[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
>
>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.ucr.edu/pipermail/cwgrad-announcements/attachments/20090914/6ea0ec3e/attachment.html 


More information about the CWgrad-announcements mailing list