Hampshire Profs Call for Peace in Gaza

Hi out there. I know I've been away for a while, three months by my count, but I'm back with a bit of news from Hampshire College profs who are taking a stand against military attacks by Israel in Gaza.

Aaron Berman, a Hampshire College history professor, sent me the below statement Tuesday night with a request that I bring some attention to this issue. As our op-ed editor has been getting pegged by some readers as being "anti-Semitic" for running pieces critical of Israel on an opinion page, I decided to post their statement here:

Over the last few weeks we have watched with horror the Israeli military attack on the Gaza Strip. The
loss of life on both sides is tragic, but we must acknowledge the large number of innocent Palestinian
civilians, including children, who have been killed by Israeli fire. We have been impressed by the
response of many of our students who have organized vigils and demonstrations to protest the military
action and call for an end to the carnage. In a recent statement, Rabbi Danny Rich, a leader of Liberal
Judaism in Great Britain, explained why he would not participate in Israeli solidarity rallies. Citing
Jewish teaching and humanitarian instinct, Rabbi Rich called, "for an immediate ceasefire which may
prevent further tragedy engulfing the Palestinian civilian population and save injury and worse to both
Israelis in uniform and their fellow citizens in their homes."
As concerned individual members of the Hampshire College faculty and instructional staff, we express
our support for our students' and Rabbi Rich's call for an end to the violence, access for journalists, an end to the economic blockade, and the immediate opening of Gaza to a free flow of human, medical and
material resources.

Aaron Berman, Professor of History
Nathalie Arnold
Polina Barskova
Carollee Bengelsdorf
Michelle Bigenho
Djola Branner
Myrna Breitbart
L. Brown Kennedy
Margaret Cerullo
Elizabeth Conlisk
Rachel Conrad
Jane W. Couperus
Christoph Cox
Sue Darlington
Jaime Davila
Ellen Donkin
John Drabinski
Simin Farkhondeh
Marlene G. Fried
Fatemeh Giahi
Peter Gilford
Alan Goodman
Deb Gorlin
Lynne Hanley
Michele Hardesty
Elizabeth Hartmann
Thomas Haxo
Baba Hillman
Norman Holland
Paul Jenkins
Kay Johnson
Amy Jordan
Peter Kallok
Daniel Kojo Schrade
Jeannette Lee
Jill Lewis
Jerome Liebling
Daphne Lowell
Susana Loza
Kristen Luschen
Marian MacCurdy
Lourdes Mattei
Robert Emmet Meagher
Lynn Miller
Rebecca Miller
James Miller
Rayane Moreira
Rebecca Nordstrom
Junko Oba
Sarah Partan
Fritha Pengelly
Robert M. Rakoff
Flavio Risech
Monique Roelofs
Mary Russo
Robert Seydel
Falguni A. Sheth
Kane Stewart
Jason M. Tor
Susan Tracy
Berna Turam
Stanley Warner
Daniel Warner
Barbara Yngvesson
Vishnupad

UMass Prez Wilson on Union Contracts

Unions at UMass are bargaining for three-year labor deals and are unhappy with the 2-2.5 percent raises offered in the governor's outline for pact negotiations.

They want at least 4 percent.

At Friday's Board of Trustee meeting about 30 union members pressed trustees and UMass President Jack M. Wilson to support them in their battle for pay that keeps up with inflation, which is now at 5.5 percent.

While UMass officials don't comment on on-going negotiations, Wilson made a statement on his support for fair pay packages for faculty and staff, but noted that mid-year budget cuts are on the way. The state is strapped for cash.  

Here's a verbatim treat on what Wilson had to say:

"Over the past nine months, the University has been actively engaged in
negotiations for new collective bargaining agreements with units representing
the large majority of our unionized faculty and staff.   I share the commitment
of our faculty members to bringing these negotiations to a successful conclusion
as quickly as possible and in a manner that provides fair and equitable
contracts.

"It is important to note that, although the University is
legally a separate employer from the Commonwealth, for purposes of labor
negotiations, we are required under Chapter 150(e) to secure approval from the
State Office of Administration and Finance and the Legislature for the funding
of all new collective bargaining agreements before they are presented to the
Governor for approval.   To this end, we work with the leadership on Beacon Hill
to determine the parameters within which our contracts may be settled and
funded.

"I am proud that in my first year as President, we were all able
to work together to end a challenging period in which no faculty or staff
contracts had been submitted for three years.   Together, we won approval of an
immediate adjustment to make up for the missed annual increases and much of the
funding for the contracts was restored retroactively.

"The Secretary of
Administration and Finance has informed us that tax revenues are lower than
projected and, as you know, the state government constitutionally must balance
the budget of the Commonwealth.   State agencies have been told to prepare for
mid-year rescissions known as 9-C budget cuts.   We expect that the
administration will indicate in October the extent of our 9-C reduction.  We are
preparing plans for coping with that eventuality.  
Another challenge on the
horizon is the additional budget pressure that will ensue if the income tax is
eliminated. 

