Let the Sun Shine In

There are cracks beginning to show in the façade erected by the administration at UNCG. They will want you to think that those cracks are damaging the foundation, but they are not. Those cracks are opening up the layers of false exterior that has been placed on our campus and the more they widen, the more the sun will be able to shine in and illuminate the campus. The larger the fissures in this exterior pastiche, the greater the strength of the light that will sanitize the darkest corners that have been collecting and supporting the moldy corruption of private interests over public good.

Don’t be fooled by the argument that you are damaging UNCG by helping to clear away the cobwebs and the dirt. It is time now, more than ever, to put our shoulders to the wheel and tear apart the architecture of bullying and corruption that was built brick by brick by appropriating our labor and standing on our backs.

Across the state, North Carolinians are realizing that higher education in our state is under full frontal assault. Here at UNCG we’ve been seeing the damage that can be inflicted when the interests of education are dismissed and the administration works with shrouded mechanisms to disenfranchise the staff, faculty, students, and community members of the university.

We are continually losing good people, some through dramatic attacks such as those made against the UNCG3, others in desperation and self-defense, and still more quietly finding greener pastures.

Then there are those who are finding that they have created an atmosphere to hot even for their own liking; who leave the damage they have done in their wake to be cleaned up by others.

The absolute disdain and dismissal with which the UNCG community is viewed by the upper administration is clear when Brady sends a message (to some) saying that she values the contributions that Paul Mason has made to university relations at UNCG. What contribution was this? The decimation of a department followed by jumping ship? However, it is most likely true. What he has done, and what others like him are doing right now on campus, is representative of what our administration has come to value.

Now, Charlie Maimone has shown his true colors. The faculty senate passed a resolution in support of a more open search for our next leader – a measure largely designed to prevent a repetition of Brady’s hire and to help us build trust from the ground up – but Maimone specifically voted for a completely closed search. The faculty voiced their desire to let a little more light shine in on the search and Susan Safran and the other members of the search committee dismissed this request wholesale and without even the benefit of a discussion.

This is where we are. Members of the UNCG community speak and the Board of Trustees and upper administration no longer even feel the need to pretend they are listening. They operate with immunity and in complete liberty to continually ignore the voices of the people who make up the university.

UNCG’s administration and members of the Board of Trustees are violating our university’s core values:

Where is the inclusiveness?

Where is the collaboration?

Where is the transparency?

They make a mockery of these terms and expect us to celebrate it.

We are silenced again and again by demonstrations of raw power – the ability to move ahead with an agenda no matter the objections. This isn’t about not always getting what we want. This is about never even truly being a part of the decision making process.

We are tired of being patronized.

We are tired of being lied to.

We are tired of being excluded.

It’s not the outcome, it’s the process. When upper administration is exhorting those below them to control the faculty, it is the structure of obfuscation that they are trying to protect. For anyone who supports openness and transparency in public institutions, the message is clear: don’t lose heart, don’t lose hope, the cracks are starting to show.

This spring, let’s do some cleaning and the let the sun shine in.

That’s the way to deal with the past while looking to the future.

Paul Keeps Good Company

They say it is possible to know something about a person by judging the quality of their friendships. It speaks volumes that the only people who have come to the defense of Paul Mason are either a) non-existent, b) equally crooked, and/or c) the disgraced Chancellor who hired him.

Setting aside the Chancellor, as she has conveniently done for herself, the public defense of Paul Mason has included three “people.”

Mark Townsend

Townsend Marketa was the N&R commenting alter ego of the Assistant General Counsel at VF Corporation Mark Townsend. Once you recover from the profoundly clever pseudonym (I mean, who could ever make the connection with anything less than super spy code breaker skills…or 2 seconds of spare time) you might begin to wonder why Mark is so interested in calling all of the faculty at UNCG stupid. On top of that, he nearly immediately regretted his comments in response to News & Record articles and removed all of them from the page. But, not before intrepid blogger Billy Jones got screen grabs. I wonder if it is VF policy to have their executives disparaging one of the largest employers in their hometown area?

Here’s the connection between Mark and Paul:

Paul Mason, Director, Corporate Communications

VF Corporation

Public Company; 10,001+ employees; VFC; Apparel & Fashion industry

2006 – 2011 (5 years)

It was here that Mason built his skills using the court system to get rid of unwanted employees. Here where his name still invokes such fear that people will not speak on the record about their experiences. Here where Mason and Townsend engaged in whatever dirty work has bonded them together in a slimy brotherhood.

