Re: [xmca] What gets noticed at AERA

[Robert Lake <boblake@georgiasouthern.edu>]

Dear Helena,
Thanks for being  wide awake.
I was only at AERA for 24 hours but
we will act on this message
and  pass it along. Maybe we
can  create a Change.org petition.
Does anyone know how to facilitate
that process?
RL

On Mon, Apr 16, 2012 at 2:02 PM, Helena Worthen <helena.worthen@berkeley.edu
> wrote:

> HI --
>
> I'm going to re-post my original message, below.
>
> People are AERA are employed in higher education, right? We place students
> in fieldwork, internships, etc.  This little item that is presently offered
> in the MIchigan legislature would cut funding for a university if a student
> gets placed in a non-profit that advocates for workers. Please read what is
> below. Seems to me this would be pretty important to people working in
> higher education.
>
> If no one is talking about this, that's news, too -- the dog that didn't
> bark.
>
> Helena
>
>
> Helena Worthen
> helena.worthen@berkeley.edu
> 21 San Mateo Road
> Berkeley, CA 94707
> Visiting Scholar, UCB Center for Labor Research and Education
> 510-828-2745
>
> On Apr 14, 2012, at 11:31 AM, Helena Worthen wrote:
>
> > Hello --
> >
> > It sounds as if AERA is happening right now; if so, could someone keep
> an ear open and see if anyone has noticed what's going on in Michigan --
> some language that's being attached to the higher ed appropriations bill
> that attempts to prevent universities from placing students in any
> non-profit/civic, religious, etc organization that engages in "protest,
> demonstration or organization against a Michigan business."  This was sent
> to me by a colleague.
> >
> > I'm curious to see if this item came up in any discussions.
> >
> > Helena
> >
> >
> >
> >> Dear Colleague,
> >>
> >> We write to seek your support in averting an imminent threat against
> the academic freedom of Michigan’s public universities.
> >>
> >> When the Michigan legislature returns from recess next week, it will be
> voting on appropriations for state colleges and universities. Recently, the
> following language was added to the higher education appropriations bill:
> >>
> >> Sec. 273a. It is the intent of the legislature that a public university
> that receives funds in section 236 shall not collaborate in any manner with
> a nonprofit worker center whose documented activities include coercion
> through protest, demonstration, or organization against a Michigan business.
> >>
> >> As described in a recent front-page story in the Lansing State Journal,
> this disturbing language seems to have been the result of a field placement
> by a University of Michigan social work student with the Restaurant
> Opportunities Center of Michigan (ROC-Michigan). ROC is a non-profit
> organization dedicated to improving working conditions and opportunities
> for advancement in the restaurant industry. Among many other projects
> furthering fair and effective economic development in Michigan, ROC has
> articulated demands for fair treatment of workers in Michigan restaurants.
> It has been suggested that the Michigan Restaurant Association suggested
> the language above as a retaliatory move against ROC, its interns and their
> faculty advisors.
> >>
> >> This language is so broad that it could potentially prevent public
> universities from forming partnerships or placing students with virtually
> any civic, religious, or other non-profit organization that engages in
> public outreach. It represents direct interference by the legislature in
> the university curriculum, and thereby curtails the academic freedom of the
> universities, their faculty members, and students. It is essential that the
> fundamental academic freedom and citizen engagement that are at the heart
> of our universities’ mission not be held hostage to their budgetary needs.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> We are collecting individual and organizational endorsements to include
> on the letter which has been cut and pasted as well as attached to this
> document, to Michigan legislators in the appropriations and conference
> committees.   The legislature is moving quickly, and it is critical that
> you respond as soon as possible.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Please respond to the Intercollegiate Community Engagement Working
> Group at intercollegiatecommunity@gmail.com to indicate your willingness
> to sign on to this letter as an individual or as an organization, and
> please include your title and organizational position for identification
> purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact Ian Robinson (
> e.ian.robinson@gmail.com) or Michelle Kaminski (michellekaminsk@gmail.com)
> two members of the committee who are academic professionals.
> >>
> >
> > Helena Worthen
> > helena.worthen@berkeley.edu
> > 21 San Mateo Road
> > Berkeley, CA 94707
> > Visiting Scholar, UCB Center for Labor Research and Education
> > 510-828-2745
> >
> >
> > __________________________________________
> > _____
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> > http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
>
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-- 
*Robert Lake  Ed.D.
*Assistant Professor
Social Foundations of Education
Dept. of Curriculum, Foundations, and Reading
Georgia Southern University
P. O. Box 8144
Phone: (912) 478-5125
Fax: (912) 478-5382
Statesboro, GA  30460

 *Democracy must be born anew in every generation, and education is its
midwife.*
*-*John Dewey.
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