[Soon to be a Major Motion Picture — ]

Also, posted on Hunter-L

Attention D:F/M Colleagues Tami Gold***Ricardo Miranda***Bernard Stein***Kelly Anderson***Isabel Pinedo***Tim Portlock

OCCUPY D:F/M, Part 2
A Public Service Announcement 

As a result of Hunter Alumnus Jed Brandt – of Envoy & SLAM Ill Repute – being identified as one of the co-founders of the OCCUPY Newspaper, this came to mind: Colleagues proselytizing students to join the Z-Revolution should remind them to beware of nefarious, opportunistic, carpetbagging, ersatz Freedom Fighters posing as liberals, super-liberals and super-super-cool-liberal-radical-whatevers.

We don’t want our students exploited and mislead? We want them informed, right? Ersatz Freedom Fighters are worse than Barnacles. Would you not agree? I am considering a Beware List for students in my classes. How about you? Yet, I stand prepared to join you in a Zuccotti Tribute after we:

OCCUPY D:F/M and end the tyranny. End the flimflamming. Stop The Comatose Journalism – Comatose Media Studies Movement (TCJ-CMSM). Spare the department increasing dollops of ignominy. Provide students The Skinny they so rightfully deserve since they have to pay increasing tuition and we don’t want to stand accused of phony promises that D:F/M can’t deliver the goods, so to speak, that students need to compete for the best internships and grad schools.

 Remember: True Democracy Begins at Home. OCCUPY D:F/M

G Morris
D:F/M

— “Need to Know the Skinny” and “True Liberation Begins at Home” and “The Bard Had It Wrong,  But We Can Get It Right: Out with the Barnacles” posters and T-shirts could be soon in the making.

Writer’s Note: This post contains minor corrections and slight changes not included in the original post on Hunter-L.

November 14, 2010
Colleagues,

These D:F/M customs that some staff and faculty are entitled to more rights and privileges than others will continue to be this department’s Achilles Heel and the major source for its debacles and ridicule. If Colleague Larry Shores’ comments at the November 11 faculty meeting about the department’s sordid image are to be regarded with any serious thoughts by the Great Minds in the department, they should consider this: There is no pit deep enough, nor any smoke and mirrors thick enough, to hide the sleaze.

For the record, Shore said “poor.” “Sordid” is my paraphrase. These customs are conspicuously reflected in grade appeal decisions because this Colleague has made it a mission to make the conspicuously egregious a matter of public record. These customs are also reflected in other D:F/M decisions and practices just as conspicuous and just as bad, the situations of Rashaan Doctor and Joe Orefice being the most recent.

The Usual Suspects

Above: The Hunter College Chapter Chair of the Professional Staff Congress

Will the truth set her free?

He made opening remarks at the November 10 meeting.

Will the truth set him free?

I recently completed the survey from the University Faculty Senate. I pdf-ed and png-ed files of the questions. It’s 2009 and I am suspicious of entities wanting to survey me about how I feel.* Also, the survey pinged some buttons.

In the meantime, lest “we” forget:

If institutions of higher learning desire academic honesty, they must be institutions of obvious integrity, places where students, faculty, and administrators seek truth and wisdom and technical expertise in an environment marked by trust, honesty, respect, fairness, responsibility, and courage. Peg Hogan, Former President, The Center for Academic Integrity

“Bullying academic departments tend not to allow assistant professors to follow their own bliss, either in the classroom or in their research agendas. This is sometimes the very motive for the bullying: Many departments really don’t want anything or anyone new or innovative around. And scrutinizing other people’s work.”Historiann.

*Trick questions? Obvious agendas? Hidden agendas? Why now? Several years ago, journalism faculty from around the University were invited to 80th Street (CUNY HQ where the offices of the Chancellor and Trustees are located) where it was implied that all were summoned because of concern about the needs of  their journalism programs and j-efforts. Actually, it was about collecting intel for the then undisclosed plans of what was to become the graduate journalism school.

My concern at the time was that the D:F/M undergraduate effort was floundering, and this instructor was looking for something better. The UFS certainly is not 80th Street. But …

And D:F/M’s journalism effort is back in the stone age. Should the students be told? Should prospective applicants be warned? Colleagues zonked on Zombie Juice? Uh Oh!

The DVT put the bite on the start of my semester …

Media 386 – Media Ethics AKA Journalism Ethics and News Responsibility: Started with enrollment approximately 42, now down to less than 35, should hit 25 or thereabouts in the coming week.

MEDP 299.47 – Feature Writing – Started with 16, down to 14. This may be it.

MEDP 399.31 – Ethnic News Reporting – the FORD-funded class that should be “Multimedia Ethnic Reporting” or “Multimedia Ethnic News Reporting.” Three signed up early, three more were suppose to show up. Now, it’s officially four.

