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Open letter to Chancellor Birgeneau
Open letter to Chancellor Birgeneau posted by SAVE Co-chair Peter Glazer Friday (2/26)
Dear Chancellor Birgeneau,
I condemn violence in all forms. For what it's worth, I was a Conscientious Objector during the Vietnam War. That may alienate some, please others, and mystify the remaining. So be it.
But I beg you to listen to what I have to say.
Many students here are very, very angry. Not outsider agitators, but UC Berkeley students, and I am hesitant to say anything on their behalf, but with the understanding that they can only speak for themselves, I will offer some of my impressions. They are angry with the way they were treated outside Wheeler Hall by police brought onto this campus who had no idea how to control a crowd, who never once told the crowd through a bullhorn what the rules were, how to avoid arrest, how to avoid injury, angry that police were allowed on campus who aimed rifles at their faces and beat them with clubs. They are angry that the review of police procedures has yet to be completed.
They are angry that the Code of Student Conduct was so poorly and, in the eyes of many, illegally and unfairly applied after the events at Wheeler Hall and the frightening attack on your residence. They are angry that while Dean Poullard publicly acknowledged, repeatedly, that the Code is seriously flawed, and its implementation regarding these events often questionable at best, that nothing has been done to give the students treated punitively by the University any sense that they deserved to be treated better, told, in so many words, that mistakes were made. They are angry that what Susan Trageser, Assistant Dean of Students and Director of the Center for Student Conduct, publicly stated that sexual misconduct charges on numerous students' student files were the result of "administrative errors," and yet, they remain there.
You must take the anger of these students seriously, take it to heart, acknowledge that Berkeley students have a clear right to be angry, and that the decisions and actions of the administration are responsible for much of that anger. You have a clear right to condemn the violence last night, but if you do, you must also condemn, in language just as strong, the other kinds of violence -- physical, ethical, legal, financial -- perpetrated on our students.
Peter Glazer
I condemn violence in all forms. For what it's worth, I was a Conscientious Objector during the Vietnam War. That may alienate some, please others, and mystify the remaining. So be it.
But I beg you to listen to what I have to say.
Many students here are very, very angry. Not outsider agitators, but UC Berkeley students, and I am hesitant to say anything on their behalf, but with the understanding that they can only speak for themselves, I will offer some of my impressions. They are angry with the way they were treated outside Wheeler Hall by police brought onto this campus who had no idea how to control a crowd, who never once told the crowd through a bullhorn what the rules were, how to avoid arrest, how to avoid injury, angry that police were allowed on campus who aimed rifles at their faces and beat them with clubs. They are angry that the review of police procedures has yet to be completed.
They are angry that the Code of Student Conduct was so poorly and, in the eyes of many, illegally and unfairly applied after the events at Wheeler Hall and the frightening attack on your residence. They are angry that while Dean Poullard publicly acknowledged, repeatedly, that the Code is seriously flawed, and its implementation regarding these events often questionable at best, that nothing has been done to give the students treated punitively by the University any sense that they deserved to be treated better, told, in so many words, that mistakes were made. They are angry that what Susan Trageser, Assistant Dean of Students and Director of the Center for Student Conduct, publicly stated that sexual misconduct charges on numerous students' student files were the result of "administrative errors," and yet, they remain there.
You must take the anger of these students seriously, take it to heart, acknowledge that Berkeley students have a clear right to be angry, and that the decisions and actions of the administration are responsible for much of that anger. You have a clear right to condemn the violence last night, but if you do, you must also condemn, in language just as strong, the other kinds of violence -- physical, ethical, legal, financial -- perpetrated on our students.
Peter Glazer
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Great letter.
This is Peter Glzer on youtube. He is a professor of dance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNDvAskgfFs
This is Peter Glzer on youtube. He is a professor of dance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNDvAskgfFs
I want to make it clear that I sent this letter as an individual faculty member at Cal, not in my capacity as a member of SAVE, as the header suggests. My views are personal, not meant to represent those of anyone but myself, nor of any organization. In the past, I have occasionally posted comments or letters over my signature as a SAVE Co-Chair. This time I did not, for a reason. Lest my position be misunderstood, I am in unequivocal support of SAVE's focus on the March 4th march in Sacramento, and have been working very hard with my SAVE colleagues to help bring as many people as possible to that event. I continue to do so. My letter to the Chancellor was personal and individual, and should only be read in that light.
Thank you.
Peter Glazer
Thank you.
Peter Glazer
Higher Education: UCB Chancellor Birgeneau Loss of Trust
The UCB budget gap has grown to $150 million, and still the Chancellor is spending money that isn't there on expensive outside consultants. His reasons range from the need for impartiality to requiring the "innovative thinking, expertise, and new knowledge" the consultants would bring.
