Educators letter to Pacifica on KPFA layoffs
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Dear Arlene Englehardt, Executive Director of the Pacifica Foundation,
As educators — professors, scholars, researchers, university staff and teachers – we treasure KPFA for its long history of promoting thoughtful dialogue and social justice activism in the bay area and beyond. We are writing because we believe that your abrupt decision to lay off the hosts, Brian Edwards-Tiekert and Aimee Allison, thus removing the program from the air, undermines these values. Other KPFA staff, both unpaid and paid, were also negatively affected.
* The Morning Show was the Bay Area’s only locally-produced progressive morning news and information program — an important civic and intellectual forum. Dismissing the Morning Show’s staff and replacing them with piped in programming from Los Angeles or other hosts does not serve the listenership.
* The Morning Show was also the most popular local program at KPFA, the station’s single largest fund raiser, and its most profitable program. This contradicts your argument that cutting the program was a matter of financial necessity. It also raises fears that your move may send KPFA into a downward spiral.
* The Morning Show has always been popular, but Aimee and Brian were part of a young, energetic, highly skilled and diverse team. What is the evidence to support your argument that any program in that time slot will raise equal funds?
* We understand you have hired an expensive management-side employment law firm, Folger & Levin, to deal with grievances from KPFA’s union. We believe this is a misuse of KPFA listener’s dollars and something KPFA cannot afford during these hard economic times.
We are deeply concerned that Pacifica’s actions around the Morning Show are indicative of a national board that is hostile to local governance and locally-controlled programming, and that is unwilling to work collaboratively with local listeners, staff and board members.Therefore, in this time of national economic downturn and the ascendancy of the right — a time when progressive radio is most needed — we ask that you:
1. Reinstate the Morning Show with Brian and Aimee as co-hosts
2. Return local control of programming to KPFA
3. Enter mediation with KPFA’s union over the process by which you are making cuts, and over the sensible, sustainable budget alternatives proposed by KPFA’s union and supported by the station’s local board and management.
Sincerely yours,
Bernie Alie, librarian, York County Community College, Wells, Maine
Kevin Anderson, Professor, UC Santa Barbara
Thomas Andrae Instructor, California State University, East Bay
Anatole Anton, Emeritus Professor, San Francisco State University
Mark Baldridge, Watershed Environmental Poetry Festival
Amnon Bar-Ilan, PhD., ENVIRON International Corporation
Claudette Begin, Administrative Asst, School of Public Health, UC Berkeley
Martin Bennett, Professor, Santa Rosa Junior College
Joyce A. Bird, Research Sociologist/Retired, UCSF
Rebecca Bodenheimer, Dept. of Music, Hamilton College
Harry Brill, Professor (retired), U. Mass, Boston
Wendy Brown, Professor, UC Berkeley
Carolan Buckmaster, researcher, UC San Diego
Rita Karuna Cahn, LCSW; Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, UCSF Medical Center
Cathy Campbell, President, Berkeley Federation of Teachers & long-time Berkeley teacher
Yvonne Campbell, educator, Solano and Sonoma counties
Ignacio H. Chapela, Associate Professor, UC Berkeley
Kris Clarke, Professor of Social Work, California State University, Fresno
Lawrence Cohen, Professor, UC Berkeley
Juliette Cunico, Ph.D. Adjunct Faculty, University of New Mexico
Todd Davies, Lecturer, Stanford University
Robin Maria DeLugan, Asst. Professor of Anthropology, UC Merced
Diane di Prima, San Francisco Poet Laureate
Jeffrey M. Dickemann, Professor Emeritus, Sonoma State University
Terry Doran, former president of the Berkeley School Board, retired Berkeley high school teacher
Pamela A. Drake, Adult Education instructor
Robert Dunn, Professor Emeritus, Cal State University, East Bay
Steve Early, labor journalist/author
Elizabeth Ebrahimzadeh, Professor, Mathematics, Cal State University, Sacramento
Michael Eisenscher, Bay Area Labor Committee for Peace & Justice
Laura Enriquez, Professor, UC Berkeley
Barbara Epstein, Professor, UC Santa Cruz
Laura Fantone, Faculty, San Francisco Art Institute
Bill Fletcher, Jr., author, BlackCommentator.com
Anne-Lise Francois, Associate Professor, UC Berkeley
Dana Frank, Professor, UC Santa Cruz
Isao Fujimoto, Dept of Community and Regional Development, UC,Davis
Tony J. Garduque, Student Success Services, Fresno State University
Victor Garlin, Professor emeritus, Sonoma State University
Bluma Goldstein, Professor emerita, UC Berkeley
Robin Goodfellow, Oakland music and art teacher
Peggy Grant, PhD, Alliant International University
Judy Grether, retired, public health scientist
Susan Griffin, author, instructor at California Institute of Integral Studies, the Wright Institute and UC Berkeley, Osher Life Long Learning Program
