Israeli Propaganda Event at UNO Fails Miserably

On Thursday afternoon, an Israeli soldier headlines at an event at University of New Orleans, speaking in support of Israeli military occupation and apartheid. The event was part of a tour sponsored by Stand With Us, a notorious right-wing propaganda organization. The soldier was not just racist against Arabs and a former participant in the illegal armed occupation of Palestinian land - she had previously blogged that as a student she led a campaign to "shut down" the African Studies Department at the University of Arizona and take away the tenure of the head of the department.

According to reports from the event, the room was initially full. Many wore red shirts with names of children killed by IDF soldiers taped to the front. The soldier started telling a story about a "terrorist" she caught and said "I hope none of you are wearing his name." As the video below shows, as soon as the soldier started speaking the room almost completely emptied out.

Of those who stayed, most were protestors who challenged the pro-military propaganda with difficult questions. Two protestors also stood at the front of room holding up a recent photo from a funeral for Palestinian children killed by an Israeli missile strike on Gaza.

The action was the latest in a long history of Palestine activism in New Orleans.

Update: For a more thorough description of the event, see this link.

Unprecedented, Massive Cuts Devastate University of New Orleans

While barely covered in the local media, the University of New Orleans is facing another round of brutal and devastating cuts, quickly transforming an already-under-resourced school into a shadow of its former self. Below is a letter from UNO President Peter Fos outlining some of the cuts. While this letter attempts to spin positives out of the situation, the basic facts are clear: public education at every level in Louisiana is under the most major attack in our state's history.

To: All Faculty, Staff and Students
From: Peter J. Fos, President
Date: August 14, 2012
Re: Budget Reduction Plan

I am announcing the University’s budget reduction and savings plan that will total approximately $12 million by the end of the current fiscal year. The cuts are due to a reduction in the University’s state appropriation of $9.3 million and increases in retirement costs, fringe benefits and other mandated expenses as well as an expected moderate decline in enrollment for the fall 2012 semester.

These represent the most significant budget cuts in the history of our institution. We undertook this process with great deliberation, intent on preserving the academic core of the University. We solicited feedback from both academic and non-academic  personnel. And we were still faced with some very difficult choices. I am disappointed that that we have been forced to eliminate instructor and staff positions, but we simply didn’t have any choice. We remain committed to maintaining academic quality and giving our students the best university experience possible.

The University’s total operating budget this year totals approximately $111 million. Although state approved tuition increases allowed under the LA Grad Act have increased self-generated revenue to $71 million of the school’s budget, these adjustments have not been sufficient enough to offset an overall decline in state support to the University.

The budget reduction plan includes incentivized faculty retirements (projected to be approximately 25), incentivized classified staff retirements (projected to be approximately 28), elimination of vacant faculty positions (30), terminal contracts to faculty (5), elimination of funding for graduate assistantships (26) and elimination of non-classified staff (16, including 5 in administration), resulting in a cumulative savings of $3.3 million.

Other savings will be achieved through several approaches including:

•             Mandatory annual leave for seven days for staff and administrators. This will allow the University to close buildings during Spring Break and Lundi Gras to save on utilities (expected savings of $100,000).
•             Outsourcing the University bookstore. This is expected to be completed by December 2012(pending approval of University of Louisiana Board of Supervisors). The immediate impact will be a cash savings of $500,000.
•             Anticipated lease of university property to third party (pending approval of University of Louisiana Board of Supervisors); expected to bring in $100,000 to $120,000 annually.
•             Reduction in adjunct faculty budget ($250,000)
•             Reduction in travel expenditures by 47% ($329,000)
•             One million dollar contribution from the UNO Foundation to the general scholarship fund

The remainder of the shortfall will be made up through a series of efficiencies and increases in self-generated revenue.

This process has been especially difficult because of the cumulative effects of the budget cuts over the past several years. Since January of 2009, our state appropriation has been cut approximately $28 million. But as you can see by the measures we are taking, we are not simply cutting our way out of this predicament. We have also identified areas where we can generate revenue to help offset the cuts.

