Wednesday, September 02, 2015

Business Background: Enough for University President?

September 2, 2015, 9:35 a.m.; with updates through October 31, 2015

Note:After October 31, additional entries will appear on "UI President Harreld - Nov. 2015." The blog post you are now looking at will remain publicly available as a resource regarding events from September 2 through October 31, 2015.

Links to Resources
(Documents; plus News and Opinion pieces by dates)

[Note: Most linked items relate to the Board of Regents process and selection during the recent UI presidential search. Those prefaced with "General" involve either (a) higher education in general (support, attacks, proposals), or (b) UI-specific possible issues for discussion.]
Documents
September1-3, 2015
September 4-6, 2015
September 7-9, 2015
September 10-12, 2015
September 13-15, 2015
September 16-18, 2015
September 19-21, 2015
September 22-24, 2015
September 25-27, 2015
September 28-30, 2015
October 1-3, 2015
October 4-6, 2015
October 7-9, 2015
October 10-12, 2015
October 13-15, 2015
October 16-18, 2015
October 19-21, 2015
October 22-24, 2015
October 25-27, 2015
October 28-31, 2015
Related:

Nicholas Johnson, "Hiring Candid, Courageous University Presidents; An Exchange with UI Presidential Finalist, Oberlin President Marvin Krislov," August 29, 2015 (with links to the 2006-2007 blog essays about the last Regents' presidential selection fiasco)

Nicholas Johnson, "Seven Steps for Transitioning University," The Gazette (online), September 27, 2015 (with links to 7 other related Gazette Writers Circle opinion pieces); hard copy: Nicholas Johnson, "Better Ways to Pick a UI President," The Gazette, September 27, 2015, p. C5

"UI's President Could Have Been Chris Christie," October 3, 2015

"Iowa's Economic Foundation? Graduate Education & Research," May 5, 2014



Should Bruce Harreld Be Given Serious Consideration in UI Search?
Links to Sections
Prestige
Educational Minimums
Relevant Values
Skills Allocation
Business Record
Public Forum
Conclusion
After Harreld Selected
-AAUP Scorches Regents, Apologizes to Three Qualified Candidates
-From One Bruce to Another: "Ayatollah" Rastetter Gives Harreld a Boost
-UI Faculty Senate Votes "No Confidence" in Board of Regents (links to news stories only)
-"Embracing Status Quo"? Really?
_______________

Public hanging of non-performers and culture change resistors was done in order to send a message . . ..

-- Bruce Harreld on ensuring employee compliance at IBM because "culture is a critical control system" [see footnote for source and occasion]

No one disputes the Regents' legal authority to execute their most mean-spirited whims against the University of Iowa -- though many dispute the wisdom of their doing so. Few if any faculty would suggest that a candidate for a university's presidency with business experience should be disqualified. But if the Regents would actually apply their professed admiration for today's progressive business culture they would know that:
(1) no Fortune 500 corporation would use this process, or end up selecting this candidate (with neither CEO nor higher education administrative experience) as either a corporate CEO or a university president,
(2) nor, for the sake of the candidate as well as the institution, would any board or CEO, with a responsibility to shareholders, risk forcing as important a decision as this on an entire employee base, knowing that it is strongly opposed by 98.2% of them, without at least previously having taken the time to educate stakeholders and create buy-in to the decision (if possible) before it was made, announced, and implemented,
(3) and if, as appears may be the case, the Regents' leadership knew from the start they would ignore the predictable faculty opposition and consider only candidates with business experience, they could have (a) picked four business candidates and let the faculty and public provide input on which was preferred; or (b) if they had already decided on Harreld (he was the only one of the four given a private conversation with the Governor before his public forum), they could have simply skipped the process entirely, picked him, and saved an enormous amount of embarrassment, anger, money, time and effort on the part of the three distinguished academic leaders who were good faith candidates, the search committee's members, the UI's faculty, staff, and students, media and public. Either path would have been preferable to what they did.


-- Nicholas Johnson, September 4, 2015

We're approaching the most important stage in the search for UI president. Student, faculty, and staff voices count.

-- University of Iowa Interim President Jean Robillard, http://twitter.com/JRobillardUI, August 21, 2015

Bruce Harreld may become a terrific president, . . . or he may prove to be a slash-and-burn corporate raider bent on pulling down the ivory towers of academia to make room for a fertilizer plant. . . . I’m willing to give Harreld a shot. But nobody should be comfortable with the way it was done, . . .. You don’t have to connect many dots to figure out . . . [he] likely was Board of Regents President Bruce Rastetter’s top pick from the beginning. . . . Winner, winner, Boston Chicken dinner. So it seems the search process, the naming of four finalists, public forums, surveys of students and faculty, interviews, etc., all were, basically, shiny public packaging for hiring the business guy. You let people speak, but there’s no reason to listen. . . . [T]heir voices are simply background noise.

-- Todd Dorman, "Dressing the Windows Yet Again," The Gazette (online), September 10, 2015, 8:45 a.m.; hard copy: Todd Dorman, "24-Hour Dorman: Dressing Windows Yet Again," The Gazette, September 10, 2015, p. A5
_______________

Some say the best hires for university presidencies are those with experience as university or college presidents, vice presidents, or provosts. Others believe these are essential requirements.



Since yesterday [Sept. 1, 2015] the University of Iowa's stakeholder groups (e.g., Regents, administrators, faculty, staff, students) have been addressing these standards.

Bruce Harreld, the fourth of four finalists following a national search, held his "public forum" that afternoon. [Photo credit: Nicholas Johnson]

This is a matter of some urgency for the University of Iowa, as the Regents will be picking the next UI president tomorrow, September 3.

But it is perhaps also a useful case study (as they say at the Harvard Business School) for colleges and universities elsewhere. This is neither the time nor space to be itemizing all the challenges confronting higher education today. But there remains a current of anti-intellectualism in America always quick to suggest that the universal solution for challenged governmental or non-profit organizations is to simply become more "business-like."

Here, then, are one person's reflections about the potential role of business executives as university presidents.
_______________

Admittedly, universities cannot be administered like Fortune 500 corporations or branches of the military. Among American institutions, they are sui generis, with missions, values and history unlike any other (think faculty "tenure," and a century-old "shared governance" tradition). However, that does not mean a mix of experience that included familiarity with business might not be useful for a university president.

But neither does it mean that any and every person with business experience would make a great university president -– or even a passable business leader. While they should not be peremptorily dismissed from consideration, they need to be subjected to a more creative and in depth evaluation than the more traditional candidates.

It is said that many persons go through as many as a half-dozen careers in their lifetime. Assume hypothetically that one of our UI law school graduates accepts U.S. Court of Appeals and Supreme Court clerkships; a tenure-track position at a major university’s law school; private sector corporate law practice; a couple appointments from the U.S. president to head agencies; the chair of a non-profit organization; and then combines a national column, lecture business, radio commentary, and role as TV host, before returning to law school teaching. Nothing in that range of experience would qualify them to function as CEO of a major corporation, but the combination of government administrative experience, plus the legal representation of major corporations, would at least be of some relevance.

Similarly, a comparable range of experience for a business school graduate, including at least some interaction with university administrators, would be of some relevance when they were considered for a university presidency.

Assuming someone with business background is to be considered for a university presidency, what should his or her thorough vetting require? What would a decision tree look like? What are the minimums that should be required in terms of familiarity with education in general and higher education in particular?

Prestige. A celebrity-class name is neither a prerequisite nor a sufficient reason for a hire. But a Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway), or Jack Welsh (General Electric) -- like General Dwight Eisenhower’s not totally satisfactory term as president of Columbia University, 1948-52 -- could bring a kind of “wow!” factor to a university.

However, it should be noted, Jeff Bezos graduated summa cum laude from Princeton, with degrees in electrical engineering and computer science. Warren Buffett attended the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, holds a B.Sc. in business from the University of Nebraska, and a M.Sc. in economics from Columbia. Jack Welsh earned a B.Sc. from the University of Massachusetts, and a M.Sc. and Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois.

Reminiscent of Senator Lloyd Bentsen’s rejoinder to Senator Dan Quayle in the 1988 vice-presidential debate (“Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy”), “Bruce Harreld, you’re no Jeff Bezos.” No fault in that; he never suggested that he was. Few of us are a Jeff Bezos. But it does mean that whatever else Harreld may offer the University of Iowa, and State of Iowa, he does not bring the additional prestige of a business celebrity.

Educational Minimums. It may not be necessary for a university president to have been a university president, or provost, elsewhere, but it is not unreasonable to require at least some education-related administrative experience.

Harreld has literally no administrative experience at any level of our educational system, from K-12 schools through our largest public, research universities. He has never held even a tenure track position at a college or university, and would not meet the UI College of Business requirements for one here (status normally provided university presidents who qualify). He has produced little writing that might be considered serious "scholarship." His bio reflects an engineering degree from Purdue, and an M.B.A. degree from Harvard, but no suggestion of academic distinction. Not incidentally, as a "business candidate," he also has no CEO experience with major corporations, and such business experience as he possesses has created a mixed record.

His teaching experience has been limited to that of an adjunct or lecturer at Northwestern and Harvard Business School, but there is no indication of his assuming any administrative role, however menial, at those institutions.

Relevant values. Lacking much in the way of educational credentials, one might look to a business candidate’s history of action and speech with regard to the values of the academy. What can Bruce Harreld point to from his past to indicate that he respects and values the work of academic researchers, scholars, and professors, the mission and contribution of liberal arts education -- indeed, any of the missions, goals, and accomplishments of higher education beyond those of a business college -- not only to a state’s economy but to its culture and quality of life?

There is, of course, an overlap between some of the functions and necessary skills within for-profit and non-profit organizations, such as accounting and human resources practices. But there are also major differences, such as values and goals. What do we know about Harreld’s understanding, respect, and advocacy for non-profit institutions -- as distinguished from the contributions from America’s largest for-profit corporations?

Skills Allocation. It is true that one can no more expect a president of a university than the president of the United States to possess all the knowledge, skills, and expertise -- or even energy -- required to carry out their job. They must rely on others, such as personal staff, vice presidents, or in an academic setting, deans and department heads as well as individual faculty and staff members.

However, in my opinion, a university president needs to be an educational leader, setting the tone for an educational institution. It is far easier, and cheaper, to find those skilled in data management, accounting practices, wealth management of endowments, media relations, building maintenance, marketing and branding, and all the other requisite professions and skills. It is both more difficult, and inappropriate, to try to outsource, hire, or contract for, educational leadership, vision, mission creation and execution. That should be a university president’s job one, a job that requires a depth of knowledge regarding higher education.

It makes no more sense to rely on a business person to go through on-the-job training in order to develop competence as a university president than it would be to pluck a distinguished, tenured scholar-professor with no business or administrative experience out of a university and make her CEO of a mid-sized corporation.

Business Record. If the primary qualities of a business person chosen to be a university president is their experience in business, it seems only fair to put that record in business on the table for thorough review.

In recent years he represents that his primary function has been as a consultant to CEOs, as distinguished from running an organization as a CEO. There is nothing by which to judge his competence as a consultant. But even assuming he would be universally judged to be among the nation's top business consultants, that alone does not equate with CEO experience.

Perhaps the problem is that while the Regents share Harreld's proposed UI mission statement -- to move the UI "from great to greater" -- they somehow failed to read Harreld's article, "Six Ways to Sink a Growth Initiative": "2. Not Putting the Best, Most Experienced Talent in Charge. Big companies typically assign two types of people to lead growth initiatives. . . . The second type are staff executives who have solid experience in a particular functional area and in managing projects but have never run an entire business. . . . But these positions are not 'development opportunities' or jobs for staff people." Donald L. Laurie and J. Bruce Harreld, "Leadership: Six Ways to Sink a Growth Initiative," Harvard Business Review, July-August, 2013

So far as the record reveals, Bruce Harreld may be a wonderful person -- kind to children and dogs and a good neighbor. Notwithstanding an hour and a half listening to him, we've never met, so that experience plus the written record and newspaper reports is all that's known.

But based on that business record, set forth immediately below, I would be hesitant to hire him even as a corporate CEO, let alone the president of a major American research university. Here is how the Gazette's journalist, Vanessa Miller, reported in the September 2 edition what she had found out regarding Harreld's business experience:
He was president and member of the board for Boston Market Company in Golden, Colo., from 1993 to 1995, working with five partners to grow the organization from 20 stores in the Boston area to more than 1,100 stores nationally, according to his CV.

In 1995, Harreld was listed as a defendant in a lawsuit accusing him and other corporate leaders of insider trading and conflict of interest. That initial lawsuit was dismissed, but plaintiffs persisted and the case eventually settled.

From 1983 to 1993, Harreld was senior vice president and division president of Kraft General Foods in Northfield, Ill., leading the $2 billion “frozen foods unit,” which included Tombstone Pizza, DiGiorno, Budget Gourmet, and Lenders Bagels.

According to the CV provided by the Board of Regents, Harreld lists himself as managing principal for a firm called Executing Strategy LLC, out of Avon, Colo., advising public, private, and military organizations on “leadership, organic growth, and strategic renewal.”

But no business with that name is registered with the Secretary of State’s Office in Colorado, and representatives with an Avon-area chamber of commerce said they have no knowledge of the business. An Executing Strategy LLC was registered with the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 2009 under the signatory James Bruce Harreld, but it was dissolved earlier this year.

Harreld, according to public records, on Feb. 6, 2013, filed three mandatory annual reports for the business for the years 2010, 2011, and 2012. But no reports have been filed since, and the secretary of the commonwealth on June 30 took action to dissolve the business, which listed its services provided as consulting, strategy, implementation, marketing, and turnaround advice.

Harreld’s LinkedIn profile currently lists him as a corporate adviser in the Greater Denver Area and working for General Motors from 2015 to present -- although the CV provided by the Board of Regents doesn’t include work with General Motors.
Vanessa Miller, "Fourth University of Iowa presidential candidate: Bruce Harreld; Candidate is managing principal at Colorado-based Executing Strategy, LLC," The Gazette (online), August 31, 2015; hardcopy: "Peer Praises Business Skills of Harvard-Educated Executive," The Gazette, September 1, 2015, p. A1.

Public Forum. Tuesday's [Sept. 1] public forum did not go well for Mr. Harreld. It may not have been his fault. He may not have been adequately briefed on what he needed to know, and what he should expect from an understandably upset faculty, staff and students. Click here for YouTube video of event.

For starters, unlike the other three he had neither adequately researched the University of Iowa nor prepared a formal, coherent, written statement. Unlike, say, a Peter Drucker, he has not written any business literature of note. However, he has read it, and business magazines, and is comfortable with corporate-think, its current fads and consultant-speak jargon. But that was not enough to create a coherent presentation, sprinkled with specifics from higher education. (All candidates were asked to present a "vision" and "mission" for the University, and the first three prepared such narratives. Harreld's vision? Four words: Iowa should go "from great to greater.")

You had to feel sorry for the guy; "deer in the headlights" comes to mind. Whether he would ever have been able to do well in such a faculty setting is not clear, but he was certainly not able to do so Tuesday afternoon. One had the sense he hadn’t even watched the online videos of the prior three candidates -- what clearly could have been a competitive advantage offered him by whoever scheduled their presentations.

One of the worst exchanges was his response to law professor Shelly Kurtz's question as to whether Harreld could imagine himself agreeing to return $47 million to the Regents to distribute to Iowa State and Northern Iowa (as was done by the past UI president). Harreld said he could. He seemingly didn’t even grasp the most basic political/organizational fact that it is the UI president’s job (as viewed by most faculty and others) to represent the university’s best interests -– not to turn back $47 million if the president thinks the State of Iowa might better spend it elsewhere. Once the legislature, or Regents -- whose responsibility is to the State -- makes their decision, however foolish, you either resign in protest or accept it and move on. But you don’t simply "start off backing up" and capitulate without a fight.

These are not the impressions of one lone observer. After this was written there was a survey of opinion regarding Harreld. The results?

"In a survey conducted by the UI chapter of the American Association of University Professors, only 1.8 percent of faculty and 2.6 percent of other respondents answered “yes” to the question of whether Harreld was qualified for the position. The other candidates -— Oberlin President Marvin Krislov, Tulane University Provost Michael Bernstein and Ohio State University Provost Joseph Steinmetz -- all had more than 90 percent of respondents view them as qualified . . .."Jeff Charis-Carlson, "UI Survey: Harreld Viewed as Least Qualified UI Finalist," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 2, 2015, 12:23 p.m.

Because some in the business community are quick to reject the opinions of faculty members -- in this instance, unfairly suggesting that faculty are willing to put their own perceived self-interest above institutional interest -- note that the public, community, student and staff evaluation of Harreld was comparable: 97.4% concluded he was unqualified to be UI president (compared with the 98.2% of faculty who shared that view).

Indeed, I think that a comment at the bottom of this blog entry from "Anonymous" probably represents the view of many: "the problem wasn't that he [Harreld] was a nonacademic, it was that he hadn't the faintest idea how a university works or, one suspects, what a university does. The across-the-board innocence of anything resembling knowledge of university operations was astonishing -- I've never seen a less viable candidate for...anything, I think."

Yes, it is the Regents who have the final say in selecting Iowa's universities presidents. No one disputes their legal power to execute their merest whim. But if they truly value today's progressive business culture and practice they will know that no corporate CEO, or board members, with a responsibility to shareholders, would risk forcing a decision against such near-unanimous opposition. They would, at a minimum, take the time to educate the stakeholders and do what was necessary to create buy-in to the decision (if possible) before it was made and announced.

Conclusion. This is but one case study. Clearly, the take-away is not that those with business experience should never even be considered as possible university presidents. It is that there is no magic in business experience as such -- any more than there is magic in having had some kind of academic administrative experience.

The question, as with any candidate, is not whether a given past experience (or race, gender, or other categories) is either qualifying or disqualifying. It is whether this experience of this candidate contributes anything to his or her capacity to be an acceptable and effective president of this university.

A final lesson is that however transferrable CEO abilities may be from one industry to another very different industry (such as John Sculley going from president of Pepsi to CEO of Apple), they are not smoothly transferrable into higher education. Before someone with business experience is selected as a finalist for a university presidential search, for the sake of the candidate as well as the institution, there should be confidence that their knowledge of and commitment to the values of higher education are such as to enable that smooth transition.

That was not the case with Bruce Harreld at the University of Iowa. Of course, if Harreld is nonetheless selected by the Regents tomorrow, well, that raises another set of issues and questions, doesn't it.

Now [Sept. 8] here are some of those issues:

AAUP Scorches Regents Late last evening [Sept. 7] President Katherine Tachau, and other officers of the University of Iowa Chapter of the American Association of University Professors, issued a statement "deploring the actions of the Iowa Board of Regents in appointing Mr. Bruce Harreld [UI president]." The full text of the paragraph-long statement can be found here.

The statement continues with these excerpts, "Only a pre-conceived determination by the Regents to appoint Mr. Harreld regardless of campus reactions to him can explain his hiring [given] the combination of his performance . . . problems with his resume, and the conclusion of the overwhelming majority [98.2% to 97.6%] . . . that he is unqualified . . .. We sincerely regret our inability to believe that the Regents are prepared to act in the best interests of the university. And we extend our heartfelt apologies to President Krislov, Provost Bernstein, and Provost Steinmetz for the treatment they received . . .."

"Ayatollah" Rastetter. From November 4, 1979, to January 20, 1981, 52 American diplomats and citizens were held hostage in the U.S. Embassy in Tehran by Muslim students supporting the Iranian Revolution. The American TV networks reminded viewers of this event with the daily update, e.g., "America held hostage Day 444" (the last day). Compare, "UI Held Hostage Day 505," June 10, 2007, reporting on the Regents' handling of their last presidential selection process.

