Another Henry Rollins Repost: 2009 Sonoma State Commencement

It is an honor to be in front of you today as we congratulate all of our graduates and welcome their families and friends. My name is Henry Rollins and the fact that I was asked to speak briefly to you all today is one of the highest compliments I have ever been paid and most terrifying propositions I have ever been given. I only hope my words have some meaning and merit.

I would like to thank you for going to college. I would like to thank you for taking years of your life and devoting it to study and the pursuit of knowledge. The world is in great need of people who can think, people who value ideas

For a moment, think of the person you were before you came here as a freshman or a freshperson if you will, and the person you are now. Of course, there was a large amount of good times, carrying on and engaging in behavior that we need not mention here. It is perhaps why the human brain is allotted such a vast amount of cells, so that it’s not a big problem when a few million fall off the back of the truck.

But amidst all the fun and frivolity there were infinitely long stretches of time where you had to hit the books and work and work in order to achieve. There was no one there to tell you to keep at it but you. And you did it, and here you are. You may not need every single course you ever took to get you though life, but the focus and discipline that was required to complete the course will be invaluable tools that you will utilize and that will hopefully benefit you and those around you for the rest of your life.

Your education and the time you spent here must be more than merely the means to a good job and financial security. Those are certainly important concerns but I am hoping for much more from you. To come all this way only to become content cogs in a large machine or merely indistinguishable threads in a massive tapestry is not enough. It just isn’t.

I know you are well aware of what is happening on planet Earth in 2009. Some say that we are in tough times. I believe we are in challenging times that are in need of bold thinking, fresh ideas and new ways of going about old things. This is where you come in. The future greets you today. You are a very big part of what it will be.

So, it is incumbent upon you to take all that you have learned and all that you have worked so hard to achieve and do something with it that is more than the gathering of items and the purchase of a place to put it all in. Because at the end of the day, that is a bit of a checked swing, isn’t it? You don’t want to retire into the dull roar that quickly and quietly, do you? I should hope not!

It is interesting, the excuses people give when they tell me why they don’t read as much as they used to, don’t travel or inquire as much as they did years before. They tell me they got tired, the kids, the job, the drive to work, the grind, not enough hours in the day, they say. When someone would tell the great philosopher Seneca that there wasn’t enough hours in the day, Seneca would reply that the gods had been quite generous with time allotment but that many people made poor use of it. Not a second of your life will you ever get back. Make every day count, or acquire a taste for regret.

I don’t understand how a mind that has been enlightened by years of study and immersed in an environment of such frenetic intellectual activity could ever suffer the crushing blow of complacency. I hope that none of you ever suffer this self-inflicted, greatly compromised condition. Not only is it inexcusable, it is boring as hell and no fun at all.

Your curiosity must never wane! Ever. You are, therefore you want to know, want to go, want to know more and want to go further. As college graduates, you know all too well how much there is to know and the incalculable amount of fascinating things there are to explore, from thought to geographic destination. It is your curiosity that you must enhance, strengthen and value, more and more as the years go on and on. It is your curiosity that you must guard against exhaustion, apathy and that awful plague called middle age. You are allowed occasional but brief vacations from your curiosity, DVD box sets of television shows and carbohydrate rich foods are permitted—but don’t make a career out of it! It is your curiosity that you will pass on like a genetic trait to your children, infect all those around you like a virus and inspire the anger of those who have chosen to admit defeat. One of the greatest and most powerful words in any language is: WHY.

When you stop wanting to find out, you’re done. There are few things more unendurable than being forced to spend time with someone who is intellectually incurious. This can never be you. Ask a question. Go forth. Arrive at the answer. Catch your breath. Ask Why. And then set off again. Never relent!

The world is in need of bright minds. Individuals who seek to spread peace and prosperity by the way conduct themselves and the value they place on the lives of others and on life itself. These people, by way of their concern and awareness, whether they know it or not—are leaders.

You lead through kindness, generosity, tolerance, innovation, the quest for knowledge and a basic, resolved goodness that is incorruptible, inexhaustible and undefeatable.

You do not lead by intimidation, by economic coercion, overwhelming military might or sanctions.

Brutality, oppression and the constant threat of violence only results in brutality, oppression and actual violence. The world has more than it needs.

A member of Ku Klux Klan doesn’t need a frying pan upside the head! He needs an Al Green record and some good books. He needs better information so he can make better decisions and reach better conclusions. He needs to be inspired. You could do that for someone else, you could do that for a lot of people. It might take a lot less and go a lot further than you think.

