The Keystone (Light) Kops

"No More Drunken Cops." Albany Times Union. February 22, 2013: A12. http://albarchive.merlinone.net/mweb/wmsql.wm.request?oneimage&imageid=21653829

City of Albany Police Chief Steven Krokoff has a BA from UAlbany, has been pursuing an MBA at UAlbany, and is also a SUNY Delhi instructor. http://www.albany.edu/burton_lecture/bio-krokoff.php

Krokoff's evidently a busy guy! When does he ever have time to look into what City of Albany Police officers are doing? Well...:

Aspiring TSA employees?

"Albany Police Chief Steven Krokoff was surprised to find out that his officers have conducted some 655 strip searches dating back to January of 2009".

TU Editorial Board. "Why so many strip searches?" Albany Times Union. December 12, 2012. http://blog.timesunion.com/opinion/why-so-many-strip-searches/23305/

Once bitten...

"'I'm looking into our handling of it,' Police Chief Steven Krokoff said".

Lyons, Brendan J. "Cops chided in finger-biting case; Victim says police slow to probe attack that nearly cost her finger." Albany Times Union. January 31, 2013. http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Cops-chided-in-finger-biting-case-4236663.php

Bloody cops...

"Police Chief Steven Krokoff says his department was 'insensitive' when it conducted a training exercise that involved police firing blank ammunition and using flash grenades near occupied apartments at the Ida J. Yarbrough Homes.

"The chief said the department will review how it conducts 'neighborhood-based training' after Thursday's operation drew criticism from residents who said they were frightened by a chaotic scene that seemed real to them.

"Krokoff released a statement as photos of the incident spread on Facebook. The pictures showed armed officers in tactical gear as well as fake blood and spent shell casings that were left behind at part of the public housing complex that is now deserted and slated for demolition."

Stanforth, Lauren. "Police training exercise draws criticism; Residents of Ida Yarbrough describe explosions and gunfire; chief apologizes." Albany Times Union. March 25, 2013. http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Police-training-exercise-draws-criticism-4379839.php

If Krokoff is given an MBA in spite of the questionable administration skills he's displayed in the service of Mayor Jennings, would that affect the value of MBAs from UAlbany at all?

"New York Open for Sending Business Elsewhere"

"New York needs to communicate that it is the place where businesses want to come and stay."

"Governor Cuomo Launches 'New York Open for Business' Marketing Initiative; Global Marketing Initiative Will Promote the Advantages of Doing Business in New York." August 24, 2011. http://www.governor.ny.gov/press/08242011

When the State University of New York, for example, outsources the printing of 8 1/2" x 11" SUNY diplomas to Michael Sutter Company of Heber City, Utah, is the idea that they're hoping Michael Sutter Company will come to New York? That's not going to happen; they print diplomas for other states too. Why doesn't the SUNY Press or some business based in New York print them? SUNY seems to like undermining Governor Cuomo's efforts.

University at Albany

Ordering diplomas used to be a big production, however for us, since switching to Michael Sutter, it is truly a non event. We simply press a button and the Michael Sutter company completes the diploma process in a few days.

- Maria Brown, Associate Registrar

http://www.michaelsutter.com/testimonials.html

If ordering diplomas is so simple it's a "non event", the matter of a few days, why is it that diplomas aren't sent from Utah until weeks after Commencement? It would make a lot more sense if they were available at Commencement. Is that the Michael Sutter Company's fault, or the UAlbany Registrar's?

SUNY Albany Café: NO STUDENTS SERVED

"Professor Lawrence Snyder, Chair of the Committee on Academic Freedom, Freedom of Expresion, and Community Responsibility (CAFFEECoR) discussed a proposed student academic bill of rights, which will be presented to the Senate Executive Committee. […] Professor Snyder mentioned the possible creation of a website where students may state faculty grievances. […] Another student concern was when students take ADD/ADHD drugs to stay focused on exams. It is especially upsetting for students when the drugs are not prescribed to a particular student who purchases them for the sole purpose of helping them concentrate while studying. Students believe those students have an unfair advantage. According to students, plagiarism and other forms of student cheating is not handled in the same manner for all students resulting in unequal student treatment. 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. http://www.albany.edu/senate/images/12-19-05_UAC_minutes.doc

SUNY Albany's Undergraduate Academic Council recognized that some professors retaliate against students who have grievances. There'd been the thought that it would be better for problems to be solved than for complaints to be posted in view of "the entire world" (really just a segment of English speakers with Internet access). They didn't issue ratemyprofessor.com a "cease and desist" however (AFAIK), yet they didn't create the Undergraduate Ombuds office either.

Are student complaints always so unimportant to SUNY Albany administrators? Does the administration find it acceptable to employ faculty who retaliate against students with grievances? Professor Snyder alleged that a student had "never" approached a professor about a problem, but he presumably only had the professor's word for that; regardless, it could easily have been a student fearing retaliation.

The Advice of the Unlearned

"Frank Wiley, chief of UAlbany's police department, addressed the students one morning last month and exhorted them to raise their own expectations of themselves. Some paid attention. One was writing on his hand.

