Annie Lennox's new CD

I got a ticket for Annie Lennox on Oct 18. I won't say how much I paid to get one of the best seats in the house, but let's just call it my birthday present to myself. She has always been one of my favorite artists, from the poppy days of Eurythmics to her solo albums. As much as her voice, I love her visual creativity, her use of costumes, wigs, make-up, story-telling, characters. The new album is called Songs of Mass Destruction.
Here's the video for her new single "It's a dark road"

Whose success are we measuring?

No Child Left Behind is up for approval. I hate it that my daughter's school, which has improved performance for every category of student except one is being punished by the NCLB rules; the entire school is being labeled a failure because a group of special needs students is struggling, even though the rest of the student body is actually performing at a level higher than might be expected given the socioeconomic backgrounds of most of the students. That is a testament to how hard the students work and how good the staff at the school actually is.

I had an interesting moment in my class yesterday. As we were reviewing some basic ways to do research in the library, a student said that she wished there had been a class about this earlier in her major. Another student remarked that there are classes on how to use the library, offered by the library. I said that I wished we had the faculty to offer such a course, but that I agreed that elements of such instruction should be incorporated into all of our courses. On the other hand, I said, in their fourth year at the University, I also expected students to have made their way to the library already.
As my department engages in the very healthy exercise of reevaluating its undergraduate and graduate curriculum, we will talk about this issue, but I think it's interesting to read this blog post by John Lombardi about the idea of "Academic Entitlement" at Reality Check in Inside Higher Ed about how we collectively understand success: is the onus on students to do what they need to do to succeed? or on the institution?

"Graduation rate, for example, is seen as a measure of institutional effectiveness and anticipates that the institution will guarantee student learning at a level acceptable for graduation and successful entry into the world of work. In this formulation, the students’ responsibilities lie in attendance, but their academic success becomes the responsibility of the institution. When graduation rates are low or students fail to meet some testable standard, we assume that the institution failed, not that the student failed. Indeed, if the student fails, the remedy is to punish the institution and its teachers.

The academic success entitlement that students enjoy reflects a broader belief that institutions need to guarantee results not opportunity. This is a notion borrowed from the manufacturing world where we demand guarantees that the products we buy be free of defects and that all products of a certain type perform their functions in the same predictable and standardized way. This model, while effective for mass produced items constructed out of standard malleable materials where the producer controls the conditions of production, has little to do with high quality education. In a high quality educational context, as we who live here know, the academic enterprise requires the direct and responsible participation of student and teacher. Neither can fail, for if the student is lazy, poorly prepared, or just doesn’t care, the academic result will be poor no matter how expert the teacher. Similarly, if the teacher is incompetent, lazy, or unprepared, the academic result will also be poor no matter how responsible the student. When we place all the responsibility for academic success or failure on the institution and its teachers, exempting the student s, we create an engine capable of predictable mediocre performance."

If I give an assignment to my students that requires them to go to the reference room of the library and report back on items they reviewed there, but they don't actually go, whose responsibility is it when they don't get a good grade on the assignment? That sounds like a sarcastic question, but when the University is doing strategic planning around the goal of improving its graduation rates, but not giving serious thought to who is learning, what they are learning, or how they are learning, then the tail is wagging the dog.

Harvest Moon

Cassandra Wilson sings Neil Young's "Harvest Moon." Wait for it.
Dedicated to Nancy and Mark, with all my love.

Serendipity and brokering connections

I sent in a proposal for a conference that will take place in Cork City, Ireland, and I am hopeful that it will be accepted. Many of the participants are people I've met or want to meet, and I have never been to Ireland! I only found out about the conference because I happened to see a flyer next to the elevator in a building I don't usually go to, but where I had gone to attend a workshop. Serendipity! one of the organizers has written a book on a topic on which I have written as well, and we would like to meet each other, so I have some hopes that this will work out.

