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University Senate Meeting
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wckirby



Joined: 10 Dec 2005
Posts: 355
Location: New Orleans

PostPosted: Mon Feb 06, 2006 6:09 pm    Post subject: University Senate Meeting Reply with quote

There was a university senate meeting in the conference room at Dibbol today. I went there for the first hour or so.

I took a dictaphone and when I saw that there was about a 1:1 person to dictaphone ratio there, I took mine out and started recording. I'll see about posting an MP3 of the meeting after class.

One highlight I can tell you right now:

One of the professors (from the B-School?) commented about the low faculty morale and how a lot of professors are waiting for the other shoe to drop. They asked if there are more cuts coming. Cowen said that there are no further faculty or staff cuts in the "forseable future." But, he added that 'it's all dependant on the Renewal Plan being implemented.' He said "if there is any erosion in the Renewal Plan, all bets are off."

You have to listen to the tape to judge for yourself, but from where I was sitting, I took it as a threat to the other faculty. To put it bluntly, shut up or you're next. If you want to reassure faculty, threatening them isn't a good way to do that. But that's just my opinion.

Like I said before, I'll try to put something out there after class.
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wckirby



Joined: 10 Dec 2005
Posts: 355
Location: New Orleans

PostPosted: Mon Feb 06, 2006 8:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Oh yeah, one more thing:

I could predict exactly what he was going to say before he said it. His dodge-and-weave is getting extremely predictable. Whenever you finally manage to nail him on something he can't answer, he dodges the question entirely by saying, "I think you are losing sight of the incredible challanges this university faced. We came THIS close from going under. Perhaps you would have prefered we do nothing and just close the university."

Trust me, every time you finally nail him on something, that's the line he whips out. He has a set list of talking points and that's his trump card.
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Clay Kirby
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wckirby



Joined: 10 Dec 2005
Posts: 355
Location: New Orleans

PostPosted: Mon Feb 06, 2006 10:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Alright, I've got an MP3, but it's a big file and I'm having a hard time finding server space. I've got 2 parts (side A and side B) and they'll each be between 30-40 megs (even with the MP3 compression). Anybody got any suggestions?
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Clay Kirby
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Mechanical Engineering Class of '06
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wckirby



Joined: 10 Dec 2005
Posts: 355
Location: New Orleans

PostPosted: Mon Feb 06, 2006 11:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Alright, here's the first idea that worked:

[edit: Link removed, see post below]


That's the first half. Someone check it out so I know it works.
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wwalkeri



Joined: 12 Dec 2005
Posts: 136

PostPosted: Mon Feb 06, 2006 11:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It works
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wckirby



Joined: 10 Dec 2005
Posts: 355
Location: New Orleans

PostPosted: Tue Feb 07, 2006 12:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

[edit: link removed, see post below]

And there's the second half. There. It's out there. It cuts off towards the end, but you've got all of Cowen's talking points in there. After that, it's fairly boring stuff.

Between the first and second file, the juicy stuff is right near the end of the first file and the beginning of the second.

I don't feel the slightest bit guilty about getting this out there, because there were PLENTY of people in that room with dictaphones and I wasn't the only student in the room. I also know there are plenty of people that haven't heard the dodge-and-weave who need to hear it for themselves.

Cowen can't say he was taken out of context because anyone can listen to the entire context and judge for themselves. Somebody feeling industrious and want to come up with a transcript?

I put it bluntly earlier when I said that Cowen basically told the faculty shut up or you're next. I'm not backing down on that statement. Now you can hear it and judge for yourself. It's at the beginning of the second mp3 file.

Once you download it and you're a smart compsci person, please host the file and post a link, because I have a feeling a lot of people are going to want to hear this. I'm working on getting more hosts. I'm trying to remember how to set up those shared folders on RS6000 and stuff. I'll come up with something.
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wclarkson
Site Admin


Joined: 09 Dec 2005
Posts: 38

PostPosted: Tue Feb 07, 2006 11:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

In an effort to remain within Tulane University policies, Save Tulane Engineering has elected to remove the link to the most recent Senate meeting. While we agree with the spirit in which it was created, full administrative transparency, the way in which it was obtained violates standing Senate rules. Thank you.
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wwalkeri



Joined: 12 Dec 2005
Posts: 136

PostPosted: Tue Feb 07, 2006 11:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

How many rules did they violate in comming up with this renewal plan? I understand that we are trying to play nice, and I hope that much is being accomplished behind closed doors. However, in the public forum it appears as if nothing is happening. I hope this is not the case. If you want to play nice fine, but to keep support you need more than a simple "trust us." Cowen will not play by the rules if his job is at stake. So just remember that. Furthermore, we are not an official Tulane group. So unless we are starting to get alot board member support I don't see those sound bytes as violating many applicable rules. What are they gonna do to us?? Fire us! That seems to be their solution to everything else.
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wwalkeri



Joined: 12 Dec 2005
Posts: 136

PostPosted: Wed Feb 08, 2006 2:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you really want these files they can be found on the newcomb yahoo group. The group is renewcomb and the links are under message 244. I personally listened to these files and found it quite humorous to hear Cowen say that the decision was financial, and then in the very next sentence say that it doesn't matter if the cut departments were in the black.
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angryengineer



Joined: 24 Dec 2005
Posts: 29
Location: New Orleans

PostPosted: Wed Feb 08, 2006 11:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

If we are gonna play by the rules we have to be more active, we should be having a rally every week. There should be posters and chalkings all over campus, at all times.

You know what, those things should be happening anyway. I know all of us active engineering students have a lot to do if we want to graduate, but frankly this IS more important.

I know you say there is a lot rolling in the background "in confidence" but we could really use some updates on what that is, and frankly I think I might just start breaking some of the rules if things don't start moving in a fashion where I can see them.

Newcomb is pissed as hell and doing things about it. Why aren't we?
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jmikowski



Joined: 09 Dec 2005
Posts: 121

PostPosted: Wed Feb 08, 2006 12:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here are the links again:

Side A:
http://rapidshare.de/files/12722063/Senate_meeting_side_A.mp3.html

Side B:
http://rapidshare.de/files/12722063/Senate_meeting_side_B.mp3.html

Sorry for the downtime. Don't worry, these links will not be edited. Enjoy.
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Computer Engineering '07
"Non sibi Sed Suis" -Not for one's self but for one's people.
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Lee Hoffman



Joined: 16 Dec 2005
Posts: 24

PostPosted: Wed Feb 08, 2006 1:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Side B link doesn't seem to work.
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wwalkeri



Joined: 12 Dec 2005
Posts: 136

PostPosted: Wed Feb 08, 2006 3:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

side B works but the site is a pain in the butt to download from. I have both of them. Files can also be sent over AIM. My SN is imjustwalking. If you are on the network these files can be transferred at extremely high rates.
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angryengineer



Joined: 24 Dec 2005
Posts: 29
Location: New Orleans

PostPosted: Wed Feb 08, 2006 7:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Actually it is saying that side B file can not be found, at least for me. I got side A just fine (or at least it seems to be downloading just fine), but B won't load.
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jmikowski



Joined: 09 Dec 2005
Posts: 121

PostPosted: Thu Feb 09, 2006 2:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here is a new link for side B:

http://rapidshare.de/files/12723464/Senate_meeting_side_B_MP3.mp3.html
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Computer Engineering '07
"Non sibi Sed Suis" -Not for one's self but for one's people.
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