THE PERSISTENCE OF CRISIS: WORK HARDER OR FIGHT BACK

Earlier today I posted this to AAUP’s Academe Blog. Here’s the first few paragraphs. If you want to read the full article, click on the link at the bottom of this post. Or, go to the full article now by clicking here. 

At my monthly department meeting yesterday, the department’s representative to our University Senate gave his report on their last meeting. As part of his report, he told us some of the concerns our university president, Javier Cevallos, expressed about a recent drop in enrollment. Cevallos’s remarks before our University Senate echoed a statement he released in October 2012 in order to explain another $3 million shortfall:

Budget Shortfall 

This fall semester, Kutztown University is facing a problem of serious magnitude.  For the second straight year, the university has experienced a drop in enrollment.

Almost 300 students have made the decision not to come back to KU to continue their education for this fall semester. While we realize many of our sister institutions and private universities within our region are facing the same situation, the drop we are experiencing this year is much larger than we have had in the past.

Upon learning of this, we immediately identified the students and called them to determine their status and/or reasons for not returning.  Although we are still evaluating the information we have gathered, it is evident that we need to become more effective at retaining our students.

As I stated at our opening day gathering, each student we lose seriously impacts our budget.  With only 20 percent of funding coming from the commonwealth, and with our operating budget based on our year-to-year enrollment, the student body is our lifeblood.

As a result of this enrollment loss, we face a shortfall of $3 million on top of the reductions we have already made.  I have decided to cover this gap with carry over funds on a one time basis to meet the deficit in the current year.  Although this is only a temporary solution, it will provide us with time to thoughtfully consider base budget reductions, beginning next year, in the context of our mission.

I want to stress the importance of our role in student retention. We all need to go above and beyond to assist our students in persisting and graduating from KU.   It is crucial to the future of our university and the region.

I urge you all to put our students first, and do whatever you can to make KU a place they will take great pride in.   It is really going to take each and every one of us to help KU overcome this challenge in the future.

This story of “fiscal crisis” has been the norm at Kutztown University for most of the ten years I have worked here. Cevallos’s latest visit to the University Senate was ostensibly, in part at least, to report the university’s findings after gathering information about the reasons why students did not return to Kutztown University. He reported that most of the students who did not return were from Philadelphia and most of those were African-American and Latino students. Not only has the loss of students impacted KU’s budget, Cevallos expressed concern that the loss of these particular students has also hurt the university’s diversity – which has been a focus of his administration as well as a “performance indicator” that figures into the PA State System of Higher Education’s funding formula. Two key reasons Cevallos offered for the decline in enrollment were 1) the possibility that West Chester University – a sister institution located closer to Philadelphia with train service from the city; and, 2) a drop in the amount of financial aid students were receiving. Funding crisis. Diversity crisis. Sister-university-stealing-our-students-crisis.

Read the full article here

Read Full Post »

That was then…and it still is…UNION!

Last night — actually, VERY early this morning — I was searching to see if there were any videos posted by media or individuals of APSCUF’s protest at the PASSHE Board of Governors meeting yesterday. One of my searches brought up a video interview I did for a project some of my colleagues did a couple years back: Union Stories: Kutztown. I did the interview on October 14, 2010, back when we were still working under our previous contract. Now, more than two years later and 19 months without a contract, the story I told in that interview still holds up…for the most part. After two rounds of deep budget cuts, having to fight like hell to prevent our local administration from gutting programs and faculty, and little promise that we can expect anything different for the near future, I hear the edge in my voice when I tell the short version of the story in the 2010 interview. I have a creeping feeling that I am trying to convince myself of something…or that my narrative no longer matches my experience. That’s hard to write, actually.

Coming across this interview was good timing in one respect at least. I was having a conversation with someone a week or so ago who wanted to know why having a union contract was so important to me. I got asked a version of that same question by a FOX 43 reporter yesterday at the APSCUF protest in Harrisburg: “What’s the big deal with working without a contract?” I’ve had versions of this conversation with scores of people over the 10 years I’ve been at Kutztown University. I can’t even begin to count the number of people that wondered why the hell I was going to take a job at Kutztown when I had other offers with lower teaching loads and, in one case, a significantly higher starting salary and in the city I lived in at the time. I had then and have now several reasons. But, one reason stands out above all the rest. I took the job at Kutztown because of the union, because of APSCUF. If Kutztown did not have a unionized faculty, I would have never taken the job. Period.

I’ve tried to make the case for several years that if our contract continues to erode, if our working conditions deteriorate even more, or if we strip away protections and quasi-equity for temporary faculty, then Kutztown – PASSHE as a whole – will not be able to hire AND KEEP quality faculty. We will go elsewhere. That’s sad and infuriating to me. It’s an injustice to the student body we teach and to the mission of the 14 universities that make up PASSHE. But that’s the game that the Chancellor, the Chair of PASSHE Board of Governors, and PASSHE as a whole is playing. They want to strip away quality and leave in its place a degree factory – a State-owned version of ITT Tech or the University of Phoenix.

When I watch my “Union Stories” video now I am keenly aware of why I chose to come to Kutztown, why I am fighting like hell to protect and secure a good contract for ALL faculty, and why I may ultimately end up having to leave. But the game is not up yet and the fight is not lost yet. So, back to work. Here’s the video:

Read Full Post »

“Contract Now!”: APSCUF protest at PASSHE Board of Governors meeting in Harrisburg

Yesterday, over 500 faculty members from across the 14 universities that make up the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) converged on the PASSHE Board of Governors meeting at the Dixon Center in Harrisburg. Here’s a couple video snap shots of the action. To check out all the photos I took, you can visit this photo album.

“Contract Now!”

APSCUF President Steve Hicks and Vice President Ken Mash Close Out the Day of Picketing

Read Full Post »

APSCUF Issues Letter to Students: NO STRIKE this semester

 

APSCUF President Steve Hicks issued a letter to students on Wednesday: NO STRIKE this semester. Here is the full text of the letter:

Faculty know you are worried that your professors will go on strike. We know you are concerned about the impact a strike would have on your classes, your finals, and your tuition dollars. After thoughtful deliberation and consideration about how a strike at this time would affect our students, we have decided to postpone consideration of a strike for the rest of this semester.

APSCUF (Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties) and PASSHE (Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education) leaders have negotiations sessions scheduled for December. However, there is still a gulf between your faculty and the Chancellor. He still wants a separate pay scale for some temporary faculty.

He is still proposing increases in payments for reduced health care benefits. He wants to cut our retirement health care and stop offering those benefits to new faculty. He wants to stop payments for distance  education, but has not addressed our concerns about growing class sizes. The Chancellor continues to demand more concessions from your faculty than the Governor asked from our campuses’ hardworking secretaries, groundskeepers and custodians. These negotiations remain about simple fairness.

All of the outstanding issues have a direct effect on the quality of education we provide, as all will impact who is in the classroom and the type of classes that are offered. We know that you understand that the conditions under which faculty work are the conditions under which you learn. We know that you want your university to continue to attract and retain the quality faculty you deserve.

We have done our best to try to avoid a strike. We waited over a year and a half before even uttering the word. We gave the Chancellor several opportunities to settle a fair contract, including a two-year extension proposal and the offer of binding arbitration. We offered to pay more for health care and suggested ways for Chancellor to save hundreds of thousands of dollars in health care costs. He rejected them all.

We do not want to go on strike. We want to educate our students. However, the core meaning of “union” is one, and we cannot accept the Chancellor’s unsubtle attempts to divide and exploit segments of our faculty union.

The interests of our students are always on our minds. It is why we have waited and hoped that with time we could convince the Chancellor to be fair. With higher education comes the understanding that there are times when people must stand up for themselves. If the only way we can convince the Chancellor to be fair is to go on strike, then we must stand up for ourselves. It is what we would expect of you in the pursuit of fairness. But know that your faculty will only strike as a last resort. You can count on us to continue do all we can to reach a fair agreement.

The last two years, faculty and students worked together to turn back Governor Corbett’s historic budget cuts for our universities. We held rallies and met with legislators who know the value of public higher education. We have stood together for quality education. We can now use your help to avert a strike.

Please write to the Chancellor at jcavanaugh@passhe.edu and tell him to settle a fair contract with the faculty. You do not have to argue our side. Just tell him to be fair. The more he hears from you, the more likely he is to change the proposals even he knows APSCUF cannot in wisdom accept. We appreciate your support.

Steve Hicks
APSCUF president

 

Text APSCUF to 68398 for up-to-date info about negotiations. Like the Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/PAStudentsVoiceand follow it all on Twitter at @PAStudentsVoice.

Read Full Post »

Strike Authorization Vote: TODAY IS LAST DAY TO VOTE!

Today is the last day for APSCUF members to vote on strike authorization! APSCUF-KU Members: Voting starts at 9:00 am and ends at exactly 3:00 pm. Please make every effort to get out and vote. We’d like to hit 100% turnout, but that can onl

y happen if you get out and vote. The polling station is in OLD MAIN 200 A (the entrance is on the side of Old Main facing Stratton Administration building. Call the APSCUF-KU Office at 610-683-4277 if you have questions. We are all busy, but this is our last push so let’s make it count.

At the end of voting today, all ballots will be immediately boxed and sent overnight to APSCUF state offices in Harrisburg. Votes from all 14 campuses will be counted in Harrisburg on Friday. Yup, we’ll know the results before Thanksgiving!

 

 

 

 

Read Full Post »

Food Stamp Faculty? UNACCEPTABLE!

On Nov. 12, 13, and 14 APSCUF members across the state will be voting to give our negotiating the team the authority to call a strike if negotiations reach an impasse. What might be one of the main points of conflict?

 

 

 

Read Full Post »

16 Months without a Contract: Let’s Go Grocery Shopping!

 

 

 

APSCUF members are now in the 16th month without a contract. As each month rolls by, our paychecks buy less. Like many faculty, I live with the constant worry of a furnace breaking down or an unexpected car repair bill. I hadn’t imagined that 10 years into my tenure at Kutztown, I would still be living paycheck to paycheck.

I wanted to know more about what it means concretely to continue to go without a contract, no cost-of-living increases, no steps. I did some research and put together a little graphic that helps to demonstrate the persistent erosion of our economic conditions. So, here it is: Let’s Go Grocery Shopping!

Read Full Post »

Board of Governors, Here We Come!

It’s about 3:30 am and I am up preparing for today’s PASSHE Board of Governors meeting in Harrisburg. I am printing out the last faculty letters to the Chancellor that I received late last night, reviewing my notes for my 90 seconds before the Board of Governors, rechecking Google maps directions to ensure I can return to KU in time for my office hours and afternoon class, and hoping that enough faculty members from our 14 university system will make the trip to Harrisburg today to pack the Board of Governor’s meeting. As an academic – especially one that teaches writing and advocacy rhetorics, I am compelled to accept the persuasive power of rational discourse and I hope that the words of my colleagues and I will have some degree of impact on the Chancellor and the Board of Governors. I want to believe that we can help convince PASSHE administrators to bargain in good faith and help us secure a good and lasting contract.

However, the activist in me, the labor unionist in me, is also compelled to recognize that the persuasive power of words – yes, even in an academic context – have power only insofar as they are backed by people willing to act up on those words. Words, by themselves, are constrained by context – e.g. if there is no one listening, or a decision has already been made, or there are no institutional rules that require those in power to listen. If words are not empowered to be meaningful in any given institutional context, then their source of power must come from outside that institutional context. As Frederick Douglass memorably put it:

“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.”

For sure, Douglass was no slouch when it came to a commitment to the persuasive power of words. However, he was also no fool. His direct experience with slavery and racism taught him otherwise.

Late yesterday we found out that the Chancellor’s Office has limited the public comments section of today’s meeting to three speakers. Each speaker will be limited to three minutes. Then, that’s it, comments are cut off. The Chancellor’s Office limited public comments to three speakers at least once before – when cafeteria workers from IUP, represented by SEIU, were protesting the Board of Governor’s meeting because of Sodexo. The take away? When workers in the PASSHE system – from cafeteria workers to academic workers – seek to make their concerns part of the official discussion, the Chancellor’s Office turns off the mic after providing just enough time for comments so they can claim to have been “open” to public concerns, but not enough time for any substantive discussion. It’s not about discussion after all. It’s about control.

I will be splitting my time with our local APSCUF-KU President, Paul Quinn. Before hearing that the Chancellor’s Office was going to limit debate, each of us had three minutes. But, we’ll take what we can get. I will deliver faculty letters and I will make some brief remarks. But, in the end, what will matter is if the Chancellor and the Board of Governors see that they are not up against three or four faculty members, but hundreds. The power of our words will be measured by the number of faculty members packing the meeting room and manning the picket lines outside the Dixon Center.

I prepare to drive to Harrisburg knowing full well that the Chancellor’s Office has already stacked the deck against us. That the only reason I am  being given time to speak is because the Chancellor’s Office needs to appear to to be open to public comments. I don’t have any illusions about that portion of today’s meeting. I am going to Harrisburg to stand with my colleagues from across the state who, through their physical presence, are saying, “Enough!” I am going to Harrisburg to provide the Chancellor’s Office with a small taste of what a picket line looks like. I am going to Harrisburg to begin a process of demonstrating what gives a union power at the negotiations table  – not simply the negotiation skills of the people at the table, but the collective power of our more than 6,000 members across the Commonwealth. I am going to Harrisburg to begin a process of putting limits on the aspirations of would-be, petty tyrants.

 

Read Full Post »

Raging Chicken Press on PASSHE: Smashing Apples

For those of you who don’t know, in the spring of 2011 I launched a progressive media site called Raging Chicken Press. While I described the site as a “side project,” it is really more of a place where my teaching and scholarship meet in practice.  For example, this semester I am teaching ENG 316 Rhetoric, Democracy, Advocacy and next semester I will be teaching a Special Topics class ENG 390 Activists Writing Media: Composing Democratic Futures. I’ve published on activist rhetoric in  Democracies to Come – co-authored with Rachel Riedner of the George Washington University, as well as articles on “Viral Advocacy” in Reflections: A Journal of Public Rhetoric, Civic Writing, and Service-Learning and rhetorics of labor advocacy in Seth Kahn and JongHwa Lee’s fantastic collection, Activism and Rhetoric. I’ve always had the need to do more than teach and write about rhetoric. I’ve found it critical to also be a practitioner. In fact, I would argue, my teaching, scholarship, and practice are all intimately related and in dialogue. Raging Chicken Press has been my latest site of practice and it has taken off faster than I could have imagined.

Last week I launched a new series called “Smashing Apples: Shock Doctrine for Public Education.” The series focuses on the attacks upon public education in PA and across the region and nation. I wanted to let readers of the XChange know for a couple of reasons. First, I am always looking for new writers, photographers, videographers, cartoonists, and podcasters interested in contributing to the site. Given APSCUF’s continuing contract fight, I thought there might be some of you out there who have got some things to say, and who are looking for a place to say it. While our APSCUF-KU efforts are currently focused on letters to editors and to the Board of Governors and Chancellor, Raging Chicken Press might give you a space to contribute in different ways.

Second, I wanted to let you know of some of the articles we have recently published in which you may be interested. Here you go:

• “The Industrialization of PASSHE: Where the Public Good, Its Students, and Its Faculty are Auctioned Off to the Extraction Profiteers,” by Bloomsburg U faculty member, Wendy Lee
• “You Can Tell A Lot About a College by the Way It Treats Its Adjuncts,” by Kutztown U faculty member, Amy Lynch-Biniek (first appeared here the XChange)
• “Smashing Apples: Shock Doctrine for Public Education – That’s What It’s All About!,” by yours truly
• “Pennsylvania Higher Education: Privatized and Sold-Out by House and Senate,” by Kutztown University student, Sean Kitchen
• Rick Smith Files | “Sherri Magunson of the Harrisburg Education Association on Defunding Harrisburg City Schools  to Make Room for Profiteers.” 

Hope you find some these articles compelling and if you’re mad as hell and can’t take it any more, consider submitting to the Raging Chicken

 

Read Full Post »

KU President Javier Cevallos Joins Aramark to Take Shots at Faculty Unions

Kutztown University President, Javier Cevallos joins Aramark in taking shots at faculty unions. Check out Cevallos entire article in his article “Against the Windmills,” in the Aramark Published Presidential Perspective series:

Cevallos, “Against the Windmills: The Commodification of Higher Education”

While you’re at it, check out an example of Aramark’s anti-union work in this letter sent to employees at Western Washington University:

http://westernfrontonline.net/aramark_letter.pdf

 

Read Full Post »

Raging Chicken Press Publishes First “Early Edition” and Keeps Stirring the Pot

With the increasing numbers of submissions to Raging Chicken Press, we’ve been thinking of expanding our publishing schedule from once a month to twice a month. If you’ve been following the going-ons in our little corner of activist media, you know that I’ve been batting around the idea of doing an “Early Edition” at the beginning of each month. Well, here’s our first crack at it. As you’ll see, this “Early Edition” has fewer contributions, but if we continue to get the kind of submissions we’ve been getting, we might just try publishing full editions twice a month. Frankly, the only thing that is holding us back from doing so at this point is the work load. And, yes, that sentence is a segue to a call for aspiring activist journalists, videographers, editors, podcasters, and social network enthusiasts to c’mon out and join us Raging Chickens. At this point, we’re all volunteers and we can use whatever skills you bring to the table. Interested? Drop me a line at ragingchickenpress@gmail.com.

Here’s the contents for the May Early Edition:

• Rick Smith Files | Darrin Kelley, International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 1, Pittsburgh: “We’re Done, We’re Fed Up, We’re Not Going to be Pushed Around and Stepped On”
• Dory Hippauf, “Money Runs Through It”
• Walter Brasch, “Fracking: Pennsylvania Gags Physicians (Part 1)”
• “My Body of Water.” An I AM PICTURES and I HEART H2O production for Demascus Citizens and Citizens for Water
• Scott Cannon, “Marcellus Reality Tour Part 3: EPA Comes to Dimock”

If you’re still thinking about contributing to the May issue of Raging Chicken Press, remember the deadline for submissions is this Thursday, May 10th. It looks like we’re in good shape to go ahead and publish the May issue on the 15th.

The Never-Ending Fundraising Drive

There are 52 days left in this round of our fundraising drive. The good news is that as of this writing we’ve raised $515.00! A little side-note to all of you who contributed so far, you’re thank you gifts will be on their way very soon. After several unexpected setbacks, I got a package this week with stickers, mugs, t-shirts, and more to send out to all of you awesome Raging Chicken supporters.

The less good news is that we’ve only raised about 2% of our goal. It’s been a learning experience for sure. I could not be happier with the amazing work we’ve been able to do with next to no resources (other than those that come out of my pocket). However, we’re growing fast and are hitting the limits of what we can afford to do. For example, one of our writers is doing some pretty amazing investigative research on fracking out in Western Pennsylvania. He’s been able to do some great work over the phone and email, but we’d like to be able to send him out there for a few days with a video camera and recorder to talk to the affected families. Imagine if Raging Chicken Press had the resources to cover some of the costs of this kind of investigative research. Pretty cool. My goal from the beginning of this project was to appeal first to the progressive community directly for support. The idea was that the more that this project is funded by individual members of the progressive community, the more we can ensure it will always be for the progressive community in a very concrete way. We recognize that not every progressive out there has the time or ability do the kind of work we are doing here. But we can build a networked community of contributors and donors to help strengthen our movements.

It’s clear that I’m going to have to rethink how to best fund this project for the long haul. I am wide open for ideas and help! Let me know if you’ve got some ideas for raising funds. I’ve been looking at some grants, starting a membership program, and approaching some regional, progressive organizations directly. We’ll see what comes of it all.

Shop Progressive and Support Raging Chicken Press

Another very easy AND FREE way you can help support what we do is to use the links on the right-hand sidebar to do all your Amazon.com, fair-trade coffee, and book shopping. Use the search boxes or click through and shop as your normally would. You will have the same experience as if you went to the sites directly. The only difference is that part of your purchase, generally 4-8%, will go directly to Raging Chicken Press. Even better, bookmark the links and use that bookmark every time you shop.

Here’s three links that you can start using right now to help support what we do:

• Amazon.com
• Shop Indie Bookstores
• Equal Exchange Fair Trade Coffee and Gifts

I want to put in a special plug for the Shop Indie Bookstores link. Here at Raging Chicken Press, we are now using this site for buying all of our subscriber give-away books. The Shop Indie Bookstores link not only allows you to buy from Independent, non-chain bookstores, you can choose to shop local. That’s key. For example, we’ve bought several books directly from the Doylestown Bookstore using the Shop Indie Bookstores link. Why does that matter? Well, here’s the persuasive case made by Indiebound.org:

When you shop at an independently owned business, your entire community benefits:

The Economy

• Spend $100 at a local and $68 of that stays in your community. Spend the same $100 at a national chain, and your community only sees $43.
• Local businesses create higher-paying jobs for our neighbors.
• More of your taxes are reinvested in your community–where they belong.

The Environment

• Buying local means less packaging, less transportation, and a smaller carbon footprint.
• Shopping in a local business district means less infrastructure, less maintenance, and more money to beautify your community.

The Community

• Local retailers are your friends and neighbors—support them and they’ll support you.
• Local businesses donate to charities at more than twice the rate of national chains.
• More independents means more choice, more diversity, and a truly unique community.

We’re certainly convinced. So, next time you’re thinking about ordering a book online, picking up a good read for a gift, ordering textbooks for school, or downloading an eBook (yes, Indies do eBooks too!), consider going Indie and going local. And, to ge the most bang for your buck, use our Shop Indie Bookstores link and support Raging Chicken Press while you support your local community.

A Note on the May Issue

I think you’re going to really dig the full May issue. We’ve got some great interviews and articles that remind us that the month of May begins with May Day–International Workers’ Day. The Occupy Movement organized actions around the country, which seemed to be the opening shots of an American Summer. We plan on being there as actions over the summer heat up. Let us know what you will be doing to fight back.

Bread and Roses,

Kevin Mahoney
Editor Zero, Raging Chicken Press

Read Full Post »

If you missed it…the March issue of Raging Chicken Press is rocketing around the interwebs!

On St. Patrick’s Day the March issue of Raging Chicken Press hit the networks. If you missed the release, you can still check it out! As you’ll see, the March issue is fracking heavy (pun intended).

• Wendy Lee, “Why Fracking Epitomizes the Crisis in American Democracy: Profiteering and the “Good American”
• Sean Kitchen, “What are You Waiting for Frack-Sylvania? It’s Time to Occupy Our Environment and Take Back Our Commonwealth”
• Drew Simonovich, “Lt. Governor Cawley Visits KU: Budget Cuts, Fracking, Free Speech”
• The Rick Smith Files | Class War Fight Back
• Andrea Egizi, “Occupy the Corporations”
• Scott Cannon, “Marcellus Shale Reality Tour, Part 1”
• Coalition for a Healthy County, “The Fracking News”
• Dave Kalis, “An Open Letter to PA College Students”
• Lee Camp, “Anti-Occupy Law Passed by Congress and White House Nearly Unanimously,” MOC #124

So, check it out; I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. And while you’re checking out the issue, why don’t you consider to contributing to the April issue? The deadline for the April issue is Wednesday, April 11th. I want to make a special call for articles on the PA budget. While the March issue is pretty packed with great stuff, I feel there is a notable lack of coverage of the budget. PA Governor Corbett has proposed a budget that will bring many long-standing public institutions in PA to the brink of destruction. So, you’ve got about a month! I hope you’ll consider submitting. Got something to get off your chest? Peace to speak? Ax to grind? You might just have found an ally.

Bread and Roses,

Kevin Mahoney
Editor Zero, Raging Chicken Press

Read Full Post »

Corbett’s Ax Strikes Again: Another Reason to Support Independent, Progressive, Activist Media

Raging Chicken Press Ready to do Battle, But We Need Your Help

Earlier today PA Governor Tom Corbett, announced a 20% cut to PA’s 14 campus State System of Higher Ed. Cuts to the state-related institutions (Penn State, Temple, Pitt, and Lincoln) are looking at close to 30% cut. That’s after a 25% cut to PASSHE last year.

That’s not all. $320 million cut to the Department of Public Welfare, cutting 650 state jobs, and continued million dollar handouts to corporations — NOT small businesses. The attack is here AGAIN.

Raging Chicken Press was founded to cover activists’ responses to these kind of attacks to working people and the commons. We are here to amplify, agitate, and activate. But we need your help to build this progressive media movement.

I know people are strapped and uncertain about the future. But I’d like to ask you to consider contributing whatever you can to our fundraising drive. Even small donations of $5, $10, $25 helps sustain independent, progressive, activist media. Together we can turn the tide against these attacks by Corbett and his fellow slash and burn corporate-sponsored politicians across the country.

Please consider donating. We are fighting for our future. Click the link below to learn more.

https://www.wepay.com/donations/raging_chicken_press_fund

Bread and Roses,
Kevin Mahoney
Founder & Editor, Raging Chicken Press

Read Full Post »

Raging Chicken Press launches 100 day fundraising drive

Why We Are Raising Money

While there are a number of excellent, progressive publications across the country, there is a significant lack of regionally based progressive publications that focus on local, state, and regional issues. Raging Chicken Press seeks to fill a gap between dynamic local and regional activist organization on-line (blogs, facebook, twitter) and more nationally focused progressive publications.

We want to turn what started as a one-person operation into a sustainable progressive media site for Pennsylvania and beyond. The funds raised from this campaign will help fund three paid internships, an annual “Best of Raging Chicken Press” book (both paperback and eBook), paper “Broadside” edition for distribution, and the expansion of our audio and video contributions. In addition, we will be able to begin to build toward our goals of establishing a Community Advocacy Institute, a small progressive publishing house, and a brick-and-mortar presence in Kutztown, PA.

From the outset, we’ve seen Raging Chicken Press as more than another on-line publication. We see the potential to be an organization that provides opportunities for the next generation of progressive media activists and citizen journalists to gain practical experience. In short, we see what we do as part of the necessary work of building a powerful progressive movement. And we need your help to make this happen. We want to follow a model of community supported media and avoid relying upon advertisements to fund our work. Yes, we really do need you to make this happen.

What you can do

Obviously, we’d love for you to contribute to our fundraising campaign. Check out our fundraising site for suggested levels of donations plus a whole range of thank you gifts we will send you for contributing as specified levels. Don’t worry if you can’t give a lot. Every little penny helps. Ideally we can raise funds from smaller donations from a large number of people. Again, the goal is to be a community supported organization that does not have to rely upon advertisements for revenue.  The suggested donation amounts listed on our fundraising site are just that, suggestions. You can contribute whatever you can (minimum of $2.00). Even if you can only spare $5.oo, that will help. Even better, at check out you can choose to spread your contributions out over several months. For example, you could choose to contribute $5.00/month for 12 months = $60. In fact, in the near future we will be setting up a membership option that will ask members to do just that.

Even if you can’t make a contribution, you can still help out tremendously just by spreading the word, telling people about Raging Chicken Press, and encouraging them to make a contribution. You can help by publicizing our fundraising campaign through facebook, twitter, and blogs. Really, everything helps.

You can also help support our work by using some of our affiliate links on the right-hand side of our webpage. For example, if you click on the Amazon.com box you will be taken to the Amazon.com web page. By using that link, Raging Chicken Press will be given at least 6% of everything you buy. And here’s the bonus: it will not cost you a penny more than if you had not clicked our link. A few readers have already made use of our affiliate links and it helps quite a bit. Best thing you can do is click on the Amazon.com (or other) affiliate link and bookmark it on your browser and use it every time you shop.

And, of course, you can always pick up cool, progressive stuff at the Raging Chicken Press store. 10% of all purchases at our store go directly to help support our work. You can find t-shirts, posters, stickers, bumper stickers, mugs and more.

If you have suggestions for other fundraising ideas, I’m all ears. I’ll do whatever I can to make Raging Chicken Press a strong voice in support of progressive, activist politics in PA and beyond.

Thanks in advance for your time and help!

 

Bread and Roses,

Kevin Mahoney
Editor Zero, Raging Chicken Press

 

Read Full Post »

December Issue of Raging Chicken Press is (Finally) Here!

Wow. It has been quite an amazing month and the December issue of Raging Chicken Press reflects the kind of month it has been. It’s also pretty clear that we are already bursting at the seams, ready to expand our site into new areas. I am going to spare you my end of  year reflections until next week sometime. Suffice it to say that we’ve got big plans for 2012!

Here’s a breakdown of the December issue:

• Kevin Mahoney | Raging Chicken Press Interview with Noam Chomsky (yes, that Noam Chomsky)
• Wendy Lee | “Fracking is a Variety of Environmental Rape Abetted by the Law: Governor Corbett’s Pennsylvania, Inc.”
• Dustin Slaughter | “Occupy 2.0: ‘Defending the Everyday Aims of Life’ While Persisting in a Police State”
• Rick Smith Files | “Privatization in Three Parts” (Featuring interviews with labor attorney, Irwin Aronson; State Rep. Scott Conklin; and Marcie Boyer, nurse and member of SEIU District 1199P  in PA in State Prison system)
• Sean Kitchen | “Battlefield USA: From Occupy Wall Street to Guantanamo Bay”
• Kati Sipp | “Some Thoughts on Getting Arrested…”
• Aaron Barlow | “Diane Ravitch on the Failure of High Stakes Testing in Two Parts”
• Sean Kitchen | “The Free University: Brought to You by Occupy Kutztown”
• Caitlin Turner | “Occupy Everything”
• Lee Camp | “You Can’t Pepper Spray a Mental Awakening”
• Lee Camp | “Is Occupy Wall Street Having an Effect?”
• “Rob” | “Sean Hannity Show: #OWS are ‘Morons, Idiots, Stupid'”

As you can see, it’s quite an issue. A great way to close out 2011. Raging Chicken Press will be taking a little break over the holidays. Our next issue will be published the first week of February. While we will not be publishing a full issue until then, I will be using the opportunity to fill you in on our plans for 2012.

One reminder: it’s still possible to be eligible to be selected from our subscriber list to receive this months “Must Read.” This month’s book takes its inspiration from our Chomsky interview: Noam Chomsky’s, Profit Over People: Neoliberalism and Global Order as well as Hopes and Prospects (that’s right, another double give-away). To be eligible, all you need to do is enter your email address in the subscription box on the right-hand side of our main page and click “Subscribe” by Monday, December 19th. That’s it and it’s free. I’ll announce our lucky subscriber next week.

That’s it for now. Hope you dig the issue!

Bread and Roses,

Editor Zero, Kevin Mahoney

Read Full Post »

Strategic Imagination: Comments on KU Strategic Plan

A few moments ago I sent my comments/suggestions on last week’s Strategic Plan Open Forum to the task force’s co-chairs as requested. Last week’s open forum was the university community’s final opportunity to comment on the strategic plan that will guide the university’s direction for the next several years.

For the past several weeks, I have been meeting with a group of students, faculty, and staff who have been thinking concretely about how to bring change to the university and build strong networks with the surrounding community. Our group, Occupy Kutztown, meets every Tuesday at 11am in Bear’s Den coffee house in the student union building (meeting will restart at the beginning of the spring semester).  The three suggestions I sent to the Strategic Plan Task Force attempt to get the university to enact policies of material support to the community. Here is the full memo I sent:

To: Co-Chairs, Strategic Planning Task Force
From: Kevin Mahoney
Re: Comments/Suggestions for Strategic Plan

Date: December 7, 2011

I am writing to follow up on last week’s Strategic Plan open forum. As you may recall, I made a few  suggestions about the implementation of the Strategic Plan that I believe would provide KU with some concrete goals toward implementation. These suggestions are focused on reinforcing the spirit of the mission and goals of the university in ways that also help build strong connections with our surrounding communities.

I want to express my thanks to the Strategic Plan Task Force for their great work. I believe that this strategic plan represents the first coherent vision for the long-term success of the university I have seen since joining the faculty in 2002. As the outside consultant, Dr. Stephen Reno, stated

as a result of this process, you all have a wider responsibility for this campus.  So, you should be looking at this plan and asking yourself, “what’s my part in it? What piece of it can I pick up and take up and work on?”

These suggestions represent the kind of work that I and others envision as the parts of the process that we are willing to “pick up, take up, and work on.” So, as requested, I am sending you these comments/suggestions to you to include in your deliberations.

The three suggestions I have relate directly to Objective 2.1 Develop, Promote, and Sustain Strong Community Partnerships, in particular (but not limited to), Initiative 2.1.2. The goal of Initiative 2.1.2 is to “Establish and strengthen reciprocal relationships with regional businesses and community groups.” The two desired outcomes are: 1) identify and establish relationships with businesses and community groups aligned with KU programs; and, 2) Expand our networks of approved internship sites.

The current economic climate continues to strain communities and families that surround the university and from where most of our students come.  It would seem both appropriate and strategically smart for the university to act proactively to support our communities materially. These three suggestions could have a significant material impact in our communities and strengthen our ties with our communities.

1. Bank Locally

   Currently, Kutztown University does its banking with Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo was one of the “big banks” that contributed to our current economic crisis and continues to be plagued by ethical and legal violations. I propose that Kutztown University moves its money out of “big banks” and into a community based bank. Fleetwood Bank, for example, is a local, community based bank that would be an ideal candidate. By banking locally, we are supporting the local economy and maximizing the local impact of our banking practices.

2. PA Sourcing of Office Supplies and Related Materials

   While Pennsylvania has been spared the worst of the current economic crisis, jobs are still quite difficulty to come by and PA families are struggling. As a state institution that is owned by the taxpaying citizens of the Commonwealth, it would make sense that we should maximize our economic support for PA industries. I propose that Kutztown University enact a policy of buying at least 50% of all office supplies and related materials from PA industries with a unionize workforce.

3. Sourcing Food Locally

   Similar to #2, I propose that Kutztown University enact a policy of sourcing at least 50% of the food served on campus from local farms. Given the sheer size of Kutztown University, we would provide significant direct support for local economies. Furthermore, given the increasing number of food related crises connected to large-scale, global food sourcing (arsenic in apple juice, E. coli in meat and pre-packaged salads and vegetables) buying food locally is also a health issue.

I fully recognize that none of these proposals could be enacted over-night. I also recognize that enacting these proposals would require both work and a different way of thinking about how we fulfill our mission. As President Cevallos said at the open forum, these proposals lead us into “long and complicated” discussions and there would be “difficulties.” The group of people that I am working with on these issues are more than willing with work out the “difficulties.”

I believe that we can “think big” with this strategic plan and create a set of practices that can build strong relationships with the community through material choices the university makes as to how to spend and invest its money. As President Cevallos said, budgets and the use of resources are “choices.” The three choices I outline above are choices that can help demonstrate to the community that we can not only talk the talk of community engagement, we can walk the walk, too.

Thank you in advance for you consideration. Feel free to contact me via email @ mahoney@kutztown.edu or by phone. I would be happy to meet to discuss any of these issues further.

Sincerely,

Kevin Mahoney
Assoc. Prof., English

Along similar lines, our group has been discussion ways to build progressive networks on campus and to provide a site for activist education. We decided to begin a “Free University” @ KU that will run for nine weeks during the spring semester. More details will be coming.  In the meantime, here is a copy of the “syllabus.”

the Free University | brought to you by Occupy Kutztown

Kick off: February 13th.

Week 1: Intro to the Economic Collapse (6pm)

• Film: Inside Job
• Discussion:

Week 2: Best Democracy Money Can Buy

• Film: We the People, INC – Bill Moyer’s Journal
• Discussion:

Week 3: Rigging the Game

• Film: Koch Brother’s Exposed 
• Discussion:

Week 4: Intro to Community Agriculture

• Film: Fresh
• Discussion:

Week 5: Frankenfood

• Film: The Future of Food
• Discussion:

Week 6: Corporate Supper

• Film: Food, Inc. 
• Discussion:

Week 7: Blowing Up Appalachia

• Film: The Last Mountain
• Discussion:

Week 8: Frack This!

• Film: Split Estate
• Discussion:

Week 9: Fire in the Water

• Film: Gasland
• Discussion:

If you are interested in working on any of this stuff, check out the Occupy Kutztown facebook page or drop me an email.

Read Full Post »

Raging Chicken Press @ 10,000

In the wee hours of this morning, Nov. 29, Raging Chicken Press achieved a milestone of sorts: 10,000 all-time views. We could not be more thankful for the generous support we have seen and the willingness of readers to pass the word, send links to articles to their family and  friends, comment on articles, and subscribe. We hope you will be even more pleased with Raging Chicken Press in the upcoming months.

As you may have already read, the December issue will feature a video interview with Noam Chomsky. We also intend on introducing more audio components to the site including interviews and commentary in the coming months. In January, we will welcome our first Raging Chicken Press intern, Drew Simonovich  – what we hope to be the first of many to come.  In addition to our monthly issues, Raging Chicken Press has also been able to donate to Dustin Slaughter’s David and Goliath Project in support of his coverage of the Occupy Movement. We have dropped off supplies to Occupy Allentown.  We donated money to help fund the launch of the “Occupy Wall Street Journal” back in October. We have also deepened our connections to other activist/progressive projects such as the Rick Smith Show, Occupy Kutztown, and Lee Camp’s amazing “Moments of Clarity.” Just last week we announced our first “subscriber give-away” winner of the Raging Chicken Press “Must Read” of the month. The subscriber give-away will be a regular monthly feature (so subscribe!!!!). The December and January issues will feature several new contributors – both solicited and unsolicited which promises to further diversify the progressive voices we seek to amplify and support.

The next big challenge ahead will be fundraising. We’ve been able to earn a little bit of money from our on-line store and from a few donations from supporters. Revenue from those sources will allow Raging Chicken Press to cover its web-hosting and domain name fees and purchase some equipment such as a tripod and USB drives. However, if we are going to take on all that we want to take on, we are going to need to raise money more aggressively. At this point, it is most likely that we are going to make a strong push in the beginning of 2012 through Kickstarter. If we are able to raise the funds we need, we will be able to fund paid internships for the next couple of years, issue the first paperback edition of the “Best of Raging Chicken Press” in the summer of 2012, launch a small-scale progressive publishing house in cooperation with a local, union-shop printer, and begin to host monthly or bi-monthly progressive meet-ups to facilitate activist networking.

To think that just seven month ago Raging Chicken Press was simply a “cool idea” and now we have just crossed the 10,000 all-time viewer mark after only five issues is pretty remarkable. Once again, I want to thank everyone who has helped make this project possible…from our regular contributors, to our “Raging Chicken Army” who send out links to their networks when each issue is released, to the notes of support and critique we receive from readers. Raging Chicken Press is off to a blazing start thanks to you.

Bread and Roses,

Kevin Mahoney
Editor Zero, Raging Chicken Press

Read Full Post »

November Issue of Raging Chicken Press: Right Here, Right Now

Yes, the long wait is over. The November issue of Raging Chicken Press is up. I am hoping that you will think it was worth the wait. As you might imagine, the Occupy/99% movement takes the lion-share of the space this month. In fact, so much has happened and happened so quickly, that we had to drop a one article that had become outdated and we added in a “part two” to Dustin Slaughter’s piece on Occupy Philly because events moved fast this past week.

As a testament to how fast events are moving, we have not had a chance to begin to digest last night’s forcible eviction of the Occupy Wall Street encampment in NYC, the court order that allowed OWS activists to return to their encampment, and the hundreds of arrests that seemed to continue into the night. In addition, the Mayor of Oakland let it slip that she had a conference call with mayors from 18 U.S. cities with Occupy encampments to coordinate crackdowns and evictions. There is now doubt that we’re entering a new stage of the Occupy/99% movement…what that stage is, however, is undecided at this time. Raging Chicken Press looks forward to covering the continual development of this amazing movement.

This months issue features the following contributions:

• “Occupy Philadelphia Faces a Crossroads,” by Dustin Slaughter
• “The 99%: A Return to E Pluribus Unum?,” by Glenn Richardson
• “What the Occupations Have Taught Me: Lose the Fear,” by Dustin Slaughter]
• Rick Smith Files | Interview with Erik Loomis: “How General Strikes and Direct Action Build Solidarity”
• Rick Smith Files | Interview with Desire Grover: “PA GOP and Corporations Stealing Our Children’s Future”
• “Occupy Well Street: Frack the Keystone XL,” by Wendy Lee
• “Occupy Allentown,” video from the field
• “How Far We’ve Come: Eroding CUNY’s Mission One Test at a Time,” by Aaron Barlow
• “Kim Kardashian, Occupy Wall Street, and Credit Default Swaps,” Lee Camp | MOC #93
• Musical Interlude | Fuel for Resistance

We’d also like to remind you that you have to the end of this week for your chance to win Raging Chicken Press’s “Must Read” book of the month. All you need to do is subscribe to Raging Chicken Press by entering your email address in the box to the right and click “subscribe.”

Finally, for all you musicians and singer-songwriters out there, check out our first ever song contest for your chance to win Raging Chicken Press gear and our “Must Read” book of the month.

That’s it for now. Happy reading!

Kevin Mahoney

Editor Zero, Raging Chicken Press

Read Full Post »

Calling all progressive musicians and song writers: Raging Chicken Press song contest

Like to write music? Progressive? This might be for you:

The November issue of Raging Chicken Press will be out soon (hopefully by Monday–we’ve been a bit sick here).  I know, the waiting game sucks.  Well, Raging Chicken Press has got something for at least some of you to do while you are waiting for the next issue.

Raging Chicken Press announces its first ever song contest! More specifically, song parody contest. Frankly, if I had the musical talent, I would have been on this over the summer. But, we all have to accept our short-comings. So, I thought this would be a cool project to push out to fans and friends of Raging Chicken Press.

Have you ever seen Disney’s version of Robin Hood? Well, I loved it as a kid and now my three-year old son loves it too. As I was watching it over the summer, I began to see the possibility of repurposing some of the songs on the soundtrack for our current struggles against right-wing attacks on collective bargaining, public education, social services, and our democracy. I began to think about casting our “beloved” governor, Tom Corbett as “Prince John” the “phony King of England.”  In particular, I was thinking about the song “The Phony King of England.” Listen to this song and replace “John” and “England” with “Tom” and “Pennsylvania” and you’ll get the idea:

Got it? If you check out Chris Priest’s repurposing of Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire” (see below) you’ll get the sense of what we’re thinking about here at Raging Chicken Press.

So, we’re going to try a little experiment: We are calling on readers and friends of Raging Chicken Press to submit parodies of the song “Phony King of England” to Raging Chicken Press. All entries will be posted to Raging Chicken Press and readers will have a chance to vote on the best version. The top three entries (if we get that many) will receive their choice of t-shirt from the Raging Chicken Press store.  The winning song will also receive Raging Chicken Press’s “Must Read” book of the month.

Here’s the rules:

• Song must be a rewritten version of the “Phony King of England” that appears in the video above
• Song should replace “John” with “Tom” and Tom should refer to PA Governor, Tom Corbett. Likewise, “England” should be replaced with “Pennsylvania”
• All entries must be recorded in MP3 or .wav format.
• All final recordings must be loaded up to YouTube. Ideally, the final video should include images to political protest against Tom Corbett and the PA Republican’s austerity budget and other attacks upon working families and the Commons.
• Once songs are uploaded to YouTube, an email should be sent to ragingchickenpress@gmail.com including a link to the video, the name(s) of the song writer(s), and contact information including email and mailing address.
• All entries should be submitted by November 29th.

Entries will be posted to Raging Chicken Press as they are received. Voting for best parody song will begin on November 30, 2011 and the winner(s) will be announced in December issue.

Any questions? Send email inquiries to Kevin Mahoney, Editor Zero, Raging Chicken Press @ ragingchickenpress@gmail.com. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

Read Full Post »

Building Progressive Networks–Looking Ahead for Raging Chicken Press

With work on the November issue of Raging Chicken Press already underway, I wanted to take the opportunity to share with you some of the plans we have for Raging Chicken Press in the upcoming months.  The current form of Raging Chicken Press – a monthly, independent, progressive web-based publication – only scratches the surface of what is possible to do at this moment. In many ways, I view the publication of Raging Chicken Press as the launching pad for a much more ambitious project for networking progressive media, advocacy and direct action training, and materially supporting social movements. The Occupy/99% Movement, to echo the Zapatistas, has opened a crack in history that opens new possibilities, new imaginations of our collective futures. And we have seen an explosion of DIY efforts to renew and rebuild what we might call a social movement infrastructure–the kind of infrastructure that can help sustain our movements in the years and decades to come. I’d like to think that we can learn from the right-wing in this country did: they spent decades investing in an infrastructure of media, think tanks, and publications. From Wisconsin, to Ohio, to Pennsylvania, we are seeing how those investments have paid off. The commons is being systematically disassembled. But, finally, we are seeing the birth of a movement with the power to roll back the right-wing attack.

Raging Chicken Press plans on being around for the long haul. And to do that, we are taking steps to make our work sustainable.  The Raging Chicken Store, while a small operation, has earned Raging Chicken Press enough to pay for our hosting costs and associated services.  This coming February. Raging Chicken Press will be at the PA Progressive Summit in Philadelphia.  Next summer, Raging Chicken Press will be attending Netroots Nation in Providence, RI to learn from the experience of other media activists and to deepen our political networks. This spring, Raging Chicken Press will take on its first intern. We are working to provide at least three paid internships a year beginning summer 2012. In short, a lot is going on.

Our most ambitious project will be related to raising funds to help Raging Chicken Press on a sound financial footing.  In the next couple of weeks, Raging Chicken Press will be putting out a fundraising appeal through Kickstarter.com. Rather than being forced to rely upon advertising or smaller fundraisers, we will attempting to raise $20,000 through this amazing, community based fundraising tool. While some readers have already begun to donate to Raging Chicken Press though our PayPal donation button on our site and we thank those donors immensely.  However, we recognize that our expenses will soon out pace what we are able to raise through small donations and the Raging Chicken Press store.

I can’t begin to thank all the people who have written me to say how excited they are about Raging Chicken Press. With this kind of support we will be able to build a strong independent, progressive voice for PA and beyond. For now, keep reading and consider contributing to the November issue of Raging Chicken Press!

 

Read Full Post »