This morning, the OC Register’s OC Watchdog zeroes in on some stunningly generous salaries at Chapman University in Orange. According to W-dog, the university’s “chief money guy earned total compensation of $509,294 in 2007….”Meanwhile, Chapman’s Prez Jim Doti earns $497,718.
Here are some other Chapmanesque salaries:
Parham Williams, dean of the law school: $467,229
Art Kraft, dean of the business school: $425,581
Henry Butler, business professor: $275,599
Michael Lang, law professor: $218,902
Francis Tuggle, business professor, $220,656
The Reg also reports that “[Los Alamitos] Mayor Dean Grose on Tuesday apologized for an e-mail he sent to [a local businesswoman, Keyanus Price, who is African American] that showed a photograph of the White House with a watermelon patch imposed as the White House garden. (Disgust over mayor's White House watermelon e-mail.) See graphic above. I dunno. I don't know a thing about Mr. Grose. But isn't it possible that Grose was inviting Ms. Price to laugh at an outrageous image based on an old stereotype of blacks?
I'm German, and if a friend were to send me a graphic of the "Bauer Compound" as, say, the Kehlsteinhaus (Adolf's Eagle's Next), I'd get a pretty good laugh. I think I'd appreciate the humor.
And that doesn't mean that I'm not appalled by Hitler and the Nazis.
Or maybe a Photoshopped image of Herr Bauer driving a WWII Kübelwagen in an Anaheim parade? That's funny stuff, man.
Mayor who sent White House watermelon e-mail to resign
“The attention brought to this matter has sadly created an image of me which is most unfortunate,” he wrote. “I recognize that I've made a mistake and have taken steps to make sure this is never repeated.”
25 comments:
Really? Mathur makes $300K a year?
Herr Bauer, I agree about the watermelon business. Often people are so hyperactive in their disgust. Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens.
Oh, I don't know about that one, Chunk and 2:17. Are you guys serious about that? I don't think any one of us (I'm guessing none of the three of us is non-caucasian) can really get how offensive the watermelon type of "humor" can be to the relevant groups. I don't think it's comparable to ribbing Chunk about being a Nazi; the watermelon thing hearkens back to plain old contemptuous degradation and disrespect, not to mention slavery and nasty stuff like that. I find it amazing that this mayor could have such a tin ear -- make that a tin-FOIL ear--for offensiveness to his colleague.
I think the mayor messed up - I can't imagine his motive and I don't believe his professed ignorance about the relationship to watermelons and racism - I mean really now.
Teasing a German about Nazis isn't on a par with "teasing" an African American about watermelon patches. It also wouldn't be the same as teasing a Jewish person about the Holocaust. Those who have been victimized see it a bit differently, and rightfully so.
What is your salary, Chunk?
7:21, you're assuming that "Germans" are never "victimized." Well, I'm not sure I would use that particular word, but I'm old enough to remember being called a "Kraut" and a "dirty German" as a kid. Didn't much like it.
I agree that those who have never been victims of ugly stereotyping should be careful discussing the feelings of those who have been.
I have known many people (of various races, creeds, etc.) who occasionally joke around as this Grose fellow did, who understood it as a kind of complex ironic fun--fun that is consistent with a full sensitivity to very real issues of racism and bigotry. True, the fun can only be had between people who already share certain values, and, as I said, I don't know much about Grose. But why do people feel entitled to assume the worst about people in these stories? That Grose (whoever the hell he is) sent this particular image to a person he knew to be African American suggests to me that he is either very stupid, very malicious--or he's just a guy with a somewhat wild sense of humor (that he wrongly supposed would be understood by the recipient of this graphic). So, for me, there's a big "maybe" about his insensitivity or racism. I'm not willing to brand him a racist before the world. I need to be more confident I understand his intentions and attitudes.
I have never understood why, for so many people, in such circumstances, one is entitled to assume that the worst and "racist" possibility is the actual one. That sort of thinking strikes me as oppressive and contrary to an embrace of free discourse. It's "PC" in the worst sense. Frankly, it pisses me off.
And if people cannot understand how it can be that two non-racists could possibly exchange notes and images that include stereotypes (re one or both), then I just don't know what to say except, Dude, you ain't got much of a sense of humor. You need to get around more.
Ja, vat he said!
Well, as always, Chunk, I deeply appreciate your willingness to challenge conventional wisdom and popular perceptions.
At the least, it seems clear (as you say) that the guy is remarkably stupid, remarkably malicious, OR remarkably bad at "reading" (knowing) his colleagues. His mistake about how his message would be received seems pretty spectacular.
But I, for one, never assumed that he's a racist. I did assume that in some arenas, he must be clueless.
Thanks for initiating the discussion in your iconoclastic way, which (again) I find infinitely valuable.
Thanks, MAH. Grose has stated that he was unaware of the watermelon stereotype which, given the man's age, is grossly implausible. It seems to me he should have said that he was aware of it--in fact, he obviously counted on others' awareness of it--and misjudged his audience's likely reaction. Unfortunately, there seem to be many people who cannot imagine that one might offer an outrageous stereotype while simultaneously recognizing it for what it is--utter nonsense. Again, for all that I know, Grose is a racist provocateur, in which case his apology is entirely appropriate. My point was only that, consistent with the bare facts at hand, he might not be that at all. -RB
"Chunk"'s salary is in the high five figures (i.e., under $100K), not including benefits.
Well, this sort of clueless-ness must always result in the resignation of the person whose judgment is in question. Even if otherwise there are no complaints about him. He could use taxpayer money to hire prostitutes and be forgiven for it (African American prostitutes, even), but God help him if he does anything that can be construed as racism. Never mind if he is racist or not, no need to investigate that; the appearance of racism means we must call for his head! He may be a racist, but are we going to find out? Will there be a hearing? Hell, no. But he is resigning, so we can all feel good that we are a society that doesn't tolerate racism. We're intolerant, that's for sure.....
It's high time Chunk got a raise! He can never be properly compensated for all the hard work he has put in on this blog and his hard work back in the day designing, publishing and distributing "Dissent" in paper form.
By the way, people have often used the term "Germans" to mean "Nazis." They are not interchangeable terms. Nazis may have been German, but not all Germans were Nazis. Chunk has it right in his statements above--we can't rank victimizations. What we should remember is something along these lines; if you cut us open, we're all the same inside.
Ouch - don't cut us all open, please.
Don't put Dissent in paper form! If you do that, then the my RSS reader will lose its flavoring.
The knee-jerk kind of resignation reaction happens too often I agree, fed by media frenzy, etc.
But WHAT was the guy thinking? I mean, really.
Well, that's just it, isn't it. We won't get to know just what he was thinking. We must right away denounce it as racism, with out question, lest we be guilty of "supporting racism". It would be interesting to know what goes through the minds of people when they use such poor judgment in these situations. What kind of blind spot does one have to have...just in the interest of self preservation....I mean, this happens frequently enough that the call for resignation can be predicted. Even an actual racist isn't going to pull a stunt like this unless he want's to commit political/professional suicide. It's like it's some sort of attention deficit.....But again, we won't get to know.
But what keeps the person in question from explaining himself? The explanations he offered seemed incomplete or dishonest. I find it hard to beleive that an elected public official is as clueless as he suggests - but I think that's how this kind of thing often happens. In my family, people of his generation often make comments that I think are flat-out racist and sexist, often in combination. The person making the comments doesn't see it - but the rest of us (young generation) often do - fortunately are aunts and uncles don't have to resign from the family when they make such comments. So the question is should a elected public official be held to a higher standard for conduct than my uncle?
Explanations, offered publicly, probably sound like justifications. Perhaps especially in this climate where he's not been asked to explain, just to apologize and get the hell out. There can be no satisfactory explanation for such an egregious offense, so explanations sound like excuse making, I guess.
Maybe they should be held to a higher standard. But rather than throwing the baby out with the bath water, perhaps they should apologize, then do some sensitivity training and public service, then perhaps follow up afterward with a public statement again. As you point out, you've seen this in your own family members, so I'm sure it's still very common to find people who are "racially insensitive". So perhaps some sort "rehabilitation" would do a better service to society than just sweeping the offenders out of sight.
what I like best about Dissent is when people have this kind of dialogue on it like this.
Yes, the media circus followed by apology followed by resignation is like some wierd kind of theater.
Yes, exactly! "...some weird kind of theater." That describes it perfectly. I love it when I'm thinking something, and then someone puts it into words perfectly.
I wish MY uncle would resign from the family.
But the mayor - well, I don't buy he didn't "know." Come on.
Here's the problem with the watermelon picture. Some citizen could have circulated the picture among a few friends, and while some might have thought it was tasteless or racist, that's a matter between the sender and the recipients.
But the mayor of a town is not just a citizen. He's an elected representative and he's held to a higher standard. What he does reflects on the citizens and the city. In other words, the emails he sends are not simply between him and the recipients.
Let's say I sent the watermelon picture to Chuck and he thought it was racist. So he tells the local newspaper. They're going to say, "so what?" No one cares what I'm sending out because I'm no one of consequence.
For better or worse, the actions of elected officials and others who participate in public life are frequently put under a microscope. Anyone who objects to that kind of scrutiny needs to stay out of public life.
Former Mayor Grose has two problems: 1) he doesn't comprehend the potential for racist perception of his email and 2) he apparently doesn't understand how to conduct himself in the public eye.
Well put, 1:50. I think you explain why we expect more of elected representatives and those in the public eye very well. Again though, since this guy is certainly not an isolated case, I wonder if the media circus-apology-resign routine is really doing any good. Would it be better to keep him in the public eye/service and have him go through some training. From the original article, I gather that he has been in contact with a group that trains in and promotes racial awareness and such issues. Would it do the public more good to watch this mayor really learn from his mistake, not just be punished? I still think it would be very satisfying to see him go through some training and THEN make another public statement; I think it would be so meaningful to hear and watch him change in front of us as he realizes and understands what his actions meant.
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