Andrej Grubacic, Lecturer, San Francisco Art Institute
Conn Hallinan, Provost Kresge College, UCSC (retired)
Peter Hartmann, Director of Photography, Vancouver, BC
Jamie Heckert, Interdependent Scholar, Poole, UK
Chris Hedges, author
David Heintz, Professor, California College of the Arts
Linda Hess, Senior Lecturer, Stanford University
Brenda Hillman, poet, Saint Mary’s College
Adrienne Carey Hurley, Assistant Professor, McGill University
John Hurst, Professor of Education, UC Berkeley
Joyce Jenkins, Editor, Poetry Flash
Joyce Johnson, Sociology Professor, Santa Rosa Jr. College
Claire Kahane, Professor emerita, SUNY, Buffalo
Larry Kelp, Music Specialist, Berkeley Unified School District
David Kessler, Bancroft Library staff, U.C. Berkeley
Harry Kreisler, author; executive director Institute of International Studies; host/producer of Conversations with History, UC Berkeley
Jack Kurzweil, Professor emeritus, San Jose State University
Marcia Laris, retired adult school and community college teacher
Matthew Lasar, instructor, UC Santa Cruz, author of two books on history of Pacifica
Marjorie Lasky, Professor Emerita, Diablo Valley College
Jean Lave, Professor emerita, UC Berkeley
Pam Tau Lee, Labor and Community Studies, City College of San Francisco
Clyde Leland, University of San Francisco, School of Law
Beti Leone, educator, consultant and writer
Joan Lichterman, UC Berkeley editor
Karen E. Lovaas, Ph.D, Assoc. Professor, Communication Studies; Co-Director, Global Peace, Human Rights and Justice Studies, San Francisco State University
Jenna M. Loyd, Postdoctoral Fellow, Syracuse University
Colleen Lye, Associate Professor, UC Berkeley
Teresa McFarland, Ph.D. UC Berkeley
Saba Mahmood, Dept. of Anthropology, UC Berkeley
Gaetano Kazuo Maida, Executive Director, International Buddhist Film Festival
Jerry Mander, author
Caitlin Manning, Associate Professor, Cal State University, Monterey Bay
Bruce McGaw, Associate Professor, San Francisco Art Institute
Karma Moffett, recording artist and composer
Leba Morimoto, educational therapist
Carlos Munoz, Professor Emeritus, UC Berkeley
Catherine Murphy, Director, The Literacy Project Stanford, CA
Karen Musalo, Clinical Professor, UC, Hastings College of the Law
Bob Muzzy, Senior Windows Server Administrator RSSP IT, UC Berkeley
H. Andrea Neves, Professor Emerita, Sonoma State University
Judith Newton, Professor Emerita, UC Davis
Whitney van Nouhuys, Academic Dean, The Sanville Institute
Betty Olson-Jones, President of Oakland Education Association
Rosalinda Montez Palacios, Adjunct Professor, Peralta Community Colleges
Carmen Pegan, Graphic Designer, Mission College
Jolie Pearl, Health Educator/Clinical Training Coordinator, UC San Francisco
Michael Perelman, professor, California State University, Chico
Marc Pilisuk, Professor, Saybrook University Graduate School
Adrienne Pine, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, American University
Jude Pittman, Professor, College of San Mateo
Matt Rahaim, University of Minnesota
Craig Reinarman, Professor, UC Santa Cruz
Haydn Reiss, Zinc Films Independent Media Producer
William C. Reuter, Emeritus Professor of History, California State University East Bay
Claudia Robbins, Instructor, Santa Rosa Junior College
Damali Robertson, Haas Center for Public Service, Stanford University
Judy Rohrer, Scholar in Residence, UC Berkeley
Christine Rosen, Associate Professor, Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley
Alan P. Rudy, Central Michigan University
Lynne Hollander Savio, Mario Savio Memorial Lecture & Young Activist Award
Naomi A. Schapiro, Clinical Professor, UCSF
Robert Scheer, editor, Truthdig.com
Anna Slavicek, teacher, Lowell High School, San Francisco
Harvey Smith, retired Oakland Unified School District teacher
Sara Smith, Ph.D. candidate, UC Santa Cruz
Rebecca Solnit, author
Norman Solomon, media critic and author
Lynn Sonfield, GED teacher, Berkeley Unified School District
Masha Sosonkina, Adjunct Associate Professor, Iowa State University
Joni Spigler, Instructor in the History of Art Department, UC Berkeley
Alex Sterling, Center for Academic Support, Los Medanos College
David Swanson, author
Vanessa Tait, researcher/author & UC Berkeley librarian
Barrie Thorne, Professor of Sociology and Gender and Women’s Studies, UC Berkeley
Ben Timmons, staff, UC Davis
Sylvia Tiwon, Assoc. Professor UC Berkeley
Linda Traynor, Fresno City College (retired)
Philip Traynor, American University (retired)
Christine Trost, Asst Director, Institute for the Study of Societal Issues, UC Berkeley
Breidi Truscott, Events Specialist International House, UC Berkeley
E. Kay Trimberger, Professor Emerita, Sonoma State University
Sheila R. Tully, Dept. of Anthropology , San Francisco State University
Ellen Vogel, public school educator, Pacifica School District
Dick Walker, professor, UC Berkeley
Kathleen Weaver, poet, translator, novelist
Cal Winslow, Fellow, Environmental Politics, UC Berkeley
Michael D. Yates, Professor Emeritus at University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown
Nicholas González Yuen, Ph.D, JD, Chair, Political Science Dept, De Anza College