So, I've got a few confessions I need to make.
Firstly: About that last blog entry, about the faculty reaching a deal? I made that entry under duress. I didn't want to exclaim my excitement at the resolution of the situation, but people were prodding me to post, and I had nothing else of substance, except general pissing and moaning, to say.
Apparently, none of you were sastified by the quality of that post, and have continued to harp for more, so here you go.
Secondly: I found myself in an awkward and entirely unpleasant situation during the strike. I saw people, for whom I had great respect, take positions on the issues which entirely baffled me. And I was forced to subscribe to less than four separate camps to hold my set of views.
Those far camps are namely: mainly pro-faculty (I stand behind most of the demands of the faculty association, including intellectual property rights, discipline, improved health insurance, and day care); mainly anti-admin (mainly because of the alleged dirty tricks of people like Garry Alexa); mainly pro-Gail (I genuinely think Dr. Gottlieb was trying to do the best she could for Acadia, and that she was given shitty advice from her senior management team); and completely anti-student.
Though it was completely inconvenient for us to be sidelined for two weeks like this, and will undoubtedly make my like a living Hell for the remainder of this semester, this was not the students' fight. We belong in that argument no more than I belong in a fight between my parents, or any more than the government belongs in a fight between a private employer and their employees. Not to mention, as envisioned by our Students' Union, being pro-student seems to be equivalent to being anti-faculty, which I find to be a logical fallacy.
I also find it offensive that an elected representative body should decide, from within itself, what position to take on an issue, when the general concensus of the electorate differs. It is not the job of the Students' Union to act as a political gambit, a tool in achieving it's own ends. It is the Union's job to determine and then (zealously) represent the actual point-of-view of it's constituents.
Related to what I said above, I think some administrators, though I disagreed with the position they collectively took, deserve kudos for doing the best they could in a tough situation. Particularly to Provost Paula Cook - who had the unenviable task of being the frontman of the 'evil Admin' to the student body -- I'm sure you did the best you could to pass on whatever information you were allowed to.
Scott Roberts, Poet, Wizard. Acadia pays you too much to do a job that we already had getting done. You don't need to be here; Acadia does not need another spin-master.
And to the faculty - welcome back. Even though the deal you've been presented isn't a great indicator of it, it is good to have you here, and better yet to have you back.
I have to disagree with what you said about the ASU, i.e., that "It is the Union's job to determine and then (zealously) represent the actual point-of-view of it's constituents."
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like Stockwell Day's idea that there should be a referendum on every issue. The whole point of electing someone is that you trust that person to make decisions. The electorate may not like the decision the elected representative takes, but that's not the point.
Certainly it is important for the person to listen to the arguments on both sides, keep an open mind, and make an intelligent, informed decision. I believe Dan did this. He has clearly stated why he chose the position he did, and I believe he has made some good arguments for this position. Now, that's not to say that I think it was a great position to be in.
Anyway, I do understand where you're coming from, and I appreciate your frustration, but that's the nature of the beast.
Yay for you posting again, and I'm sorry about my last comment. I didn't mean to say your post wasn't a quality post. It was of extremely high quality. Such high quality, in fact, that I wanted more quantity! :)
And thus, Branflake' Box of Rants and Raves moved up the economic ladder to a new price/availability equilibrium. And the peasants rejoiced.
ReplyDeleteWell said.
ReplyDelete