Month: February 2002

USF Devalued by Al-Arian Ordeal

USF, by virtue of ongoing media mania, seemingly stands for Unabated Sami Fixation. And the University of South Florida hasn’t helped itself with its Glazeresque handling of the firing of the controversial Sami Al-Arian.

Right now, the buzz around the university should be about a lot of things that have nothing to do with the Palestinian professor with friends in all the wrong Islamic places.

In its 40-something history, USF has gone from “Bottlecap U” and “Commuter U” to the prototype, partnership-oriented, urban research university. It helps anchor one end of the I-4 high-tech corridor. Its regional economic impact is measured in 10 figures annually. Its H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute has rapidly ratcheted up in reputation nationally — and internationally.

The second-largest university in the Southeast can revel with a cause over its recently completed $256-million capital campaign, the largest such success in Tampa Bay area history. The endowment of this Research I university has more than tripled — to $243 million — just since 1995. Those are critical numbers, for it’s private dollars that typically make the difference between improvement and excellence at public universities.

In research awards, USF, which is second in the state and 51st in the nation, has gone from $106 million to $186 million in five years. Its Roskamp Institute, to cite just one example, is world renowned for its Alzheimer’s research.

Some of its post-Sept. 11 work, however, is especially relevant — and ironic.

* Through its Center for Biological Defense, USF is the lead player in shoring up Florida’s — and eventually America’s — defense against bioterrorism.

* USF engineers and robots were at the World Trade Center in the aftermath of the attack. USF was the only university to take part in the first robot-assisted rescue effort at a national disaster scene.

* USF now houses the International Traumatology Institute, an operation that encompasses 15 locations in seven countries.

And yet, USF — “Jihad U” to some — is better known for Al-Arrogance than anti-terror involvement or unprecedented growth. USF President Judy Genshaft now seems headed for a lose-lose scenario, whether she affirms Al-Arrant’s firing or not.

There may yet be, however, some wiggle room for Genshaft. There may be crawl space between the Devil of firing a tenured professor, lobbing one across the bow of academic freedom and risking academic censure — and the deep blue sea of not doing what she and her board of trustees, many students and most of the public feel is best for USF.

To avoid certain Genshafting, the USF President should consider saying this:

“We are NOT firing Professor Al-Arian because he’s a source of national embarrassment, an impediment to recruiting and fund-raising and a repugnant distraction from the business of educating students, although he is all of that. And we are NOT firing him because his presence presents an ongoing threat. We’ve had crank calls before, and the cranks won’t win this time either.

“We are NOT firing him because in the post-Sept. 11 period, his political beliefs have never been more unpopular. No, this university will hold its collective nose — as FSU did with discredited, racist psychologist Glayde Whitney — and NOT fire him for his outspokenly incendiary ways. Words, of course, have consequences, but “Death-to-Israel”-type rhetoric, however inflammatory, is not tantamount to “Fire!” in a crowded lecture hall.

“And we are NOT firing him because he didn’t sufficiently distance himself from the university in his public remarks or trespass on campus. Those were well intentioned but regrettable rationalizations. Nor is this a zero-sum safety issue. We can reasonably safeguard this campus without converting it into an armed camp.

“Moreover, what an unfair precedent it would be to, in effect, hold someone hostage to other people’s overreactions.

“We are fair. But we’re not irresponsible.

“The precedent we DO wish to set is this: ‘If you sponsor, hire and help fund-raise for terrorists and their proxies, you will be fired.’

“And he has been. And he will stay fired.”

Bedeviled Rays and Big Daddy

Sport on the brink: MLB Commissioner Bud “Lite” Selig, might start with his own position if he’s so sold on contraction. And speaking of contraction, did you see where baseball’s chief legal officer, Bob DuPuy, recently told the Senate Judiciary committee that the Devil Rays were among 18 teams considered for contraction. No, that’s not a typo. That’s 3/5 of the 30 franchises under consideration for elimination. That’s unbelievable — anywhere but baseball.

Bedeviled Rays: Four additional reasons why MLB deserves to implode and regroup as a cricket league:

*Wilson “Buffet Line” Alvarez and his $8 million rehab salary

*The injury-prone, over-the-hill Greg “Please-generate-trade-deadline-interest” Vaughn and his $8.75 salary.

*Esteban “You-tied-for-the-league-lead-in-blown-saves-yet-your-salary-was- more-than-doubled-to-$1.5 million” Yan.

*Vinny “Still-being-paid-millions-to-play-for-somebody-else” Castilla.

Big Daddy: Better Moves Than Big Owner

After three days of eluding a posse of horses, SUVs, a Humvee, cowboys, three vets, two deputies and a state wildlife officer, “Big Daddy” the bison was back, his odyssey around the 8,000-acre Brooker Creek Wildlife Preserve ended. Ultimately it took five tranquilizer darts to bring down the escaped 2,000-pounder.

He was then returned to his owner, Matt Geiger, a former pro basketball player who recently retired from the Philadelphia 76ers. Ironically, if Big Daddy had moves more like the relatively immobile Geiger, he wouldn’t have lasted so long on the loose.

