"If that's to be law, how is Democrats to obtain office?"

"Civil Service Reform." Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper. September 1, 1883. 32.

(Cropped from Google Books)

I don't know if Albany's DWI-driving cops or Shenendehowa's DUI-driving school bus drivers are Rats or Cons... not that there's much difference. A drunk driver is a drunk driver.

Does civil service reform ever get raised as an issue anymore?

"Peter A. Drum, Michael C. McCue, Edward Clark, Peter Donnelly, John A. Franklin and Joseph F. Marley were received for service upon the force. The mayor [Anthony Bleecker Banks (1835-1910)] addressed the new applicants, saying: 'If ever either of you are brought before this board for getting drunk you will know it means instant dismissal. Nothing will save you. Remember and don't drink.'"

"New Policemen Cautioned." Albany Evening Journal. February 25, 1885: 4 col 4.

Government of the monied, by the monied, for the monied

"might be a worthy blog post" - Albany Co. Comptroller Michael F. Conners, II

http://minervawept.blogspot.com/2012/10/might-be-worthy-blog-post-albany-co.html

One wonders if Mr. Conners reads the blog about corruption at the State University of New York at Albany that he had suggested about nine months ago? In a way, it's his bastard baby blog.

Granted, I realize his intention was likely to dismiss, to marginalize, to forget. For him to forget about me and the crimes I'd brought to his attention, anyhow.

UAlbany's Clarence L. McNeill threatened me in writing that I "need to forget." However, that's bit like the old "don't think of a pink elephant": "don't remember you were threatened 'you need to forget'."

I need to forget... (because I've been threatened I need to forget)

I need to forget... (because I've been threatened I need to forget)

I need to forget... (because I've been threatened I need to forget)

I need to forget... (because I've been threatened I need to forget)

I need to forget... (because I've been threatened I need to forget)

Yeah, that's just not working at all.

McNeill, you "incompetent" (as you've been called by a Distinguished Professor): how is that supposed to work, exactly?

"Did I ever tell you about the man that taught his asshole to talk?" - William S. Burroughs

Ever wonder what a false police report looks like? Here's one filed by visiting assistant professor of Communication Michael W. Barberich (with some redactions):

Barberich was claiming his "personal safety" and approximately 160 students' safety was at risk (the student enrollment plus the five teaching assistants). Barberich was claiming that they were in imminent danger (the class ordinarily was scheduled to meet five minutes after Barberich filed his false police report) in a lecture hall from someone he claimed to believe was "unstable" and perhaps wanted to become a "martyr." Barberich was claiming that at a university where there had once been a real armed, unstable student who held students hostage for hours in a lecture hall: Ralph J. Tortorici (see e.g. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/crime/ralph/dthalmann.html ), a case the UAlbany police (then peace officers) and local police had handled incompetently, leaving the students in the Tortorici case to have to disarm the shooter themselves. (One student got shot in the process, and UAlbany publicly praised the student who'd been shot - while fighting his FOIL request for records and also fighting him in court; praise from UAlbany isn't necessarily the most desirable of things.)

In the December 6, 2011 case, the malfeasant, incompetent SUNY Police didn't even bother to send any officers to the lecture hall, Barberich's office, or make an effort to determine the student's whereabouts by calling him or his emergency contact (if the report is accurate, that is, which makes no mention of such actions). Instead they assured Barberich that his false police report would be filed and sent him on his merry, sociopathic way, free to file more false police reports about students who'd reported him for academic dishonesty, sexual harassment, and retaliation. If Barberich had been telling the truth (with him: perhaps not so likely to happen often), the UAlbany police would have had some 'splainin' to do.

Clarence L. McNeill had been nice enough to tip Barberich off that he'd been reported (something that was done the day prior to Barberich filing his demonstrably false police report... hmm):

"Hope all is well w/you."

I spent time yesterday talking w/Prof. Barberich and Dr. Altarriba about what has transpired these past few weeks between you and he [i.e. that I was reporting his academic dishonesty, sexual harassment, etc. to the department chair Altarriba, who did not stop Barberich and who forced me to remain in the class all semester as a condition of receiving my degree and graduating rather than give me the academic accommodation I'd requested, all the while encouraging me to continue reporting Barberich]. He is very concerned that he is being targeted by you and there now exists an actual [i.e. bullshit] fear for his personal safety."

— Clarence L. McNeill, Subject: Good Morning [!], December 6, 2011 9:51 AM

I'd earlier expressed the fear to Altarriba that I'd be targeted for retaliation for reporting Barberich, a fear others had expressed to me on learning I was reporting him, and a fear which I thought had validity. Barberich, seemingly being inescapably a plagiarist at heart, took my real concern and falsely claimed it as his own. UAlbany acted as though I'd never repeatedly expressed my concerns about Barberich's behavior in writing all semester long (which I had), and acted as though Barberich's last-minute alleged "fear" were a real one. His "fear" came up when he learned, by being tipped off by McNeill, that he'd been reported outside the Communication department and above the chair who'd been permitting him to gratify himself however he liked all semester. Not exactly a convincing time for him to be claiming he'd been afraid.

Why he hadn't had me expelled from the class when he claimed (quite falsely) that I'd been disrupting it all semester has gone unexplained. In the end Barberich gave me a final grade of an A, a grade my quizzes, tests, and assignments don't seem to quite meet. I had to request my own grades by FOIL, because Barberich didn't provide them all, and McNeill didn't either despite promising in writing that he would.

It's not unlike the tipoffs convicted bomber Steven Raucci of CSEA evidently used to receive. That Barberich's wife Therese Assalian of CSEA is mentioned in articles about Raucci is no doubt purely coincidental.

Then again, Albany County Sheriff's Office Senior Investigator Sean Spring, Jr. ("Senior Junior") said that the case in which Barberich's wife Therese Assalian threatened the Shenendehowa school district that they needed to hire back Donna Bottari, a local public school bus driver who had threatened to hire a hitman to kill a whistleblower at a local public school who'd reported her for erratic driving, a case in which Bottari was unrepentant about her actions, a case that actually went to trial, "probably governs the reaction that the campus took with respect to you" (approximately at 3:39-3:44 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-N6rSq3DWc ). Indeed, one might well think so.

"Albany Donna Bottari was so steamed that a fellow Saratoga Springs school bus driver reported her erratic driving in May 2002 that she told a co-worker she was going to arrange a 'hit' on him, according to a court decision released Thursday. Not a good idea. Following a two-year court battle, the Appellate Division of state Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Bottari must be fired. The 4-0 decision reversed a move by Saratoga County Supreme Court Justice Thomas D. Nolan Jr. to reinstate Bottari last summer. […] 'We're disappointed with the decision,' said Therese Assalian, a spokeswoman with the Civil Service Employees Association. 'We agree with the lower court, and we're considering our options. 'That might include taking the case to the Court of Appeals, she said.'" (emphasis added)

Bolton, Michael Morgon. "Bus Driver Firing Upheld" Albany Times Union. January 30, 2004: B4. http://albarchive.merlinone.net/mweb/wmsql.wm.request?oneimage&imageid=6274649

"In May 2002, petitioner, a school bus driver employed by respondent Saratoga Springs City School District, was reported by another driver, Brian Winne, for driving her own bus erratically. A few days later, petitioner confronted Winne and verbally berated him. Petitioner also told another coworker that she was going to 'get a hit out on [Winne]' because he filed the report against her. [...] petitioner had erratically operated a school bus, had used threatening and obscene language against Winne and had threatened to 'get a hit man to take Winne out.' […] petitioner's poor judgment and lack of remorse, the disturbing nature of her comments" (emphasis added)

In the Matter of Bottari v. Saratoga Springs City School District, 3 AD 3d 832 - NY: Appellate Div., 3rd Dept. 2004. http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=1343002799337654656

Oh, but it couldn't really be what governed the reaction in the case involving Assalian's husband Barberich, could it? Surely not? And then that there's mention of Barberich having allegedly contacted his union representative (presumably not someone with CSEA) and that an alleged e-mail to that alleged union rep had been forwarded to the UAlbany Police (for reasons unknown by persons unknown?) is probably indicative of nothing at all: nothing to see here, move along meow.

Lt. Paul Burlingame is one of the male officers in Abdul-Wahhab v. State of New York, #2012-032-004, Claim No. 116205 (June 18, 2012) http://vertumnus.courts.state.ny.us/claims/html/2012-032-004.html who hid in a women's restroom on campus where he and another male officer used a peephole in the women's restroom to spy on a decoy bag they were using to entrap students. Dirty officer Burlingame had a minority female student go outside after a major area blizzard while she was wearing sandals, shorts, and a t-shirt, arrested her, and the SUNY Police refused her a ride home after they finally released her at 1 AM.

The operation was in violation of the Personal Property Law, a law about which Burlingame-the-system and other members of the corrupt and incompetent UAlbany police subsequently claimed (in violation of the SUNY Police Manual which prohibits such a questionable "defense") to be ignorant - a "defense" that NYS Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Judge Judith A. Hard let him make, appallingly. Judge Hard went to far as to claim that the male officers who'd hidden in a women's restroom, used a peephole in a women's restroom, etc. and who'd used ignorance of the law as their "defense" had exercised "reasoned judgment." Does Judge Hard know what "reasoned judgment" is? Perhaps the figure of Justice on the NYS Seal has a bandage over her eyes because she's gouged them out in pure frustration at the terrible insanity of what passes for justice in New York?

Burlingame had been an officer at the time, but received a promotion (possibly more than one?) to Lieutenant after (because of?) that fiasco.

The case mentions a Lt. Karosky: "After claimant was brought out of Eastman Tower, a Lieutenant Karosky told Officer Burlingame to place claimant under arrest for larceny." That officer's knowledge or ignorance of the Personal Property Law doesn't appear to have come up in the case, though seemingly it should have. For that matter, who is Lt. Karosky?

The list of members of the department as archived on June 25, 2007 http://web.archive.org/web/20070625123927/http://police.albany.edu/Members.asp The list of members of the department as archived on February 4, 2008 http://web.archive.org/web/20080204222246/http://police.albany.edu/Members.asp

No Lt. Karosky on either of those lists.

There's a Lt. Kevin J. Krosky and a Lt. William F. Yankowski: seemingly it was the former (off by just one letter) who'd told Burlingame to arrest the student for larceny when she had not in fact committed larceny. Karosky's been at UAlbany since 1999 and he's still there. Lt. Krosky was then and is now a K-9 Officer, TASER Instructor, and Bike Patrol Officer. http://web.archive.org/web/20070518135455/http://police.albany.edu/Member2.asp?LName=Krosky&FName=Kevin "Don't tase me, bro!"

UAlbany's police dogs assuredly have more brains than Krosky and are probably the only officers in the department deserving of promotion. One of them demonstrated just how smart he was by trying to get the hell away from the UAlbany Police and the UAlbany campus. Unfortunately, the good dog's attempt to find a better home came to an end:

Waldman, Scott. "K-9 flees, gets collared." Albany Times Union. December 13, 2010. http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/K-9-flees-gets-collared-878263.php

UAlbany police are to a large extent responsible for seeing to their own education (as are UAlbany students when they're unfortunate enough to have instructors like Barberich), e.g. SUNY Police Manual § 10.11 "University police members will be responsible for their own standard of professional performance and will take every reasonable opportunity to enhance and improve their level of knowledge and competence. Through study and experience, a university police member can acquire the high level of knowledge and competence that is essential for the efficient and effective performance of duty. The acquisition of knowledge is a never-ending process of personal and professional development that should be pursued constantly." E.g. § 15.09 (a section titled "KNOWLEDGE OF LAWS AND REGULATIONS" emphasis of title in original) "Every member is required to establish and maintain a working knowledge of laws, local ordinances, the rules and policies of the university and the department, and orders of the department. In the event of improper action or breach of discipline, it will be presumed that the member was familiar with the law, rule or policy in question and will be subject to possible disciplinary action" (emphasis added). E.g. § 15.11 "Members and employees shall observe and obey all laws", etc.

The UAlbany police chief is responsible for their training, e.g.‎ § 5.10 "The chief is also responsible for officer training and documentation of such training". That "Chief" Wiley had failed to be responsible for their training (according to what his men claimed in Abdul-Wahhab v. State of New York, presumably under oath) didn't come up for some reason, nor did the fact that "Chief" Wiley had failed to swear and file his oath of office in 1996 when he was appointed - meaning he vacated the office of chief in 1996 (d'oh!).

Anyhow... the corrupt and incompetent UAlbany police did Barberich a solid by taking his false police report and further falsifying it for him. Note that in the "Associated Persons" field it claims "SUNY Student? No". One would suppose that is a search field and that they'd thereby made it more difficult to locate the report if someone were searching for reports involving students. They also classified it, falsely, as a "N-Fight/Disturbance" when there was no fight or disturbance involved. "N" seems to stand for "Non criminal," which is the category under which the report may be found in their Daily Crime Log. Note also that the summary is a false one: the report is about a claim that 160+ people were in imminent danger from an "unstable" would-be "martyr", yet it summarizes it as being about a supposed disturbance in a class:

How actual fights could be classified as non-criminal, I'm not sure, when presumably they involve assault. In this case, the report was a visiting assistant professor, tipped off that he'd been reported for academic dishonesty, sexual harassment, and retaliation, who'd filed a false police report about the student who'd reported him, making the student out to be something like a campus shooter. An unarmed adult learner with disabilities cannot pose a danger to the personal safety of a professor and the safety of 160 students, most of them teenagers in relatively good health, some of them athletes; only an armed student could do that. Note also that the case was not given a disposition like "unfounded"; it evidently wasn't given a disposition at all.

The class, however, was likely completely empty. Barberich didn't tell the police that the class had been cancelled, didn't tell the police that it was the last class of the semester (when many students choose not to go), and that his attendance policy permitted unlimited unexcused absences (which was a license not to attend which some used). There was unlikely to have been even one person in danger were the danger Barberich falsely claimed to be real actually had been real. Barberich had waited until five minutes before class had been scheduled to meet, giving the armed, corrupt, incompetent UAlbany police with their history of firearms violations no time at all to think about how to respond. By waiting until a half hour before class ordinarily met, it had been made so that the disabled adult learner, a commuter, would not have received the announcement about the cancellation had he intended to go. It is as if Barberich wanted the student to be headed to class, and for the armed UAlbany police to go rushing to the lecture hall under the impression that the student was about to harm 160+ people. What was Barberich hoping would happen, exactly?

Two of the decorated members of the UAlbany police had brought an unregistered "junk gun" on campus prior to that false police report, for which they've gone essentially unpunished. A "junk gun" is the sort of gun one fires once and discards or that one plants on somebody (or both). One could shoot an unarmed student and plant a gun on him, and claim he'd been shot because he'd been armed. Police that would file a demonstrably false police report would probably never stoop so low as that, though, right?

James Lyman, Executive Director of Council 82 for the New York State Law Enforcement Officers Union had stated, "there are police chiefs in SUNY who are not mandating policer [sic] officers, certified, whatever. We have police chiefs that refuse to voluntarily give up their fingerprints" (108). http://www.nysenate.gov/files/SUNY%20testimony%20pt.%202.PDF (emphasis added)

Peter Barry, Vice President and Legislative Director of New York State University Police Officers Union, Local 1792 of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, AFSCME, Council 82 and AFL-CIO had stated, "decentralized structure promotes erroneous crime reporting and record keeping. One possible cause for this is that SUNY police chiefs serve at the pleasure of the campus president, thus are motivated to keep crime stats down by any means […] SUNY can no longer afford to staff, or overstaff, a body which is subject to inefficiencies, manipulation, cronyism, ill motivation and mismanagement" (127-128). http://www.nysenate.gov/files/SUNY%20Testimony%20pt.%203.PDF

In a way, it's good the UAlbany police didn't go rushing down to the lecture hall, ready to take down a campus shooter. However, one wishes they had at least checked the veracity of Barberich's demonstrably false statements and then asked Barberich: "WTF, asshole?"

The sooner law enforcement, a prosecutor, a judge with integrity, etc. take on such problems as Barberich, the SUNY police, etc. the better for campus security, the better for the safety of students, faculty, staff, and visitors to SUNY campuses. "SUNY Albany's Public Enemy #1?" (the self-description in the sidebar) is facetious; I'd like to see that school (all schools, really) be as safe as possible, provide the best education possible, and make the best possible use of tuition and taxpayers' money. Right now it's failing in those regards: a Failure with a capital F, not the euphemistic "E" used at UAlbany for students who fail. Here's hoping things will improve sooner rather than later?

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“Make you the world a bit better or more beautiful because you have lived in it.” - Edward W. Bok

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"the safety of our students and the security of our campuses is our top priority"

"Statement from Governor Andrew M. Cuomo." Press Releases. September 13, 2012. http://www.governor.ny.gov/press/091412stmtsunythreats

(If only Cuomo really meant the above, if only...)

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"Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act" 20 U.S.C. § 1092(f) (17)

"Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to permit an institution, or an officer, employee, or agent of an institution, participating in any program under this subchapter and part C of subchapter I of chapter 34 of title 42 to retaliate, intimidate, threaten, coerce, or otherwise discriminate against any individual with respect to the implementation of any provision of this subsection."

Rape U.'s Rape Danes

"UAlbany Football Team set to Appear on NBC Sports Regional Network

"The UAlbany football team will take on Rhode Island and Delaware in front of NBC Sports Regional Network cameras as part of the Colonial Athletic Association’s television schedule. This includes the Great Danes' home opener on Sept. 14, at 7 p.m., the inaugural game at UAlbany’s new 8,500 seat stadium."

http://www.albany.edu

http://www.ualbanysports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=208692262&DB_OEM_ID=15800

Figures. I'm sure the following coercive prior restraint on freedom of speech, inquiry, association, etc. without due process, e-mailed and also sent via USPS to me by the head of the SUNY-wide judicial administrators group Clarence L. McNeill months after I'd graduated has absolutely nothing to do with the above, and absolutely nothing with FOIL requests for donations to UAlbany's athletics department (UAlbany claimed they had no records of any... the IRS and even the donors themselves might find that problematic) or for UAlbany's athletics director's Oath of Office (the one the NYS Department of State indicated he hadn't sworn and filed):

Dear Mr. Phillipo: [sic]

It has come to my attention that within the last month or so you have contacted various offices at the University at Albany with your repeated requests for documents and other information. The offices responsible for handling requests for documents, including student records, have complied with your requests. Your frequent and repetitive requests are disrupting the orderly [sic!] operations of the University.

Effective immediately, you are hereby notified that you are to cease and desist all contact with any office, department, unit or employee at the University other than me. As of this date, the University has designated me as your sole contact for all written and oral communication with the University, including, but not limited to, telephone calls and messages, emails, and mailed and faxed correspondence. I will determine when and if your communications will be addressed by the University.

Clarence "Clay" "Akin" "Apocalypse #1" McNeill/McNeil/McNyl may have sworn and filed his Oath of Office (three times, evidently) with the NYS Secretary of State, but he hasn't done very well at upholding that oath. (For some of his names, see http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.angelfire.com%2Fny5%2Fphibetasigma%2FAkin.html&date=2013-07-25)

Ex-coach, ex-athlete, dirty fake police chief J. "Frank" Wiley not reporting a gang rape by UAlbany football players to the Albany County District Attorney until the media forced his hand by reporting it also has absolutely nothing to do with any of this. That the DA's office indicated that cases against perpetrators, e.g. gang-raping UAlbany football players, would be stronger if the UAlbany police contacted them ASAP and that services to victims, e.g. UAlbany students who have been gang raped by UAlbany football players, doesn't seem to have moved Mr. Wiley.

While six sexual assaults have been reported on the UAlbany campus since September, university police contacted Albany County District Attorney David Soares' office for only one - the alleged rape of a freshman woman by the three football players. In the five other cases, the victims declined to press charges. In the case involving the football players, the district attorney's office was called by a television station before receiving a call from the UAlbany police. […] After the forum, Wiley declined interview requests, saying he only conducts interview by e-mail. 'I've been misquoted in my time here. I have been the object of irresponsible, gotcha journalism,' he said. Wiley steered questions to his officers."

Crowley, Cathleen F. "Handling of rape case defended; UAlbany police chief says officers followed protocol in dealing with alleged assault." Albany Times Union. October 26, 2006: A1. http://albarchive.merlinone.net/mweb/wmsql.wm.request?oneimage&imageid=6365244

At a university where safety and security were even a minor concern, Mr. Wiley would not even have been hired... let alone remain in an office for seventeen years. The fact that he remains in spite of his lack of qualifications, his failure to swear and file his oath of office with the NYS Secretary of State the year he was appointed, his execrable performance so far would all seem to make it fairly clear why he remains. That so many in NYS government, in so many branches of NYS government, at so many levels of government all want him to remain is pretty sickening.

UAlbany: where Clarence L. McNeill (and Sue Faerman, et al.) will let a white male athlete get away with plagiarizing spambot-generated gibberish (""Siara is stopped immediately because it is dangerous because it can provoke people. But that news has been heard so many people, and in fact many people are affected by erita.") — having a father who's been a major donor to the UAlbany athletics department probably helped. UAlbany: where a white male visiting assistant professor can abuse minority students without fear of consequences. UAlbany: where white male police officers can abuse minority students and earn promotions (Abdul-Wahhab v. State of New York http://vertumnus.courts.state.ny.us/claims/html/2012-032-004.html). UAlbany: where armed dirty cops who violate firearms policies can be used to back threats made against students, students' families, and alumni.

"Congratulations on graduating from our UAlbany family! [...] May I suggest that you and I have a face-to-face conversation, Christopher, so that I may better understand your concerns about our University. You and I will forever share the common bond of having earned degrees at UAlbany and I would also like for us to share good feelings about our Alma Mater." - UAlbany Clery Act [Non-]Compliance Officer John Murphy to CKP, Christine Bouchard, Clarence L. McNeill, J. "Frank" Wiley, and George M. Philip, July 3, 2012 3:48 PM

Go Great Danes! (Go away, go to jail, go to hell.)

"I tried to help you"?

If only!

Report academic dishonesty, sexual harassment, retaliation, to a college dean, assistant dean, undergraduate dean, provost, university vice president, university Clery Act Compliance Officer, Title IX Officer, university president, so-called judicial administrator, faux police chief, etc.: at UAlbany none of them help. Most of them don't even reply at all.

"I tried to help you"?

Making empty promises of helping (while getting a promotion and claiming the promotion meant that any help would have to be delayed) and ultimately offering to let me apply to grad school if I first obtain the permission of the man who'd written me threats — when I can't afford to go to grad school, would go elsewhere than UAlbany if I could afford it, would not feel confident in the academic integrity there, and would not feel safe at UAlbany... hmm.

Aside from not helping me, what about all the students, faculty, staff, and visitors to campus who could use some help? A law-abiding university police department, for example, would be in the interest of every law-abiding person. How much of an effort's been made by anyone to pursue that goal?