If you have noticed, I keep mentioning the people and the world around you. I have been doing this because you are surrounded. You are surrounded by millions of square miles of land, billions of gallons of water and who knows how many cubic feet of air. You share all of these finite and vulnerable resources with millions of people. Everything you do, affects someone else, perhaps more than you realize. I am hoping that you understand that your responsibility to yourself and your well-being must also somehow include the planet on which you live and the people you share it with because like it or not, it does.

And now it’s time for my self-serving op ed. Of course, everything I have said to you thus far, has been merely my opinion. Fair enough. Here’s something that perhaps has little to do with our topic today but this is something I will not allow myself not to say to you on this very important day: It is my opinion that all wars are avoidable and unnecessary and could have been prevented by more compassionate governance of peoples and the highest possible value put on life and human rights. I know that one day, war and torture will be relics of the past. That racial discrimination, homophobia and other intolerance and ignorance will be looked upon as primitive, half-baked behavior that no one could ever be induced to repeat. I know that future generations will look back and wonder, “What in the world were those people thinking?”

From that history they will understand that some of their duties as human beings are to pursue peace at all times, to make sure that famine and human suffering never return, and that the stewardship and care of the planet and its very delicate ecosystem is in everyone’s best interest.

But, I am an impatient person and can not, will not, wait for these conclusions and actions to be part of some distant future. I want them to happen right now and I want you to be a huge part of that.

I think you will, and I think you’re going to be great at it. I think that some of the decisions you will make and actions you will take will make things better. You don’t have to be a doctor or a hero to save a life and you don’t have to be a scientist to brighten the future. All you need to do is care and get involved. I know you will, and I can’t wait to see how you act upon every ounce of your tremendous potential.

This is a great day. It’s your day. And so are all the ones to follow.

Think you can handle it?
I bet you can.
The future is bright.
I know this.
I’m looking at it.
Congratulations
Good luck.

S**t that Belongs to K******c.

This post is dedicated to my good friend, ******* K******c, who, for lack of better terminology, has a whole lot of random s**t. Let us consider a brief survey of the s**t found in his apartment.

We should begin with what could either be termed the “banana hook,” or for more hilarity, the “banana hammock.” See below:

This is a fairly ridiculous device for any household, but, you know, it might be good for preventing the bruising of one’s bananas (never a good thing), so who knows, maybe there’s some sort of utility here. My only question is where one would even buy such a thing. Astounding.

Next up is the “Bag O’ Corks.” You might be asking yourself, “Why would one keep a bag of corks around?” To which I would reply, “I have no idea, ask K******c.”

But I mean, you could like, make sculptures out of corks or somethin (see cork waiter sculpture, below).

Anyway, I’m sure there are many fantastic things to do with a bag of corks. Ask K******c! He’ll know!

Moving on, I would like to point out one of the more useful, albeit expensive, items purchased by our good pal. The Jack Lalanne Power Juicer!

Here’s a recipe for the juicer, just because I think it’s one of Mr. K’s more useful purchases:

-1 watermelon wedge, juiced

-1 cantaloupe wedge, juiced

-1 honeydew wedge, juiced

-1/4 lime, juiced

-A few pineapple chunks, juiced

-Mix the juice>

-Drink the juice

-Be happy about the juice

Pretty much a win, right?

Next on the list: Heavy punching bag. In an apartment. Bet the neighbors loved that, although I’m not sure the bag ever got hung up. Still a win. A+ for effort.

By the way, boxing is far cooler than MMA. Don’t care about the fads or what anyone says. So, Mr. K, I’ll assume you were training for boxing and not MMA. Good choice.

Finally, to end the pictures, and (presumably) to be used hand-in-hand with the punching bag, is the door-mounted pull-up bar.

Notable other objects located in the apartment, but not photographed, include: George Foreman Lean Mean Grilling Machine, a plethora of Japanese-style rice bowls and matching chopsticks, dozens of original Nintendo games, sometimes including three or four of the same game, and a life size cardboard cut-out of John McCain.

Why my Criminal Law Class at Duke is Similar to my Third Semester Spanish Class at Sonoma State OR Why Civil Procedure is Like Sex

Just as a fun little exercise, I have (approximately) matched up particular law school classes with random undergraduate classes I received similar marks in.

Criminal Law (2.9) = Third Semester Spanish (B-); Democracy, Capitalism, Socialism (B-); Introduction to Arabic (B); Legal Aspects of Real Estate (Santa Rosa JC, B)

Torts (3.3) = M*A*T*H Colloquium (B+)

Legal Writing (3.3) = Introduction to Biology (B+); Twentieth Century Europe (B+)

Contracts (3.3) = Introduction to Physics (B+); Introduction to Statistics (B+)

Property (3.6) = Statistics Consulting (A-); Introduction to American Politics (A-)

Constitutional Law (3.6) = International Political Economy (A-); Americanism (A-); Political Science Senior Seminar (A-)

Civil Procedure (4.0) = Seminar in Econometrics and Forecasting (A); Human Sexuality (A); Seminar on Global Positioning Systems; The American South (A); Introduction to Astronomy (A); Commercial Real Estate Appraisal (Santa Rosa JC, A)

Couple other funny things to point out. Compare my 3.6 in Property with my B in “Legal Aspects of Real Estate” class at Santa Rosa JC, and compare my first year law school GPA (3.44-ish) with my high school cumulative GPA of about 3.2. Nuts.

Top 20 Obscure Football Helmets

Before beginning my list, I’d first like to thank The Helmet Project for doing such an amazing archiving job and providing these images. Thanks! Here’s the link, highly recommended: http://www.nationalchamps.net/Helmet_Project/.

With that being said, here are the top 20:

20.  California Redwoods: This team is from the newly formed UFL, and has moved to Sacramento and will be changing their name to something else.  Frankly, they’re just on this list because I find it a bit funny that even their helmet design looks environmentally friendly.  Sort of the polar opposite of the Steelers.

19.  Cal State Northridge: The helmet has a sword on it and a letter that appears as though it was sliced into the helmet by the sword.  It’s like the Zorro of football helmets.

18.  Long Beach State: I think it’s safe to say that most things associated with Long Beach State and/or Football are cool.  This helmet is one of them.

17.  Barcelona Dragons: The best helmet in NFL Europe (or at least it was)!

16.  New Jersey Generals: A five star helmet for a five star USFL team!

15.  San Antonio Gunslingers:  This helmet made the list if only for the little cartoon gunslinger guy that is a part of the design.

14.  Washington Federals: This appears to be the most Washington, DC-looking design I’ve ever seen.  If we add red and blue and get rid of the green, then that’s about as federal of a helmet as you can get, and arguably a new US Postal Service logo.

13.  Sacramento Surge: I don’t know where they got this color scheme, but it must have been in the 1980s.  Notably, this team played in the “World League of American Football.”

12.  Sacramento State Hornets: Another Sac team, another cool design.  But, of course, I am partial to these plain designs, so I’m a bit biased.

11.  Orlando Rage – Straight from the XFL, that angry red incredible hulk really will intimidate opponents.

10.  University of the Pacific: That ain’t Princeton!  That’s a team from Stockton whose school is known for its terrific pharmacy program.

9.  UC Santa Barbara:  Of the now defunct California teams, this helmet design has to be one of my favorites for both simplicity and uniqueness.  It also seems to fit the school quite well.  Gauchos!

8.  Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks: It appears this team included a visual reference (or two?  or more?) to the “Research Triangle” region that they are located in.  While not quite the most endearing helmet design, I could see myself rooting for this team either due to their enthusiastic, visual shout out to their region or their use of Christmas colors on their uniforms.

7.  New York-New Jersey Knights:  Best. Logo.  Evaaaaaar!

6.  Santa Clara:  Not USC, but SCU!

5.  Shippensburg – The college is named Shippensburg.  The logo?  A ship.  Need I say more?

4.  UC Berkeley: The classic Cal helmet.  I say, bring it back.

3.  College of San Mateo: This helmet reminds me of the ESPN logo, and because it’s one of my local community colleges, and has really nice views (all things I like, really), it makes this list.

2.  University of La Verne: The U!!!….of La Verne!!

1.  Sonoma State: Of course, this one is number 1.  I mean, we probably will have an alum in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in short order.

A Riddle For the Peanut Gallery

This is a tough riddle.  Let’s see if you can solve it.

Hypothetical: The year is 2009.  California is out of money.  Again.  The University of California and California State University systems are reeling.  There is less money available to fund classes, research, co-curricular, and extracurricular programming.  Student fees are continuing to rise, almost exponentially.  Faculty and staff are being forced to take furlough days to deal with the cuts.  Class sizes are growing fast, and advising is virtually nonexistent.  These problems have plagued all of the California public universities, even a little state school in the North Bay by the name of Sonoma State University.  So, you have a Ph.D from some very prestigious university.  You’re on the faculty senate (“Academic Senate”).  You care deeply about the university and the students (or your own pet political issues, either way).

What’s your next move?

BAM!  Diversity Coordinator!  Up yours, logic!

Allow me to explain.  I’ll begin with something of a recent historical summary of the current faculty obsession with diversity before moving onto the resolution advocating the creation of the new, full-time position of “Diversity Coordinator” (What does a diversity coordinator even do, anyway??).  Last year, Sonoma State’s own Project Censored (which does raise important issues on occasion) issued a report on diversity at Sonoma State.  The report found that <gasp!> Sonoma State was predominantly attended by – get this – white people!  Who knew?!  It also asserted that the university purposely worked to attract wealthier, whiter students in order to broaden its donor base, by increasing admissions standards to increasingly block minorities and the non-wealthy from admission…to a state university.  The article was partly summarized by David Moltz, of California State University-Northridge, here:

. . . The report claims that the university has become the “whitest” public institution in California, effectively preferring white students to minorities in an admission practice that it deems “reverse affirmative action.”

One aspect of Sonoma State that is decidedly diverse is the administration, where the president, provost and director of admissions – all criticized in the report – are Latino. The professor who brought forth this report, however, is white.

Peter Phillips, a sociology professor, wrote the report with help from student researchers and funds from the California Faculty Association – the National Education Association-affiliated union of professors in the California State University System. He argues that Sonoma State “deliberately tried to increase student wealth and maintain a non-diverse student population” during a time period in which the demographics of the state and the Cal State system have been changing. . . .

I guess it’s good to be number one at something.  Also in the report were the following shocking revelations:

SSU started a special admissions program in 1994. “The goal was to draw a larger applicant pool from a state-wide  market…to admit the best class we possibly can.”

-

SSU raised the SAT-GPA screening index to find more highly qualified students.

-

. . . college admissions staffs know that by increasing SAT-GPA screening levels you raise the overall income and reduce the diversity of the applicant pool . . . Standard tests like SATs correlate far better with socioeconomic status than with students future performance in school…” . . . “The correlation between SAT scores actually predicting success in college is only 30%.”

But at the same time, while the report cites these “high” admissions standards as a problem, the report concedes:

In 2006, SSU was ranked among the top five CSU campuses for SAT scores. SSU was second highest for four-year graduation rates and in the top six CSU campuses for over all graduation levels. From 1999 to 2006 SSU’s six-year graduation increased from 43.8% to 50.8%— a 15% gain.

So, beginning here, I cannot understand why it is surprising that any university would try to increase its admission standards, given that higher standards generally reflect very positively on a university’s image.  Furthermore – while I will grant that the usefulness of the SAT and standardized tests in general are very limited (by the way, did you catch the SAT-style grammar error there?) – it seems to me that the improvement in graduation rates speaks for itself.  Regardless of the social considerations involved here – and they are legitimate – is improving graduation rates (or, as the report alleges, increasing the donor base) not a legitimate concern?

Returning to the revelation that Sonoma State is primarily composed of white folks, my only comment here is “Duh.”  But I should point out that given the demographics of Sonoma County (72% white) and higher admissions standards that were used by Sonoma State, the fact that white people compose 78% of the student body is not completely shocking.

It should also be pointed out that the “study” fails to include other explanations for a lack of diversity at Sonoma State.  While the report focuses on the argument reflected by its title (“Building a Public Ivy”), as Professor Michael Visser has noted, the report fails to consider or acknowledge factors outside of the paradigm argued by the report itself.  Visser notes:

I find [the report] to lack most of the hallmarks of sound research.  In particular, it is biased toward a particular explanation of socio-demographic changes at SSU. . . . Without a proper and systematic exploration of all of the potential explanations it is impossible to establish a causal relationship between SSU’s recruiting practices and the differential change in socio-demographics at SSU.  By presenting only one of many possible explanations, the essay suffers from bias of omission.  In addition, the only data-driven analyses offered are basic comparisons of percentages (some of which are dubious), and no statistical tests of any kind are presented.

. . .

I am saddened that a personal agenda of railing against administration would be allowed to undermine our efforts to engage students in meaningful exploration of issues, and quest for self- and social improvement. . . .[W]e must at least live up to the standards we claim to hold our students to.

An article in the North Bay Bohemian touches on a possible political agenda in the study, as Visser seemed to suggest:

Phillips says that “SAT/GPA scores are clearly correlated with income levels, and do not correlate to success in college.” All of this research seems to indicate that SSU intentionally recruits and admits wealthy, Caucasian students to campus, and lacks in efforts to search out and maintain students from poorer or more diverse backgrounds. . . .

. . . [Raising] admissions standards has resulted in the transition of SSU from “being a . . . working-class, local-transfer campus, to being a sophisticated, upper-income, ‘safe’ residential university for students from families with interests in the mystique of wine, theater and intellectual pursuits.”

Class warfare much lately?  To say that there is a personal agenda here seems to be a reasonable inference.  This is not to say that diversity is not a legitimate concern (although I would argue that, specifically relating to racial diversity, it is not as much of an important issue as many people make it out to be), but that there is a point where concern about diversity goes beyond well-intentioned advocacy and finds itself in the realm of dogmatic, self-perpetuating madness.  I will, however, allow Phillips some credit for raising the issue of economic (and other types of) diversity in addition to racial diversity, which I think are often neglected.

But I do think that the lack of diversity at Sonoma State results from some fairly obvious common-sense reasons, which Phillips only partly addresses.  Off the top of my head, some factors are: (a) the university is still not very well-known, regardless of what we might like to think, and an average person would not know about Sonoma State without some considerable research, (b) Sonoma is a very white, fairly rural county, (c) those moving here from elsewhere generally need a little bit of money to do so, (d) it’s a suburban environment and probably attracts a relatively higher proportion of suburban people, (e) Sonoma State is known for the quality of particular programs that have led to traditionally “female” careers (teachers, nurses), and thus will probably attract parents looking for a “safe” environment for their daughters, (f) the system is sort of self-perpetuating in the sense that many people like to be around those that are like themselves, and (g) white people love wine, among other things.  This is not an all-inclusive nor thorough list, but just some factors that occurred to me off the top of my head.  I’m sure I could explain them better if I really tried, but I do not want to.  Therefore, no attacking these random theories will be permitted.  Ipso facto, I just win.

Anyway - the infamous diversity report created something of a furor and led to a chain of events culminating in the silliness of the “diversity coordinator” idea.  In the milieu that subsequently developed, we all apparently became very concerned about diversity all of a sudden.   The events that followed included the creation of a committee on diversity and further studies by the academic senate which were either historical or descriptive, and in my opinion interesting but not all that useful.

Now, turning to the current faculty resolution to  in this context, let us consider this preoccupation with diversity and the idea of a diversity coordinator under the present circumstances.  One professor rationalizes the creation of the position because diversity “is a vital part of the student’s education tied into the curriculum.”  Now, far be it from me, a lowly peasant only educated through a Bachelor of Arts degree thus far, to question educational policy at the university level, but it seems like the centrality of diversity to the educational experience is a fairly grand assumption, and quite idealistic.  Sure I would love to hold hands around a campfire and sing songs and make s’mores with a group of interesting people from different backgrounds and experiences.  But that is most certainly not the reason I decided to go to college.  I went for a degree, to have some fun, and to get a decent job.  And I feel like the majority of students feel the same way.  Call me crazy, but I do not believe that diversity should be enough to override concerns regarding “meat-and-potatoes” issues like, oh…I don’t know…funding for classes or student services, or athletics, or residential life, or nine out of ten of any number of places additional resources could end up.

Now, on to the text of the “Resolution on a Diversity Coordinator For Academic Affairs,” seen here and below:

Whereas, Diversity has been established as a major University priority in both the Academic Affairs and University Strategic Plans, and

Whereas, Diversity has been established as a major planning and implementation priority for the University by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, and

Whereas, Diversity has been recognized by both President Armiñana and the Academic Senate through the establishment of Diversity Committees, and

Whereas, both of these committee have made substantial recommendations requiring resources for planning, coordination, implementation, and assessment,

Therefore be it:

Resolved, that the Academic Senate strongly urges Provost Ochoa to hire a full time Diversity Coordinator for the Division of Academic Affairs,

Resolved, that the Academic Senate strongly urges the University to find resources to fund this position that are not diverted from direct classroom instruction,

Resolved, that the Academic Senate recommends that this position be staff by a faculty member with extensive background in diversity issues and affairs,

Resolved, that the Academic Senate recommends that the hiring committee for this position include faculty, staff and students.

Consider a few things here.  First, here is a recent LA Times story that addresses the present demands and costs imposed on the CSU system.  Now, in light of the fact that THERE IS NO MONEY LEFT and just about every department and office and campus in the CSU (and UC) is facing heavy cuts, the faculty have taken the grand step of proposing a new position for a full time Diversity Coordinator?!

Footnote: There must not be a biologist or botanist on the Academic Senate, because this passed – somehow – unanimously, and I’m pretty sure that these plants do not exist:

Money Tree

The near-surprise in this little diversity dust-up is that the Senate had the audacity to “strongly [urge] the University to find resources to fund this position that are not diverted from direct classroom instruction”?!  Well then, faculty – where’s it going to come from?  I find this clause to fit my exact personal definition of a cop-out, because the Academic Senate can outwardly argue that hiring a diversity coordinator would not hurt students because the money is not coming from academic offerings, while simultaneously arguing that money or time that could potentially be spent on students in some manner gets spent on a pet political issue.  I understand the concern for a diverse student body, but 99.9% of the students out there care more about graduating on time and getting the classes and services they need and/or want.  Truthfully, however, I have a feeling that this is actually going to be another call to reduce executive compensation in the CSU.  Great.  For one, that will not happen.  For two, if that does happen (which it will not), then that money should be dumped back into offering classes or student services.  So that’s not a tenable argument.  So where will the money actually come from?  Well, even if the funding does not come from classroom instruction, it’s going to come out of student services somewhere.  And the final kick in the teeth of all of this is the suggestion that the position should be filled by a faculty member!  Self-interested much?  Context, people, context!

Now I suppose that the underlying assumption I have not yet addressed is that in light of the necessary trade-offs, advocating a new Diversity Coordinator position must be viewed in light of how important one thinks a diverse student body is, for whatever reason.  Because I believe that campus diversity is of limited importance, even in good economic times, I think this proposal is ridiculous.  Today, under the current circumstances, the proposal is absolutely ludicrous.  Now, I can acknowledge that if someone out there believes that a marginal increase in minority enrollment is important enough to the educational experience to justify the time, effort, and expenses that could otherwise be allocated elsewhere, then this might sound like a good idea.  But even given this assumption, what percent increase in minority enrollment would justify the cost?  5%?  10%?  Is this even a social good, considering the trade offs mentioned in the study (admission standards, donor base, etc.)?  I am inclined to think not.

If you want the “Cliff’s Notes” version of the above, here they are:

Will the Academic Senate of Sonoma State please address reality and stop making bizarre proposals that are a waste of everyone’s time and effort?  Kthx!

Edit: I forgot to address some of the numbers that were used in the diversity study, but I just wrote a ton and don’t want to write any more.  Just read the diversity report.  The numbers are definitely kind of iffy.  Just think about ‘em and you’ll see what’s up.

college admissions staffs know that by increasing
SAT-GPA screening levels you raise the overall income and reduce the diversity of the
applicant pool.

Something to Remember

I (just now) was searching the Sonoma State Star’s web page for an article confirming the rumored hiring of a “diversity consultant,” so that I might humorously chastise the decision to make such a hire (in the midst of a situation where tuition is rapidly rising, the hiring of professors is nearly-or-completely frozen, advising services are being cut to egregious levels, class sizes are growing, and the number of classes offered is shrinking).  Sadly, I did not find that article, and cannot yet offer what will probably be a slightly-harsh-but-probably-vaguely-funny-yet-perhaps-obnoxious opinion on the matter.  However, I did find a couple of letters to the editor that reminded me of a very simple thing people should remember, that they often forget.

The letter to the Star was by a student who wanted to discuss his simple meeting with a local Sonoma State campus figure who has frankly been demeaned and criticized to an extent that far outpaces the severity of the disagreements some have had with him.  In my opinion, many of these criticisms did not relate to management decisions relative to the positive or negative effects of such decisions on the university, but instead only existed to advance the political aims and ideas of a number of faculty members.  Of course, I have my own opinions on how Sonoma State might be improved, and perhaps someday will write the article I had hoped to write last year (but alas, proved far too lazy to complete, although I should probably be cut some slack – I was taking 27 units), tentatively titled “Things About Sonoma State that Could Be Better,” but will refrain from commenting on those matters for now.

This particular blog post is about how people should express their disagreements and problems, and truthfully, I think the matter boils down to good old fashioned manners and a reasonable sense of duty to other people.  But it also has some practical and idealistic implications as well.  I think these are especially pertinent for others like myself – young professionals of any sort, but particularly law students – because of the nature of what we do.  Law school, as well as what I know of the legal profession, generally involves heavy competition, pressure, arguments, lots of work, ethical dilemmas, sometimes confrontation, and often outright conflict.  I have not seen anything that could remotely indicate a lack of character among my classmates, but when I think of the financial and corporate scandals and the practices of government officials in various capacities over the (recent?) years, values seem more important.  There is something to be gleaned from the simple wisdom of the following exchange, although it reflects a certain common decency that seems to have been forgotten.  Maybe I’m being a bit idealistic about this.  Oh well.  Observe the message anyway.

Anyway…

The university official I speak of – who is obvious to anyone who has attended Sonoma State within at least the past half-decade), is Sonoma State University President Ruben Arminana.  The student – Trevor Reese -  wrote, in an opinion page piece titled “Ruben and Me” (Link to Sonoma State Star):

“A funny thing happened last week. President Ruben Armiñana became a human being.

Up until this point, he was an idea.

But then he walked into the bookstore and perused the birthday card section. Though I asked if he needed help finding a humorous card, he politely declined and left the store. What was once the faceless leader of an administration accused of losing touch with the student body was now a surprisingly unimposing, Santa Claus-esque man. And this forced me to re-evaluate my stance on Armiñana as an administrator.

There is something lost when we view those against us as less than human. When someone is an idea, they are much easier to deconstruct. Suddenly, I found that I would have difficulty taking the easy pot shots at Armiñana because now he is someone who, more or less, deals with the same issues that I do. Becoming human means that now the little stuff is brought into the picture.

What kind of pizza toppings does President Armiñana enjoy? What’s his favorite sports team? What’s his favorite movie? Does Armiñana sing in the shower? Has Armiñana played the Nintendo Wii? Armiñana now has a childhood. He went through puberty. He had crushes on girls. Ruben Armiñana had acne. He thinks jokes are funny.

It reminds me of the scene in “Juno,” where Ellen Page’s Juno is about to get an abortion and runs into a girl from her class, who tries to dissuade her from going in. She tells Juno that the baby has hair and eyes, but its only when Juno finds out that the baby has fingernails that she decides to opt out of the abortion. It’s those little human traits that remind us of the humanity around. Now that Armiñana had entered my world by looking at birthday cards, there was no going back to him as an idea.

There was a purpose to Armiñana coming into the bookstore. He had an agenda. It could have simply been to get a card for someone or even worse: Armiñana could have been bored and wanted to kill time. Armiñana may have gone into the bookstore for the same reason I remain logged onto Facebook for hours at a time.

There are so many titles that are tossed around while on campus: student, customer, user, faculty, administrator, worker, number. These only serve to help distance ourselves from each other. It helps for the hard decisions. It is all right for the teacher to have a furlough for the student’s class, as opposed to having a furlough for Trevor Reece’s class. It is easy for the CSU to increase the fees of their customer, as opposed to raising the fees of Trevor Reece.

The student/customer is interchangeable, intangible. It has no goal, no life plan. It is a constant term that will always be around. But the person to which it is applied is different. Trevor Reece, student, has plans and life goals. Trevor Reece needs certain classes. Trevor Reece has a graduation plan. Trevor Reece is a student, but the student isn’t Trevor Reece.

It is easy to label a group with a derogative term. The student body is apathetic. The faculty is ignorant. The administration is power-mad. But when the individual, the human, is brought into the picture, such damaging broad strokes are unable to happen because the little details of the individual can make a title no longer apply. Nuance kills labels.

The problem with the situation that we are going through is that we are not looking at each other as people. Armiñana and the administration, as well as the people at the top of the CSU system like Chancellor Reed, are looking at people as numbers. Numbers don’t have mortgages and plans for grad school. The faculty and the students are, in turn, looking at the administration as suits-and suits don’t have feelings.

If we are going to get through this crisis, we as a college, as a state, as a nation, need to start looking at one another as people. It’s hard to do, but it is necessary.

If we can see each other as people, we can start to see what is being lost in the cuts and what can be gained in this time of hardship.

