Dear Colleagues,

Several of you have been kind enough to ask about my keynote address entitled, The Evolution of IT at the City University of New York (1961 – 2031), at the CUNY IT Conference last week.  Matt Gold,  an Associate Professor of English & Digital Humanities here at the Graduate Center, and the founder of the CUNY Commons, sent me a Storify link that was active during my presentation.  It will give you a feel for what I had to say.

Thank you, Matt!

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

As expected, President Donald Trump’s announcement to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital drew mixed responses from people all over the globe.  In the Middle East, pro-Israel individuals and groups saw it as a long-awaited right decision.  Pro-Palestinians saw it as an affront.  Here is an excerpt from a New York Times article that presents both sides.

“Palestinians burned photos of President Trump in Gaza, and the walls of the Old City were illuminated with the American and Israeli flags on Wednesday, as Mr. Trump made good on his campaign pledge to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

In a much-anticipated speech from the White House, Mr. Trump argued that it was “the right thing to do” to acknowledge the reality that Jerusalem is the seat of Israel’s government. Decades of avoiding that fact, he said, has done little to resolve the protracted feud between Israelis and Palestinians.

“It would be folly to assume that repeating the exact same formula would now produce a different or better result,” Mr. Trump declared. Recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, he said, is “a long overdue step to advance the peace process.”

Mr. Trump said that the United States still wanted a negotiated peace agreement — and “would support a two-state solution if agreed to by both sides” — and that he was not seeking to dictate the boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in the fiercely contested Holy City.

“There will, of course, be disagreement and dissent regarding this announcement,” the president said. He appealed for “calm, for moderation, and for the voices of tolerance to prevail over the purveyors of hate.”

Mr. Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem isolates the United States on one of the world’s most sensitive diplomatic issues. It drew a storm of criticism from Arab and European leaders, including some of America’s closest allies.

Many said that Mr. Trump’s move was destabilizing, that it risked setting off violence and that it would make achieving peace even more difficult. It also threw into doubt his ability to maintain the United States’ longstanding role as a mediator of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Mr. Trump’s break with policy and international consensus included setting into motion a plan to move the United States Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Although that will not happen right away, Palestinians saw it as a deep affront.

The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, a veteran of the peace process, said bitterly that the United States had effectively scrapped it. Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, called for the abandonment of a two-state solution altogether.

Among Israelis, however, Mr. Trump’s announcement drew praise, not only from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government but also from liberal opposition leaders. “The Jewish people and the Jewish state will be forever grateful,” Mr. Netanyahu said in a video, calling Mr. Trump’s decision “courageous and just” and “an important step towards peace.”

Yair Lapid, the leader of Yesh Atid, a center-left opposition party, said: “Policies should not be dictated by threats and intimidation. If violence is the only argument against moving the embassy to Jerusalem, then it only proves it is the right thing to do.”

Naftali Bennett, the education minister and leader of the right-wing Jewish Home party, said American recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital “shows that Israel’s strategic patience has paid off.”

“We have been told again and again that if we want more acceptance, we have to cut off parts of Israel and hand them over to our enemies,” he said. “What we are learning is the contrary: The world respects strong countries who believe in themselves and looks down on countries willing to give up their homeland.”

Yet Israelis also braced for violence, as some Palestinian leaders urged a third intifada, or armed uprising.”

I don’t understand the timing of Mr. Trump’s decision given that his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is in the middle of peace negotiations between Jews and Palestinians.  I am also afraid that it will fuel more violence in the area.

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

This morning, Time magazine named “The Silence Breakers”, the social movement aimed at raising awareness about sexual harassment and assault, and epitomized by the #MeToo social media hashtag, as the most influential “person” in 2017.

“This is the fastest moving social change we’ve seen in decades, and it began with individual acts of courage by hundreds of women – and some men, too – who came forward to tell their own stories,” TIME editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal told NBC’s “Today” program, referring to them as “the silence breakers.”