Asking Questions; Questioning Answers

Slave to greed: It’s not called “something for nothing,” of course, but that’s what the rash of reparations-for-slavery scams amounts to. Those growing legions of black taxpayers taken in by promises of reparation refunds are enslaved by nothing other than old-fashioned opportunism. The operative color here is greed green.

It’s also poetic justice for those trying to find another way to play the victim card — trying to cash in an I.O.U. earned by somebody else.

But for those who continue to push reparations as some sort of principled recompense for historical affronts, how’s this for intriguing irony? According to the 1860 census, more than 6,000 blacks owned slaves, mostly Indian but in rare cases white. Any of those slave-owning descendents want to step forward and settle ancestral matters with certain Native Americans and whites?

Wholly unresponsive: The sexual abuse scandal involving Roman Catholic priests of the Archdiocese of Boston continues to grow and fester. Too much attention, however, has been focused on Boston’s Cardinal Bernard Law and whether he should resign.

What Law should resign himself to is coming to grips with a fundamental flaw of the church: requiring its priests to lead celibate lives. From Boston to Rome, church leaders need to examine whom it expects to attract, recruit and retain with such an unnatural qualifying commitment.

This is not a matter of transferring and counseling priests; defrocking the few outed in public; and paying hush money. It’s a matter of acknowledging a fatal flaw and doing what makes moral — and common — sense. To do otherwise is as outrageous and harmful as it is sinful. Remember sin?

Honoring Elian: Last week Al Neuharth, founder of the Freedom Forum, a non-partisan foundation dedicated to free press and free speech, was in Havana to present the Free Spirit Award to Elian Gonzalez. Previous winners include former Supreme Court Justices William Brennan and Thurgood Marshall.

What wasn’t quite clear is why Neuharth, who’s also the founder of USA Today, found time to bestow this honor for activism on the erstwhile shipwreck survivor and focus of an international custody confrontation. Was he honored for allowing himself to be saved?

Gutsy move: Not only is it the “Axis of Evil” trio that is taking a rhetorical pounding. Even Haiti is taking one on the chops — but also in the wallet. Secretary of State Colin Powell has told that beleaguered country that the Bush administration will not release $200 million in international aid until President Jean-Bertrand Aristide takes steps to end the country’s political crisis and make its democracy work better. As if.

That should shape-up Haiti, a geopolitical and economic basketcase where literacy and arable land are as scarce as corruption-free politicians.

Meanwhile, two countries that have a lot to say about whether the world turns toward Armageddon, keep raking it in from the U.S. Israel receives $3 billion annually in U.S. foreign aid, while Egypt’s take is $2 billion.

Perhaps Powell should consider getting $5 billion worth of leverage from these deals.

Sami Al-Arrogant and Judy Genshafted

What’s a president to do? If you’re Judy Genshaft, a Hobson’s choice would be a major upgrade.

Right now she is one half of what must be the oddest couple this side of Michael and Linda Kantaras. The futures of the Jewish University of South Florida president and Sami Al-Arian, the Palestinian professor she fired, are that inextricably linked. The ultimate result of their emotionally wrenching, tenure-testing, academic freedom-foreboding tug of war is that traumatic — and that important.

Whatever the outcome of the Punch Judy Show, USF’s president appears Genshafted. Hers seems a lose-lose scenario, whether or not she affirms her decision to jettison the controversial Al-Arian, the computer science instructor with the flair for fearful oratory and friends in all the wrong Islamic places.

If she maintains her stand, she incurs the wrath and some form of a no-confidence vote from the USF Faculty Union and assorted, Ivory Tower hand wringers. There’s also a possible Scarlet C for USF, courtesy of the censure-wielding American Association of University Professors, who will be sniffing around campus next month. USF already has received a letter of rebuke from the Foundation of Individual Freedoms in Education.

Then there’s the piling on by the liberal media.

All those Chicken Little follow-up stories by the usual decry babies, including Time magazine, CBS TV’s 48 Hours and Dateline NBC. The Chronicle of Higher Education , which recently ran a “Blaming The Victim?” cover story with Al-Arian’s photo, is tracking this one as closely as the American Civil Liberties Union, Al Sharpton, The St. Petersburg Times and The Weekly Planet are.

Should Genshaft reverse course, it will put her at odds with the governor and her own board of trustees, as well as a lot of students, most of the public, many ongoing and would-be benefactors and likely her own conscience.

And here Genshaft, 54, thought the implosion of the Board of Regents, the flap over USF St. Petersburg, the “art” of Derek Washington, the loss of New College and a baker’s dozen racial discrimination suits in the women’s basketball program were about as daunting as her challenges would get. Not even close.

At this point, her year-and-a-half-old presidency must seem like a life sentence at hard-to-fathom labor. You don’t have to be a flaming Zionist to prefer that the door hit Al-Arrogant in the ass on the way out.

However, there may yet be some crawl space between the Devil of firing a tenured professor, taking on academic freedom and risking academic censure and the deep blue sea of not doing what, in her heart of hearts, she feels is best for USF.

