Posted on April 11th, 2008 by theblaze
Governmental Secrecy
An investigation into statements by Antioch University officials during crucial times
or
What are they hoping we don’t find?
During the most famous downfall of an administration, senators at the Watergate hearings asked “What did the president know, and when did he know it?” In the case of the Antioch University Board of Trustees, the question should be amended to include - “Was the information reliable?” Many have questioned the actions and statements of the Antioch University administration during their public efforts to suspend operations at the College, and yet the Board seems to believe only the information provided to them by the current University administration. Many current documents and reports of the University are not available; however with the benefit of budget documents released last year at The Antioch Papers, we can see differences in statements from prior University officials during a key time in the College’s history: the expense cuts of 2001-02. We can also see that some Trustees at the time may have known that the reports approved by the Board contained information that was inaccurate and misleading-Trustees who are still on the Board today.
What follows is an examination into statements regarding what was called the “non-crisis” that year. There are differences in statements contained in multiple reports to the trustees over time, as well as differences in what was reported to the community vs. what was reported to the trustees. The purpose of this examination is not to question the wisdom nor the necessity of past decisions; rather, it is to look at how these decisions and the precipitating events were presented to the College community and to the Trustees.
In October 2002, University Vice-Chancellor and CFO Glenn Watts gave the year-end final financial statement to the board regarding the University budget for 2001-2002. In his narrative, Watts stated the source of the deficit experienced the prior year, losses on the endowment due partially to the stock market ‘crash’ following 9/11:
“On the one hand, 2001-02 produced the largest accrual deficit ever recorded by the University as a result of major declines in the US stock markets. On the other hand, if the investment losses in the endowment are excluded from operations, the financial performance of the University was considerably better in 2001-02 than it was in the preceding year. Paradoxically, the success that the College has had in increasing the size of the endowment has contributed to the appearance of poor financial performance for University operations. The role of the stock market in 2001-02 cannot be overemphasized.” - Glenn Watts, 10/2002, Budget Report to the Board (emphasis added)
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Posted on March 17th, 2008 by theblaze
Click to Play
The Yellow Springs community voices discomfort if not outright resistance to increased militarization in the Miami Valley and greater Dayton metropolitan area as Antioch University bars student press from covering related events. A student camera operator sought to cover meetings of the being held at Antioch University McGregor, a mere mile or so from the original college campus. In this particular instance, the student was barred from documenting a regional military & commercial development meeting in conjunction with BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure). Other media were present at this event but were not threatened with force, as this student clearly was. Nor were they escorted from the premisis by Glenn Watts and Babara Gelman-Danley, who were apperently responsible for providing security for the event.
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Posted on March 17th, 2008 by theblaze
A day following Episode I of learning spaces, we rejoin the commmunity to srceen footage of a weekend in March of 2008.
In this program [Episode II] we find Antioch students, staff, faculty, union workers, villagers of Yellow Springs, Ohio and other supporters staged against the backdrop formed by the impoosing facade of the new Antioch University McGregor program known as ‘Campus West’ (a mere mile from the main college campus).
The college community chose to use this location as their platform to express commitment to the undergraduate programs at the main college campus, especiallly when those programs provide the basis for Antioch’s reputation as a leader in insisting on social justice and pedegogical experimentation in liberal arts higher education.
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Posted on March 14th, 2008 by theblaze
Closing Antioch College: Cui Bono?
By Laura Fathauer
While the country talks of recession, the Dayton region is preparing for a growth of high-paying, high-tech jobs. Along with this is a growth of construction and infrastructure development, some of which can already be seen around Wright Patterson Air Force Base and the Mall at Fairfield Commons.
Many of the jobs gained will need to be filled locally, and area organizations and educational institutions are already creating cooperative educational efforts to address these workforce needs. Almost all of this growth is related to the missions and contractors that will be moving on or near the base. It seems that nothing in the region is untouched by the results of the US Military’s 2005 Base Realignment and Closure process.
Including, quite possibly, a small liberal arts institution in Yellow Springs Ohio, called Antioch College.
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Filed under: PDF, Yellow Springs, Militarization, finances, University Board of Trustees, Antioch, Antioch University, Antioch College | 5 Comments »
Posted on February 21st, 2008 by theblaze
In the 1800s Yellow Springs was home to the underground railroad; in the 1940s it became a safe haven for Japanese Americans targeted by the US government; in the 1960s its residents hid activists in “transient mode.”
The continuing uncertainty over the future of Antioch College and loss of valuable time for recruitment and planning for an up-and-running college by fall 2008 have led a number of students and faculty to discuss alternative ideas to continue classes past July 2007 to oppose a closing or bridge a possible transition period.
In an attempt to continue the legacy and institutional memory of Antioch College, we, The Blaze, call on the villagers of Yellow Springs to sustain the legacy of their predecessors and unite with faculty, staff and students of The College in beginning the planning for ANTIOCH IN EXILE.
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Filed under: Yellow Springs, Antioch in Exile | 1 Comment »
Posted on February 20th, 2008 by theblaze
This weekend, the Antioch University Board of Trustees (AU BoT) will be meeting at the Los Angeles branch of Antioch University. In preparation for this meeting, I present some background information on how the Board normally conducts their business.
The Trustees have three full-board meetings each year, in October, February, and June. The October board meeting is traditionally in Yellow Springs, and the two other meetings rotate between the other campuses of Antioch University. The Board meeting runs from Thursday morning to Saturday noon.
Prior to the Board of Trustees meeting, the Antioch University Chancellor, Vice Chancellors, and the presidents of the campuses meet on their own in the same location. This group of Antioch University administrative officials is called the University Leadership Committee, or the ULC. The ULC was established during the “de-centralization” of Antioch University, which created the non-revenue-generating central administration separated from the revenue-generating educational campuses. In the years immediately following decentralization the University was a loose association of the campuses, and the intent of the ULC was to only recommend university-wide policies and procedures to the Board of Trustees for the Trustees’ approval. In recent years as the University’s central administration grew in power, so too did the ULC, and it has transformed from solely a policy-recommending committee to one that sets and approves policy and procedures. In early 2007 the ULC, under the leadership of the Chancellor, created and approved a vision for Antioch College and a plan for its reopening in 2012.
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Filed under: ULC, Board Structure, University Board of Trustees, Antioch University, Antioch, Antioch College | 4 Comments »
Posted on February 3rd, 2008 by theblaze
Dear Lovely Readers,
The Blaze has now published a mission statement, to give clarity to the role it intends to play in the Antioch College revival movement.
The Mission of The Blaze
We, The Blaze, are dedicated to providing information relevant to the Antioch College revival movement, while remaining independent of the factions involved.
The Blaze will continue to provide information that will be useful to those perusing a “Non-Stop Antioch” and welcomes contact, questions, or comments at theblazecollective@blazenews.org.
Armed and Dangerous,
The Blaze Editorial Collective
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Posted on February 3rd, 2008 by theblaze
Dear Dedicated Readers,
Many of the articles appearing on blazenews.org were originally published on 11 x 17 sheets of paper and distributed around the Antioch College campus. Now blazenews.org supplies you with the PDFs of the printed form you can check them out by clicking here, or going to the ”Pages” on the right side of the page and clicking “The Products of Dedicated Flames (PDFs).”
Armed and Dangerous,
The Blaze Editorial Collective
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Posted on January 28th, 2008 by theblaze
Dear Comrades,
The Blaze Editorial Collective is proud to present a new collection of high quality MP3 recordings, now here for your listening convenience. You can also get to the audio files by going onto our main page and clicking the link on the right that says “Listen to the Roar of the Fire.”
Right now we have both the January 26th Community Meeting with the AC3, and the January 26th AdCil with the AC3 online in MP3 format. We Hope you enjoy the sweet sounds of community governance.
Armed and Dangerous,
The Blaze Editorial Collective
P.S. The Blaze Editorial Collective humbly asks anyone who has the time to make an effort to transcribe these audio files, we are woefully understaffed, and therefore would have trouble doing it ourselves. Anyone who does transcribe recordings will be given credit, and a lot of thank yous. Even if you are only able to transcribe part of it, just give us the time stamps for where you began and ended, and we will find somebody to finish the rest. Send transcriptions to listen@blazenews.org.
Filed under: MP3, Audio, Meta, AC3, ACCC, editorial collective, Antioch College, blaze | No Comments »
Posted on October 31st, 2007 by theblaze
So, depreciation, what’s that all about? Well, lets say you buy a car, or a computer or a $15 million dollar campus; that asset loses value as you use it over time. That’s the depreciation of your asset. Eventually you will have to buy new stuff, you know, a new computer, a new library, a new shower for the executive suite. So the idea of booking depreciation into your budget as a liability is that if you would set aside money every year to the amount that your asset loses value, the next year you can fix up your asset or buy new stuff. So basically, it’s paper money unless you actually have the funds to cover that. We don’t loose that money unless we actually have that money to spend, but we nevertheless have to show that our assets loose value. So it puts an expense into our budget, whether we have it or not. Read more »
Filed under: depreciation, finances, University Board of Trustees, Antioch College, editorial collective | No Comments »