Does this mean that the faculty and management of a world-class research and teaching institution lack the knowledge, impartiality, innovation, and professionalism to come up with solutions? Have they been fudging their research for years? The consultants will glean their recommendations from interviewing faculty and the UCB management that hired them; yet solutions could be found internally if the Chancellor were doing the job HE was hired to do. Consultant fees would be far better spent on meeting the needs of students.
There can be only one conclusion as to why creative solutions have not been forthcoming from the professionals within UCB: Chancellor Birgeneau has lost credibility and the trust of the faculty as well as of the Academic Senate leadership that represents them. Even if the faculty agrees with the consultants' recommendations - disagreeing might put their jobs in jeopardy - the underlying problem of lost credibility and trust will remain.
The UCB budget gap has grown to $150 million, and still the Chancellor is spending money that isn't there on expensive outside consultants. His reasons range from the need for impartiality to requiring the "innovative thinking, expertise, and new knowledge" the consultants would bring.
Does this mean that the faculty and management of a world-class research and teaching institution lack the knowledge, impartiality, innovation, and professionalism to come up with solutions? Have they been fudging their research for years? The consultants will glean their recommendations from interviewing faculty and the UCB management that hired them; yet solutions could be found internally if the Chancellor were doing the job HE was hired to do. Consultant fees would be far better spent on meeting the needs of students.
There can be only one conclusion as to why creative solutions have not been forthcoming from the professionals within UCB: Chancellor Birgeneau has lost credibility and the trust of the faculty as well as of the Academic Senate leadership that represents them. Even if the faculty agrees with the consultants' recommendations - disagreeing might put their jobs in jeopardy - the underlying problem of lost credibility and trust will remain.
When UC Berkeley announced its elimination of baseball, men’s and women’s gymnastics, and women’s lacrosse teams and its defunding of the national-champion men’s rugby team, the chancellor sighed, “Sorry, but this was necessary!”
But was it? Yes, the university is in dire financial straits. Yet $3 million was somehow found to pay the Bain consulting firm to uncover waste and inefficiencies in UC Berkeley, despite the fact that a prominent East Coast university was doing the same thing without consultants.
Essentially, the process requires collecting and analyzing information from faculty and staff. Apparently, senior administrators at UC Berkeley believe that the faculty and staff of their world-class university lack the cognitive ability, integrity, and motivation to identify millions in savings. If consultants are necessary, the reason is clear: the chancellor, provost, and president have lost credibility with the people who provided the information to the consultants. Chancellor Robert J Birgeneau has reigned for eight years, during which time the inefficiencies proliferated. Even as Bain’s recommendations are implemented (“They told me to do it”, Birgeneau), credibility and trust problems remain.
Bain is interviewing faculty, staff, senior management and the academic senate leaders for $150 million in inefficiencies, most of which could have been found internally. One easy-to-identify problem, for example, was wasteful procurement practices such as failing to secure bulk discounts on printers. But Birgeneau apparently has no concept of savings: even in procuring a consulting firm, he failed to receive proposals from other firms.
Students, staff, faculty, and California legislators are the victims of his incompetence. Now that sports teams are feeling the pinch, perhaps the California Alumni Association, benefactors and donators, and the UC Board of Regents will demand to know why Birgeneau is raking in $500,000 a year despite the abdication of his responsibilities.
The author, who has 35 years’ consulting experience, has taught at University of California Berkeley, where he was able to observe the culture and the way the senior management operates.
But was it? Yes, the university is in dire financial straits. Yet $3 million was somehow found to pay the Bain consulting firm to uncover waste and inefficiencies in UC Berkeley, despite the fact that a prominent East Coast university was doing the same thing without consultants.
Essentially, the process requires collecting and analyzing information from faculty and staff. Apparently, senior administrators at UC Berkeley believe that the faculty and staff of their world-class university lack the cognitive ability, integrity, and motivation to identify millions in savings. If consultants are necessary, the reason is clear: the chancellor, provost, and president have lost credibility with the people who provided the information to the consultants. Chancellor Robert J Birgeneau has reigned for eight years, during which time the inefficiencies proliferated. Even as Bain’s recommendations are implemented (“They told me to do it”, Birgeneau), credibility and trust problems remain.
Bain is interviewing faculty, staff, senior management and the academic senate leaders for $150 million in inefficiencies, most of which could have been found internally. One easy-to-identify problem, for example, was wasteful procurement practices such as failing to secure bulk discounts on printers. But Birgeneau apparently has no concept of savings: even in procuring a consulting firm, he failed to receive proposals from other firms.
Students, staff, faculty, and California legislators are the victims of his incompetence. Now that sports teams are feeling the pinch, perhaps the California Alumni Association, benefactors and donators, and the UC Board of Regents will demand to know why Birgeneau is raking in $500,000 a year despite the abdication of his responsibilities.
The author, who has 35 years’ consulting experience, has taught at University of California Berkeley, where he was able to observe the culture and the way the senior management operates.
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