Dan Shriner

Danny boy…well, what can I say. This is the lone supporter of Mason who still chooses to vent his spleen in the News & Record comments section and he’s an angry little boy. He mostly trolls, stating things that are incorrect in the great tradition of bullshit artists everywhere. For a man who lives in Michigan he shows an awful lot of interest in our humble little institution…is he just a big hearted Samaritan who has been touched by the plight of poor wittle Paulie, a fellow human being?

I guess it could have been that. Actually though, Shriner used to be a journalist but then he got fired from his paper (The Flint Journal) in Flint for making false accusations against a local business owner. He clearly hasn’t learned much…although in his defense at least this time he’s making false accusations against business owners at a much greater distance. So, I guess that’s a start. He now spends his days having his photo taken on yachts and spewing nonsense at Greensboro’s paper.

He may, or may not, have learned to overlook things such as truth and justice during his involvement with the white supremacist movement in the early 1980s.

In any case, Paul and Dan know each other from Mason’s past (during the white supremacist phase Dan had, no less…) as reporters for Newhouse Newspapers. And they are both as crooked as the day is long and mean to boot, so naturally, they got along. Dan’s still out clubbing the bushes for his friend – it’s a beautiful story of loyalty and love, really.

From Mason’s LinkedIn profile:

Paul Mason, Reporter/Business Reporter

Newhouse Newspapers

1985 – 1992 (7 years) Charlotte, NC; Flint, MI, Saginaw, MI

Still though, that’s not a lot of friends to have developed over such a long and varied career. Compare that to the number of people who have come out in support of the UNCG3 – some are friends and colleagues but some are people who have just seen the situation for the farce that it is.

Besides, Mark has really disappeared from the scene, so now it’s just Paul and Dan to the bitter end.

And I think that end will be bitter indeed.

Paul Mason is Leaving UNCG but We Aren’t Done with Him Yet

Free at last, free at last.

Paul Mason has not yet announced it, but will be leaving UNCG on February 6^th to pursue better opportunities. Who wouldn’t these days? After all, he only cleared out nearly a century’s worth of accumulated knowledge distributed among those who were once employed in the now ravaged university relations department. He’s been hired to swing the axe somewhere else, that’s for sure. Anyway, he’d done what he came here to do and so why would he stay?

It probably would be hard for him to come back to work the day after the public hearing that will be held as part of Lyda Carpen’s grievance process.

There’s also not that many people left for him to intimidate, fire, or have arrested.

His protector, Linda Brady, will be leaving at the end of the year.

This is a man who never holds a job for very long anyway.

Here’s the thing though. He doesn’t get to walk away from this as quietly as he’s walked away from the other places where his devastating personality has been allowed to roam freely. Now, if you type “paul mason uncg” into the Google search engine, the top hits are almost all about the damage he has done and the brazen stupidity of his actions at UNCG.

The people who hired him no doubt know who and what he is, and my heart goes out to those who will fall under his dominion. However, no longer will they have to search and scrape to find out why this is happening – it’s well documented that this is what he does. If you find out you’ll be working for Paul Mason, you’d better get your running shoes on, but you won’t be alone. Eventually, his name will stand for the pure toxicity that his personality leaks.

We’ll follow you Paul.

This isn’t over.

20 Money Saving Ideas for UNCG

Dear faculty, staff and students,

As we all struggle together to determine ways for UNCG to thrive in these times of continued budget shortfalls, my staff and I have worked hard to develop the following new policies.

1. Employees will be charged for units of heat absorbed by their bodies (or conversely for the units of air that have to be cooled given the heat they radiate) in any and all campus buildings they occupy during working hours. Just because you work here doesn't mean that the air temperature has to be modulated for free!

2. Henceforth all UNCG employees must supply their own toilet paper. After all, that's the most personal business that I can think of and, frankly, you should have thought of that before you left for work.

3. Departments will now need to pay for any capital letters they wish to use in printed materials as these letters require more ink and therefore cost the university money. This goes for any frivolous punctuation such as the semi-colon and the asterisk.*

4. Employees are not to use the letters U, N, C, or G after working hours, especially not for personal business which would be in direct conflict then to the interests of the university. That's our name, don't wear it out.

5. Electron offset forms must be filled out for any content sent via email that is not directly work related. Employee paychecks will be deducted for electron overage on a month to month basis.

6. No employee may use trash or recycling receptacles at work for personal refuse. Carry your lunch wrapper home with you. In fact, don't eat lunch unless you plan on deducting it from your vacation time.