I am grateful for the hard work and dedication of our faculty and staff, and I am thankful for our talented and diverse students. UNO has a history of overcoming obstacles and, while this challenge may be unprecedented, we will certainly persevere once again.

Honduran Coup Leader Meets With New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, Tulane University President Scott Cowen, and Other Local Leaders

Civic and political leaders in New Orleans took steps this month towards support and recognition of the illegal and anti-democratic government of Honduran coup-supporter Porfirio Lobo Sosa. In a meeting reported in the Tulane University newspaper The Hullabaloo, local education leaders pledged cooperation with the illegal government, which violently overthrew the elected government of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya on June 28, 2009. Sosa was installed in office in a 2009 election organized by coup leaders that is still not recognized by many Latin American countries.

According the report in the September 17 Hullabaloo, "President Sosa joined Mayor Mitch Landrieu, Tulane President Scott Cowen and representatives from University of New Orleans, Loyola University, Dillard University, Xavier University, Southern University of New Orleans and Louisiana State University in signing a memorandum of understanding. The memorandum formalizes their commitment to move forward by working together in three key areas: healthcare, public education and student exchange."

Coup leader Sosa - who's daughter is enrolled at UNO - seems especially interested in the privatization of health care and education, and in following the example of New Orleans in firing 7,500 public school employees and ceasing recognition of their union. “We’ve had a huge problem with teachers’ unions,” said Mayra Pineda, former Consul General and current liaison between the Honduran government and New Orleans city officials. “Charter schools are certainly one option to try to solve the union situation.”

Apparently, none of New Orleans' local leaders took the opportunity of the meeting to express concern over the charges that the coup government has assassinated journalists and other opposition leaders. “About 80 percent of our students are from New Orleans, and many, for financial reasons, can’t go abroad,” said outgoing UNO Chancellor Tim Ryan. “So to be exposed to Latin Americans in their classes provides a tremendous learning experience.”

New Orleans Higher Education Consortium: More Hostile Takeover Than Cooperative Endeavor

This statement was prepared by the Save UNO Coalition.

Members of the SAVE UNO coalition (a group of concerned students, faculty, staff, and alumni of UNO), write to express opposition to plans outlined in a recent proposal of unknown origin to create a New Orleans Higher Education Consortium (NOHEC) consisting of the University of New Orleans (UNO), Southern University of New Orleans (SUNO), and Delgado Community College.

The proposal promises that the consortium will make available new paths to success for local students, but we are most skeptical about these claims. We find the proposal heavy-handed and more like a hostile takeover that will gut SUNO and restrict access to higher education than a cooperative model that will improve public higher education in New Orleans.

The proposal has all the elements of a hostile takeover of SUNO: break up the target; sell off valuable assets; change operating procedures; and raid its cash reserves. The break up involves elimination of the library, student center, and many academic programs at SUNO, tearing down SUNO’s historic south campus and selling the land to raise money to buy land on the south side of UNO’s main campus to build a new NOHEC campus.

Changes in operating procedures include new admissions standards and creation of joint admissions and counseling centers to track students through a maze of new courses and programs available to select students from each college. The raiding of cash reserves involves re-direction of what’s left of $92 million in federal aid to SUNO granted since 2005, including $32 million in federal grants secured by SUNO in 2009 to re-build the original campus. Our concerns about this matter are serious enough that the proposed consortium should be re-framed as a hostile takeover, and we oppose such a takeover.

An Historically Black College Is Undermined:

The break-up of SUNO deprives New Orleans of an historically black college that has stood for decades as a beacon of opportunity for local residents. SUNO is part of the Southern University system, Louisiana's Historically Black Colleges and University (HBCU) system founded in 1880 when there was little public education available for Black people. SUNO was established in 1956 when Louisiana public education was still legally segregated. It also serves as an anchor of Pontchartrain Park, the first housing sub-division in New Orleans designed for Blacks.

While legal segregation in education and housing has ended, Louisiana still does not have equal access to either quality education or housing. Indeed, in a city that was two-thirds Black before Katrina, only 24% of UNO students are Black.

