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George, If you want just one name [for the most prominent 2004 'Snake in the Grass'] put in John Casteen III. I nominate the whole UVA administration as the biggest LOCAL snakes in the grass for: * Trying to sneak the charter initiative (HB1359) through the GA without telling anyone * For not talking to the faculty, the staff, the students, the parents, the alumni about the initiative BEFORE they wrote it and submitted it behind closed and LOCKED doors * For telling (not asking) everyone to TRUST them, that they would make sure employees were taken care of. I bet. * For not embedding language in the enabling legislation to protect employees - new and old * For continuing every day to bash our legislators and governor for not funding higher ed-to THEIR specifications * For pressuring local legislators, the student council, the Faculty Senate, the local newspaper, the faculty and staff to "get on board" with this initiative-that's it's just the right thing to do - for THEM * For having a newspaper (Inside UVA) that is supposedly for staff and faculty that only tells one side of the story-theirs-over and over and over and over * For putting out a gag order to employees to keep them from talking to the press or legislators about well ANYTHING * For throwing their weight around in this city and to hell with anyone else * For intending to create a two-tiered labor force that will rival WalMart within 10 years * For only thinking about "economic development" and not remembering about the University's core mission-to educate our youth * For trying to tell everyone that their new financial aid program is a part of charter when it isn't even in the enabling legislation-so funding can be cut anytime but of course tuition will skyrocket - 61% in 5 years * For thinking they should run their own show with barely any oversight from Richmond save for an audit once in a while * For touting a new Diversity Committee that hasn't done a thing * For not taking rape seriously and protecting their female students * For continuing NOT to answer the hard questions about charter in the town meetings - in which 55 minutes was for them to pontificate and 5 minutes for questions from employees * For suggesting that the staff union is "misleading" the employees about the charter initiative when in REALITY all we are trying to do is educate and inform employees and the community--something UVA has failed miserably at doing rattle rattle rattle Jan Cornell (electronic mail, December 17, 2004)
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