Category: Cal Poly

Cal Poly and their foibles

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University Campuses Need Oversight

Administrators and other forms of life

It appears that Evan Maloney’s long awaited documentary on what goes in college campuses is finally peeking out for the rest of us to see. “indoctrinate U” is nothing new for most of us who had to endure the rants of the great unwashed on campuses during the ’60’s, but it is amazing how institutionalized it has become. The dumbing down of college curricula has had the effect of rewarding ‘compliance over achievement’…. which I don’t think is a good thing.

In a review entitled ‘Academic Thuggery’ that also appeared on the Drudge Report an interesting background is presented on the making of ‘Indoctrinate U’… check out the trailer.

Congrats, Evan.

Roger Freberg

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Virginia Tech & those preying amongst us

Okay, we are all reading about Virginia Tech… some folks like to rekindle various debates. These issues are distractions from some of the real challenges in colleges today.

The problem is that we have opened our colleges in the name of diversity, and this includes the mentally ill, the criminal and the dangerous.

The violent Virginia Tech student was a wacko ( sorry, am I being ‘judgmental? ). What is worse is that he was a ‘known’ wacko. ….. However, even known wack jobs have rights and thanks to the   “ADA“   his right and the rights of other mentally ill folks to go to college has been ensured and protected? You’ll never see a public list of rapists or fellons in your community… yep.. they have ‘rights’… but … I wonder … should they have more rights than your right to be safe or to know?

Here’s the problem facing schools today: colleges are ‘not allowed’ to discriminate against the known wackos who apply. This is no small problem. There is a wonderful story about a student at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo that couldn’t change out of his dorm room even though his roommate became ‘unstable and scary’…. when he forgot to take his ‘meds.’ Don’t complain to the university because they did not want to acknowledge the problem and the student was forced to continue to pay for his dorm room and live with friends off campus. Not a great solution.

Don’t worry, rumors have it that Cal Poly has a ‘plan’ should something like this ever happen there. The police are to immediately surround and protect the administration building. ok, but what about everyone else?

So, let’s say you are a professor at Cal Poly, you will not know if all of the ‘mentally ill’ in your class have taken their ‘meds’ … or if the ‘meds’ are doing the student any good? Could you imagine if a professor opening their class by asking: “do we have any violent offenders in class today?, rapists?, muggers?” Or…”anyone forget taking their meds?” The professor would probably get fired, tenured or not.

Part of the failure of Virginia Tech’s administration was letting this wacko into school and then letting him continue after incidents. Another part of the problem — in my humble opinion — was the campus police ‘cowardice’ in waiting for the swat team… and no small part of the problem is the teaching of our children to be ‘compliant’ and ‘cooperate’ even in the face of true evil. Teaching ‘courage’ now-a-days is a forgotten virtue.

There was one bright spot of honor and courage … the professor who stood up to the intruder by blockading his classroom door in order to give his students a chance to escape … he knew true evil when he saw it… afterall, he was a survivor of the holocaust and he has already seen that face before. He saved a lot of students that day even at the cost of his own life. I can only hope the students he saved can fully appreciated the gift he gave them and the cost he paid.

Courage is not in holding vigils and lighting candles… but in recognizing the ‘wackos’ in our world and taking actions to keep them subdued….. there are many lessons here…

Roger Freberg

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CSU’s “SOVIET-style” Negotiation Style

Cal State University Systems Grand Mullah Charles B. ReedIf you have ever studied the art of negotiation or have read Herb Cohen, you’ll know exactly what it means to be ‘sovieted.’

However, allow me to fill you in, should this cold war term leave you wondering.

The Soviets employed a tactic in their negotiations that I’ll simplify by stating some of the more memorable strategies: 1) the object is to make the other guy move no matter how long it takes… and never move even after he ‘gives a little’, 2) Introduce competition into the negotiation ( increase the number of part-time employees not covered by the existing agreement) ,3) stall… then stall some more… he has a ‘deadline’ but you never do, 4) make an agreement that looks good on the surface , announce to the world how wonderful it is with terms like ‘merit pay’… but in reality it is nothing of the sort, 5) ignore outside recommendations unless they agree with you ( as they probably will with the latest impartial analysis).

Well, an impartial analysis has been undertaken and it seems to agree with the faculty’s position… let’s see what happens.

Roger Freberg
Ps. By the way, this is no way like negotiations in the private sector… where the market place has a profound influence on salaries and performance… this is the public sector arena and a battle between bureaucrats and faculty.

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LATEST NEWS: Is College for Learning or Indoctrination?

give the man a bananaI
t’s no secret what goes on in college campuses today… who gets hired… who is tenured and promoted… and whether or not you can speak freely on campus is always a question. Evan Maloney has put together a film that discusses what is really going happening today… it’s called “Indoctrinate U.”  After you watch their trailer… check out their site… then think carefully before you write that check or donate to the university of your choice.Roger Freberg  

 

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Cal Poly Professors On CSU Strike?

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Today, the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s Professors are voting on whether or not they will take a two day strike.

First, let me say that I am a very pro-union kinda guy… However, there’s a big difference between public and private unions. Private unions have to be ‘market driven’ while public unions — like Cal Poly’s faculty — have little if any restraint on their ability to tap into our money.

Cal Poly administrators like to portray themselves as being really no different from their fellow CEO’s in ‘business’ around the country; however, outside of the Brooks Brothers Suits or Prada that they wear… there is very little in common. They are not responsible for making a ‘bottom line.’ Administrators in such bureaucracies merely judge their ‘power’ by their ever expanding staffs and budgets… I think Cal Poly has a ‘Provost’ ( a useless highly paid administrative zombie) for almost everything. Don’t believe me? Last I heard the Cal Poly president recieved another big raise and his car allowance alone figures out to around $60,000.

It will never end as the ‘right’ folks are in positions to approve all raises.

I also csu professor taking in votesseem to remember reading something about one CSU former president taking his staff on a cruise in the Mediterranean. Rough life.

So although I don’t have much sympathy for professors whose full time load is around 12 hours a week for 32 weeks or so… (they have more than what could be called a ‘liveable wage’)… I have even less for the bloated staffs carried by CSU Administrations, that weigh heavily on us taxpayers.

By the way, the biggest part of the California Budget is education … and so little trickles down to the classroom that one doesn’t have to wonder where it goes…. and into whose pocket? It’s certainly time for a change … starting at the top.

Here is what others are saying:

10% raise in Student Fees & Presidential Perks
State’s largest Strike… potentially
CSU Strike — Bullfight Blog
PICTURES on flicker — CSU strike vote
CSU- Sacramento
CSU’s POSITION & “spin…spin… spin”
Student’s support Faculty demands

Roger Freberg

Oh yeah, the ‘Big Weenie Awards’ goes to the CSU administration, aging Cal Poly SLO President and the rest of his esteemed collegues