|
September 21, 2009
The following e-mail
message was sent to Chris Peck, editor of the Commercial Apppeal, on Wednesday, September 16, 2009.
_______________
Subject: Commercial Appeal Article on U of M Faculty Senate
Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009 10:06 PM
From: Jeffrey Berman (jberman) <jberman@memphis.edu>
To: Chris Peck <peck@commercialappeal.com>
Chris Peck, Editor
The Commercial Appeal
Dear Mr. Peck:
I applaud the efforts of the Commercial
Appeal to keep the citizens of Memphis and state of Tennessee informed
of significant activities at the University of Memphis. However, for this
to be beneficial, the information must be accurate. Unfortunately, such was
not the case with the headline and subhead for an article appearing this
morning in your paper.
The article, by Juanita Cousins, reported on a vote yesterday by the
University of Memphis Faculty Senate concerning a proposal for the
reorganization of higher education in the state of Tennessee. The article
correctly noted that “U of M faculty senators voted to “endorse the
objective outlined ... and support careful evaluation of the proposed
recommendations.” However, this accurate statement in the body of the
article was entirely undercut by a headline (“University of Memphis faculty
senate backs one-board plan”), that is simply not true. All the senate
motion called for was “careful evaluation” of the proposed reorganization
plan.
Compounding the misleading headline was a false and inflammatory subhead
(“Vote defies opposition of school administrators”). As president of the
Faculty Senate, I can state categorically that I did not experience any
pressure from the U of M administration concerning the senate’s
consideration of the reorganization proposal. Although University President
Shirley Raines has advocated a difference form of reorganization for the U
of M, there was no attempt to derail the senate discussion nor were there
comments at the meeting suggesting that our vote was viewed as being in
defiance of school administrators.
Sincerely,
-Jeffrey S. Berman
--
Jeffrey S. Berman
President, Faculty Senate
University of Memphis
154 Administration Building
Memphis, TN 38152
Senate office: (901) 678-2512
Direct phone: (901) 678-2974
jberman@memphis.edu
|