7. Due to budget cuts, each department will now only be allowed one keyboard.

8. There will be no more self parking on campus. All parking will now be valet to be overseen by the new Vice Assistant Associate Chancellor of Parking. Remember to tip.

9. Should a member of the upper administration be confronted by a puddle or other daunting obstacle, the closest staff member should use their body as a bridge to shield the executive from the emotional stress of having to overcome the egregious difficulty.

10. All campus mail will be C.O.D.

11. No desk or work area may have more than one photo of a child or loved one. This will be overseen by the Director of Visual Representations, who is directly under the Vice Chancellor for Familial Management and External Relationships. And for God's sake, don't print the photo on the campus printer...which brings us to number 12...

12. Staff across campus will now share one printer. It is currently out of toner and you must supply your own paper and electrical current.

13. The Associate Sub Vice Chancellor for Writing Implements will be the primary billing agent for any pencil sharpening requests. Yes, you will be billed for the requests. There will be no actual pencil sharpening.

14. All requests for necessary office supplies must be filled out five years in advance via a form that is indicated by a broken link on the UNCG website.

15. Rather than offering all of these different 'sections' of 'courses' in 'majors' across campus, all students will now be enrolled in a single section offered once at the beginning of the semester. Faculty will be reduced to, approximately, one grossly underpaid adjunct.

16. Human Resources will be outsourced to Albania. All contact must be made by mail and will be returned unopened.

17. To reduce the costs associated with data management, all employee email will now be archived for no longer than 30 seconds.

18. Anyone with a last name longer than five letters will have an overage surcharge deducted from their pay.

19. Faculty and Staff senate meetings will be replaced with 'Donations Hour' allowing members who attend to leave the room only after emptying their pockets, wallets, and purses.

20. Christmas is cancelled.


Thank you for all you do for UNCG!

Sincerely,

Linda P. Brady

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*Administrative asterisks excepting.

Latest Employee Paycut

I think we're just about scraping the bottom of the barrel in terms of ways to suck money up to the top layer of fat at UNCG. A new policy has just been announced by the Chancellor's office regarding adverse winter weather. Really, you will find yourself in one of three tracks should the roads be covered with ice and visibility reduced to only slightly past the end of your own nose.

Track 1: You are an essential employee. You must come to work. No matter what. Plagues of locusts, sharknadoes, or the storm of the century. You are probably paid the least and therefore your safety is cheaper. Upper admin uses the Jedi mind trick of saying your are essential but not valuable.

Track 2: You are not an essential employee. At least not in the sense of needing to risk life and limb on the highway coming to work...if you are willing to buy your safety. For the low, low price of a vacation day or leave without pay, you can stay off of the ice covered roads just long enough to realize that the money you have lost means that even if you could go out and get milk, you wouldn't be able to afford it.

Track 3: You make a ridiculous amount of money for something that nobody really can define. You aren't essential, that much is clear. You are encouraged to keep yourself safe and warm by your fireplace, wrapped in your imported noro afghan and occasionally wondering aloud "how the other half lives." Should you find the tedium of being trapped inside drinking brandy begin to overcome you, you could always reorganize departments, fire employees, create new draconian 'money-saving' policies or simply kick someone smaller and weaker.

My suggestion?

 When there's black ice on the roads and snows are piling up, let the chancellor warm up her fancy car and risk her $324,000 salary to come in and cook and clean and patrol. And let the men and women who are among the most shamefully underpaid employees have those days as paid vacation. I think that seems more just, don't you?

I'm confused...

Setting aside for a moment any opinion about Tom Ross’ efficacy as UNC system president, can somebody please explain to me why he has been forced out?

Is it because of this bit of character assassination issued by UNC’s Board of Governor’s Chairman John Fennebresque:

“President Ross has our complete confidence in managing an incredibly complicated system in an area, education[1], that is changing every day.”

Or the UNC athletics scandal as alluded to by Fennebresque using the poetic device of repetition to ensure that people’s minds were focused on, well, on the situtation:

“President Ross handled that situation, managed that situation, led that situation in exemplary fashion.”

Or because Ross indicated he was ready to go when he said:

“I wasn’t planning on leaving in the near future…It’s not an easy thing for me because, you know, I love it, and I would love to be here forever.”

Or is it a result of the dissatisfaction expressed by Governor McCrory in the statement:

“Tom Ross has been a great partner and longtime friend of my family. I want to especially thank him for helping us build bridges of cooperation between our K-12 schools, community colleges and universities.”

