Roots of Unity

Roots of Unity
by Mike Allen, Guild President

Mike Allen, President,
GCC Guild

Spring Cleaning

Well, my time as Guild president is winding down, and as I near the end of my three years in office it's time to bundle up things I never got to, and figure out what to do with them. This includes ideas I had about what to write in this column I titled Roots of Unity. There were some little tidbits I collected that I thought I would work in sooner or later but never did, so I'm just going to share them all with you here. Think of this month's offering as if it were a trip to a thrift store—you might find something cool amid all the junk. Happy browsing!

The work done by “shop stewards” in other unions is shared in our local between the Guild president, grievance officer, and our Garfield campus steward. All three of us can appreciate this poem:

A shop steward knocked at the heavenly gate,
His face was scarred and old.
He stood before the man of fate,
For admission to the fold.
“What have you done,” Saint Peter said,
“To gain admission here?”
“I've been a shop steward, Sir,” he said
“For many and many a year.”
The pearly gate swung open wide,
Saint Peter touched the bell—
“Come in and choose your harp,” he said
“You've had your share of hell.”

On the uniqueness of the situations we sometimes face in our great state, I was going to quote Theodore Roosevelt:

“When I am in California, I am not in the West...I am west of the West.”

For a lead-in on an article about retirement benefits/GASB/etc.:

George Carlin once famously commented that the human life cycle is backward, and that life would make far more sense if we died first to get it out of the way, worked until we were young enough to enjoy retirement, got to party for a few years and then play for a few more, and ultimately ended life as an orgasm...

On my unorthodox schedule, I was going to quote Daniel Lanois about working with Bob Dylan:

He made me promise that nothing would be done in the daytime. He said that everything had to be done at night. I finally got it out of him that he believes that the human temple is different at night than it is in the day—that we are satisfied in a different manner at nighttime. Slightly slower, darker, profound things will be what we look for in the night. (Bob was so right!)

To those who wanted to tone down the college's support for the AB 540/Dream Act students or those who giggle when, say, Marxist analysis comes up during a Guild discussion:

“All of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.”—Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in a speech to the Daughters of the American Revolution.

3 column titles that never got used:

Earn Your Bullseye (if they're going to target us anyway...)
Bigger Cages, Longer Chains! (the famous mock chant about unions with misguided negotiation priorities)
The Paranoid Style in Campus Politics (a riff on Richard Hofstadter's study of American rightwingers in the 50s called “The Paranoid Style in American Politics”—I had opportunities to use this title, but always felt it would be kicking the paranoid when they were down)

Finally, a quote about the increased driving I have had to do, in part due to the heavy workload I have had as Guild president:

“When you drive, society becomes an obstacle. Pedestrians, bicycles, traffic calming, speed limits, the law: all become a nuisance to be wished away. The more you drive, the more bloody-minded and individualistic you become.”

—Guardian columnist
George Monbiot

Anyway, next month will be my parting Roots of Unity—I hope you've enjoyed reading them.

CHAPARRAL