Monthly Archives: August 2008

Bernie O’Connor’s money collection on display

Posted on August 22, 2008 by | 1 Comment

He’s been gone for several years now, but I am certain that many EMUTalk.org regulars will remember Father Bernie O’Connor (he’s the one shaking the pope’s hand), who used to teach in the political science department, do various administrative things on campus, who won a fistful of various teaching awards, and who was (I presume still is) an all-around nice guy.

I came across this story via my Google feed about O’Connor that I thought was kind of odd and I thought I’d share: “Rare banknote collection on display today at bank,” from the Cape Breton Post. Cape Beton, by the way, is in Nova Scotia, Canada. Here’s the opening paragraphs:

A display of rare, unique and fascinating banknotes will be on display at the Royal Bank in North Sydney for a final day, today.

Rev. Bernard O’Connor, a former resident of Sydney Mines who has worked as an official in the Congregation of Eastern Churches at the Vatican since June 2004, has put his amazing collection on display at the bank before it’s auctioned off in Halifax next summer.
O’Connor will use the proceeds of the auction to set up a scholarship fund in his family’s name with the National Currency Collection in Ottawa.

“It’ll be available to any university student in Canada, on any level, who is interested in studying the history of economics in Canada or the history of the development of Canadian currency,” O’Connor said.

Prior to accepting the appointment at the Vatican, O’Connor was assistant dean for the College of Arts and Sciences at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Mich., teaching political science for 10 years.

Some of the banknotes described here sound pretty cool. Anyway, best to you out there, Bernie!

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Administrator Life, Faculty Life, In the media...

Not to belabor the key thing, but…

Posted on August 22, 2008 by | 1 Comment

The AAN has an interesting article online that will certainly run in the paper version this evening, “EMU dorm rooms get new keys.” It’s interesting because of the differences between Martin (and, I presume, the administration she will be running) and Fallon et al. Here are the opening paragraphs:

Eastern Michigan University is re-keying every room in one of its residence halls after the theft of a master key for all 228 of the dormitory’s student rooms.
The project at Hill Hall should be finished by the time students arrive for the fall semester, said EMU spokesperson Ward Mullens, who sent out a campuswide e-mail Wednesday informing staff and students of the theft.
EMU President Susan Martin visited Hill Hall this week to check on the re-keying work and ensure that the students moving in early would receive the first new locks. The general move-in is the weekend of Aug. 30 and classes begin on Sept. 3.

“I want to be proactive and personally take care to ensure that any security issue is promptly taken care of,” Martin said Thursday.
Martin visited the dorm with Bernice Lindke, interim vice president for student affairs and enrollment management. Lindke said that when she had originally informed Martin of the theft this week, the president quickly decided to re-key all the doors and move the new master key out of Hill to a different location on campus.

Now, of course, it is impossible to know the “if history were different” scenario here: that is, if there had not been the controversy around keys and the Dickinson murder, would Martin have been as quick to respond? Nonetheless, it is nice to know that Martin is at least smart enough to realize that to have not done this rekeying would have been a bad thing.

And it is refreshing to hear her string the words “proactive and personally take care” together. I don’t think Fallon or Kirkpatrick ever did that.

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Buildings and Grounds, EMU President, In the media..., Security and Safety

A new year, a new take on keys

Posted on August 21, 2008 by | 2 Comments

I (and everyone else at EMU, I presume, though I have learned from past posts here, not everyone– particularly students– actually get these blanket email messages) received a message from Ward Mullens the other day about yet another lost master key issue, this time with a decidedly different outcome from the past:

In preparation for the reopening of Hill Hall after a year-long renovation, it was determined that the master key for the residence hall had been cut from its secure position inside an office. The EMU Department of Public Safety is investigating the theft. Because of construction, the building has been unoccupied since August 2007. The master key only opened doors within Hill Hall.