"I will continue to advocate on the part of our employees for
fair and appropriate contracts for faculty and staff."

Slain Marine and Former UMass Student to be Honored by Postal Service

From the AP: SEEKONK, Mass.- The effort to name the post office in
Seekonk in honor of a local Marine who died in Iraq is one step
closer to reality.

Congressman James McGovern says the U.S. House of
Representatives on Wednesday unanimously passed a bill to name the
facility after Lance Cpl. Eric Valdepenas. The bill now goes to the
Senate.

The 21-year-old Valdepenas was killed in September 2006 when a
roadside bomb struck his vehicle in Al Anbar province.

Valdepenas served in the Marine Reserve's 1st Battalion, 25th
Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, based in Ayer.

He was a graduate of Bishop Hendricken High School in Warwick,
R.I., where he was an honors student and captain of the lacrosse
team, and an engineering student at the University of Massachusetts
in Amherst.

From me: Valdepenas,  the youngest of eight children in his family, was
killed when the vehicle he was traveling in was struck by an improvised
explosive device in Al Anbar province. According to the Marines, the
group was conducting combat operations against anti-Iraqi forces when
its vehicle was hit. Two other servicemen were killed in the blast.

Valdepenas,
a Seekonk resident, attended UMass from September 2003 to September
2005. He was studying toward an engineering degree. Valdepenas joined
the Marine reserves in October 2004 and his Marine unit, based in
Devens, arrived in Fallujah in late March of 2006. His unit was
scheduled to return to the United States in late October, about one
month after Valdepenas was killed.

UMass started a scholarship in his name last year.

Cuts are on the Way

We were warned when the Gov signed the state's $28.1 billion operating budget in mid-July- There will be budget cuts halfway through the year.

State Sen. Stan Rosenberg said it and now UMass Chancellor Robert Holub is saying it. 

On Thursday, at the year's first Faculty Senate meeting, Holub warned of cuts to come. 

"The outlook is not termed rosy," said Holub who got his doom and gloom budget news from the governor at a luncheon he attended this week.

"The governor remains committed to education, committed to higher education, but it is unlikely that we will be spared reductions in mid-year and for the next budget cycle," Holub said. "It's unlikely we're going to go through unscathed."

Holub noted that UMass' economic outlook is not the picture he was presented with when he applied for the chancellor job  in the spring. At that time UMass was riding high with a supportive governor, two billion dollar bond bills that were going to funnel boat loads of cash to UMass capital needs and several proposed legislative budgets that offered decent boosts for the university.

"I don't think there is a correlation between my being appointed and the down turn," Holub joked.

"One thing we don't want to do is lose any momentum," Holub said, "I'll be counting on you for help and advice with this difficult task we're going to face."

So cuts are coming, but how bad is it going to get? I don't know right now, but that's certainly a question I should be trying to answer within the next couple days.

Mid-year cuts took place in 2006 when then-Gov Romney sliced $425 million from the budget saying Mass just doesn't have the money. Now-Gov Patrick was elected soon after the cuts and restored most of the funding.

Although it seems people are bracing themselves for these impending cuts... I don't know where they will happen or who will be most impacted. There's a story to look into, eh?

I've been a reporter for five years. Budget coverage is a big part of my job. When I first came on in 2003, towns and public institutions were reeling from the 01-02 money crunch. I reported on cuts and layoffs, on complaints that EMTs weren't able to get to car accidents and medical emergencies in a timely manner because there wasn't enough money to keep guys on the clock.

In 05-06 things were picking up. There was talk of cautiously, carefully and slowly replacing the services that were whacked in the earlier half of the decade. And not just talk, these hires and return of services were taking place.

Then came 07-08 and well, you're living it, you know how it is.

Man, the band-aids are bled through.

No Honor for Mugabe

Whether they're still hanging on an office wall in Africa is unclear, but the three honorary degrees conferred on Zimbabwe dictator Robert Mugabe have been revoked.

This summer, UMass revoked a degree it granted to Mugabe in 1986- a time when Mugabe was largely seen as a great leader and a man of peace. Last year the University of Edinburgh in Scotland rescinded an honorary degree it had awarded Mugabe.

And on Friday Michigan State University, the only other institution of higher ed to honor Mugabe with a degree, rescinded the award.

To wit, Insider Higher Ed reported: Michigan State University’s board voted Friday to strip Robert Mugabe,  president of Zimbabwe, of the honorary degree he received in 1990, The Lansing State Journal reported. Mugabe was once widely admired, but has been increasingly
criticized worldwide as a tyrant.

As criticism has grown, students and
others have pushed universities that once honored him with honorary
degrees to rescind them. Wilbert Gwashavanhu, political counselor at Zimbabwe’s embassy to the
United States, told the Associated Press: “If they want to revoke that
honorary degree, he probably doesn’t even remember it.... He has worked
for his country. He’s a national hero.”

Honorary degrees are rarely revoked. Mugabe's dishonor at UMass was the first in the university's history. But I say they couldn't have picked a better guy to set this precedent.