And there’s lots – I mean lots – going on with the revising/rethinking of what is called the “Journalism Concentration.” This may be real but can’t be discussed now.

And DNRAD needs to be wrapped up. That’s for sure.

Exert influence? Just another way of saying disseminating information (which can exert influence).

And, hopefully as well as strategically, the blogs contain content and information and wit. And, if they falter, at least the effort can help satisfy that yearning to try. Right now, I’m wrestling with writing and rewriting and rewriting the rewrites of “Do Not Remove Any Documents!!!” – a series about the perversion of core Academic principles in a certain department at Hunter [-:)].

It’s an ongoing project using empirical research, ethnography and in-depth and guerrilla journalism. Because of the demands of that effort, the constant need to revise and revise, I seem to be resorting to posting quick takes which, I hope, will provide “content and information and wit” in keeping with the advice of “experts” while I rush to get DNRAD!!! ready.

Mind boggling irony: D:F/M Bulletin Information Older Than the 9/11 Rubble

So, here are some observations and comments about Twittering.

I am trying to come up to speed on its idiosyncrasies, which had included surprises like LoriGrimes39.

I was never following Lori, and she’s no longer following me. Our strings never crossed. In fact, she’s been quarantined in Twitter’s version of the Bermuda Triangle and that quarantine piqued my interest. That is, there is evidence that she was once here – here being Twitter – but attempts to follow up with her, as journalists do in order to get to the bottom of things, ended with the knowledge that she was no longer here and unavailable for comment or stringing. I wonder what attracted her to the WORD since I am (it is) primarily interested in networking with journalists, news media types as well as Civil Liberty organizations like NYCLU, The Center for Constitutional Rights and others and not Lori-types, though I certainly don’t condemn those who would prefer following Lori over the WORD.

So, I’m nosy about this Who goes there?

… because the here not here keeps me from questioning Lori about her reasoning for following the WORD (when she did, that is). Did she have the right to appeal?

At first, when I started getting Lori-type messages, that is, insipid, unimaginative porn, I moved on like I suspected every other twitter-er was doing (some/many possibly in search of better porn). The other social networks seem to have stopped insipid, pornographic flotsam and spam at the gates.

Nevertheless, before Twitter, Who Goes There, was a sci-fi-horror short story (AKA a nouvella) that evenutally became The Thing [the '50s version by Don Siegel  and the '80s by John Carpenter]. I loved both. Such films, I like to believe, prepared me for a life in which a lot is not what it appears to be or claims to be. D:F/M is an example (though I’m trying to help it, if not me, by outing the rot).

Back to Twitter. I blocked AnneGibbs. No explanation necessary …

Anne Bye Bye

… yes …

A long time ago, I discovered one of my students was a regular free-lancer for S&M magazines. She was serious and she got paid. And, yes, we discussed the possibility of her writing one or two pieces for the WORD but I can’t recall now why it never happened.

Well, that’s it for now about the WORD and Twitter. Consider “it” a commercial break. I need to focus on DNRAD!!!

I’ve been doing this as D:F/M gurus seem committed to D:F/M being as far behind innovation and creativity as an academic department can be during these robust times. I also have been experimenting with new forms of news-narrative-storytelling, such as in my feature writing class for the last few semesters (though the course should be named in-depth reporting or something even more imaginative).

So, my interests plus my experimentation, even though I consider myself a new media novice, have encouraged me to make what I consider informed comments, such as, for example, about the mainstream news media’s recent explosive interests in the social networking media that have been streaming images of the Iran crisis into the world’s collective news conscious because the regular mainstream corporate news apparati have been stymied and thwarted by the Iranian Powers That Be.

I believe everyone should remember that the mainstream news media have been cutting back for years on its overseas bureaus in order to save money for its money making enterprises (like entertainment), essentially suborning American journalism. That might sound harsh but others (here and here and here just a few) have expressed the undermining of journalism essentially by the profit imperative of corporate America.

I think viewers of CNN and others interested in staying on top of what’s going on over there should email CNN, et. al., questions like, QMfE, “So, are you planning to reopeon or beef up your news bureaus in the trouble spots of the world or continue to rely on amateurs.” This thought needs development, and I’m working on it.

Nevertheless, much of my monitoring of CNN has been tapering off because much of the discourse over the past days has been boring and repetitive: Talking heads talking about images over and over again even though many of the images seem old by news standards. So, I plan to comment. Here is my first.

CNN producers at some point (I’m speculating) decided that the ennui was about to set in and so started bringing in informed guests to improve upon what they various anchors were doing since the cable network was able to deliver real news. So, just one day ago, I saw Sreenath Sreenivasan and Clay Shirky, the latter who use to teach in D:F/M (via the former D:F/M chair Stuart Ewen’ who was promoting the department’s fledging Internet attempts as ready to compete with the likes of NYU and Columbia and the New School as many were anticipating the Internet boondoggle (bringing to mind those images of the old California gold rush days) — until the dot-com bubble crashed and burned.

