Dear Commons Community,

According to The Detroit Bureau, less than three years after emerging from bankruptcy General Motors is positioned to once again be the world’s number one automaker, with sales for 2011 totaling 9.03 million.  Its largest brand Chevrolet, meanwhile, reported an all-time record of 4.76 million sales to close out its 100^th anniversary.

GM’s victory celebration will have to wait for Toyota to confirm its 2011 numbers.  The Japanese giant had toppled its U.S. rival as global king-of-the-hill three years ago but it lost 100s of thousands of units of production in 2011 due to the impact of the March 11 Japanese earthquake and tsunami.

Congratulations to GM!

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

Newt Gingrich had quite a day yesterday.   Rick Perry dropped out of the Republican presidential primary race and endorsed him.  Polls in South Carolina show Gingrich surging.  And last night was another candidate’s debate in which Gingrich generally does well.   However, it was also a day that his second wife, Marianne Gignrich, gave an interview that aired on the ABC network during which  she mentioned that Newt had asked her if they could have an “open marriage” – not the kind of thing that most presidential candidates would want the public to know.

The sparks flew on the stage during the CNN debate in Charleston, S.C., last night during the very first question. The charges, however, were not directed between the candidates, but between former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and debate moderator John King. Here is the exchange:

“CNN debate moderator asked John King asked Gingrich to respond to allegations by his ex-wife that in 1999, Gingrich asked her to have an open marriage with him.

“Would you like to take some time to respond to that?” asked King.

“No, but I will,” responded Gingrich, receiving loud, sustained applause from the audience.

“I think the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media makes it harder to govern this country, harder to attract decent people to run for public office. And I am appalled that you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that,” he said.

The audience gave Gingrich a standing ovation.

When King asked if he was finished, Gingrich said he would like to be allowed to continue:

Every person in here knows personal pain. Every person in here has had someone close to them go through painful things. To take an ex-wife and make it two days before the primary, a significant question in a presidential campaign, is as close to despicable as anything I can imagine.

My two daughters, my two daughters wrote the head of ABC and made the point that it was wrong, that they should pull it, and I am, frankly, astounded that CNN would take trash like that and use it to open a presidential debate.

King pointed out that the interview was not done by CNN, but by another network.

“John, it was repeated by your network,” replied Gingrich. “You chose to start the debate with it. Don’t try to blame somebody else. You and your staff chose to start the debate with it. … Let me be quite clear. The story is false. Every personal friend I have who knew us in that period says the story was false. We offered several of them to ABC to prove it was false. They weren’t interested because they would like to attack any Republican. They’re attacking the governor [Mitt Romney]. They’re attacking me. I’m sure they’ll get around to Sen. Santorum and Congressman Paul. I’m tired of the elite media protecting Barack Obama by attacking Republicans.”

After this speech, he again received a standing ovation. ”

Wow!

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

Texas Governor Rick Perry dropped out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination today ahead of South Carolina’s primary election.

Perry addressed his decision to abandon his campaign at a press conference in North Charleston. He said he came to the conclusion that there was no longer a “viable path” forward in the contest and added that he knows when it’s “time to make a strategic retreat.”

“I ran for president because I love America,” he explained. “What’s broken in America is not out people. It’s our politics. And what we need in Washington is a government that’s humbler.”

Perry endorsed former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in the race for the Republican presidential nomination during his remarks.

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

Bill Clinton has given an interview to Esquire Magazine commenting on the current state of presidential politics and the upcoming election.  Among his statements in the interview:

“I think Barack Obama will be the next president. I think he will win. Because I think that whatever feelings the American people have about their own conditions and however much they may wish he had moved more quickly, I think that they will conclude that it takes a long time to get out of the kind of economic distress we were in… And I also think, based on what happened in 2008, that once he gets an opponent in the general election, I think except for Fox and the conservative outlets, the media will tilt back toward him. The coverage won’t be as anodyne and evenhanded as it has been.”

Regarding the Republican candidates:

“Neither one of them [Mitt Romney or Newt  Gingrich] can say what they believe to be true and get nominated. Romney’s still trying to figure out what he did as governor of Massachusetts.”

Good insights!