"'You've got to want to,' said Wiley, who wore a four-button gray suit with a neatly folded pocket square. 'Wanting to is very important.'"

Aaron, Kenneth. "Don't count these students out yet; Teachers hold out hope for unruly Albany teens in alternative program." Albany Times Union. May 19, 2006: A1. http://albarchive.merlinone.net/mweb/wmsql.wm.request?oneimage&imageid=6399736

Wiley's advice would have been more meaningful if he followed it himself. Apart from that clichéd advice, given to students who weren't listening, there's a fatuous "Ideal Officer Profile" by Wiley http://police.albany.edu/IdealOfficer.shtml which is used, perhaps on a yearly basis, to lard the Annual Report http://police.albany.edu/UPDAnnualReport2011.pdf the way a bad UAlbany student might pad a paper with irrelevant junk.

"And most importantly . . . my ideal officer understands that 'gentlemen and gentlewomen consider the rights of others before their own feelings, and the feelings of others before their own rights.'"

Misquoted advice from a deceased basketball coach, which Mr. Wiley, as an ex-basketball coach from Maryland, evidently thinks applies "most importantly" to police officers in New York. Never having been a police officer in New York, Mr. Wiley's vapid thoughts about what makes an "ideal officer" are laughable. Mr. Wiley doesn't follow his own standards with respect to it either.

"Polite, Respectful, Courteous, Empathetic at all times"? Not he. "Poised - Not given to anger, confrontation, emotionalism. Intelligent and Well Spoken"? Most definitely not! "Will not appear unsympathetic or unconcerned." Being unsympathetic or unconcerned is evidently fine (and indeed, Mr. Wiley is demonstrably both unsympathetic and unconcerned); one just has to be careful not to appear that way (Mr. Wiley's failed even at that). Etc. Incidentally, what's with the Random Capital Letters?

"When one audience member asked Wiley what he likes about college students, Wiley answered that he likes college students because they are 'enthusiastic, idealistic and raise issues that require thought on the part of administration.'"

Cotton, André. "Security candidate visits and talks with students; Comm. passes decision to Dean, final choice soon." Oberlin Review 124(21). April 19, 1996. http://www.oberlin.edu/stupub/ocreview/archives/1996.04.19/news/candidate.html

Mr. Wiley doesn't really hold to those ideals either; Oberlin was wise to reject him and if UAlbany had genuinely cared to hire a good chief, they would have been wise to follow Oberlin's lead. Mr. Wiley isn't interested in listening to enthusiastic, idealistic students (or any people) who raise issues that require thought on the part of the administration; he's committed to preventing that from happening. Clarence L. McNeill forbade me to communicate with anyone other than himself at UAlbany for the rest of my life, and McNeill cc'd that to Mr. Wiley. Mr. Wiley is perfectly OK with prior restraint on freedom of speech that even extends to forbidding someone to report crimes to the police. Some "chief" he is! His parents must be so proud....

Do four-button suits with neatly folded pocket squares come in orange? My idealism leads me to hope there might be such, just for him.

UAlbany's red flags

Big article on the Times Union's front page today: Cuomo throwing more good money after bad at UAlbany:

Waldman, Scott. "UAlbany grant plans gets OK; Governor's approval, after earlier objections, frees $35 million that will help start large-scale projects." Albany Times Union. December 14, 2012. http://www.timesunion.com/default/article/UAlbany-grant-plan-gets-OK-4117333.php

UAlbany really should be required to make better use of the money they have than be given more to waste, particularly when the state is so in the red these days. It would be marginally more understandable to throw money away if the economy were doing better (albeit still inexcusable). There's a lot that's good there, but huge amounts of money are wasted by all that's not good there - and there's a lot that not.

Buried inside the paper, a tiny article about potentially still more firearms violations on campus:

"A University at Albany student was assaulted on campus by two men, one of whom appeared to have a handgun. [...] The victim knew the assailants, who are not UAlbany students. Police said no shots were fired and that the assailants fled in a red Honda Civic. [...] University police said there was no danger to UAlbany community and that police agencies have been notified to look out for the Honda."

Waldman, Scott. "UAlbany student assaulted on campus." Albany Times Union. December 13, 2012. http://www.timesunion.com/default/article/UAlbany-student-assaulted-on-campus-4116702.php

If the identity of the men is known, why not identify them; if the red Honda Civic is not a stolen one, why not list the year and license plate number; if they're presumed armed, why are they not considered a danger to the community? If it's that the men are presumed innocent until proven guilty, then why run the article at all; why note that the red Honda Civic is something people are trying to locate?

Neither article mentions that TU George Randolph Hearst III is President of the Board of Directors of the University at Albany Foundation, of course. That the Times Union itself used to pay UAlbany's less-than-exemplary police department for doing security at the N.Y. Giants summer training camp that the Times Union helped lure to UAlbany - that tends not to be mentioned whenever they cover UAlbany's PD. Seems like the sort of potential conflicts of interests that responsible journalists would want to mention all the time to stay on the safe side. Heck, why doesn't Hearst just donate the $35M himself from his pocket money and save taxpayers all that money?

