Every fiscal year, PAC awards up to $30,000—a maximum of $1,000 per unit member—for conference and honorary leave travel costs. Faculty are required to fill out the appropriate reimbursement forms within 60 calendar days of completion of approved activity. This year $6,000 has not yet been claimed. If you fall within the 60 day limit, pick up the claim reimbursement forms in Human Resources and return them to the same office. Unclaimed funds are not rolled over into the next fiscal year. If you apply for these funds and then decide not to use them, please notify PAC so these funds may be used by others who may apply. If you would like further information, contact PAC representatives: John Sutherland or Matthew Priewe.

Almost every fiscal year CFT/AFT raise dues, but the membership dues structure has not been affected by this for the past six years. An increase, which will affect members proportionately, was approved at the UPM executive council meeting June 30, 2006. The increase will take effect in September, 2006.

This may be the last column I write. No, I am not quitting, retiring or leaving office, but I may be "departing. " As I write this in July 2006, I take notice that I have consumed a bowl of Grapenuts® from a box that indicated "Best if used by Sep09 2005." Uh-oh, I am 10 months past this warning date. What plague of health woes might befall me? But wait! I think I may have escaped unharmed. After all, the caution indicated "Best," not "expires" or "fatal." I suppose if I were willing to consume Grapenuts at a quality level below its optimum, then that is my choice and I will not suffer for it. But of course this caused me to wonder about freshness dates on other items.

Some, like those on dairy products, are true expiration dates. I have always viewed these as akin to saying "consume at your own risk." At some point past this date (does the manufacturer build in any cushion time?), the item in question will definitely take on a different texture or odor, sure signs that what you originally paid for is not what you are now getting. But what about medicinal products? All of these have expiration dates, but, especially if they are a non-liquid, will show no visible difference from the first day of opening. Has the wonder drug in the product evaporated or died so that the desired effect of the medicine will not take place? One is not likely to take a chance in this instance although there is a strong concern for truth where pharmaceutical companies are involved. Then there are some products that have time stamps on them for which the need is severely in question: Do Twinkies®, the food of cockroaches after the nuclear blast, really lose something after a period of time? Someone will need to ask the roaches.

Some items that are not consumable may also have advisory dates for their use. Take, for example, ourcollective bargaining agreement. The previous contract very clearly stated that it expired after June 30, 2004. Does this mean it should not and can not be used after this date, and that health hazards await one who relies on it after it has expired? Actually, the answer to this concern is both yes and no.

Our contract should not be used after the "freshness" date, but in the absence of a replacement, it can and must be used. Note that this does not apply to milk, but may apply to headache remedies. Until a new contract has been negotiated, the terms of the old one remain in force. An understandable exception to this is if the contract itself has another internal expiration date. For example, a certain clause could say that such and such language expires on June 30, 2002, within the contract that expires in 2004. Confused? Just imagine that the ice cream goes bad before the cookie in an It’s-It®. Same deal with the contract and a specific clause.

Now some of you may have noticed that our current contract, which runs from July 1, 2004, through June 30, 2007, is about 11 months shy of expiring, yet is nowhere in sight. Well, these things do happen. The employer is responsible for distributing the collective bargaining agreement to the employee, but the hard copy does require serious proofreading (and there will still be errors, omissions and confusion, you can bet on it). UPM has been working with the District to produce a final version and it is somewhere in the system and you will eventually get one. u page 5

News and Opinion

Arthur Lutz

mahatma n. a holy man, a sage, an adept, a revered person regarded with love and respect.

In November 1938, two weeks after Kristallnacht, when thousands of Jewish synagogues, businesses and cemeteries were ransacked and destroyed throughout Germany and Austria, Mohandas Gandhi wrote the following:

"Suffering, voluntarily undergone, will bring the Jews an inner strength and joy. The calculated violence of Hitler may even result in a general massacre of the Jews…but if the Jewish mind could be prepared for voluntary suffering, even this could be turned into a day of thanksgiving and joy." (Harijan 11-26-38)

When his biographer, Louis Fischer, asked him in June of 1946 if, in retrospect, he regretted those words, Gandhi replied: "Hitler killed five million Jews. It is the greatest crime of our time. But the Jews should have offered themselves to the butcher's knife. They should have thrown themselves into the sea from cliffs." "You mean," said Fischer, "that the Jews should have committed collective suicide?" Gandhi replied, "Yes, that would have been heroism. The Jews died anyway, didn't they? They might as well have died significantly." (Louis Fischer: The Life of Mahatma Gandhi; 1951)

During WWII Gandhi supported neither side, and when asked whether he opposed the Nazi regime, he replied, "I do not consider Hitler to be as bad as he is depicted." "He seems to be gaining victories without much bloodshed." Remember, Gandhi said, "Ours is a unique position." "We resist British rule no less than Nazism." "If there is a difference, it is in degree." "Were not Roosevelt and Churchill war criminals, no less than Hitler and Mussolini?" (Complete Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. 70) In 1940, Gandhi wrote an open letter to the British people, urging them to surrender and accept whatever fate Hitler had prepared for them.

"Let them take possession of your beautiful islandwith your many beautiful buildings" he wrote. Andas British ships were sailing from Dunkirk saving thousands of allied troops, Gandhi wrote to the British Viceroy of India, "You are losing! If you persist it will only result in greater bloodshed." "Hitler is not a bad man…" And when informed that the Japanese were likely to invade India, Gandhi announced that his strategy would be to let them occupy as much of India as they wished, and then "make them feel unwanted." (Richard Grenier; "Commentary" March 1983)

Given Gandhi’s questionable commitment to the preservation of democracy (and Judaism), how was it that he would earn the honored title of "Mahatma"- holy man? And how is it that there are so many in the West today who venerate him as an exemplar of compassion and reverence for human life?

What accounted for Gandhi’s consistent refusal to struggle against the axis powers in WWII was his adherence to the Hindu doctrine of "ahimsa" (non-violence). Ahimsa is a doctrine expressing belief in the sacredness of all living creatures and urging the avoidance of harm. It means that you may not offend anybody; you may not harbor uncharitable thoughts, even in connection with those you consider your enemies. So that when Gandhi eventually came to recognize the unspeakable brutality of the Nazi regime, he was still unwilling to abandon his position of neutrality and non-involvement. At one point he wrote, "If there ever could be a justifiable war in the name of humanity, a war against Germany would be completely justified. But I do not believe in any war. A discussion of the pros and cons of such a war is therefore outside my horizon or province." (Harijan 11-26-38).

Gandhi’s insistence on non-belligerence and non-involvement apparently still resonates with many who consider him to be an exalted u page 5

t page 1 NEW ACADEMIC CALENDAR

College Homepage.

For Fall 2006 only, department chairs will be required to attend a mandatory onsite flex activity—Harassment Training, not to exceed 2 hours.

Individual activities will NOT need to be pre-approved. No more papers to keep track of. Keep track of your hours on your Flex Verification Form. Individual activities as identified in the UPM contract include, but they not limited to:

Fall 2006 Flex Verification Forms must be turned in to Human Resources. Mark the following dates on your calendar: Full-time faculty: Thursday, November 30, 2006

Part-time faculty: Saturday, December 16, 2006

Theo Fung