Dear Colleagues:
  If you found that the THEC document and Jonathan and Matt's commentaries
make for discouraging reading, you might like to know about a more
heartening situation:

University of Iowa President David Skorton, who is a cardiologist, a
professor of biomedical engineering and of electrical and computer
engineering and also a saxophonist, the host of a jazz radio program and a
literary enthusiast, is quoted in the Fall 2004 issue of the University of
Iowa SPECTATOR as saying," As an academic, social, and cultural force, the
arts and humanities comprise the soul of the University."

Skorton not only talks the talk but walks the walk. At the University of
Iowa,  he created a Year of the Arts and Humanities initiative (YAH) that
comprises more than three dozen projects, such as a public lecture by Bruce
Cole, head of NEH, a kick-off festival of music, art,lectures, readings and
discussions and an online show providing global exposure for a different
Iowa artist each day.

And this is no ivory tower project; engagement with various Iowa
communities is a priority.  There will be a storytelling project at the UI
Center on Aging and the Center for Geriatric Nursing Excellence in the
College of Hursing that will use storytelling to help people suffering from
dementia, involving community partners in Iowa City, Marion, Sigourney and
Leon.  There will be Chinese painting workshops in Davenport and Des
Moines,and arts workshops at the Iowa Juvenile Home.

Of course there is a website if you would like to know more about the
University of Iowa's Year of the Arts and Humanities: www.yah.uiowa.edu

So the good news is that not all universities see themselves as servants of
corporate America.

The bad new is that our university isn't one of them.

But isn't nice to know that there are alternatives?

And wouldn't it be great if David Skorton would come and be our new
Chancellor?

Marcia