The entire building is being rekeyed immediately and will be completely rekeyed by the start of the fall semester. The University has enough hardware in stock to complete the job. The master keys for all residence halls have been moved to the physical plant.

It’s interesting, because a couple of years ago, I don’t think we would have ever heard about this. And it’s also interesting because of the passive voice in some key passages here– what exactly does “it was determined that the master key… had been cut from its secure position?”

→ 2 Comments

Posted in Buildings and Grounds, Security and Safety

Have a beer for me with Pres. Martin

Posted on August 20, 2008 by | 1 Comment

I had originally thought I would go to the faculty union/faculty council informal get-together with EMU president Susan Martin this afternoon– 3 pm to 5 pm at the Corner Brewery– but alas, my schedule doesn’t appear it is going to allow it. I spent my time off today playing nine holes of golf at the “Little Pines” at Pineview instead; now it’s back to reading projects for this closing summer term and preparing for this coming fall term.

If you did go and say hi, post a comment here and let us know how it went!

→ 1 Comment

Posted in College Fun, EMU President, Faculty Life, Ypsilanti

“Are 4-day workweeks the future?”

Posted on August 20, 2008 by | Leave a comment

A colleague of mine sent me a link about this a while ago when it appeared as a cnn.com story, but I was reminded of this again this morning when the same idea appeared in greater detail in Inside Higher Ed, “Are 4-Day Workweeks the Future?” Here are a couple of paragraphs:

With energy prices skyrocketing, a number of colleges tried longer day, four-day schedules this summer, letting commuting students and employees save on gas, while also cutting utility costs, since some offices could be shuttered an extra day. Now with a few months of experience and institutional data under their belts, some college administrators are convinced that the four-day workweek is the shape of things to come in higher education.

Others, however, are not nearly as certain, arguing that the approach limits student access to valuable resources. The trend appears more popular with community colleges — many of which don’t have residential populations and enroll many students who have never been on campus five days every week — but some four-year colleges also went four-day. Generally, colleges switched three-day-a-week course schedules to longer time periods two days a week, so students had Monday/Wednesday and Tuesday/Thursday courses.

I’m for it, but it seems to me that for this to work at a place like EMU, we’d have to increase the number of hybrid and online offerings.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Budgets, Buildings and Grounds, In the media...

Hooray for bats

Posted on August 20, 2008 by | Leave a comment

Via a blog called “The Erie Hiker,” I came across this Freep.com piece, “Bats stars’ TV appearances, school visits help dispel myths,” which has an EMU connection:

The Organization for Bat Conservation, created by a pair of graduate students at Eastern Michigan University in 2000 and now based at the Cranbrook Institute of Science in Bloomfield Hills, is gaining national attention for its work in teaching people the value and unique qualities of bats.

Since its inception, the organization’s live bats and their handlers have appeared on “Martha Stewart,” “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” a National Geographic special and “Today.” In October, organization founder Rob Mies presented bats on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” as part of a Halloween special.

That’s great, but bats still kinda creep me out.  By the way, the Organization for Bat Conservation has a web site here.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in In the media..., Student Life

In the training to not do something obviously wrong department

Posted on August 18, 2008 by | 3 Comments

I’m more interested in this from the U of Iowa angle than anything else, especially since the professor in question was just starting at Iowa when I was there as an undergraduate. But it is interesting also in the way that dumb stuff happens at all kinds of good universities.

From the Chronicle of Higher Ed News Blog comes this article, “All U of Iowa Professors Told to Undergo Training to Avoid Sexual Harassment.” Here are the opening paragraphs:

The University of Iowa ordered all professors and staff members today to undergo training in how to avoid sexual harassment after a political-science professor at the university was charged with asking four female students for sexual favors in return for better grades.

According to The Des Moines Register, the professor, Arthur H. Miller, faces criminal charges for accepting bribes based on allegations that he told the female students he would give them A’s if they would expose their breasts and allow him to fondle them. As part of the criminal investigation, the university police seized e-mail messages from Mr. Miller’s computer in which he offered the quid pro quo. At least some of the students, the article said, granted the sexual favors.

