By CFA/CSU Update
Yes, we all know there’s a strike coming up and we’re basically cashing in on spring break 2.0. Yes, we all know the discrepancy between requests and offers on faculty pay raises and the deadlock in negotiations.
We know that the California Faculty Association and the California State University system have been butting heads for way too long. But now, finally, we know that CFA is the side that has actually been able to support its argument.
Over break, an independent mediator released a fact-finding report that tells the CSU to drop their argument and pay faculty what they actually deserve. There’s money in the system and lecturers living out of their cars – how can anyone be surprised by the call for action?
With everything the CFA has put forth showing how much faculty across the state are struggling financially and the efforts those same faculty have gone to in order to have their voices heard, it’s finally time for their stance to be validated in such a massive way.
The CSU system has been fighting back valiantly every step of the way, but this report is way too hard to counter. The vice chancellor has already released a statement to the effect of not having the budgeting ability to account for the extra millions of dollars needed to give the 5 percent raise, but at this point in the game, he and his office are playing a losing hand.
Claiming that money in the budget is more fit for development projects and facility maintenance than giving faculty any sort of purchasing power in the economy and the bare necessities of a lower-middle-class individual just doesn’t fly anymore. Faculty aren’t asking for paychecks to support hillside mansions and intercontinental vacations. They’re asking to have their pay match the cost of living and inflation rates so they can eat without fear of hunger the next day.
Give them the raise, already. CFA isn’t kidding when it comes to taking action, but the CSU won’t take any at all.
If the CSU system holds its ground and really does stick to its 2 percent offer, I’m concerned for what the next few weeks will bring in terms of CFA responses. Five days of striking over the next two weeks will be detrimental enough – if the request still isn’t met in the days following and further action is organized, who knows what we’ll have to look forward to in terms of spring break 3.0.
Apple/FBI
Remember when the FBI was harassing Apple in attempt to get the corporation to create software that would help break into a locked phone that was considered evidence in an ongoing investigation into the San Bernardino shootings?
Remember when Apple absolutely refused, claiming that creating the software wouldn’t just affect the phone in question, but also lower the security of every iUser around?
Remember when, somehow, the FBI was able to get into the phone without any actual help from Apple anyways? I can’t say I’m surprised that the FBI figured out a way to get what they wanted. I’m more irked that they played off the entire situation like Apple’s help was vital to their success.
There are a lot of unanswered questions pouring forth in the wake of the break — who is the mysterious third party that stepped in where Apple didn’t? Why did the FBI go to Apple if there were other, easier options? What does this mean for other law enforcement agencies trying to get private information, and how did the third party manage to get the job done?
I’m not expecting answers. Not satisfactory, properly presented ones, at least. The FBI has shown they’re in a place to kind of just do what they will and only involve whoever ends up being beneficial to a particular step.
I’m not too happy about it, not too comfortable with the idea that there is a way for passcodes and privacy features to be overridden in such a blatant manner. Even if it’s not made public, I’m sure Apple will figure out how the bypass occurred and patch whatever holes they didn’t know were there. I’m sure they’ll strengthen the way their systems and machines operate and reassure the public that such a thing will not happen to them. But, the larger issue here is the precedent the FBI has just set and the reality of the action they just took.
The idea of “privacy” just becomes more and more diluted each passing year, and all I can sit here and do is wonder just how much further things will go.
It’s not like electronic communication and photos stored on clouds haven’t been in total jeopardy for years as it is.
Anti-Semitic fliers
The Friday before spring break, wireless printers on our campus and others across the country started spewing out fliers addressed to white men, reading “ARE YOU SICK AND TIRED OF THE JEWS DESTROYING YOUR COUNTRY THROUGH MASS IMMIGRATION AND DEGENERACY.”
Definitely doesn’t sound like the average class project being printed in a last-minute frenzy, huh? It rings a bit truer to some sort of hate crime or really poorly veiled threat at the Jewish community here. There was no signature on the fliers, just directions to visit a white supremacy advocacy site.
Awesome. That’s exactly what I as a student want 20,000 copies of.
Over the course of last week, hacker Andrew “Weev” Auernheimer owned up to the stunt in a very public way. A lengthy, self-praising blog post from Weev barely touches upon the content of the fliers, other than to praise the inherent beauty of the swastika as a symbol, but rather focuses far more on the attention he got on a national scale from the stunt. His fliers reached from California to DePaul University, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Princeton, Smith and more. The media coverage garnered from the fliers had him acting like a proud father, showing off just how cool this thing he had a part in making was.
The screencaps of tweets, emails, news stories and campus bulletins sprinkled throughout the post only exist to stroke his ego and remind him just how many people he got talking about him. He bemoans the weaklings that dared voice their discomfort with the fliers, encourages those who respect his fun little foray into digital printing to donate to his cause and generally just acts like a kindergartener shoving his sub-par crayon drawing into his parents’ friends’ faces.
In the world we live in, there are dozens upon dozens of ways to get attention from the internet. There are websites dedicated to posting selfies and personal ads, myriads of channels to self-publish created works and far too many threads users can jump into and spark discussion (or argument) in a matter of moments.
I cannot for the absolute life of me figure out why Weev decided that remotely printing anti-Semitic propaganda that may or may not even be serious was the way to go. I cannot understand why bringing legitimate fear to students and faculty completely unrelated to Weev was the direction he took.
His need for attention and validation is pitiful at best, but the fact that he is attempting to get it via promoting a movement that has taken security and livelihood away from individuals based on nothing more than religious affiliation is revolting.
