Fresser.

I love the filthy, unlicensed, off-brand characters hustling...

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:49:12 -0400

I love the filthy, unlicensed, off-brand characters hustling Times Square. It’s just perverse that 20 years ago, the neighborhood transitioned from squalor to Disney, only to see Disney eat itself in an IP-violating sunlit apocalypse of smiles.

"In order to recover from such atrocious decision-making, the first thing you have to do is to draw a..."

Tue, 21 May 2013 07:35:49 -0400

“In order to recover from such atrocious decision-making, the first thing you have to do is to draw a clear line under the past, being very explicit about what went wrong and where. If you can’t admit your own past mistakes, then you’ll be doomed to continue to make those mistakes in the future.

Which is where Mark Epstein comes in. Epstein, unlike Bharucha, was intimately involved in most of Cooper Union’s worst decisions. He should therefore be disqualified from making even more bad decisions, at least unless and until he can demonstrate that he understands what the board did wrong and how they managed to bring Cooper Union to its fiscal knees. This is one reason the tuition announcement was received so badly: the Cooper community quite understandably has no reason to trust that Epstein’s board will do the right thing. Quite the opposite.

[…]

As for the idea that the alumni are to blame, and that Cooper should be more like Princeton — well, that is so misguided, on so many levels, that no one capable of making that statement should ever be the person who makes the decision to start charging tuition. Princeton is very good at being Princeton, but Peter Cooper was never trying to create a center of research excellence, where Nobel laureates regularly rub shoulders and where undergraduates can study any subject under the sun.

As for the idea that the alumni are to blame, and that Cooper should be more like Princeton — well, that is so misguided, on so many levels, that no one capable of making that statement should ever be the person who makes the decision to start charging tuition. Princeton is very good at being Princeton, but Peter Cooper was never trying to create a center of research excellence, where Nobel laureates regularly rub shoulders and where undergraduates can study any subject under the sun.

Cooper prides itself on being one of the most selective colleges in America, and picking students solely on merit. Princeton is also highly selective, but can’t claim that its admissions process is entirely merit-based: some 40% of legacies applying to Princeton end up being admitted, compared to just 9% of non-legacies. Alumni donate to Princeton in large part because they rationally believe that doing so will help their kids get in there; Cooper’s alumni, in contrast, would be horrified were Cooper to start admitting applicants on the basis of who their parents are.

[…]

Here’s my challenge to Epstein, and to Cooper Union: find me one person — just one — who (a) believes this version of events, and (b) isn’t a member of Cooper’s Board of Trustees, either now or when the decisions were made. In fact, I would be astonished if even a majority of the current board would agree that the new building was helpful rather than harmful, financially. You just need to look at it to see how much of a white elephant it is; you don’t need to know that the engineering faculty — which mainly uses the new building — voted against it twice, and that the myth about the new building being required in order for Cooper to keep its accreditation is, well, let’s just say that none of the faculty believes it.

[…]

On Friday, Kevin Slavin — one of the most outspoken opponents of charging tuition at Cooper — was elected to the position of alumni trustee for the period from December 2013 to September 2017. Slavin didn’t even run: he was a write-in, a protest at the way in which Cooper’s trustees seem to be unaccountable to anybody. The vote wasn’t for Slavin, so much as it was against Bharucha, and Epstein, and everybody else on the board who has consistently downplayed their own culpability in the Cooper fiasco.

Charging tuition doesn’t solve Cooper’s financial problems — far from it. In order for Cooper to get onto a sustainable footing, it’s going to need to regain the admiration of multiple constituencies, including current students, alumni, current faculty, and prospective students. It’s pretty clear that the board isn’t going to get that support by blustering and stonewalling and pretending that they didn’t do anything wrong. So maybe, if and when Bharucha manages to find a new communications chief, that person could start by persuading the board to give a full explanation of — and take full responsibility for — everything which went wrong.”

- All of this (and the rest of the article) are pretty much spot on far as I’m concerned.

One important caveat is that the votes for me weren’t just against Bharucha and Epstein — as Felix writes — but also for everyone (students, alumni, faculty, even parents) working together to have genuine representation on the board. To have a voice in the room and ears on what happens in it.

Cooper Union’s shameless trustees | Felix Salmon

This morning started at 191st St on the 1 train, to meet Adrian...

Mon, 20 May 2013 17:33:40 -0400

This morning started at 191st St on the 1 train, to meet Adrian and head to meetings w Cooper Union Trustees. Walking this subway tunnel at 191st, I realized I hadn’t been in there since high school at Hunter, walking with Sane Smith. Emerged from the tunnel to meet Adrian, a concerned Cooper alum who I only knew from Facebook, only to discover that he too went to Hunter College High School, two years before me and three before Sane. We then drove to a roadside diner to meet Michael Borkowsky, a Cooper Union trustee who started BBDO back in the day, and who represents a bit of sunlight on some sad and foggy affairs.

swandiamondrose: Entry to the Gwalior Fort from the Hathi Pol...