I used to not think of Armiñana as a person, but then he showed an interest in humorous birthday cards.”

Now, I am not much of a philosophizer, or what quite a few people would describe as soft-hearted, or even more than moderately idealistic.  I like facts, figures, numbers, efficiency, good incentives, and practicality.  I am usually concerned with what can be done as opposed to what should be done about a particular issue.  That’s generally how I think about things.  But Mr. Reese – in addition to reminding us of the importance of recognizing another’s humanity – also seems to connect empathy, decency, and practicality in this short piece.  And I believe the guy has a good point.

Empathy, understanding, and perspective are important on a moral, human level.  But consider, for example, his mention of “nuance” and how it helps us understand another person.  It is easy to apply ideas of empahy and nuance to our professional lives, because understanding individuals, not just people, is an important part of solving problems.  When applying these concepts to our personal lives, I think the conclusions there are probably even more apparent.  Now I don’t point any of this out because I think the ideas Reese expresses are not obvious to a normal person – they are – but I point this out because all too often, people (perhaps innocently, perhaps purposefully) forget these issues and become self-centered, focus internally, categorize others into broad groups, forget that how another person feels matters, and close themselves off from how another’s humanity affects what they do, how they act, and how they treat others.  We also tend to forget that humanity, emotions, and individuals just might have some inherent value – all by themselves – that deserves respect.

Consider Dr. Arminana’s response (Link to Sonoma State Star):

Dear Editor,

Thank you, Trevor Reece, for your kind article in this week’s Star where you saw me as “a human being.”

I appreciated that very much since most often I am seen and treated as a person without emotions, feelings, compassion or humanity. I want to assure you that I indeed am a human being whose feelings get hurt like everyone else’s.

I was in the Bookstore that day looking for a birthday card for my mom who just turned 92 years old and lives in Florida. She is frail and I am looking forward to seeing her next month.

By the way, the reason I did not find the card is that she only speaks and reads Spanish and humor in English is not understood at all. I finally found a card with pictures of flowers and she enjoyed it very much.

You asked some questions in your article. Let me give you some answers.

My favorite pizza is white sauce pizza with sausage. The Longhorns of the University of Texas at Austin is my favorite college football team. I earned my B.A. in 1968 and Masters in 1970 from that fine institution. The professional team I follow would be the New Orleans Saints. I lived in that great but suffering city for more than 18 years before moving to California. The Saints are always the underdogs!

I do not sing in the shower, but I do a lot of thinking there. I am afraid that my singing would cause fright to my dog, Hubert, a 95 pound flat-coated retriever.

I also have not played Wii, but I did go through puberty while living in Cuba and Texas and I had my share of crushes of girls and enough acne to make good use of Clearasil. I like jokes, I think I have a good sense of humor and frequently tell stories with humorous punch lines.

My favorite movie is an obscure European film from the early 80s entitled “Our Father.” It is the story of an old and ill Cardinal who returns to his Spanish village after having spent several decades at the Vatican. He returns to put his affairs in order before he dies, including saying goodbye to his mother and childhood friends, meeting a daughter he had in his early years before leaving the village for priestly training, and insuring that the Vatican had enough sacramental wine from his vineyard after his death.

Probably only 10 people saw the movie and only I remember it.

Finally, I think often about the students and their education. They are the only reason that we exist as a university and I worry about future opportunities for students to come during this period of retrenchment and under-funding.

It was a relatively inexpensive university education in Texas that allowed me to go to college and succeed. I financed that education entirely with federal grants which fortunately I was able to pay years later.

I used to live on $500 a semester and at the end of the semester my meals consisted mainly of sardine sandwiches because that was the most filling thing I could afford.

I hope our students are able to do better.

~ Ruben Arminaña, Sonoma State University President

Now, I might be crazy, or perhaps it’s the former SAT/ACT instructor in me speaking, but consider all of the information about Dr. Arminana that is supplied by just those two letters.  Consider how just this little bit of information about a random university president in the North Bay makes you feel about him.  There is something inherently important there.  Consider the “something to remember” that the title of this post references: “_________________________________.”

No, I’m not going to spell it out for you.  We don’t give answers at law school.  What do you think it is?

For reference, here’s Arminana’s official SSU bio and Wikipedia article; I’m sure you can find related links and links to any of the criticisms he has received as well, if you are interested:

Official SSU Biography

Wikipedia Article