The comments on this post are worth reading too; I’ll offer two brief thoughts for now.

  • I was back in Iowa recently and read a little more about this in the more local media. Long story-short, the president, Sally Mason, and a variety of other folks at the U of Iowa are in the midst of a bit of controversy of their own regarding some cover-ups of rapes and sexual assaults on campus, many by athletes. It’s not as big of a controversy as covering up a murder, but still pretty bad. So when the first commentator on the CHE blog says “Sheer administrative ass-covering,” it’s hard to disagree with that.
  • While I appreciate there is some gray area for what does and does not count as sexual harassment and there may be some value in training/discussion of this gray area among faculty, administrators, staff, and students, I’m pretty sure that everyone already knows that it’s sexual harassment if a professor tells a student that she will get an A if she lets the professor see and fondle her breasts. My guess is that these “training” sessions are going to be “hey, don’t do what Miller did.”

→ 3 Comments

Posted in Administrator Life, In the media..., Staff Life, Student Life

Views from the Heritage Festival Parade

Posted on August 17, 2008 by | Leave a comment

I took a few snapshots at Saturday’s Heritage Festival Parade, which was a lovely affair where EMU was well represented. There was Susan Martin out front.

EMU President Susan Martin

I like to think that she got talked into it because of the conversation here about the July 4 parade, but I have a feeling there were other reasons/causes. In any event, good for her, good for EMU, and she looks like she had a good time.

EMU had quite a fine presence in the parade.
Continue reading →

→ Leave a comment

Posted in College Fun, Ypsilanti

All clear at the Water Tower

Posted on August 15, 2008 by | 1 Comment

The other day, I (and I assume everyone else with an EMU email) received a kind of strange public safety notice:

The Ypsilanti Fire Department has informed the campus community that a suspicious package has been located on the south side of the water tower (off campus). Precautions are being taken to determine the nature of the package. Please avoid the area. The west bound lane of Washtenaw Ave. has been temporarily closed between W. Cross St. and Summit. The campus will be informed when the fire department has given the all clear.

“That’s weird,” I thought, but I didn’t think much of it because I’ve been busy with wrapping up the summer term, getting ready for fall, etc., etc.

Then today I had a chance to read the front page of the AANews: “Web game brings out bomb unit.” It turns out the suspicious package was a tupperware container placed at the base of the water tower as a geocache stop. Here’s a quote:

Officers closed eastbound Washtenaw Avenue and routed traffic onto westbound Cross Street and also prohibited pedestrians in the area for about two hours.

A Michigan State Police bomb squad team used a robot to get a close-up view of the container through a camera and prod the package.

Harshberger said the bomb squad didn’t believe the container was an explosive, but just to be safe, they donned protective gear and opened it. Inside was a typical “geocaching” logbook and “treasures,” which are usually worthless trinkets.

Oh, I so wish I could have seen these hijinks. I love the idea of the image of the bomb squad playing it safe around the tupperware container. Did anybody out there see this?

→ 1 Comment

Posted in In the media..., Security and Safety, Ypsilanti

Ypsi Heritage Festival weekend

Posted on August 15, 2008 by | Leave a comment

I have to confess that I personally am not that big of a fan of the Ypsilanti Heritage Festival, and I can’t really put my finger on why that is the case. But I probably will make a point of at least attending the parade. After all, it promises to feature both faculty/members of the EMU-AAUP (Bunsis sent around an invitation for all faculty to join in the marching fun) and EMU President Susan Martin.

According to the web site, the route of the parade is “east on Michigan Avenue through downtown Ypsilanti. North on Huron Street to Cross St. and west on Cross St. where the parade disbands at Washington St.” And according to the weather, it should be a good day to march, watch, and do whatever it is one does at the rest of the festival.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in EMU President, EMU-AAUP, Ypsilanti