Sun, 19 May 2013 21:42:32 -0400

swandiamondrose:

Entry to the Gwalior Fort from the Hathi Pol or “Elephant door”, high arches of the door, allowed elephants to pass into the fort. [Big door!]

Audio

Sun, 19 May 2013 11:36:28 -0400

glitchnews: 三社祭の宮出しで、威勢よく浅草神社の境内を練り歩く神輿（東京都台東区で）＝清水健司撮影

Sun, 19 May 2013 11:27:01 -0400

glitchnews:

三社祭の宮出しで、威勢よく浅草神社の境内を練り歩く神輿（東京都台東区で）＝清水健司撮影

31262: F-22 vs F/A-18F

Sun, 19 May 2013 11:26:43 -0400

31262:

F-22 vs F/A-18F

glitchnews: The US Navy launched an unmanned drone from the...

Sat, 18 May 2013 11:20:37 -0400

glitchnews:

The US Navy launched an unmanned drone from the flight deck of an aircraft carrier for the first time. The Navy hopes the experimental aircraft will pave the way for a new line of drones that could carry out bombing raids from a carrier, heralding a new era of unmanned naval aircraft.

glitchnews: 保存会を設立した三重県鳥羽志摩地域の海女ら（写真は昨年７月の鳥羽市無形民俗文化財「しろんご祭」）

Sat, 18 May 2013 11:17:41 -0400

glitchnews:

保存会を設立した三重県鳥羽志摩地域の海女ら（写真は昨年７月の鳥羽市無形民俗文化財「しろんご祭」）

Super sad to be missing #govalgo today but listening to Ed...

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:31:17 -0400

Super sad to be missing #govalgo today but listening to Ed Boyden at @medialab is really not bad. (at MIT Media Lab — Building E14)

Alumni Trustee to Cooper Union for the next four years....

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:54:06 -0400

Alumni Trustee to Cooper Union for the next four years. Alongside some badass alumni on the alumni council. Grateful to the thousand+ people who wrote in votes in the span of a few days, and hoping we can restore a few missing things to the institution we care so much for. We’ll start with trust.

“Learning @medialab” day. This from the session on ...

Fri, 17 May 2013 11:10:55 -0400

“Learning @medialab” day. This from the session on “Accidental Engineering: all the things we learned from making our prototypes but were afraid to talk about”
(at MIT Media Lab — Building E14)

jkjkjkjkjkjkjkjkjkjk: NOW ACCEPTING PRE-ORDERS Nailed it.

Thu, 16 May 2013 23:57:21 -0400

jkjkjkjkjkjkjkjkjkjk:

NOW ACCEPTING PRE-ORDERS

Nailed it.

Serious #latergram of @cityofsound as we crossed the railroad...

Thu, 16 May 2013 23:51:03 -0400

Serious #latergram of @cityofsound as we crossed the railroad tracks. He asked if it was a good idea. I asked what the worst that could happen was. His answer was a good one: “we could get hit by a train carrying a large amount of nuclear material.” It’s Cambridge and anything is possible here, and that is one reason I found that to be an excellent answer.

Thanks, jerks. I’m just buying a bike. I don’t need...

Thu, 16 May 2013 17:11:00 -0400

Thanks, jerks. I’m just buying a bike. I don’t need the fucking EXIF data.

“DELIVERY workers tramp through tunnels under Gaza —...

Wed, 15 May 2013 19:42:00 -0400

“DELIVERY workers tramp through tunnels under Gaza — carrying bags and buckets of Kentucky Fried Chicken.

The famous fast food has gone underground as Palestinians order the takeaways from Egypt.

Boxes and bags emblazoned with Colonel Sanders famous red and white logo move swiftly through the smuggling tunnels that run beneath the border.

The fried food has to make its subterranean journey across as there is no KFC restaurant in the Palestinian region.

Israeli restrictions on Gaza crossings make it difficult to open an international fast food branch in the area.”

"There is no closure for an audience that is invested in characters."

Wed, 15 May 2013 17:30:13 -0400

“There is no closure for an audience that is invested in characters.”

- http://www.npr.org/2013/04/25/178832854/matthew-weiner-on-mad-men-and-meaning (via beekernortham)

“Unveiled at New York University’s annual No Quarter...

Wed, 15 May 2013 17:29:11 -0400

“Unveiled at New York University’s annual No Quarter exhibition, Bennett Foddy’s Speed Chess reminds you that chess is supposed to be a military battle and, yes, military battles are filled with screaming and confusion. Sometimes, you don’t know how you won. The video above shows the game in action and has Foddy explaining why he thinks that getting 16 people to play a game of chess is a good idea.”

‘QWOP’ Creator Bennett Foddy Shows Us His Take on Speed Chess (by KotakuNYC)

Sitting at @medialab with @tokyomango on speaker w @baratunde...

Wed, 15 May 2013 14:52:09 -0400

Sitting at @medialab with @tokyomango on speaker w @baratunde looking at @joi copy of @lirarandall book with a @jrlevine sticker on it. #smallworld #noreally #reallyfuckingsmall (at MIT Media Lab — Building E14)

“Until recently [my parents] had supported the...