Dear Commons Community,

Eight graduate students were arrested yesterday in Washington, D.C. for protesting the new Republican tax bill working its way through Congress.  As reported by The Chronicle of Higher Education:

“Ben Groebe was frightened when he read that a tax plan recently passed by Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives included a provision that would effectively tax as income the tuition waivers graduate students receive to help pay for their studies.

So Mr. Groebe, a graduate student in astrophysics at Washington University in St. Louis, traveled here on Tuesday, along with dozens of graduate students and supporters from across the country, to protest outside of the office of the House speaker, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.

The tax on tuition waivers, Mr. Groebe told The Chronicle, would make graduate students’ income look markedly higher on paper that it actually is. “That means that the taxes are going to be prohibitively expensive,” he said, “and that’s going to make it too difficult for many of us to carry on, and we may have to drop out.”

Higher-education groups have fiercely opposed the proposed tax on tuition waivers, which appears in the House plan, but not in the Senate version.

“I’ve already sunk several years of my life’s work into this. I’m getting ready to conduct research, and I teach students every semester from start till finish,” said Scott Ross, a third-year doctoral student in anthropology at George Washington University. “I’ve put a lot of work into this, and to have to throw that all away because some Republicans don’t like universities is really upsetting.”

The protesters wore “Fighting for the Future of Higher Ed” shirts and makeshift armbands that read #GOPTaxScam, referring to a popular hashtag opposing the tax bills in the House and Senate.

U.S. Capitol Police officers awaited their arrival, standing outside of Speaker Ryan’s office with plastic cuffs, anticipating potential arrests.

The group knocked on Speaker Ryan’s door.

“We know you’re in there,” one protester said.

“It’s the American public,” said another.

“And a Wisconsinite!” shouted still another from the back of the group.

When the knocks went unanswered, a group of students sat down, and began chanting. “Kill the bill!” the group exclaimed.

The Capitol Police warned the protesters that if they did not cease and desist, they would be arrested, as the officers began to usher those who were not seated toward the elevators. The chants continued.

After several warnings, the officers began to detain those who were seated and protesting, walking them toward the stairs to be processed. Eight graduate students were arrested, along with one supporter.

Mr. Groebe was among those arrested.”

As this bill moves closer to passage by Congress, we will see more protests against its provisions.  According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, nearly half of all Americans oppose the new Republican tax plan.  For related content, see:

• Graduate Students Mobilize ‘to Stop Something That Can Ruin Us’
• Tax Reform That Students, Colleges, and Our Country Can’t Afford
• Passage of Senate Tax-Reform Bill Leaves Colleges Scrambling

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

No man can serve two masters, the Bible teaches, but Mike Pence is giving it his all.  This is the opening sentence in a biographical piece on Pence that was just published in The Atlantic.  The article written by McKay Coppins is substantial and worth a read.  Here are some excerpts.

“[in Anderson, Indiana]… Pence is sending a message to those with ears to hear—that he recognizes the absurdity of his situation; that he knows just what sort of man he’s working for; that while things may look bad now, there is a grand purpose at work here, a plan that will manifest itself in due time. Let not your hearts be troubled, he seems to be saying. I’ve got this.

And then, all at once, Pence is back on message. In his folksy Midwestern drawl, he recites Republican aphorisms about “job creators” and regulatory “red tape,” and heralds the many supposed triumphs of Trump’s young presidency. As he nears the end of his remarks, his happy-warrior buoyancy gives way to a more sober cadence. “We’ve come to a pivotal moment in the life of this country,” Pence soulfully intones. “It’s a good time to pray for America.” His voice rising in righteous fervor, the vice president promises an opening of the heavens. “If His people who are called by His name will humble themselves and pray,” he proclaims, “He’ll hear from heaven, and He’ll heal this land!”

