4A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, March 14, 2002 OP/ED (Tbz irigu ?at tiI 420 MAYNARD STREET ANN ARBOR, MI 48109 letters@michigandaily.com NOTABLE QUOTABLE SAM BUTLER THE SOAPBOX EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SINCE 1890 JON SCHWARTZ Editor in Chief JOHANNA HANINK Editorial Page Editor Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of the majority of the Daily's editorial board. All other articles, letters and cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily. ( (I don't want every American to have to drive this car." r , z icley we -' " " " O O s BLIk le maos+ I 1 - Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.), when pointing to affuel-officient car and voicing his distate for the vehicle during a senate debate over higher fuel efficience standards. As quoted by the Associated Press. le. s Z omit In . eel VIEWPOINT Faculty Grievance Process "a stacked deck" A by The Executive Committee of the University of Michigan chapter of the Ameri- can Association of University Professors On Jan. 28, 2002 the University's Faculty Senate Assembly unanimously passed the following resolution: "WHEREAS, the current faculty griev- ance procedures were recently adopted, with only minor unit specific changes, by the Schools and Colleges in 1998, and WHERE- AS there is now some practical experience with the grievance procedures, and WHERE- AS there are many strong indications that faculty do not avail themselves of the proce- dures because of a lack of confidence in 1) the non-determinative nature of the griev- ance decisions and 2) the lack of objectivity in the designated decision-maker; THEREFORE be it RESOLVED that: The Chair of Senate Assembly request the Provost to form a joint faculty and adminis- tration committee, comprised of three facul- ty-appointed and three administration appointed members, to draft a modification of the grievance procedures to address these apparent shortcomings." This action served notice that the freely elected faculty representatives might be inching toward a vote of "no confidence" in the present system of appeal for redress when administration actions leave faculty aggrieved. Faculty at the University are in the same boat as members of the Graduate Employees Organization when it comes to appealing administrative fiat, despite what you think. GEO President Cedric DeLeon has said that his union's previous contract left the Univer- sity administration as both "judge and jury." His organization sought independent arbitra- tion in grievance appeals for future contracts and for protection of its members. We of the American Association of Uni- versity Professors try to focus sharply on principles that affect faculty and the vitality of higher education. We pay heed to academ- ic freedom, faculty governance, and proce- dural fairness. Current grievance procedures at the University provoke us on the latter two points; but because fair process is at the heart of our societal liberty, even academic free- dom is potentially at risk. The response from central administration to the alarm sounded by elected faculty rep- resentatives has been predictably stonewall- like. In lieu of a working group proposed by the assembly, administrators were dispatched to the Senate Assembly Committee on Uni- versity Affairs to express satisfaction with present procedures. On Feb. 11, 2002, they made their points in earnest: Of the last 15 grievances filed under the existing policy, every one had been concluded in favor of the administration. What could possibly be wrong with that, they asked? Under current conditions, an aggrieved faculty member faces intolerable odds under American concepts of fairness. To under- stand the perversity, it is important to know that many grievances are lodged against deans or department chairs who themselves are appointed by the deans. Aggrieved indi- viduals plead to tribunals of three - two of whom are likewise subordinate to the dean or chair. These Grievance Review Boards can do no more than make a recommenda- tion to the dean. A former vice chair of; SACUA reported that in cases he personally studied, recommendations were always rejected when they did not agree with the administration. Individuals in the Human Resource office who administer the grievance process admit that, as employees of the central administra- tion, their obligation is to those administra- tors. In that role, they meet with and advise GRBs, appeal boards, and the deans and associate deans in the grievance decision process in asymmetrical "closed door" ses- sions that exclude grievants. Faculty representatives pointed out that independent attorneys have pronounced the existing process "a stacked deck." Because GRBs make only recommendations it is not worth the risk of opposing a dean. One chair of a recent GRB even acknowledged that despite evidence that "inappropriate harm" may have been done to a faculty member, the dean's own faculty were unmoved because "maybe they had to worry about subtle and not so subtle reprisals." The current faculty appeal process is flawed by conflict of interest. Provost and dean, and dean and chair, are allied by the implicit contract of mutual loyalty between them. That this affront to procedural fairness is thriving at an institution devoted to train- ing the future generations of America's lead- ers should alarm every citizen. (Please consult the minutes of SACUA and Senate Assembly at www.umich.edu/-sacua for additional infor- mation and for the quotations listed above.) I 4 The AAUP is the union that represents university professors. Read more about the grievance procedure and the problems that faculty have been having with it in David Enders' page one story, "Profs who sue U' allege retaliation " ,, a Open your eyes. DAVID HORN HORNOGRAPHY tt* esterday the Unit- ed Nations passed a resolution that supports