I also received word today that a project I helped someone else put together has been funded, and we will be able to go ahead with some really exciting plans. The idea was not mine, and I did not write the proposal, but I had a lot of ideas, and institutional connections or suggestions for connections to the person who was situated to do that work. I like the combination of effort in which I get to blather on excitedly about things that interest me, and someone else figures out the budget and does the dirty work of writing the proposal.

Another local networking project is coming together in almost the same way: I was walking into my building and a woman struck up a conversation. We realized we had a lot of ideas in common, and now, half a year later, we convened a meeting in which we are creating a partnership between my unit and a public school that we hope will connect volunteers to the school in meaningful ways. It is true that perseverance has helped in all of these efforts, but it seems to me that there is also some kind of sheer cosmic luck and alignment of the planets going on right now.

DWTS premieres tonight

and I will be watching! Since my shoulder injuries have prevented me from dancing for the last several months, I have to get my fix by watching other folks go through ballroom bootcamp. Last season's winner Apolo Anton Ohno was so delightful to watch as he got better and better. His partner Julianne Hough is paired up with Brazilian racecar driver Helio Castroneves, who seems equally charming. Hough's dance partner Mark Balas, with whom she won the Youth title at Blackpool (Dancesport's gold medal) will also be working on the show, as will her brother Derej. We'll see some incredible pro dancing! Here, for nostalgia's sake is a clip from last season's show, where Tony Dovolani and Elena Grinenko (seasoned champions) do a demo with Julianne and Derek (the rising stars). Hot cha cha!

"Sow the Seeds" -relief for flooded farms

A few weeks ago we had a monster rain storm--17-19 inches in one day fell in the hill country to the south of the Twin Cities. They're calling it "a hundred year flood". Ironically, we had been in drought conditions for most of the summer. Floods is SE Minnesota and SW Wisconsin destroyed bridges, roads, dams, parts of towns and flooded many farms. People lost their homes, their businesses and saw their communities ripped apart. A few people lost their lives. The region has seen its economy crippled. In the aftermath, the state finally called a special session to vote for some flood relief, but even before that, the local co-op community stepped up with relief efforts for the farmers who are major suppliers of organic and sustainable farm products to our markets: produce, cheese, poultry. The name of the campaign is "Sow the Seeds." The stories some of the farmers have to tell are devastating.In collaboration with the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), my co-op, the Wedge, has made it easy to contribute. I donated money when I paid for my groceries. Here's a video that shows the aftermath of the event for farmers and the food chain. Attina Diffley, who farms the Gardens of Eagen and blogs about farming and the politics of food, knows most of the people affected, and keeps us informed.

Cats therapy

Antidotes for the negativity to which I gave too much power in my life during the last two weeks: fun with Mr. Kitty. Here he is, helping with toilet repair a few months ago. I sent his photo to Cats in Sinks, but neglected to see if they ran it. Actually, that's not really accurate--I clicked the button "Show me another cat in a sink!" dozens of times, but his photo didn't come up. But it was soothing to see so many cats in so many sinks.

Strike over. We all lost.

After an all-day negotiation session, representatives of the union are going back to their members with the same offer the University made before. But because the strikers can no longer afford to lose their wages and their health benefits (if they don't work during the next two-week pay period), they are not holding out. I completely understand, but I hate hate hate the University's self-serving BS about how they are really giving them such a great deal
The Star Tribune article says this:

The two-year contract offer contains a 2.25 percent cost of living increase for clerical and technical workers, a 2.5 percent cost of living increase for health care workers, plus annual step raises for experience and a $300 lump sum in each year. Workers who don't receive step increases will get an additional $300 in each year. This offer will go to members without recommendation from the negotiating committee.

"We are forced back to work because we can no longer sustain the loss of salary and a looming end to our health care coverage. A typical striker earns $34,000 a years and qualifies for food stamps if supporting a family of four. We remain shocked by the administrations absolute disregard for people's lives," said Denise Osterholm, President of UMD Local 3.

