Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Speechless

Christine Bouchard evidently vociferously defended the free speech rights of even such as the Westboro Baptist Church :
"The University places high regard on the values of inclusion, civility, respect and individual worth and remains committed to supporting an environment where all students, faculty and staff are valued and respected regardless of their views or orientations. However, it is also important for all of us to understand that no matter how any member of this community feels about a message imparted by any person or group, the University fully recognizes the First Amendment rights of others to free speech and is committed to this principle of freedom of expression.The great diversity of our campus provides fertile ground for open discussion on contradictory viewpoints and these dialogues must always be encouraged, regardless of the nature of the content.

"Christine A. Bouchard, Vice President for Student Success, University at Albany"

http://www.webcitation.org/6GcdpLwdZ

and the free speech rights of Jim Deferio:

In her e-mail to students, UAlbany Vice President for Student Success Christine Bouchard said some asked 'why the university would allow uninvited individuals the right to speak on our campus on such controversial topics.'

"'We believe it is important for all of us to understand that no mater how any member of this community feels about the message imparted by these three individuals, the University, as a public institution, recognizes the First Amendment rights of others to free speech,' she wrote.

"The university may also be recognizing its right not to get sued. A similar situation with another preacher arose at Schenectady County Community College, which wasn't as welcoming. The preacher was acquitted of trespassing last year and filed a federal lawsuit against the college and local officials."

Parry, Marc. "UAlbany offers free speech reminder." Albany Times Union. October 16, 2008: D3. http://albarchive.merlinone.net/mweb/wmsql.wm.request?oneimage&imageid=7067895 (Archived by WebCite® at http://www.webcitation.org/6JDqfl6YM

)

When it comes to students reporting academic dishonesty, sexual harassment, discrimination, retaliation, etc. — things UAlbany (disingenuously) encourages students to report, Bouchard sings quite a different tune.

Clarence "Incompetent" McNeill to Christine Bouchard and others:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7Mt-S77wZKfZmY2YzFJNEpmMVU/edit?usp=sharing

full e-mail header:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7Mt-S77wZKfRTN1eGhEcUFTQjg/edit?usp=sharing

The e-mail attachment:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7Mt-S77wZKfQ3d5dzh3Y0VUSXc/edit?usp=sharing

McNeill's e-mail with its coercive prior restraint on freedom of speech, inquiry, association, movement, etc. without due process makes reference to a supposed prior "cease and desist" that McNeill had claimed the UAlbany police were enforcing and yet which "Chief" J. "Pigskin" Wiley had denied, in writing, that the UAlbany police possessed.

The December 9th "good morning" e-mail McNeill falsely, outrageously claimed to be a "cease and desist" and that John Murphy claimed was a "cease and desist order," in turn made reference to McNeill's December 8, 2011 10:39 AM e-mail (contained within my December 8, 2011 11:39 AM reply) in which he threatened me that I needed to forget untenured visiting assistant "professor" Michael W. Barberich, a so-called "instructor" I'd reported to McNeill for academic dishonesty, sexual harassment, retaliation, etc. https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7Mt-S77wZKfRGU5X0FDYUFPams/edit. How to forget was not explained, but why was: McNeill threatened the possibility of litigation against me for harassment in the wake of my reporting Barberich. Is it any wonder that so few students at UAlbany feel free or safe or obligated to report academic dishonesty, sexual harassment, retaliation, or worse? And yet McNeill's somehow been the head of the SUNY-wide judicial administrators group, which makes one wonder just how bad the other judicial administrators might be.

Bouchard had earlier pawned off questions about McNeill's threats on Murphy, over my objections that she should handle the matter:

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Bouchard, Christine"

Subject: RE: McNeill's Dec. 9, 2011 cease & desist order: valid & enforced by UPD or not?

Date: July 2, 2012 10:50:26 AM EDT

To: Christopher Philippo

Cc: "Murphy, John M"

Dear Christopher:

I read your email and am looking into the answers to your questions. Mr. McNeill is on vacation, so I have asked my Associate VP, Mr. John Murphy, to research your questions and get back to you.

I also apologize about the May 19 email. I was copied on that email, and incorrectly assumed that your questions were addressed.

Thank you for your patience.

Christine A. Bouchard

Vice President for Student Success

University at Albany

Her middle name is "Assume," I'll assume. For her subsequent response, see

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7Mt-S77wZKfdXBadVd5QkpVWms/edit?usp=sharing

UAlbany is willing to back its retaliatory threats with its corrupt UAlbany police, a department with a history of firearms violations that includes their chief firearms instructor advising a member of the department (who had a major area drug operation at her home) to bring all her personal weapons on campus because he feared she might use them at home in an emotional fit. Why he wasn't afraid she'd use them in an emotional fit on campus somehow didn't worry anyone to whom he'd made that crazy claim. That same chief firearms instructor then took her improperly stored departmental weapon out of her locker while she was under investigation by the State Police and the DEA, and took her unregistered "junk gun" to his own home - claiming he believed that gun (a gun even the NRA had testified against) had sentimental value. The list of firearms violations goes on and on. When unarmed students witnesses and/or victims, alumni, or their families are being threatened and there's a corrupt armed police force backing the threats, is it any wonder that UAlbany's crime stats are miraculously, suspiciously low?

