Budget Cuts

York College
Professional Staff Congress
ATTENTION YORK STUDENTS:
Informational Meeting about PROPOSED Budget Cuts to CUNY
Let’s stand together against tuition hikes and for investment in education
Wednesday, February 25th
4-5 PM in 1M06

PSC Union President
Barbara Bowen will speak on the truth about the current Budget Crisis—its impact on your education and what you can do about it!

Jung Fun!

You make Pearson cry

Three examples of misinterpreting correlations.

The Little ARG That Failed

Between the giant banners advertising the D-9 alternate reality game (ARG) with anti-alien slogans, beyond the Dharma Initiative recruitment booth, there was a little stack of postcards at Comic-Con that read "You are being deceived — www.youarebeingdeceived.com." It was the calling card for an ARG that nobody saw. How do I know? Because io9 built the You Are Being Deceived ARG, complete with a phone number you can call and two mysterious linked URLs, as an experiment in marketing and mass deception. What happens when you try to deceive people but your lies are drowned out by better-funded lies? Allow me to recount our strange tale. Link

For the Brain, Remembering Is Like Reliving

Scientists have for the first time recorded individual brain cells in the act of summoning a spontaneous memory, revealing not only where a remembered experience is registered but also, in part, how the brain is able to recreate it.

Link

Magenta Ain't A Colour

A beam of white light is made up of all the colours in the spectrum. The range extends from red through to violet, with orange, yellow, green and blue in between. But there is one colour that is notable by its absence (click here to check). Pink (or magenta, to use its official name) simply isn’t there. But if pink isn’t in the light spectrum, how come we can see it?

Here’s an experiment you can try: stare at the pink circle below for about one minute, then look over at the blank white space next to the image. What do you see? You should see an afterimage. What colour is it? Link

Bill recommends, Rethinking Thin

Entry level I/O position

HUMAN RESOURCES ASSISTANT
Job #:	7907
Category:	HUMAN RESOURCES
Description:	This is an entry level Human Resources position under the HRIS division. The duties are as followed: New hire entry, edit/maintenance of all new hire entry and review of all new hire paperwork Terminations Manual Check Requests-new hires and terminations PCA's- location changes, grade & title changes, cost center changes, status changes, and salary changes, etc. Requests for Leave/Returns from Leave Document imaging: document preparation and scanning Location Report for Payroll (Attach copies of pca's and forward to Payroll) Ad hoc Business Objects reports Expense Reports Reception coverage & lunch relief Approval of employee data changes in ESS and Monitor HRIS Support folder in Outlook I-9 follow up and updates Other duties as assigned/Special projects as assigned
Requirements:	Proficient typing skills, data entry experience, Basic Excel and Word. Access a plus. Familiarity with Oracle and/or PeopleSoft a plus but not necessary
Location:	NEW YORK, NY USA
Travel Coverage:	Not specified
Minimum Experience (yrs):
Required Education:	Some College Classes
Relocation Offered:	No
Authorization required to work in this country:	Required

http://search0.smartsearchonline.com/pb/jobs/jobdetails.asp?current_page=1&city=&location=&job_type=&emp_status=&country=&k1=&k2=&k3=&k4=&k5=&k6=&k7=&k8=&salary_min=&co_num=&apply=yes&job_number=7907

Emergency Mobilization on the Budget at the Governor’s NYC Office

Emergency Mobilization on the Budget at the Governor’s NYC Office:

Tuesday, December 16, 4:00-5:00 P.M., Third Avenue and 41^st Street

Dear Colleagues,

This Tuesday, December 16, Governor Paterson will release his proposed State budget for the 2009-2010 fiscal year. All indications are that it will include deep cuts to CUNY and a plan to close part of the State’s budget gap through increased CUNY tuition. In response to the anticipated budget—which may be the most damaging for CUNY in many years—the PSC has called an Emergency Mobilization on Tuesday, December 16 from 4:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M. in front of the governor’s New York City office.

At 4:00 that day, representatives of faculty, staff and students from across the University will join me to deliver 55,000 signed postcards to the governor calling for public investment in CUNY. We will meet with the governor’s director of higher education. Our message will be amplified by the thousands of members of the CUNY community who have signed the postcards: In a time of economic distress New York should invest more—not less—in CUNY.