She could say the following (although it should have be said as soon as the post- O’Reilly Factor firestorm erupted): “We’re firing Professor Sami Al-Arian; in effect, doing what should have been done years ago.

“We are, however, not firing him because he’s a source of national embarrassment, an impediment to recruiting and fund-raising and a frustrating, annoying distraction from the business of educating students, although he is all of that. And we are not firing him because his presence presents an ongoing threat. We’ve had crank calls before, and the cranks won’t win this time either.

“We are not firing him because in the post-Sept. 11 period, his political beliefs have never been more unpopular. No, this university will hold its collective nose — as FSU did with discredited, racist psychologist Glayde Whitney — and not fire him for his outspokenly incendiary ways. Words, of course, have consequences, but “Death-to-Israel”-type rhetoric, however inflammatory, is not tantamount to “Fire!” in a crowded lecture hall.

“And we are not firing him because he didn’t sufficiently distance himself from the university in his public remarks or trespass on campus. And while safety is not a red herring issue, I believe we can reasonably safeguard this campus without turning it into an armed camp.

“Moreover, what an unfair precedent it would be to, in effect, hold someone responsible for other people’s overreactions. We are not about to hold Al-Arian hostage to such overreactive behavior.

“We are fair; but we’re not derelict of duty and responsibility.”

“No, the precedent we wish to set is this: ‘If you sponsor, hire and help fundraise for terrorists and their proxies, you will be fired.’ Every time.

“And he has been. Finally. And he will stay fired.”

Has The Rev. Al Got A Brand New Bag?

Al Sharpton, President.

Of the United States.

Say what?

Not likely, of course. But if the political planets of race pandering, populism and pragmatism should align, he certainly could be a media magnet in the presidential primaries of 2004 — as well as a Democratic Party player with convention clout. And if reparations for slavery becomes a plank — not a contentious splinter — in the Democratic Party platform in 2004, you know Sharpton has been heard from — and listened to.

Now 47, Sharpton has been gradually morphing beyond typecasting as flamboyant, New York civil rights activist and preacher-agitator-opportunist. When Jesse Jackson, now 60, was found to have fathered much more than Operation PUSH and the Rainbow Coalition, Sharpton donned the de facto mantle of pre-eminent spokesperson for black America.

The Brooklyn native is also president and founder of the National Action Network, whose mission is to “combat racial and civil rights violations.” NAN affords him a coast-to-coast bully pulpit. It’s also an effective vehicle to become better known for pushing a “progressive agenda” than supporting, say, Tawana Brawley.

All of this — and more — was on display recently at the University of South Florida in Tampa, where Sharpton gave the keynote address for the university’s Martin Luther King Jr. celebrations.

At a press briefing beforehand, it was clear that the Sharpton image had been modified –although not overhauled. Gone was a lot of weight, thanks to his Vieques diet. Still there: the hairstyle made famous by rock legend James Brown, whom Sharpton once managed.

“You don’t act or dress at 47 the way you did at 27,” explained Sharpton. “I have two teenaged daughters. I wouldn’t want to dress like their peers.” Unless, of course, their peers were pressed out in charcoal gray, pinstriped suits.

His “maturity and the maturity of the issues” have changed, noted Sharpton. “As you grow, you learn. You learn not to get in the way of your own message.”

Was that, say, the Tawana Brawley lesson?

Sharpton officially remains remorseless on the notorious, racially incendiary case of the discredited “rape” victim. “That happened 15 years ago,” testily noted Sharpton. “I believed in someone.” His critics, added Sharpton, “should have things a lot more recent to raise than that.”

Meanwhile, Sharpton has raised his rhetoric beyond the civil rights’ boilerplate of police brutality, affirmative action and minority incarceration rates to include empowerment, disenfranchisement, economic justice, fair labor practices and public housing issues.

He’s also added some overseas travel and a foreign policy credo.

In the last year he has visited Israel and Sudan plus the protest-arrest in Vieques, Puerto Rico.

“We need sane policies around the world,” stated Sharpton. “We need an assessment of our relationships. We have policies that exclude parts of the world. We cannot support dictators and tyrants around the world because they do business with this country.”

He characterizes the bombing in Afghanistan as a “cowboy approach that won’t solve the problem.” Here at home he sees an Administration too willing “to silence dissent.”There’s no need to “suspend civil rights and civil liberties to fight terrorism,” asserted Sharpton. “A lot of folks want quiet — not peace. Let’s preserve what’s best in America.”

And that includes more than lip service to the civil rights movement, underscored Sharpton.

“Don’t act like the problem is over,” he lectured his largely young, black audience of approximately 1,000. “Sticking your head in the sand only exposes your behind to the world.”

Sounding not unlike the vintage Jackson of a generation ago, he chucked the victim card when directly addressing his impressionable listeners. He minced no words in delivering a message of self help and individual responsibility.

King, he opined, “likely would be disappointed with this generation. The first African American generation to give less to the next generation — raising children that are going backward. As if making babies was more important than raising babies.”

He exhorted his audience not to “surrender to decadence