearing at residents (yesterdays paper) or using racial epithets, or screaming at Scott Brown, or screaming at Donn Esmonde, or whatever, he’s at least in bad shape.

  5. starbuck says:
    August 22, 2007 at 12:25 pm

    Adam – based on quick research, I agree with you that Tom Casey does sound like a great candidate.

    According to this, he favors strict and serious spending control:

    http://nbjr.speakupwny.com/tom-casey-picks-up-well-thought-endorsement/2006/10/30/

    Enter Tom Casey, the mild-mannered engineer who’s trying to unseat Volker Nov. 7. Casey, a Democrat also from the Buffalo area, is methodical, analytical and without pretension when he discusses what ails New York state. He calls for a state constitutional cap on spending using a formula that incorporates inflation and population fluctuations, an end to gimmicky borrowing and a reduction in state mandates and the cost of the state’s onerous workman’s compensation plan that hog-ties so many businesses.

    However, once Volker’s seat becomes competitive I predict the Dems would never endorse Casey or anyone with common sense views like his. They will endorse a non-mild-mannered pretentious career politician candidate who favors a tax/spend/pork approach very similar to what Volker has championed. Just not as much of a jerk as Volker.

    Looks to me that Casey was a sacrificial lamb who did not even make a real effort (apparently did not have campaign web site, and apparently did no media interviews – at least I can’t find any referenced on line).

  6. Talkin_Proud says:
    August 22, 2007 at 2:13 pm

    Volker’s just displaying his age and senility. I wish Dr. Aghayere would have thrown this back in his face.

    I mean, how out-dated is this slur? And isn’t calling a West African Doctor a “bohunk” as backwards as calling my Polish steel-working Grandfather an……”egghead communist?”

    I dunno.

  7. hank kaczmarek says:
    August 23, 2007 at 12:50 pm

    One of my car clubs’ autocross teams is call BBRT
    Bohunk Bros. Racing team.
    Anyone want a T-shirt?

 

You need to log in to vote

The blog owner requires users to be logged in to be able to vote for this post.

Alternatively, if you do not have an account yet you can create one here.

Powered by Vote It Up