Re: Letter to the Editor (10/22/09) ... Re: Group submits class complaints (9/24/09)

In the Oct. 22 issue of the [X]press, Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada, D-Davis, misremembers what she and I discussed on Sept 7. She writes that it was about "faculty walk-outs ... on instructional days."

What we actually discussed was faculty taking furlough days on instructional days. The issue had been covered by an editorial in the Sacramento Bee on Sept. 5 and Yamada repeated to me what that editorial said, i.e., that faculty should not take their furlough days on teaching days.

It is the agreement of CSU and the California Faculty Association that faculty may take furlough days on instructional days. A furlough is a furlough; it means that we get paid less to work less. Much of what we do is teach for a living and, for many, working less means teaching less. Faculty certainly didn't want it this way and only voted for it to keep additional classes open and lecturers working.

It was the budget vote of Yamada and the legislature that forced this situation on SF State. If she really wants to not place any further hardship on our students, then she'll only vote for state budgets that fully fund CSU.

Ramón Castellblanch, Ph.D
Associate Professor, Health Education
Campus Chapter President, California Faculty Association
San Francisco State