Thursday, January 16, 2014

SUNY Albany's Clarence L. McNeill, habitual liar

"Clay" McNeill, or "Akin" or "Apocalypse #1" as he has been called (if he had a band, would it be called The Clay Akin Apocalypse?), seems to just love lying - despite being the supposed head of the SUNY-wide judicial administrators group and the Director of the Office of Conflict Resolution and Civic Responsibility. ("Civic Responsibility" evidently doesn't involve telling the truth.)

https://www.facebook.com/UAlbanyCRCR

I guess it's sort of true for most people that reporting is always an option. The SUNY Albany Police, being incompetent and corrupt, just won't necessarily respond to or investigate crimes that are reported to them - and they might instead assist in retaliating against anyone who does report crimes.

Clarence L. McNeill threatened me not to contact anyone other than himself at SUNY Albany, a threat that extends to reporting his crimes to the SUNY Albany Police. The SUNY Albany Police have no problem with people being threatened in writing not to report to them, as Clarence L. McNeill cc'd "Chief" J. "Frank" Wiley on the threat. J. "Frank" Wiley, nonetheless, is a man who's had the opportunity to have a photo op with at least one President of the United States. The SS even permitted a violent schizophrenic to have access to the President, and they themselves visit prostitutes (see e.g. http://www.washingtonian.com/articles/people/secret-service-prostitution-scandal-one-year-later/ ), so I guess anything goes.

"Clay-for-Brains" McNeill had threatened me in writing: "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."

That threat, extending to everyone on campus other than himself, thus extended to library personnel. When the U.S. Government Printing Office contacted him about prohibiting access to a Congressionally-designated U.S. government document repository, "Fakin'" McNeill evidently lied to an employee of the federal government: "I have contacted Mr. Clarence McNeill. Per our discussion, he informed me that you are not restricted from entering the campus libraries or from contacting the library personnel. As such, you are not being denied access to Federal depository library resources."

When "Apocalypse #1" McNeill gave a witness interview statement to the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, he lied to them too. One wonders if when he opens his mouth or writes something if McNeill has ever been capable of refraining from lying.

Even SUNY Albany Clery Act Compliance Officer John M. Murphy realizes Clarence L. McNeill has a certain problem with respect to telling the truth, something Murphy acknowledged to me, Christine Bouchard, J. "Frank" Wiley and George Philip in his e-mail of July 3, 2012 3:43:05 PM:

"Dear Christopher:

"Congratulations on graduating from our UAlbany family!

"You are aware that Vice President Bouchard forwarded me your recent email dated July 2nd for follow up. In your email you pose four questions I have researched and for which I provide the following responses. [...]

"You asked 'if the order really has been sent to Mr. Barberich as it claims, even though the order included the street address at which my mother and I live?'

"No, the letter in question was not sent to Mr. Barberich although there is a clear indication at the bottom which would contradict that assertion. Mr. McNeill communicated to me that [he] simply notified [Dr.] Altaribba and [Mr.] Barberich that [he] had issued the C&D (cease & desist) and that UPD (University Police Department) was notified.'"

Murphy even cc'd the e-mail to Clarence L. McNeill, who did not contradict Murphy's observation that McNeill had lied. Murphy has his own problems with the truth, like putting his name on annual Clery Act reports that claimed SUNY Albany was maintaining its sexual offender registry when in fact it had two different ones each with different information, both obviously erroneous, that had simultaneously been online misinforming the public worldwide for years. SUNY Albany seems to love having chronic liars in its upper administration, though, as all of those incompetent, malevolent clowns are still there (except Philip).

"Clay-d'oh!" McNeill had allegedly been an Educational Opportunity Program student at SUNY Albany and allegedly earned a BA in Africana Studies from SUNY Albany. He'd also belonged to a fraternity that nationally has a certain reputation for extreme violence against African-American men.

As the Director of the Office of Conflict Resolution and Civic Responsibility, when two SUNY Albany Police officers (who are not African-American) hid in a women's restroom and used a peephole in the women's restroom to spy on a decoy bag they were using in an operation that violated the Personal Property Law, and arrested a young African-American SUNY Albany student outside after a major blizzard when she was wearing shorts, sandals, and a t-shirt, and refused the woman a ride home at 1 AM when they finally let her go, Clarence L. McNeill's response was to inform her she could be expelled. Expelling a student for having her rights violated by the SUNY Albany Police evidently made sense to McNeill. McNeill's understanding of laws and the constitution seems to be non-existent; he does not seem to recognize that students have any statutory or constitutional rights, and appears to support abuses by police.

