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Roots of Unity by Mike Allen, Guild President |
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Mike Allen,
President,
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Aloha, Glendale Welcome to my first column as president of the Guild! I would like to begin by thanking those of you whose votes put me here, of course, but I would also like to acknowledge those Guild members who voted for my predecessor. They have made me aware that I will have to work hard to win over a large number of people. Also, both groups of voters contributed to the relatively high turnout in this year's elections, which is always encouraging. I promise you all that I will give my best for the union as a whole. One of the observations that people have shared with me since the election is that the long-awaited generational succession at the college may be under way. If I had a dollar for every time during my 16 years here that I've heard Boomer brothers and sisters lament the lack of interest in campus leadership among us Gen X'ers, I think I'd be meeting with STRS about planning an early retirement. However, I am joined on Exec. by Amber Casolari as our new Guild secretary, the new president of the union for classified workers is Nidal Kobaissi, and most recently comes word that Michael Ritterbrown has been elected the new chair of the English division. This isn't exactly what you could call a youth movement, but it may someday come to be seen as the beginning of a shift. In fact, it might not be long before I can start kvetching about those lazy faculty coming from the ranks of Generation Y! Anyhow, one of the things I would like to do with this column each issue is to highlight one of the many types of benefits that are available to faculty who choose to become members of the Guild. Some of you may be scratching your heads about this "choose" stuff, but it's true that you actually must fill out a membership form in order to be a member of the Guild, vote in its elections, and enjoy the full range of benefits available. You may think you are a member, since everyone pays money to the Guild for the universal services it performs (negotiations, contract enforcement, etc.), but these are service fees rather than membership dues until you fill out the one-page membership form. Since dues are no higher than the service fees most non-members are already paying, this should be an easy decision. The form is provided to new hires and at least once a year to those who haven't turned one in, but I would be glad to send you another one if you would like. Just email mallen@glendale.edu or call me at x5649. For those of you who have filled one out, the benefit highlights this month have to do with cars. Planning on buying a vehicle this summer? Check out the Union Plus Auto Buying Service (www.unionplus.org/autobuying) for lists of union-made cars, discounts on vehicle history reports, and professionals who will negotiate the price for you. A coupon for discounts on maintenance and repair through Goodyear is available at www.unionplus.org/goodyear. Lastly, even union members like myself who are bus riders can benefit via the car rental deals (currently Avis and Budget) described at www.unionplus.org/carrental. To close, I would like to say a few words about the name of this column. Traditionally, Guild and Senate presidents have given their columns names that are at least loosely connected to their academic disciplines, and that is one reason "Roots of Unity" is my choice. In mathematics, the nth roots of unity are numbers that equal one (unity) when n copies of themselves are multiplied together, the most familiar being the second or square roots of unity. These are positive and negative 1, since both 1 times 1 and (-1) times (-1) are equal to one. Not to blow your mind, but if you go beyond positive and negative numbers into the realm of "complex" numbers, there are likewise three different third or cube roots of unity, four different fourth roots of unity, five different fifth roots of unity, and so on. While the mathematical technique for finding these roots is interesting and elegant, there are other reasons for my choice, of course. My predecessor, Lynn McMurrey, traditionally signed off his Guild communications with "In Unity," and I wanted to follow on that with a unity theme. But as many of you know, I have no patience for facile expressions of unity that attempt to paper over legitimate differences. I am interested in creating those campus conditions wherein true unity can grow, just like the feelings of justice that are necessary pre-conditions for peace. In this column I intend to examine where the roots of our unity might lie. OK, everybody, enjoy the warm nights of summer and we'll see you soon—MIKE & |
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