Of Blogs and Truths and Other Things

When I read my messages this morning, someone had sent me an entertaining suggestion for the best route to the truth. They are of the opinion that the UNCG police department either doesn't have the guns I wrote about yesterday and/or that it is not so out of the ordinary if they do since we are post-Columbine, post-VA Tech. In either case, they suggested that my blog post wasn't accurate and that I had been lax because:

"You could have asked the department to get the (updated) facts. "

While I am deeply appreciative of their efforts to get me the facts, something I am always trying to have a handle on, they have hit on exactly the problem. Asking questions here does not get you answers. I have spent years asking questions and the difficult is that I NEVER get answers. There are so many incidences where simple facts could smooth out any number of apparently gordian knots and yet, information is guarded as if it is a dangerous commodity, not to be trusted in the hands of the little people. 

The person who wrote was a graduate of UNCG and, I have to admit, an excellent writer. They quote (from a source I could not identify) that the six weapons in question were M-16 rifles that were given to them for free as part of the Law Enforcement Support Services and that they don't have them anymore:

"The 'found that the surplus weapons did not meet' their 'needs because of their overall length and began phasing them out for more suitable ones. Those six weapons were transferred to another North Carolina law enforcement agency and are no longer in' their 'possession.'"

If that is a statement made by someone on the UNCG police to a concerned citizen, then they are certainly not using the same spokesperson as the rest of the university, because even the simplest question gets a resounding 'no comment' slapped on it here. 

However, I'm still confused because the rebuttal states that the weapons were free whereas the documents obtained by the Marshall Project show a cost of just under $3,000. 

I am glad to hear they don't have them any more...if that's actually the case. I don't know a lot about guns and the response references M-16 rifles while the information from the pentagon references a 5.56 millimeter rifle - those might be exactly the same thing for all I know since the M-16 shoots 5.56 mm ammunition and holds 30 rounds as in the pentagon description. 

The UNCG police department has administration and it has staff, just like any other organization. At its helm has been a chief perfectly willing to arrest UNCG employees for failing to be as sneaky as those they worked for. I don't think a little extra inspection of their other decisions and processes is unwarranted.

And for those of you still hung up on my failure to be a journalist, your corrections and information are always welcome, but remember: this is a blog. 

Feel free to start your own.

Don’t Be Fooled

There are those who will say that this blog is weakening UNCG – that it could destroy it.

I am not so egotistical as to believe that the words I write have the power to destroy without foundation. If UNCG is so weak as to be able to crumble as a result of a blog, well, it’s hard for me to believe it was standing up to begin with.

What is weakening is the ability of the administration to do as it pleases with no fear of repercussions.

What is weakening is the shadow that has been cast by this administration and the possibility that it will continue to block out the sun for years to come.

I will be glad to see those things weakened and destroyed. Don’t listen to the execs when they tell you that these words have harmed UNCG. These words bring to light the harm that they have done to UNCG…and they would like you to believe that they are the heart and soul of the institution.

They are not.

If Jan Zink can’t bad mouth our donors and squander their money, UNCG will be stronger.

If Bryan Terry can’t verbally abuse his staff, screaming and yelling like a tyrant, UNCG will be stronger.

If Edna Chun and Bonita Peace can’t ignore the heartfelt pleas of faculty and staff for just treatment and basic dignity, UNCG will be stronger.

If a chancellor can’t accept the position assuming that we are their personal piggy bank with an unruly mob meant to be suppressed, UNCG will be stronger.

If anyone working here now or in the future knows that they must make a commitment to the larger university and Greensboro community when they accept a position, knows that they are taking a place in a vibrant and dynamic culture, understands the bounds of human decency, and accepts the mantle of responsibility to something larger than their own agenda, UNCG will be stronger.

Don’t ask me to stop working for those goals, because I won’t. And don’t be fooled when those with much to lose whimper as the risk increases. They weren’t thinking of others before and they aren’t doing so now.

I have heard from so many of you supporting the changes in the atmosphere that we are seeing begin to come about; let’s keep shaking things up and let the sun shine in stronger than ever.

What Is a Bully?

A bully, according to the dictionary, is:

One who uses superior strength or influence to intimidate someone, typically to force him or her to do what one wants.