It’s easy to see how Pence could put so much faith in the possibilities of divine intervention. The very fact that he is standing behind a lectern bearing the vice-presidential seal is, one could argue, a loaves-and-fishes-level miracle. Just a year earlier, he was an embattled small-state governor with underwater approval ratings, dismal reelection prospects, and a national reputation in tatters. In many ways, Pence was on the same doomed trajectory as the conservative-Christian movement he’d long championed—once a political force to be reckoned with, now a battered relic of the culture wars.

Because God works in mysterious ways (or, at the very least, has a postmodern sense of humor), it was Donald J. Trump—gracer of Playboy covers, delighter of shock jocks, collector of mistresses—who descended from the mountaintop in the summer of 2016, GOP presidential nomination in hand, offering salvation to both Pence and the religious right. The question of whether they should wed themselves to such a man was not without its theological considerations. But after eight years of Barack Obama and a string of disorienting political defeats, conservative Christians were in retreat and out of options. So they placed their faith in Trump—and then, incredibly, he won.”

…

“Pence underwent two conversions in college that would shape the rest of his life. The first came in the spring of 1978, when he road-tripped to Kentucky with some evangelical friends for a music festival billed as the Christian Woodstock. After a day of rocking out to Jesus-loving prog-rock bands and born-again Bob Dylan imitators, Pence found himself sitting in a light rain, yearning for a more personal relationship with Christ than was afforded by the ritualized Catholicism of his youth. “My heart really, finally broke with a deep realization that what had happened on the cross in some infinitesimal way had happened for me,” Pence recounted in March 2017. It was there, he said, that he gave his life to Jesus.

The other conversion was a partisan one. Pence had entered college a staunch supporter of Jimmy Carter, and he viewed the 1980 presidential election as a contest between a “good Christian” and a “vacuous movie star.” But President Ronald Reagan won Pence over—instilling in him an appreciation for both movement conservatism and the leadership potential of vacuous entertainers that would serve him well later in life.”

…

Trump gloating about his penchant for grabbing women “by the pussy,” and instantly upended the campaign. Republicans across the country withdrew their endorsements, and conservative editorial boards called on Trump to drop out of the race. Most alarming to the aides and operatives inside Trump Tower, Mike Pence suddenly seemed at risk of going rogue.

Trump’s phone calls to his running mate reportedly went unreturned, and anonymous quotes began appearing in news stories describing Pence as “beside himself” over the revelation. One campaign staffer told me that when she was asked on TV the day after the tape came out whether Pence would remain on the ticket, she ad-libbed that, yes, he was 100 percent committed to Trump. She remembers walking away from the set and thinking, “I have no idea if what I just said is true.”

It’s been reported that Pence sent Trump a letter saying he needed time to decide whether he could stay with the campaign. But in fact, according to several Republicans familiar with the situation, he wasn’t just thinking about dropping out—he was contemplating a coup. Within hours of The Post’s bombshell, Pence made it clear to the Republican National Committee that he was ready to take Trump’s place as the party’s nominee. Such a move just four weeks before Election Day would have been unprecedented—but the situation seemed dire enough to call for radical action.

Already, Reince Priebus’s office was being flooded with panicked calls from GOP officials and donors urging the RNC chairman to get rid of Trump by whatever means necessary. One Republican senator called on the party to engage emergency protocols to nominate a new candidate. RNC lawyers huddled to explore an obscure legal mechanism by which they might force Trump off the ticket. Meanwhile, a small group of billionaires was trying to put together money for a “buyout”—even going so far as to ask a Trump associate how much money the candidate would require to walk away from the race. According to someone with knowledge of the talks, they were given an answer of $800 million. (It’s unclear whether Trump was aware of this discussion or whether the offer was actually made.) Republican donors and party leaders began buzzing about making Pence the nominee and drafting Condoleezza Rice as his running mate.

Amid the chaos, Trump convened a meeting of his top advisers in his Manhattan penthouse. He went around the room and asked each person for his damage assessment. Priebus bluntly told Trump he could either drop out immediately or lose in a historic landslide. According to someone who was present, Priebus added that Pence and Rice were “ready to step in.” (An aide to the vice president denied that Pence sent Trump a letter and that he ever talked with the RNC about becoming the nominee. Priebus did not respond to requests for comment.)