The NOHEC proposal leaves SUNO with a new north campus that offers “a limited number of degree programs,” has no library, student center, or recreation facilities. Such a campus hardly retains its separate academic integrity. Absorbing SUNO into UNO and Delgado means fewer African Americans will have access to higher education in Louisiana.

Demolition of Rebuilt Homes:

The NOHEC proposal states that SUNO’s original Pontchartrain Park campus will be torn down and sold. Proceeds of that sale will be used to acquire new land south of the UNO main campus where the new NOHEC campus will be built. The proposal goes on to state that these land transactions will benefit revitalization of both the Gentilly and Pontchartrain Park neighborhoods.

The proposal to redesign public higher education institutions in New Orleans would actually have a disastrous impact on a largely residential neighborhood located adjacent to the UNO Main Campus that has been substantially rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina. Known variously as Burbank Gardens and St. Anthony, this part of the Gentilly neighborhood is bounded by Leon C. Simon Drive on the north, Elysian Fields Avenue on the east, Robert E. Lee Boulevard on the south, and the London Avenue Canal on the west. Comprised mostly of residential duplexes, it once served as officers’ housing for the Naval Air Station that occupied the current UNO site during and following World War II.

Ravaged by major flooding during Katrina, this neighborhood has largely rebuilt over the past four and half years. These homes, along with four businesses on Elysian Fields Avenue, and the New Orleans Mosquito, Termite and Rodent Control office make up the site – all of which likely face demolition under the NOHEC proposal.

Area residents interviewed responded with disbelief regarding proposed plans for their neighborhood. Several remarked that they have worked hard to re-build their homes – and want to stay. While university officials state that there is a glut of housing available, relatively few are duplexes and none are nearby.

Neighborhood Statistics – Preliminary visual survey method

A visual survey of the area was made April 26, 2010 by K. Brad Ott, Masters of Arts Candidate, Department of Sociology, University of New Orleans. Questions or comments welcome: kott@uno.edu.

Totals:
201 lots with homes before Hurricane Katrina
154 houses repaired and occupied (permanent electric meter inspection)
13 houses undergoing restoration
13 houses unrepaired or just gutted
20 vacant lots
129 of the total are two family (duplexes) repaired and occupied
10 of the total are two family (duplexes) undergoing renovation
7 of the total are two family (duplexes) unrepaired or just gutted
4 businesses (3 of which are repaired, with 2 in operation; 1 unrepaired).

Summary of Objections to NOHEC Proposal:

We have serious questions about proposed changes in admissions standards and procedures at all three schools.

The consortium raises admissions standards at UNO and SUNO, which makes them less accessible, and it tracks less well qualified students to Delgado. Prospective students will be directed to the appropriate “campus” and courses by new joint admissions and counseling services.

Recent reductions in counseling services at UNO make us skeptical that adequate funding will be available to serve these students. We also wonder which programs will be available and which programs will not be available for students tracked into SUNO and Delgado.

We are also skeptical that “some renovation dollars” can transform Bienville Hall on the UNO campus into anything close to a respectable complex for SUNO and Delgado administrators to run the NOHEC campus.

The question of how to pay for the NOHEC consortium returns us to the issue of raiding assets after a hostile takeover. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano delivered a $32 million federal aid program in August 2009 that she said was put together for SUNO and which underscores a commitment to re-build the Pontchartrain Park campus. What will happen to these funds under the NOHEC plan? What will become of the SUNO library and five other buildings that are under renovation, and that we are supposedly obligated to repair, not demolish? This includes the old and new science buildings, the Clark Education Building, and the Multi-Purpose Student Center on the original SUNO campus. Will these assets be re-directed to NOHEC?

We conclude that, while serious discussion is desirable about how best to reform higher education in Louisiana, the NOHEC proposal is not an appropriate path to follow. It amounts to a takeover of SUNO by UNO and presents too many unanswered questions to benefit Delgado.

Save UNO Coalition contacts: Jessie Jacobs: jjjacobs@uno.edu; phone: (608) 332-5947, Vern Baxter: vbaxter@uno.edu; phone: (504) 280-7312.