Consider the power relationship that exists between Sophie and members of the upper administration at UNCG. What power does she hold? Then, I ask you to think about the relationship between members of the upper administration and their employees.

Where does the power lie? Who is doing the bullying? How can a nobody ‘bully’ the powerful? If I have power, it lies in speaking the truth.

The accusation of injury is a typical tactic when the powerful get called out; to turn the tables and play the victim.

It means this is working.

I am sorry if these people find their own actions to be cruel and insulting. I am sorry if they are experiencing any small measure of the discomfort that they have doled out so glibly to others over the years. I am sorry that this filth had to exist in order for it to come to light.

If there had been other means to address these issues; If it had been possible to deal with these problems via civilized discourse; If they weren’t bullies accustomed to the use of intimidation…but that’s not the world we live in. My mother always used to say: “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.”

If the executives find it horrifying, they must know that they are responsible. Sophie has held a mirror to their faces and they do not like it when others see their twisted reflection.

If the folks in the upper administration at UNCG are truly concerned with the creation of a positive work environment, then I applaud them. Admitting they have a problem is a first step, but unfortunately, I have seen no indication that such an admission is forthcoming. 

Instead they will play the part of the injured innocent and make bizarre and melodramatic claims that the words I write could incite violence. They may as well claim that I will summon unicorns and the wrath of Horus. Dana Dunn plays the part of a horrified damsel asking if anyone would really like to come work on our campus where such behavior (writing about the truth) is acceptable.

Were they supposed to be more enticed by a place that has its employees arrested? That spends 91 million dollars on a Rec center while claiming a dearth of funds? Where screaming at your employees is considered an executive privilege? Where students are assaulted for exercising free speech?  I could go on, but it isn’t necessary. We’re national news.

The truth hurts. 

It’s time to clean up.

Learning from Australia

Call me a cock-eyed-optimist, but I hold onto this desperate hope that it is possible for people to learn from the past and thereby change their approach to present versions of not-new situations.

I am currently reading a book about the founding of Australia called The Fatal Shore and for the first 300 or so pages, I was simply enjoying the story and Hughes engaging style of writing. Australia was founded as a convict colony and as it developed into a more permanent settlement, the governing body was in a position in which society was divided into two quite distinct classes: the free and powerful who were living side by side with the prisoners who were there to be punished and provide labor. On page 378 Hughes describes the system that kept the prisoners ‘in place’:

“The more capricious the convict-overseer system was, the better it ‘worked’, since it demoralized the convicts as a group and made them weaker.”

Keeping the prisoners divided internally was official policy and one of the tools used was the continual reorganization of the convicts’ working groups. The officers sewed distrust among the convicts as a method to further ensure the security of the ruling class. The system was perfected under the leadership of George Arthur who, “never lost sight of the fact that to control a state’s labor supply is to control its political life.”

In order to maintain this type of strict division, Arthur knew that more than anything he needed people he could trust: loyalty was an acceptable substitute for imagination and he lived by the principle: “Never apologize. Never explain.” He was also incredibly vain and could not stand the least criticism of any kind and made every effort he could to demolish free press. It was the only voice that could make itself heard since any participation in the everyday mechanisms of government were denied to the convicts and anyone speaking in their support was ignored entirely.

End flashback.

What is there to learn here? Well, clearly that Brady and her style of administration is nothing new. At UNCG employees are now treated as second-class citizens in a land being divided up to benefit those who see themselves as unstained by having ever been like us. Reorganization, transfer, RIF, and the pressured exit are the tools used to shake up the bonds we form and keep us from recognizing the same shared grievances. Internal discord prevents the unity needed to speak as effective participants in our university’s governance while the capricious and unpredictable nature of our ‘leadership’ has caused such demoralization that we lose our will to struggle.

Do we have to sit through this again?

Enough. It is time to come together in support of openness and transparency at UNCG.

Bottom line to all those who engage in and perpetuate the anti-social, bullying behaviors that have become the norm in upper administration (you know exactly who you are): 

Apologize, Explain, and Demonstrate.

I know it hurts your pride, but it is time to humble yourself.

You may not believe you owe an explanation, but you do.

No more secrets, obfuscation, and outright lies.

Nothing heals like the light: let the sun shine in.