"Lee Kindlon, practicing attorney of Kindlon, Shanks & Associates represents Terra, and has represented many students in the past. […] Kindlon fired off about the methods UAlbany employs during their hearing processes.

"Some of his issues are that during the hearing process, the officers who testify against students are not cross-examined, and the officers are also instructed not to comment on questions asked to them by the students.

“'[The officers] come in and give their version of events,' Kindlon said. 'And then when the cops are expected to answer questions from the accused, or the students, the cops are instructed not to answer any questions by the city. So it’s a very, very, very one sided set piece of testimony.’ "Kindlon continued, 'And then instead of the school doing what it should do, following basic standards of due process…basically, if you can’t cross-examine your accuser, since the time Sir Walter Raleigh, that accusers testimony needs to be discarded. However, in SUNY Albany the accuser, the cop, can say whatever he or she wants, and then you’re not allowed to cross-examine that cop.’ […]

“McNeill believes the university deals with these situations fairly”.

Mineau, Lauren. "Bruised, arrested student alleges police brutality." Albany Student Press Blog. December 12, 2012. http://blog.timesunion.com/asp/2706/bruised-arrested-students-alleges-police-brutality/

I'd reported, among other things, that a large, middle-aged, white male visiting assistant professor had harassed an African-American woman in his class who kept politely pointing out when that incompetent professor kept contradicting the textbook without acknowledging he was doing so or explaining why he was doing so. McNeill did not act to stop the professor's harassment, but began sending threats not just to me but to my family, threatening that I needed to forget that professor.

For an alleged former EOP student, an alleged Africana Studies major, McNeill sure seems to love abuses committed by white faculty and cops against minority students. He'd made threats in writing, putting his own career on the line, in order to ensure that a white male visiting assistant professor could continue to do things like joking about torturing one of his minority teaching assistants by hooking her up to electrodes and shocking her until she screams. SUNY Albany and SUNY seem to be just as cool with that as McNeill. I'm not: what kind of person would be?

SUNY Albany's new President Dr. Robert J. Jones has stated "We've a lot of strength in the social sciences [...] African American studies department is number one in the country" Forum 13. WNYT NBC Albany, NY. October 10, 2013. http://www.clipsyndicate.com/video/playlist/27973/4511731?title=forum_13 The department itself claims, "Departmental Aims and Objectives [...] Provide conceptual frameworks to illuminate the causes and effects of Africana people's subordination and their struggle for liberation." http://www.albany.edu/africana/

If the department really gave Clarence L. McNeill a degree (his BA elsewhere has been claimed to be in other things), and the department has remained silent as Clarence L. McNeill permits and enables the subordination of minorities and Clarence L. McNeill has fought against minorities' struggles for liberation, how exactly is it the #1 Africana Studies Department in the country?

Dr. Jones, if a man of integrity, really ought to ensure that Clarence L. McNeill is fired and successfully prosecuted for his crimes. It seems to have been a long time since SUNY Albany has had a President who believes in the rule of law, so I'm not overly optimistic that Dr. Jones will prove to be any different than his recent predecessors.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Follow the leader?

"Following the law is not merely some favor you do the public. It's your job, and even more, it's your duty."

"SUNY's secret game play." Editorial. Albany Times Union. April 17, 2012: A8. http://albarchive.merlinone.net/mweb/wmsql.wm.request?oneimage&imageid=18165416

With Albany Times Union publisher George Randolph Hearst III also being the President of the Board of Directors of the University at Albany Foundation, why doesn't the University at Albany follow laws?

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Flattening patriotism

"With a large American flag covering the field, UCLA fans cheer as the National Anthem is played during the Holiday Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego on Thursday."

Loh, Stefanie. "National University becomes Holiday Bowl's title sponsor." U-T San Diego. http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/Oct/07/national-university-holiday-bowl-announcement/

"US Marines hold an American flag at the Holiday Bowl National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) college football game in San Diego."

Powell, Jim. "The Observer's 20 photographs of the week." The Guardian. January 4, 2014. http://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/gallery/2014/jan/04/observer-photography-petr-cech-rafael-nadal#/?picture=426248215&index=2

I can't say I understand why uniformed U.S. Marines would be at a National Collegiate Athletic Association ("or, NAMBLA") football game for any reason, but for uniformed U.S. Marines to decorate and festoon a corporate-owned football field by carrying the flag flat...?