About 1,000 of the 3,100 workers -- represented by AFSCME -- have been on strike since Sept. 5 over pay.

The university's position was that when combined with step raises for experience, most workers represented by AFSCME would receive raises of at least 8.5 percent for the contract’s two years

.

Tornado warnings

Apparently, the pickets have been called off and the strikers are going to a meeting at noon to learn what happened at the negotiating table yesterday afternoon. I hope the news is good, but I'm not too optimistic. Unless all the calls people have been making to the Regents meant that they put some pressure on our arrogant "leaders" who seem to have been carrying out a personal vendetta against those who dare to cross them, not just the AFSCME workers.

In looking for updates on the strike, I have come across the blog of a colleague in the sciences called The Periodic Table. Reading back through older posts, I find his analysis life at the BigU in this Cold State to be right on the mark.

Last night we spent about half an hour in the basement with our neighbors, our various cats and a small dog. The cats were in their Pet Taxis because they were mildly freaked out by the apocalyptic thunder and the sirens. The storm moved to the north and south of the Twin Cities and didn't do much in our neighborhood, but it was fairly spectacular. There are storm warnings for this morning again.

Sad but committed

I'm sitting at a cafe, grading papers and watching it rain hard outside. I just ran into a graduate student with whom I shared the flight to Montreal where we both attended the Latin American Studies Association conference.She has a background as an activist, and is a scholar and a teacher. She is also one of the students who is on hunger strike. I didn't realize this until halfway through our conversation in which I was railing about how angry the University administration was making me. Her expression was so sad, but she is very resolute. I know another of the hunger strikers, a faculty colleague whose fierce and vibrant spirit has always been the driver for her teaching and scholarship. I hadn't planned to come to campus today, but I will be attending the teach-in by one of my colleagues who will talk about hunger strikes, Gandhi, and the history of this kind of action.

I'm afraid that many Minnesotans regard the hunger strike as "foolish" and unseemly, because it violates the Minnesota norm of not calling attention to yourself because to do so is even more wrong than any wrong you could possible be trying to protest.

Another colleague came up to embrace me. He is someone who has contributed immensely to the University in prestigious scholarship, multi-million dollar grants that have supported literally hundreds of graduate students from all over the world, and who holds the highest honors the University can bestow. He told me that he is so angry and sad about this strike that he no longer wants to work here, he hates what the University is doing. He has a long history as an activist-scholar, but I'm afraid that his response is indicative of the disgust and shame that many of us feel to be working for the University of Minnesota right now.

Yesterday I was on the picket line with Mary, one of the many wonderful child care workers how cared for my daughter with so much love and dedication.When I think of how her work is undervalued in comparison with the athletic directors and coaches who walked away with multi-million dollar bailouts, it hurts and it makes me mad.

No, I had no illusions about the corporate nature of the Big U. But I have a lot of love and respect for many of the people who work here, who genuinely give of themselves to help others learn and reach their life goals, who take pride in what they do and do it well, and it hurts to see the naked contempt with which the administration is now treating us, and the ignorance and indifference of so many of the people around us.

Need new swear words

Two loser dudes, outgoing football and basketball coaches at the U of MN, received a total of $4 million in buyouts when they were fired this year! Because they're dudes and even loser dudes gotta get PAID! And hey, the athletic department will have to borrow money from Central (ie: WE are paying for it, not football tickets). But the U says it can't afford to raise the pay of its lowest-paid workers about $1 a day, you know those people who change our kids' diapers? take care of animals in the vet school? answer students' questions and correct the spelling of the University president?
Here are some librarian support workers talking about the work they do.


The librarians are rather even-temprered, but I'm riled up. Chackin' blits. Gratt!

