In the wake of the November 2009 Regents meeting protests, over 100 senate faculty at UCLA signed a letter to Chancellor Block expressing grave concern over UC Police use of force against students and calling for a thorough review. In response, the Chancellor convened a special task force, which has now released its report:
http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/document/Regents_Nov_2009_Meeting_Post_Event_Report.pdf
I have not had time to review the text, and I urge those of you who signed on to read it over and add your response in the comment section for this post. --Tobias Higbie
1 comment:
The report generally supports the police tactics used. However, it does note that the public comment period at Regents meetings is extremely short. Moreover, Regents do not respond to comments made during the comment period; that seems to be the official format, not just a de facto practice. There is little productive communication that occurs as a result of the current format. If you listen to recordings of the public comment sessions posted on this blog, the issue will be evident. It may be that the kind of pro forma sessions we have under the current system are the product of the public nature of the program. There could be an alternative arena of private meetings with regents by representatives of student groups and unions (who typically make up the bulk of the speakers at public comment sessions). In public sessions, groups are typically under pressure to perform for their constituents. In private meetings, more dialog would be possible.
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