"The committee concluded it was important to have a location where students may discuss their grievances privately without fear of faculty retribution.

"Professor Snyder mentioned the website entitled ratemyprofessor.com where students are able to post faculty names and comments. He mentioned an example where a student that posted negative comments never approached the faculty member to discuss the matter. Such comments place the University in a poor might and is worsened by the fact that the entire world can access the website."

"Committee on Academic Freedom, Freedom of Expression, and Community Responsibility." Undergraduate Academic Council. December 17, 2005.

See http://minervawept.blogspot.com/2013/02/suny-albany-cafe-no-students-served.html for further context.

"The real culprit in the tale is Barberich. I wonder if they'll acknowledge that." - John Monfasani, July 14, 2012 7:28 AM

I've wondered that too.

When a man with a PhD can't recognize "Siara is stopped immediately because it is dangerous because it can provoke people. But that news has been heard so many people, and in fact many people are affected by erita" as plagiarized gibberish (something a student actually submitted as his own writing along with a forged citation as the source he'd consulted) then perhaps he might have a problem or two? And yet UAlbany's done nothing about a visiting assistant professor who doesn't publish or do research for longer than they'd done nothing about a department chair, "one of the most honored and well paid professors on campus," Louis Roberts. Who Barberich's wife is (CSEA Capital District spokeswoman Therese Assalian) probably has nothing to do with what Barberich can get away with doing and not doing.

Monfasani, John. "The Case of Louis Roberts." History News Network. July 8, 2002. http://www.hnn.us/articles/588.html

In spite of knowing for years that students are afraid of faculty retribution, knowing for years that faculty retribution against students at UAlbany actually occurs, UAlbany has chosen not to address the problem and instead have students post negative comments online that the "entire world" can theoretically access (those who are literate, English-speaking, with Internet access, etc.). Perhaps when UAlbany addresses problems rather than threatening students (or their parents) or alumni who try reporting problems, then students will stop posting negative comments online? It's a thought, anyway.

Or try posting a comment here?

"He's the son of a bad man!" - Public Enemy, "Son of a Bush"

Akam, Simon. "George W. Bush’s Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandfather Was a Slave Trader; A surprising new discovery about the notorious Thomas 'Beau' Walker." Slate. June 20, 2013. http://www.slate.com/articles/life/history_lesson/2013/06/george_w_bush_and_slavery_the_president_and_his_father_are_descendants_of.single.html

Surprising (?) that George Herbert Walker Bush and George Walker Bush have carried on the name of their notorious slave-trading ancestor.

"Documents: Bush's Grandfather Directed Bank Tied to Man Who Funded Hitler." Fox News. October 17, 2003. http://www.foxnews.com/story/2003/10/17/documents-bush-grandfather-directed-bank-tied-to-man-who-funded-hitler/

Bryce, Robert. "What Price Baseball?" Austin Chronicle 16(42). http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/vol16/issue42/pols.bushstadium.html

Unique?

"The Truth, Hearst." http://minervawept.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-truth-hearst.html

"William Randolph Hearst: 'A man as low and mean as I can picture' - Governor Al Smith" http://minervawept.blogspot.com/2013/04/william-randolph-hearst-man-as-low-and.html

"Journalistic ethics: a matter best ignored by Hearst journalists?" http://minervawept.blogspot.com/2013/04/journalistic-ethics-matter-best-ignored.html

"Crushing students' free speech: 1935-36." http://minervawept.blogspot.com/2012/10/crushing-students-free-speech-1935.html

"Tobacco, the Times Union, and conflicts of interest." http://minervawept.blogspot.com/2013/05/tobacco-times-union-and-conflicts-of.html

"What abandoning academic integrity gets you?" http://minervawept.blogspot.com/2013/06/what-abandoning-academic-integrity-gets.html

Sichko, Adam. "Building UAlbany's football stadium--and brand." Business Review BizBlog. June 20, 2013. http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/blog/2013/06/ualbany-football-stadium-construction.html?page=all

Thanks for ruining the economy and for running up state and national debt — all while making yourselves obscenely richer, y'all.

The Elephant in the Office

"Hughes claims Corsi uttered the comment about a fellow police official -- who is not black -- the chief suspected of leaking information to the Times Union at the time of the Christopher Porco murder trial."

Waldman, Scott. "Internal Affair Goes Public; Dispute between Bethlehem police chief, officer over alleged racist remark heats up." Albany Times Union. September 3, 2009: D1. http://albarchive.merlinone.net/mweb/wmsql.wm.request?oneimage&imageid=8740639

"Police chief caught on tape using slur." WNYT. September 18, 2009. http://web.archive.org/web/20090923004521/http://wnyt.com/article/stories/S1145858.shtml

"Corsi apologized for using 'improper and inappropriate language' […] A transcript of the call released by the town reveals Corsi told then-Albany County Undersheriff John Mahan, 'I got (racial epithets) in the woodpile' […] Shortly after Corsi makes the statement, according to the transcript, Mahan asks whether the call is being taped -- prompting Corsi to ask the undersheriff to call him back on what appears to be a private line that is redacted from the transcript […] Corsi noted that his comment, though wrong, 'was not directed at any individual or group.'

"'I sincerely apologize for my use of improper and inappropriate language during the course of that conversation,' the chief, a 24-year veteran of the department, said. 'While I am sorry I used this language. ... I did not intend any bigotry, harm or prejudice in my words. Anyone who knows me knows that I do not condone this type of language publicly or privately.'

"The town declined to release an actual recording of the conversation."

Carleo-Evangelist, Jordan. "Bethlehem Board to Meet Over Police Chief's Remarks; Tape shows Corsi made offensive remark in 2006." Albany Times Union. September 19, 2009: A1. http://albarchive.merlinone.net/mweb/wmsql.wm.request?oneimage&imageid=8707520

"'The town board condemns the use of racial epithets in any form or fashion,' the board said in a prepared statement. 'The chief has expressed deep remorse for using racially offensive language in the telephone conversation. Had the statement been made in reference to a particular individual, the board would have strongly considered terperson' [sic]"

Gardinier, Bob. "Corsi Gets Ten-Day Suspension for Racial Remark; Bethlehem Town Board votes to punish police leader for 2006 incident." Albany Times Union. September 24, 2009: A1. http://albarchive.merlinone.net/mweb/wmsql.wm.request?oneimage&imageid=8738771

An earlier case in New York in which the same peculiar expression was used:

"Racial epithets, indefensible when uttered by a private citizen, are especially offensive when spoken by a judge. Whether or not he meant it as a racial slur, respondent's use of the term […] in any context is indefensible. […] Furthermore, respondent has persisted in the belief that his remark was not inappropriate and that his 'metaphor' was misunderstood. Respondent's claim that he was not referring to a black man and that he apologized for his remark (the apology appeared only in a confidential letter to the Commission) are not persuasive […] The only mitigating factors in this case are respondent's age and his long and unblemished record on the bench."

http://www.scjc.state.ny.us/Determinations/A/Agresta.Thomas.S.1984.07.05.DET.pdf

I'm not sure why the judge's age was a considered mitigating factor. Was it that his having grown up in a time where racial slurs may have been more common an excuse?

"Petitioner admitted making the statement but he denied any impropriety in his conduct, asserting that it was a harmless 'metaphor'. He also denied that his remark referred to any particular person, but he claimed that in any event, he did not intend it as a racial slur. He contended that the metaphor referred to an unsolved mystery and that his comments were directed at the police, not defendant's uncle, because he was critical of their investigation."

"In confirming the referee's report the Commission found that: 'Racial epithets, indefensible when uttered by a private citizen, are especially offensive when spoken by a judge. Whether or not he meant it as a racial slur, [petitioner's] use of the term […] in any context is indefensible. That he used the term in open court with black defendants before him and in obvious reference to a particular black person makes his conduct especially egregious.' Commenting on petitioner's attitude after the charges were presented, the Commission stated: 'Furthermore, [petitioner] has persisted in the belief that his remark was not inappropriate and that his 'metaphor' was misunderstood. [Petitioner's] claim that he was not referring to a black man and that he apologized for his remark (the apology appeared only in a confidential letter to the Commission) are not persuasive.'"

"The rules require that judges 'observe * * * high standards of conduct so that the integrity * * * of the judiciary may be preserved' (Rules Governing Judicial Conduct, 22 NYCRR 100.1; see also, 100.2; Matter of Aldrich v State Commn. on Judicial Conduct, 58 N.Y.2d 279; Matter of Kuehnel v State Commn. on Judicial Conduct, 49 N.Y.2d 465). Applying this standard, we have held that it is improper for a judge to make remarks of a racist nature even when the remarks are made out of court (Matter of Cerbone, 61 N.Y.2d 93; Matter of Aldrich v State Commn. on Judicial Conduct, supra;Matter of Kuehnel v State Commn. on Judicial Conduct, supra)."

Matter of Agresta, 64 NY 2d 327 - NY: Court of Appeals 1985 http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=2861504756335364128

Shenon, Philip. "Judge Censured Over Racial Slur in State Supreme Court in Queens." N.Y. Times. July 13, 1984. http://www.nytimes.com/1984/07/13/nyregion/judge-censured-over-racial-slur-in-state-supreme-court-in-queens.html

Corsi's attempted defense of his statement of it not having been directed at an African-American person, and his excuse evidently only being made after the recording of his statement having been located... defensible? Persuasive?

Curiously, in both cases, it appears the remark was made by people charged with the responsibility of upholding the law and had been directed at police officers. Not being of a pre-Civil Rights Era generation, but having (I'm supposing) graduated from high school in the mid 1970s, where would he have even learned the expression and what it meant?

Another such judgment-lacking judge:

"Judge's remark was 'foolish.'" Yonkers Herald-Statesman. February 1, 1984: A8 col 1.

Aside from the one word being racist, recognition of the expression being racist goes back relatively far in time. One denouncement of it, incredibly, gave the perpetrator's street address and suggested that "drastic measures" be used, suggested that something "perhaps sanguinary" (violent, bloody, etc.) might happen. Not advisable, but it is remarkable that it was denounced in such strong terms almost 100 years ago.

"an insult to the colored people of this community […] Can you imagine how long the show windows of this novelty shop would remain out of harm's way if babies of the Irish race were so maligned and ridiculed? Or if the Jewish or Italian babies were held up to scorn would the people in the novelty shop be permitted to sell their wares without becoming involuntary principals in some exciting and perhaps sanguinary controversies? [ That shopkeepers in New York are brazen enough to prominently display on sale pictures such as […] is almost inconceivable, but it is being done, nevertheless, and the novelty shop at 1661 Broadway is not the only place in Greater New York where these pictures which grossly abuse our babyhood may be seen. The attention of the Society for the Prevention of Vice, which is active in the suppression of objectionable pictures, is directed to […] If the society fails to see any impropriety in the vulgar display of these misrepresentations, then drastic measures ought to be taken by the colored people of New York to see that they are removed from the public's view."

Walton, Lester. "Novelty Pictures." N.Y. Age. May 10, 1917 6 col 1.

I've looked it up, and I still don't quite grasp its meaning, and it seems to have more than one.

I'd thought its usage outside of the American south would have post-dated the Civil War. Nope. Just a couple examples of it or close variants:

"Olean Races." Cattaraugus Republican [Ellicottville, NY]. March 11, 1840. 2 col 4.

Northern Budget [Troy, NY]. June 7, 1847: 2 col 3.

