[CW-Grad] uc walk out
cwhitney
chuck.whitney at ucr.edu
Mon Sep 14 12:36:51 PDT 2009
Stephanie: Thanks. Very eloquent.
D. Charles (Chuck) Whitney
Office: Department of Creative Writing, 4159 INTS, UC Riverside,
Riverside CA 92521 / 951.827.6076 FAX 951.827.3619
Home: 6170 Kirk St., Riverside CA 92506 / 951.781.3497
On Sep 14, 2009, at 11:32 AM, Stephanie Hammer wrote:
> Hi everyone -- I just sent this message to the crwt list and it
> bounced back. So I'm resending. thanks! sh
>
> From: Stephanie Hammer <hamm at ucr.edu>
> Date: September 14, 2009 11:03:29 AM PDT
> To: "D Charles Whitney" <chuck.whitney at ucr.edu>, CWFacMtg-List at ucr.edu
> Subject: uc walk out
>
>
> Dear Chuck and all --
>
> I am on sabbatical this quarter, but I am supporting the walk out
> and I want to say why. This letter is a version of what I wrote to
> my home department in Comparative Literature.
>
> Having spent the bulk of my career in the UC system, I am pretty
> dismayed by what I see as a progressive downgrading of our
> incredible university system -- a downgrading that has been going on
> for years, and which is culminating now in these budget cuts.
>
> As someone who has worked in retail and the hotel business, and as
> the child of Republicans (!) I totally get that tough budget
> decisions need to be made. What I find inexcusable is how faculty
> have been shut out of these decisions on all campuses, and that the
> overall budget remains a mystery to most, including our own Dean.
> Even stockholders know more about a corporation's budget than we do
> (unless your corporation is run by Madoff). Not only is our
> university being run like a company -- it's being run like a badly-
> run company.
>
> If you go to the UC walk out letter, you will see that the demands
> are extremely reasonable.
>
> http://ucfacultywalkout.com/
>
> The letter asks for transparency regarding the budget (to which, by
> the way, we are entitled as a self-governing body), a roll back of
> any furlough for employees making $40,000. or less, and faculty
> participation in discussions on where to cut.
>
> So, to quote my Reagan-loving father, "this is no hippy
> uprising" (which some folks may find disappointing). This is a last-
> ditch effort to call public attention to the ways in which our
> beloved University is being demolished.
>
> BUT, I think Chuck is absolutely right when he says that students
> and staff are the ones most impacted by what is happening. This is
> why, in my humble opinion, it is absolutely CRUCIAL for students to
> take part in the walk out. I would urge you to urge students in the
> strongest possible terms (I am doing this already on Facebook and
> ilearn) to educate themselves about the 30% price hike in tuition
> and other issues so that they can make an informed decision about
> what they themselves want to do. This is, after all, one of the
> advantages of being a citizen in a democracy. You get to choose,
> when and how and whether, to protest.
>
> And if you MUST meet your kids on the 24th, as artists and
> intellectuals, you have a unique opportunity to educate students
> about an actual historical moment. Take your kids out of the
> classroom, and have them write about what they see, conduct
> interviews with participants on both sides, and use the craft of
> writing to witness and analyze.
>
> Thanks for reading and happy fall everyone --
>
> Stephanie H
>
> Stephanie Hammer
> Comparative Literature and Creative Writing
> UC Riverside
> Riverside, CA 92521
>
> "A major irritation, a most stern and ruthless activity without
> question or answer, a three-card trick, a necessity. A necessity to
> what? The necessity to _say_." Pinter on Beckett.
>
>
> ---- Original message ----
>> Date: Mon, 14 Sep 2009 10:32:55 -0700
>> From: D Charles Whitney <chuck.whitney at ucr.edu>
>> Subject: Faculty meeting POSTPONED
>> To: CWFacMtg-List at ucr.edu
>>
>> A number of faculty members have asked that the
>> Sept. 24 facultty meeting be postponed for a week in
>> view of the UC-wide protest on that day. We will do
>> so; I have been reluctant to postpone largely
>> because we have a very heavy academic personnel
>> workload this fall, but we will simply work harder
>> and faster - and later.
>> If you plan on NOT meeting Sept. 24 classes as part
>> of the work action, I would very much appreciate
>> your emailing students in your classes to let them
>> know you do not intend to meet classes and to
>> explain why.
>> I will meet my Thursday class: I'm certainly
>> sympathetic to the aims of the organizers, and I
>> respect those of you who are participating in the
>> work action, but I believe faculty are the group
>> (except for administrators) least impacted by budget
>> cuts -- students and staff are much moreso - and I
>> fear that a walkout sends the wrong political
>> message.
>>
>> D Charles Whitney, Professor and Chair
>> Department of Creative Writing, 4119 INTS
>> U of California, Riverside CA 92521
>> 951.827.6076 FAX 951.827.3619
>
>
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