Tue, 14 May 2013 16:27:00 -0400

“Until recently [my parents] had supported the administration. This is no longer the case. I have their permission to share this, and cannot thank them enough for their love and support. I would not be at Cooper, nor here in this moment without them. I know that their message resonates with Cooper students, alumni, faculty, and staff everywhere. Mark Epstein and Jamshed Bharucha cannot continue to ignore these countless voices that oppose their decisions and authority at the Cooper Union.”

— Joe Riley, one of the Cooper Union students who has occupied the President’s Office since Wednesday. For the record, I don’t demand what they are demanding, and I’ve worked a bit to help the Emergency Management Team to understand the situation. I also spent a bit of time with the students up there when I was in NYC.

The letter below is from Joe’s parents to the head of the Board of Trustees Mark Epstein. It speaks with a very different type of voice than we’ve heard up till now, and is worth paying attention to.

—

Sent: May 13, 2013 11:51 AM
Subject: RE: Voice Your Support: Petition Enclosed

Mr. Epstein,

We recently received an email from you with a “petition” attached, which you asked us to sign. Given recent events at the Cooper Union and what we have learned from reviewing information that has come to our attention, we feel compelled to respond as follows:

President Jamshed Bharucha’s administration has completely mishandled the current situation with the students from the beginning. President Bharucha should not have threatened to dismiss these students or withhold their diplomas, but should have been offering to hire them instead. I have observed many hours of the live stream video from the President’s office where anywhere from 30 to 100+ students are furiously typing on laptops, texting or talking on phones, communicating with the larger community and generating plans, websites, ideas and even artwork to move forward on the issues.

Why has Bharucha turned a blind eye to their dedication, their talent, their effectiveness and indeed their fundraising potential? Why has he not instead taken advantage of this tremendously powerful human resource to work toward truly effective alternative financial solutions? His plan to charge tuition, arrived at in closed-door meetings in sometimes undisclosed locations (which plan, clearly, does no more than put a band-aid on a deep gash) is akin to cutting off his nose despite his face. His total failure to acknowledge alternatives that students are willing to offer is foolhardy at best, and at worst, may ultimately lead to the downfall of the school from both a financial and public relations standpoint. In fact, given the energy, work ethic and passion of the students, had Bharucha worked with them instead of against them from the beginning, the school’s financial woes could have been well on their way toward a sustainable solution by now. But instead of taking the role as a community builder, President Bharucha’s conduct has been divisive at the very least.

If I were in Bharucha’s shoes, the first thing I would do is walk into my office and listen to what this amazingly effective group of young people has to say. I would not go into hiding, refusing to leave my home and refusing to communicate with the main constituents on this issue - the students. I would put them to work for me to help raise significant funds, realizing that they have the interests of the school at heart and tremendous fundraising potential. President Bharucha should be true to his purported “open door” policy, and have the courage to walk through his own door. There are no more dedicated, passionate, smart and willing students on the planet than those who are currently waiting to see him in his own office. What is he so afraid of? As a leader of the Cooper community, Bharucha has behaved in a secretive, passive aggressive, and frankly cowardly, manner, and as such no longer has our support.

As for the Board of Trustees, you should be ashamed of themselves. We have carefully digested all the information that has been brought to light about the truth of the financial disaster which, granted, began years ago. Yet the current board has done nothing to stem the tide of fiscal irresponsibility; indeed you are complicit in it. You approved the decision to borrow many millions of dollars to build the new building with no idea how to pay for it, knowing already that the endowment was in serious trouble. Moreover, you have squandered millions of dollars in fees to hedge fund managers. At the same time, the very clear public relations message you disseminated was that the Cooper Union was in good financial health.

When our son Joe first started at Cooper Union we were sold a bill of goods – repeatedly we were told at orientation meetings that Cooper’s endowment was in excellent shape, and that they were so successful in managing their funds that they could afford to build a new fabulous building when most other schools around the country were struggling just to survive. There were even articles in the news media to that effect when construction was completed. But board members knew full well what the truth was. Nevertheless, you sent out the message to parents and the community at large that all was well. That is more than gross mismanagement. It is in fact misrepresentation, misuse of funds, and a failure of fiduciary duty. In light of all that, the “petition” we received from you, Mr. Epstein, and your request that we sign it, is appalling. So no, we will not sign it. Our support is with the students and faculty who have had the courage to stand up and challenge the assumptions, representations and conclusions of the board and this administration. These constituents are a force to be reckoned with, and they must have a voice on this issue.

We are not a wealthy family, and so we harbor no illusions that our views carry weight with you. Initially, much to our son Joe’s chagrin, both the Board and President Bharucha had our support. But now we count ourselves among the thousands who have asked all of you to listen, and to change course. It is clear you are unwilling to do so. In our opinion therefore, you should all be summarily dismissed.

Annetta and Bill Riley, parents of Joe Riley

—

Last night, President Bharucha met with what looked like 100 or so students in his office and talked with them past 1AM. I missed most of it, so can’t say what it adds up to. But students remain in the office and it’s not obvious how the occupation will end.