What came to be called the "hostage crisis" was widely believed to have contributed to the defeat of President Jimmy Carter in the 1980 election.

The Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini had little to gain by continuing to hold the Americans hostage, but he realized that if he released them before the American presidential election it would help his enemy, President Carter. So he waited until Ronald Reagan won the election and then, on the day Reagan was sworn in, got Reagan off to a good start by releasing the Americans.

Bruce Rastatter has little in common with Ayatollah Khomeini. He doesn't look like him. He's not Muslim. About all they share is their understanding of political power and its exercise. (Coming from me, that is a compliment -- while recognizing the distinction between "understanding" and the consequences of the use of that understanding for good or ill.)

Rastatter has been holding the UI hostage. He advocated shifting $47 million from the UI to the other two universities. More recently, he's proposed additional funds for the other two, but none for the UI. Among his demands, or goals, is the appointment of a UI president more to his liking. He now has him, in the person of Bruce Harreld. But with Harreld has come an overwhelming public judgment of his lack of either qualifications or a willingness to fight the Regents, when necessary, on behalf of the University.

What can be done to keep the faculty from storming Jessup Hall (home to the UI president) with pitchforks?

Yesterday [Labor Day, Sept. 7] "the Regents" (meaning Rastatter) issued a statement including, "After meeting with incoming President Harreld . . . it is clear that additional funding to support the long term reinvestment in the core mission of teaching and research is needed." Vanessa Miller, "Regents Change Course, Consider Push for New University of Iowa Funding; Faculty, Student Questions, Criticism Remains," The Gazette (online), September 7, 2015, 7:51 PM; hard copy: Vanessa Miller, "Higher Education: Regents Might Seek More Money for UI After All; After Selection of Controversial Iowa President, Board Asked to Endorse an Extra $4.5 Million for University," The Gazette, September 8, 2015, p. A1

Katherine Tachau, Iowa's AAUP Chapter president, summed it up: "If I had just hired a university president who had as little support among the students, staff, alumni and faculty as the current president, the very first thing I would do would allow him to appear victorious in advocating for the university." Ibid.

"Embracing the Status Quo"? Really?

The September 9 hard copy edition of The Daily Iowan contains a statement from Board of Regents President Bruce Rastetter. “GPSG, Rastetter Release Statements/Bruce Rastatter,” The Daily Iowan, September 9, 2015, p. 3.

The opening and closing sentences read as follows:
”The landscape of higher education is changing, and the current ways of operating are not sustainable. . . . We are disappointed that some of those [UI] stakeholders have decided to embrace the status quo of the past [sic] over opportunities for the future and focus their efforts on resistance to change instead of working together to make the UI even greater.”
Given the general language, the statement doesn’t say much. But much can be said about it.

For starters, it is inaccurate, insulting and duplicitous. Since Bruce Harreld’s public forum on September 1, I have heard much discussion on the UI campus about the events that followed. During that time I have encountered no one who decided, said, or whom I thought silently believed, that UI’s stakeholders should “embrace the status quo of the past over opportunities for the future” or reject “working together to make the UI even greater.”

So, unless Rastatter can find such folks, or I run across them, the statement is inaccurate.

Indeed, why would anyone reject “opportunities for the future” and things that would make their institution (school, church, military unit, corporation) “even greater"? So, it’s also deliberately insulting.

Finally, it’s duplicitous because he either knows, or ought to know, the basis for the near unanimous expressions of concern from UI’s “stakeholders.” Most fundamentally, it is because both the analytical and the political processes were backwards.

It can be helpful for any organization to assess its mission, goals, options and performance from time to time – including the Board of Regents, given how far it has strayed from conventional board governance principles.

This is true as well of higher education in America in general, and the University of Iowa in particular – all of which have been doing a good deal of that of late.

But one does not begin that analytical and political process by picking a new institutional leader with “experience in transitioning other large enterprises through change,” as Rastatter characterizes Harreld’s primary qualification.

Rather, one most profitably begins by involving all interested parties with (a) an assessment of performance compared with output goals (e.g., what knowledge and skills do we want our graduates to have?), (b) identifying what may need changing, (c) researching widely what comparable institutions have done, in this country and abroad, when confronting similar goals and needs, (d) prioritizing what most needs doing, and (e) then selecting some pilot-project possibilities for testing. [For supporting document see Footnote 2.]

Above all, one must avoid slogans, clichés, and ideological approaches – “government is not the solution, government is the problem;” “university faculty members are resistant to change;” “the private sector can always do it better than public institutions;” “the current ways of operating [higher education] are not sustainable.” Not only does the process need to be much more nuanced, detailed, research and data driven, but “fire, ready, aim” is almost sure to miss.

My school board colleagues once wanted to skip a discussion with teachers regarding what would be going on inside a new school (that might have an impact on its design) and just go directly to an architect's plans. I expressed my concern as, "Usually, before asking an architect for plans you tell them whether you want to build a courthouse or an outhouse." An analogous principle applies to the desirability of selecting university presidents after, rather than before, there is consensus regarding where you want them to take you.

The political process, throughout, is one in which stakeholder groups are meaningfully involved, not merely provided the opportunity to submit comments that, from past experience, will most likely be totally ignored. This is not just an effort at engineering opinion and acceptance. It is because, as the wisest of manufacturing industries’ executives know, if you are looking for ideas for improving the efficiency of an assembly line they are more likely to come from those working the line on the ground floor than those giving orders from the top floor. What is true for an assembly line is exponentially more so for a major research university.

If you don’t know where you want to go it’s highly unlikely you’ll ever get there – and it will make little difference how much experience with corporate “transitioning” your guide has.

Finally, there are the other reasons for the overwhelming opposition to the process used by the Regents and the qualifications of their ultimate choice. These have been fully explored in my italicized quote at the top of this blog post, and the "sections" of discussion preceding the "References" (Prestige; Educational Minimums; Relevant Values; Skills Allocation; Business Record; Public Forum; Conclusion), and therefore need not be further discussed here.

Resources:

Documents

Katherine H. Tachau, "Three Moments in the History of Universities," Faculty-Council-Administrative Retreat, August 18, 2014

"State of Iowa Constitution Committment to Liberal Arts Education"

Muriel E. Poston, "Presidential Search Committee Checklist," AAUP, 1997

Nicholas Johnson, "Hiring Candid, Courageous University Presidents; An Exchange with UI Presidential Finalist, Oberlin President Marvin Krislov," August 29, 2015 (with links to the 2006-2007 blog essays about the last Regents' presidential selection fiasco)

Nicholas Johnson, "Seven Steps for Transitioning University," The Gazette (online), September 27, 2015 (with links to 7 other related Gazette Writers Circle opinion pieces); hard copy: Nicholas Johnson, "Better Ways to Pick a UI President," The Gazette, September 27, 2015, p. C5; also as, Nicholas Johnson, "Search Process Undermines Ability to 'Transition' UI," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), October 6, 2015, 12:03 a.m.; hard copy: Nicholas Johnson, "Search Process Undermines Ability to 'Transition' UI," Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 6, 2015, p. A7

"UI's President Could Have Been Chris Christie," October 3, 2015

"Challenges Facing Higher Education Presentation," Faculty Senate Administration Retreat, August 20, 2014 (click on link to download in "Power Point Show" format (does not require PowerPoint software)) [posted here October 11, 2015]

"News & Views," AAUP-University of Iowa Chapter (organization's Web site)

Iowans Defending Our Universities (organization's Web site)

Compare, Judith Pascoe, "Quotes from Prior University of Iowa Presidents," October 21, 2015 [posted here October 31, 2015]

with, Bruce Harreld's Public Forum, YouTube video, September 1, 2015

"Timeline for Bruce Harreld's Hiring," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 24, 2015, 7:16 p.m.; hard copy: "Bruce Harreld Hiring Timeline," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 25, 2015, p. A6

University of Iowa Chapter, American Association of University Professors, "Results of Poll Surveying Opinion of Four Candidates for the Presidency of the University of Iowa," September 2, 2015, 12:40 p.m.

University of Iowa Chapter, American Association of University Professors, Statement ["deploring the actions of the Iowa Board of Regents in appointing Mr. Bruce Harreld"], September 7, 2015

Statement from Board of Regents President Bruce Rastetter on University of Iowa Faculty Senate Vote of No Confidence, Board of Regents, September 8, 2015; hard copy: “GPSG, Rastetter Release Statements/Bruce Rastatter,” The Daily Iowan, September 9, 2015, p. 3

Iowa Board of Regents Core Values/Principles (Our Ideals)," Board of Regents 2010-2016 Strategic Plan, rev. ed., August 9, 2013 update, p. 5 (e.g., academic freedom, civility, collaboration, ethical behavior, honesty, open [and] effective communication, transparency) (link provides download of pdf file)

Iowa State University Chapter, American Association of University Professors, "Statement Regarding the Appointment of J. Bruce Harreld," September 12, 2015

UNI United Faculty-AAUP Chapter Resolution in Support of the University of Iowa Faculty-AAUP Statement Deploring the Actions of the Iowa Board of Regents Presidential Search for the University of Iowa, September 11, 2015

University of Iowa, Graduate Student Senate, "The Graduate Student Senate Stands with the University of Iowa Student Government, the Graduate and Professional Student Government, COGS, and the Faculty Senate," September 2015

"Poll: Did the Regents Make a Good Choice When Selecting Bruce Harreld as the President of the University of Iowa?, Sioux City Journal (online), posted September 12, 2015, results viewed September 28, 2015, 3:00 p.m. (18.1% Yes; 29.5% No; 52.4% Not sure)

Stephen Voyce, "FOIA Project: Presidential Search, University of Iowa (2015)," ("Resources," "Documents," "Denied Requests")

ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council), "Higher Education" (13 proposed state laws), March 15, 2013-October 21, 2014

Summary of Tentative Agreement, UNI 2013-2015 Collective Bargaining Agreement

Bruce Harreld, "Why I Came to Iowa; A Message to the UI Community from Bruce Harreld," Iowa Now, October 13, 2015, 12:12 p.m.

"UI Faculty Council Encouraged by Harreld's Message," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), October 16, 2015, 3:26 p.m. (full text of Faculty Council Statement, with signers' names)

September 1-3, 2015

Jeff Charis-Carlson, "UI Finalist: A Non-academic Can Run a University," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 1, 2015, 8:16 p.m. CDT; as hardcopy: Jeff Charis-Carlson,"4th UI Finalist Pays His Visit," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 2, 2015, p. A1

Vanessa Miller, "Fourth University of Iowa presidential candidate: Bruce Harreld; Candidate is managing principal at Colorado-based Executing Strategy, LLC," The Gazette (online), August 31, 2015; hardcopy: "Peer Praises Business Skills of Harvard-Educated Executive," The Gazette, September 1, 2015, p. A1.

Vanessa MIller, "Fourth University of Iowa Presidential Candidate Drilled; ‘Why did you even apply?' Asks Audience Member," The Gazette (online), September 1, 2015, 9:37 PM; hardcopy: Vanessa Miller, "Public Vets UI Finalists; Now It's Up to Regents," The Gazette, September 2, 2015, p. A1, and Vanessa Miller, "Forum Grills Last Finalist; Harreld Says UI Must Adapt to Changing Circumstances or Fail," The Gazette, September 2, 2015, p. A2

Jeff Charis-Carlson, "UI Survey: Harreld Viewed as Least Qualified UI Finalist," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 2, 2015, 12:23 p.m. ("In a survey conducted by the UI chapter of the American Association of University Professors, only 1.8 percent of faculty and 2.6 percent of other respondents answered “yes” to the question of whether Harreld was qualified for the position. The other candidates -- Oberlin President Marvin Krislov, Tulane University Provost Michael Bernstein and Ohio State University Provost Joseph Steinmetz -— all had more than 90 percent of respondents view them as qualified . . ..")

Vanessa Miller, "Feedback Rolling in on University of Iowa Presidential Candidates; Board of Regents Set to Name President Thursday," The Gazette (online), September 2, 2015, 4:07 PM

Jeff Charis-Carlson,"Criticism Abounds in UI Presidential Search," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 2, 2015, 8:06 p.m.; hardcopy:Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Presidential Search: Process Rife With Criticism; Search Firm, Selection Process Take Hits; One Finalist Deemed Unqualified, While 'Hostile' Forum is Condemned," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 3, 2015, p. A1

Vanessa Miller, "Feedback Rolling in on University of Iowa Presidential Candidates; Board of Regents Set to Name President Thursday," The Gazette (online), September 2, 2015, 4:13 PM; hardcopy: Vanessa Miller, "Higher Education: Reviews Roll in on UI President Finalists; Faculty Favor Steinmetz, Public Survey Shows, but Only Regents Get to Vote," The Gazette, September 3, 2015, p. A1

September 4-6, 2015

Kellie Woodhouse,"Unpopular Pick," Times (of London) Higher Education, September 4, 2015

"New University of Iowa President Overcame Critics at IBM," Associated Press/Marshalltown Times-Republican, September 4, 2015

Jeff Charis-Carlson,"J. Bruce Harreld Named New UI President," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 3, 2015, 3:35 PM; hardcopy: Jeff Charis-Carlson, "J. Bruce Harreld is New UI President; Former IBM Executive Says He'll Seek Coaching for Job," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 4, 2015, p. A1

Ryan J. Foley, "The Big Story: Business Expert Picked as Next University of Iowa President," Associated Press, September 3, 2015, 7:06 p.m.

Eric Kelderman and Mary Ellen McIntire, “Leadership & Governance: A Controversial Search Ends With a Controversial Chief for the U. of Iowa,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 4, 2015

Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Businessman Harreld: I'll answer doubts," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 3, 2015, 10:16 p.m.; hardcopy: Jeff Charis-Carlson, "J. Bruce Harreld Is New UI President; Former IBM Executive Says He'll Seek Coaching for Job," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 4, 2015, p. A1

Vanessa MIller, "Bruce Harreld named 21st University of Iowa president; The Board of Regents unanimously voted Thursday to choose Harreld over three other finalists," The Gazette (online), September 3, 2015, 9:22 pm; hardcopy: Vanessa Miller, "Higher Education: New Course for UI; Regents Turn Away Academics in Favor of Businessman J. Bruce Harreld for New Leader," The Gazette, September 4, 2015, p. A1

Josh O'Leary, "Community reacts to new UI president," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 3, 2015, 8:06 p.m.; hardcopy: Josh O'Leary, "Community Reacts to New UI President," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 4, 2015, p. A1

Paul Diehl, “The Regents’ Disgraceful Decision,” The Daily Iowan (online) September 4, 2015; hardcopy: September 4, 2015, p. 4

Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Harreld Tenure Offer Raises Academics' Eyebrows," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 4, 2015, 7:25 p.m.; hardcopy: Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Harreld Tenure Offer Raises Some Eyebrows; Contract Has Provisions for a Tenured Post," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 5, 2015, p. A1

Bruce Wheaton, "No Reset Button on Higher Education Crisis," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 4, 2015, 11:05 a.m.; hardcopy: Bruce Wheaton, "No Reset Button for Crisis in Higher Ed," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 5, 2015, p. A8

Vanessa Miller, "University of Iowa Donor: 'I Think We Made a Very Good Choice' With Presidential Hire; Search Committee Member Recognized Harreld's Name From Past," The Gazette (online), September 4, 2015, 5:50 p.m.; hardcopy: Vanessa Miller, "Higher Education: Major Donor Lauds Choice of New UI President; Harreld Tours Campus, Asks Athletes to Help Him Reduce Sex Assault Incidents," The Gazette, September 5, 2015, p. A1

Vanessa Miller, "New University of Iowa President 'Will Not Seek Tenure,'" The Gazette (online), September 4, 2015, 3:32 p.m.; hardcopy: Vanessa Miller, "Higher Education: Harreld 'Will Not Seek Tenure;' Business College Role Allowed," The Gazette, September 5, 2015, p. A11

Lynda Waddington, "Character Will Decide UI Fate," The Gazette (online), September 5, 2015, 7:00 a.m.; hardcopy: Lynda Waddington, "Character Will Decide UI Fate," The Gazette, September 5, 2015, p. A6

September 7-9, 2015

Vanessa Miller, "Regents Change Course, Consider Push for New University of Iowa Funding; Faculty, Student Questions, Criticism Remains," The Gazette (online), September 7, 2015, 7:51 PM; hard copy: Vanessa Miller, "Higher Education: Regents Might Seek More Money for UI After All; After Selection of Controversial Iowa President, Board Asked to Endorse an Extra $4.5 Million for University," The Gazette, September 8, 2015, p. A1

"In Reversal, Regents to Pursue UI Funding Increase," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), Staff Report, September 7, 2015, 7:45 p.m.; hard copy: "In Reversal, Regents Pursue $4.5 Million UI Funding Increase," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 8, 2015, p. A1

Kellie Woodhouse, "Appointment of Former IBM Executive Causes Unease at University of Iowa; Bruce Harreld Will Become President of the Institution in November," Times (of London) Higher Education, September 8, 2015

Kembrew McLeod, "The N-O Man; The University of Iowa's New President Has No Experience, No Ideas, and Flubbed His Own Résumé," Slate, September 8, 2015, 11:40 a.m.

Ryan J. Foley, "UI faculty leader warned regents about choosing Harreld," Associated Press/Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 8, 2015, 1:28 p.m.

Vanessa Miller, "University of Iowa Faculty Senate Votes 'No Confidence' in Board of Regents; Members of the Faculty and Its Senate Said the Board of Regents Betrayed Them and Their Confidence," The Gazette (online), September 8, 2015, 6:05 p.m.; Vanessa Miller, "Higher Education: Faculty Decries Choice of New UI President; 'This University Has Been Betrayed,' Leader Says in No-Confidence Vote," The Gazette, September 9, 2015, p. A1

Jeff Charis-Carlson, "UI Faculty Senate Votes 'No Confidence' in Regents," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 8, 2015, 8:42 p.m.; hard copy: Jeff Charis-Carlson, "UI Faculty Gives 'No Confidence' Vote; Result Says the Regents Had Failed the University, State's Citizens by Hiring Harreld," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 9, 2015, p. A1

Mary Ellen McIntire, "U. of Iowa Faculty Members Vote No Confidence in Board of Regents," The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 9, 2015

"No Confidence," DI Staff, The Daily Iowan (online), September 9, 2015; hard copy: "No Confidence," The Daily Iowan, September 9, 2015, p. 1

"UI Students Join Faculty in Voting 'No Confidence' in Regents," Press-Citizen Staff, Des Moines Register (online), September 9, 2015, 11:12 a.m.

2 U. Iowa Student Groups Say Have Lost Faith in Regents," Associated Press/Washington Times, September 9, 2015

Vanessa Miller, "University of Iowa Students Issue 'No Confidence' Vote; Faculty Also Voted 'No Confidence' in Board of Regents," The Gazette (online), September 9, 2015, 10:29 a.m.

Rekha Basu, "Rocky Start for UI President," Des Moines Register (online), September 9, 2015, 6:03 p.m.