And obviously, he should not have been allowed to continue serving as UNC System President given this statement from the Board of Governors:

“The Board believes President Ross has served with distinction, that his performance has been exemplary, and that he has devoted his full energy, intellect and passion to fulfilling the duties and responsibilities of his office. This decision has nothing to do with President Ross’ performance or ability to continue in the office.”

The very nerve, no wonder he is being forced out. No one should have to tolerate that type of behavior.

And, of course, we can certainly rule out politics. There’s not really any reason to even need to bring that up, it so clearly doesn’t play a part in this decision. At all, I mean really, why would you even ask. There’s no possible way that politics can have played any part at all in getting rid of someone. I mean, just because the Board can’t come up with any reasons why they were getting rid of him doesn’t mean it’s political.  You’d be off your head to think that if the Board is so satisfied with him and he wants to stay where he is that politics could have been sufficient to cause the call for his resignation.

In fact, just to prove that this isn’t political, I have typed out the transcript of the press conference where Board of Governor’s Chairman, who certainly did not look like an Alzheimer’s patient in a rocking chair trying to recall how to use language, eloquently and powerfully expressed all of the reasons that the board made this decision in a way that did not appear the least bit hostile and certainly wasn’t outright stupid.

Fennebresque’s opening statement: “I want to make a few things clear, this Board believes that Tom Ross has been a wonderful president, fantastic work ethic, perfect integrity, worked well with our board, and, speaking for myself, and I have some great excitement about working with him for a minimum of a year and maybe longer. I wanted to clear something up, uhh that, I saw from some article with a quote attributed to a member of the board, which I am disappointed in and that is that age had nothing to do with this. Full stop. President Ross has our complete confidence in managing an incredibly complicated system in an area, education, that is changing every day. And I look forward to the next year plus with my president.”

Q: So, Mr. F. You said age had nothing to do with – there is a historical coincidence that his four preceding presidents retired, left at 65…so why?

A; It had nothing to do with the age, okay.

Q: okay why

A: I think, the board um felt like umm at the appropriate time uh there should be a transition to a new president and (pause) well, we had a timeline umm that we were thinking along and, and President Ross had a, had a different timeline and that’s it.

Q: So, with respect, that doesn’t really answer the question. You had a different timeline, what does that mean?

A: I think it answers the question. Look at the statement, it answers the question.

Q: It seems to me there was a difference of opinion, but you must have had a reason, but you’re not saying what the reason was.

A: Figuring out, uh trying to figure out the time for this board to (five minute pause) work with a new leader a year from now that may bring uh other umm assets to the, to the job. It has. Tom, has been terrific.

Q: Did the board have pressure from legislative members

A: okay there is one of me and, and 32 of us. I had absolutely none. Okay?

Q: Have you heard of other board members…

A: No. I just know people who live in Raleigh talk about politics. But I don’t live in Raleigh.

Q: When you talk about other assets that the next president could bring, what are you referring to?

a. Ummm… a lot of that is, uh is, is gonna be determined by a search committee and my experience with a search committee is zip. So, our, our board of governors is going to, we’ve gotta do a, a job description, and, and so it’s all new, so I, I , I , I would, I’m just, I’m just going to wait until umm we have a ummm this organizational meeting of the search committee and try to explain it, have 32 people weigh in on it and then give the uh, give the uh characteristics, the traits.

Q: Mr. Ross, you said there was a difference of timeline. What was your timeline?

A: [Ross] Well, I don’t know that I had finely determined what one was, but you know I’ve been enjoying my work with the BOG and I think we’ve accomplished a lot during the last four years. When I cam here I was clear that I would not be ready to stop working at age 65. And I’m not ready to stop working at age 65. So, I don’t know how much longer, but I was not planning on leaving in the near future. But, I think the board did have a different timeline and I respect their right to, and their prerogative to select the president, and I think so what we’ve done is develop a plan that will allow for a smooth transition and will allow the university to continue its work, and that has to be the most important thing, we have to put the university first and I know the board believes that I certainly do.

Q: do you think UNC-CH scandal attributed to that in any way?

A: [Fenne…] Let me answer that. Absolutely not. In fact, I would suggest to you that President Ross has handled that situation, managed that situation, led that situation in exemplary fashion and I’ve been with him all the way.

Q: If he’s done such a great job, if he’s such a wonderful president and you don’t even have assets or a job description indicating what you are looking for yet, why? What’s the hurry? Why do this now?

