First, the length of each message. Whoever wrote those emails knew a thing about people's attention spans. The great drawback of many activist emails is the way they pack in tons of important information, until the reader is on overload and misses important details.
Second, the sterility of the language. Whoever wrote those emails wrote them dispassionately, as if writing about facts. The idea is to make the emails sound, well, factual. "A few campus members may have found themselves in conflict with law enforcement officers (who)... did very well." How different would the email sound if we rewrote it to say "Campus administration sent police officers to deal with members of the campus community. There are reports that the officers threatened and hit students with batons."?
Third, the choice of individual words. Whoever wrote those emails very subtly paints the people inside and outside of the Hall as two different camps: the campus police and administrators working to protect the campus and the rights of faculty and students to teach and be taught; the protestors as misguided and disruptive; illegal but understandable.
The police and campus administration are: working to resolve, striving to end the occupation, reaching out, encouraging the protestors, and diffusing. In everything they do, they are working on the side of the faculty and students outside Wheeler Hall. The faculty and students are addressed as passive, and told to wait for instruction, as if the protesters have no support outside. The faculty and staff are: asked to remain, advised to leave, affected contacted, and unable to attend. Compare this with the protestors who are: demanding, taking over, and trespassing.
Chancellor Birgeneau $ 3,000,000 blunder. $3 Million Extravagant, Arrogant Spending by UC President Yudof for UCBerkeley Chancellor Birgeneau to Hire Consultants - When Work Can Be Done Internally
ReplyDeleteThese days, every dollar counts. Contact Senate (Ms. Romero 916.651.4105) & Assembly (Ms. Brownley 916.319.2044) Chairperson’s Education Committees or your representatives.
Do the work internally at no additional costs with UCB Academic Senate Leadership (C. Kutz/F. Doyle), the world – class UCB faculty/ staff, & the UCB Chancellor’s bloated staff (G. Breslauer, N. Brostrom, F. Yeary, P. Hoffman, C. Holmes etc) & President Yudof.
President Yudof’s UCB Chancellor should do the high paid work he is paid for instead of hiring expensive East Coast consults to do the work of his job. ‘World class’ smart executives like Chancellor Birgeneau need to do the hard work analysis, and make the tough-minded difficult, decisions to identify inefficiencies.
Where do the $3,000,000 consultants get their recommendations?
From interviewing the UCB senior management that hired them and approves their monthly consultant fees and expense reports. Remember the nationally known auditing firm who said the right things and submitted recommendations that senior management wanted to hear and fooled the public, state, federal agencies?
$3 million impartial consultants never bite the hands (Birgeneau/Yeary) that feed them!
Mr. Birgeneau's accountabilities include "inspiring innovation, leading change." This involves "defining outcomes, energizing others at all levels and ensuring continuing commitment." Instead of deploying his leadership and setting a good example by doing the work of his Chancellor’s job, Mr. Birgeneau outsourced his work to the $3,000,000 consultants. Doesn't he engage UC and UC Berkeley people at all levels to examine inefficiencies and recommend $150 million of trims? Hasn't he talked to Cornell and the University of North Carolina - which also hired the consultants -- about best practices and recommendations that will eliminate inefficiencies?
No wonder the faculty, staff, students, Senate & Assembly are angry and suspicious.
In today’s economy three million dollars is a irresponsible price to pay when a knowledgeable ‘world-class’ UCB Chancellor and his bloated staff do not do the work of their jobs.
Together, we will make a difference