I am writing to ask you to make an exceptional effort to participate in the mobilization on Tuesday. There is an alternative to budget cuts and regressive taxes, and Albany needs to see how strong the support for it is. New York would have $17 billion more in income this year alone if it simply restored the tax cuts enacted between 1994 and 2005. Over the past 30 years, New York has cut the tax rate on the highest income bracket in half. The budget problem would be solved if the State restructured the personal income tax for greater fairness.

It’s not too late to call on Albany to reverse course. We need to be at the governor’s office in numbers to make our point. Please contact caikin@pscmail.org to let us know that we can count on you to be there: Emergency Mobilization on the Budget: Tuesday, December 16, 4:00-5:00 P.M., Third Avenue and 41^st Street.

In solidarity,

Barbara Bowen

President, Professional Staff Congress/CUNY

Jobs/Internships

Hi guys,

I'm helping my boss at a nonprofit org find an incredible intern for next semester, so I pasted a bit of info about it below. If this sounds like your cup of tea, or may know someone else who'd find it useful, please pass it on!

On a personal note, the Young People For office is young, everyone is super nice, freakishly intelligent and very committed to the progressive cause. I've learned ridiculous amounts here this semester and my boss was a good teacher--she is my favorite kind of web nerd; if you're into PHP and accessible and pretty pretty CSS web design, she will definitely love you. If you wanted an introduction to the nonprofit world, this is a great opportunity!

----

Young People For (YP4) is an NYC-based nonpartisan program of People For the American Way Foundation. YP4 empowers progressive college student leaders to create lasting change in their communities.

We have openings for web and communications interns for the Spring 2009 semester. We'd love to extend this opportunity to your students, particularly those who have web design, blogging, and/or copy editing experience. Read the full description: http://www.youngpeoplefor.org/about/jobs/web-and-communications-intern

We are seeking NYC-based interns who are able to work either full- or part-time. We're happy to arrange academic credit. Our interns don't fetch coffee or make photocopies; we put interns to work in areas that interest them, such as creating newsletters, coding, blogging, conducting research and developing new web projects.


----

Feel free to respond if you have any questions!

Lis
elisabeth@sent.com

The success of "crowdsourced" websites like YouTube and Wikipedia has puzzled psychologists, since a small number of people do most of the work for little obvious reward, while the rest benefit, seemingly without giving anything back. New Scientist.

York's art!

Although I've made fun with (not at) the art here at York, I really love it and I'm glad it's here.

Dr Cripps and his class created a webpage celebrating York's art.

Strange Experiments Create Body-Swapping Experiences

Scientists now have manipulated people’s perceptions to make them think they have swapped bodies with another human or even a "humanoid body," experiencing the sensations that the other would feel and giving the illusion of being inside the other's body.

http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/081202-body-swapping.html

New Report Shows Unionization Advances Pay and Benefits for Women

The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) released a report this week that found unions generally have a positive impact on the salaries and benefits of women workers. The study, Unions and Upward Mobility for Women Workers (see PDF), found that all other factors controlled, women who joined a union were more likely to have health insurance through their employer, a pension plan, and higher earnings than their non-unionized equivalents. The study also established that unionization benefits lower earning female workers just as significantly as those with higher paying jobs.

John Schmitt, who authored the study and is a Senior Economist at CEPR said in a press release that "for women, joining a union makes as much sense as going to college…All else equal, joining a union raises a woman's wage as much as a full year of college, and a union raises the chances a woman has health insurance by more than earning a four-year college degree."

Media Resources: CEPR Press Release 12/2/08; CEPR Report 12/08

Feminist.org: Your daily source for the feminist perspective on national and global events.

CUNY student jobs

The CUNY employment opportunities initiative aims to help students obtain part-time and full-time work, and internships to help meet the costs of attending college. Explore these and other resources.

http://urdox1.cuny.edu/jobs/student-jobs.html

Tuition hikes and budget cuts

New York state is in a budget meltdown with the governor calling for massive budget cuts. Why? He says that tax revenue is down. But I got this letter from my union's president:

There is an alternative to the false choice between a contract reopener and layoffs: increasing revenue. New York State would have $16 billion in additional revenue this year alone if it had restored the 1994 tax cut for the highest earners. What New York is really facing is a revenue crisis. The richest one percent of New York families (those earning $1.6 million or more a year) pay only 6.5 percent of their income in state and local taxes, while the poorest New Yorkers (with incomes under $15,000) pay 11.6 percent. Restructuring the unfair tax system would eliminate the need for budget cuts—and generate the funds for desperately needed new investment, starting with CUNY.