The first uses it an an expression without comment. The latter at least implies it's an impolite expression, but states that it is "translated in polite parlance as 'An Ethiopian concealed in the angle of a wooden protection wall.' Oh! the progress of letters!" It's not quite clear whether that paraphrase is being complimented in some fashion or else sarcastically condemned, and whether it was actually being used "in polite parlance" or whether the item was meant to be a joke.

That the racist expression still survives some 175 years or so after its creation is quite discouraging. That a police chief in Delmar could use it and still be in office; I'm not sure that's proper, considering Delmar's history.

"'I realized Delmar was pretty white, but what I didn’t know was there was a conspiracy not to sell to Jews or blacks here at the time,' said Westbrook. 'I only just learned that recently, after the book [Integrating Delmar 1957: The Story of a Friendship] came out' [in 2011]."

Velte, Marcy. "Bridging the divide; Writers of book on Delmar’s first black family to hold discussion." Bethlehem Spotlight. April 24, 2012. http://www.spotlightnews.com/news/2012/apr/04/bridging-divide/?page=2

The book seems to be out of print, unfortunately, or else I'd link a bookstore. It doesn't seem to be on WorldCat, either.

Incidentally, the Town of Bethlehem's attitude about decades-old illegal dumping at the only Jewish cemetery in town seems to be "This is not something we get involved with," as code enforcement officer Gil Boucher wrote me. It might be the oldest community cemetery (as opposed to a family burying ground) in the town, having been established in 1839. It sadly looks like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZzJOt-jotM. It needs help, obviously.

And this:

Lyons, Brendan and Jordan Carleo-Evangelist. "The fall of a police chief; Jim Tuffey was given the job of cleaning up Albany's streets. Now, he's out amid allegations that he used a racial slur." Albany Times Union. September 2, 2009. http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/The-fall-of-a-police-chief-545389.php

It's incredible to me in some ways that such stupid, offensive terms survive. Tuffey's choice epithet I think I'd only heard in a handful of movies that were set prior to the 1960s, not one I'd ever heard coming out of a person's mouth in real life - not even in the South. Maybe I just haven't moved in the wrong circles like Tuffey seemingly had.

The entire human race has a lot of evolution to do yet. Right now we're still not doing so great.

When a Women's Studies chair thinks reporting sexual harassment at UAlbany is hopeless...

How much hope can there be for UAlbany?

With usual removal of some sigs, e-mail addresses, formatting changes, etc.

From: "Hobson, Janell C"

Subject: RE: Women's Studies Department could help, possibly?

Date: July 11, 2012 8:50:11 AM EDT

To: Christopher Philippo

Hi Chris,

First, congratulations on graduating this year! Second, thanks for making us aware of this sad ordeal you've been dealing with (which department is responsible?).

All I can say, considering the different avenues you took to address this issue, is: let it go and move on.

One thing I've learned in this life: pick your battles.

And another thing: the best revenge is doing well. (Now that you've graduated, be the bigger person)

Unfortunately, it's hard to fight an established person of authority - you literally need an army to do so (i.e. a huge group of students who filed similar complaints - other wise, it gets reduced to a "your word against his" scenario).

Think: Jerry Sandusky (no way would he have ever gotten a conviction if he didn't have 10 victims come forward with the same story of sexual assault).

If there is a lesson learned: know that, next time, when a professor behaves badly, confront that instructor in class head on, in front of everyone, and make them aware of their offense. If that professor takes it out on you, or you feel some kind of retaliation, then drop the class and report the incident to his department chair.

At any rate, there's always RATE YOUR PROFESSOR. You as students always have the power of "word of mouth" to warn other students about potentially troubling instructors.

The thing is: Academic Freedom is hugely enforced in higher education, and we as professors do need to feel we are free to express ourselves without fear. So, unless you have an army of students telling a professor what he/she is doing is offensive, it's hard to challenge someone on their bad behavior.

In other words, when you pick your next battle (as I'm sure there will be battles), either get corroboration from others or let it go and move on.

I'm sorry this experience has marred your perspectives on UAlbany, but I still say Congratulations! And be the bigger person. Be everything your professor was not - ethical, fair minded, and respectful to women and minorities.

If this professor is so horrible, enough students WILL talk about it and learn to avoid him. Everything at this university is now about enrollments, so if his class suffers from low enrollments as a result, the administration will start looking into what problems he might be having.

That's all you can do.

Thanks again for alerting us of this. And SPREAD THE WORD! "Rate Your Professor" is there for a reason!

Best,

Professor Hobson

Graduate Director

Department of Women's Studies

http://www.albany.edu/faculty/jhobson

From: Christopher Philippo

Sent: Wednesday, July 11, 2012 1:09 AM

To: Eubanks, Virginia; Hobson, Janell C; Ng, Vivien W; Sutton, Barbara

Subject: Women's Studies Department could help, possibly?

I'd been a Film Studies/Women's Studies double minor at UA, but out of practical considerations regarding time and money, I dropped my double major and minor, and thus dropped Women's Studies. Nevertheless, I'd enjoyed the WSS courses I'd taken greatly, and in retrospect wish I'd taken Janell Hobson's suggestion to switch my major to Women's Studies with a concentration in Art, Media, and Justice. I graduated this year, finally. I didn't attend commencement, expressing myself in poetry instead: http://blog.timesunion.com/asp/2458/2458/

My reason for writing is perhaps an odd one:

Have you received a copy of, or been notified of, a December 9, 2011 cease and desist order with no expiration date; mentioning no hearing, trial, or conviction; and affording no opportunity to appeal, prohibiting me from entering the entire Social Sciences building?

I'd reported a professor for permitting students to commit academic dishonesty, for requiring teaching assistants to commit academic dishonesty (e.g. writing his lectures and lecture notes for him which he would then present as his own work, not acknowledging their authorship or even their assistance), for committing faculty ethics violations, for engaging in sexual harassment - joking about sexual penetration, about "the Playboy show," about voyeuristic stalking with a camera, and worst of all his joke or bizarre hypothetical about how "we" (the class) "could hook up [one of his TAs whom he named] to electrodes and shock her until she screams" - a TA who is a young, petite Asian female foreign national who knows English as a second language, and for engaging in retaliation for my having reported those things.

The result was that nothing was done about the professor, but I was given a cease and desist order prohibiting me, strangely, from entering the entire Social Sciences building but leaving me free to go anywhere else on campus, even to stand just outside the Social Sciences building. On the face of it, that just doesn't make a lick of sense. If the cease and desist order is real, I'd have to presume everybody who works in the Social Sciences building was sent a copy of the order and a photo of me, so that they'd know to call UPD if they saw me in the building or trying to enter it. I doubt if any of you know anything about any of this, but I thought I'd ask.

I'd filed a US Freedom of Information Act/NY Freedom of Information Law/NY Personal Privacy Protection Law request with UPD. They told me they had no December 9, 2011 document. I told them I doubted the order was valid; they did not contradict me in any way, which if they really had the order, really were enforcing it, and wanted me to comply with it, they presumably would have contradicted me at that point.

As they presumably would not wish to violate those state and federal laws, one might presume UPD told me the truth, and the person who sent me the cease and desist order lied about having informed UPD, lied about how UPD would "respond accordingly" if I violated it, and lied about having CC'd the order to Chief Wiley. There were two other CC's on the order: one to my Student File, and one to the professor I'd reported. Since the order contained my mother's home address on it, which I share, and did not have my e-mail address on it, yet the order was never actually sent to my home address but only to my e-mail (and, oddly, the e-mail and attachment were cc'd to my retired mother despite me being thirty-eight), the only reason, seemingly, for having put our address on the order was to show that it had been provided to the professor I'd reported.

I've subsequently been told second-hand that the man who wrote the order is now claiming not to have actually CC'd the order to the professor (despite having quite clearly written on the order that he did) but only that he *informed* the professor *about* it. I have my doubts still, and in any event my mother and I (and the rest of my family and friends) had been left believing from December 2011 to July 2012 that the professor I'd reported had intentionally been provided our home address.

To make things worse, when I made that FOIA/FOIL/PPPL request with UPD, they did send something else: a false police report the professor filed the day after he'd learned I'd reported him outside the department beyond his boss who'd been permitting him to continue everything he was doing and that I was reporting all semester long. He claimed I was "unstable," perhaps wanted to become a "martyr" (he was quoting out of context something I'd written in a private e-mail to my department adviser; I've no idea how he'd accessed it) and he had a "fear" for his "personal safety" and the safety of the 150 or so students in his class, whereby he was presumably implying to the armed UPD that I was armed.

How would a single thirty-eight year old, technically obese, student with disabilities (depression and anxiety), polycythemia vera, sleep apnea, chronic kidney stones, gallstone, enlarged aorta, low testosterone, high triglycerides, etc. pose a threat to 150 people, mostly teenagers, mostly healthy, many of them athletes? He (I) wouldn't, couldn't even. Especially when I also hold Green and secular humanist values.

The professor made the false report at 1:10 PM, when class was ordinarily due to start at 1:15 PM. He'd cancelled class at about 12:45 PM, something not mentioned in the police report though it seems quite relevant because he also claimed he was afraid I was going to come to the class despite having supposedly been told not to attend. In fact, he knew I'd chosen not to attend because I didn't wish to be around him one more day. I was at home in Glenmont when he cancelled class (ordinarily, I'd have left by then and thus if I'd planned to go, he'd timed the cancellation so that I'd likely miss the announcement), at home in Glenmont when he made that false police report, and at home in Glenmont for the entire class period.

The police, to their credit, told him I'd committed no crime. However, they also assured him they would document his police report and that he should avoid me, and call them if he came into contact with me and he felt threatened. He may have felt validated by that. Since they knew he was claiming to feel threatened when he was not in contact with me, what they said amounted to saying: contact us if you come into contact with him at all. Did they contact me to tell me to avoid him? No, of course not. That report was dated December 6, 2011 and I only found out about it on May 3, 2012. They closed the report without investigating, closed it as no crime, and filed it. I informed them there are falsehoods in it I'd like to correct, but despite Chief Wiley promising me he'd have someone contact me about that, more than a month has gone by and nothing has been done.

I did try reporting the professor to the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (the director of which is the Title IX Compliance Officer also), but they did not reply at all the first time I e-mailed them. They replied the second time, not explaining their failure to respond the first time, and lamely suggesting we could meet sometime, etc. I had told them I had reported sexual harassment and I was already being retaliated against and wanted help, but they saw no urgency in it. I might have tried pushing them more, but as I'd been sent a "warning" that I "need to forget" that professor, warned I could be sued civilly and criminally for disparagement, etc. it didn't seem safe to try.

The Office of Conflict Resolution and Civic Responsibility was no help: Mr. McNeill denied that it is his job to receive reports of retaliation for having reported sexual harassment, something he denied to me in writing when replying to my having quoted to him from his office's own booklet the policy that says it *is* his job. Besides, he's the one who sent me the "warning," who told me that by reporting a professor and seeking help that I was discrediting/disparaging the professor, who sent the cease and desist order, etc.

Mr. Murphy the Clery Act Compliance Officer told me the order is valid and that it is being enforced by UPD, but UPD still have not told me that themselves. I asked Mr. Murphy to send his evidence and the order to my home address, but despite twice promising me in writing he'd send it, he changed his mind when I asked him to send it via USPS. He will only give it to me if I come on campus and meet with him, which would be private and off the record, and I think would be a very dumb and unsafe thing for me to do. Ms. Bouchard told me she knew of the order. I can send you plenty of documentation, if it would help.