Students to begin hunger strike in solidarity with U of MN workers

U of MN President Bob Bruininks is not hurting for money. Here's a sidebar from a U of MN Daily story about his compensation package:

Bruininks' Salary:
In March, Bruininks received a 5 percent pay raise, bumping him to $384, 221 for academic year 2006-07. The Board of Regents voted unanimously in December to extend Bruininks contract through 2011. The deal included a 10 percent pay raise for 2007-08, to $423,000 and a 7.5 percent raise for 2008-09, to $455,000. Bruininks contract indicates that the Board of Regents will determine salary increases for subsequent years at a future meeting. Even with the raises, Bruininks will still make less money than more than half of his fellow Big Ten presidents.

"I've never made my compensation an issue and I'm not going to," Bruininks said. "I feel I'm fairly compensated." He said he agreed with the Board's logic that the University of "Minnesota should not develop a reputation for having the lowest compensation level for its chief executive." The contract also provides University housing at Eastcliff and a deferred compensation package totaling $150,000 in 2007-08 and increasing by $25,000 in each subsequent year. After the 2003 budget cuts, Bruininks eliminated 14 administrators' car allowances, including his own.

I received this letter/press release today:

Students start hunger strike for Justice: Call on Bruininks to provide a fair settlement

PRESS CONFERENCE: Patio in front of Morrill Hall, north end of the East Bank Mall, University of Minnesota, NOON on MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2007.

At least 10 University of Minnesota students will begin an indefinite hunger strike on Monday in support of a fair settlement of the clerical, technical and healthcare workers’ strike entering its third week. In solidarity with this student-led effort, a faculty member, a staff member, and a striking worker will join them in their action. After exhausting all possibilities of communicating their
message to President Bruininks and his administration, the group of students has organized the action as a HUNGER STRIKE FOR JUSTICE.Isaac Kamola, a hunger striker and a graduate student in political science, said, “we are frustrated by the inaccessibility of Bruininks’ administration. They have closed off all avenues of discussion, they flood our email with propaganda, and they are too afraid to debate in a public forum, because their position is so unreasonable.”

Undergraduate hunger striker, Sofia Shank, said, “Bruininks doesn’t seem to care about principles of democracy, justice, or equity. We have chosen to embark on a hunger strike that will raise people’s awareness of his lack of accountability to the public.”

The Hunger Strike for Justice aims to highlight the growing problem of wage inequality on campus, in which the University is unwilling to pay the relative pittance it would take to keep its lowest paid workers abreast of inflation, an issue at the heart of the current labor conflict. A survey conducted by the AFSCME union in 2005 found that 25% of union members working at the U had difficulties affording to feed their families. “We want justice for our community, and that
means nobody in our university should go hungry,” explained Kyle Johnson, an undergraduate in fine arts. “Our hunger strike is meant to highlight a crisis that needs a resolution now: hundreds and hundreds of workers are going home to their families without a paycheck every day this strike drags on,” he concluded.

Students have vowed to refrain from all solid foods, and will subsist on only juices, water and salt. Aerospace engineering graduate student, Amit Singh, states, “The hunger strike will be difficult, but we feel that our actions reflect the urgency of the situation. The AFSCME workers have been on strike for twelve days now. The university community has overwhelmingly come out in support of our essential workers. But the administration continues to ignore requests for a fair and livable contract.” For many letters from groups of students and faculty supporting the union’s position, see http://www.uworkers.org.

Weather permitting, the students plan to maintain a public presence on the Northrop Mall. Students and their supporters will continue to go about their daily routine as much as possible, coming together to support each other and contributing to a debate on campus during
their off time. The group encourages all members of the University and surrounding community to join them at the hunger strike site. Like University instructors, the hunger strikers will hold daily “office hours,” between 9:30am - 6 pm. During this time, they hope to engage fellow students in education about the issues of the AFSCME strike and answer any questions about the action.

In the evenings, the Hunger Strike for Justice will relocate to University Baptist Church, 1219 University Ave. SE, which also serves as the union’s strike headquarters.

Students are committing to continue their hunger strike in solidarity with the AFSCME campus locals until the Administration meets the union’s demands for a fair contract.

Day 10 of the strike: video updates

A letter from a former co-worker of U president Bob Bruininks calls him out. Tom Elko, environmental blogger and U of MN co-worker, is keeping us updated about the strike at The Sky Blue Waters Report. I really appreciate his work of keeping us informed because there seems to be a virtual news blackout by the Strib and even the MN Daily.

Marv Davidov, what a mensch!
Our legislators who passed a funding package with the intent that some of it be used to support raises for the lowest paid workers are NOT HAPPY about the U's refusal to go back to the bargaining table. Hear them say it themselves:

They couldn't be more clear!
Students, former students, and workers explain what the strike means to them:

Los Aterciopelados

My new favorite music is the 20 greatest hits of Los Aterciopelados, a band from Colombia. You can listen to a lot of their music on their website. Here are a few videos:

Estuche

Cancion protesta

Why I love my job

Here are some of the topics that students will be researching this semester for their Senior Projects. I am teaching two sections of the class, with thirty students in all.
Franco's death and the moment of political transition in Spain; why was it possible to avoid violence?
Spanish cinema and the changing roles of women (2);
the impact of Arabic on Castillian Spanish;
the politics of Mayan language and culture in Guatemala;
the impact of NAFTA on Mexican immigration to the US;
the life and work of Uruguayan poet and musician Darno (Eduardo Darnauchans);
the role of the Catholic Church in Spain today, and the idea of "secular catholicism";
"Spanglish";
why gay marriage could be legalized in Spain but not in the US (2);
phonetic and sociolinguistic issues around coastal Mexican Spanish and Dominican Spanish (2);
The politics of adoption in Guatemala;
sustainable rural development in Bolivia and the politics of interacting with indigenous communities;
racial relations between latinos and african-americans, and identity politics for black latinos;
ideas about translation;
catalan nationalism
the politics of health care and HIV/AID epidemiology in Latin America (2);
the role of Spanish language proficiency in identity politics among Latinos in the US (2)
issues surrounding bilingual education of native-speakers of Spanish in Minneapolis schools;
the "disappeared" during the Argentine dirty war, and the problems of teaching about that period for Argentines who did not live through it (2);
The Virgen de Guadalupe as symbol of Mexican identity;
changing gender roles in the Latino community, and whether there is a women's version of "machismo"

These are the topics as the students have expressed them to me so far, and of course they are way too broad still, but they represent very personal experiences and curiosity on their part. Almost all the students have studied or lived abroad, and some have a personal investment in their projects due to their family heritage or marriages and children. My role will be to both crack the whip so they finish, and support and encourage them to enjoy the process. Best of all, I get to learn a lot from them. I've told them that, while I am not an expert on all these topics, I am an expert in helping people do research and write. I will leave aside the issue of my own lack of activity in that area. I guess I may be the illustration of the adage "Those that can't, teach" in this case, but I no longer am ashamed of that fact.

Barack Obama cancels event in solidarity with U of MN workers!

Add him to the Elizabeth Edwards, who spoke at a workers rally, and Al Franken, who did the same.

Here is the letter he sent:
Dear President Bruininks,

I write today to strongly encourage you to support your frontline health care, technical, and clerical workers who are represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. I am moving a campaign event I had scheduled at U of M for this Saturday off of University grounds in solidarity with the strikers.

The workers’ requests are simple and reasonable. Their real pay has dropped over the last few years as the cost of living has increased.

Workers who dedicate themselves to the University of Minnesota and provide essential support to its core educational mission deserve a wage that allows them to raise a family and plan for retirement.

I strongly encourage you to take the steps necessary to end this strike and make the University of Minnesota a place that respects all of its workers. I will continue to monitor this situation, and I look forward to your favorable reply.

Sincerely,

Barack Obama

I turn 50 this year!