September 10-12, 2015

Todd Dorman, "Dressing the Windows Yet Again," The Gazette (online), September 10, 2015, 8:45 a.m.; hard copy: Todd Dorman, "24-Hour Dorman: Dressing Windows Yet Again," The Gazette, September 10, 2015, p. A5

Vanesssa Miller, "Regents Leader Reiterates Support for Harreld After UI Studkents, Faculty Vote No Confidence," The Gazette (online), September 9, 2015, 8:58 p.m.; hard copy: Vanessa Miller, "Higher Education: Rastetter Reiterates Support for Harreld Despite UI Votes; UI Students, Faculty Vote No Confidence in Regents After Choice," The Gazette, September 10, 2015, p. A9

Vanessa Miller, "Regents Raise Tuition at ISU, UNI, Not UI," The Gazette (online), September 9, 2015, 9:47 p.m.; hard copy: Vanessa Miller, "Higher Education: Regents Exempt UI From Tuition Increase; Resident Undergrads Will Pay $100 More at ISU and UNI," The Gazette, September 10, 2015, p. A1

Kyle Munson, "A Prof, a President and a University Culture Clash," Des Moines Register (online), September 9, 2015, 6:40 p.m.

Mary Ellen McIntire, "Leadership & Governance: When Nontraditional Presidents Come to Campus, the Reception Varies," The Chronicle of Higher Education," September 10, 2015

Jeff Charis-Carlson,"Rastatter Responds to 'No Confidence' Votes," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 10, 2015, 10:10 a.m.

"University of Iowa Student Groups Add to Growing Presidential Selection Backlash," Associated Press/Marshalltown Times-Herald, September 9, 2015, 10:52 a.m.

Andy Davis, "UI Staff Council Drafts Letter of 'Disappointment' to Regents," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 9, 2015, 9:14 p.m.; hard copy: Andy Davis, "UI Group Disappointed In Regents; Staff Council Drafts Letter Expressing Unhappiness with Process Used to Hire New School President," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 10, 2015, p. A1

Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Regents to Raise Spring Tuition at UNI and ISU, but Not UI," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 9, 2015, 8:12 p.m.; hard copy: Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Regents to Raise ISU, UNI Spring Tuition; UI is Unexpectedly Exempted Based on Student Leader Input," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 10, 2015, p. A1

Vauhini Vara, "Do Business People Make Good University Presidents?" The New Yorker, September 10, 2015

Vanessa Miller, "University of Iowa Was Told to Seek No Funding Increase; 'The Board of Regents Determines the Legislative Request,'" The Gazette (online), September 10, 2015, 5:27 p.m.; hard copy: Vanessa Miller, "UI Was Told Not to Seek More Money; Regents Office Behind Decision Not to Request Increase," The Gazette, September 11, 2015, p. A2

Vanessa Miller, "University of Iowa Loses Ground in U.S. News Rankings; ISU Sees Dips, Improvement," The Gazette (online), September 10, 2015, 5:04 p.m.; hard copy: Vanessa Miller, "UI Loses Ground in U.S. News Rankings of Top Universities; Institution Falls Off List of Top 30 Public Schools," The Gazette, September 11, 2015, p. A2

Gary Gutting, "Why College Is Not a Commodity," The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 11, 2015

Rod Boshart, "Brandtad Backs Regents' University of Iowa Presidential Choice; 'I Think We've Got a Dynamic Leader,'" The Gazette (online), September 11, 2015, 11:56 a.m.; hard copy: Rod Boshart, "Brandstad Backs Regents' Choice for UI President; 'I Think We've Got a Dynamic Leader,'" The Gazette, September 12, 2015, p. A2 hard copy: Matthew Patane, "Branstad Stands By Regents' Pick for UI President" Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 12, 2015, p. A4

Vanessa Miller, "University of Iowa Presidential Search Costs Start to Trickle In," The Gazette (online), September 11, 2015, 12:22 p.m.; hard copy: Vanessa Miller, "Higher Education: Regents: 24 Percent of Search Candidates Were Women," The Gazette, September 12, 2015, p. A2

Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Only Four of the 46 Applicants for UI President Were Women," Des Moines Register (online), September 11, 2015, 3:48 p.m.; hard copy: Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Only 4 Out of 46 Seeking Top Post at UI Were Women," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 12, 2015, p. A3

Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Talk of UI Faculty Union Gaining Steam," Des Moines Register (online), September 11, 2015, 4:32 p.m.; hard copy: Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Union Talk Among UI Faculty Gains Steam," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 12, 2015, p. A1

Staff Editorial, "Regents Must Show Their Work," The Gazette (online), September 12, 2015, 5:00 a.m.; hard copy: Editorial, "Regents Must Show Their Work," The Gazette, September 12, 2015, p. A6

Elizabeth Heineman, "Why UI Community United to Oppose Harreld," Des Moines Register (online), September 12, 2015, 6:00 p.m. ("Does this mean we cannot imagine someone from the business world as an effective university leader? No. It means the university community concluded, after assessing his [Harreld's] resume and his performance during his campus visit, that this particular candidate was not equipped for the job. Does this mean that we resist innovation? No. Just ask the federal granting agencies, corporate donors, and private philanthropies that every year entrust the University with well over $400 million in research funds. They do this because they know that for us, innovation isn’t an empty slogan – it’s about results.")
September 13-15, 2015

General: "Collegeland,", "The Education Issue," New York Times Magazine, September 13, 2015

General: Frank Bruni, "How to Measure a College's Value," Sunday Review, New York Times, September 13, 2015, p. SR3

General: Marco Rubio, "Let's Overhaul Higher Education," Des Moines Register, September 13, 2015, 11:43 p.m.

Scott Jaschik, "Mentoring as Tenure Criterion," Inside Higher Education, July 20, 2015 [added Sept. 13, 2015]

Brad Franzwa, Brian Hulke, Joshua Cook, Jeri Smith, "Give UI's New President Harreld a Chance," The Gazette (online), September 14, 2015, 5:00 a.m.; hard copy: Brad Franzwa, Brian Hulke, Joshua Cook, Jeri Smith, "Give UI's New President a Chance," The Gazette, September 14, 2015, p. A6

Eric Kelderman, "Leadership & Governance: Burning Question at U. of Iowa: Who Threw Bruce Harreld's Hat in the Ring?" The Chronicle of Higher Education," September 14, 2015 (link downloads as a "docx" MSWord file)

Vanessa Miller, "ISU, UNI Faculty Support UI in No-Confidence Vote; Prefessor: Regents Decision Constitutes 'Serious Breach of the Principles of Shared Governance,'" The Gazette (online), September 14, 2015, 5:34 p.m.; hard copy: Vanessa Miller, "Higher Education: Faculty at UNI, ISU Back UI in Expressing No Confidence," The Gazette, September 15, 2015, p. A3

"ISU, UNI Faculty Groups Back UI 'No Confidence' Votes,", Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 14, 2015, 8:07 p.m.; hard copy: "ISU, UNI Faculties Back UI 'No Confidence' Votes; A Forum Thursday Will Allow UI Community to Discuss the Role of Faculty in a 21st-Century University," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 15, 2015, p. A6

General: "Playboy Names UI the No. 2 Party School,", Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 14, 2015, 5:13 p.m.; hard copy: "Playboy Names UI the No. 2 Party School," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 15, 2015, p. A6; Josh O'Leary, "UI Alpha Phi Sorority Chapter Suspended," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 11, 2015, 5:27 p.m.; hard copy: Josh O'Leary, "UI Sorority Chapter Suspended," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 12, 2015, p. A3; "Cops: Drunk Iowa Sorority Leader Arrested After She Pees On Floor Of Frozen Yogurt Shop," The Smoking Gun, September 14, 2015

Michael Appel, "UI Community Not Valued in Harreld Hiring,", Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 14, 2015, 5:27 p.m.; hard copy: Michael Appel, "UI Community Not Valued in Hiring," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 15, 2015, p. A7

Ned Plimpton, "Perhaps Harreld is a Sensible Choice,", Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 15, 2015, 12:00 a.m.; hard copy: Ned Plimpton, "Perhaps Harreld is Sensible Choice for UI President," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 15, 2015, p. A7

General: Ferguson Commission Report, September 14, 2015; Executive Summary; Forward Through Ferguson (as what seems to be a positive example of bringing a community together to address a challenge)

"2 Months Before His Hiring, New University of Iowa President Was Invited to Speak at Hospital," Associated Press, September 15, 2015, 5:05 a.m.

September 16-18, 2015

Jeff Charis-Carlson, "New UI President Visited UIHC Over the Summer," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 15, 2015, 12:20 p.m.; hard copy: Jeff Charis-Carlson, "New UI President Visited UIHC Over Summer; Harreld Was Still Weighing Whether to Apply for Position," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 16, 2015, p. A1

John Menninger, "Time for Regents to Disclose Agenda," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 15, 2015, 11:04 p.m.; hard copy: John Menninger, "Time for Regents to Disclose Agenda," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 16, 2015, p. A13

Josh Newell, "[ISU] Faculty Senate Approves Letter to Board of Regents," Iowa State Daily, September 15, 2015

Ryan J. Foley, "Weeks Before Hiring, New University of Iowa President Met Search Leaders," Associated Press/DiverseEducation, September 15, 2015 ("Robillard said that, at his request, Board of Regents President Bruce Rastetter joined him and Harreld for lunch after the talk [by Harreld to 40 UIHC personnel, July 8, 2015].")

Vanessa Miller, "University of Iowa Professor Sues Over Presidential Search; Hammond Warned of Possible Lawsuit in March," The Gazette (online), September 16, 2015, 6:35 p.m.; hard copy: Vanessa Miller, "Lawsuit Filed Over UI Presidential Search; Professor Emeritus Warned of Possible Legal Action in March," The Gazette, September 17, 2015, p. A3

Ryan J. Foley, "Open Meetings Suit Seeks to Void UI Presidential Search," Associated Press/Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 16, 2015, 12:56 p.m. ("'Regent President Bruce Rastetter appears to have played the Presidential Search and Selection Committee as if it were his own personal violin,' [plaintiff Harrold] Hammond wrote.") Hard copy: Ryan J. Foley, "Lawsuit Seeks to Void UI Presidential Search," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 17, 2015, p. A1

Vanessa Miller, "New University of Iowa President Met With Four Search Committwee Members in July; 'I Thought It Was an Interesting Opportunity,' One Committee Member Says," The Gazette (online), September 16, 2015, 2:58 p.m.; hard copy: Vanessa Miller, "Higher Education: New UI President Met With Search Committee Members This Summer," The Gazette, September 17, 2015, p. A1

Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Experts: UI's Harreld Will Fail Without Faculty Support," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 16, 10:01 p.m.; hard copy: Jeff Charis-Carlson, "UI President: Experts: Harreld Will Fail Without Faculty Support," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 17, 2015, p. A1

Jeff Charis-Carlson, "UI Faculty Discuss Unionization, Future Action," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 17, 2015, 11:31 p.m.; hard copy: Jeff Charis-Carlson, "UI Faculty Discuss Future, Unionizing; AAUP Holds Forum to Consider Responses to Hiring of Harreld as President," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 18, 2015, p. A1

Gary Gussin, "Hiring Harreld Underminded Faculty Morale," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 18, 2015, 4:01 a.m.; hard copy: Gary Gussin, "Hiring Harreld Undermined Faculty Morale," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 18, 2015, p. A7

Vanessa Miller, "Emails Provide More Details of Harreld Visit to University of Iowa; Harreld's Candidacy and Selection Draw Impassioned Responsse," The Gazette (online), September 17, 2015, 10:08 p.m.; hard copy: Vanessa Miller, "Higher Education: Emails Provide More Details of Harreld Visit; Head of UI Presidential Search Panel Greeted Him at Airport in July," The Gazette, September 18, 2015, p. A2

Austin Petroski, "Another Group Rebukes Regents; UI Graduate Student Group Votes No Confidence in Presidential-Selection Process," The Daily Iowan, September 18, 2015; hard copy: Austin Petroski, "Another Group Rebukes Regents," The Daily Iowan, September 18, 2015, p. A1 (Graduate Student Senate)

Michael J. De La Merced and Evelyn M. Rusli, "Yahoo's Chief to Leave as Company Strikes Deal With Loeb," New York Times, May 13, 2012, 12:18 p.m., 10:22 p.m. (Harreld's resume contained false information regarding his current position and past publications. Should that be relevant in an academic appointment? Would it have been in the business world? "Yahoo's embattled chief executive, Scott Thompson, stepped down . . . after just four months on the job . . .. [T]he hedge fund [Third Point] pointed out that . . . his [Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson's] biography stated that he held both accounting and computer science degrees . . .. Yahoo later conceded that he had earned only an accounting degree, and that the flub -- described as an 'inadvertent error' -- had been included in regulatory filings.") And see, James B. Stewart, "In the Undoing of a C.E.O., a Puzzle," New York Times, May 19, 2012, p. B12 (“Mr. Thompson now joins a lengthy and puzzling list of prominent people who have embroidered or falsified their résumés and were felled for doing so, including a former Notre Dame football coach, chief executives of RadioShack and Bausch & Lomb, a director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and an MIT admissions director.”) [posted here September 16, 2015]

General: Jim Leach, "STEM, the Humanities, and Global Education," Distinguished Speaker Series, The College of Education, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, October 15, 2013 [posted here September 16, 2015] (the value of liberal arts education)

General: Hunter Rawlings, "College is not a commodity. Stop treating it like one. What truly makes an education valuable: the effort the student puts into it." Washington Post (online), June 9, 2015 [posted here September 16, 2015] (the value of liberal arts education)

General: Annie Murphy Paul, "Are College Lectures Unfair?" New York Times (online), September 12, 2015; hard copy: September 13, 2015, p. SR12 [posted here September 16, 2015]

Muriel E. Poston, "Presidential Search Committee Checklist," AAUP, 1997 [posted here September 16, 2015]

September 19-21, 2015

"What's Unacceptable About the Status Quo at UI?" Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 18, 2015, 6:01 p.m.; hard copy: Jeff Charis-Carlson, "What's Unacceptable About UI Status Quo? What Exactly Does Bruce Rastetter Find Wrong With Way Things Are Done?" Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 21, 2015, p. A1

Shelton Stromquist, "Regents, Rastetter Responsible for UI President Fiasco; The Board of Regents and the Governor Have Made a Mockery of What Should Have Been an Open and Fair Process," Des Moines Register (online), September 18, 2015, 7:59 p.m.

Shams Ghoneim, "Board of Regents Policies May Affect UI," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 19, 2015, 12:02 a.m.; hard copy: Shams Ghoneim, "Board of Regents Policies May Negatively Affect UI," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 19, 2015, p. A9

Editorial: Our Advice for Harreld: Start Healing Now," Des Mointes Register (online), September 21, 2015, 8:55 a.m.

Christopher Rants, "Give a Non-Academic President a Chance," Des Moines Register (online), September 19, 2015, 11:24 p.m.

General: Vanessa Miller, "Private, Community College Fall Enrollments in Iowa Hold Strong; 'We are Reversing the National Trend,'" The Gazette (online), September 18, 2015, 9:48 p.m.; hard copy: Vanessa Miller, "Higher Education: Private, Community College Enrollments Hold Steady; Kirkwood Official: 'We Are Reversing National Trend,'" The Gazette, September 21, 2015, p. A1

General: Vanessa Miller, "Spring Tuition Differential Largest in Regent History," The Gazette (online), September 20, 2015, 12:00 p.m.

General: Susan Dynarski, "Degrees of Debt: New Data Gives Clearer Picture of Student Debt," The New York Tiems (online), September 10, 2015

September 22-24, 2015

General: Vanessa Miller, "Nearly 1 in 10 ISU Students Say They've Experienced Unwanted Sexual Misconduct; Even So, Rate is Lower Than That Found Nationally in Major Study," The Gazette (online), September 22, 2015, 12:38 a.m.; hard copy: Vanessa Miller, "Higher Education: 1 in 10 Iowa State Students Tell of Sex Misconduct; Even So, Rate is Less Than That Found in Major National Survey," The Gazette, September 22, 2015, p. A1 ("UI Opts Out of Survey")

General: Jeff Charis-Carlson, "ISU Stats Below Average on Sexual Misconduct Survey," Des Moines Register (online), September 21, 2015, 2:43 p.m.

Gerhard Loewenberg, "Universities Should Not Be Organized Hierarchically," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 21, 2015, 11:07 p.m.; hard copy: Gerhard Loewenberg, "Universities Should Not Be Organized Hierarchically," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 22, 2015, p. A7

Sandra Alper, "Board of Regents Are Trying to Create the University of Inc." Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 21, 2015, 11:07 p.m.; hard copy: Sandra Alper, "Board of Regents Are Trying to Create the University of Inc." Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 22, 2015, p. A7

Christopher A. Brochu, "Hiring an Outsider is Not the Problem with Harreld," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 23, 2015, 4:02 a.m.; hard copy: Christopher A. Brochu, "Hiring an Outsider is Not the Problem," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 23, 2015, p. A11

Editorial, "Community Voices Must Be Heard," Iowa State Daily (online), September 23, 2015, 8:25 a.m.

Carl H. Klaus, "Harreld's Actions Show Lack of Integrity," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 22, 2015, 1:33 p.m.; hard copy: Carl H. Klaus, "Harreld's Actions Show Lack of Integrity," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 18, 2015, p. A7 [posted September 23, 2015]

Stacey Murray, "Another Group Rebukes Harreld," The Daily Iowan" (online), September 24, 2015 ("The UI Faculty Assembly from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences moved a censure at its closed session Wednesday, citing Harreld’s 'failure of professional ethics' as the basis for the action.")

"Iowa Faculty Group Censures Incoming President," Inside Higher Ed, September 24, 2015 (includes text of censure)

Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Faculty Group Censures Harreld Over Ethics," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 24, 2015, 4:44 p.m. ("'We're not concerned about the resume,' said Josh Lehman, regents spokesman.")

Vanessa Miller, "Faculty Group Censures Harreld Over Ethics; This Is a 'Reprimand,'" The Gazette (online), September 24, 2015, 12:13 p.m.