So: I rate Sreenivasan’s appearance (he’s AKA Sree): ***** out of five even though the CNN show seemed shaky. I rate Shirky * out of five.

That’s it for now. But I’m working on “it.”

- The WORD: http://hunterword.com
- Its blog: http://blog.hunterword.com/
- http://www.youtube.com/user/thehunterword
- http://www.facebook.com/people/Hunter-Word/766173277
- The WORD is an UWIRE.com Affiliate
- Current TV: “theWORDonline”
– Twitter
- The WORD at the 2009 Presidential Inauguration
- The WORD at 2008 Democratic National Convention

P.S.
Now, it’s true that Shirky and I clashed what seems a millennium ago over, of course, the WORD as it was growing and gaining strength and there are some who may insist that, therefore, I can’t be objective in my evaluations. But I say this: My personal and professional experiences and accomplishments in D:F/M have heightened incredibly my acumen about the Academy and journalism education and journalism. There was this heavy promotion that the department, as mentioned earlier, was ready to rock and roll in the dot.com rush yet the WORD (founded by this instructor and several students serious about journalism as well as funded by the College) was the only D:F/M project demonstrating Internet potential so, of course, there were attempts, vile, just as in the California gold rush days, of opportunism and carpetbaging, trying to rip off, so to speak, the true gold prospecting of true innovative adventurers (including students).

The 4 Barnacles

In my class, he also was functionally indolent.

I plan to use this anecdote and others for my tome about The Four Barnacles of the Apocalypse.

TSIQ didn’t turn in homework assignments and, on occasion and in front of the other students, asked for special consideration, such as an unreasonable extensions on homework due on the day that he was begging for relief, even though I had already said more than once that there would be no spot extensions. I don’t give extensions to students who show up to class without a scheduled assignment. I also don’t grant extensions to students who email me a request for an extension the day before an assignment is due. I announce this several times in the early part of a semester.

Eventually, TSIQ sought to disrupt class – that’s part of the pattern for many 30-40P students. If their con doesn’t work, they may resort to mocking the instructor, and if that fails to get them what they want, then they resort to disruption. And the most desperate resort to acting out behavior such as cursing, shouting and acting menacingly.

So I made him an example of him for the benefit of other students in the class about what happens to students who disrupt class. I admonished him right there in Room 470 Hunter North (the J-lab) – tactfully, of course – and sent an email later to the class, describing his behavior but not mentioning his name, and explaining the College’s code for disruptive students.

Coming up first, below, is my detailed email to TSIQ explaining why I failed him and that’s followed by his detailed rejoinder. I’ve given him partial anonymity here (for the time being).

On Dec 15, 2007 6:15 PM, Gregg Morris wrote:
LJ,

Students were told to bring all their graded material to the student-professor meetings for me to do a final review of their work this semester. It’s not unusual for students with a lot of Fs on their assignments (in addition to the Fs on my grade card for assignments not done) to show up for the meetings (as you did) only with their steno books.

Sometimes, students don’t even show up with the stenos.

You have more than a sufficient number of Fs for a failing grade in this class. That is, F’s on graded assignments and F’s for assignments you didn’t do. Your grade is F for this class. If you want to appeal, go to the 10th floor of Hunter East, the Senate Office, and request the grade appeal form, which will explain the guidelines for the grade appeal. The process starts in the spring semester when classes resume.

The F/M grade appeals committee will want to review all your assignments based on what has been described in the syllabus and course guidelines, thus, it will also want a copy of the syllabus and the written course guidelines. If you can’t provide them, I will. If you don’t like the committee’s final decision, you can appeal to the Senate. But first you have to appeal to the department if that’s what you want to do. Send me your snail mail address, and I will return your steno after I check it for its veracity. You should expect to receive it sometime after the holidays but before mid-January.

So, we don’t have to meet Monday.

Best,

Gregg Morris
Assistant Professor

Date: Sun 16 Dec 09:39:54 EST 2007
From: ljamesgame@gmail.com Add To Address Book
Subject: Re: MEDP 292
To: gmorris@hunter.cuny.edu

Prof. Morris:

A grade of F is fair to you? I worked my behind off in your class trying to make events and keep dates with people I was interviewing all while tending to my personal life of a family & three jobs and fulltime classes. And so one may say, that has nothing to do with the class right. Wrong, especially, if concessions can be made to the professor who is late everyday but once. Sir, we don’t know why you’re late, and it wouldn’t be the first time a professor explained why he/she was late. Sir, I think this should be factored in before committing to failing anyone.