So do a couple of my friends. I'm thinking of lots of ways to mark my first half century: I want to have a wonderful meal at Lenny Russo's restaurant Heartland. I want to do something really memorable--but I haven't decided what it should be yet.
On the radio today, I heard this story about Satellite Sister Liz Dolan turning fifty. Her sisters made a list of 50 things she really loves.
I think I'll start making my own list.

U of MN strike continues

Since our stupid city newspaper doesn't seem interested in covering the University of Minnesota's clerical and hospital workers' strike for a raise that merely keeps up with the cost of inflation, one has to look elsewhere for information. This opinion piece by Professor Ann Markuson is absolutely right on, and points to the gender dimension of the higher raises going to the predominantly male senior administrators and faculty while the mostly female clerical workers get the shaft. The MN Daily has an editorial supporting the workers (and they cite Jose Marti! right on!). At least 152 classes were held off campus in the first week; this story cites some of my wonderful colleagues and their principled response to the rather thuggish rhetoric of the administration. Pickets are visible and get visible (and audible) support from those of us who are contractually obligated to stay on the job according to state law. The University is refusing to return to the bargaining table, and has attracted the ire of state legislators who fought last year to increase the amount in the state budget allocated to the University, precisely in order to provide more money for the lowest paid workers.
My favorite solidarity letter comes from the Anthro department.

In a letter addressed to the regents and University President Robert Bruininks, state Representatives Tom Rukavina and Mary Murphy, chairs of two key Minnesota House Higher Education Finance Committees, wrote in part, "We are deeply disappointed that thousands of university employees have been forced onto the picket lines due to the unwillingness of the university administration to provide adequate contact settlements for its clerical, technical and health care workers.

"For the first time in many years, the Minnesota Legislature provided the university with a generous 3.25 percent salary supplement. We expected those funds to be used to benefit all university employees. We can't understand how you can justify your minuscule offer of 2.25 percent on the salary schedule for your hardworking, dedicated employees."

Two days of teach-ins, rallies and marches--a lot of learning is going on at the U, but unfortunately what a lot of folks are learning is just how ugly a university can really get. All the rhetoric about excellence, valuing its workers, bla bla blabbity bla, but when it comes down to it, the University president's raise last year (17%) was about $38,000, more than the average yearly gross salary of a clerical worker, bringing his pay to an obscene $450,000 a year.

The courage to bike again

When I first arrived in the Twin Cities in 1988, I did not have a driver's license. In fact, I did not know how to drive a car (although I had passed the obligatory Driver's Ed course in high school), nor had I any experience driving while living in San Francisco or Berkeley. I lived in Minneapolis for two years before deciding to learn to drive, get a license and buy a car. For one thing, I could finally afford both a car and car insurance. For another, the winters in Minneapolis are sufficiently brutal so that riding a bike can be a miserable, horrible experience for months at a time. But finally, the reason that I decided to get a car was because sharing the road with cars and trucks in Minneapolis was terrifying in a way that I had never experienced when biking in the Bay Area. I feared for my life on a daily basis, and that was beginning to wear me down.

Later, of course, the car was extremely useful for transporting a small child to and from child care as well as for commuting to work or doing grocery shopping. Although a bus runs from my neighborhood to my work, it didn't take me close enough to the child care center to make it practical to use it in the winter.

Recently, Minneaplis police got in some practice for next year's Republican Convention by corraling, beating, and arresting participants in a peaceful Critical Mass event, one which had never had a history of violence in the Twin Cities.
In the ensuing coverage and discussion of whether or not the bikers "provoked" the police or whether the police were just being police when they maced, clubbed and hauled off citizens for the terrible crimes of riding their bikes and getting a little lippy with the cops when told to leave the streets although they had commmitted no crime, very few people talked about the reason why Critical Mass exists: because people are routinely killed and injured by traffic that treats bikers as if they had no right to ride on the street. Local wingnut columnist KKKatherine KKKersten railed about bikers, anarchy and the end of civilization, in the Strib, but for better information about what really happened, I checked out this great site on biking in the Twin Cities. It's starting to make me want to get back on the bike. If only my shoulders were not currently giving me pain, I'd do it, but I have to wait until the physical therapy helps relieve the rotator cuff impingement BS I'm currently dealing with.

In New York, artists have been putting up "ghost bikes" at sites where riders have been killed by cars or trucks. We need to put one up for Adam Finley, a man killed when struck by a school bus while riding his bike near Lake Calhoun.

Strike by AFSCME employees at the University of Minnesota

AFSCME employees at the University are on strike for a living wage. I completely support the strike; while faculty and administrators (especially those at the highest levels) have had raises over the past four years, clerical and medical workers have actually lost money due to the fact that costs of health care benefits have eaten up the miserly wage raises they have had, not to mention inflation. They are not paid enough for the work they do, and it is obscene that the University has the money to build a new football stadium, but not to give a very modest increase to its lowest-paid workers, despite the fact that the legislature targeted money in its last allocation for that purpose.

STRIKE INFORMATION FLYER (prepared by faculty to support union workers)

Who is AFSCME?

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Locals 3260, 3800, 3801 and 3937 represent 3,500 clerical, technical and health care workers at the University of MN.

These are the workers who sustain students and faculty by:
• Scheduling Classes
• Enrolling Students
• Booking Classrooms and Medical Appointments
• Stocking Library Shelves
• Heating and Cooling our Classrooms
• Keeping our Computers Running
• And more…

Why would they Strike?

The University Administration has proposed:
• 2.25% wage increase (clerical and technical workers) = $850.00/yr for the average striker who makes $34,000 annually
• 2.5% wage increase (heath care workers) = 1,050/yr for the average striker who makes $34,000 annually
• This proposal does not keep pace with projected inflation rates of 3.5%

Why did I hear they were offered over 4%?

• The University Administration reports that “94% of AFSCME employees would receive 8.5% or more in increases over the next 2 years (4.25% or more in each year of the contract)” (Carrier, 8/20/07).
• AFSCME workers object that their contract agreements provide for wage increases to have two components: 1) “across-the-board” increases reflect cost-of-living; 2) “step” increases recognize longevity. The top step represents the true value of the job. It already takes many AFSCME workers 20+ years to reach that step. In the meantime, they are underpaid in relation to the real value of the job.
• The Administration’s figure combines these two components. AFSCME claims that rolling the step increase into the “across-the-board” is an attack on step increases and leads to the continued devaluation of their pay scales and standard of living. Additionally, not all AFSCME workers receive a “step” increase.
• Earlier this year, Governor Tim Pawlenty agreed to give state workers a 3.25% raise in addition to step increases.

Can the U afford to pay more?

• It costs 1.1 million for each 1% increase to AFSCME out of a University budget of 1.5 billion
• State Rep. Lyndon Carlson, who chairs the House Finance Committee, told the City Pages that the state Legislature raised the University’s budget by 150 million over the next two years “to address an increase of 3.25%.” Lyndon added, “I interpreted that as a salary enhancement above the step increases” (8-29-2007).

Last day of the fair

Tomorrow is Labor Day, and our last chance to get to the State Fair. As usual, the photos posted on My Pronto Pup are the very next-best thing to being there in person. No rides for me, but they are half price on the last day. I'm sure it will be just jammed, but that's part of the experience.

The kids have their fair food wish list, and I have mine (compiled after suitable research, of course! a long discussion about fair foods includes a taste test of fried cheese curds, to determine the best booth, with a discussion about whether salt and grease are the marks of quality, or the squeakiness of the bite). I want to try the Gizmo sandwich, the Fried Green Tomatoes and Corn Fritters, and sweet potato pie. I will probably taste a cheese curd, a mini-donut, and finish off someone's shake. I think I'll skip the koolaid pickles.

A few San Francisco souvenirs

On the sidewalk by Dolores Park.

Frida on Valencia St.

Browsing at the Ferry building market.


a garden gate at Filoli.