Buy, Buy, UA Syllabi

"Ensure Academic Success

"Interact with Faculty

"It's important for you to get to know your professors. All professors should have office hours and you should utilize these times for clarifications and questions on class material and assignments. It's particularly wise to visit your professor and get advice before taking an exam or handing in a paper. Don't be intimidated by them; professors are here to assist and educate you, and welcome the opportunity to meet with students who show initiative in learning about the topic. [...]

"Every class will provide students with a course syllabus. This [sic] should provide a description of the course, a description of what you will learn in the course, the materials you will need for the course (textbooks), how to contact the professor wit [sic] questions, and what major assignments or exams will be required for the class. Successful students read the syllabus thoroughly and carefully and thenuse [sic] it to scheudle [sic] their classes, assignments and tests on a calendar"

Success Within Reach Student Handbook 2012-2013 http://www.albany.edu/studentsuccess/handbook.shtml

Christine A. Bouchard's Office of Student Success recommends reading syllabi "thoroughly and carefully," but Student Handbooks: not so much. The 2011-2012 Student Handbook had the same sentence fragment and typos in it: http://www.albany.edu/studentsuccess/ALBANY_Handbookfinal.pdf (though the 2010-2011 one did not: http://www.albany.edu/studentsuccess/ALBANY_Handbookfinal.pdf). UAlbany's Office of SS has a tantalizing slogan that goes something like, "We Put Success Within Reach... And Then We Cut Off Your Arms." The SS might approve of students engaging in thenusing and scheudling, but I find it all objectionable. I like things thoroughly unthenused and unscheudled.

Professors sometimes don't include everything on a syllabus that they're required to include on a syllabus ("requirement" has a pretty flexible meaning when it comes to UAlbany). I once had to file a FOIL request for end-of-semester changes a visiting assistant professor made to the syllabus for a class in which I was registered, since he didn't provide me (or any other student, as far as I know) the information. I was charged $30.00 for that information, since the Records Access Officer bundled all my requests together and wouldn't even let me pay for my own grades separately.

Indeed, I had the distinct privilege and honor of being charged $30.00 to obtain my own grades. Tuition money, people might be dismayed to learn, no longer covers professors distributing grades to students: that costs extra. Professors have the right to choose not to distribute grades, but to instead deliver final grades to the University Registrar without having informed students of the grades for all of their assignments, quizzes, exams, etc. and without having informed students how those grades will be calculated when it's in a manner other than the one on the syllabus that was distributed at the start of the semester.

Damien the Antichrist Wishes You a Very Merry Antichristmas

"Alumni and friends,

"Wishing you and yours a holiday season full of peace, health, and happiness. Enjoy a little Great Dane magic sprinkled into this special holiday greeting.

"Sincerely yours,

"[signed] George Philip

"George M. Philip

"President

"University at Albany, State University of New York

"University at Albany, State University of New York · 1400 Washington Ave., · Albany, NY 12222 · Phone (518) 442-3300

"If you no longer wish to receive emails from us, unsubscribe here."

Ordinarily an insincere mass-mailing like the above is something I'd probably delete without taking much notice of it. However, by order of the so-called "agent of the President of the University" Clarence L. McNeill, I'm forbidden to communicate with Mr. Philip to wish him a happy holiday in return (if I were so inclined) and seemingly even forbidden to unsubscribe, since that too involves communication:

"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."

It is, thus, more than a little perverse for Mr. Philip to keep e-mailing me, even just by including me on his indiscriminate e-mail list, when he knows I'm forbidden to communicate with him. A "special holiday greeting" - while he continues to discriminate against me and to have others do so as well. Unless Mr. Philip's also had other UAlbany alumni forbidden to communicate with anybody other than Mr. McNeill? It is, perhaps, telling that Mr. Philip intentionally doesn't include alumni among friends; he'd have had "Alumni and other friends" ghostwritten for him otherwise. ("Intentionally" is sarcasm; I suspect whoever wrote the greeting simply didn't think about what it conveyed, and Mr. Philip may have never bothered looking at it at all.)

I wonder when and why the Great Dane was named Damien, anyway: before or after The Omen? I prefer the Pedwin, myself. Also: why is the Great Dane mascot not gold like the Great Dane logo is? The illustrated gold dog with purple shading matches the school colors, while the mascot is just a regular dog suit.

Not even a real dog, just an imposter in a suit. Maybe such actually is a fitting mascot for UAlbany! There's plenty of imposters in suits to be found there. Put a criminal in one, and he or she can resemble a department chair, a chief of police, or a university president. But no, I don't care for the mascot any more than I do for the teams: dog-suit Damien is dead to me - he may shine in the spotlight, but he's abandoned the school's color.

All that glitters is not gold;

Often have you heard that told:

Many a man his life hath sold

But my outside to behold:

Gilded tombs do worms enfold.

Had you been as wise as bold,

Young in limbs, in judgement old

Your answer had not been inscroll'd

Fare you well, your suit is cold.

Oh, and another thing that's not gold:

Don't have Damien piss on my holidays and tell me it's a "little Great Dane magic" he's sprinkling...