A: Um…it’s a, it’s a conversation, about, ummm. Ummm…succession planning, transition, ummm, and as you can see from the, umm, the document you’ll, I don’t know if you have it now, it’s 12 more months of this leadership, maybe more. There’s no magic to the time.

Q: President Ross, did anybody on the board give you a reason other than what’s stated?

A: [Ross] You know, we’ve had a lot of discussions about this and I think it’s the board’s interest to begin transition and we talked about how best to do this and this was the agreement.

Q: But no one has expressed dissatisfaction with what you’ve done?

A: [Ross] No, no I’ve had no one express dissatisfaction with the job you’ve done.

Q: Were there some on the board who didn’t want

A: [Ross]I don’t know the answer to that.

[Fenne] Umm.. the agreement was, umm, ummm, approved and the joint statement was approved by all but one person on the board. And we spent a long time talking with board members umm about it and I think that, that whatever, 31/32nds of the board is on the same page here.

Q: Does this have anything to do with politics?

A: Absolutely not. Ummm to elaborate on that umm it’s my understanding of BOG history that people have generally left their politics at the door. If we’re talking about politics D’s and R’s I have heard close to nothing about D’s and R’s since I’ve been on the board which is, how long have I been on the board? About four years.  I’m about in my fourth year. It doesn’t come up. I can’t tell you the registration of my fellow board members. They don’t ask me about mine. It doesn’t come up.

Q: President Ross, do you believe this has anything to do with politics?

A: [Ross] I think the board is committed to this university and I think what we’ve accomplished in the last four years has demonstrated that they are committed to the university and I think they’ll remain committed. I think what’s most important for people to remember today and every day this is the oldest public university in America and it’s one of the best public universities if not the best public university in America  it is and has been a key driver for this state’s success for its economy for its civic leadership and all of us have a responsibility to protect the university and I think the board is doing what they believe is right for the university ad I certainly am here today because I believe the university is one of our greatest asset and I have tried to give it all I can in my time so far and I continue to give it all I can for as long as my services are needed.

The board has both the legal right and responsibility and the prerogative to think about transition and move in a way that they think is best. And my job is to do the best job I can

[Fenn] this board agrees with president ross. This board takes very seriously its responsibility to the citizens of this state and the students, our 220,000 students. We take that very seriously, as does president ross and our wonderful cadre of chancellors, so the board is fully engaged in doing its very best to make sure that people, to, to not only keep improving the best system in the country but to make sure our elected leaders realize that this is, and our citizens, this is the most important asset that we have for the prosperity for our citizens and we are going to make that, over and and president ross and I have said that together and separately over and over and over again and we’re just going to yell even louder now.

Q: Mr. Ross would you have done anything differently

A: [Ross] that’s a complex question because I’ve done so many things that to think back over four years and say would I have done anything differently, I suspect there are but I can’t think of them right now. I ’m proud of the work I’ve done, I think we’ve done a lot together. You know, this has been a period of transition for the university in many ways. There has been a dramatic change of board leadership there has been a dramatic change in the state’s leadership and policy makers…there’s been about as bad of an economy as we’ve had, so it’s been a challenging time to lead. I’m proud that we are here where we are today. I think we are still the best public university in America, I don’t think we’ve lost ground and To me, that says a lot given what we’ve been through. I don’t, I can’t point to a single thing that I would do different…I’m sure there are a few here and there.

[Fenne interrupting and not sounding at all desperate] I can point to a bunch of things he’s done well!!

[Ross] I’m very proud of what we’ve done and what we’ll continue to do, I mean, again, as the chair points out, I’m not out of here this afternoon. I plan on being here working for the university until at least next January.

Q: you were a big advocate for Elizabeth State

A: you know, our new chancellor there is off to a great start and she’s working really hard, that institution has challenges there is no doubt about that, the board has made it clear that they are excited to work with her. I am an advocate for that institution, I am an advocate for all of our universities…Elizabeth city state is no different and for that part of the state it’s a very, very important institution and we need to remember that. I think we have our challenges still ahead, we do with a lot of our institution, it’s not been an easy time…very high on its importance to the state and I don’t plan to change my view of that and I don’t think the board will either.

Q: [address to vice president of board] Mr. Bisset , you are here for a reason. He’s been in the hotseat so far. He’s itemized a number of things that President Ross has been exemplary in,  he’s certainly not leaving because of his age. And neither one of them were really able to answer the question about whether or not politics had a factor in this…

A: [Fenne] That’s not true! I said No!

