[CW-Grad] uc walk out

cwhitney chuck.whitney at ucr.edu
Mon Sep 14 12:44:20 PDT 2009


And while we're all in high dudgeon, please let me pass this along --  
Mike D forwarded it to me:



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 12:36 PM, cwhitney wrote:

> 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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