4 USC 8 (c) "The flag should never be carried flat or horizontally, but always aloft and free."

4 USC § 8 (d) "It should never be festooned, drawn back, nor up, in folds, but always allowed to fall free. Bunting of blue, white, and red, always arranged with the blue above, the white in the middle, and the red below, should be used for covering a speaker’s desk, draping the front of the platform, and for decoration in general."

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/4/8

"In general, the national flag should [sic?] be displayed flat."

U.S. Marine Corps. Flag Manual. 5. http://www.marines.mil/Portals/59/Publications/MCO%20P10520.3B.pdf

Perhaps the U.S. Marine Corps Flag Manual should be revised to indicate the flag "should never be carried flat" (as stated in the U.S. Flag Code), rather than indicating that it generally "should be displayed flat"? ("Flat" there seems to be used in a different sense; if the flag is displayed with the hoist horizontally rather than vertically, then the width of the flag should be allowed to fall free below the hoist, without being gathered in a way that the flag is festooned, drawn back, drawn up, or in folds. At the Qualcomm Stadium, the flag was held with the hoist and width at the same level, with the flag festooned between every column of Marines carrying it over their heads.)

At the Holiday Bowl, balls were caught and thrown by Texas Tech and Arizona State in a game based on one played by English schoolboys.

"To fill empty seats, the Holiday Bowl in San Diego tried a new strategy, offering $80 seats for $40 through an online discounter.

"It's a good deal for fans, but not for the two college football teams in Monday's game: Texas Tech and Arizona State. Both schools and their respective conferences are required by contract to buy 10,400 full-price tickets at $70 to $90 each. If they can't find enough buyers, they're stuck with the full-price cost anyway."

Schrotenboer, Brent. "When bowl tickets go on Groupon, colleges pay the price." USA Today. January 4, 2013. http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2013/12/29/bowl-ticket-discounters/4242757/

The colleges have to pay between $728,000 and $936,000 for tickets to their own game, and then have to swallow the cost if they can't manage to resell the tickets to others? Does that come out of tuition money or taxpayer money? Aside from the high expense of college athletics and its typically parasitic relationship with college academics, aside from the brain damage and other chronic injuries caused by football, there's also the problem of "the ever-present football player rapist."

Taylor, John. "Texas WR Cayleb Jones charged with felony assault." College Football Talk. March 12, 2013. http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/03/12/texas-wr-cayleb-jones-charged-with-felony-assault/

Gleeson, Scott. "Two Texas A&M football players accused of assault." USA Today. July 2, 2013. http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2013/07/01/two-texas-am-football-players-deshazor-everett-floyd-raven-sr-accused-of-assault/2480059/

"Arizona State football player accused of sexual assault, is kicked off team after arrest." StarTribune. June 11, 2013. http://www.startribune.com/nation/211125491.html

McGuire, Kevin. "Report: Arizona State football staffer charged for aggravated assault." College Football Talk. September 5, 2013. http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/09/05/report-arizona-state-football-staffer-charged-for-aggravated-assault/

Meanwhile, sexual assault in the military remains such an endemic crime that on the front page of the Marines' website they need to have posted their Sexual Assault Prevention & Response Safe Helpline. I wouldn't suggest the remove the helpline from the front page, of course. Eradicating sexual assault in the military (and in athletics, and everywhere else), however, is a must - and not through suppressing crime statistics or by intimidating or threatening victims or witnesses.

"A Nation of Laws"? Perhaps, but not a nation of equally enforced laws at present.

Friday, January 3, 2014

National Advisory Committee on [Ruining] Institutional Quality and Integrity

"'Dr. Phillips has been critical to improving the academic quality of the University at Albany and expanding opportunities for students," said University at Albany President Robert J. Jones."

"UAlbany Provost Appointed to Second Term, Named Chair of National Advisory Committee." University at Albany-SUNY. December 16, 2013.

http://www.albany.edu/news/45312.php

"improving the academic quality of the University at Albany and expanding opportunities for students" evidently encompasses being OK with students being threatened in further retaliation for reporting academic dishonesty, sexual harassment, and retaliation. I'd contacted Ms. Phillips for help, and she never replied to me at all.

2012 pay rate: $260,455

http://new-york-employees.findthedata.org/l/323483/Susan-D-Phillips

Permitting academic dishonesty, sexual harassment, and retaliation pays pretty well, and the benefits are evidently great.