In the short term, the state could close this year’s budget gap by drawing on the more than $1 billion in the “rainy day fund” (Tax Stabilization Reserve Fund) and gaining support from a federal economic stimulus. The federal government is considering a stimulus package that would increase aid to state and local governments; announcement of devastating budget cuts before the decision on a stimulus bill is premature.

The PSC has joined economists, unions and community groups across the state in calling on the governor and the legislature to adopt a revenue proposal rather than resorting to cuts and layoffs that will deepen the effect of a recession. Brooklyn College, Queens College and Lehman College were all founded during the Depression. These times demand a similar, visionary investment. Public higher education is the key to reinvigorating the economy.

If you want to help out my students (especially if you are one of my students), this link will allow you to send a letter to the Governor against tuition hikes. Quote from my post if you like or just use the standard letter.


Here's the link to a further explanation of the tax policy.

Symbolic Racism in the 08 election

Sacramento GOP Web site encouraged people to 'waterboard Obama'

Sacramento County Republican leaders Tuesday took down offensive material on their official party Web site that sought to link Sen. Barack Obama to Osama bin Laden and encouraged people to "Waterboard Barack Obama" — material that even offended state GOP leaders.

By Ed Fletcher

Sacramento Bee

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento County Republican leaders Tuesday took down offensive material on their official party Web site that sought to link Sen. Barack Obama to Osama bin Laden and encouraged people to "Waterboard Barack Obama" — material that even offended state GOP leaders.

Link

Political elections usually bring out the worst in people, but I've never seen such extreme statements made by such high status organizations. Is this a sign of symbolic racism?

Extreme McCain-Palin supports - Examples of RWA?

Racism and mental contamination in the election

Mental contamination is when one concept becomes associated with another concept via association. It's just strengthening the linkages between nodes in a semantic network.

Here is a very subtle attempt at that during the election.














I've been told that's it's a Republican ad (tho I haven't been able to confirm that).

It's not just that Obama lacks experience. That's related to him being black.

Study Finds Blacks Reap Smaller Financial Gains From Certain Majors

From the Chronicle of Higher Education

November 7, 2008

Study Finds Blacks Reap Smaller Financial Gains From Certain Majors

Jacksonville, Fla. — Black students who major in high-paying fields appear to reap smaller financial gains when they enter the job market than do comparable Asian- and Hispanic-American students, according to a new study of minority scholarship applicants.

The study, scheduled to be discussed here tomorrow at the annual conference of the Association for the Study of Higher Education, tracked about 350 students who had applied for the Gates Millennium Scholars Program for low-income minority students and had gone through its selection process. The students, who graduated from high school in the spring of 2000 and entered college the following academic year, were surveyed by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago at various intervals until six years after their graduation from high school.

Because the Gates program looks well beyond the SAT scores of scholarship applicants, and examines a host of psychological traits related to college persistence and early earnings, focusing on that population helped the researchers ensure comparability among the students being studied.

Even when comparable students majored in the same fields, the economic benefits they reaped from college upon entering the job market varied substantially by race and ethnicity, according to a paper on the study’s findings by Tatiana Melguizo, an assistant professor of higher education at the University of Southern California, and Gregory C. Wolniak, a research scientist at the National Opinion Research Center.

The salary premium that Asian- and Hispanic-American students received from majoring in science, technology, mathematics, or engineering was 50 percent higher than what black students who had majored in those fields were earning soon after college, the study found. Asian- and Hispanic-American students also reaped a higher salary premium than did black students for majoring in professional fields such as business or law.

The researchers say they did not look into whether discrimination explained the gaps they found because they did not have sufficient data matching students with their employers. They found some evidence that variations in occupational choices may play a role, but said more research was needed there as well.

Their paper concludes that, “in a scholarship program or campus-based policies aimed at promoting economic outcomes, attention needs to be placed on how and why students choose their field of study, as well as the manner in which their education influences their occupational attainment.” —Peter Schmidt

http://chronicle.com/news/article/5456/study-finds-blacks-reap-smaller-financial-gains-from-certain-majors