Sanders is still a player

As I listen to the national media’s shock at Donald Trump’s current path of attacks, they are totally confounded. I think they forget one thing that Trump hasn’t — Hillary still has to win California and New Jersey against Bernie Sanders. They want to talk about the general election at a time when Bernie Sanders has pledged to fight until the last vote is cast — not in California but Philadelphia. Trump’s attacks don’t help him, but they absolutely help Bernie Sanders. And while Sanders will not be the nominee of the Democratic Party if Philadelphia 2016 becomes Chicago 1968, Ford vs. Reagan, or Carter vs. Kennedy, it will help Trump in November.

Jon Narcisse

Des Moines

Reader defends Ruud

I am writing in regard to Michael Gartner’s May 25 column (Civic Skinny), “President Ruud leaves UNI after faculty carping. But the system is rigged against the university.” In his column, Mr. Gartner quotes an anonymous “academic” who claimed “that folks who worked closely with him (Ruud) didn’t like his style.” A similar quote is attributed to an unidentified “sort of Kremlinologist of Regent doings.” The cumulative effect of the headline and the anonymous quotes creates a false impression that President Ruud was disliked by UNI faculty. As president of UNI’s faculty union, I have worked closely with Bill Rudd since his arrival at our university. I can say without reservation that he has never been difficult to work with. On the contrary, despite our occasional disagreements on labor-management issues, he has consistently treated our union pleasantly and respectfully. Moreover, I do not recall a single instance in which any member of our faculty complained about how they were treated by President Ruud. He is down to earth, mega-smart and eager to laugh. I’m certain the leaders of UNI’s Faculty Senate would provide a similar appraisal. In fact, faculty leaders are helping organize a celebration of President Ruud’s many contributions to our university. If Mr. Gartner and Cityview are truly interested in understanding the origins of President Ruud’s departure they would be well served to check with President Ruud and the Iowa Board of Regents. At the very least, they should be careful to not create demonstrably false impressions about the role of UNI faculty.

Joe Gorton, Ph. D.

President United Faculty/UNI AAUP

University of Northern Iowa

Gartner’s plan is good

According to Civic Skinny (May 25): “So the state gives the U of I about $20,000 for each resident undergraduate…”  “Iowa State gets about $9,800 for each undergraduate from the state (again, ISU has sharply increased the number of its in-state undergraduates, again hurting UNI), and UNI gets about $11,500.”

Ex-regent Michael Gartner offers a plausible solution to ensure the viability of UNI; it’s a wealth redistribution plan that even the Democrat-heavy University of Iowa faculty should endorse. It will be interesting to hear their vocal public support. So far, all I hear are the sound of crickets from Johnson County.

Mike Rowley

Clive