In the context of 50minutes, Sir, there is not enough time to get enough help by one professor running around explaining his illegible handwriting and then telling you what you have to do to become a better news writer. I stopped pleading with you in the middle of the class, because you did not understand me, but you were hugely more attentive to others. I won’t get into biases through the impersonal format of an email. I do journalism and PR, most likely more than anyone in your class. Yet, I have never followed any so called guidelines (because many don’t care or follow it), so now I have to conform to not only the traditional way, but your own editorial licensed view. Sir, I would ask for help while you were going around the class about what I needed to correct and you didn’t have enough time to really sit down with me. It was noticeable and clear as you’re speaking walking away from me. To be honest, you needed at bare minimum of 10 minutes with everyone to meet needs. With my workload, I didn’t have enough time to meet you in your office.

Honestly, Prof. Morris, I don’t want to insult you as you did sending an email out to an undisclosed group of people claiming that a grown husband and father and leader in his own community is some how “whining” or in some ‘special needs category’, but I will say why are you allowed to be so rigid and unbending. We got into a whole discussion, when I told you I needed the day off because my wife was going into induced labor and then when she went into labor another day, and I couldn’t in class, you tried not to hear me. Sir, why so inflexible?

It’s possible Prof. Morris that you may often be thinking in the context of journalism that it is imperative that you operate as a structuralist to rules, aggressive in combat, and maintain tough principles as if you are being watched by journalist gods or simply other journalists. Maybe, that should be done in an interview with President Bush or whatever. But, we’re just students trying to get a decent grade comparable to the work we did. This is a commuter school; we can understand why you’re late, why not recognize our shortcomings.

True, I missed two assignments, but you allowed at least one student, I believe more but I go off of facts, an opportunity to turn in late ASSIGNMENTS. That is irrefutable, Sir. Everything I handed in had TF, but I only received one final grade of F, so contrary to what you scribbled on your index cards, I didn’t have F’s on my papers.

But, you gave me an F on that paper for what? Here’s the problem, and mind you, that I like principles too, if you’re going to ask us to have steno books and take a certain amount of specific data, and schedule meetings with people shouldn’t this work be added into the grade. It is frustrating for students to get an F, after they did everything right except produce a good paper. And, yes, my papers are terrible. I don’t know how to write that style. Reading my work and then scribbling on it and speaking to me for two minutes is not going to make me a better news writer. Ever since the first paper, I was writing inside of a box to please what you liked, poorly, at that. But, I’ve been doing my own news journalist work outside of this traditional way of doing stuff, and have been doing more than okay. Trust and believe it. I don’t write under Lawrence James.

But, Prof. Morris do you think it’s fair, to give me an F on a paper, in which I had to meet the schedule of an interviewee, and walk with him while writing? But, let’s say my papers were that bad to you. Fine. Isn’t it possible for an excellent paper to be artificially manufactured since you do not check the steno books except that one time? Please, Sir, do not think it didn’t happen. And please, it wasn’t possible for you to detect it well after the semester, even if you look at stenos months after.

In summary, and I apologize for the long email why is there a double standard, between your time and the students’ time. You can come in late and hand back papers late, but we can’t hand in late papers or come in late. Where’s our concessions? Then there is a double standard between the students, in which some can hand in late ASSIGNMENT papers and some cannot even get a third draft in. What was up with that logic? I’m not even talking about that single F paper. I brought to you a C- paper and you would look at it again. Then you complain to me about ‘homework in the class’, but wasn’t everybody printing their work and tightening it. There’s a printer on, Sir, in the class. Lastly, some students, even if you hated their written article, at least you should have been grading their work towards getting the finished article, I mean, that would be fair. If you would have checked my steno often, you would have seen that I stayed within your confines of work; because that was the one thing I was clear on. As an example that you and I know, I had three sources yet, but, because you didn’t see it in the paper you marked me down or factored it in reviewing my paper, yet, subsequently you saw it in my STENO. Shouldn’t that alone, alter your judgment of grading papers? We don’t have to difficult on purpose, Sir.

No, sir, respectfully, I will not accept an F. My work in your class, although not near A caliber, it was most definitely not in F either. I understand a bad grade, but factor in everything before committing to failing any hardworking student. That’s principled. Sticking to your guns is sticking to your guns. It’s not always principled.

Best,

Lawrence J.
917-XXX-XXXX

PS.: I didn’t consciously leave my papers at home. Nonetheless. you also said students could write an optional article 2 weeks in advance and you said i can reschedule with you this Monday. Who is perfect here? Only I must pay the consequences? Respect.

I’ve yet to read this whole lament. The deceits and mischaracterizations were discouraging. That is, the lament lacked the kind of wit that would have carried me through his argument. And he never appealed, missing a good opportunity to try for a grade that he didn’t deserve because at the time of this email exchange, D:F/M’s grade appeals procedure was flaming incorrigible.