The US Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, in turn, is OK with coercive prior restraint on freedom of speech, inquiry, association, movement, etc. without due process that is backed by a corrupt, armed police department with a history of firearms violations. The problem, I'm guessing, might be that the head of the Department of Education, a crony pick by President Obama of the man who was his lucky pickup basketball partner from Chicago of all things, had appointed UAlbany's Provost to the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity and had made that appointment on the recommendation of Nancy Zimpher. Appointing anyone from UAlbany to such a committee was ludicrous, given UAlbany's party school reputation, the Louis Roberts plagiarism scandal and lingering unanswered questions involving it, etc. As time goes on more and more scandals involving UAlbany come to the surface, like the abuse of sabbaticals where people who had no intention of returning were being paid, etc.

If Obama could admit he made a terrible mistake by appointing his buddy Arne "Basketball" Duncan, perhaps he could extricate himself somehow thereby. Otherwise, the President continues to have a hand in undermining the integrity of higher education in America and a hand in undermining the security of campuses and the safety of students, faculty, staff, and visitors.

Obama's former senior advisor, campaign manager, and director of speechwriting will be visiting the UAlbany campus. What will they talk about: freedom of speech? academic integrity? the Clery Act? For my own part, I'd expect not anything of substance, but rather lots of empty rhetoric, buzzwords ("change!"), and the like - which would fit in nicely with UAlbany's false representations about victims' rights, protection from retaliation, its false representations about freedom of speech, and so many other things... including the very "World Within Reach" program that is bringing those three men to campus:

Haven, Cynthia. "'World within reach'? We think not. Stanford replies to Albany." The Book haven. November 20, 2010. http://bookhaven.stanford.edu/2010/11/world-within-reach-we-think-not-stanford-replies-to-albany/

UAlbany's cutting of departments like language, theater, etc., critics thought, was done to promote things like nanotech. The nanotech campus, once it grew, then split off from UAlbany. What did UAlbany gain from the cuts or the split? Not mentioned, however, was the expensive parasitic growth of UAlbany's athletics department, which one would suppose is also largely to blame for cuts to departments and the rise in tuition.

I'll be skipping the speaking event, naturally. Even if it were more promising, it's not a campus that strikes me as being very safe for anyone to visit (perhaps least of all for me).

Monday, August 26, 2013

"This is probably controversial to say, but what the heck"

"'This is probably controversial to say, but what the heck. I am in my second term, so I can say it,' Mr. Obama said at a town hall-style meeting at Binghamton University in New York. 'I believe that law schools would probably be wise to think about being two years instead of three years.'"

Lattman, Peter. "Obama Says Law School Should Be Two, Not Three, Years." N.Y. Times. August 23, 2013. http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/08/23/obama-says-law-school-should-be-two-years-not-three/?_r=0

This is probably quite controversial to say, but Mr. Obama was talking about cutting school terms, so what the heck: more US Presidents should be impeached. Every president from Reagan on (if not even further back) has been quite deserving of it, so why deny them what they legitimately earned?

This is probably also controversial to say, but what the heck: why would VIPs visit a SUNY campus and why would anyone in charge of or involved with security for VIPs let them visit a SUNY campus?

"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

In fairness to SUNY Binghamton, their police chief is probably better than SUNY Albany's incompetent, corrupt, unqualified "chief." Indeed, it would be pretty hard for anyone to be worse than J. "Frank" Wiley, a "man" who neglected to report a gang rape by SUNY Albany football players to the Albany County DA's Office ASAP, thereby failing to strengthen the case for the prosecution and thereby failing to see that the victims received the best possible treatment.

FWIW, Binghamton's Chief Timothy Faughnan worked his way up through the ranks in NYS, the way a police chief is supposed to have done.

Ellis, Katie. "Q&A with Police Chief Timothy Faughnan." Inside Binghamton University.. October 27, 2011. http://www.binghamton.edu/inside/index.php/inside/story/qa-with-police-chief-timothy-faughnan

SUNY Albany's "chief" Wiley was appointed directly to chief despite never having so much as been a security guard in New York, and despite having been from Maryland. One supposes Wiley was appointed due to his having been an athlete and coach as well as Wiley's being a huge fan of college and pro football. Wiley's lack of NYS police credentials and Wiley's background with athletics probably has nothing to do with SUNY Albany's (then) ambitions to transition to Division II then Division I athletics, or SUNY Albany's (then) recent acquisition of the NY Giants' summer training camp - because such a motivation would just be too transparent, too obvious, wouldn't it?

A "chief" like Wiley drags the reputation of all SUNY Police down, so why the SUNY Police who aren't "motivated to keep crime stats down by any means" don't speak up about such problems, I don't know - I wish they would address that.