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

On Tuesday, Governor Andrew Cuomo unveiled the New York State budget for next year.   Public higher education was not identified for any significant cuts or new funding.  The Professional Staff Congress (PSC) issued an email to its membership yesterday essentially verifying that the proposed budget is close to the amount that CUNY requested.  On the plus side, it appears that there will be funding for health insurance for adjunct faculty.   However, built into the request was also a scheduled increase in tuition.  Below is the PSC statement and a link to commentary by PSC President Barbara Bowen.

Tony

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PSC Statement on Proposed Budget for CUNY

The PSC is heartened to see that the Governor’s proposed budget for CUNY comes close to the amount CUNY has requested for CUNY senior colleges. It is about time Albany began to stabilize funding for CUNY. This crucial investment, however, is part of a budget plan that relies on a 30% increase in tuition over five years and leaves base aid for CUNY community colleges at its current reduced level. During the next few months, the PSC will work hard with the Legislature for a final budget that lifts that level of funding.

And we are happy to announce that the Governor’s proposed budget includes funding for adjunct health insurance, at CUNY’s request. Inclusion of the requested funds in the proposed budget is a major step in the process toward achieving permanent, equitable health insurance for CUNY adjuncts, and we thank the Executive Office. But the process is not yet complete. Now we must work with CUNY, the Legislature and the Governor’s office to ensure that the funding remains as part of the final budget. Thank you to the hundreds of PSC members who have fought for adjunct health equity for years—this victory is yours.

Read Barbara Bowen’s Statement.

Dear Commons Community,

Unlike last year when New York State was facing a $10 billion deficit, there are no draconian budget cuts in Governor Andrew Cuomo’s budget for New York State next year.  That is good.

As reported in the New York Times, Mr. Cuomo proposed a $132.5 billion state budget  for the fiscal year that begins April 1. That would be $225 million less than what the state is spending this year — a cut of 0.2 percent. The budget would be balanced in part by a revision of the state income tax, approved last month by the Legislature, that created a higher tax bracket for individuals who earn more than $1 million and married couples earning more than $2 million.

The part of  his budget that will receive the most scrutiny is that which would add about $800 million to education financing, with most of that increase aimed at poor school districts, which suffered cuts last year and are especially dependent on state aid. He has also said that the promise depends on local districts and teachers’ unions agreeing to teacher evaluations. That’s crucial because the failure to move forward on evaluation systems means that New York could lose more than $700 million in federal education assistance.   This is particularly important for New York City.

A lawsuit by teachers fighting a statewide evaluation system is in negotiations and a settlement is said to be close. But Mr. Cuomo added a shove, threatening to propose his own evaluation system if they don’t agree within 30 days from Tuesday. He wants school districts to be using these evaluations by January 2013 or they will lose their increase in state money.

“No evaluation, no money. Period,” he said.

The governor’s budget, which must be passed by the Legislature before April 1, is only a framework.  As the Times article concluded:  “Now comes the hard part: getting the Legislature and the unions to go along”.

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

A couple of days ago, Susan Cain, the author of the forthcoming book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking,  had an article in the New York Times on what she calls, the New Groupthink.  She questions the popular opinion among corporations, schools and I am sure many contributors to the CUNY Academic Commons, that holds that creativity and achievement come from collaborations and working in teams.  She laments that solitude is “out of fashion”.

She cites research that suggests that people are more creative when they enjoy privacy and freedom from interruption and  “the most spectacularly creative people in many fields are often introverted, according to studies by psychologists Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Gregory Feist. They’re extroverted enough to exchange and advance ideas, but see themselves as independent and individualistic. They’re not joiners by nature.“

One explanation for these findings is that introverts are comfortable working alone — and solitude is a catalyst to their  innovation.   The  influential psychologist Hans Eysenck observed, introversion fosters creativity by “concentrating the mind on the tasks in hand, and preventing the dissipation of energy on social and sexual matters unrelated to work.” In other words, a person sitting quietly under a tree in the backyard, while everyone else is clinking glasses on the patio, is more likely to have an apple land on his head. (Newton was one of the world’s great introverts: William Wordsworth described him as “A mind for ever/ Voyaging through strange seas of Thought, alone.”)

Something to think about.  Maybe we should form a Commons Group to discuss this further.