Andy Thomason, "U. of Iowa Faculty Censures New President Over Résumé Inaccuracies," The Chronicle of Higher Education (online), September 24, 2015

John Solow, "Dumb to Hire Harreld as Consultant; Great as President?" Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 23, 2015, 11:07 p.m.; hard copy: John Solow, "Dumb to Hire Harreld," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 24, 2015, p. A9

General ("innovation at Iowa"): Holly Hines, "New Tool Kit Aimed at Aiding Global Writing Workshops," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 23, 2015, 6:02 p.m.; hard copy, Holly Hines, "Tool Kit Aims to Aid Global Writing Workshops; UI Program Uses Online Courses to Help People with Poetry, Fiction," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 24, 2015, p. A1

General:
Vanessa Miller, "University of Iowa Student Reports Sex Assault Involving Online Acquaintance; Incident Prompts Fourth Campus Alert of School Year," The Gazette (online), September 23, 2015, 3:38 p.m.; hard copy: Vanessa Miller, "Campus Safety: Weeks Into School Year, UI Records Fourth Sexual-Assault Alert; Report Involves Online Acquaintance; 9 Alerts Issued During 2014-15," The Gazette, September 25, 2015, p. A3

September 25-27, 2015

Jeff Charis-Carlson, "5 Regents Met Bruce Harreld Weeks Before Interviews," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 24, 2015, 7:46 p.m.; hard copy: Jeff Charis-Carlson, "5 Regents Met Harreld Before Final Interview; July Meetings in Ames Included Seeing Two Members Not on Search Committee," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 25, 2015, p. A1

Vanessa Miller, "New UI President Met with Four Regents Before Application Deadline; Rastetter: 'He Wanted to Gather as Many Facts as He Could,'" The Gazette (online), September 24, 2015, 5:11 p.m.; hard copy: Vanessa Miller, "Higher Education: With Deadline Looming, Harreld Met With 4 Regents; Critics Raise Concerns He Received Preferential Treatment for UI Presidency," The Gazette, September 25, 2015, p. A1

Andy Thomason, "Controversial U. of Iowa President Met With Key Regents Ahead of Deadline," The Chronicle of Higher Education (online), September 24, 2015

Eric Kelderman, "U. of Iowa Chief's Past Meetings With Regents Rekindle Faculty Worries," The Chronicle of Higher Education" (online), September 25, 2015

Shelton Stromquist, "Time for UI Faculty to Unionize, Oppose Harreld," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 25, 2015, 1:00 a.m.; hard copy: Shelton Stromquist, "UI Faculty Must Unionize, Fight Regents' Pick for President," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 25, 2015, p. A7

General: Peter Cox, "Group of U of M Faculty Push for Union Vote," MPR [Minnesota Public Radio] News, September 24, 2015

"After July Visit, Harreld Praised UI Faculty Cooperation," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 25, 2015, 2:19 p.m.; hard copy: Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Harreld Praised UI Faculty Relations in July," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 26, 2015, p. A6

Vanessa Miller, "New University of Iowa President Praised 'Healthier Environment at UI;' Emails Reveal More About Faculty, Harreld Interactions," The Gazette (online), September 25, 2015, 9:43 p.m.; hard copy: Vanessa Miller, "Higher Education: In July, Harreld Praised 'Healthier Environment at UI;' But Since Then, Businessman's Selection as President has Roiled Iowa City Campus," The Gazette, September 26, 2015, p. A3 (Harreld: "In far too many universities, there seems to be an unnecessary and futile battle between the faculty and the administration" [Harreld to UI business school dean, email, July 8, 2015])

"Timeline for Bruce Harreld's Hiring," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 24, 2015, 7:16 p.m.; hard copy: "Bruce Harreld Hiring Timeline," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 25, 2015, p. A6

Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Leath Discussed Funding Model During Dinner with Harreld," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 25, 2015, 10:12 p.m.; hard copy: Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Leath Talked Funding at Dinner with Harreld; Iowa State President Says He Initiated the Meeting This Summer," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 26, 2015, p. A7

Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Regents: Nothing Wrong with Early Harreld Meetings," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 25, 2015, 11:40 a.m., 7:14 p.m.; hard copy: Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Regents Defend Early Meetings with Harreld; Several on the Board Say July Sessions Did Not Affect Their Consideration of Other UI President Finalists," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 26, 2015, p. A1 ("'In my role as a regent, we honor the shared governance of the university faculty and staff,' [Regent Katie] Mulholland said. 'But shared governance is really different from shared decision-making.'”)

David Hamilton, "We Are All Diminished by Such Domineering," Iowa City Press-Citizen (onlline), September 25, 2015, 11:22 p.m.; hard copy: David Hamilton, "We Are All Diminished by Such Domineering," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 26, 2015, p. A9

Tyler Priest, "Harreld Hiring Devalues Higher Education," The Gazette (online), September 26, 2015, 11:00 a.m.

Jacob Soll, "You Don't Turn Universities Around. You Build on Their Traditions," Des Moines Register (online), September 26, 2015

Nicholas Johnson, "Seven Steps for Transitioning University," The Gazette (online), September 27, 2015 (with links to 7 other related Gazette Writers Circle opinion pieces); hard copy: Nicholas Johnson, "Better Ways to Pick a UI President," The Gazette, September 27, 2015, p. C5

September 28-30, 2015

Editorial, "Come Clean on Iowa President Search," Globe Gazette [Mason City], September 28, 2015

DI Staff, "More Harreld Meetings Revealed; Harreld Met with More Regents Before the Deadline for UI President Applications," The Daily Iowan (online), September 28, 2015 ("[H]e [Harreld] answered [in an email] that he had been considering the position at [UI interim President] Jean Robillard’s and Regent Rastetter’s requests . . ..")

Jason Lee, "What Happened With That Presidential Search in Iowa?" Wiscape/School of Education/University of Wisconsin-Madison, September 28, 2015 (one of best summaries of process and selection; "three broad themes at play within the search that places this process firmly in the ​realm of the corporate university: Politics, business, and limiting faculty power.")

A. Frank Thompson, "Comment," "What Happened With That Presidential Search in Iowa?", September 29, 2015

"Poll: Did the Regents Make a Good Choice When Selecting Bruce Harreld as the President of the University of Iowa?, Sioux City Journal (online), posted September 12, 2015, results viewed September 28, 2015, 3:00 p.m. (18.1% Yes; 29.5% No; 52.4% Not sure)

Kellie Woodhouse, "Were the Vetters Vetted?" Inside Higher Ed (online), September 17, 2015 [posted here September 28, 2015] (Did the Regents vet the Parker Executive Search firm, and the times it's failed in other searches to catch serious flaws in candidates -- like Harreld's inaccurate job title, and failure to include the co-authors of "his" publications?)

Vanessa Miller, "University of Iowa Faculty Group Calls for Regents to be Dismissed; Faculty Assembly Wants Governor to Intervene After Harreld's Hire," The Gazette (online), September 28, 2015, 5:14 p.m.; hard copy: Vanessa Miller, "Higher Ed: UI Faculty Group Calls for Ouster of Regents; Vote Follows Its Censure of J. Bruce Harreld, the New UI President," The Gazette, September 29, 2015, p. A3

Jeff Charis-Carlson, "UI Faculty Assembly Calls on Regents to Resign," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 28, 2015, 6:38 p.m.; hard copy: Jeff Charis-Carlson, "UI Faculty Group Calls on Regents to Resign; Motion Approved Unanimously Duiring Last Week's Meeting," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 29, 2015, p. A5

Tom Ackerman, "CLAS Faculty Assembly Calls for Regents to Resign," The Daily Iowan (online), September 29, 2015; hard copy: Tom Ackerman, "Harreld Backlash Continues," The Daily Iowan, September 29, 2015, p. A1

And on the same subject: Cindy Garcia, "Snowden Critiques Surveillance," The Daily Iowan (online), September 29, 2015 ("One audience member raised [in a question to Edward Snowden] concerns over access to public records in relation to the recent appointment of Bruce Harreld as UI president. 'It raises a central point, which is that when you think about the lessons of 2015, they’re not about surveillance. They’re about democracy,' Snowden said. 'The bottom line is that secret policy is almost always bad policy.' He noted that public officials should explain and be held accountable for secret policies. 'One more thing I will say as a technologist, who has worked with forensics and who has worked for the NSA — emails don’t become unrecoverable by accident,' he said.'”); hard copy: Cindy Garcia, "Snowden Critiques Surveillance," The Daily Iowan, September 29, 2015, p. A1

Frank Schmidt, "Harreld Critics Miss Important Point," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 29, 2015, 12:02 a.m.; hard copy: Frank Schmidt, "Debate Around Harreld Misses Important Point," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 29, 2015, p. A9

Karla McGregor, "Corporate University Model Reduces Opportunities," Iowa City Press-Citizen (onlinhe), September 28, 2015, 4:24 p.m.; hard copy: Karla McGregor, "Corporate University Model Reduces Opportunities," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 29, 2015, p. A9

Ed Wasserman, "Harreld Selection: A Tale of Two Searches," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 30, 2015, 12:00 a.m.; hard copy: Ed Wasserman, "Harreld Pick: A Tale of Two Searches," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 30, 2015, p. A11

Dan Campion, "Bruce Harreld Should Withdraw From His Appointment," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 30, 2015, 10:03 p.m.; hard copy: Dan Campion, "Harreld Should Withdraw From UI," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 30, 2015, p. A11

Wayne Franklin, "Harreld as President Strikes Me As a Blunder of the Worst Kind," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 30, 2015, 10:05 p.m.; hard copy: Wayne Franklin, "Regents' Pick is Blunder of the Worst Kind," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 30, 2015, p. A11

Rod Boshart, "Branstad Tells UI Faculty to 'Calm Down' Over Harreld Hire," The Gazette (online), September 29, 2015, 5:02 p.m.; hard copy: Rod Boshart, "Higher Education: Branstad Tells UI Faculty: 'Calm Down,'" The Gazette, September 30, 2015, p. A3

William Petroski, "Branstad Scolds UI Faculty Over Vote on Regents," September 29, 2015, 3:39 p.m.; hard copy: William Petroski, "Branstad Scolds Faculty Over Vote on Regents; Governor Says They Need to 'Calm Down' and Get to Know New UI President," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 30, 2015, p. A3

General: Collin Binkley, "Colleges Help Student Startups Navigate the Legal Landscape," Associated Press, September 28, 2015, 1:00 p.m.; hard copy: Collin Binkley, "Colleges Help Students Navigate Startups; More Law Schools Opening Clinics for Young Entrepreneurs," Associated Press/Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 30, 2015, p. A1

Paul Durrenberger, "A Modest Proposal for the University of Iowa," Little Village, September 29, 2015 ("A political scientist at Johns Hopkins, Benjamin Ginsberg, has come up with a new twist he calls Massive Open Online Administration [MOOA]. Administrators everywhere face the same problems and even now govern by collectively established best practices. One person can solve the same problem at many different universities with a few keystrokes. And save the even greater cost of administrators.")

General: Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Mary Sue Coleman to Lead Research Universities Group," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 29, 2015, 3:52 p.m.; hard copy: Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Coleman, Former UI President, to Lead AAU," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 30, 2015, p. A3

October 1-3, 2015

Vanessa Miller, "Big University of Iowa Donors Back New President, Say Support Will Not Falter; 'I Can't Imagine That He Would Not be a Positive Influence,'" The Gazette (online), September 30, 2015, 6:57 p.m.; hard copy: Vanessa Miller, "Higher Education: Most Big UI Donors Back Harreld; Controversy Over Hire Won't Affect Their Giving, They Say," The Gazette, October 1, 2015, p. A1

General: Jeff Charis-Carlson, "UI to Hold Final Cultural Diversity Festival," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), September 30, 2015, 5:07 p.m.; hard copy: Jeff Charis-Carlson, "UI to Hold Final Diversity Fest; Organizers Point to New Initiative as Campus Welcomes its Most Diverse Class Ever," Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 1, 2015, p. A1 (21% of entering class from "diversity" groups; 12% from abroad)

Elizabeth Belden, "Let's Evaluate the Purpose of a University," The Gazette (online), October 1, 2015, 12:01 a.m.; hard copy: Elizabeth A. Belden, "Evaluate the Purpose of a University," The Gazette, October 1, 2015, p. A5

Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Robillard: Search, Expectations Not in Sync," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), October 1, 2015, 7:48 p.m.

Vanessa Miller, "Interim UI President: Regents Must Decide Whether to Keep Searches Open; They 'Have to Decide What Kind of Search They Want,'" The Gazette (online), October 1, 2015, 4:43 p.m.; hard copy: Vanessa Miller, "Robillard: Regents to Decide How Open to Make Searches; Head of Search Committee Supports New University of Iowa President 'Completely,'" The Gazette, October 2, 2015, p. A7

Frank Durham, "Regents Need Remedial Lesson on Shared Governance," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), October 2, 2015, 12:02 a.m.; hard copy: Frank Durham, "Regents Need Remedial Lesson on Shared Governance," Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 2, 2015, p. A7

James R. Larkin, "Harreld's Hiring Lacked Transparency," The Gazette, October 2, 2015, 12:01 a.m.; hard copy: James R. Larkin, "Harreld's Hiring Lacked Transparency," The Gazette, October 2, 2015, p. A6

Ellen Heywood, "Do You See Bruce Harreld in a Future Position of Magnitude?" Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), October 2, 2015, 7:45 a.m.; hard copy: Ellen Heywood, "Do You See Harreld in Future Position of Magnitude?" Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 2, 2015, p. A7

General: Charly Haley, "How Iowa Colleges Would Deal With an 'Active Shooter,'" Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), October 2, 2015, 8:01 a.m.; hard copy: Charly Haley, "How Would UI Deal with an 'Active Shooter'?" Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 2, 2015, p. A6

Bruce Wheaton, "UI Must Push Forward, With or Without Harreld," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), October 3, 2015, 12:01 a.m.; hard copy: Bruce Wheaton, "UI Must Push Forward, With or Without Harreld," Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 3, 2015, p. A9

"Newsmaker Q & A: Bruce Rastetter," Business Record [Des Moines] (online), Week of September 28, 2015 (behind "Insider Member Content" paywall) [posted here October 3, 2015]

"UI's President Could Have Been Chris Christie," October 3, 2015

October 4-6, 2015

Editorial, "Regents' Hiring of UI President Was Flawed," Des Moines Register (online), October 3, 2015, 11:15 p.m.

Frank Bruni, "Guns, Campuses and Madness," New York Times (online), October 3, 2015; hard copy: Frank Bruni, "Guns, Campuses and Madness," New York Times, October 4, 2015, p. SR3

D. S. Kaufman, "Corporatization of the University Has Gone Far Enough," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), October 4, 2015, 10:31 p.m.; hard copy: Dhyana Kaufman, "Corporatization of UI Has Gone Far Enough," Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 5, 2015, p. A9

Mary Pieper, "Official: Partnership Between NIACC, University of Iowa is Paying Off," Mason City Globe Gazette (online), October 5, 2015, 5:00 a.m. (the details don't look to me like anyone's clinging to the status quo)

Nicholas Johnson, "Search Process Undermines Ability to 'Transition' UI," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), October 6, 2015, 12:03 a.m.; hard copy: Nicholas Johnson, "Search Process Undermines Ability to 'Transition' UI," Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 6, 2015, p. A7; also Nicholas Johnson, "Search Process Undermines Ability to 'Transition' UI," Des Moines Register (online), October 6, 2015, 12:03 a.m.

Gregory Dunn, "J. Bruce Harreld Will Succeed With Help," The Gazette (online), October 6, 2015, 12:01 a.m.; hard copy: Gregory Dunn, "J. Bruce Harreld Will Succeed With Help," The Gazette, October 6, 2015, p. A5 ("He will succeed because Gov. Terry Branstad and Bruce Rastetter will do everything in their power so he doesn’t fail. Then they can thumb their noses at the UI community . . ..")

Loren Glass, "This Board of Regents Has Got to Go," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), October 5, 2015, 11:08 p.m.; hard copy: Loren Glass, "This Board of Regents Has Got to Go," Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 6, 2015, p. A7

"Branstad Says He Can't Remove Regents Board After UI Hiring," Des Moines Register (online)/Associated Press, October 5, 2015, 12:33 p.m.; hard copy: "Branstad Says He Can't Remove Regents Board After UI Hiring," Associated Press/Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 6, 2015, p. A2

Beau Elliot, "Hark, The Harreld Angles Come," The Daily Iowan (online), October 6, 2015; hard copy: Beau Elliot, "Hark, The Harreld Angles Come," The Daily Iowan, October 6, 2015, p. 4

David Brooks, "The Big University," The New York Times (online), October 6, 2015; hard copy: David Brooks, "The Big University," The New York Times, October 6, 2015, p. A31 ("On almost every campus faculty members and administrators are trying to stem the careerist tide and to widen the system’s narrow definition of achievement. . . . programs . . . designed to cultivate the whole student: the emotional, spiritual and moral sides and not just the intellectual. . . . [M]oral and spiritual development . . . through small groups and relationships and in social contexts. . . . [T]here are a series of forces leading [faculty] to widen out so that they leave a mark on the full human being.")

October 7-9, 2015

Vanessa Miller, "National Professor Association to Investigate UI Presidential Search; 'The Deviation From Sound and Due Process is Striking,'" The Gazette (online), October 6, 2015, 4:47 p.m.; hard copy: Vanessa Miller, "Higher Education: National Group to Look Into UI Search Process," The Gazette, October 7, 2015, p. A2

Ed Wasserman, "The Iowa Board of Regents' Duplicity," The Gazette (online), October 7, 2015, 6:00 a.m.; hard copy: Ed Wasserman, "Bogus Search, Preordained Result Makes Duplicity of Regents Clear," The Gazette, October 7, 2015, p. A5

Jeff Charis-Carlson, "UI Releases List of Outreach Events With Harreld," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), October 6, 2015, 4:35 p.m.; hard copy: Jeff Charis-Carlson, "UI Releases List of Outreach Events With Harreld," Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 7, 2015, p. A3

General: Vanessa Miller, "Iowa City 'Beer Band' Silenced -- For Now; Explicit Lyrics Terminate Longtime Hawkeye Home Game Tradition," The Gazette (online), October 6, 2015, 8:03 p.m.; hard copy: Vanessa Miller, "Higher Education: Vulgar Lyrics Spell End For Now to 'Beer Band;' Although Not Authorized by UI, Band Agrees With University to Cease," The Gazette, October 7, 2015, p. A1

General: James Q. Lynch, "Most Iowa Gambling Revenues Go To Highter Education; Job Retraining Fund Also Gets Substantial Proportion, Report Shows," The Gazette (online), October 6, 2015, 5:15 p.m.; hard copy: James Q. Lynch, "Gambling: Biggest Winner of Gambling Revenue? Higher Ed; Money Helped Pay for University Building Projects, Bond Debt," The Gazette, October 7, 2015, p. A3

Nicholas Johnson, "Video of Radio Interview Regarding UI Presidential Search," KCJJ-1630AM, Iowa City, Iowa, Captain Steve and Jim Hunter, October 7, 2015, 8:00-8:50 a.m. (requires Adobe Flashplayer to view; brief video ads every 10 minutes or so)

Jeff Charis-Carlson, "National Professor Group to Conduct Inquiry Into UI Search," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), October 7, 2015, 4:46 p.m.; hard copy: Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Group to Conduct Inquiry Into UI Search; State aqnd University Officials Decline Request to Participate," iowa City Press-Citizen, October 8, 2015, p. A1

Mercedes Bern-King, "New Double Standard Not Good for Iowa's Three Universities," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), October 8, 2015, 12:03 a.m.; hard copy: Mercedes Bern-Klug, "Iowans Expect Fairness, Not Hiring Double Standards," Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 8, 2015, p. A7

General: Mike Konczal, "Generation Debt," Dissent, Fall 2015 ("We’ve seen examples of where this defunding and privatization process ends—most notably in Chile, as writer Lili Loofbourow has documented. Viewing higher education as a luxury, Augusto Pinochet set about dismantling public education and transferring its role to the private sector immediately after his 1973 coup. The result was a system that was far more unequal, expensive, and class-based than anything that came before. After decades of struggle, progressives in Chile may be on the verge of fixing this; the United States, however, is moving steadily in the opposite direction.")

