A complement to Marx in the headlines

From: david.preiss@yale.edu
Date: Mon Nov 10 2003 - 17:43:24 PST


The article below complements very well Mike's recent posting. I would
love to hear comments on the issues it describes, as they seem to be
very prevalent in US universities.

>>Class Struggle 101
>>
>>The Progressive
>>November 2003 Issue
>>Flip Side, By Barbara Ehrenreich
>>http://www.progressive.org/nov03/ehr1103.html
>>
>>
>>Barbara Ehrenreich Column photoOn the evening of August 24, I had
dinner
>>with Randy Marcum, who works in the boiler room at Miami University
of Ohio.
>>Joining us were about ten other campus workers, plus some of their
student
>>supporters. It was a hefty meal--the best the Holiday Inn had to
>>offer--complete with wine and dessert. Which was a good thing,
because three
>>weeks later, Marcum was on a hunger strike to dramatize the poverty
of Miami
>>University's food service and maintenance workers.
>>
>>Welcome to higher education, twenty-first-century style, where the
most
>>important course offered is not listed in the college catalog. It's
called
>>Class Struggle, and it pits the men in suits--administrators and
>>trustees--against the men and women who keep the school running:
maintenance
>>workers, groundspeople, clerical and technical workers, housekeepers,
food
>>service workers. Yale has gotten all the national attention, with its
>>tumultuous three-week-long strike that just ended in a stunning
victory for
>>the university's clerical and maintenance workers. But similar
clashes are
>>going on in less illustrious places, like the University of North
Carolina
>>at Chapel Hill, where housekeepers, who have been trying to win union
>>recognition for years, led a lively rally and teach-in on September
23.
>>
>>As for Miami University, 460 maintenance workers are now out on
strike, as I
>>write at the end of September. Randy has ended his fast in order to
build up
>>energy for the picket line. The students have erected a tent city in
front
>>of the administration building. And faculty members are planning
their own
>>night in the tent city. Union picketers humiliated the university by
turning
>>away the union camera crews who had come to televise a Miami RedHawks
vs.
>>Cincinnati Bearcats game.
>>
>>College presidents, deans, provosts, chancellors--along with their
deputies,
>>assistants, and other members of the ever-proliferating educational
>>administrative workforce--insist that their labor problems are a
sorry
>>distraction from their institutions' noble purpose of enlightening
young
>>minds. But administrators like to cloak themselves in the moral
authority of
>>Western Civilization, such as it is, which means that labor issues
are
>>hardly peripheral to the university's educational mission. On an
increasing
>>number of campuses, incoming students are greeted at a formal fall
>>convocation in which the top administrators--suited up in full
medieval
>>mortarboard-and-gown attire--deliver platitudinous speeches about
Character,
>>Integrity, and Truth. The message is that these weirdly costumed
folks are
>>not mere executives of a corporation but the guardians of an ancient
and
>>sacred tradition. So when these same dignitaries turn out to be
grossly
>>underpaying their employees and harassing the "troublemakers" among
them,
>>they do so with the apparent blessing of Aristotle, Plato, and
Shakespeare.
>>
>>If the university has so much to teach about social inequality, why
>>shouldn't the students get credit for learning it? The covert lessons
from
>>the administration should be formalized as course offerings. Here's
the
>>curriculum.
>>
>>Elementary Class Structure of the United States: The University as
>>Microcosm. In this four-credit course, we will examine the pay
gradient from
>>housekeeper (approximately $19,000/year) to president (more than
$270,000
>>for Miami University's James C. Garland and about $500,000 for Yale's
>>Richard Levin). In the final exam, students will be asked to discuss
the
>>rationale for this pay gap in terms of the payees' contributions to
the
>>university, ongoing housing and wardrobe expenses, and intrinsic
human
>>worth.
>>
>>Presidential Architecture: A three-credit seminar course featuring
field
>>trips through university-provided presidential dwellings,
including "great
>>rooms," wet bars, saunas, guest suites, and exercise rooms, with a
side
>>trip, if time permits, to the trailer parks favored by the
housekeeping and
>>maintenance staff.
>>
>>Race, Gender, and Occupational Preference: In this advanced sociology
>>seminar, we will analyze the way campus workers sort themselves into
various
>>occupations on the basis of race and gender, and we will explore
various
>>theories attempting to explain this phenomenon--for example, the
Innate
>>Athleticism theory of why African Americans so often prefer manual
labor,
>>and the Nimble Fingers theory of why females can usually be found
doing the
>>clerical work.
>>
>>Topics in University Financing: A four-credit business course tracing
the
>>development of the current two-pronged approach to financing
institutions of
>>higher learning--tuition increases for the students plus pay
decreases for
>>the staff. Alternative approaches to financing, featuring militant
campaigns
>>for adequate public funding for higher education, will be thoroughly
>>critiqued.
>>
>>A cynic might say that the true purpose of college is to teach
exactly such
>>lessons. After all, college graduates are a relative elite,
comprising only
>>25 percent of the adult population, and they are expected to fill the
kind
>>of administrative and managerial jobs that make it a positive
advantage to
>>be able to starve workers, impose layoffs, and bust unions without
losing a
>>minute of sleep. Some students catch on with lightning-like speed,
such as
>>Yale's precocious Scott Wexler, eighteen, who confided to The New
York
>>Times, "I kind of like walking through the picket lines." This young
man
>>will make a fine assistant regional manager at Wal-Mart--or possibly
a
>>college president.
>>
>>Fortunately, not all students are buying the administrations' lesson
plan.
>>At Harvard in the spring of 2001, students occupied an administration
>>building for twenty-one days to persuade the administration to
bargain with
>>campus janitors, many of whom were paid only $6.50 an hour. Last
spring,
>>Stanford students went on their own hunger strike in support of
campus blue
>>collar workers. And it's not just the super-elite schools that have
been
>>generating vigorous student-labor alliances. At mainstream public
>>universities like those of Maryland and Virginia, there are plenty of
>>students who would agree with Miami University's Justin Katko, when
he
>>writes that he got involved in the campus workers' struggle
because "I could
>>not allow such extreme disparities as are found on college
campuses . . . to
>>exist without being ashamed of myself for apathy."
>>
>>It's hard to concentrate in classrooms that were cleaned during the
night by
>>people who can barely make rent. You tend to choke on your chicken
fingers
>>when the cafeteria is staffed by men and women who have to work a
second job
>>in order to feed their own children.
>>
>>
>>Barbara Ehrenreich is a columnist for The Progressive. She is the
author of
>>"Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" and "Blood Rites:
Origins
>>and History of the Passions of War."



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