Vol. 44, No.4                                                 March 17, 2009

THE NEW CAUCUS FIDDLES. . .

WHILE CUNY PROFS LOSE CONTROL OVER RESEARCH FUNDS?

Most CUNY faculty have probably received recent campaign missives—first from the CUNY Alliance, and then, somewhat defensively, from the New Caucus—discussing CUNY's proposal to seize PSC-CUNY grants from the faculty committees that currently award grants and instead assign that role to campus provosts.

(The New Caucus missive had unusual wording, asserting that PSC Executive Director Deborah Bell attended the committee's meetings, even though she actually sat on the Small Committee. Small attended the meetings in the same way that professors attend their classes.)

However its missive chose to downplay Bell's role in this fiasco, the New Caucus nonetheless conceded that Bell knew of CUNY's plan—and, presumably, briefed our Dear Leader, Barbara Bowen, on the proposal. This raises a troubling question: why did the Dear Leader—who is eager to take to the picket lines for any cause that comes her way—remain silent as the CUNY administration developed this radical change?

The possible explanations:

1.) The Dear Leader was hoping no one would find out. With an eye on the elections, our Dear Leader planned to delay publication of this potentially stupendous loss until after the elections. She therefore instructed her employee Deborah Bell not to speak, as faculty control over disbursement of their own research monies is decimated while the PSC stands by and does nothing.

2.) The Dear Leader got distracted. Over the past few months, with the New Caucus focused on efforts to formally condemn Israeli foreign policy, it appears that the Dear Leader took her eyes off the ball, as CUNY moved forward with its efforts to radically restructure the research grant program.

So, from every CUNY professor who has received a PSC-CUNY research grant: thanks for nothing, Barbara!

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RUMOR COLUMN:

A FORTHCOMING DECLARATION OF SOVEREIGNTY?

In light of our Dear Leader's remarkable insinuation that she speaks on behalf of the "13 million" people in American organized labor, could a press release such as the one below be far behind?

"The New Caucus leadership of the PSC-CUNY Union has moved boldly on the heels of their recent email declaration that they are now a representative of 13,000,000 million working people to establish their own independent nation, although the exact location of this new country has yet to be decided. Sources say that New Caucus leaders are considering both the New Jersey Pine Barrens and Erie County Ohio, home to Sandusky, as potential locations for the new PSC homeland and worker's paradise.

"Now that we are bigger than just an academic union and speak for an additional 12,980,000 people, we are frankly deserving of a homeland for the millions we represent, even though they themselves might not have a clue that we speak for them, may not want us to speak for them, or may not even have knowledge of our existence,' one member stated. This member, known for her touch of megalomania, went on to declare solemnly that, ‘Yes, our reputation demands this.'"

"A particularly heated debate has so far centered around the name of this new nation, with several factions battling over the leading contenders Trotskytainia and Che Guerverastan.

"When queried about the realistic potential for the success of creating an entire country from scratch, the New Caucus members are quick point to successful initiatives in the past, like extending hours on faculty lounges as proof that their nation building will be an unqualified success.

"Additionally, protests have been planned."

We'll be looking for any new signs of PSC sovereignty. If she loses the election, will the Dear Leader seek to secede from CUNY?

Issues of The Patriot may be accessed at
http://www.patriotreturns.com
Archived editions are available at
http://www.patriotreturns.com/archive.htm

As you know, Susan O'Malley has sought to silence the Patriot by bringing a lawsuit which seeks to limit his free speech and financially bankrupt him. Interested colleagues have weighed in at
www.freespeechcuny.blogspot.com