General: Jedediah Purdy, "Ayn Rand Comes to U.N.C.," The New Yorker, March 19, 2015 ("For several years, there have been indications that the state’s new leaders want to change the mission of public higher education in North Carolina. . . . Using the language of business schools, he [Republican Governor Pat McCrory] urged his audience to 'reform and adapt the U.N.C. brand to the ever-changing competitive environment of the twenty-first century' and to '[hone] in on skills and subjects employers need.'") [posted here October 8, 2015]

General: Robert Reich, "How the Koch Brothers and the Super-Rich Are Buying Their Way Out of Criticism; It's Bad Enough Beg Money is Buying Off Politicians. It's Also Buying Off Nonprofits That Used to be Sources of Investigation, Information, and Social Change, from Criticizing Big Money," Christian Science Monitor, April 8, 2015 [posted here October 8, 2015]

General: Vanessa Miller, "Sex Offense Reports Climb at University of Iowa; 'It's Such An Underreported Crime That More People Are Coming Forward,'" The Gazette (online), October 7, 2015, 6:51 p.m.; hard copy: Vanessa Miller, "Public Safety: Sex Offense Reporting Climbs at UI; Visible Efforts to Encourage Victims to Report Offenses May Be Behind the Increase," The Gazette, October 8, 2015, p. A1

General: Paul Deaton, "UI Study Finds Benefits in Burning Oat Hulls for Thermal Energy," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), October 7, 2015, 6:29 p.m.; hard copy: Paul Deaton, "Study: Oat Hulls Burn Cleaner for Energy Use; University Has Used Biofuel Mix in Power Plant Since 2003," Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 8, 2015, p. A3 (doesn't sound to me like a university stuck in the status quo)

General: Katia Hetter, "New York Inmates Defeat Harvard Debate Team; 'We Have Been Graced With Opportunity,' Inmate Says," CNN/KCCI-TV, Des Moines, Iowa, October 7, 2015, 3:15 p.m.

General: "Committee OKs Lifting UW Out-of-State Student Cap," Associated Press/Minnesota Public Radio, October 8, 2015 ("A University of Wisconsin System committee approved a plan to lift UW-Madison's cap on out-of-state students Thursday after the campus' chancellor and system president insisted they need more freedom to attract fresh talent for Wisconsin employers.")

Karen Dawisha, Keith Tuma and John McNay, "AAUP: Miami U Making a Big Mistake," Cincinnati Enquirer, October 8, 2015, 11:18 a.m. ("[T]he Miami University board of trustees has chosen to conduct a secret search for the new president of the university. This is an alarming development. . . . Transparency and honesty, especially at a public institution of higher education, should be of the utmost importance. . . . What has happened at the University of Iowa is a cautionary tale.")

October 10-12, 2015

Anonymous Comment on blog post regarding UI's payments for new "special communications initiatives," within the "UI Office of the Vice President for Strategic Communications," in addition to a $400,000 annual salary equivalent for a communications "consultant", based on the following story: Vanessa Miller, "UI's Rick Klatt to Take on Campuswide Role; 'I Might Be Able to Provide Assistant Immediately,'" The Gazette (online), October 9, 2015, 4:53 p.m.; hard copy, Vanessa Miller, "Higher Education: UI's Klatt Will Take on Campuswide Role; He Assumes Interim Role in Communications," The Gazette, October 10, 2015, p. A8

Chris Dunker, "UNL Faculty Offers Support for Iowa Colleagues' Fight Against Regents," Lincoln [Nebraska] Journal Star (online), October 10, 2015, 5:00 p.m.

John Pappajohn on Harreld: Neither praise nor defense of Regents' process or selection, Vanessa Miller, "Pappajohn Hands Out $10,000 on University of Iowa Campus; 'Philanthropy is a Way of Life,'" The Gazette (online), October 9, 2015, 5:33 p.m.; hard copy: Vanessa Miller, "Higher Education: Cash for a Cause; UI Donor John Pappajohn Gives Students Nearly $10,000 to Encourage Philanthropy," The Gazette, October 10, 2015, p. A1 (the entirety of the story's quotes from Pappajohn: "I think you have to give the new president an opportunity to perform. . . . The gentleman, who I recently met, is entitled to a chance. . . . I think it's a wonderful opportunity for the new president to come up with new ideas.")

Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Pappajohn Urges UI to Give Harreld a Chance," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), October 9, 2015, 7:49 p.m.; hard copy: Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Pappajohn Urges UI to Give Harreld Chance," Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 10, 2015, p. A3 (the entirety of the story's quotes from Pappajohn: "They [Harreld's critics] are entitled to their own opinion. I think outside the box because I'm a businessman. And I think we should give the gentleman an opportunity. . . . The president has very little to do with it [who Pappajohhn donated to depended more on [J C-C "who had the vision for the business, facility, program, college or venture . . . . If Harreld, however, proves unable to win over the campus community with a clear vision for the university, Pappajohn said, then he should live up to his word and move on."] I move presidents in and out. I'm pretty good at selecting, but nobody is perfect. You need to base everything on performanance . . . and if the performance [is] bad, you need to act.")

Jake Christensen, "Branstad Should Call for Regents Leadership to Resign," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), October 9, 2015, 6:05 p.m.; hard copy: Jake Christensen, "Branstad's Wrong: He Does Influence Regents," Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 10, 2015, p. A9

Lynda Waddington, "Branstad's Political Cronyism Experiment Failed," The Gazette (online), October 13, 2015, 9:17 a.m.; hard copy: Lynda Waddington, "Branstad's Experiment in Political Cronyism Has Failed," The Gazette, October 11, 2015, p. C11

Ellen Heywood, "Search Process for President Questionable," The Gazette (online), October 12, 2015, 12:15 a.m.; hard copy: Ellen Haywood, "Search Process for President Questionable," The Gazette, October 12, 2015, p. A6 ("To truly appreciate the difference in the results of a faculty driven presidential search and a Board of Regents driven search one can look at where our former presidents are today. . . . Tell me, Board of Regents and Gov. Terry Branstad, do you see your recent selection to head the University of Iowa ever being chosen in the future for a position of the magnitude of these former presidents . . .?")

Ramon Lim, "In Defense of Liberal-Arts Education: A Message to the Regents," The Daily Iowan (online), October 12, 2015

October 13-15, 2015

Tom Ackerman, "Harreld Reaction Widens," The Daily Iowan (online), October 13, 2015; hard copy, Tom Ackerman, "Harreld Reaction Widens," The Daily Iowan, October 13, 2015, p. 1

Marijo Enderle, "SEC [Faculty Senate Executive Committee] Supports Vote of No Confidence in University of Iowa Board of Regents", The Daily Illini (online), October 13, 2015 ("'If the Academic Senate agrees to sign onto the vote of no confidence in Iowa’s Board of Regents, it will become one of the last universities in the Big 10 to support the vote. We’re the last one, I believe, of those who attended (the Committee on Institutional Cooperation),' said Gay Miller, SEC chair."

General: David Brooks' column about today's conservatives provides insight into the thinking of those who want to "transform" higher education: David Brooks, "The Republicans’ Incompetence Caucus," The New York Times (online), October 13, 2015; hard copy David Brooks, "The Incompetence Caucus," The New York Times, October 13, 2015, p. A25

Bruce Harreld, "Why I Came to Iowa; A Message to the UI Community from Bruce Harreld," Iowa Now, October 13, 2015, 12:12 p.m.

Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Harreld Offers First Message on Why He Came to Iowa," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), October 13, 2015, 5:01 p.m.; hard copy: Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Harreld Offers First Message on Why He Came to Iowa," Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 14, 2015, p. A1

Vanessa Miller, "Incoming University of Iowa President Addresses Critics in Campuswide Message; 'We Owe It to Our University and Ourselves to Work Together,'" The Gazette (online), October 13, 2015, 3:05 p.m.; hard copy: Vanessa Miller, "New UI President Has Message for Critics; 'If You Hear Something That Worries You, Simply Ask Me Directly,' Harreld Writes," The Gazette, October 14, 2015, p. A1

DI Staff, "Harreld Reaches Out to UI," The Daily Iowan (online), October 14, 2015; hard copy: DI Staff, "Harreld Reaches Out to UI," The Daily Iowan, October 14, 2015, p. 1

General: Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Regents to Discuss Raising UI Tuition by 3 Percent," Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 14, 2015, p. A7

General: Vanessa Miller, "Proposal to Increase UI Tuition, Hold ISU and UNI Steady; Change Would Bring Universities Back in Line," The Gazette (online), October 13, 2015, 12:57 p.m.; hard copy: Vanessa Miller, "Higher Education: Regents Consider Fall Tuition Hike at UI," The Gazette, October 14, 2015, p. A1

Vanessa Miller, "New University of Iowa President's Emails Show Early Outreach With Faculty; 'Welcome -- really -- we need your contribution,'" The Gazette (online), October 14, 2015, 3:36 p.m.; hard copy: Vanessa Miller, "Higher Education: Harreld's Emails Show Early Outreach; President's Messages Reflect an Eagerness to Meet and Connect with UI Faculty and Staff," The Gazette, October 15, 2015, p. A3

Nancy Jones, "J. Bruce Harreld Received Special Treatment," The Gazette (online), October 15, 2015, 2:00 a.m.; hard copy: Nancy Jones, "Harreld Received Special Treatment in UI Process," The Gazette, October 15, 2015, p. A5

http://daily-iowan.com/2015/10/15/harreld-nixes-office-renovation/">Alyssa Guzman, "Harreld Nixes Office Renovation; Renovations in the President's Office Have Been Put on Hold," The Daily Iowan (online), October 15, 2015; hard copy: Alyssa Guzman, "Harreld Nixes Office Renovation; Renovations in the President's Office Have Been Put on Hold," The Daily Iowan, October 15, 2015, p. 1

October 16-18, 2015

"An Olive Branch From New Iowa President?" Inside Higher Ed, October 14, 2015 ("Faculty leaders at the University of Iowa remain angry that Bruce Harreld, a business executive lacking in experience leading in higher education, was last month named president.")

Tom Knox, "Ohio State Faculty Stay Out of Furor Over Iowa Presidential Pick," Columbus Business First (online), October 15, 2015, 1:53 p.m. ("[W]e support our faculty colleagues at Iowa in affirming academic integrity, intellectual honesty, and transparency in selecting leaders . . . [however] our provost, Joseph Steinmetz, was a finalist for the presidency at Iowa. His not being selected makes it awkward if not inappropriate to endorse this resolution.")

Vanessa Miller, "Regents Seek Advice in Setting Goals," The Gazette, October 17, 2015, 12:01 a.m.; hard copy: Vanessa Miller, "Higher Education: Regents Seek Advice in Setting Goals Amid Change; In the Last Strategic Plan, UI Meets 6 of 7 Benchmarks," The Gazette, October 17, 2015, p. A1

Vanessa Miller, "University of Iowa Faculty Council Encouraged by New President's Message; 'We Are Beginning to Work With President-Elect Harreld,'" The Gazette (online), October 16, 2015, 12:13 p.m.; hard copy: Vanessa Miller, "Higher Education: Harreld's Message Buoys UI Faculty," The Gazette, October 17, 2015, p. A3

"UI Faculty Council Encouraged by Harreld's Message," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), October 16, 2015, 3:26 p.m. (full text of Faculty Council Statement, with signers' names)

Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Group Planning to Protest Regents Meeting in Iowa City," Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 16, 2015, 5:31 p.m.; hard copy: Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Group Planning to Protest Regents Meeting in I.C.; The Selection of the New University of Iowa President Stirs Emotions," Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 17, 2015, p. A3

General: Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Finding a Home: Iowa's Trans Students Offered Options," October 16, 2015, 7:42 p.m.; hard copy: Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Iowa's Trans Students Have Options," Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 17, 2015, p. A1

October 19-21, 2015

General: Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Graduate, Professional Students Propose Tax Break," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), October 19, 2015, 5:04 p.m.; hard copy: Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Graduate, Professional Students Propose Tax Break; Incentive May Keep More Doctors, Lawyers, Health Care Providers," Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 20, 2015, p. A1

Phil Beck, "Regents Cannot Justify UI Hire," The Gazette, October 19, 2015, 12:30 a.m.; hard copy: Phil Beck, "Regents Cannot Justify UI President Hire," The Gazette, October 19, 2015, p. A6 ("The regents engineered the hiring of Harreld from beginning to end. They claim they disinterestedly followed due process, but they’re not fooling anyone. Their own words reveal the truth.")

Judith Pascoe, "Regents, Not UI, Need Refresher on Civility," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), October 20, 2015, 12:00 a.m.; hard copy, Judith Pascoe, "Regents, Not UI, Need Refresher on Civility," Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 20, 2015, p. A7

Jeff Charis-Carlson, "UI Graduate Employee Union to Join Protest of Regents," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), October 20, 2015, 2:18 p.m.; hard copy is not yet available

Vanessa Miller, "University of Iowa Graduate Students Add to Those Planning Regents Protest; 'We Will Fight Back' Against 'Charade' of Presidential Search," The Gazette (online), October 20, 2015, 3:37 p.m.; hard copy is not yet available

Vanessa Miller, "Amid Swirl of Issues, Board of Regents Public Hearings Draw Few; No Regents Attend the Hearings and Board Does Little to Raise Awareness," The Gazette (online), October 20, 2015, 5:53 p.m.; hard copy: Vanessa Miller, "Regents: Hearings Draw Few Despite Pressing Issues; Meetings Held to Improve Public Access, but Board Does Little to Let People Know," The Gazette, October 21, 2015, p. A1

Douglas C. Baynton, "I Remain Skeptical of Bruce Harreld," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), October 20, 2015, 11:07 p.m.; hard copy: Douglas C. Baynton, "I Remain Skeptical of Bruce Harreld," Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 21, 2015, p. A11

Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Two UI Grad Students Interrupt Regents' Funding Explanations," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), October 21, 2015, 12:42 p.m.

October 22-24, 2015

Vanessa Miller, "Hundreds Confront Regents Over UI President; Petition: 'Bruce Harreld is Not Fit to Run the University of Iowa,'" The Gazette (online), October 21, 2015, 8:27 p.m.; hard copy: Vanessa Miller, "Higher Education: Hundreds Confront Regents Over New University of Iowa President; Petition: 'Bruce Harreld is Not Fit to Run the University of Iowa,'" The Gazette, October 22, 2015, p. A1

Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Hundreds Protest Regents, Call for Harreld to Resign," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), October 22, 2015, 5:42 a.m.; hard copy: Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Hundreds Call for Regents to Resign; Protesters Fill Memorial Union During State Board's Meeting; Petition with More Than 1,000 Signatures Presented to Board," Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 22, 2015, p. A1

Tom Walz, "Harreld Presidency Emblem of Larger Trend," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), October 21, 2015, 2:10 p.m.; hard copy, Tom Walz, "Harreld Presidency Emblem of Larger Institutional Trend," Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 22, 2015, p. A7

General (cutting programs/faculty for "efficiency;" budget-cutting): Jeff Charis-Carlson, "UI Reviewing All 75 Ph.D. Programs," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), October 21, 2015, 4:51 p.m.; hard copy: Jeff Charis-Carlson, "UI Reviewing All 75 Ph.D. Programs; Closing, Merging of Programs a Possibility Following Evaluation," Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 22, 2015, p. A1

H. Glenn Penny, "Melting Iowa's Quarters: Undermining Public Education in Iowa," Huffington Post, October 20, 2015, 5:49 p.m. ("Iowa has a long tradition of being a strong education state, so long and strong that it chose a schoolhouse as its marker for the Iowa quarter and stamped the statement 'foundation in education' on its back. The regents' ongoing efforts to undermine the University of Iowa's educational mission by reducing its funding and undercutting the role of educators in its governance constitutes an assault on that tradition . . ..")

Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Regent Sahai: 'Maybe We Dropped the Ball,'" Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 22, 2015, 9:03 p.m.; hard copy: Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Regent: 'Maybe We Dropped the Ball,'" Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 23, 2015, p. A1

Vanessa Miller, "Iowa Regent Says He's 'Angry' About University of Iowa Search Process; Sahai Says He Asked Rastetter if Selection Was Predetermined," The Gazette (online), October 22, 2015, 4:30 p.m.; hard copy: Vanessa Miller, "University of Iowa: Presidential Search Leaves Regent Angry; Meeting of 5 Regents With Harreld Before Interview Upset Sahai," The Gazette, October 23, 2015, p. A3

Austin Petroski and Cindy Garcia, "Protesters Voice Their Displeasure with Regents," The Daily Iowan (online), October 22, 2015; hard copy: Austin Petroski and Cindy Garcia, "Protesters Voice Displeasure with Regents," The Daily Iowan, October 22, 2015, p. 1

Cindy Garcia, "Regents: Regents May Have Dropped the Ball; Regents Respond to Protest Calling for Resignations," The Daily Iowan (online), October 23, 2015

General (BOR admissions/funding "index"; consultants): Vanessa Miller, "Regents Could Review Index to Assess Applicants -- Again; Consulting Group Asks if 'Regent Admission Index' is Viable Mechanism for Determining Success," The Gazette (online), October 22, 2015, 2:41 p.m.; hard copy: Vanessa Miller, "Regents Might Review Index to Assess Applicants -- Again," The Gazette, October 23, 2015, p. A3

General (UI/all universities' issue -- campus sexual assaults): Vanessa Miller, "University of Iowa Climate Survey to Poll Students on Sex Assault, 'There is Absolutely No Place for These Actions on Our Campus,'" The Gazette (online), October 22, 2015, 2:28 p.m.

General (UI/all universities' issue -- campus sexual assaults): Jeff Charis-Carlson, "UI to Conduct Sexual Assault Climate Survey," Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 22, 2015, 2:05 p.m.; hard copy: Jeff Charis-Carlson, "UI to Conduct Sexual Assault Climate Survey," Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 23, 2015, p. A7

General (change; outreach; UI regional facilities (ala Kirkwood Community College): Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Regents Sign Off on AIB Gifting Campus to UI," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), October 22, 2015, 2:22 p.m.; hard copy: Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Regents Sign Off on AIB Gifting Campus to UI; College Will Become a Regents Regional Resource Center," Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 23, 2015, p. A6

General (BOR PR; shifting responsibility for rising tuition/student debt from BOR/legislature's delining public funding to students' lack of "financial literacy"; should be taught in K-12): Vanessa Miller, "Regents Charge Universities to Mandate Financial Literacy Course; Board of Regents Members Said They Hear From Students Regularly on the Issue of Loan Debt," The Gazette (online), October 22, 2015, 4:23 p.m.; hard copy: Vanessa Miller, "Higher Education: Regents Chief: Make Students More Savvy About Debt; With Student Loan Debt Growing, Board President Calls for Mandatory Classes on Financial Literacy," The Gazette, October 23, 2015, p. A1

General: (BOR asserts, and faculty acknowledges, higher ed faces challenges; disagreement as to list and solutions; One college president's list): Carl Strikwerda [president of Elizabethtown College], "Crucial Higher Ed Issues: The Elevator Speech," Inside Higher Ed (online), October 23, 2015 ("A board member recently asked me, 'If you can do two-minute elevator speeches on why someone should give a million dollars to the college, why don’t you give me an elevator speech on the biggest challenges facing higher education?'")