The furtive plotting, several sources told me, was not just an act of political opportunism for Pence. He was genuinely shocked by the Access Hollywood tape. In the short time they’d known each other, Trump had made an effort to convince Pence that—beneath all the made-for-TV bluster and bravado—he was a good-hearted man with faith in God. On the night of the vice-presidential debate, for example, Trump had left a voicemail letting Pence know that he’d just said a prayer for him. The couple was appalled by the video, however. Karen in particular was “disgusted,” says a former campaign aide. “She finds him reprehensible—just totally vile.”

Yet Pence might also have thought he glimpsed something divine in that moment of political upheaval—a parting of the seas, God’s hand reaching down to make his will known. Marc Short told me that in moments of need, Pence turns to a favorite passage in Jeremiah: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Short said, “Mike believes strongly in the sovereignty of God, and knowing that the Lord has a plan for him.”

…

Back in Indiana, Pence’s Trump apologia on the campaign trail surprised those who knew him. In political circles, there had been a widespread, bipartisan recognition that Pence was a decent man with a genuine devotion to his faith. But after watching him in 2016, many told me, they believed Pence had sold out.

Scott Pelath, the Democratic minority leader in the Indiana House of Representatives, said that watching Pence vouch for Trump made him sad. “Ah, Mike,” he sighed. “Ambition got the best of him.” It’s an impression that even some of Pence’s oldest friends and allies privately share. As one former adviser marveled, “The number of compromises he made to get this job, when you think about it, is pretty staggering.”

There are a number of other insights that are most interesting that give the reader more of a feel for Mike Pense.  My comment is that for those of us looking for Donald Trump to somehow go away, Mike Pense may be just as problematic especially on the policy side.

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

While there may still be some revisions, it appears that the Repbulican tax bill working its way through Congress will have serious consequences for those of us living in New York.  The present bill could send home prices tumbling 10 percent or more in parts of the New York area, according to one economic analysis. It could increase the regional tax burden, complicating companies’ efforts to attract skilled workers. It could make it harder for state and local governments to pay for upgrades to the transit system and other infrastructure. And it could force cuts in federal programs that help immigrants, the elderly and other low-income residents afford the region’s high cost of living.  Most significantly, the bill would eliminate the deduction for state and local income taxes, and would cap the deduction for property taxes at $10,000.

According to an analysis in today’s New York Times.

“The tax plan would probably cut taxes for most New Yorkers, at least in the short term. But it has several provisions that local leaders said could pose long-term problems for New York and other urban areas. Mayor Bill de Blasio, in an interview on Monday, estimated that 700,000 New Yorkers would pay more in taxes in the near term.

“The human impact is huge,” Mr. de Blasio said, referring both to the higher taxes some residents would pay and to the services that could be cut as a result of the tax plan. He said his administration had tried for four years to make one of the world’s most expensive cities more affordable by providing public prekindergarten and paid sick leave. “And then along comes the federal government and makes the situation worse,” he said.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York, who joined Gov. Jerry Brown of California and New Jersey’s governor-elect, Philip D. Murphy, on a call with reporters on Monday, called the bill “a targeted assault” on their states.

The versions of the bill passed by the House and the Senate have significant differences, which will have to be resolved in a conference committee before the bill can land on President Trump’s desk. The House bill has several provisions that could be especially bad for New York, including the elimination of a kind of tax-exempt bonds that many cities have used for affordable-housing projects. The Senate bill doesn’t include that change, but it does partly maintain the alternative minimum tax, which is aimed at limiting deductions for high earners and therefore disproportionately affects the New York area.

Parts of the bills could be good for New York. Most significantly, the corporate tax cuts contained in both the House and Senate versions would most likely be a boon to New York’s financial sector. That could mean higher returns for investors and bigger bonuses for Wall Street traders — which, in turn, could mean more spending at shops and restaurants and more sales-tax revenue for the city and state.