Q: You said ‘no’?

A: [Fenne] Yeah, really clearly, and it’s a short word!

Q: And that’s true as far as it relates to you, would you…

A: [Bisset] And I would say no as well. I would say no as well. You know in every organization there comes a time when there is a leadership transition and that’s what’s happening here and it’s... you know Tom is not leaving tomorrow he’s gonna to be with us for at least a year, he’s gonna, he’s gonna to consult with us after that, he’s an extremely important part of this university, and he’s our leader and will be our leader for some time to come and on top of that he’s a dear friend of mine and a dear friend of most of the people on that board.

Q: Can you tell us when the decision was reached, and how it was communicated, and how you all convened to decide this.

A: [Fenne] That’s personnel and I’m not going to talk about personnel. What’s next.

Q: President Ross, when did you first learn that this was in the works?

A: [Ross] We’ve, um, we’ve had conversations over the last several days. So I think and I ‘m sure the board has given this a lot of thought. We’ve had some healthy conversations over the last few days we’re at the point where Tuesday morning, Monday we celebrated Martin Luther King day on Monday and Tuesday morning I’ll be here and my staff will be here.

[Fenne, again not seeming either overly desperate or like a person suffering from press conference related Turrets]: With the support of 32 members of the Board of Governors!

Q: Chairman, looking to the future, how soon will you start your official search process for his successor?

A: You know what? What is it, about noon on Friday? So…I don’t know. We’re gonna find out. So, McNeil is chair of governance and she got some advice from the prior chair of the BOG Hannah Gauge that maybe the processes we have in place to generally search for presidents is unnecessarily cumbersome, complicated, and so we’re working on that, that’s not, that’s in, in , in process, and then we’ve gotta, we’ve gotta get together and articulate the characteristics and traits of a new president. So it’s, we’re not in a hurry because it’s got to be the right decision because we’re five for five as a system and we want to be six for six. Does that make sense to you?

Let me, and let me answer you about Elizabeth city state. That’s a…I support Elizabeth City State University. It’s hard. I mean, its enrollment has gone off the cliff, right? If effort ummm and commitment can turn it around we’ve got that, okay.

Q: Mr. Ross you said that you’ve had these conversations over the last several days, was there an event that precipitated those conversations? Was there some reason that those conversations started, at say the beginning of this week first, for example?

A: [Ross] I mean, they were…Mr. F came to see me and we started talking about it. I think that the board was in a place where it wanted to begin the transition

Q: Has the board met in the last week or two?

A: [Fenne] No.

Q: Well, then I should address the question to you Mr. F, is there a precipitating event?

A: No. No.

Q: okay.

A: We are very pleased with Tom Ross’ umm efforts on behalf of the UNC system and I don’t know what the current count is, but he’s brought in about 9 new chancellors and we think he’s found us some great ones and we’re excited about them, I guess in the normal course, I guess 9 is a lot in four years…so we’re gonna…

Q: The fundamental question may be: where does the board want to go? You know You’re talking about change and I would think that before you can go through the procedure to terminate a new chancellor you need to determine where you want to go. Can you give us some insight on where the board wants to go going forward.

A: No. I’d like to clarify a couple of things, there was no termination and he’s not the chancellor, he’s the president.  And uhhh There was no precipitating event at all, he’s been wonderful and a very close friend of, to me and to most of us.

Q: Mr. Fenne... you spoke definitively when I mentioned politics and the role that it may or not played you said it did not play a role. I believe earlier you said that you were one of 32 and that it had no relationship to your considerations. Could you clarify that? What role, if any did politics play in this decision?

A: I don’t understand. What’s the confusing part?

Q: I think you’re, you’re more recently talking about generally and I think initially you were speaking about yourself individually.

A: That’s just me. My saying things right. I think I was trying to tell you, I don’t know. I can’t tell you what 32 other people…they don’t talk about it with me.

At this point, the incredibly insightful interview was complete and Mr. Fennesomething went home, secure in the knowledge that the money he had sacrificed for the “Public Speaking with Sarah Palin: Learning Jobs America And” was well spent.

So, there you have it, folks. Straight from the horses mouth: there was absolutely no reason to get rid of Ross because he was the most fantastic thing since sliced bread and it was ABSOLUTELY NOT about politics. It was because Tom Ross likes Coke and the Board likes Pepsi.

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[1] For those of you who weren’t paying attention to what area he was in, I guess. Thank goodness he clarified.