Jack Stripling, "Leadership & Governance: In Search for College Chiefs, Faculty Input Can Feel More Like a Mere Formality," The Chronicle of Higher Education (online), October 20, 2015 (access to text requires subscription)

Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Consultants Say Universities Can't Be All-Iowa Serving Only," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), October 23, 2015, 10:33 p.m.; hard copy: Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Consultants Say Universities Can't Be All-Iowa Serving Only; Recommendation: Each Develops Distinct Enrollment Management Plan," Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 24, 2015, p. A3

Teresa Treat, "Tarnishing the Quality Seal," The Daily Iowan, October 21, 2015 [posted here October 24, 2015]

David A. Sanders and Edward A. Wasserman, "Public Research Universities Are Being Undermined by Bogus Financial Crises," Huffington Post, October 22, 2015, 4:59 p.m. [posted here October 24, 2015]

Emily Logan [Kirkwood Faculty Association president], "No-Confidence Vote Worth Support," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), October 23, 2015, 6:21 p.m.; hard copy: Emily Logan [Kirkwood Faculty Association president], "No-Confidence Vote Worth Support," Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 24, 2015, p. A9 ("we give support to all of our colleagues at the University of Iowa for their no-confidence votes of the Board of Regents")

October 25-27, 2015

Vanessa Miller, "University of Iowa Climate Survey to Poll Students on Sex Assault; 'There is Absolutely no Place for These Actions on Our Campus,'" The Gazette (online), October 22, 2015, 2:28 p.m.; hard copy: Vanessa Miller, "Higher Education: UI Launches Sex Misconduct Survey," The Gazette, October 26, 2015, p. A3

Jeff Charis-Carlson, "UI Professors Discuss Nuts and Bolts of Unionization," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), October 24, 2015, 4:04 p.m.; hard copy: Jeff Charis-Carlson, "University Professors Discuss Nuts and Bolts of Unionization; State AAUP Conference Serves as Backdrop for Faculty Union Debate," Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 26, 2015, p. A1

Gregory Dunn, ""UI Leader Should be Trained Educator," The Gazette (online), October 26, 2015, 12:01 a.m.; hard copy: Gregory Dunn, "UI Leader Should be Trained Educator," The Gazette, October 26, 2015, p. A6

Vanessa Miller, "AAUP Criticizes Harreld Statement, Faculty Response; "There Was No Respect for Academic Values or Shared Governance,'" The Gazette (online), October 26, 2015, 6:14 p.m.; hard copy: Vanessa Miller, "Higher Education: AAUP Criticizes Harreld Statement, UI Faculty Response; "There Was No Respect for Academic Values or Shared Governance,' Professor Group Says," The Gazette, October 27, 2015, p. A2

Tom Ackerman, "Some UI Faculty Eye Union," The Daily Iowan (online), October 27, 2015; hard copy: Tom Ackerman, "Some UI Faculty Eye Union," The Daily Iowan, October 27, 2015, p. 1

General ("life imitating art department"): Josh O'Leary, "Smiley Discusses 'Prophetic' Book in Return to Iowa City," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), October 27, 2015, 9:19 a.m.; hard copy: Josh O'Leary, "Smiley Discusses 'Prophetic' Book; Farcical Story About University Budget Cuts Has Similarities with Current Happenings on UI Campus," Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 27, 2015, p. A3 ("In the book [published in 1995], an anti-intellectual governor repeatedly attempts to cut the budget of an unnamed Midwestern university — an agricultural school nicknamed 'Moo U' — and a billionaire businessman opens his wallet in exchange for the institution's help with a rain forest gold-mining project.")

October 28-31, 2015

Jeff Charis-Carlson, "UNI Faculty Offers Support for UI's 'No Confidence' Vote Against Regents," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), October 27, 2015, 11:40 a.m.; hard copy: Jeff Charis-Carlson, "UNI Group Supports UI on Regents; Statement Says Board 'Failed Duty' to Care for Students, Residents with Presidential Search," Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 28, 2015, p. A1 ("The statement from the UNI faculty comes after similar governance groups at eight Big Ten schools issued statements in support of the UI faculty. Previous statements of support of the no confidence vote had been issued by the UNI and Iowa State University chapters of the American Association of University Professors.")

Jim Zeller, "Harreld, UI Get Off to Rocky Start," Des Moines Register (online), October 25, 2015, 12:01 a.m. ("the sort of honeymoon period you would expect from a shotgun wedding, with Board of Regents President Bruce Rastetter holding the gun") [posted here October 28, 2015]

"Email Exchanges Between John Logsdon and Bruce Harreld," Facebook, October 16-23, 2015 [posted here October 28, 2015]

General ("education" in Iowa needs to take account of, not just the K-12 schools and Regents' institutions, but its excellent community colleges and private colleges throughout the state): Vanessa Miller, "Dubuque Colleges Fight University of Iowa Pitch for New MBA Program in Area; Citing a Request from Deere & Co, UI Proposes to Extend Its Reach," The Gazette (online), October 27, 2015, 9:22 p.m.; hard copy, Vanessa Miller, "Higher Education: Dubuque Colleges Fight Pitch for UI MBA Program; Citing Request from Deere & Co, UI Proposes to Extend Program in Dubuque," The Gazette, October 28, 2015, p. A1

But then see next two:

Vanessa Miller, "University of Iowa Delays Plans for MBA in Dubuque, Citing Concerns; 'More Interaction is a Good Thing,'" The Gazette (online), October 28, 2015, 2:39 p.m.; hard copy: Vanessa Miller, "Higher Education: UI Plans for Program in Dubuque Put on Hold; 3 Private Colleges that Have MBA Offerings had Questioned Proposal," The Gazette, October 29, 2015, p. A3

UI's Dubuque MBA Program on Hold Over Concerns," Associated Press/Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 29, 2015, 7:48 p.m.; hard copy: "UI's Dubuque MBA Program on Hold Over Local Concerns; Clarke University, Loras College and the University of Dubuque Opposed It," Associated Press/Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 30, 2015, p. A3

Duncan Stewart, "Hubris Running Rampant in Iowa," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), October 28, 2015, 10:02 p.m.; hard copy: Duncan Stewart, "Hubris Running Rampant Through Iowa," Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 29, 2015, p. A9 ("It's not only locals who don't give a damn about dazzling displays of arrogance. The Iowa Board of Regents . . . lured three distinguished candidates to campus for meaningless interviews, and then produced the hapless Bruce Harreld [who] confessed that he would need a job coach to tell him what to do. In one last act of disdain, the Regents' own press release listed Harreld's nonexistent company as his current employer.")

Vanessa Miller, "University of Iowa Presidential Search Costs Reach $308,000; ISU Search Cost $133,000 in 2011," The Gazette (online), October 29, 2015, 9:48 p.m.; hard copy: Vanessa Miller, "Higher Education: Cost of UI Search: $308,000 and Counting; Price Tag for Process that Ended with Harreld's Hiring Far Exceeds $133,000 Cost of Similar Hunt at ISU in 2011," The Gazette, October 30, 2015, p. A2

Another university, place, presidential search, and selection of "outsider" -- but one who had the administrative experience of having been secretary of a federal department, and one that happened to be the U.S. Department of Education: Andy Thomason, "U. of North Carolina Board Chair Resigns After Controversial Search That Led to Spellings," The Chronicle of Higher Education (online), October 26, 2015

"Former Bush Education Chief Spellings to Lead UNC System," Associated Press/New York Times, October 23, 12:43 p.m. ("Elsewhere, other university leaders selected from outside the academic world include former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, running the University of California system, and former IBM executive Bruce Harreld as the University of Iowa's next president. . . . It's troubling that the board didn't involve the faculty or students in reviewing candidates, said assembly chairman Stephen Leonard, a political science professor at UNC-Chapel Hill.")

Kellie Woodhouse, "The Political Pick; In Picking Margaret Spellings as UNC System's President, Are Board members Showing a Preference for Abillity to Work Within a Political System, Rather Than an Academic System?" Inside Higher Ed (online>, October 26, 2015

Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Cost for UI Presidential Search Reaches $308K," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), October 30, 2015, 1:38 p.m.; hard copy: Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Cost for UI Presidential Search Reaches $308K: Consultants Paid $281,770 by Regents to Assist with Finding New President," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), October 31, 2015, p. A3 ("[C]ritics on campus complained that Parker had failed to discover inaccurate information in Harreld's resume, which had been released to the UI community. Harreld said during his public forum that the company listed in his most recent work history didn't exist and referred to his private consulting work. Regent officials have said they weren't concerned about the inaccuracy on the resume.")

University presidents ain't cheap. In addition to the $308K for the search, and the $600K + $200K per year salary, plus the value of various benefits, the costs of numerous staff, and ongoing reimbursed "expenses," there's the matter of the ongoing costs of maintaining free office and housing: $1.5 million additions to the fixer-upper presidential residence, $750K+ (briefly deferred) to remodel his office, and now $2000 a month for his townhouse. Jeff Charis-Carlson, "UI Leases Townhouse for New President at $2000 per Month," Iowa City Press-Citizen (online), October 30, 2015, 2:36 p.m.

Paul G. Etre, "Harreld Hiring Process Underhanded," Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 31, 2015, p. A9 ("The claims that Harreld made in his message to the community to bring change, success and greatness to the university sounded empty and hollow, akin to the claims made by politicians and advertisers, not by educational leaders.")

Judith Pascoe, "Quotes from Prior University of Iowa Presidents," October 21, 2015 [posted here October 31, 2015]

Footnote: Bruce Harreld,"Lessons From the IBM Trenches: On Culture,"Special Session with Bruce Harreld, Harvard Business School Chronicles: Advanced Management Program 182, Posted 15th May 2012 by Vince Abejo (from his outline):
"Culture is a critical control system, it needed to be managed actively
Actions speak louder than words, and is the most effective way to set the culture
-Public hanging of non-performers and culture change resistors was done in order to send a message, but this was done sparingly
-Public rewards were communicated across all levels of the business in order to encourage and reinforce behavior"
Footnote 2: A day or so after writing this I found the following from a classic document of the AAUP regarding presidential searches and governance:

"Institutional Analysis and Leadership Criteria. The search committee should spend some time defining the present condition of the college or university, determining what problems must be faced, what priorities the institution has, and what direction it must take to meet its challenges and opportunities. This institutional analysis is needed in order to determine the type of leadership qualities needed for this particular stage in the college or university’s development. The leadership criteria statement defines the principal qualities that are required in the new president--an academic leader, an experienced fund raiser, etc. The statement of leadership criteria should be circulated to various institutional constituencies for review and comment. Consensus within the campus community on the leadership qualities is important since these criteria are used in evaluating candidates' credentials and again in the and interview process." (emphasis supplied)


# # #

Saturday, August 29, 2015

Hiring Candid, Courageous University Presidents

Related:

"Business Background: Enough for University President?" September 2, 2015-present (updated) [this is the blog post that contains the repository of documents, news stories, and opinion pieces regarding the Board of Regents' presidential selection process and early selection of Bruce Harreld]

Nicholas Johnson, "Seven Steps for Transitioning University," The Gazette (online), September 27, 2015 (with links to 7 other related Gazette Writers Circle opinion pieces); hard copy: Nicholas Johnson, "Better Ways to Pick a UI President," The Gazette, September 27, 2015, p. C5

"UI's President Could Have Been Chris Christie," October 3, 2015


August 29, 2015

An Exchange with UI Presidential Finalist, Oberlin President Marvin Krislov

Links to Sections

Governance Model
Candor and Courage
President Krislov Exchange
Access Denied (but with video of exchange)
Regents' Disturbing Process
Regents' Search Fiasco of 2006-2007
Jeff Charis-Carlson's Report
Vanessa Miller's Report

_______________

Governance of major, public, research universities with associated hospitals, football and other athletic programs is somewhat bizarre in its complexity.

A central issue is how the governing board members of such an institution, and its president, consider and construct their relationship. Can the board, or even individual members of the board, tell the president what to do? If and when they give the president an order, is it their expectation that when they look back on the matter they will discover that, like Iran-Contra-arms-for-hostages Lieutenant Colonel Ollie North, the president will have "saluted smartly and carried it out"? Or, when compromise seems impossible, will the president stand up for what is perceived to be the best interests of the institution, rather than the contrary wishes of board members?

Few individuals coming on a board for the first time -- whether corporate for-profit, non-profit, public (city council; school board) -- have previously given much thought to governance. If they have given any thought at all to their role, it is more likely to involve the substance of the organization's challenges and opportunities.

But chaos or worse will result if no attention is given to "job one," clearly articulating the governance model, the process of decisionmaking: how and by whom decisions are made (i.e., the role of chief executive and board; defining what's delegated to the executive as "administrative"); how board members will relate to each other; the limitations on individual board members' authority (i.e., do members only speak and act as a board, rather than as individuals, albeit with public dissenting opinions?).

See collection of materials at, Nicholas Johnson, "Board Governance: Theory and Practice," where can be found, among other things, the writings of John Carver. As Carver has famously observed, most advice regarding board governance simply enables boards to do the wrong things better.

Candor and Courage. Of course, one of the most serious shackles on executives' candor and courage is fear of losing one's job. For middle level executives and supervisors this merely prevents the institution from enjoying the benefits of the suggestions from some of its best informed, loyal employees.

But when it restrains a university president, eager to please the board (in Iowa, the Iowa Board of Regents), it can be disastrous. It's contrary to the most effective board-administrator governance practices, severely weakens the president's ability to relate to stakeholder groups, enables the possibility of cronyism, and creates high risk of decisions improvidently arrived at.

For that reason, one of my preferences regarding university presidents is that their lifestyle and self-esteem not be tied to their income. (a) Maybe they have few major expenses, have trained themselves to live on relatively little, and are confident "enough" will always be available. (b) Maybe they have the confidence that they are in sufficient demand that there always will be other jobs out there providing very generous pay. (c) Maybe they are close enough to retiring that being fired a few years early would almost be welcome, should it happen. (d) Maybe they are otherwise independently wealthy. (e) Or possibly they even hold a perspective analogous to what then-Senator Joe Biden once shared with me: "Nick, there are some things worth losing an election for" -- in the context of a university president, "there are some things worth being fired for."

President Krislov Exchange. These were some of the thoughts going through my mind when I had an exchange with the first of the University of Iowa's four finalists, Oberlin President Marvin Krislov, during his public forum (a candidate, not incidentally, whom I liked and thought did well with his presentation).

Here is where you can watch the video of our four-minute exchange on August 27, 2015, in the Iowa Memorial Union. It starts about 45 minutes into the full video and runs from minute 46:47 to 51:07.

Access Denied. That is to say, you could have watched it if those responsible for the professions of "transparency" regarding the candidates' public forums -- which until today (August 29) included individual, publicly accessible Web pages for each candidate, complete with videos -- had not silently and secretly somehow denied public access to them sometime between Friday and Saturday (today, August 29, 2014).

Fortunately, I was able to find a clip from the public forum on YouTube, and you can watch it here:



But here is what you were told on Saturday, August 29, when you went to the Web page for Marvin Krislov ("candidate A"), formerly available at this site, "http://president.uiowa.edu/candidate-A-public-forum" -- "Access denied/You are not authorized to access this page." The warm welcome on the Web page for Tulane Provost Michael Bernstein today was identical. So much for transparency:



This is only the latest in a number of very disturbing features of this Regents' process for UI presidential selection: (a) the "search committee" (which included faculty and others, as distinguished from the expensive "search firm") was dismissed before the first finalist arrived on campus. (b) The entire on-campus presence of the four finalists is to be a mere four days (with an intervening weekend). (c) Public revelation of candidates' names is deliberately being withheld until the last minute. For example, the campus and public will not know who will be here on Monday, August 31, until Sunday night (which as a practical matter, for many people, means Monday morning). (d) As a result, there will be somewhere between little and no time for those with other obligations to search Google and other sources, call persons at the candidates' institutions or others known to have worked with them, read candidates' scholarship, or otherwise meaningfully inform themselves. (e) To the extent the faculty or members of the public do have information or opinion to share, as I understand it, comments are to be filtered through to the Regents by way of the search firm which, of course, has a conflict of interest insofar as revelations of a candidate's negatives that the firm failed to uncover, or did uncover but failed to pass on, tarnishes its professional reputation.

Regents' Search Fiasco of 2006-2007. For comparison, an even more disastrous process of UI presidential search occurred in 2006-07, and was chronicled here in a series of blog essays that the Chronicle of Higher Education characterized as "one of the most comprehensive analyses of the controversy." It began with "UI President Search I," November 18, 2006, the first series, that continued on through "UI President Search XVIII - Dec. 26-31," December 26, 2016. During 2007, the series was titled, "UI Held Hostage," beginning with "Day 54": "UI President Search - UI Held Hostage: Day 54," January 9, 2007 (for an explanation of where "UI Held Hostage" came from, see "UI President Search - Jan. 1-7, 2007," January 1, 2007). That series ended with "UI Held Hostage Day 505," June 10, 2007 and "More UI Prez Links," June 24, 2007. Each of those hundreds of blog essays, often lengthy, can be found by going to the "Blog Archive" in the right hand column of any of the blog essays (including the one you're now reading) and clicking on individual years, and then months.

Jeff Charis-Carlson's Report. Meanwhile, here is how the exchange was reported by Jeff Charis-Carlson for the Des Moines Register and Iowa City Press-Citizen, and by Vanessa Miller for The Gazette, with the relevant excerpts from their stories. The links will take you to their full reports.

One of the more lively exchanges came when Nicholas Johnson, a professor of law, provided a multiple-choice question on what Krislov would do if the Iowa Board of Regents demanded he take an action that he felt was completely counter to the interests of the institution.

Would he, Johnson asked, a) simply do it; b) explain why it was a wrong decision, but do it anyway; c) refuse to do it; or d) refuse to do it and be ready to offer a resignation if necessary?

“I’m a firm believer in finding common ground in understanding what people want and why they want it and posing alternative and options,” Krislov said. “There are times when one may come to an impasse, and then there are ethical and moral questions to be determined. I will tell you that it is not worth it to me to have any job in the United States of America if I have to sacrifice my ethical and moral principles, I will not do that. … But I don’t believe we will need to get to that point.”

Johnson said afterward that he appreciated the conviction behind Krislov’s answer, but given that such conflicts are inevitable between the university and its governing board, Johnson said he didn’t think Krislov actually answered the question.
Jeff Charis-Carlson, "Choosing the Next UI President: Krislov Stresses Humility, Morals; After Oberlin and Michigan, He Says Past Provides Insight," Iowa City Press-Citizen, August 28, 2015, p. A1. (The Des Moines Register carried Carlson's story the same day.)

Vanessa Miller's Report.
Krislov took question after question, including some referencing campus controversies involving sexual assaults, diversity and the regents.

Law professor Nicholas Johnson asked a “hypothetical” question that seemed to refer to the regents’ controversial proposal to implement a performance-based funding model that could have pulled tens of millions of dollars from the UI had it been approved.

Former UI President Sally Mason, now retired, signed a letter supporting it, drawing the ire of some faculty members. Johnson asked Krislov how he would react if “asked by the Board of Regents to take a position on some policy or to sign off on some document or fire someone” against his best judgment and beliefs.

“You have a reputation for being a great compromiser, but sometimes you can’t compromise,” Johnson said. “Some things are worth losing an election for -- a job for.”

Krislov espoused his belief in finding common ground by trying to “understand why people want what they want.”

“I will tell you that it’s not worth it to me to have any job in America that requires me to sacrifice my morals and values,” he said to applause. “But I do not think it would need to get to that point.”
Vanessa Miller, "Higher Education: 'I Would Like to be Part of Your Team,' Finalist Says; Candidate for President of UI Tours Campus, Takes Public's Questions," The Gazette, August 28, 2015, p. A2.


# # #

Local, Non-Profit Radio's Future

August 29, 2015, 7:50 a.m.

KHOI-FM Turns Three Years Old

Locally-focused, non-profit (or "community"), sometimes low-power (KHOI-FM is not low power), radio stations have been a part of America's broadcasting history from the industry's beginnings to the present day.

One such station in Iowa -- Ames' KHOI-FM -- upon realizing it had been broadcasting for three years, decided to thrown a birthday party celebration at which a former FCC commissioner might speak. (Photos of KHOI-FM's studio facilities and equipment, taken by KICI-FM's Craig Jarvie, are available here.)

In today's [August 29] Des Moines Register the paper's Arts Reporter, Michael Morain, has told the story of the station's beginnings so brilliantly that I have embedded it below. In it he identifies Iowa's other stations like KHOI: KPVL 89.1 in Decorah, KSOI 91.9 in Murray, KFMG 99.1 in Des Moines, KRUU 100.1 in Fairfield and KICI 105.3 in Iowa City. KICI is not yet on the air, but representatives came from Iowa City to Ames for the occasion.