Still, most experts said there was little doubt the bills would be bad for certain state and local budgets, and for the regional economy.

“It’s not going to be good, I think that’s clear,” said Michael P. Jacobson, who leads the Institute for State and Local Governance at the City University of New York. “And it might well be devastating.”

I guess I hope it will just be bad and not devastating!

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

CUNY Chancellor J.B. Milliken last night announced that Dr. Vincent Boudreau will be the new president of City College (CCNY).  Dr. Boudreau has served  CCNY as Dean of the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership, a highly respected school named for CCNY alumnus, former Secretary of State Colin Powell. He has also served during this past year as CCNY’s Interim President.  Below is Chancellor Milliken’s announcement.

Tony

=============================

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

During the past year, The City University of New York has conducted a thorough search for a new president of The City College of New York. I am very grateful to Chairperson Schwartz and the members of the search committee, who devoted considerable time and effort to the recruitment and review of candidates. After conducting interviews and reviewing the many comments from those involved in the process, I continued to consult with the search committee as well as with the additional faculty and academic administrators involved before reaching a decision on my recommendation to the Board of Trustees. I am deeply appreciative of the thoughtful contributions from the committee, faculty, staff, students, alumni, and members of the community, which have helped lead to this decision—one that I am convinced is clearly in the best interests of the College.

At today’s meeting of the Board of Trustees, I recommended that the Board appoint Dr. Vincent Boudreau, a respected member of the City College community for 26 years, as the next president of The City College of New York, and the Board approved that recommendation. My work with Dr. Boudreau over the last year, and the support he received from faculty, students, staff, alumni, and the community provide compelling evidence that he is the right leader to preside at this important time in City College’s history, with a vigorous commitment to its mission, a deep knowledge of its academic and social traditions and a spirit of unwavering integrity.

Since November 2, 2016, Dr. Boudreau has been serving as interim president of City College, and he has done an outstanding job of bringing transparency and integrity to the leadership of CCNY. Dr. Boudreau held open discussions on the budget and fiscal challenges facing CCNY with candor, honesty and a necessary sense of urgency, he made critical changes in processes and personnel, and he led the campus in important conversations about its future priorities and direction. As Interim President, Dr. Boudreau restored a sense of stability while soliciting and respecting the interests of the College’s stakeholders.

Dr. Boudreau has embraced fully the University efforts to increase fiscal oversight and improve transparency and accountability. Despite the obvious limitations on the authority of any interim leader to make permanent changes and to implement a vision for the future, Dr. Boudreau aggressively advocated for City College and has taken many important steps to advance its fundamental interests. He is an accomplished scholar in the field of democratic movements in Southeast Asia, and he has been a creative and vigorous leader in guiding the College’s outstanding Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership. He is passionate about City College, the success of its students and supporting the professional aspirations of its faculty.

It became clear to me that Dr. Boudreau not only has the experience, academic capabilities and leadership skills to be a highly successful president, he has demonstrated this to many of the stakeholders of the College, including the college’s proud and committed alumni, donors and community leaders. In the process, he has won their trust and confidence. I am delighted and encouraged that our search has brought us back home to a candidate who has established over decades his commitment to CCNY.

Dr. Boudreau started his career at CCNY in 1991 as an assistant professor, two years before receiving his PhD from Cornell University in Comparative Politics and International Relations. Recognition of his role as a mentor and leader came swiftly. He was named Director of the College’s Master’s Program in International Relations in 1992. In 1999, he was appointed the Director of the International Studies Program and, just a year later, was made Deputy Dean of the Division of Social Sciences, when he was also made an Associate Professor.

It gives me great pleasure to see Dr. Vincent Boudreau named president of The City College of New York. I look forward to his leadership with great enthusiasm, expectation and confidence.

