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Four members of the University of Minnesota student group Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) attempted to interrupt Thursday morning’s first-year Convocation at Mariucci Arena by demonstrating during President Bob Bruininks’ welcome speech.
The group blew air horns, threw down hundreds of fliers and unfurled two University of Minnesota banners that had been painted over with political messages.
The banners were dropped from the upper deck box seats, which weren’t accessible to the public during the ceremony.
The demonstrators entered Mariucci a few days earlier in order to prop open doors and make sure they could bypass security, Grace Kelley , who organized the demonstration, said.
Each student had to present a ticket in order to get into the arena.
“We had to infiltrate the building,” Kelley said.
Bruininks never stopped his speech, but did acknowledge the demonstration.
“The University does believe in First Amendment rights and free speech,” he said, “but in an appropriate and respectful manner.”
His comments were met with applause from some students, and the banners were removed by police within five minutes.
“It was intense,” said first-year Ryan Noshay, who was at Convocation. “Nobody was really listening to [Bruininks] for like five minutes. Even the Regents were looking up.”
The demonstrators will not be facing academic discipline, Bruininks said after Convocation.
“Free speech and differences in opinion is what makes this University great,” he said. “I still feel that this Convocation is the best we’ve had in my eight years here.”
SDS is using this demonstration to kick off their “Campaign to Save Our School,” a public campaign designed to unite students against the current administration’s financial policies, SDS member Tracy Molm said.
“Bruininks took a wage freeze, but at $750,000 that’s not saying a lot,” Molm said. “There are clerical workers that are paid $38,000. You can’t support a family on $38,000.”
One sign read: “We pay Bruininks $700,000 per year to lay off thousands of workers.”
Despite the demonstration, Convocation was a great success, Beth Lingren Clark, director of Orientation and First- Year Programs said.
“It’s a great kickoff to the Welcome Week experience,” Lingren Clark said. “The disruption wasn’t even worth mentioning, really.”
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38 Comments
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Convo
This is a good attention getter but I imagine it pushes away a lot more people than it brings in. Most people I talked to at the event were angry at the protesters. I tend to agree with their points but was still bothered by their choice to disrupt. It kinda puts a knock on their credibility as a respectable group on campus.
It is disheartening when
It is disheartening when students like Grace Kelley, and the students in her organization, have the presence to make their opinions known respectfully, but chose not to. The issues they are arguing are not on the back burners of students' minds, and freshmen will learn them soon enough, so there is no reason to make a scene in order to gain attention.
On a somewhat related note, many elementary and secondary teachers don't even make $38,000. When you go into a profession, you have to know what you're in for in terms of a salary. Sometimes doing what you love means taking a pay cut. University president's make six figures. Clerical workers do not. That isn't a slight towards the great work our university's clerical workers do, but it's the reality of the job they hold.
whiner! please!
whiner! please!
clerical workers start at
clerical workers start at 12.00 an hour. 24,000 a year, gross. probably net about 19,000 when all is said and done. isn't a living wage for a major, metropolitan area in the u.s. shameful.
I honestly don't mean to
I honestly don't mean to sound unsympathetic here, but why would someone choose to be a clerical worker in a metropolitan area then? Maybe I don't get the point, but to me it is the same reason why I don't open up a pizza restaurant in New York City, for instance. I just won't make money to support me or my family if I choose to have one there. Clerical workers make shit money, we know that. If you can't support your lifestyle in your profession, though, or you can't support your lifestyle where you live, then it is time to look for a new career or move outside of the metro. Some people very well can get by on that salary living in the Twin Cities. Is that person a working single mother of five? No. We all make living decisions like these. It isn't specific to clerical workers at the U of M. Life isn't fair and doesn't work that way. When we fall on tough times, we need to pull ourselves up and dig our way out. Yelling over the president's speech at Convocation isn't going to solve the problem.
really you are unsympathetic here...
Ask yourself, if I have a job why doesn't pay enough so I can raise a family and thrive NOT just to survive. If you are fortunate to have a job, they should all be a living wage job!
Everyone's story is different. You don't know why people "chose" a job or a career. IF everything situation is on EQUAL footing, then maybe you can carry on being unsympathetic. Life is economically sound for everyone and depending on your life circumstances... you will be better then some others. You must be one of the luckily ones. Why should a CEO or a President make up to 400% more then the workers. Sure you will say those folks represent the company and schools. True BUT if they didn't have the workers to work at the businesses or people to buy their services then they would not be in their "ivy" towers.
If you are on the poor(er) and disadvantage side of life, you take a job that can you can get. You don't have the same access or opprotunities then others.
Read history regarding economic status on different groups of people and how they are left out of the capitalist system in order to get ahead.
I think that for some people,
I think that for some people, though, these salaries really do allow people to prosper and thrive. You are right, that isn't the case for a family, but for a single person living in a city apartment, they can easily get by and put money away too. Nothing in life is equal. Sure, it'd be nice to have us all on the same playing field, but the fact is some of us go on to lead universities, and some of us go on to answer the telephones for the people that run universities. I consider myself pretty liberal, but I feel much more comfortable paying the one who calls all the shots more money than the person who helps the one calling the shots. Also, when I go in and see the people who are clerical workers, I wouldn't necessarily say they chose their profession because it was all they could get. Here at the university, those clerical workers are smart, educated individuals - people who knew what they were getting themselves into when they signed on the dotted line.
On a side note, it's "ivory tower," not ivy tower. I guess the history textbooks on the economic status of different groups left that term off of its pages.
"people who knew what they
"people who knew what they were getting themselves into when they signed on the dotted line."
Well, back when I "signed on the dotted line", the University was offering workers free tuition. They have since stopped doing so. Now with the job market what it is, it is difficult to change into another line of work and my job is no longer worth what it once was (i.e. I took a pay cut of $10,000 worth of tuition a year).
A Test of Leadership
I understand your line of thought, and I largely agree. However, I think it is a matter of proportion. Should a university president make significantly more than a clerical worker? Of course. Does a university president merit $700,000 per year, particularly in these economic circumstances? I question this.
On a related note, I recently learned that the officers of all of the University of Minnesota extension branches are to receive contractually negotiated performance bonuses. Is this their legal due? Of course it is. Is it right for them to take it? I see this as a test of leadership.
What do you do and how much
What do you do and how much do you make?
I applaud the SDS and the
I applaud the SDS and the demonstrators for bringing a dose of reality into the ideology of the U of M. We cannot ignore the huge discrepancies that exist- the overpaid administration in every facet of society, as exemplified by the U of M, while others work just to feed themselves and their family. You cannot draw comparable lines here with other, similar, careers...- K-12 teachers are grossly underpaid - it is the discrepancy that needs to be discussed, the fact the middle class is disappearing, the rich get richer and the poor work more and are paid less..... this is the awareness the demonstrators wanted to bring attention do.
But during a speech? Come on
But during a speech? Come on now...where are the manners? Could these people have made their opinions heard at the entrance where students were going in? There are many Welcome Week activities that they could have attended at made their issues and stances known at. It isn't the message of these students that's the problem, it's the method they are presenting them.
The goal was to make a
The goal was to make a statement, and they succeeded. Had they waited until afterwards, it would not have had the impact. And for those that say they should have followed more acceptable forms of free speech, I highly doubt an article would have been written about fliers being passed out quietly on the Mall. Just sayin'.
So the demonstrator who was
So the demonstrator who was quoted in this article basically confessed to breaking and entering?
yes
yes
wow, that is smart :\
wow, that is smart :\
I am sick and tired of this
I am sick and tired of this "respectful" manner garbage. When groups that represent a dissent ask for a voice and conversation they are shoved to the side and not treated with equal respect by the U. Being that the U is a sometimes separate branch of state government and it is our right to show dissent, when so many of us are unheard, disrespected, and out right ignored, action must happen. I don't care what you political affiliation is! Students and people all over campus must be informed by all! Not just the coats in Morrill Hall. On another note, I so enjoyed going to the stadium for the staff, faculty, yadda day because I will NEVER be able to afford a ticket to that elitist hole in the ground.
Don't bother me with the
Don't bother me with the incorrect spelling and such in what I wrote above. It posted before proof.
Dissenting voices don't have
Dissenting voices don't have to be rude in order to be heard.
What's more Rude?
Bruininks' making over $700,000/yr, clerical workers making barely enough to survive, students paying about 15% more in tuition hikes.....
At times, one needs to raise voices to make concerns known.
Is Bruininks going to come out on the side of the workers or students? Is he going to take a furlough to "help" balance the school's budget? Does one really need to make $700,000 to live?
It's not a matter of living,
It's not a matter of living, it's a matter of payment for running a 70,000+ person institution.
Give me a break
You've got to be kidding me-- "a 70,000+ person institution"? Come on dude, the president administers the government of a country with a population of over 300 million people and he makes just over HALF of what Bruininks does.
Question!
Do clerical workers still get discounted tuition? I know that was up for discussion at one point. If so, wouldn't that be considered as part of their salary/benefits?
I don't see these people as
I don't see these people as being any different than those wacky God Hate Fags people who holler at the funerals of dead soldiers.
I am a clerical worker in
I am a clerical worker in private industry. I earn more than $60K/year plus benefits. If you do not think the U pays enough for your labor, then get off of your lazy butt and look for a better job. YOU ARE NOT ENTITLED TO ANYTHING.
Thank You Captain A-hole
Thank You Captain A-hole
I think the person commenting
I think the person commenting was trying to say that not all clerical workers are in the same situation. Every case is different. Let's knock it off with the names and try to come up with some constructive and enlightening comments. I am liking the thoughtful responses on this thread.
The main problem with their
The main problem with their stratagy is it will marginalize themselves. This is just the first in what is clearly set to be a series of unconventional campaigns. I came to West Bank this morning and saw a window had one of heir signs pasted to the window to make it nearly unremoveable. I agree with their arguements but I found my self wanting to try to rip down that pasted sign. What ends are they hoping to achieve through these polarizing ad blitzs? .
Maginalizing actions
The main problem with their stratagy is it will marginalize themselves. This is just the first in what is clearly set to be a series of unconventional campaigns. I came to West Bank this morning and saw a window had one of heir signs pasted to the window to make it nearly unremoveable. I agree with their arguements but I found my self wanting to try to rip down that pasted sign. What ends are they hoping to achieve through these polarizing ad blitzs? .
Way to go SDS!
Way to go SDS!
Couldn't see
From where I was sitting, we couldn't see their posters or what was going on anyway. I think a lot of people forgot about it as soon as it was done.
the university should offer
the university should offer sliding fees on health premiums, rec center memberships, bus passes, etc, to its employeees. so, the full price would be paid by the highest earners and then everyone else would pay the percentage that their salary is of the highest earner(s). then, you could still have some compensated more than others but charge them for university related services that is a fairer rate to all. taking a wage freeze at the poverty line is slightly more difficult than when you're making literally 500 times the poverty line.
this is just one more way the
this is just one more way the UofM is cutting students out,
look at the University District Alliance. THousands of students live in the neighborhoods. and they are being forced out and not being allowed to participate.
This demonstration shows the
This demonstration shows the respect, professionalism, and common sense that SDS and students like Grace Kelley lack. There are many better ways to protest and to reach the target population. Propping open doors is a fire hazard and is not allowed for the safety of university students and employees, not to mention the fact that this action could have caused numerous other problems, such as burglary and theft. Grace Kelley and those involved in this protest deserve to be punished. Many students at the U are punished for lesser "crimes." This means of protesting did nothing but make those involved look foolish and uneducated.
Is this country going Socialist???
I am appalled with how ignorant some people can be. If you want to talk about what wage is "fair" for what type of work someone does? Clerical work requires basic office skills including, copying, answering phone calls, and the use of Microsoft office suite. You could probably train a monkey to be a clerical worker (no offense, I am one too). Being the President of a University this large is a milestone in a person's career that can only be achieved by years of hard work, dedication, honored education, and professional accomplishment. He not only oversees the campuses we are in direct contact with in the Twin Cities area, but the entire University of Minnesota school system ie: Morris, Crookston, Rochester, Duluth. Can you IMAGINE the responsibility that is on his shoulders for running this operation? He is responsible for our place in the world as an educational institution and has done a pretty damn good job.
Secondly, he is not actually paid $700,000 a year. His actually salary is closer to $400,000 a year, but his total compensation package is equivelant to $700,000 if you place value on the benefits he receives (Living in the President's house for example). The University's budget is close to $50 billion. For Robert to voluntarily give up part of his salary would not only undermine his position and de-value it, but would actually accomplish close to nothing as any amount he would give up would do ALMOST NOTHING when placed in the larger scheme of things.
Bottom line is... educate yourself before you make outlandish statements especially if you want to be respected as a student organization (I'm embarrassed for you). Secondly, if YOU want to make $700,000/year... I'd advice you become a Doctor, Lawyer, Successful Entrepreneur, or the PRESIDENT of something... not a secretary.
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