Not having had access to his story and notes, I chose as the subject and title for my talk that day, "The Origins and Future of Radio." Where does KHOI fit in the history of local radio? Who were its ancestors, its friends, the economic forces and individuals that might have eliminated it?

Following the talk on Sunday, August 23, the following paragraph was posted on my Web site's home page:
KHOI-FM Birthday Party. Nicholas Johnson most recently spoke on Sunday, August 23, 2015, on the occasion of the third anniversary of Ames, Iowa, local, non-profit, radio station KHOI-FM. The speech was broadcast on KHOI-FM August 27, 2015, at noon as part of “KHOI Previews the Arts and Heart of Iowa,” and the audio is available here — following introductory remarks by KHOI-FM’s Ursula Ruedenberg and ACLU of Iowa’s Veronica Fowler (00:00-12:10), the speech runs from 12:10-52:45, followed by Q&A to 57:10. Although video and transcript are not yet available, a 21-page, 73-footnoted paper prepared for the occasion, from which material was drawn for his remarks, is available at this link: "The Origins and Future of Radio." The following day, KHOI-FM “Local Talk” co-hosts Gale Seiler and Ursula Ruedenberg told about the KHOI Birthday Celebration that took place on Sunday and played excerpts from the talk given by Nicholas Johnson. Click here for a link to that program.
So if you are curious and want more, there are your links to the audio of the 40-minute talk, and to the 21-page document that represents some of the research that went into the preparation of brief speech notes. [Photo credit: KHOI-FM; speaking from front of United Methodist Church, August 23, 2015.]

There will probably never be a transcript of that audio -- nor need there be. The paper, "The Origins and Future of Radio," should more than satisfy anyone who would have wanted a transcript.

But here are transcripts of some selected portions of the audio that will provide at least some sense of the content of the talk.
"This is an incredible accomplishment! I'm not sure if those of you here, and affiliated with this station, and fans of it, are aware of that fact. I read in Forbes recently that something like 80 percent of all the businesses that start up -- profit, non-profit, whatever -- 80 percent have gone belly up after 18 months. You have been around for three years. You are in the top 20 percent of American enterprise. I think that is an extraordinary accomplishment in just three years. Give yourselves a hand for that."

# # #

"What we're doing with these low power stations is a major building block in trying to build the social capital that supports a civic society. That's really what this is about."

# # #

"Locally focused radio has been a consistent purpose and presence in America's broadcasting from its very beginning until today, and has never been more needed than it is now."

# # #

"Nothing has ever come along as good as radio [for communicating over distance without wires] -- this invisible electromagnetic energy that is capable of carrying whatever information we can embed in it and send along with it at 186,000 miles a second."

# # #

"At that time [1927] what we had as radio is very similar to what you are doing with your station. These were relatively low power stations, in relatively small towns -- much smaller than Ames is now -- that were of necessity putting out local programming because there wasn't anything else. But they were also mindful of the purpose that served and why that was desirable. Those are some of your station's ancestors -- those early 8,500 amateur radio stations, those 700-plus broadcasting stations putting out programming and music and speech."

# # #

"But even though the miracle of radio was barely understood in 1926, there was an awareness of the risk of monopoly power and ownership. And one member of the House, from Texas, Luther Johnson -- no relative of mine or of Lyndon's -- said,
"American thought and American politics will be largely at the mercy of those who operate these stations. For publicity is the most powerful weapon that can be wielded in a Republic, and when such a weapon is placed in the hands of one, or a single selfish group is permitted to either tacitly or otherwise acquire ownership and dominate these broadcasting stations throughout the country, then woe be to those who dare to differ with them."
Woe be to those who dare to differ with them. How prescient can you be? He concludes,
"It will be impossible to compete with them in reaching the ears of the American people."
# # #

"There was equal concern about the coming of advertising. At the time of the Radio Conferences that Herbert Hoover called in the 1920s -- 1922, '23, '24, '25 -- he said, 'It is inconceivable that we should allow so great a possibility for service to be drowned in advertising chatter.' Can you imagine that today?"

# # #

"Another sort of example of your ancestors is [that what] the FCC was asking for in the 'Blue Book' [Responsibility etc 1946?] was similar to what radio was in 1915 to 1920."

# # #

"[I]t has reached the point where John Oliver -– a standup comedian -– now seems to be America’s most reliable source of the data and analysis necessary for American citizens to address their most serious public policy challenges.

Regional and statewide news coverage has suffered from many of the same pressures [as national news has from Wall Street insistence on profit maximization].

Which brings us full circle round to the role you and other non-profit local radio stations play in today’s media environment. It is, as it turns out, very similar to where radio broadcasting began 100 years ago, and where the FCC’s Blue Book told broadcasters they ought to be 70 years ago.

There is a there there. And you are there. The state of radio is good -– both as a technology and as a local civic service, an endeavor that comes as close as any can to the potential for rebuilding the sense of community we so desperately need in these times.

Thank you for the invitation, happy birthday, and now let’s party on!"
_______________

Ames Community Radio Beats the Odds

Michael Morain

Des Moines Register, August 29, 2015

[Information regarding subscribing to the Des Moines Register and following Michael Morain's reporting, can be found here.]


Three years ago a group of upstanding citizens of Ames — well-educated, highly functioning grown-ups — huddled under a tent made of blankets inside an old dry-cleaning shop just off Main Street. The quilt hut, as they called it, looked like the sort of makeshift fort their kids could have made from couch cushions back home in the living room. But its sound-muffling magic did the trick: It was the first studio of the fledgling community radio station KHOI-FM 89.1.

“It was like something out of ‘Lawrence of Arabia,’” station host Carole Horowitz said. “There were just two microphones, two chairs and a table.”

Now, as the station celebrates its third anniversary, it does so from the relative luxury of a real studio suite with fancy gear and foam-padded walls. It’s the buzzing, bustling hub for a totally homegrown operation — the sort of station that has flourished in other states but is still rare here in Iowa.

“In a lot of places” — especially Colorado and California — “the older community radio stations are a substantial cultural force,” said station manager Ursula Ruedenberg, one of two paid staffers among an army of KHOI volunteers. “The stations set the tone and really lead the conversation for the whole town.”

KHOI isn’t there yet. It’s still “a diamond in the rough,” Ruedenberg said, but it has already outlasted the odds.

In a keynote talk during last weekend’s anniversary festivities, University of Iowa cyberlaw expert and former Federal Communications Commissioner Nicholas Johnson pointed out that eight out of 10 entrepreneurial projects fail within 18 months.

“That’s why even mere survival for three years is worth a birthday party,” he said. “It’s truly a remarkable accomplishment.”

The station’s story, in fact, started much earlier than 2012.

Following a freeze on new FM station licenses for several years, the FCC announced that it would accept new applications for a single week in October 2007. The decision prompted a frenzied scramble for the remaining frequencies, especially on the lower end of the dial already crowded with religious groups and nonprofits.

Ruedenberg, an Ames native, works for Pacifica Radio Network and was living in New York at the time of the FCC’s big news. She studied a map of open frequencies — about 3,000 nationwide — and spotted a few up for grabs in her hometown.

She wondered: Would it be possible to start a community radio station in Ames? The short answer was “yes.” She recruited a few key players to submit a successful application for the license to 89.1, anchored at a tower in Story City.

But the long answer was more complicated. The FCC required the new station to start broadcasting within three years, a deadline that arrived more quickly than anyone had predicted. The team had to find a space (in the old Pantorium dry cleaners) and connect it to a tower (through a circuitous route west and then north to Story City) and then recruit a bunch of on- and off-air volunteers.

“We argued for a year and half (about the studio floor plans), but it worked out,” Ruedenberg said. “Everybody kept the mission in sight.”

When the signal was finally active, the sounds of the Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil” clattered over the airwaves, an ironic nod to the out-of-state religious station that had been using the frequency, through a translator, for the past few years.

“We couldn’t resist,” Ruedenberg said.

But after that first giddy moment, she and studio engineer Rick Morrison looked at each other and thought, Well, now what? Now that they had all this airtime, how should they fill it?

“It was all very abstract,” she recalled. “It hadn’t registered yet. It was just unheard of in this community that people could get together and have a real radio station.”

At the time, Ames’ popular WOI radio station was joining the statewide Iowa Public Radio network, so folks around town were looking for a new place to hear local voices and local news. WOI’s longtime jazz and classical music host Hollis Monroe signed on to the new station, as did dozens of others with less experience. One of the engineers is a senior in high school. His mom stopped by the studio earlier this week to make sure he made it to class.

The program schedule, like the old quilt hut, is a patchwork of creative ingenuity. It’s about half talk and half music, with a smattering of quirky surprises. “Blue Collar Philosopher” Lance Sumpter has two hours every Friday night. “Planetary Radio” explores questions about outer space during a half-hour slot on Saturday morning.

Morrison spins electronic and new-wave music in the hours after midnight. “We get feedback from insomniacs that he’s very comforting,” Ruedenberg said.

There are still a few slots to fill, but nothing is set in stone — or even permanent marker, judging from the whiteboard schedule by the coffee machine.

“That’s the most important thing: It belongs to us. It’s our community radio station,” said Horowitz, who co-hosts a showtunes program on Tuesday mornings. “It’s easy: Just come in the door. Bring in an idea and you’ll go on the air.”

The station’s board of directors is still figuring out a long-term funding plan, especially now that most federal grants have dried up. This year’s projected budget is $140,000, funded almost entirely by private donors and a few local businesses.

But the board hopes that fundraising will be easier now that the station is up and running.

“We’re a service to the community as much as a public park or a public library,” Monroe said.

He was shopping at the Fareway meat counter the other day when one someone recognized his voice. The butcher had been channel-surfing when he stumbled on 89.1 and was happy to hear Monroe spinning music again.

“Thank you so much,” Monroe replied. “Is there something you’d like to hear?”

Community radio in Iowa

Compared with other states, Iowa has relatively few community radio stations, which are nonprofit organizations run mostly by local volunteers (as opposed to the pros at Iowa Public Radio). But the FM dial has a few here and there, including KPVL 89.1 in Decorah, KSOI 91.9 in Murray, KFMG 99.1 in Des Moines, KRUU 100.1 in Fairfield and KICI 105.3 in Iowa City.


# # #

Sunday, August 09, 2015

Recognizing and Reducing Racism

August 9, 2015, 8:30 a.m.

Note: This column was written as a part of one of the Gazette Writers Circle projects; in this case, the concept of "privilege." As the editor explains in the online and hard copy sections containing the columns,
When people talk about “privilege,” they are referring to rights, immunities or benefits enjoyed by some demographic groups over others. Members of The Gazette Writers Circle met last month in Iowa City to discuss the idea. Some of the questions we considered were: Is this something we see in Iowa City? Is it something we notice in our own relationships with others? If so, what, if anything can or should be done to counteract this tendency?
Given both the necessity of a narrow focus for such a broad subject, and the importance and tragedy of racism (primarily but not exclusively involving African-Americans) that is the subject of the following essay.

Six Writers Circle writers chose to write on this subject. All of the columns (including mine) can be found in The Gazette's online edition here. They also appear in the "Insight & Books" section of the hard copy edition for Sunday, August 9, 2015, pp. C2-C3.

Given the number of writers, and the length of the submissions, the Gazette's editor was required to make some cuts. Text below [in brackets] was submitted to The Gazette, but omitted from its hard copy and online editions. -- Nicholas Johnson
_______________

Recognizing and Reducing Racism

Nicholas Johnson

The Gazette, Gazette Writers Circle, August 9, 2015, p. C2

I am about as familiar as an Iowa white boy can be with the evil consequences of racism, as a result of spending most of the 1950s in Texas and throughout the South. There were still the poll tax designed to keep blacks from voting, black and white water fountains and restrooms, "No Colored" signs in restaurant and store windows, and the need for a lawsuit to open a law school to blacks. Crosses were burned in the yards of the U.S. Court of Appeals judges with whom I worked in their efforts to right these wrongs.

Such experiences helped shaped my reaction as an F.C.C. commissioner upon discovering that the broadcasting industry the Commission was supposed to regulate "in the public interest" was one of, if not the, country's most racist and sexist. I pushed for, and the Commission achieved, increased employment of African Americans and women in front of the cameras, in broadcast management, and ownership.

But there is no comparison between being a compassionate observer and being an unwilling target in such a world.

Make no mistake. The offensive Confederate flags may be coming down, but racism is still with us[, [south, north, east and west. Today’s black lives are more likely threatened by a bullet from a gun than a rope from a tree, but their churches are still burned by a match from an arsonist.]

The Southern Poverty Law Center's annual measure of hate groups in the U.S. indicates that while their number ranged from 131 to 149 during 2001 to 2008, during President Obama's presidency, from 2010 through 2014, the number ranged from 824 to 1360.

For those blacks able to avoid death, more common are the daily reminders of the painful ways in which they may have been negatively judged solely because of the color of their skin.

In a study, thousands of resumes were mailed to employers, identical except for the applicants’ names. Black-sounding names were 50% less likely to be called back.

Black people are charged prices roughly $700 higher than white people when buying the same cars.

Multiple studies show black drivers are twice as likely to get pulled over for the same driving behavior.

Realtors will show black clients 18% fewer of the available homes than they show whites.

Although blacks and whites are roughly equal marijuana users, black people are four times more likely to be arrested.

Black people are incarcerated at nearly six times the rate of white people.

In another study, doctors did not inform black patients as often as white ones about an important heart procedure.

White legislators –- from both major parties -- did not respond as frequently to constituents with black sounding names as whites.

So what is meant by “white privilege”? It’s what stand-up comic Louis C.K. is talking about when he says, “I've got a lot going for me: I'm healthy, I'm relatively young, I'm white. That is a huge leg up. Are you kidding me? I love being white. Let me be clear, by the way. I'm not saying that white people are better. I'm saying that being white is clearly better. Who could even argue?”

Harvard professor Mahzarin Banaji reports that even young black children absorb the social construct that white skin is prestigious and black skin isn’t.

But to truly understand the consequences of the systemic racism in the lives of our African American friends and neighbors, we must do more than merely acknowledge its existence. We probably need to feel it emotionally before we will act.

[Here are some videos that may help: two TED talks, each watched over one million times, plus a powerful poet’s presentation.

Start with James A. White’s experience trying to find housing: http://tinyurl.com/oanhvnm.

Then watch and listen to the passion of poet Crystal Valentine’s “On Evaluating ‘Black Privilege’" -- http://tinyurl.com/nmz9tts.

Follow that with what diversity advocate Vernā Myers urges will make things better: http://tinyurl.com/pvltkob.

And then do your own search for the numerous additional videos on the Internet -– and the opportunity to know and enjoy the people and benefits of living in communities with rich racial, ethnic, religious, and cultural diversity.]
_______________
Nicholas Johnson is a native born Iowan in Iowa City, who maintains www.nicholasjohnson.org and http://FromDC2Iowa.blogspot.com. Contact: mailbox@nicholasjohnson.org.

Saturday, July 25, 2015

Senator Bernie Sanders and America's 'Mainstream'

July 25, 2015, 8:45 a.m.

Like Mark Twain's Mississippi River, the "Mainsteam" Has Shifted

Contents

Face the Nation Exchange

Senator Sanders' Uniqueness

The Media's Problem with Senator Sanders

Senator Sanders' Positions

Just Where Is America's Mainstream?

Conclusion

Face the Nation
JOHN DICKERSON: What do you think . . . of Bernie Sanders and his challenge to Hillary Clinton? . . .

SPEAKER JOHN BOEHNER: . . . [H]ere you have got one of the most liberal people in the Democrat Party running against Hillary Clinton . . ..

DICKERSON: What does it say about the Democratic Party?

BOEHNER: That they're out of step with mainstream America.
. . .
SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS: All right. Well, let me respond to that issue by issue. And you determine who is out of the mainstream.

I want to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. A recent "Wall Street Journal" poll said a majority of the American people want to do that. . . . [M]any of [Speaker Boehner's] members want to do away with the concept of the minimum wage.

I want to see this country expand Social Security benefits, not cut them. John Boehner, his party, want to either privatize Social Security or cut Social Security benefits to the elderly and disabled vets. . . .

I want to create millions of jobs by rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure. And I have introduced legislation to do that. [The] Republican Party is very reluctant to spend a nickel to rebuild our infrastructure.

DICKERSON: Senator, you ...

SANDERS: I want -- so, I think in terms of who is out of touch with the American people, I would say the Republican Party is. They want to give tax breaks to billionaires, not help the middle class.


-- "Face the Nation Transcripts, July 12, 2015: Boehner, Sanders, Cotton,"
.
Senator Sanders Uniqueness

Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont sent out a letter in June 2015 explaining why is is running for president. This is a serious campaign, make no mistake. But it is otherwise relatively unique among presidential campaigns in general -- and amongst this year's mob of candidates in particular. See generally, "Bernie! Why the 99% Should Support Bernie's Campaign," June 1, 2015.

Sanders is neither someone who runs every four years, nor someone running the first time who has hired expensive, professional campaign managers, media manipulators, pollsters, and fundraisers who tell him what to say and do. For starters, he won't take money from billionaires, PACs, or others seeking to enrich themselves through their campaign contributions. (Years ago I once calculated such contributors get a 1000-to-one to 2000-to-one return on their money; give a million dollars, get a billion dollars or more in return: "Campaigns: You Pay $4 or $4000," Des Moines Register, July 21, 1996. I simply assume, with today's $1 billion-plus campaign seasons and unlimited Citizens United corporate contributions, it's probably worse.)

Even more important, he neither engages in new-found, crafted slogans, nor does he change positions with the political winds. Senator Sanders is still saying what he has been saying all his life as mayor, as a member of Congress, and as a U.S. Senator. "Authentic" is a word often used by political junkies who have spent their lives in a world of political "shuck and jive" and are now hearing Sanders for the first time.

He's not a college professor (though he could be). He's a politician running for the presidency. But he believes democracies are supposed to serve the 99%, not just the 1%, and that in order to do that campaigns need to include serious efforts to explore and resolve the more serious challenges facing the people, and to build the multi-million-member political organizations that will make possible the implementation of solutions.

The Media's Problem with Senator Sanders

This poses a double-barrelled problem for the media -- and therefore for Senator Sanders.

First, the media's owners are, by definition, well within the 1%. They have every possible financial, political, ideological, and social motive to try to prevent him being taken seriously. Savvy media employees who wish to stay employed can't help but be aware of the advantages offered them if they will cut back on or eliminate coverage of him (see description of the shameful exclusion of him by "Meet the Press" in "Bernie's Media Challenge," June 19, 2015), and when unavoidable (perhaps because he is getting the largest number of contributors and audience members of any candidate) diminish his reputation with ridicule, marginalization, and dismissal as "a socialist" whose views are "out of the mainstream."

Second, with rare exceptions, profit-driven media do not have the space or time, or a sufficient number of highly educated, informed and analytical journalists, to present lengthy print, online, or televised discussions of major public policy issues in a way that will involve, inform, and hold an American audience. (See "Three-Legged Calves, Wolves, Sheep and Democracy's Media," Dec. 1, 2014.) Thus, even if media owners were supportive of Senator Sanders' views, they aren't really set up to present anyone's views at length. Thus, political coverage tends to focus on fundraising (e.g., Senator Rand Paul's mediocre contributions; Jeb Bush's $100 million), poll results (e.g., leading Republicans excluded from Fox News debate), gotcha moments (e.g., Governor Rick Perry's 2012 "oops" moment), the bizarre (e.g., Donald Trump's behavior, characterized by Dan Rather as somewhat similar to "a manure spreader in a windstorm"), physical appearance (e.g., the Donald's hair; women's clothing), and those portions of candidates' past history they'd rather forget (e.g., Hillary Clinton's Arkansas Whitewater, 1990s healthcare efforts, Benghazi, 50,000 emails).

