UWP Lecturers Update
Deborah Willis
dwill at ucr.edu
Sun Jul 12 17:07:01 PDT 2009
For those of you following the saga of the UCSD letter, you might want to take a
look at the UC Merced chancellor's statement and also Yudof's letter to all of the
chancellors of the UC system. Both are heartening responses to the offensive
suggestions of the UCSD chairs. They can be found at:
http://www.ucmerced.edu/news_articles/07092009_message_from_chancellor_
kang.asp
(The link to Yudof's letter is in the third paragraph of Chancellor Kang's
statement.)
In addition, another entertaining column can be found at the Fresno Bee's site:
http://www.fresnobee.com/columnists/mcewen/story/1529385.html
It carries the headline "Professors' plot on UC Merced Earns a Quick 'F'" and
starts off with the following paragraph:
"Today's Lord of the Flies state-budget moment is brought to you by 23
professors at the University of California at San Diego. Not only have the
professors turned against their own, they want to eat the young, too."
(Many of you will note the 'Modest Proposal' tie-in here.)
Finally, the 2009 US News and World Reports rankings of graduate programs has
just come out. I don't set much stock by such things, but you may be interested
to know that UCR's English grad program was in a three-way tie for 41st place,
along with UC Santa Cruz and --yes-- "flagship" UC San Diego. The graduate
program of Prof. Scull's home department (Sociology) at 31st place was bested
not only by UC Berkeley (#1) and UCLA (#9) but also by UCI (#27)and UCSB
(#28), while tying with UC Davis -- three campuses not among the "flagship"
schools according to Prof. Scull. (UCR's Sociology program was not all that far
behind, at #41).
To see the rankings, go to:
http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-
schools/top-humanities-schools
Cheers, Deborah
---- Original message ----
>Date: Sat, 11 Jul 2009 23:54:59 -0700
>From: Carole Fabricant <cf7516 at gmail.com>
>Subject: Re: UCSD letter
>To: dwill at ucr.edu
>Cc: kimberly devlin <devlinucr at earthlink.net>, adriana.craciun at ucr.edu,
Andrea.Denny-Brown at ucr.edu, carole.fabricant at ucr.edu,
Caroleanne.tyler at ucr.edu, Deborah.Willis at ucr.edu, erica.edwards at ucr.edu,
George.Haggerty at ucr.edu, heidi.braymanhackel at ucr.edu,
jamestobias at mindspring.com, James.Tobias at ucr.edu, jennifer.doyle at ucr.edu,
John.Briggs at ucr.edu, John.Ganim at ucr.edu, joseph.childers at ucr.edu,
katherine.kinney at ucr.edu, keith.harris at ucr.edu, michelle.raheja at ucr.edu,
rise.axelrod at ucr.edu, rob.latham at ucr.edu, Stanley.Stewart at ucr.edu,
Steven.Axelrod at ucr.edu, susan.zieger at ucr.edu, Tiffany.Lopez at ucr.edu,
Traise.Yamamoto at ucr.edu, Vorris.Nunley at ucr.edu, englecturers at lists.ucr.edu
>
> Thanks a lot for forwarding the link to the
> complete UCSD letter and list of signatories,
> Deborah.
>
> The letter read in its entirety is even more
> appalling and reprehensible than what was
> conveyed by the portions of it I read the other day
> (as bad as they were). It's just as well I didn't
> get to see the whole thing at that time; otherwise I
> would still be in the process of writing my satire
> on it, which by this time would have grown to 30
> pages (at least). There's so much in the choice of
> language alone that is marvelously
> self-incriminating and that lends itself perfectly
> to Swiftian subversion.
> One of my favorites is the stirring conclusion:
> "we must genuinely make it a priority to maintain
> UCSD (and UC) as world class institutions." The
> warped sense of perspective and delusional
> self-aggrandizement revealed by the precedence
> accorded UCSD over the entire UC system (here
> reduced to a parenthetical aside, a mere
> afterthought) pretty much says it all.
>
> How sad and depressing (though I can't in all
> honesty say surprising) it is to be confronted with
> the spectacle of colleagues whose mindset makes
> Hobbes seem like a benevolent and altruistic
> communitarian.
>
> C.
>
>
> On Sat, Jul 11, 2009 at 10:46 PM, Deborah Willis
> <dwill at ucr.edu> wrote:
>
> I found the complete UCSD letter and list of
> chairs who signed it at:
>
> http://toodumbtolivearchive.blogspot.com/2009/07/june-15-2009-dear-
i-
> write-on-behalf-of.html
>
> There is a good comment posted by a UC Santa Cruz
> professor at the end.
> It's not hard to find this stuff by doing a google
> search. I used keywords "Scull
> letter UCSD" to find most of what I've mentioned.
> "Close UC Merced" works well
> too.
>
> Personally, I would hesitate to go for a lot of
> media publicity on this. I think
> Carole's remarks about the "loads of doofuses" out
> there should be seriously
> considered. And it may snowball in the media
> anyway. At first I only saw
> articles in the Merced, Fresno, and other Central
> Valley newspapers. But just
> this evening I saw an item in the San Jose Mercury
> News with an Associated
> Press byline. The SF Chronicle and LA Times may
> be next.
>
> I can no longer access the third link in my
> earlier email either. The blogger must
> have closed off her site to outsiders.
>
> Deborah
>
> ---- Original message ----
> >Date: Sat, 11 Jul 2009 20:38:01 -0700
> >From: Carole Fabricant <cf7516 at gmail.com>
> >Subject: Re: Fwd: brilliant letter
> >To: kimberly devlin <devlinucr at earthlink.net>
> >Cc: adriana.craciun at ucr.edu,
> Andrea.Denny-Brown at ucr.edu,
> carole.fabricant at ucr.edu,
> Caroleanne.tyler at ucr.edu, Deborah.Willis at ucr.edu,
> erica.edwards at ucr.edu, George.Haggerty at ucr.edu,
> heidi.braymanhackel at ucr.edu,
> jamestobias at mindspring.com,
> James.Tobias at ucr.edu, jennifer.doyle at ucr.edu,
> John.Briggs at ucr.edu,
> John.Ganim at ucr.edu, joseph.childers at ucr.edu,
> katherine.kinney at ucr.edu,
> keith.harris at ucr.edu, michelle.raheja at ucr.edu,
> rise.axelrod at ucr.edu,
> rob.latham at ucr.edu, Stanley.Stewart at ucr.edu,
> Steven.Axelrod at ucr.edu,
> susan.zieger at ucr.edu, Tiffany.Lopez at ucr.edu,
> Traise.Yamamoto at ucr.edu,
> Vorris.Nunley at ucr.edu, englecturers at lists.ucr.edu
> >
> > I agree with you, Kim. The people who
> chose to
> > sign this contemptible letter should be
> "outed" --
> > they shouldn't be allowed to hide behind
> > anonymity. I definitely think we should get
> hold
> > of the letter and have it printed in a
> California
> > publication; the LA Times is a good
> suggestion. Of
> > course, you realize that once it gets out
> there will
> > be loads of doofuses who will actually think
> it's a
> > great suggestion to close some of the UC
> campuses
> > (if not the whole university!) and will write
> > letters to the editor and to their
> congresspersons
> > to that effect. But that's the risk one
> takes in
> > a (ahem) democracy. Everyone has her say,
> even
> > those with a minimum of brain power and
> capacity for
> > critical thinking.
> >
> > Stephanie (Kay) came up with a couple of
> good
> > suggestions also: that we get this letter
> (along
> > with appropriate editorial and ironic
> commentary on
> > it) into the Chronicle of Higher Education;
> and
> > that the Academic Senates of UCSC, UCR,
> and UC
> > Merced either separately or jointly censure
> those
> > who wrote and signed the letter. This might
> sound
> > like overkill (and the very opposite of
> the far
> > subtler ironic tack I initially took) but I
> think if
> > UC faculty choose to circulate reprehensible
> ideas
> > that (at least in theory and potential)
> can be
> > highly damaging to their colleagues on other
> > campuses, they should be held responsible
> for their
> > actions. I say "actions" because what they
> > did goes beyond mere words; after
> all, their
> > letter was sent to UCOP with the specific
> intention
> > of affecting university policy). There's
> no
> > question here about meddling with freedom of
> > speech (hey, I'm a card-carrying member of
> the
> > ACLU like [probably] most of you) but when 23
> > department heads send an official signed
> letter to
> > the President's Office proposing a major
> change in
> > the system (to put it mildly!), it enters
> the
> > public domain and should be treated -- and
> responded
> > to -- as such.
> >
> > Deborah: I don't know how you found out
> about
> > those other four department heads, but if
> you've
> > discovered the entire list of faculty who
> signed
> > the letter, could you perhaps let all of us
> know
> > who they are (i.e., which departments they
> head).
> > I think we're all curious and dying to know
> that.
> > And if you've somehow unearthed a copy of the
> entire
> > letter, it would be great if you could send
> that
> > around as well -- or send us the internet
> > link where we can see the letter for
> ourselves.
> >
> > Speaking of which, I wasn't able to open the
> third
> > link that you sent us (the blog with, I
> gather, an
> > ironic or humorous response to the letter).
> It
> > sounds like at least some of you succeeded
> in
> > opening and reading it, but I couldn't.
> (The site
> > said I wasn't authorized to read anything on
> it, or
> > something to that effect.) Did anyone else
> have
> > that problem? If you know how to fix it let
> me
> > know -- as you're probably well aware by now
> > I'm a hopeless satire buff and hate to
> think I'm
> > missing out on any examples of it.
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Carole
> >
> > On Sat, Jul 11, 2009 at 6:53 PM, kimberly
> devlin
> > <devlinucr at earthlink.net> wrote:
> >
> > dear all,
> >
> > i would be very happy to see a copy of the
> full
> > letter (including the names of everyone
> who signed
> > it) reprinted in the la times, followed by
> > carole's response. any ideas how to do
> so?
> > anybody with me on this one? i am
> impressed by
> > how many other faculty have accepted the
> fact that
> > the state/nation/world is in a severe
> depression
> > and that we, like many others (not
> employed by
> > uc), are going to be effected. duh. in
> any
> > event, thank you very much carole.
> >
> > slainte,
> >
> > kim
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Carole Fabricant
> > Sent: Jul 10, 2009 3:19 AM
> > To: adriana.craciun at ucr.edu,
> > Andrea.Denny-Brown at ucr.edu,
> > carole.fabricant at ucr.edu,
> cf7516 at gmail.com,
> > Caroleanne.tyler at ucr.edu,
> > Deborah.Willis at ucr.edu,
> erica.edwards at ucr.edu,
> > George.Haggerty at ucr.edu,
> > heidi.braymanhackel at ucr.edu,
> > jamestobias at mindspring.com,
> > James.Tobias at ucr.edu,
> jennifer.doyle at ucr.edu,
> > John.Briggs at ucr.edu,
> John.Ganim at ucr.edu,
> > joseph.childers at ucr.edu,
> > katherine.kinney at ucr.edu,
> keith.harris at ucr.edu,
> > devlinucr at earthlink.net,
> > michelle.raheja at ucr.edu,
> rise.axelrod at ucr.edu,
> > rob.latham at ucr.edu,
> Stanley.Stewart at ucr.edu,
> > Steven.Axelrod at ucr.edu,
> susan.zieger at ucr.edu,
> > Tiffany.Lopez at ucr.edu,
> Traise.Yamamoto at ucr.edu,
> > Vorris.Nunley at ucr.edu,
> > englecturers at listserv.ucr.edu
> > Subject: Fwd: brilliant letter
> >
> > Hey folks,
> >
> > The depths to which some of my esteemed
> and, er,
> > enlightened colleagues will stoop never
> ceases
> > to amaze me. One is never quite
> prepared for
> > the next act of outrage or idiocy.
> Way to go,
> > guy; let's hear it for colleaguiality
> and (more
> > importantly) class solidarity. In
> case you
> > don't know what I'm talking about, I'll
> attach a
> > newspaper article (and a half) to this
> email (I
> > copied it into my Word documents) which
> will
> > explain it all. Below you will find
> my
> > response to His Eminence
> the Distinguished
> > Professor Scull. There's no way one
> can deal
> > with this except through satire.
> (Well,
> > actually there are other ways -- but
> > nothing that can be described in an
> email.)
> > I heartily encourage all of you to send
> emails
> > to Scull congratulating him on his
> > brilliant satiric wit. It would be
> nice if
> > his mailbox were filled with such
> notes.
> > (Actually it would be even nicer it it
> was
> > filled with something else -- but never
> mind
> > that for now.)
> >
> > Read and weep. Or better yet, read
> and laugh,
> > and write sarcastic fan mail.
> >
> > btw, Don't forget to address him as
> > "Distinguished Professor" -- given his
> obvious
> > adulation of status and reputation I'm
> sure he
> > wouldn't want to be addressed any other
> way.
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Carole
> >
> > ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> > From: Carole Fabricant
> <cf7516 at gmail.com>
> > Date: Fri, Jul 10, 2009 at 3:00 AM
> > Subject: brilliant letter
> > To: ascull at ucsd.edu
> >
> > Dear Distinguished Professor Scull,
> >
> > I very much enjoyed reading portions of
> your
> > brilliant satire which, had you been a
> less
> > humble and unassuming person, you might
> have
> > entitled "A Modest Proposal for
> preventing the
> > Inferior Campuses of the UC System from
> being a
> > Burden to their Superiors or the
> University at
> > large, and for making them Beneficial
> to the
> > Public."
> >
> > As a Jonathan Swift specialist I can
> say without
> > reservation that you have perfectly
> captured the
> > tone and spirit of Swift's greatest
> satire,
> > creating a persona whom you've
> succeeded in
> > making into the twin brother of the
> Modest
> > Proposer: a man, deeply concerned for
> the
> > welfare of his community, who
> understands that
> > the sacrifice of some of its members
> (other
> > than himself and his fellow classmen,
> of
> > course) is necessary for the good of
> the
> > whole. Your persona, like the Modest
> Proposer,
> > subscribes to the sad but inescapable
> truth that
> > in every society the weak have to be
> sacrificed
> > to ensure the continued health and
> prosperity of
> > the strong, the have-nots must give way
> > to accommodate the desires of the
> haves; and
> > while expressing regret regret at being
> forced
> > to "contemplate very, very unpleasant
> choices"
> > he doesn't allow mere sentiment to
> soften the
> > stark nature of his proposal, or to
> divert him
> > from his noble purpose.
> >
> > Of course, this being a satire, we
> eventually
> > come to realize that the Modest
> Proposer's (both
> > yours and Swift's) presumed concern for
> the
> > welfare of his society, hence
> his eagerness to
> > offer solutions to its problems, is
> merely a
> > cover to mask his own self-interest,
> delusions
> > of grandeur, and dehumanizing outlook
> (his
> > substitution of abstract quantifiable
> measures
> > for human values) -- but not before
> we've
> > enjoyed a delightful romp through the
> realms of
> > the satiric grotesque.
> >
> > I must say that I thought it was a
> particularly
> > brilliant stroke of wit on your part to
> > substitute the image of General Motors
> "lopping
> > off" Hummer, Buick, Opel, Saab, "and
> who knows
> > what else" for Swift's central metaphor
> of
> > chopping up and eating Irish babies.
> The "who
> > knows what else" provides just the
> right
> > Swiftian touch, opening out the
> possibilities of
> > the satire in the same way that Swift's
> Modest
> > Proposer, after describing the many
> dishes the
> > babies can be cooked up into, adds that
> "Those
> > who are more thrifty (as I must confess
> the
> > times require) may flay the carcass;
> the skin of
> > which, artificially dressed, will make
> admirable
> > gloves for ladies, and summer boots for
> fine
> > gentlemen."
> >
> > Equally ingenious was your remark that
> because
> > of the funding crisis we now have to
> become
> > "only a nine, or an eight (and a half)
> campus
> > system." A lesser satirist would have
> left it
> > at 'nine, or eight,' but your insertion
> of 'a
> > half' of a campus produces an
> ever-so-slight
> > frisson, evoking the image of a half of
> a baby
> > (somehow more shocking than a whole
> one) being
> > stuffed into a pot to make a stew:
> an image
> > that serves to underscore the
> fundamental sadism
> > and cruel indifference beneath the
> Modest
> > Proposer's mask of benevolence.
> >
> > I will be teaching Swift in the fall
> quarter and
> > wonder whether you would be willing to
> come and
> > talk to my class about your perspective
> on the
> > art of satire -- perhaps even share
> with us some
> > of your other creative endeavors in
> this
> > field. I always tell my students
> that, given
> > the absurdity of the times in which we
> live,
> > it's no longer possible to write
> satire. But
> > I'm glad to say that you've proven me
> wrong.
> >
> > Yours sincerely (and admiringly),
> >
> > Carole Fabricant
> > Professor of English
> > University of California, Riverside
> >
> >
> >
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