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

"nary a rumor of scandal"

"So the boys at Albany State, as UAlbany was known then, wanted to play football. A young Bob Ford came to coach what in 1970 was little more than a sandlot team."

"Long Story Short." Albany Times Union. August 18, 2013. http://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/EDITORIAL-LONG-STORY-SHORT-4740908.php

"the boys" wanted to play?

"We have never had what I would call the total support of the student body here." http://www.albany.edu/pr/fordnew.html
"UAlbany’s debut in the Colonial Athletic Conference, in the brand new stadium known as Bob Ford Field, is time to stand in awe of a coach who counts as one of the greats.

"His record? 294 wins, 180 losses, one tie — and nary a rumor of scandal."

"Long Story Short." Albany Times Union. August 18, 2013.

With the TU having, in the past, paid (off?) the UAlbany police - police who are headed by an ex-athlete, ex-coach with a college and pro football fetish, and the TU itself being published by the President of the UAlbany Foundation, etc., is it any wonder the TU would write such an editorial? Evidently it's relatively easy for them to forget about a hazing death of a UAlbany football player by electrocution, a gang rape by UAlbany football players that didn't get referred to the Albany County District Attorney until the media reported it, etc.

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Discrimination and Dat Crimination

Evidently, on occasion UAlbany won't threaten people they've indisputably discriminated against:
McNutt v. Nasca and State University of New York at Albany. http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCOURTS-nynd-1_10-cv-01301/pdf/USCOURTS-nynd-1_10-cv-01301-0.pdf

Lambdin, Bill. "UAlbany professor charging sex discrimination settles lawsuit." WNYT. July 29, 2013. http://wnyt.com/article/stories/s3113158.shtml

"Karl Luntta, a spokesman for the university, declined to comment on the case.

"'We would not comment on litigation ongoing or otherwise or on personnel matters,' he said."

Mason, Justin. "UAlbany settles sex discrimination suit." Daily Gazette. http://www.dailygazette.net/standard/ShowStoryTemplate.asp?Path=SCH/2013/08/03&ID=Ar01003&Section=Local_News

It's a pity it didn't go to trial. That might have cost UAlbany a lot, but UAlbany could perhaps save a lot of money by firing spokesman Luntta and replacing him with a coin that has "I dunno" on one side and "no comment" on the other side. By way of another example:

UAlbany believes it should know exactly who is and isn't supposed to be carrying a gun on campus (which is not unreasonable for them to want to know):

"Mull says the UAlbany police department would be against guns on campus’ because it would make their job harder in that they wouldn’t know exactly who is and isn’t suppose [sic] to be carrying a gun."

http://www.albanystudentpress.net/firearms-unlikely-at-ualbany/

UAlbany doesn't know exactly who is and isn't supposed to be carrying a gun on campus despite policies being clear and despite their stated belief that they should know exactly who is and isn't supposed to be carrying a gun on campus (a bit of a problem that they're claiming not to know...):

"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."

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

"No official word" applies to a number of other things, seemingly including:

"ALBANY — University at Albany police were investigating a death at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering early Wednesday afternoon.

"Assistant Chief Paul Berger said only that officers are investigating an unattended death, though he did add it was not a student who died. Berger did not say if the person who died was a faculty member.

"No further information was available just before 2 p.m."

http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Body-found-at-Nano-College-4714773.php

They still have nothing to say about a dog who'd been tortured and shot and left on the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering campus, other than somehow immediately ruling out UAlbany students without providing any reason for ruling out UAlbany students:

"Dog Found Shot Dead at University at Albany Nano College Campus - Albany Attorney Comments"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2ogJDuyYrI

Still no autopsy results (?) on the other dead person found on campus back in May:

Odato, James M. "Man found dead in UAlbany lot." Albany Times Union. May 11, 2013. http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Man-found-dead-in-UAlbany-lot-4507962.php

Dead dog, dead people... you'd think UAlbany would display more concern about such things. Well, one might perhaps think so if one didn't know anything about UAlbany and all the students who've died there and also if one didn't know how problematic SUNY "cops" are - UAlbany's in particular.

At signs changed to ampersands:

From: Christopher Philippo

Subject: official word on SUNY Police & firearms violations?

Date: May 17, 2013 5:24:06 PM EDT

To: John King, Nancy Zimpher, Bruce McBride, Rex Smith, Scott Waldman, Sarah Hinman, Kate Barry, Louis Corsi, Chief Steven Krokoff, Craig Apple, IAFFAIRS&troopers.ny.gov, PISTOLPT&troopers.ny.gov

Cc: ectv&etown.edu, news&fox43.com

"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

Tsk, tsk, Luntta…

"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

No doubt Lunta gets paid very well for what he does, and "Chief" J. "Frank" Wiley, et al.

Whistleblowing isn't enjoyable, but whistleblowers can't give up or else the problems tend to persist or worsen. Clean up the problems, please?

Christopher K. Philippo

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"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.

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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."

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

No replies, naturally. Do New York and the media care one whit about student safety or campus security? It doesn't seem that they do, does it?