the formation of a Palestinian state. I am not hopeful. It is a fright- ening reality when the best anyone can offer two feuding sides after decades of conflict is, "Can't we all just get along?" Please don't mistake this column's hon- esty for naivete. I don't want to write about Israel. It's a nasty desert populated by two tribes who refuse to behave like humans. Neither the Palestinians nor the Israelis deserve my attention right now. They don't deserve the world's attention until they demonstrate responsible behavior. You don't deserve help until you help yourselves. But I can't turn my eye from the newspa- pers and television. I try to, though. Over the past weeks, as violence has escalated in Israel, I have tried so hard to ignore the reali- ty of what is going on. It is a destructive and demoralizing,battle from which nothing good will come and my inclination has been to refuse to let it get me down. Call it denial. I am a Jew. I am not a passionately blind Zionist, but I am a Jew. I can only look away and ignore for a time; the hurt starts to find you. It found me a few nights ago, when I came home and jumped on the web after a very stressful day during which I managed to come down with a head cold. All I wanted to do in the world was make myself a cup of tea, see how the Mets did in spring training and crawl into bed. I signed online and real- ized that part of me - I don't know if it was the Jew or the columnist or the responsible human being - was saying, "Stop ignoring; face the music: Open your sheltered Ameri- can eyes. You can only hide in Ann Arbor for so long." These tribes - they're both so wrong and so right. It's hard to find groups of peo- ple in the world that have been pushed around as much or as long or by as many other groups as the Jews and the Palestini- ans. Before an American ever visits Israel, it is difficult for him or her to understand how valuable land is there. That point was driven home for me last week when I spent my spring break in California, driving all over a state that is 20 times larger than Israel. I was in Israel a few years ago and remember the sensation of, "Holy shit. They're arguing over a track of land about the size of my backyard." If you haven't been to the region, you have to find a way to understand the stakes. It is nothing an American can quite comprehend. Everything I read says the people want peace; it's the leaders of the two sides that are warmongers. There seems to be this bravado there among Israeli and Palestinian leadership that makes Bush and Rumsfeld look like hippies. I didn't want to believe that the people dying on both sides are vic- tims of irresponsible governance, but then I saw former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speak when he was in Southeast- ern Michigan a few months ago. I'm sure the man has had his frustrations in dealing with the other side, but I don't think I can forgive him for his blindly hawkish approach and war-loving rhetoric. I hope that he is not rep- resentative of his colleagues back in the Middle East, but I fear that he probably is. In my study of this conflict, the only con- clusion I have reached is that there is no right answer. If you aren't familiar with the issues at hand (then you probably stopped reading a while ago), do yourself a favor and become exposed to both sides. Pro-Israeli and Pro-Palestinian activists and advocates in this country (and on this campus) do a great job championing their respective cause with well-conceived, fiery rhetoric. Do listen to both sides, but find objective means of approaching the situation (that may mean lis- tening to the little voice inside your head, rather than anyone else's). Hate breeds hate. I am fearful of this situation. The more I read and the more I watch, the more I fear. I wish I had some greater insight on the con- flict - some resolution never before consid- ered. All I have, though,-is my perspective, from which I hope you can draw empathy. I have no grandiose final thought; no clincher to provoke or satisfy you. It's scary over there. Open your eyes to it. 6 6 David Horn can be reached at hornd@umich.edu. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Unions fight to ensure all people have decent treatment on the job To THE DAILY: I am writing to thank LSA sophomore Kyle Meteyer for his letter of support (Undergraduate population should not cross picket lines, 3/13/02), but also to gently cor- rect one of his central premises, which is that it is because GSIs are highly educated that we are valuable members of the Uni- wage. With other Graduate Employees Organization members, I walked a picket line in protest of this change two summers ago. As the chief negotiator for GEO, I can only bargain a contract for graduate employees. But it's not education or skill that gives people the right to decent treat- ment on the job or to the best contract they can win at the negotiating table. Anytime the University treats any employee as expendable, no matter what his or her level of education, it is a concern to GEO and- should be a concern to everyone. Aiv4SA PIC'ARD Arbor Islamic Center last Friday (Hateful messages left on cars, 3/11/02). Such acts of intimidation against ethnic and religious minorities tend to flare up in a social climate of aggression and fear. When no action is taken to change that climate, these pathetic acts of hate-filled individuals can do even more damage than was intended. Incidents like these need to be brought to the attention of the public quickly and accurately. Law enforcement personnel need to be vigilant and extend extra protection to vul- nerable groups. Most importantly, students need to work together to create a climate wxhe'~re tolesrance. indAprda~ndinca nd cinnrt . * .* . . ,. ~ . , . . ; , r , ,, , , a , a , a * a * . ., . , , ., x,, ,. , >, pa ern Qua ;nr s TTI )U : Il udc. ViZIU I~lUtGG. .: