ARTICLES 2010

The Still Dissenting Life of John Liberty
by John Liberty, October 5, 2010

In a lot of ways I have been lucky. Since my undergraduate years and throughout my adult life I have been fascinated by and active in social movements, primarily civil liberties and anti-war groups. When I joined the CSUS faculty as a social science reference librarian it was fortuitous set of circumstances that allowed me to merge my personal interests with my professional responsibilities in building the University Library’s collection of alternative, dissenting, counterculture books and other similar library materials. Over the years the CSUS collection has received national recognition. After a thirty year tenure on our faculty I found that I could not abandon my interests in social movements. During my fifteen plus years as an emeritus faculty I have been enjoying my interests in traditional and modern jazz, movies, and my amazing grandchildren, but library radical collection development remains very important to me. The problem today is a simple one—money! The drastic reductions in the CSU budgets have undercut the ability of libraries to purchase even mainstream materials, let alone dissenting books. And this is where members of the Emeritus Association come in.

As a defenders of free speech in a democratic society, and as an advocates for intellectual freedom, you, the members of the Emeritus Association, are invited to contribute to the building of the University Library’s Dissent and Social Change Fund. This is a vital and necessary undertaking.

The Dissent and Social Change Fund is a means whereby the University Library can continue to build an extensive collection of books, serials, microforms and digital materials reflecting the major social, political and economic movements of twentieth century America. The literature of such movements is often contemporary, archival, and ephemeral. One example of library collection development in this area is my bibliography Journals of Dissent and Social Change which reflects periodical holdings. The Dissent and Social Change project was begun in 1965 and is nationally recognized. It encompasses the perspectives of right wing and left wing groups, African American, Asian American, Latino American, and Native American peoples, as well as feminist and gay organizations, civil rights advocates, environmental and peace movement activists, and libertarians. The purpose of the Dissent and Social Change Fund is to make available to the academic community the broadest spectrum of alternative viewpoints, so that out of the clash of conflicting opinions new and constructive ideas can emerge.

The use of private contributions to support public university programs is not a new concept, but it is increasingly necessary in the libraries of the California State University system. The cost of books and periodicals has greatly exceeded the rate of inflation, and State funding alone has proved to be inadequate. Specialized acquisitions, such as those now purchased from the Dissent and Social Change fund, have been at a particular disadvantage.

It is for this reason that I am appealing to you. It is the library’s intention to actively seek greater public support for the growth of the Dissent and Social Change Fund. A Trust Fund has been created and donations have been received. This is encouraging. Nevertheless, it seems likely that because of the sometimes controversial nature of the acquisitions most future contributions will come from individuals who value intellectual freedom and constructive social change, rather than from persons whose emphasis is upon a narrow vision of “truth” and a protection of the status quo.

The Dissent and Social Change Fund exists to facilitate free inquiry into many alternative points of view. If you embrace the ideals of the First Amendment, as I do, I hope you will join me in contributing to the Dissent and Social Change Fund. No amount of money is too large and none is too small. All contributions are tax deductible. Please help.

Checks should be made payable to “California State University, Sacramento, Library Trust Fund TM146,” earmarked for Dissent and Social Change. Checks should be sent to: The Library Finance Office, CSUS Library, 2000 State University Drive East, Sacramento, CA 95819-6039.

A Year at Sac State
by Dick Kornweibel, June 2, 2010

From one perspective every school year is about the same as every other. The rhythm is experienced by employees and students alike. In other respects there are unique differences. In good times those differences can be subtle and inconsequential. I don’t have to tell you these are not good times and this will be an attempt to portray the school year from my observations as a daily campus visitor as well as an official auditor at Faculty Senate meetings.

First I am happy to report that this has been a civil year in which we have seen a minimum of posturing and public conflict. Along the same line Chicken Little has made only occasional and brief appearances. In general folks have taken time to verify before launching a crusade or rebellion. Let me speculate on the reasons why collegiality and civility were the norm. Sac State’s current faculty is very good. Most individuals are better trained and more professional than were many of us who began in the sixties and seventies. The president has made a largely successful effort to engage and work with faculty on important matters and faculty have responded in kind. At the same time one could argue that folks were just too busy to raise issues. Junior faculty were as usual doing things to enhance their tenure and promotion prospects. They and many other employees were coping with doing more with less. Class sizes were up and with the loss of lecturers teaching assignments had to change for many. Meanwhile other employees saw their responsibilities increased when for example someone retired and was not replaced. In often ad hoc ways staff was temporarily reassigned to cover for ill and absent staff in another department. Year before last, many folks just didn’t get it. They expressed frustration by blaming a dean or a vice president or President or chancellor for their difficulties. This past year virtually everyone understood that deans, etc. were just as much pawns as were the staff under them.

Of course the year included no formal layoffs and I suspect few official reassignments. The big thing that folks had to deal with was furloughs. Furloughs meant that the same work had to be done with two day’s less official work per month. In reality there is no generalizing about this other than to say that virtually all employees lost about ten per cent of salary. The impact of salary reduction was quite variable. Some in higher categories or long tenure on the campus may well have dealt with monetary loss without significant impact while likely most with lower pay faced significant if not serious difficulties. As most of you know from your own experience many faculty simply worked until tasks were completed. A few faculty took their furlough days on teaching days but the numbers were low.

Planning for next year began early in the fall 2009 semester. The most significant of early planning involved the “enrollment management” team. If the phrase enrollment management is new to you it means exactly what the words imply. I am by the way impressed by our team as well as the current staff in the registrar’s office. In a nutshell the EM folks must bring in a student cohort that is no greater than the campus’s budgeted number while we have an oversupply of applicants and when most of the traditional analytic tools are no longer useful. Yield rates, student unit loads, dropout rates, etc, from recent semesters are no longer reliably predictable.

Early in the fall semester the Provost asked the Faculty Senate for criteria to help make decisions in case it would make sense to eliminate or sharply reduce individual programs. The Senate was unable to come to terms with the task and in the end my surmise is that the President and Provost decided to do percentage cuts with minor deviations. By the beginning of the spring semester, perhaps earlier, all budget units and sub units were asked to prepare preliminary budgets anticipating a six, a twelve and an eighteen percent cut. From the beginning it was clear to department chairs, deans, etc. that the campus would not likely know about the budget until late summer or even into the fall semester. Six percent was based on the fantasy that state revenue would come in at a healthy rate (it has not). Eighteen percent was perhaps seen as worst case. During at least March and April top level administrators acting on the advice of the University Budget Committee came to the conclusion that for now planning with the twelve percent scenario would be useful. These administrators as “management” confidentially worked the numbers to see if layoffs and other drastic measures were appropriate by the end of the semester.

As these interim decisions were being made a dribble of useful information came in. The most significant was data on an unusual number of retirements and voluntary separations. Nevertheless this did not mean that final decisions could be made; it only meant that at this moment some preliminary steps needed to be taken. Late in May the President announced that less than ten layoff notices were sent out, all to non-faculty and as well that a considerable number of staff reassignments would take place. In some cases staff were transferred to soft money positions and in other cases to cover vacated jobs.

My sense is that most folks are paying attention and get it. That is, there could be more cuts including layoffs when we actually get a budget. To me the nightmare scenario would be a further reduced budget that would not be known until well into the fall semester requiring a decimated spring semester.

Sitemaster's Note: Dick Kornweibel is an emeritus professor, and past-chair, of the History Department at Sacramento State. Dick serves on the board of the Emeritus Association and is the Association's non-voting representative to the Sacramento State Faculty Senate, a position established by the Senate during in 1995.

Easter Sunday in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine
by Hortense Simmons

On Apr 4, 2010, at 9:41 AM, Hortense Simmons wrote:

Happy Easter!

Not only is today Easter Sunday, but it also marks three weeks since my arrival in Ukraine! I had hoped to update you earlier on how I was experiencing Ukraine since my last visit almost five years ago, but my assignment has kept me much too busy for reflection, and I have not seen enough of the country, particularly the cities with which I'm most familiar, to make any pronouncements about changes.

Some of you know that when I left home, I had a nasty problem with my vocal chords--after talking for a short while, my words would diminish into unrecognizable gibberish. Admittedly, I have not been at my optimum best on this assignment, particularly since part of my responsibility as a native English speaker was to demonstrate in natural speech what "American English" sounds like. With one more meeting of my students ahead before I leave for Mykolayiv, the city I lived in during my first assignment in 2004, I can say that they do not appear disappointed. I'd like to think I charmed them with my display of genuine love and knowledge of profession, as well as my respect for them and their culture.

Easter Sunday in Kryvyi Rih (my watch registers 5:30 p.m. at this time) was really special in that I attended my first celebration of Easter at a Russian Orthodox Church. Carol and Frank Kersting (senior Peace Corps volunteers) picked me up around 8:20 this morning, and we boarded the marschutka for the short ride to the church to have the priest bless us and our Easter baskets, as is tradition. Yesterday, my department chair Maryna, had prepared a little round Easter basket for me--it contained five eggs (three real ones, nicely "colored" in a kind of a shrink-wrapped plastic wrapper, two with religious scenes and the other a secular one-- little girls with blond ringlets and their kittens playing together, and two wooden eggs, with brown base color accentuated with red, yellow, and white flowers) ; also in my basket was a traditional loaf of sweet bread/cake with a light dusting of powdered sugar topping. Lining my basket was a colorful oversized linen
napkin which extended on all sides of the basket. Needless to say, I was ready for my blessing. . . .

Imagine my surprise when entering the church grounds and noticing the people carrying baskets filled with not only eggs and bread, but sausages and other meats, fruit, vegetables, wine and bottles of VODKA! I thought, heck, had I brought my vodka, perhaps the priest's blessing would have taken care of my annoying nasally voice. Well, the sidewalk to the church was lined on both sides with eager folk who had strategically positioned their baskets on the ground--they had lit candles on their bread as well. I had no candles. It took a while to find a location to stand--actually, we had to wait until the priest had completed a round of blessings. Groups of people left upon having their baskets and themselves blessed with holy water which the priest flung liberally, using a willow branch which he dipped into a tin bucket held by a military officer. Then my turn came (I was standing next to a family with a small son who howled loudly when he received his
blessing)-- the priest, not once, but twice, flung the water at me with great force, sensing perhaps that I really needed his blessing! I was drenched! Happily so--my natural hair, covered with the Ferragamo scarf Mariko (a visiting scholar from Yokohama whom I once hosted in my home ) gifted me with years ago, stood the test.

You know what? It's been several hours since the experience. I've returned to my hotel room, changed clothing, taken a walk in the park across the street, purchased a few items from a local market ( a couple of bananas, a bag of oatmeal, 3 small containers of yoghurt, a roll of toilet paper, and yes a bottle of Vodka, all for $6.41!), and I'm feeling better. I will continue to celebrate the Easter holiday tomorrow at my department chair's dachau--perhaps one of her guests will bring blessed vodka which I will surely enjoy. . . . . .

Easter blessings to all of you,

Hortense

Thailand: The Sadness Behind the Perpetual Smile
By Bob Curry

Emeritus Association members who have visited Thailand almost certainly encountered the personal charm and grace of its people, enjoyed their appealing culture and marveled at the physical beauty of their country. Over the years, however, returning visitors likely noticed a dimming in the glow of the perpetual Thai smile. There are numerous explanations for their growing pessimism, discontent and very real sadness. Among the explanation is the depressing impact of the Kingdom’s deep recession, massive unemployment and growing poverty that continue to plague Thailand’s economy. However, this is only a partial explanation because a more fundamental factor looms even larger: a two-fold and persistent domestic conflict that has been dramatic, destabilizing, violent and ultimately deadly. One arena of conflict is nationwide and exists between two diametrically opposed political groups. One group is mainly urban, industrially and commercially rooted, more educated, in general materially better-off and in opposition to the remnants of the previous Prime Minister Thaksin-led government that was deposed in a bloodless military-led coup. The other is largely rural, agriculturally based, less educated, economically less well-off and either in favor of the deposed Thaksin’s return, or a form of government that includes him and/or a remnant of the party he once led.

The nationwide conflict has been essentially bloodless with the exception of one or two rare instances in which people have been injured. Nationally, the conflict has been disruptive to the social, political and economic life of the Thai people. Acts of aggression on the part of both groups have closed parliament temporarily, shut down the country’s most important airport during the height of the tourist season, hampered tourism (an important part of the Thai economy), worsened unemployment, disrupted local ground transportation and constrained commerce. But this conflict has led to no mass deaths!

That’s not true of the second arena of conflict that has been far from bloodless! The death toll from it is approaching 5,000 human beings. This conflict pits the Muslim Thai who live in the Kingdom’s southern-most provinces against much of the remainder of the country, particularly its national government in Bangkok and its political functionaries and its cadres of military and police personnel. Southern Muslims differ from the dominant Thai population in significant ways: they adhere to Islam and do not practice Buddhism; their basic language is Arabic and not Thai; they are less politically powerful and economically less-advantaged; their educational opportunities lag behind those of other Thai; they are less well-represented throughout the legal system and they have limited access to civil service employment.

In response to these inequities, hard core Muslims living in the south have long sought to succeed from The Kingdom of Thailand. Prior to the turn of the century, Southern Muslims have striven for succession from Thailand, and in the process have become “radicalized” and have turned to violence. Their actions have engendered a reciprocal violent set of acts on the part of government. During the past decade, the older and more determined Muslims have been joined by younger Southern Muslims; together they continue to engage in bloody and deadly conflict with central government authorities and their military and police forces.

Those of us who have enjoyed travelling to Thailand likely look forward to future trips to The Kingdom. It’s therefore not unimportant to recognize and understand the nature of conflict in the South, not only because it destabilizes Thailand and threatens the security of its people, but also because it could become a part of a waive of terrorism that some analysts predict is almost certain to sweep through Southeast Asia in the coming decade and beyond. If their predictions are correct, given the enormously unstable areas in both South and Southeast Asia, Thailand’s south could move beyond what the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok calls “a low level insurrection.”

As teachers, it’s important for us to begin our analysis by noting that on 1 September 2007, human faces to the violence that has plagued Southern Thailand was revealed by Al Jazeera when it reported that Ms. Zaina Yamamae, a Muslim teacher at a government school in Pattani province (a southern province) was traveling to school by minibus when a gunman on a passing motorcycle fired into the vehicle killing her instantly. The murder made her the 61sst teacher to be killed during a violent incident between 2000 and 2007. During this period, acts of violence (some by government operatives and others by Islamic radicals) combined to claim the lives of 4,500 people, nearly 2,000 during 2005 through 2007. Within the same article, Al Jazeera went on to report that Ms. Juling Pangamoon, a fellow teacher and a Buddhist, was badly beaten at her school in May of 2007. She was in a coma until Monday, 27 August when her life support system was disconnected.

Al Jazeera reported further that the president of the Teachers’ Federation of Narathiwat, one of the three most seriously affected provinces, observed that the situation is getting worse and that teachers need more protection. But beyond protection, ways to reduce the violence must be found if the educational mission of teachers is to be sustained. John Sidel confirmed that “Violent incidents increased in frequency and intensity in the last three months of 2006, with this rise in violence accompanied by a pattern of provocative attacks on teachers, monks and other civilian often involving mutilation or burning of corpses.”

Police and military forces have also exercised extreme violence ranging from exercising fatal attacks on mosques to over-loading “prisoners” on a truck bound for Bangkok. As a consequence, dozens of Muslims suffocated because of the lack of adequate ventilation. One could repeatedly report on the reciprocal violence perpetrated by Thai on Thai, but let’s take a different route.

The different route involves analyzing two creative, thoughtful and potentially useful academic studies offering theoretical accounts of what lies behind the rising tide of violent incidents and suggesting what can be done to lessen the violence and bloodshed. One study by Thanet Aphornsuvan focuses on the more recent social and political context of a “rebellion” underlying the incidents. His largely sociological/cultural study is from an Islamist’s perspective, thus providing a fuller understanding of the roots of Islamist violence, aggression and assertiveness. Another study, by Sidel, provides an historical/sociological perspective which begins in the fourteenth century, moves through the mid-twentieth century and encompasses Southeast Asia generally. Together, the two studies provide a multi-faceted, theoretical explanation of the root causes of the ongoing political conflict between Malay Muslims in Thailand’s southernmost provinces and the Royal Thai government in Bangkok. The studies offer alternative explanations of why the rising tide of violence has occurred, why it has outstripped the ability of the Royal Thai Government to cope with it, why the new policy directions that they offer could provide an intellectual foundation for public action based, and why a new approach must be based on mutual understanding and appreciation of both Muslim and Non-Muslim cultures, identities and circumstances.

Violence reduction in Southern Thailand is a goal of the current government in Bangkok. Its pursuit of peace and stability is based upon reconciliation and economic development. Aphornsuvan’s work shows how such an approach will be difficult because the “…conflict is sustained by the belief that the continued efforts of Bangkok to consolidate its control over the socioeconomic and cultural affairs of the Muslim community will lead to the erosion of Muslims’ cultural and religious way of life and the disappearance of their identify.” Hence the conflict is not socioeconomic but mainly “ethnic, religious and nationalist.”

Based on the above assessment, Aphornsuvan deduced that in order for lasting peace to take hold in the South, the Muslims must play a significant role in bringing peace and prosperity back to the region, requiring three fundamentals: first,, a strong Muslim political movement; second, a Thai government that supports a Muslim-based effort to bring, education and training, democracy and economic progress to the South; and third, a national effort to bring about an understanding of the South and its people to Thai citizens in other parts of the Kingdom. Without these fundamental reforms securely in place, when “The new military-backed government adopted a more conciliatory approach to the conflict from October 2006, the violence continued unabated and the much vaunted dialogue with the militants failed to produce results.” Without a confluence of Muslim and non-Muslim private initiatives and sound government policies, the future looks dim.

Sidel presents a companion theoretical perspective that could also be useful to Thai society and its government as it struggles to find a path toward reconciliation. He contends that “Recent Islamic terrorism in the region is best understood as a phenomenon intimately bound up with the political, sociological, and discursive trends of the past several years, trends that have worked to undermine the possibilities for articulating claims and mobilizing people under the sign of Islam. Terrorist violence reflects not the strength and solidity of insurgent Islamist forces but rather their weakness, their fragmentation and the threat of their dissolution.” After studying Muslim actions throughout Southeast Asia for years, Sidel concluded: “If Islamic education and associational life were stronger, civil society would undoubtedly be more vibrant in the southern Muslim provinces of Thailand, and thus more capable of constraining local abuses of state power. As a basis for mobilizing voters, for aggregating interests, and for exercising for state power, Islam certainly represents an important alternative or complement to the predominant forms of political power.”

The two studies combine in clarifying that a successful effort to reduce the magnitude of violence in Southern Thailand must rely on a three-fold approach. The first (based on progressive thinking centered in Bangkok) is a transfer of economic support to the south within the context of reconciliation based on thinking underlying (a) the Sufficiency Economy concept (developed by Thailand’s popular, thoughtful and humanist King stressing grass roots, community involvement, (b) the Village Development Program, and (c) the One Tambon Product One Product program that tries to spur community-based market activities using production processes that employ local labor and use local physical resources. The second is a strengthened civil state in the south featuring a less fractured, more cohesive, politically more effective Islamic-based political system. The third is a confluence of a strong and effective polity in the south, a forthcoming and dedicated government reconciliation initiative and a supportive general population.

Without a combination of the three-part approach described above, a lasting and just peace will be very difficult because a young Muslim living in Southern Thailand will likely be inadequately educated, underemployed or unemployed and separated from the remainder of Thailand by culture, language and religion. He or she is likely to be without hope, frustrated and very angry. This situation makes a young person who lives in the south fodder for recruitment into a form of terrorism. It is precisely this dangerous passage to terror that must be broken. Young Thai Muslims must have some stake in being Thai citizens. If not, the Kingdom of Thailand risks losing a great resource and instead creating a dangerous enemy.

All Thai citizens need to understand the above point if the smile is to return because reform and transition at the government level cannot proceed without the broad support of people living outside the South. Given this reality, the Thai cannot safely ignore the fact that Southern Muslims are their fellow citizens, and that a broad coalition of support for Muslim aspirations must be forthcoming if the slaughter is going to be abated. The country needs no more Zaina Yamamae and Juling Pangamoon type tragedies.

Personally I am guardedly optimistic that Thailand will maneuver through its current Southern morass, but to do so the country will need the help of ideas offered by scholars such as Aphornsuvan, Sidel and others. My constrained optimism comes from two sources: one--the up-beat but realistic conversations I’ve had with a number of students who I have had the privilege of teaching at Ramkhamhaeng University in Bangkok and Chiang Mai and at Burapha University in Bang Saen; another--the resourcefulness of the Thai people who have successfully confronted two financial crises since 1998, a devastating Tsunami, outbreaks of bird flu, swine flu and Sars.

As a traditional academic, I’m conditioned to cite several references that contain the ideas and insights upon which this essay is based.

REFERENCES.

Aphornsuvan, Thanet (2007). Rebellion in Southern Thailand: Contending Histories. (Washington, D.C.: East-West Center).

Curry, Robert L. (2008). “Review Essay: The Violence Plaguing Southern Thailand. Journal of Third World Studies, Vol. XXV, No. 2.

Curry, Robert L. (2006). “Southern Thailand in Conflict: The Search for a Resolution.” Journal of Development and International Relations (Malaysia), Vol. 7 No. 1.

Curry, Robert L. and Kanachana Sura (2007). “Government Aims for Conflict Resolution in the South: Can the Sufficiency Economy Concept be Part of the Solution.” Journal of Development and International Relations, Vol. 9 No. 1.

Funston, John (2009). Divided Over Thaksin: Thailand’s Coup and Problematic Transi- tion. (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies).

Gilquin, Michel (2005). The Muslims of Thailand. (Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, translated by Michael Smithies).

Liew, Joseph C. (2009). Islam, Education and Reform in Southern Thailand. (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies).

Sidel, John (2007). The Islamist Threat in Southeast Asia: A Reassessment. (Washing- ton, D.C.: East-West Center).

Singh, Daljit (2009). Terrorism in South and Southeast Asia in the Coming Decade. (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies).