Horns up: Protesting layoffs
The Texas State Employees Union is organizing a petition to protest proposed layoffs in favor of new hires at the University. Along with the union, professors, teachers’ assistants, faculty and students from UT have worked to circulate the petition in hopes of sending a message to the UT Board of Regents and administration — that cutting current jobs to pay for new “prestigious faculty” in the midst of a flat budget is not the answer.
So far the petition, posted in various hallways and classrooms, has more than a thousand names. The greatest support seems to come from the College of Liberal Arts, specifically in foreign language departments, where the layoffs would probably be most severe.
While layoffs are a natural part of the job market, most faculty, staff and student frustration comes from the fact that, given the University’s relatively average financial standing in a time when most institutions are suffering much worse budget deficits, the possible firings don’t seem economically necessary. Most of the cuts would occur at low-paying instructor levels in order to fund fewer new jobs. Fewer instructors would ultimately result in larger classes and less emphasis on quality education at the undergraduate level.
The Texas State Employees Union petition is a positive way to press the University administration into addressing the layoff situation more realistically. At a time when most universities have to cut jobs out of necessity, UT’s ability to simply tread water is an advantage. Perhaps when the administration sees the names of the thousands of people they are affecting with this decision, they’ll take that advantage more seriously.
Horns down: Right-wing gay panic
Galling the right wing of her party, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison has recommended two candidates for the position of U.S. attorney in San Antonio — one of them, Robert Pitman, is openly gay.
Lawyers recently rated Pitman, a respected U.S. magistrate in Austin, the most competent judge in Travis County. Matt Orwig, a U.S. attorney under President George W. Bush, told The Dallas Morning News that Pitman seemed to be “the most qualified and to have the most relevant experience.” Pitman also teaches classes at UT and is a graduate of UT Law.
But social conservatives have begun to decry Hutchison’s recommendation with Tim Lambert, president of the Texas Home School Coalition, calling the senator’s move “very unusual and disturbing.”
It is unclear yet whether Hutchison was aware of Pitman’s sexuality before submitting his name for recognition. Nonetheless, we’re discouraged by a sector of the right wing in Texas that will continue to cleave to extreme social conservatism, even in a matter dealing with a candidate’s sexuality, which in no way colors his competence for the position.
Horns up: The Houston Chronicle sues
Criticism has hounded Gov. Rick Perry since his decision last month to replace members of a board set to investigate — and possibly cast doubt on — the execution of Cameron Todd Willingham, for whom Perry denied clemency in 2004 after Willingham was convicted of killing his three daughters in an arson attack.
But in the first instance of legitimate action taken against Perry following his possible involvement in a cover-up, the Houston Chronicle and Hearst Newspapers LLC are suing the governor in an attempt to force the release of an expert clemency report that made a case for Willingham’s innocence — and was handed to Perry 88 minutes before the state put Willingham to death.
We applaud the Chronicle and Hearst for not only pushing Perry on his troubling involvement in this possible cover-up, which still awaits a formal investigation, but also for their dogged nod to investigative journalism, which has taken hits across the nation as newsrooms face tremendous financial losses.
We hope this effort forces Perry’s involvement in the matter back into the spotlight as the 2010 election season approaches, providing voters — especially those in the Republican primary — with broader coverage of the governor’s history of underhanded ethical moves.
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