Something's quite amiss here! Sadly, it doesn't surprise me. One of my student counselors at the downtown Psychological Services and Career Counseling Center had confided in me that she'd had a class where the professor bullied students and she (a counselor at that center!) had been afraid to do anything about it. An activist friend on campus told me a professor sexually harassed her, but she was afraid to report it - an activist, afraid. A sad state of affairs. : (

From: "Hobson, Janell C"

Subject: RE: Women's Studies Department could help, possibly?

Date: July 15, 2012 4:08:50 PM EDT

To: "Christopher K. Philippo"

Good luck with taking this on (and no, I'm not sure which professor you're talking about). [I was referring to "professor" Michael W. Barberich, of course, the husband of CSEA Capitol District spokeswoman Therese Assalian - CP, July 13, 2013]

Best,

Prof. Hobson

Graduate Director

Department of Women's Studies

http://www.albany.edu/faculty/jhobson

From: Christopher K. Philippo

Sent: Sunday, July 15, 2012 1:23 PM

To: Hobson, Janell C

Subject: Re: Women's Studies Department could help, possibly?

On Jul 11, 2012, at 8:50 AM, Hobson, Janell C wrote:

All I can say, considering the different avenues you took to address this issue, is: let it go and move on.

Different avenues in the same neighborhood. State and federal roads had been left untravelled. "let it go and move on" applies to some things, but not as big a problem as this. Perhaps you know, or think you know, who I reported. I don't think you'd advise letting it go if you knew everything, saw all the e-mails back and forth, etc.

One thing I've learned in this life: pick your battles.

Indeed, I did: I picked this one.

And another thing: the best revenge is doing well.

It's not about "revenge."

(Now that you've graduated, be the bigger person)

Bigger?

Being the better person here, doing well, is to do good, is to do justice, I think.

I'm in a better place to speak up than teenaged undergraduates or adult learners with spouses and children, who might be less likely to speak up against all obstacles. Younger people afraid their word might not be taken against adults', who may be swamped with work and school and relationships, who may not be familiar with policies, laws, and court rulings, etc.

The only person intimidated in this case other than myself (that I know of for sure) is my mother, who lives with me. Some intimidating, retaliatory things were cc'd to her when they were e-mailed to me. I really didn't appreciate that having been done: bad enough that they were sent to me.

I do feel vulnerable too, but I guess I just have less to lose relative to other (younger/married/etc.) students by my trying to work within the system for justice. Not much to gain for myself beyond a clear conscience for having tried, but potentially a lot to gain for others by my trying. How often can one say that?

Unfortunately, it's hard to fight an established person of authority - you literally need an army to do so (i.e. a huge group of students who filed similar complaints - other wise, it gets reduced to a "your word against his" scenario).

No army necessary, no my word against theirs when there's so much in writing (and there are lots of witnesses too, they just weren't questioned). One person can make a difference, sometimes, eventually through resilience and other qualities (and perhaps a fair amount of luck).

Think: Jerry Sandusky (no way would he have ever gotten a conviction if he didn't have 10 victims come forward with the same story of sexual assault).

Maybe, but if true, that's tragic. It's not a case I followed much. If anything, it shows universities should not drag their feet when the first victim or first few victims come forward, and people perhaps should be leery about discouraging those first victims from coming forward when new ones may be created in the meantime.

If there is a lesson learned: know that, next time, when a professor behaves badly, confront that instructor in class head on

I did. Not every single time, but more than once. It would be hard for any student, but I felt it was particularly difficult for me.

in front of everyone,

I did, more than once.

and make them aware of their offense.

I did, more than once.

If that professor takes it out on you,

He did, repeatedly.

or you feel some kind of retaliation,

I more than experienced a mere feeling of some kind of retaliation, but actually experienced a number of acts of retaliation - which is ongoing, I should note.

then drop the class and report the incident to his department chair.

The chair [ Jeanette Altarriba, unfortunately! - CP July 13, 2013 ] wouldn't let me drop the course, instead requiring me to remain in the class subjected to the professor's outrageous offensive behavior as a condition of graduating. It's difficult to say what I'm more upset about down at the root of the problem: the professor or the chair. They're small potatoes, however. Chair mistakenly protects professor's job. Administrator mistakenly protects chair's job, even if they don't care about the professor, and so on up the chain. Nobody stops to question why, or where it stops.

At any rate, there's always RATE YOUR PROFESSOR.

Still not sure if you mean UA's end-of-semester evaluations, or the MTV Networks website?

Both are worthless. The former is easily ignored by administrators (and not visible to students), the latter quite unreliable.

You as students always have the power of "word of mouth" to warn other students about potentially troubling instructors.

Not true. Even less true for students who are off-campus, adult learners, shy, socially anxious/phobic, autistic, etc.

The thing is: Academic Freedom is hugely enforced in higher education, and we as professors do need to feel we are free to express ourselves without fear.

Yes, within the limits the university sets. There's written policies that one can't engage in sexual harassment, bring in irrelevant subjects, etc.

So, unless you have an army of students telling a professor what he/she is doing is offensive, it's hard to challenge someone on their bad behavior.

Clearly it's hard, but it shouldn't be. It's not merely matter of doing something offensive, but doing multiple things that are contrary to university polices, and state and federal laws.

In other words, when you pick your next battle (as I'm sure there will be battles), either get corroboration from others or let it go and move on.

I have corroboration from the perpetrators in writing. I hope there won't be any battles as big as with elements within UA (of which this is only one).

I'm sorry this experience has marred your perspectives on UAlbany, but I still say Congratulations!

Thanks. :-/ There were many good and great experiences at UA, but overall I'm quite disgusted and appalled.

And be the bigger person.

Bigger?

Be everything your professor was not - ethical, fair minded, and respectful to women and minorities.

Exactly: that's why I'm picking this battle.

If this professor is so horrible, enough students WILL talk about it and learn to avoid him.

They can't avoid him.

Everything at this university is now about enrollments, so if his class suffers from low enrollments as a result, the administration will start looking into what problems he might be having.

Since it's a required course and nobody else teaches it, there's no problem with low enrollments.

That's all you can do.

No, there's lots more that's been done already and can be done.

Thanks again for alerting us of this. And SPREAD THE WORD! "Rate Your Professor" is there for a reason!

Still not sure what you mean by "Rate Your Professor."

You can forward to the other Women's Studies professors I'd originally included, if you want.

Best,

Chris

---

"For those who stay curious, there are always new frontiers." — Jello Biafra

Are law enforcement and investigative journalism both things of the past?

Question marks subbed for at signs; the entire message isn't included - the rest of it goes into further detail about other firearms violations by SUNY police that everyone is letting the SUNY police get away with for various reasons they don't care to supply. Some formatting changes.

From: Christopher Philippo

Subject: SUNY "police" firearms violations

Date: July 11, 2013 12:17:03 PM EDT

To: ATFTips?atf.gov, Cop Block, Glenn Greenwald

Cc: nj_che?che.state.nj.us

"Sunday night's incident apparently induced panic as many students cowered in their dorm rooms in fear, while some crouched in corners and said prayers after reports about a gunman on campus began to circulate around 8:20 p.m. At 9:30 p.m. the school finally sent out an email notifying students that the gunman was actually an off-duty law enforcement officer who was there to move a family member out of the Livingston Tower dorm. […] No official word on why the law enforcement officer felt it necessary to wear a weapon while moving his child out of the dorm. Although it's apparently legal for an off-duty officer to carry a weapon, Luntta said he was not sure if the man's possession of the gun on campus was a violation of school policy" (bold emphasis added)

Waldman, Scott. "Campus Notebook: Tense moments for UAlbany students." Albany Times Union. May 16, 2013. http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Campus-Notebook-Tense-moments-for-UAlbany-4523960.php

Luntta, indeed SUNY in general, doesn't seem to care about knowing or following firearms policies, procedures, laws, etc. and there does not appear to be any oversight for SUNY police and their crimes - even the FBI don't seem to care what goes on at SUNY, for whatever reason. Can someone explain why?

"The rules of the State University Board of Trustees (8 NYCRR §535.3 (j)) prohibit the possession of air guns, firearms, rifles, shotguns or other weapons on a state-operated campus of the University without the written authorization of the campus president."

"No air gun, firearm, rifle, shotgun or weapon may be possessed, stored, discharged, loaded or used on property owned or leased by the University unless the person in possession of said device meets the requirements set forth in these administrative procedures. The president of each state-operated campus may, in accordance with the provisions of section 590.3 of the rules of the University Board of Trustees (8 NYCRR § 590.3), grant written authorization to students, faculty, staff or other persons to permit the possession and storage of air guns, firearms, rifles, shotguns and weapons on campus only where such possession is required or permitted for the purposes specified in said section. When authorized, they will be stored unloaded in an appropriately secured area within or under the control of the University police department of each state-operated campus."

"When authorization is given to University police officers to carry firearms on duty, the weapon to be carried shall be state-owned and approved by the campus president. Only an officially issued firearm will be carried at any time on duty."

"Firearms on State-operated Campuses" policy item http://www.suny.edu/sunypp/documents.cfm?doc_id=367

535.3 (j) "No person, either singly or in concert with others, shall: […] Knowingly have in his possession upon any premises to which these rules apply, any rifle, shotgun, pistol, revolver, or other firearm or weapon without the written authorization of the chief administrative officer; whether or not a license to possess the same has been issued to such person" http://www.albany.edu/studentconduct/assets/Community_Rights_FINAL_10-28-11.pdf

"Firearms, Rifles, Airguns and Shotguns." 8 NYCRR Part 590 http://www.suny.edu/sunypp/documents.cfm?doc_id=116 http://www.suny.edu/sunypp/documents.cfm?doc_id=96

See also sections of the SUNY Police Manual, e.g. 70.02, 70.03, 75.11, etc. http://www.suny.edu/sunypp/documents.cfm?doc_id=364

National Embarrassment

Mindboggling. A "National Center for Security & Preparedness at the University at Albany" http://www.albany.edu/ncsp/ at a university with dirty cops; a judicial administrator who tips scofflaw faculty off that they've been reported, issues written threats, who obstructs justice, etc.

"The NCSP has joined into a strong collaborative relationship with the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (DHSES) and its State Preparedness Training Center (SPTC) located in Oriskany, NY, and it has formed a relationship with the Applied Science Center for Homeland Security (ASCHS) on Long Island." http://www.albany.edu/ncsp/about/

You'd think that center would want UAlbany to clean up its act! The NYS Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services is located at the State Office Campus by the State University of New York at Albany. You'd think they'd want UAlbany to clean up its act too.

"Don't you see how late they're reactin' / They only come and they come when they wanna […] / So get up get, get get down / 911 is a joke in yo town"

Public Enemy. "911 Is a Joke." Fear of a Black Planet. Def Jam, 1990.

"O Albany!": DWAI=Driving While Albany Impaired

"Josiah Jones [...] graduated from University at Albany in 1998 with a bachelor's degree in political science."

Roman, Dayelin. "Traffic stop costs cop; Albany suspends officer for alleged response to motorist; probe ongoing." Albany Times Union. April 5, 2011. http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Traffic-stop-costs-cop-1323083.php

Same guy? "1998 Alumni [...] Jones, Josiah."

"UAlbany Rugby Alumni Members" http://www.albany.edu/~albrfc/arfcaamem.html

"The long-time Albany police spokesman arrested last month will temporarily lose his driver's license. Detective James Miller waived his right to a DMV hearing Tuesday, so his license will be suspended for a year.

"Miller was pulled over downtown by an Albany police officer on the night of March 18, for driving a department-issued vehicle without the headlights on. The officer says Miller smelled like alcohol and refused a breathalyzer test at the scene.

"Miller accepted a deal with the DA's office that allowed him to plead guilty to one count of driving while ability Impaired. He was fined $550 and is still on unpaid leave from the department.

"Miller apologized for his behavior and said he hopes to turn this incident into something positive."

"Miller Loses License." YNN. April 6, 2011. http://capitalregion.ynn.com/content/your_news/capital_region/539077/miller-loses-license/

Fitzgerald, Bryan. "Albany cop in trouble again; Officer Max Etienne charged with DWI after allegedly crashing into cars in Pine Hills." Albany Times Union. February 17, 2013. http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Albany-police-officer-charged-with-DWI-4285835.php

Lyons, Brendan J. "Albany officer taken off street; Michael Geraci Jr. target of complaints in DWI arrests." Albany Times Union. June 11, 2013. http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Albany-officer-taken-off-street-4592384.php

Just how many articles of that nature are there?

People pulled over by Albany police might consider asking them to walk a line and use a breathalyzer first (they wouldn't appreciate that, though).

Rape U.

"When Shannon Schieber moved into an apartment on a quiet, pretty little street in Philadelphia to pursue a doctorate at the prestigious University of Pennsylvania Wharton Business School nearby, she didn't know that a serial rapist was stalking single women in the area.

"Neither did the police. Eight months later the man broke into her home in the middle of the night, raped the 23-year-old, then choked her to death as she put up a tremendous fight.

"Schieber was his fifth victim. There were to be seven others viciously assaulted after her. But Schieber was the only one he killed, and the police blunders surrounding that case helped expose a scandal.

"It emerged that the Philadelphia police department harboured a culture where rape victims were routinely belittled and their cases ignored by patrol officers and detectives, while predators got away with sexual assault and, literally, murder."

Police enabling serial rapists and murder: why?

One of the city's big weaknesses was tolerating a system where for years detectives had got away with filing rape cases under a non-criminal classification code that was the equivalent of sweeping them under the carpet.

With UAlbany police "chief" J. "Frank" Wiley not referring cases to the Albany County DA, and Wiley and his crew filing false police reports, not giving all cases dispositions, etc., it looks like the UAlbany police share that big weakness.

"New York and Baltimore are examples of cities where policing rape has made some recent progress but still faces significant obstacles, according to various experts. Many other cities hide bad practices behind a lack of oversight at local or federal level."

Baltimore: where "chief" Wiley (who'd never so much as been a security guard in New York) allegedly had been a city police officer for a single year. As for SUNY Police, City of Albany Police, Albany County Sheriff's Office, NYS Troopers, FBI, etc. in general: lack of oversight at every level so far.

"'A police department that has problems and is making mistakes has got to recognise the need to change, and it has to start at the top,' said Charles Ramsey, Philadelphia's police commissioner since 2008 and the president of the Police Executive Research Forum, which aims to spread best practices nationally.

"'If they don't take action, eventually it's going to come to light anyway, resulting in scandals where the police have intentionally misclassified crimes – and you're going to get a victim saying 'there's been no investigation, no follow-up'."

And so it is at UAlbany.

"Some inherently sexist but sometimes mainly exhausted police developed a 'lady, let's get this over with' attitude, Boyle said, which he now describes as 'inexcusable and indefensible' but was routine before the scandal broke – and still is in many departments up and down the country."

"Schieber was heard screaming for help by a neighbour, who called the police.

"They arrived in six minutes, knocked on Schieber's door but, hearing nothing and seeing no signs of forced entry, they left.

"Schieber's father, Sylvester Schieber believes, especially having chewed the case over with federal criminologists, that the attacker intended solely to rape his daughter, but when the patrol officers knocked on the door he strangled her to silence her, then fled out of the balcony door.

"If the officers had known there was a serial rapist prowling the area they would probably have forced their way in and perhaps been able to save the promising young finance student – although she would not have chosen that area to live if the public had been warned, he said.

"'They set Shannon up for murder,' Schieber said.

"The police were initially convinced her murder was a crime of passion by an ex-suitor.

"It took eight months for investigators to link the five neighbourhood cases to one predator and two years and a series of Pulitzer prize-nominated investigations by the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper for the police to admit there was anything more than 'isolated sloppiness' at play, and that comprehensive reform was needed."

Walters, Joanna. "Investigating rape in Philadelphia: how one city's crisis stands to help othersIn the 80s and 90s, police were found to have regularly ignored rape cases. The resulting crisis brought shame to the city – but now the department's transformation is a model for others." The Guardian. July 2, 2013. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/02/rape-philadelphia-investigation-crisis-crimes

Could SUNY Police be said to have been setting students up for abductions, rapes, assaults, suicides? Could the NYS Legislature, which knows of problems yet doesn't bother itself to act?

"there are police chiefs in SUNY who are not mandating policer [sic] officers, certified, whatever. We have police chiefs that refuse to voluntarily give up their fingerprints"

James Lyman, Executive Director of Council 82 for the New York State Law Enforcement Officers Union. (108). http://www.nysenate.gov/files/SUNY%20testimony%20pt.%202.PDF

"SUNY police chiefs serve at the pleasure of the campus president, thus are motivated to keep crime stats down by any means […] SUNY can no longer afford to staff, or overstaff, a body, or overstaff, a body which is subject to inefficiencies, manipulation, cronyism, ill motivation and mismanagement."

Peter Barry, VP & Legislative Director of NYS University Police Officers Union Local 1792 of the American Federation of State County & Municipal Employees AFSCME, Council 82 & AFL-CIO. (127-128). http://www.nysenate.gov/files/SUNY%20Testimony%20pt.%203.PDF

ethics scandal=profitable?

"Basketball coach

"Earnings: $1,200,000

"Where:SUNY Binghamton, NY

"Kevin Broadus, who had a five-year $1 million contract, was let go from his job as head coach for little-known SUNY Binghamton men’s basketball team in 2009 over an ethics scandal. He sued the school for discrimination, and received a $1.2 million buyout to drop the suit. Taxpayers got to pick up all the legal bills too. In June, Broadus was hired as an assistant coach at Georgetown, where he has worked previously."

"10 Insanely Overpaid Public Employees." http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Media/Slideshow/2011/07/13/10-Insanely-Overpaid-Public-Employees.aspx

Background on that:

"difficulties [understating the case!] such as BU experienced are not uncommon in intercollegiate athletics programs, particularly in Division I men's basketball. Even during the course of our review, the press reported instances of student-athlete misconduct at comparable programs. Second is repeated reference to the admirable University commitment to give second (or more) chances to disadvantaged youths, some with troubled backgrounds. Finally, we have noted the suggestions of 'racism' that have at times been raised to resist questioning and expressions of concern about various aspects of the program. [...]

The 'giving' of second chances by the University—and the 'taking' of them by the student-athletes—may in fact be illusory, even counter-productive, if careful admission choices are not made, and comprehensive services are not provided, particularly for students unaccustomed to the demands of a front-rank university and frequently far from home. The risks obviously are vastly multiplied when several such students are accepted onto one team in a single season, adding to the service demands on the University and the opportunities for the athletes to influence one another negatively. Suggestions by some that 'racism' is at the root of attempts to address concerns cannot and must not be allowed to thwart rigorous independent inquiry and oversight at every stage, which are plainly required if the students, and the program, are to succeed"(3-4).

Report to the Board of Trustees of the State University of New York http://www.suny.edu/Files/sunynewsFiles/Pdf/KayeReport.PDF

Kevin Broadus v. New York State, State University of New York at Binghamton Division of Human Rights Case http://www.pressconnects.com/assets/pdf/CB156457426.PDF

Broadus writing of a "public lynching" and citing Clarence Thomas started his complaint off on the wrong foot, but it does contain some interesting bits in spite of that:

"Albany had major problems in its athletic program. Baseball coaches sent 331 text messages improperly to recruits. The head coach sent 56 texts to 5 recruits alone in a summer period. It also had to go on NCAA probation. The football coach recruited three athletes on scholarship who soon raped one young woman on campus in her dorm for which they all went to jail. The response of SUNY was as it should have been to say that no further review necessary because of the limited scope of violations" (5-6).

SUNY's response there was not as it should have been.

"It should also be noted that it reported/suggested in some media that Zimpher seeks to become President of the NCAA, and has, upon information and belief, actively lobbied for the position. Any action against Broadus must be looked at in light of this possible personal motive of respondent Zimpher" (5 n. 2)

The NCAA's bad enough as it is!

"the change of Chancellor means nothing to Albany when in light of the history of NCAA probation, violations, and player arrest in July of this year a major basketball player in the school was arrested for a crime. Neither, Albany, SUNY or Chancellor Zimpher benched any coach. Neither, Albany, SUNY or Chancellor Zimpher attacked the program or the character of the basketball head coach especially in light of the condition of the athletic program at Albany. The only difference between Broadus and these coaches is the color of their skin" (6).

That does make it sound like a double-standard might have been at work if there were no other differences between the cases.

"In a remarkable act of Alice in Wonderland reasoning, SUNY now suggests that because SUNY/Albany has two years’ worth of systemic violations involving all areas of leadership, the fact that they failed to remove any head coach temporarily or otherwise from his duties for even a part of the season means that the actions here against Broadus did not have an adverse racial impact" (19).

"Albany has had years of various problems in many different sports teams: from rapes to crimes, to secondary violations, to NCAA probation. All the coaches are Caucasian and none had to sit out a year or be publicly humiliated. A random canvas of internet revealed many problems but remarkably despite the auditors visit to Albany (and Stony Brook) none of these problems appeared in the report.

"Although we have FOILed all the information regarding the arrests and violations at Albany this information has not been received and it is suggested that you can make no fair and full determination until you have such information about adverse employment consequences against Broadus.

"Again, a random canvas of the internet reports, and despite the University’s attempt to minimize same at Albany, is extremely relevant here because the head NCAA Division I football coach, who is white, has three players – two of which were white and one black – who were reported recruited and on scholarship who committed a rape of a young woman on campus in a dormitory" (22-23).

That does sound bad, though it might undermine Broadus' case somewhat when ones notes that UAlbany's so-called judicial administrator, so-called police chief and so-called athletics director have not been disciplined, and the latter two of them failed to swear and file their Oath of Office with the NYS Secretary of State the years they were appointed. Pages twenty-two through twenty-seven deal with Albany are worth reading; too long to quote here.

"Despite the fact that the audit indicated that personal interviews were conducted of America East Conference member institutions, including Boston, Albany, Burlington, Hartford, Baltimore and Stony Brook (Buffalo even though it is a SUNY school is not in the America East Conference), no report of any interviews with other coaches or disciplinary action against other coaches for secondary violations, major violations or students who have had run-ins with the law appears anywhere in the audit with the exception of Broadus" (56-57).

One would like to see reports of those interviews, definitely.

Why did SUNY settle with Broadus? How much (if anything?) did SUNY give to those who were genuinely hurt by the problems at Binghamton, like the student who'd been put into a coma by an athlete who then fled the country?

Carey, Jack. "Former Binghamton player still loose after fleeing to Serbia." USA Today. June 30, 2008. http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/college/mensbasketball/ameast/2008-06-30-kovacevic-case_n.htm

"Cuomo supports SAFE Act exemption for retired cops."

Vielkind, Jimmy. "Cuomo supports SAFE Act exemption for retired cops." Capitol Confidential. July 2, 2013. http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/190546/cuomo-supports-safe-act-exemption-for-retired-cops/

Presumably the amendment will apply to SUNY Police as well, despite:

"there are police chiefs in SUNY who are not mandating policer [sic] officers, certified, whatever. We have police chiefs that refuse to voluntarily give up their fingerprints"

James Lyman, Executive Director of Council 82 for the New York State Law Enforcement Officers Union. (108). http://www.nysenate.gov/files/SUNY%20testimony%20pt.%202.PDF

"SUNY police chiefs serve at the pleasure of the campus president, thus are motivated to keep crime stats down by any means […] SUNY can no longer afford to staff, or overstaff, a body, or overstaff, a body which is subject to inefficiencies, manipulation, cronyism, ill motivation and mismanagement."

Peter Barry, VP & Legislative Director of NYS University Police Officers Union Local 1792 of the American Federation of State County & Municipal Employees AFSCME, Council 82 & AFL-CIO. (127-128).

http://www.nysenate.gov/files/SUNY%20Testimony%20pt.%203.PDF

"SAFE" Act...?

academic integrity and campus safety

Recipients are mostly presidents and provosts of universities in the America East Conference.

Below is with the usual minor formatting changes, removal of e-mail addresses or substitution of question mark for at sign, etc.

From: Christopher Philippo

Subject: academic integrity and campus safety

Date: June 20, 2013 9:19:15 PM EDT

To: horky?hartford.edu, provost?hartford.edu, dnieman?binghamton.edu, president?binghamton.edu, president?bu.edu, provost?bu.edu, misn052?maine.edu, hunter?maine.edu, rous?umbc.edu, hrabowsk?umbc.edu, presidents.office?unh.edu, academic.affairs?unh.edu, Samuel.Stanley?stonybrook.edu, Dennis.Assanis?stonybrook.edu

Cc: president?manchester.ac.uk, keith.brown?manchester.ac.uk, president?harvard.edu, alan_garber?harvard.edu

"Academic integrity has everything to do with one's character." University of Maine President Hrabowski http://www.umbc.edu/undergrad_ed/ai/

"Siara is stopped immediately because it is dangerous because it can provoke people. But that news has been heard so many people, and in fact many people are affected by erita."

If a student at one of your universities submitted the above sentences about "Siara" and "erita" as his own writing and cited http://www.utwente.nl/cw/theorieenoverzicht/Theory%20clusters/Mass%20Media/Hypodermic_Needle_Theory.doc/ as the source he derived the information from when it is in fact taken from http://hero-bussiness.blogspot.com/2009/05/history-of-hypodermic-needle-theory.html what would you make of that?

I reported it, and I was told that the PhD professor [ Michael W. Barberich ], PhD candidate teaching assistant, two MA candidate teaching assistants, two BA candidate teaching assistants, and 160 or so other students in class had failed to recognize plagiarized gibberish with a forged citation. It was one of a number of issues with an assignment a student submitted in an online component of a class to fulfill the information literacy general education requirement. Though the student's assignment was in full view of 160+ people, and the academic dishonesty in it could be independently verified exactly without me, I was told I would have to accuse the student "face-to-face" in a hearing. Concerned about retaliation, I declined. I'm told at other universities the student's own paper would have sufficed as entirely damning evidence against him; indeed, I'd asked another university which misunderstood me to be reporting a student at their university, and they just about scrambled jets in response before I cleared up the misunderstanding.

My persisting in reporting the untenured visiting assistant professor [ Michael W. Barberich ] who'd permitted that academic dishonesty by a student, who'd permitted students to openly cheat on the daily quizzes all semester long (which I repeatedly reported to the department chair [ Jeanette Altarriba ], who didn't care), and who'd engaged in academic dishonesty himself - as well as sexual harassment, resulted in retaliation not just from the professor but from the university administration, retaliation that included them sending an intimidating e-mail to my mother (letting her know they'd provided her home address to the professor I'd reported), retaliation that persisted even after I graduated summa cum laude.

What university could it be but UAlbany, home of the "kegs and eggs riot," the "party school" reputation, the Louis Roberts plagiarism scandal, cuts to liberal arts that the president of Princeton University even criticized in a 2012 commencement speech, etc. (Granted, there are many good, even great, things at UAlbany; the problems, however, are grave ones - which hurt everyone.)

Have any of you, outside of Binghamton, read the Kaye Report about the problems at Binghamton up to the time of that report? http://www.suny.edu/Files/sunynewsFiles/Pdf/KayeReport.PDF I trust things have improved there (I'd been there years ago and had some very good, memorable professors; my brother met his wife there and they both graduated from it), and I think the report had been faulted by some for focusing on Binghamton and not expanding to other universities.

There's issues that remain problems SUNY-wide with respect to SUNY Police, as stated below in NYS Senate testimony by law enforcement union leaders. There's issues that remain problems at SUNY system administration. I'm not sure when they'll ever be addressed, much less resolved.

How do you feel about such things?

Christopher K. Philippo

---

“Make you the world a bit better or more beautiful because you have lived in it.” - Edward W. Bok

---

"the safety of our students and the security of our campuses is our top priority"

"Statement from Governor Andrew M. Cuomo." Press Releases. September 13, 2012. http://www.governor.ny.gov/press/091412stmtsunythreats

---

"Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act" 20 U.S.C. § 1092(f) (17)

"Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to permit an institution, or an officer, employee, or agent of an institution, participating in any program under this subchapter and part C of subchapter I of chapter 34 of title 42 to retaliate, intimidate, threaten, coerce, or otherwise discriminate against any individual with respect to the implementation of any provision of this subsection."

Begin forwarded message:

[e-mail to Amy Huchthausen of the America East Conference was attached]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "McBride, Bruce"

Subject: RE: SUNY University Police training concerns?

Date: November 19, 2012 11:20:59 AM EST

To: Christopher Philippo

Good morning Mr. Philippo:

The University-wide manual that you cite is currently in use. Certain parts of the document need to be updated. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.

Bruce McBride

Commissioner for Police

From: Christopher Philippo

Sent: Friday, November 16, 2012 4:55 PM

To: R. Bruce McBride; McBride, Bruce

Subject: SUNY University Police training concerns?

Importance: High

Dear Commissioner McBride:

Given that the SUNY Police Manual states up front (page 5) in section 1.21 that the SUNY System Administration Office of University Police "Coordinates University Police operations throughout the SUNY system and, under direction of the Chancellor and the Board of Trustees, sets training, hiring and operational standards.", it seems most appropriate to bring the following to your attention.

I hope you will be able to address the subjects below which can briefly be described as the one provided in the subject line: serious concerns about the training of members of the University at Albany Police Department. More specifically, the concerns are that the provisions of the State University of New York Police Manual do not appear to have been consistently obeyed with respect to the training of University at Albany Police Department members for a number of years. Concerns about the University at Albany Police Department's operations and its training, hiring and operational standards are hard to avoid given a fairly recent case decided before the New York State Court of Claims, Abdul-Wahhab v. The State of New York, #2012-032-004, Claim No. 116205 (June 18, 2012) http://vertumnus.courts.state.ny.us/claims/html/2012-032-004.html

In Abdul-Wahhab v. The State of New York, I presume while under oath, Officer (now Lieutenant) Paul Burlingame had stated (in the words of the decision, not his) that he'd "never received any training in the Personal Property Law" and Assistant Chief of Police Paul Berger had stated (in the words of the decision, not his) that he "was not aware of the provisions of the Personal Property law".

Paul Burlingame has evidently been at the University at Albany Police Department since 2002: "Serving since 2002." http://police.albany.edu/Member2.asp?LName=Burlingame&FName=Paul

Paul Burlingame had thus testified that he'd been ignorant of the Personal Property Law from 2002 to December 14, 2007: approximately five years (supposing that the law dates back to 2002 - and for even longer than that if he'd served in other police departments than the University at Albany's prior to 2002).

"Assistant Chief Paul Berger has been with the University Police Department since December 1988." http://police.albany.edu/Member2.asp?LName=Berger&FName=Paul

Paul Berger had thus testified that he'd been ignorant of the Personal Property Law from December 1988 to December 14, 2007: nineteen years (supposing that the law dates back to 1988).

Given Mr. Berger's testimony, the Criminal Justice Studies program at Alfred University, the Public Administration program at Marist College, and the S.U.N.Y. University Police Academy all must have lacked instruction in the Personal Property Law. Marist College's lack would at least be understandable should that program not have had a concentration in police administration.

It's hard to understand how they'd failed to receive training regarding the Personal Property Law, or to learn it on their own, or why they would have been given orders to participate in such an ill-conceived operation (two male officers hiding in a women's restroom, using a peephole in the women's restroom, etc.?). To single out several sections from the SUNY Police Manual (though there are others that appear relevant as well):

§ 10.11 "University police members will be responsible for their own standard of professional performance and will take every reasonable opportunity to enhance and improve their level of knowledge and competence.

"Through study and experience, a university police member can acquire the high level of knowledge and competence that is essential for the efficient and effective performance of duty. The acquisition of knowledge is a never-ending process of personal and professional development that should be pursued constantly."

§ 15.09 "Every member is required to establish and maintain a working knowledge of laws, local ordinances, the rules and policies of the university department, and orders of the department. In the event of improper action or breach of discipline, it will be presumed that the member was familiar with the law, rule or policy in question and will be subject to possible disciplinary action."

§ 15.11 "Members and employees shall observe and obey all laws and ordinances, all rules and regulations of the department and all general or special orders of the department."

§ 20.08 "All members shall attend in-service training as directed by the chief of university police. Such attendance is considered a duty assignment."

Clearly they had not taken "every reasonable opportunity" if what they'd stated to the court was correct; they'd had several years to find such an opportunity and had failed to do so. They had not established and maintained a "working knowledge of laws", had failed to "observe and obey" the law, and following what might be described as "improper action" they claimed to be ignorant of the law contrary to the directive of the SUNY Police Manual that "it will be presumed that the member was familiar with the law".

University at Albany Police Department Chief J. "Frank" Wiley was not named in the decision at all, but is brought up here due to some sections of the SUNY Police Manual referring to his responsibilities, including one responsibility specifically for training officers:

§ 1.03 "Chief of the University Police Department, responsible for the command of the department"

§ 5.10 "The chief of university police is responsible for the planning, directing, coordinating, controlling and staffing all of the department activities to include the protection of people, personal property, state property and equipment and the enforcement of laws and regulation within its legal jurisdiction. The chief is also responsible for officer training and documentation of such training."

How is it that Mr. Wiley had failed to be responsible, for so many years, for training Mr. Burlingame, Mr. Berger, and (one presumes since he's also named in the decision) Christopher T. Farina, and perhaps others?

I sincerely hope, given SUNY Police Manual § 1.21, that you'll share the same degree of concern I have and that you will be able to address the matters as they should be addressed.

Please see that the University at Albany Police Department does *not* contact me. I do not wish to hear from UPD given the state of that department at present and the nature of its members' past acts of communication with me.

Thank you for any help you can provide,

Sincerely,

Christopher K. Philippo

The version of the manual consulted is the follow, which is as far as I know the current manual: Office of the Assistant Vice Chancellor for University Police and Public Safety. The State University of New York Police Manual. 6th Ed. Albany, NY: State University of New York: February 2007. http://www.suny.edu/sunypp/documents.cfm?doc_id=364

---

“Make you the world a bit better or more beautiful because you have lived in it.” - Edward W. Bok

Subsequent e-mails to Commissioner McBride, of which there were several, went unanswered. E.g.:

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Christopher Philippo"

Subject: SUNY Police firearm policy insubordination & integrity concerns?

Date: November 20, 2012 12:31:46 PM EST

To: Bruce McBride

Dear Commissioner McBride,

University at Albany Chief Chief Firearms Instructor Matthew A. Griffin evidently serves, or served, on a SUNY-wide firearms committee, further amplifying concerns about his advice to UPD Investigator Wendy Knoebel to bring her weapons to campus when he feared she might use them at home during a divorce in an "emotional" moment; his knowledge that she was storing her departmental weapon and a "Saturday Night Special" in her locker when the former should have been tagged in the armory and the latter shouldn't have been on campus at all; his removing them from her locker (and his willingness to do so, no questions asked); his taking her Raven Arms .25 home to put in his safe; his bringing her unregistered "junk gun" back on campus and logging it in as evidence himself rather than calling the police with jurisdiction over his own home, etc.

"I was advised my Matt Griffin that there are some changes to the SUNY Pistol and Rifle Q's. For those of you that do not know Matt and I sit on the SUNY Firearms Committee. (I missed the last meeting) [...] Bob Light UPD Plattsburgh" [line and paragraph breaks removed here and below]

Tuesday, May 10, 2011 10:47 AM

http://lists.plattsburgh.edu/pipermail/firearm-instructor/2011-May/000070.html

Integrity of reviews and audits of firearm policies and procedures; possible insubordination regarding same

SUNY Police Manual § 15.09 Insubordination

SUNY Police Manual § 15.09 "Every member is required to establish and maintain a working knowledge of laws, local ordinances, the rules and policies of the university and the department, and orders of the department. In the event of improper action or breach of discipline, it will be presumed that the member was familiar with the law, rule or policy in question and will be subject to possible disciplinary action."

SUNY Police Manual §75.31 "Firearms will be examined and cleaned at least once a month and after the weapon has been fired."

SUNY Police Manual § 75.51 "The System Administration Office of University Police may conduct regular on-site reviews of the application of these policies and procedures."

Regarding insubordination, would referring to monthly firearm cleaning policies as "overkill" constitute ridiculing an order? Regardless, the opposition to monthly cleaning expressed below (or ignorance of the cleaning policy?) seems to go beyond mere "expression or communication of a view, grievance, complaint or opinion" since Mr. Griffin and Mr. Harris both seem to indicate that their departments were failing or deliberately refusing to do monthly cleaning of firearms, when section 75.31 indicates that they "will" be cleaned once a month "at least", and if anything should be examined and cleaned more often than that.

I think policies on academic integrity (not informing people who have yet to take an examination what is on the examination, etc.) would apply to SUNY police, per sections like 15.09 above, Regardless, when SUNY police let each other know when an audit is occurring, what the auditors are looking for, why the audit is being done, when the audit is ending, etc. - does that make for a very effective audit? The auditors could leave campuses perhaps thinking they'd found them in compliance, when in fact the campuses may have only scrambled at the last minute to establish compliance after a tip from another department.

"Anyway you cen send me what the auditor's requested? Also please let us know how it turns out. The powers that be at Buffalo State are concerned about the "audit" thing. Does anyone know if theyare going to each SUNY or just certain ones? Thanks. [...] LT Daniel Harris NYS University Police Buffalo State College"

Mon Mar 22 09:29:18 EDT 2010

"Dan, At UAlbany we have our officers clean the weapons after range (2x a year) and we also do an annual inspection. We do not log cleaning as it is in our policy that the weapons be cleaned after firing. Reading the auditor’s request, they differentiate between cleaning and maintenance and only request maintenance records. Whenever maintenance is performed on a gun, we do log it and give a brief explanation what was done. As for a detailed cleaning once a month, that seems like overkill. The guns are Glocks and are pretty much indestructible. BTW, the auditor starts at UAlbany in about an hour. I’ll let everyone know how it works out. Matt Griffin UAlbany"

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 08:11:47 -0400

http://lists.plattsburgh.edu/pipermail/firearm-instructor/2010-March/000024.html

"Matt, thanks for the info, its appreciated. Dan"

Tue Mar 23 10:07:28 EDT 2010

"All: Slightly different topic, but I told Dan I would pass on some info on the audit. Auditor is currently here and told me that this is the last campus they are going to audit for the immediate future. They may resume audits at a later date. I’m attaching the list of items we needed to get together for the audit. It might be worthwhile to get your records together in case they do resume the audits and you are lucky enough to be chosen. Matt Griffin UAlbany"

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 15:00:18 -0400

"Thanks for the info, apparently they are worried about being "audited" Lt Daniel Harris NYS University Police Buffalo State College"

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 08:24:00 -0400

"Apparently a monthly cleaning is part of the SUNY wide manual and Binghamton got dinged on an audit for it. [...] Inv. Paul Van Valkenburg NYS University Police – Cortland"

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 08:11:01 -0400

"Just looking to see what others departments are doing or requiring their officers to do for maintenance on the Glocks? Do you have a log that they fill out when the gun is cleaned and if so how often are they cleaned? At Buff State we detail strip the Glocks once a year and they are cleaned by the individual Officer after firing the weapon. The admin is looking to have the officers clean their Glocks once a month and log what was done. I am personally not onboard with this idea and I think that annual detail strip/inspection and the cleaning after firing (we qual twice a year w Glock) is enough. Lt Daniel Harris NYS University Police Buffalo State College"

Monday, March 22, 2010 7:45 AM

http://lists.plattsburgh.edu/pipermail/firearm-instructor/2010-March/000027.html

"We were told about this audit last week. It was explained that there was a possiblity of a State audit of some SUNY PDs coming. It wasnt disclosed which ones..I could be a few, all, who knows. I have no Idea why this is has come about. Being that it supposedly is coming from the State level and not SUNY has peaked my interest. If I hear anything further Ill be sure to update. [Kenneth] Kloss Buffalo State"

Thu Sep 24 03:43:37 EDT 2009

"Hi all, Here at Binghamton we are apparently getting audited by the state for our firearms program. Apparently this involves someone from the state coming down and looking over our records, inventory (weapons), generals orders and basically anything that involves our firearms program. My question is has any other SUNY been through this and if so does anyone know if this is random or if there is usually a reason for it. To our knowledge we do not know why it is being done, atleast thats what im told. Any information would be great. Thanks Steven Faulkner NYSUP Binghamton"

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 18:14:44 -0400

http://lists.plattsburgh.edu/pipermail/firearm-instructor/2009-September/000011.html

Accuracy with firearms versus personal liability concerns

The Oath of Office in SUNY Police Manual §10.01 is an oath to "faithfully discharge the duties of the position of ... according to the best of [one's] ability." §10.02 makes reference to "the highest possible standards of professionalism" and 10.11 to a "high level of knowledge and competence that is essential." Among the "Core Values" (page 3) are references to "quality" and "a high standard"; the "Policy Statement" (page 2) also refers to "quality."

Addendum 1, with respect to accuracy with firearms, refers to "a program that meets or exceeds" [emphasis added] requirements and to "evaluating the officer's ability to fire the weapon accurately." It states, "This policy does not prohibit a campus from training its officers above and beyond the established standard" [emphasis added].

For SUNY policy to chose to do "pass/fail" examinations of accuracy with firearms because (from what they've expressed below) they're more concerned about their personal liability in civil lawsuits than their ability to do their jobs to the best of their ability and according to the highest possible standards, levels, and requirements strikes me as worrisome. What's particularly troubling is the reference to shooting someone in the "center mass" (a depersonalizing, dehumanizing term referring certainly to the torso, possibly the head?) which would tend to be deadly force given the presence of vital organs, as opposed to "an arm or leg", and the apparent desire to be free to intentionally target the "center mass" without fear of liability for doing so by refusing to record officers' actual accuracy with firearms that might establish they could in fact use a firearm in a non-lethal way rather than with deadly force.

To prefer to be free to shoot the "center mass" without exposing oneself to liability by establishing one might have been able to chose to shoot an "arm or leg" seems inconsistent with §10.07 regarding "use of force," § 45.09 regarding "use of physical force," and § 45.10 regarding "deadly physical force," namely that "All members will employ minimum force necessary" and "only with the greatest restraint" and that members "will refrain from applying the unnecessary infliction of pain or suffering and will never engage in cruel, degrading, or inhuman treatment of any person"; that "physical force must be limited to only what is necessary"; that deadly force be used only when "necessary" and "as a last resort." Those sections may require that officers train with firearms to obtain the sort of accuracy that would permit them to fire with non-lethal force whenever possible, and to go for the "center mass" only when absolutely necessary.

"Same in Alfred...pass/fail only...liability reasons Lt. Scott Bingham NYS University Police Alfred, NY"

Sun Mar 21 12:34:36 EDT 2010

"We went to pass/fail a few years ago. We still score the target togauge performance, but don't record the score. This was done after welearned that some attorneys in civil cases following police shootings would look at the officer's score and, if high enough would go into aline of questioning about being an expert marksman and asking why theofficer didn't shoot an arm or leg rather than going for center mass.Further, pass/fail discourages target shooting.Inv. Matt Griffin UAlbany"

Sunday, March 21, 2010 11:07 AM

"Just doing a quick poll to see which departments are logging an actualscore to qualify and which are just recording pass/fail. Your responsewould be greatly appreciated.Thanks, Lt. Tim Ludden SUNY Delhi"

Sunday, March 21, 2010 5:05 AM

http://lists.plattsburgh.edu/pipermail/firearm-instructor/2010-March/000017.html

Administrative and disciplinary action?

To conclude this e-mail, SUNY Police Manual § 45.10 states in relevant part "In using a firearm or other weapon, the officer is responsible for his or her acts and will be required to justify such actions in court and administrative hearings." Nearly the same is stated in § 75.16, "In considering the use of a firearm, university police officers must keep in mind that the officer alone is responsible for his or her acts and that he or she may be required to justify them in administrative hearings and courts of law."

How responsible would you judge these officers to have been for their acts; how able do you believe they would be to justify their acts?

Which of the following better expresses the view of SUNY police and SUNY in general?

• "the State is not an insurer or guarantor of the safety of SUNYA students" [emphasis added]

McEnaney v. State of New York, 267 AD 2d 748 - NY: Appellate Div., 3rd Dept. 1999. http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=14949034404515783354

• "'The health and safety of our students, faculty, staff and visitors is the State University of New York’s (SUNY) top priority,' said Roger Johnson, assistant vice chancellor for University Police and a 30-plus year veteran of law enforcement" [emphasis added]

"Statement from SUNY Assistant Vice Chancellor for University Police Roger Johnson on OSC's Clery Audit of SUNY." SUNY. edu. October 22, 2008. http://www.suny.edu/sunynews/News.cfm?filname=2008-10-22%20final%20Johnson%20statement%20on%20Clery.htm

As quoted in my e-mail of November 19, 2012 2:58 PM, 8 NYCRR § 590.6 (b) states “Any violation of university regulations or procedures governing firearms, rifles, shotguns, airguns or other weapons on campus shall be cause for administrative and disciplinary action" [emphasis added]. If there has not been an administrative hearing concerning Wendy Knoebel or Matthew A. Griffin (perhaps even those others at other SUNY schools quoted from the firearm-instructor list), seemingly there should have been one and would then still need to be one?

I hope it's safe to raise such concerns to you. Whistleblowers, witnesses, victims: they don't tend to be treated very well, I've found. I don't feel all that safe reporting such things, but somebody needs to do so or things could continue in the same manner or worsen.

Sincerely,

Christopher Korey Philippo

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