Senator Sanders' Positions

So what is this establishment-bucking Senator Sanders talking about? That brings us back to the June letter referenced above. This is certainly not the only written source, you should also check his campaign Web site generally, BernieSanders.com (Issues).

For now, here is just a brief summary of the headings for the topics he touches upon: jobs, wages, income inequality, progressive taxation, Wall Street reforms, campaign finance alternatives, climate change, universal single-payer health care, poverty programs, college for all, opposition to endless war, and finally "a political revolution." Here is where you can read a pdf of the entire Bernie Sanders' June 2015 3-1/2-page letter. A more current (yesterday) comparable and updated statement was included in a July 24, 2015, email from the campaign which you can read here.

Just Where is America's Mainstream?

Which brings us back to the question of whether his proposals position him in or out of the mainstream. The problem with conducting that inquiry without data, of course, is that the discussion tends to disintegrate into 'tis-'taint shouting matches.

That's why it seemed to me useful to find out precisely what recent polling on Americans' views actually reveals on the matter. Here are some of those results, either directly from the polling organization or as reported by others:
Josh Hakinson, "America's Views Align Surprisingly Well With Those of 'Socialist' Bernie Sanders," Mother Jones, May 19, 2015 (Wealthy should pay more taxes -- 68%; Close offshore tax havens -- 85% (small business owners); Public funding of elections -- "half" Regulation of greenhouse gas emissions - 64%; Universal single-payer healthcare -- 50%+; Breaking up big banks -- 58%; Free community college (2 years) -- 63%; Oppose fast-track for TPP trade deal -- 61%; Raising minimum wage to $15/hour -- 63%; Make union organizing of workers easier -- 53%; Expansion of Social Security and Medicare -- "majorities")

Philip Bump, "Bernie Sanders Says Americans Back His Agenda -- and He's Mostly Right," The Washington Post, June 12, 2015 (Support infrastructure spending -- 50%; Trade restrictions to support domestic industries -- 50%; High quality preschool programs -- 50%; College student loans, lower costs, longer to pay off -- 50%)

Drew Desilver, "State of the Union 2014: Where Americans Stand on Key Issues," Pew Research Center, Jan. 27, 2014 (Dissatisfied with income inequality -- 67%; One year extension of unemployment benefits -- 63%; Path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants -- 71%). And see, Drew Desilver, "5 Facts About Social Security," Pew Research Center, Oct. 16, 2013 (support for increases varies by party).

"Poll: Most Americans Support Raising Investment Taxes for Wealthy; More Than Two-Thirds Say the Rich Pay Too Little in Federal Taxes, Most Back Obama's Proposed Tax Hike on Investments,"> Associated Press-GfK Poll, Aljazeera America, Feb. 23, 2015.
Senator Elizabeth Warren presented comparable numbers in a recent speech as evidence that a majority of Americans can, in fact, be accurately labeled as "progressives."
• Last November, when Democrats across the country had a terrible day, four -- four -- Republican states voted to raise their minimum wage. In South Dakota, 55% of voters supported a minimum wage increase. In Nebraska, 59%. Arkansas, 66%. And in Alaska, 69%. That shouldn't surprise anyone: 70% of Americans across this country support an increase of the federal minimum wage to at least $10.10 an hour. Republicans may vote to keep workers in poverty, but on minimum wage, the American people are Progressives.

• Progressives believe that students shouldn't be crushed by debt and the federal government should not make a profit on student loans. And so do 73% of Americans. Beltway Republicans may vote to stomp on people who are deep in debt, but on student loans, the American people are Progressives -- and to them debt-free college sounds pretty darn good.

• Progressives believe people should be able to care for sick family members without fear of losing their jobs, and so do 80% of Americans. Republicans may pander to their big business pals, but on paid sick leave, the American people are Progressives.

• Progressives believe that millionaires and billionaires should pay the same tax rates as their secretaries, and so do two-thirds of all Americans. Republicans may support special breaks for the rich and powerful, but on tax fairness, the American people are Progressives.

• Progressives believe that after a lifetime of work, people deserve to retire in dignity and that means a commitment to strengthening and expanding Social Security -- and 79% of likely voters in last year's election also supported increasing Social Security benefits. Republicans may try to cut benefits, but on Social Security, the American people are Progressives and they are ready to take on the retirement crisis in this country.

• Progressives believe in trade, but not the kind written behind closed doors by corporate lawyers that leave American workers eating dirt. Nearly two-thirds of Americans favor some sort of trade restrictions, and more than half oppose fast tracking trade deals. Republicans -- and some Democrats -- may want to make it easier for multinational corporations to ship jobs overseas, but on trade, the American people are Progressives.

• Progressives believe that powerful corporations and billionaires have far, far too much influence over our politics and their stranglehold over our government rigs the game. Nearly three-quarters of America agrees. Republicans may cozy up to their billionaire sugar-daddies, but on campaign finance and Washington reform, the American people are Progressives.

• Progressives believe that Wall Street needs stronger rules and tougher legal enforcement -- and that, five years after Dodd-Frank -- it's time to stop pretending and really end "too big to fail" with rules like the Glass-Steagall Act. And 79% of Americans believe Wall Street should be held accountable with tougher rules. Beltway Republicans may be willing to let the biggest banks break our economy again, but on Wall Street reform, the American people are Progressives.

• And finally, I want to make one more very important point: Progressives believe that it shouldn't take a revolution on YouTube to drive a revolution in law enforcement. It shouldn't take a hurricane in New Orleans or a massacre in Charleston for Americans to wake up to what is happening -- what is still happening -- to people of color in this country. And it sure as heck shouldn't take poll numbers to unite us in our determination to build a future for all our children. House Republicans may still want to fly the Confederate flag and Republican leaders may cower in the shadow of Donald Trump, but the American people understand that black lives matter and America is not a country that stands for racism, bigotry or hatred. To build an economy that creates real opportunity, that doesn't lock up millions of our fellow human beings and that uses the talents of all our people, Americans must prove that on equality and justice, the American people are Progressives.
Amber Ferguson, "Elizabeth Warren's Message At Netroots Nation," Huffington Post, July 17, 2015 (as prepared for delivery).

Conclusion

Of course, merely because a majority of your fellow Americans hold one view or another doesn't mean that it is "right," or that you are obliged to follow. Clearly, most who number themselves in the establishment's wealthiest 1% disagree, and you may be among them -- or agree with them even though you are not so financially blessed. Nor does it mean that no one should be elected who is not "in the mainstream."

But these polling results, and others that are comparable, should at least put to rest that, whatever else Senator Sanders may or may not be, he is clearly waist deep in the mainstream.

Today's "radicals" who really are out of the mainstream, as he has pointed out, are those who want to hold down, or even eliminate, the minimum wage; continue endless wars in the Middle East; deny climate change; oppose universal single-payer health care, federal jobs programs to rebuild infrastructure, increases in unemployment benefits, and want to repeal "Obama Care;" want to reduce taxes on the wealthy, continue college student debt, cut back on Social Security.

Wherever they may be on the river bank, it is they who are clearly not in the mainstream. Senator Bernie Sanders is.
# # #

Sunday, July 05, 2015

The Militarization of America

July 5, 2015, 8:30 a.m.

Note: This column was written as a part of one of the Gazette Writers Circle projects; in this case, the militarization of local police in Iowa and across the country. I saw the issues as merely a sub-set of those raised by "the militarization of America," and best understood and addressed within that context.

Having done so, it is useful to make clear by way of this note that I fully recognize: (a) the United States needs a military, (b) there are occasions when our national interests do require that it be used (such as World War II), and (c) that those who volunteer to serve, and do so with skill and honor, deserve our respect, thanks, and far more GI-Bill-style practical support on their return than we seem willing to provide. At a minimum, they should not be blamed for the foolish decisions of our elected officials. One way of honoring them is to discuss and question those decisions, as I attempt to do, below.


Text below [in brackets] was submitted to The Gazette, included in its online version, but omitted from its hard copy edition. -- Nicholas Johnson
_______________

The Militarization of America

Nicholas Johnson

The Gazette, Gazette Writers Circle, July 5, 2015, p. C3

Philadelphia police crowd control 30 years ago? Dropping a bomb from a helicopter; 60 homes burned.

Not the typical response of the thousands who do “protect and serve.” But today’s militarization of local police with hand-me-down Army equipment is worth examining — in context.

Because it’s only a small part of the militarization of America.

We are the world’s pre-eminent military power. Of the top ten military nations we spend more than the other nine combined. With our military presence in over 150 countries, and provision of weapons to others, we have militarized the world.

Expenditures reflect values. There is little political objection to the trillions of debt from credit card military adventures. We accept the opportunity costs as we reject universal, single-payer health care, starve our public schools, cut programs for the poor, and watch our infrastructure crumble. “We’re number one!” we cry, notwithstanding low international rankings for test scores, infant mortality, and life expectancy.

Our national anthem celebrates “the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air.” Our sporting events often begin with a vocalist and spectators singing that song. Athletic contests in many cultures serve, in part, to prepare young men for battle. Our most popular sport is our most violent: football. Those games sometimes begin with a flyover of military fighter planes. [Photo credit: Brian Ray, The Gazette.] See footnote, "Fighter Planes Flyover of Kinnick Stadium," below.

We have a [“ready, fire, aim”] militarized media, its cheerleaders for war ready to support every military action. [Never mind we haven’t been attacked, and there’s no realistic threat.] War coverage is dramatic and improves ratings, whether baby wars (Granada), “pre-emptive” wars (Iraq), or perpetual wars elsewhere. [TV stations used to “sign off” at night with visuals of flags and fighter planes. As Mason Williams said, “Every night, before it goes to bed, television gets down on its knees and prays to war.”] [Photo credit: unknown.]

We have militarized our homes and ourselves. Our children play with video games that train them as military sharpshooters and drone operators. Roughly 40 percent are living in homes with guns. The U.N. reports America’s gun death risk per 100,000 population is 20 times the average for other countries.

There are 50,000 suicides and homicides each year; 60 percent involve guns. (Homicide is the second leading cause of death of 15-25 year olds.) Some estimate guns in homes are 16 times more likely to harm occupants than intruders.

Given those odds, Americans must really love their guns a lot — a love that surpasses all understanding.

It’s natural such a nation would have a National Rifle Association (NRA) opposing virtually every form of gun regulation, including restrictions on owning assault weapons, retention of databases of gun purchases, background checks on purchasers at gun shows and changes in the registration of firearms.

With the expansion of permits to carry, we see the militarization of other institutions as well. There are guns on college campuses, in schools, malls, movie theaters, bars and even churches. And there are the all-too-regular reports of deaths — genuinely grieved, but all too quickly forgotten.

We have militarized our politics and governing. Few elected officials are defeated for supporting increased defense appropriations or the NRA’s agenda. Many have military bases or defense contractors in their districts. Coupled with the NRA’s campaign contributions, large membership, and ability to defeat its opponents, military-industrial complex and NRA victories are not surprising.

We’ve already militarized law enforcement.

The 1878 posse comitatus act makes it a federal crime to use “any part of the Army ... to execute the laws.” However, with many exceptions, plus the Insurrection Act, it’s a low hurdle.

In 1932, President Hoover ordered Army General Douglas MacArthur and Major Dwight Eisenhower to use the infantry to disburse the WWI Bonus March veterans from their Mall encampments. President Eisenhower used the Army’s 101st Airborne Division to integrate the Little Rock schools in 1957. When riots followed Dr. King’s 1968 assassination, President Johnson ordered 2,000 82nd Airborne Division paratroopers flown to Washington.

Sometimes Army intervention aids big business. In the 1921 Battle of Blair Mountain, President Harding ordered the Army to support mine owners against 10,000 miners. Since the 1890s union organizing and strikes have often yielded to government force — including the Army.

In October 2002, the activation of USNORTHCOM marked the first time since George Washington that a military commander’s mission is our own homeland.

Militarized nations need blanket surveillance of their civilians. We have that, too. The NSA plus 15 other spy agencies we know about.

That’s the context. Now let’s talk about the militarization of police.

• Nicholas Johnson, as U.S. Maritime Administrator, had responsibility for military sealift to Vietnam. www.nicholasjohnson.org, FromDC2Iowa.blogspot.com, mailbox@nicholasjohnson.org

_______________

Fighter Planes Flyover of Kinnick Stadium

The two photos, above, were taken in Kinnick stadium in Iowa City during the Iowa-Ohio State football game, November 20, 2010.

The flyover demonstrated America's militarization by blending the Star Spangled Banner, being played at the time, with the low, swooping flyover of the stadium by four T-38 fighter jets.

For the most part, the crowd seemed to love it: "The military flyover came at the end of the 'Star Spangled Banner' and was followed by loud cheering and a standing ovation by many Hawkeye football fans."

Although I've not thoroughly research the matter, I am unaware of any writing at the time (beyond my own) questioning the propriety of an institution of higher education promoting militarization. "UI spokesman Tom Moore [chose to specifically acknowledge that] 'The purpose of the flyover was to honor all of our military personnel."

The primary focus of objections only related to the height, and clearance of the stadium, at which the fighter jets were flying at such high speed. Haley Bruce, "Officials Say Kinnick Flyover Too Low," The Daily Iowan, December 13, 2010 ("Officials said a flyover at Kinnick Stadium during the Iowa-Ohio State football game last month may have violated Air Force regulations by being hundreds of feet too low, the Associated Press has reported"). [Photo credit: Rob Johnson, The Daily Iowan; "Four T-38 jets fly over during the national anthem at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 20, 2010."] And see the follow up, "Pilot in Low Kinnick Flyover Blamed Other Air Traffic," Associated Press, The Gazette, March 31, 2014.

_______________

James Edward Johnson, Comment on Facebook, July 5, 2015, 10:11 a.m.

Generally, I agree, but with one exception. Allowing people to privately possess the tools of self-defense is an acknowledgement that total control (through mass surveillance, overwhelming force, and general denial of our Constitutional rights) by the police is an undesirable goal. This is the heart of the values represented by the Second Amendment - particularly as extended thought the 14th. We should not have standing armies or a militarized police force. But, to secure the rights that may be protected by state power, the people should be directly enabled to secure those rights.

Since moving to Chicago, it has become clearer that disadvantaged people are, too often, both unprotected or threatened by the police, and at risk from a small number of criminals who terrorize their communities. The individual right to self defense, and the ancillary right to retain the tools for that purpose, exist so that people are not dependent on forces that threaten their liberty just as much as they promise to protect the people from other threats.

As a society, we should work to improve the integrity of our police, repeal laws against victimless crimes that enable police harassment of the people, and ensure educational and work opportunities that strengthen communities against such state and criminal threats.

However, the people hurt by these systemic problems should not have to wait on the rest of us to take remedial action. I support the Huey P. Newton Gun Club because I believe they take these rights seriously. We should not conflate their actions with the actions of a militarized police that acts offensively.

# # #

Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Coming to 'Yes' on New Buildings and Demolition

June 30, 2015, 10:30 a.m.

And see: "But Seriously Folks . . . Preservation Policy," March 9, 2015.

Building Consensus on Iowa City's Vision, Future

Nicholas Johnson

Iowa City Press-Citizen, June 30, 2015, p. A9

When it comes to building new structures, and preserving the old, Iowa City needs a process that produces consensus.

Iowa City’s downtown was laid out in 1839. Like Iowa’s 99 counties, it was literally designed for a horse and buggy age. One hundred years later, even with automobiles, the downtown neither had nor needed parking garages or parking meters. Its department stores, hardware stores, five movie theaters, barber shops (for the weekly “shave and a haircut”), Sears, Montgomery Ward and others with farm supplies, served Johnson County’s farmers on Saturdays and residents every day.

Today that function is served by the Coral Ridge Mall, with more than 100 businesses and 5,000 free parking spaces. There’s no way downtown Iowa City can regain its 20th century role in competition with that mall. And no way could it handle the crowds if it did.

For years I’ve advocated a vision for our downtown of a small, quaint, walkable, livable, residential center of history, entertainment and restaurants — along with the minimal number of banks, grocery stores and other businesses to sustain that resident population. That’s something downtown could become.

And because it is a vision shared by Marc Moen and the City Council, it is what it is becoming.

That’s not to say everyone agrees with every detail. There are disagreements about building design, height, and location; the housing balance between those living in half-million dollar condos and minimum-wage residents in low-income housing; and the destruction of historic structures, such as the Civil War cottages. (Photo credit: Josh O'Leary. Photo caption: "Three brick cottages, dating to the mid-1800s, stand in 600 block of South Dubuque Street in what was once the city's rail district. The Historic Preservation Commission deemed the cottages historically significant at its meeting on Thursday [December 11, 2014]." Andy Davis, "Panel: Dubuque St. Cottages Are Historically Significant," Iowa City Press-Citizen, December 12, 2014.)

Then there’s the taxpayer funding of private ventures with TIFs and other benefits -— my major disagreement. See, http://tinyurl.com/pntu8gr. But even on that I agree with Moen, whom I also appreciate for his civic commitment, aesthetic creativity — and patience. As he said at the June 8 council meeting regarding the TIF decisions, “I know there’s a lot of controversy about this. ... It’s a political decision whether it’s a good idea or not.”

When a developer is invited to accept taxpayers’ money, whether from Congress or a city council, she should no more be criticized for accepting a foolish TIF than when she takes an irrational, legal, federal tax deduction. If blame there be, it should be laid at the feet of the politicians.

Moen is right. It is a political decision.

But political decisions call for political process. Democracy has never been perfect; it’s just the least worst of the alternatives. Lawrence Ferlinghetti wrote in 1958, “I am waiting for someone to really discover America.” Now at 96, he’s still waiting — and so are we.

Historically legitimate, traditional, public building projects, such as schools, libraries, court houses and jails, do have a democratic process. Governments can’t build them unless voters approve the sale of bonds — bonds repaid with taxpayers’ increased taxes.

Ironically, there is no similar democratic process to control government’s use of taxpayers’ money to fund for-profit, private building projects. It may be “a political decision,” but there is no political democratic process for arriving at that decision. Listening to citizen complaints after the decision has been made is not a meaningful democratic process.

The historic preservation process is worse. Many cities receive economic, as well as aesthetic, value from historic preservation. In Iowa City, with enough developer pressure, the council simply overrules the best judgment of historic preservation groups, zoning boards and previous planning documents. (Photo credit: Andy Davis. Photo caption: "Crews from Iowa City-based Noel’s Tree and Crane service work Wednesday [May 27, 2015] to tear down two cottages at 608 and 610 S. Dubuque St." Andy Davis, "2 remaining Civil War-era cottages on Dubuque St. torn down," Iowa City Press-Citizen, May 29, 2015

Imagine if the council voted all the money necessary to preserve the homes and buildings we agree should be preserved, and the developers had to hold bake sales to add more floors to their high rises.

Maybe we need to vote. Maybe quality polling would be sufficient. What we must have is a better, more democratic process for evolving consensus regarding the Iowa City we want — and the “political decisions” about destruction of the old and building the new to get us there.
_______________
Nicholas Johnson, a native-born Iowa City resident, once served on the local school board, and maintains www.nicholasjohnson.org and the blog FromDC2Iowa.blogspot.com.

# # #