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

John Huntsman dropped his bid to become the presidential candidate for the Republican Party, leaving five contenders (Romney, Gingrich, Santorum, Perry, and Paul).  In his departure speech, he endorsed Mitt Romney and cast salvos at President Barack Obama.

Last night was also yet another debate among the remaining candidates.  This one was in South Carolina and  sponsored by Fox News.  I have to admit I did not have it in me to watch another debate.  The media reports indicated that the candidates directed their attacks at the front-runner Romney.  The New York Times, for instance. summarized the debate:

“…from the moment the debate began, Mr. Romney was besieged by his opponents, all of whom are trying to survive the winnowing process of the early primaries and emerge as a singular challenger to him. They pointedly called on him to disclose his tax returns, explain whether his corporate buyout firm Bain Capital had created or killed jobs and account for his evolving views on social issues like abortion.”

Most  observers have concluded that Romney will be the Republican nominee.  The South Carolina Primary is in five days.

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

On this day we  remember with great affection and a great deal of thanks, the contribution of Martin Luther King, Jr. to our country.  His messages of peace and racial understanding still reverberate for those us fortunate to have heard his words.  There will be many references to his great oratory.  Surely, parts of his “I had a dream” speech will be played throughout the media today.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smEqnnklfYs[/youtube]

Paul Krugman, in his column, in reference to the power of King’s “Dearm” speech;

“[it] has lost none of its power to inspire. And some of that dream has come true. When King spoke in the summer of 1963, America was a nation that denied basic rights to millions of its citizens, simply because their skin was the wrong color. Today racism is no longer embedded in law. And while it has by no means been banished from the hearts of men, its grip is far weaker than once it was.”

While we surely have other issues related to class, poverty, and politics in this country, we are far better off because of Dr. King.

Peace!

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

There has been precious little discussion of education issues during the Republican presidential primaries.  With all the rhetoric, debates, and more recently, accusations, the word “education” is a rarity.  The New York Times is reporting that at a New Hampshire town hall meeting a month ago, Mitt Romney, in a response to a question about the cost of higher education, suggested that students should consider  for-profit colleges like the Full Sail University in Florida.  A week later in Iowa, Mr. Romney offered another unsolicited endorsement for “a place in Florida called Full Sail University.” By increasing competition, for-profit institutions like Full Sail, which focuses on the entertainment field, “hold down the cost of education” and help students get jobs without saddling them with excessive debt, he said.

There are several issues with his response.   First, the entire for-profit higher education industry is under government scrutiny for fraudulent practices involving student financial aid, graduation rates, and gainful employment.  Most for-profits are far more expensive than public universities especially community colleges.   The cost of tuition at Full Sail for instance, can run as much as $80,000,  for a 21-month program in “video game art.”   The New York Times article comments:

“The $81,000 video game art program…graduated just 14 percent of its 272 students on time and only 38 percent at all, while the students carried a median debt load of nearly $59,000 in federal and private loans in 2008, according to data that the federal Education Department now requires for-profit colleges to disclose in response to criticism of their academic records.”

Second, Romney’s connection to Full Sail is its chief executive, Bill Heavener, a major campaign donor and a co-chairman of his state fund-raising team in Florida. That team, Mr. Romney said last fall when he appointed Mr. Heavener, “will be crucial to my efforts in Florida and across the country.”

Third, it also appears that Romney has received significant donations from other for-profit higher education entities including:  “Todd S. Nelson, chief executive at the Education Management Corporation… gave the campaign $2,500. His company is the target of an $11 billion Justice Department lawsuit over accusations of fraudulent marketing and recruiting practices. Education Management is partly owned by Goldman Sachs, whose individual employees represent a bigger source of campaign revenue for Mr. Romney than any other single company… Mr. Romney also just brought on Charlie Black, a prominent Washington lobbyist who has worked for for-profit colleges, as an informal campaign adviser.”

Lastly, Romney’s position on this is consistent with his support of free markets and competition but it also puts him in direct opposition to President Barack Obama:  “The remarks appeared intended to draw a sharp divide between Mr. Romney and President Obama, whose administration has imposed tighter regulations on for-profit colleges and limited the role of private companies in student lending. “

Tony