A tip of the hat and a hearty AMEN to Kim Edward Renz and Beth Dodd. I
suspect they have expressed the feelings of that elusive silent majority in
more eloquent terms than the rest of us could as a group.

We are supposed to view ourselves as "family."  Families disagree ( I heard
it said we put the fun back in disFUNctional ) but the families that
survive are those that openly air and sort through their differences. I
commend our administration for making room for BOTH free exchange
(UTCSTAFF) and a clear disbursement of "official information (UTCINFO)."

I have my filters set... let the information flow! After all, a perfect
test of UTCINFO will be the snow and ice forecast we face tomorrow.

Respectfully,
Jim Bowman
x 4517
Manager, Student Technology

At 08:55 AM 1/8/2004, you wrote:
>Excellent response Kim,
>
>I personally am glad to be able to sort the job-related (policies, etc)
>email from the other emails so prevalent in RAVEN.  Just because we have
>added a new level of communication (UTCINFO) doesn't mean the old
>"freedom of speech" options went away, just that I (and countless others
>I am sure) can now choose not to read them without the risk of missing
>something I do need to know for my job.
>
>On a light note, I am obviously still reading the RAVEN or I wouldn't be
>responding to this new flurry of excitement.  I suspect many others will
>as well, but we now have the "freedom" to choose.
>
>Beth Dodd
>--------------
>
>Kim Edward Renz wrote:
>
>>Marcia, et al:
>>
>>I respectfully disagree with everything I just read. First of all, how is
>>Mr. Lyon a "moneysuck," rather than a bright new opportunity for us to
>>increase the funding of everything we do here? How much money did you
>>and I
>>raise last year? If we are not out there promoting the English Department
>>and the Fine Arts Center, someone promoting the football team will get
>>the
>>money. As one who spent all of his undergraduate years in private,
>>liberal
>>arts institutions, I can say unequivically that we need to hire as many
>>money-raisers as we can find. We must stop sliding down into the abyss
>>that
>>is funding for higher education in Tennessee. Where were you yesterday
>>with
>>your hard, pointed questions for Dr. Johnson?
>>
>>I am also sick of hearing and reading the bitch and moan sessions, valid
>>though they are, about faculty and exempt staff salaries, when the State,
>>not our administration, keeps cutting budgets. Tell me we don't need more
>>staff support and to pay them a livable wage. They did not go to some
>>fancy
>>college, so they suffer. If anyone on this campus has not felt the crunch
>>of non-exempt down-sizing, I invite you to send your extra people to the
>>rest of us. And then perhaps you will not ask why there is no tissue
>>in the
>>restrooms or why you have to learn IRIS, have to do your own copying
>>(that
>>is what federal work study is for, right?), or name any number of other
>>services. I dictated letters before I reentered academia. Let's do a
>>formal
>>poll: How many full-time faculty work two jobs? How many full-time
>>non-exempt staff? How many non-exempts have to work somewhere else
>>because
>>someone trimmed sporadic pay, which was a great benefit and is now almost
>>gone?
>>
>>Please pardon me when I wonder how adding a new service beyond Raven
>>affects academic freedom. In my naivete I thought that was about teaching
>>practices, not about selling desks and discussing whether or not a 2-way
>>street slows down traffic or who thinks we ought to secede from the
>>University of Tennessee. This is, if anything, a more inclusive situation
>>than ever. By adding UTCINFO, we have more opportunities to do the
>>business
>>of the University. A "timesuck?" Is Raven going to slow down? I must have
>>missed that one.
>>
>>How is Big Brother controlling what we receive? No one says we have to
>>filter anything, for now we can receive two business messages instead of
>>just one. We have more rights. No one said they are going to do away with
>>The Vagina Monologues because the word "vagina" is sinful. Hey, does your
>>computer underline "vagina" in green? I am ready to write The Penis
>>Dialogues, which I have threatened to do for years. Why is "timesuck" a
>>misspelling and universally accepted terms for body parts
>>inflammatory? Why
>>doesn't someone ask, hey, Eudora infringes on my right to use the word
>>"suck?" And, doggone it, "timesuck" should have a red and a green line
>>under it. Isn't this a ridiculous argument?
>>
>>I am sure there are many out there who receive my messages about the
>>Patten
>>Series (some who come and others who complain that they should not
>>have to
>>pay for anything that comes to campus) and say, "Man, doesn't that guy
>>ever
>>stop?"  And if I hear once more, "Why don't you bring X group or Y
>>company"
>>from people who don't give something new or someone they don't know a
>>chance, then I think I will start asking for money from them....every
>>single time! How many faculty and staff heard the King's Singers,
>>attended
>>the world premier of the head of the NEA's opera or saw Dayton
>>Contemporary
>>Dance Company at the Tivoli last year?
>>
>>Well, perhaps I have expected too much from Raven and the campus, for
>>I am
>>embarrassed by the poor attendance at the Series this fall. The next
>>person
>>I want to talk to is Bob Lyon, because I would like to be here long
>>enough
>>to hire those theatre companies Dr. Noe and I both love, who now cost
>>twice
>>what they did 10 years ago and who have priced themselves out of our
>>budget. I want to stop paying for my own travel to do my job. I want
>>someone besides me to scream, "Why are the arts fluff, extra-curricular,
>>not essential?" Literature is a "Fine Art, at least that is what I was
>>taught. You don't have to write fiction to say "Would you like fries with
>>that?" Does that mean we don't need English in the schools either?
>>
>>I say, "Make an announcement, not something like this diatribe, and no
>>one
>>will question its content." And if anyone feels the need to call people
>>names, send it to Raven and not to UTCINFO. Believe me, it will be
>>read by
>>more than will filter it, because drama is driven by conflict. And if
>>your
>>e-mail is filtered, maybe your lone voice in the wilderness is not
>>carrying
>>the popular message you think it is. I am sure mine isn't.
>>
>>I for one will not use UTCINFO to attack. I will use it to try to
>>convince
>>my highly educated colleagues to come to see what I am paid to bring here
>>and to reach the 2% of our audience that our faculty helps me put into
>>the
>>seats (you know, the students).
>>
>>I welcome anyone to reply to me directly, rather than to the entire
>>campus,
>>about what I wrote. I hope that does not seem hypocritical of me. I may
>>even keep all of the responses in a log, when I don't have to send out
>>the
>>next e-mail you receive from me trying to convince you to leave the house
>>on a Saturday or Sunday evening to support the programs of the
>>University.
>>Did you know Ailey II is here on Sunday? I dare you to come be "cultured"
>>this month, by dance, or by music or by the best theatre in the state.
>>No,
>>I am not referring to Cumberland County Playhouse's Cats! I am talking
>>about greed avarice, jealousy, interracial marriage, even Greek tragedy,
>>right on our quaint little campus.
>>
>>You want it? We got it!! Watch UTCINFO for more.
>>
>>Respectfully submitted for review and editing,
>>Kim Edward Renz
>>Failure is success planned poorly.
>>
>>
>>At 05:55 PM 1/7/2004, Marcia Noe wrote:
>>
>>>Dear Colleagues,
>>>Well, the new semester has gotten off to a great start with a timesuck
>>>(UTCINFO)
>>>and a moneysuck (Bob Lyon), not to mention the violation of academic
>>>freedom and First Amendment rights as Big Brother in the University
>>>Relations Office will now screen our announcements.  What's next, a
>>>University Patriot Act?
>>>Marcia Noe
>>>Professor of English and Coordinator of Women's Studies
>>>
>>>PS.  How considerate of the Provost to consult with the techies
>>>rather than
>>>the Faculty Senate before violating our rights.