Sincerely,

James B. Milliken

Chancellor

The City University of New York            

Dear Commons Community,

As another indication of Silicon Valley’s interest and involvement with public education, Oracle is putting the “finishing touches” on its new $43 million Design Tech High School, a charter school with 550 students. As reported by the New York Times:

“Tech companies ship all kinds of products to public schools: laptops, online writing programs, learn-to-code lessons and more.

Now Oracle, the business software services giant, is trying the opposite tack: bringing a public charter school to the company.

At its lush campus with a man-made lake here, Oracle is putting the finishing touches on a $43 million building that will house Design Tech High School, an existing charter school with 550 students. The sleek new school building has a two-story workshop space, called the Design Realization Garage, where students can create product prototypes. It has nooks in the hallways to foster student collaboration.

And when the school moves here in early January, Oracle employees will be available to mentor students in skills like business plan development and user-experience design.

“It’s really cool that Oracle is doing this,” said Matthew Silverman, 16, a junior at the school. “We can have more opportunities to learn from experience.”

Putting a charter school — that is, a publicly funded school that has its own school board and operates independently — on the campus of a tech giant is a new twist on the evolving relationship between big tech companies and schools.

Big Silicon Valley companies have been in a race to shape students’ education and use schools to train their next generation of workers. And companies like Ford Motor Company, in 1916, and more recently, SpaceX, have had trade or private schools on their premises. But until now, none has put public school students a short walk from the chief executive.

Ken Montgomery, a co-founder and the executive director of Design Tech High School, said that early on some parents and school board members asked him: “Is Oracle going to run the school?”

Mindful of such concerns, Oracle and school executives said they had carefully worked out policies governing their relationship in advance. The school will continue to operate independently, they said, with Oracle playing no role in decisions like curriculum or faculty hiring.”

We have begun to see more corporations make education and social services available at their facilities.  We will see much more of these types of arrangements in the future.

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

IFlyTek, the Chinese artificial intelligence company, demonstrated its latest advances in image and voice recognition during President Trump’s visit to Beijing when he appeared on screen for a special address at a tech conference.

First he spoke in English. Then he switched to Mandarin Chinese.

Mr. Trump doesn’t speak Chinese.

The video was a publicity stunt, designed to show off the voice capabilities of iFlyTek’s innovative technology. As reported in the New York Times:

“IFlyTek has said its technology can monitor a car full of people or a crowded room, identify a targeted individual’s voice and record everything that person says.

“IFlyTek,” the image of Mr. Trump said in Chinese, “is really fantastic.”

As China tests the frontiers of artificial intelligence, iFlyTek serves as a compelling example of both the country’s sci-fi ambitions and the technology’s darker dystopian possibilities.

The Chinese company uses sophisticated A.I. to power image and voice recognition systems that can help doctors with their diagnoses, aid teachers in grading tests and let drivers control their cars with their voices. Even some global companies are impressed: Delphi, a major American auto supplier, offers iFlyTek’s technology to carmakers in China, while Volkswagen plans to build the Chinese company’s speech recognition technology into many of its cars in China next year.

At the same time, iFlyTek hosts a laboratory to develop voice surveillance capabilities for China’s domestic security forces. In an October report, a human rights group said the company was helping the authorities compile a biometric voice database of Chinese citizens that could be used to track activists and others.

Those tight ties with the government could give iFlyTek and other Chinese companies an edge in an emerging new field. China’s financial support and its loosely enforced and untested privacy laws give Chinese companies considerable resources and access to voices, faces and other biometric data in vast quantities, which could help them develop their technologies, experts say.”

The article goes on to mention iFlyTek’s potential darker side and the use of its A.I. software for government surveillance of it citizens.  Dark side or not, we need to recognize and maybe be concerned about the fact that A.I. developments are evolving that can change significantly the way we communicate and interact with one another.

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

Last night’s Saturday Night Live spoof of Donald Trump as a Scrooge-like character visited by ghosts was one for the ages.  Here is a brief recap courtesy of The Huffington Post.