University Library Boss Cancels the NY Times In Protest

UIW library boss cancels the N.Y. Times in protest

Web Posted: 06/30/2006 12:00 AM CDT

Melissa Ludwig
Express-News Staff Writer

The dean of library services at the University of the Incarnate Word has canceled the library's subscription to the New York Times to protest articles exposing a secret government program that monitors international financial transactions in the hunt for terrorists.

"Since no one elected the New York Times to determine national security policy, the only action I know to register protest for their irresponsible action (treason?) is to withdraw support of their operations by canceling our subscription as many others are doing," Mendell D. Morgan Jr. wrote Wednesday in an e-mail to library staffers. "If enough do, perhaps they will get the point."

The university released a statement Thursday saying Morgan had the authority to remove the newspaper.

"The University of the Incarnate Word does not take an official position on the recent decision to cancel the subscription of the New York Times at the university's library," the statement said. "This decision was made by the administrator in charge of the library whose authority extends to the contents of the library, and thus it was within his purview to make this decision. The university is supportive of the First Amendment, a free press and of the presentation of diverse points of view."




http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA063006.01A.UIW_BANS_TIMES.1595018.html



Nothing like putting a Freeper in charge of the library. Truly the mark of a great university.

:eyes:

U of Incarnate Word??? who dat?

Can you get a doctorate in Appliance Repair there?

University of the Incarnate Word
San Antonio, Texas


* Independent Roman Catholic comprehensive, founded 1881
* Calendar: semesters
* Degrees: associate, bachelor's, master's, doctoral, and first professional
* Urban 200-acre campus
* Endowment: $33.3 million
* Coed, 4,370 undergraduate students, 59% full-time, 66% women, 34% men
* Moderately difficult entrance level, 75% of applicants were admitted

The University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) is located in San Antonio, Texas. It is a private Catholic university with notable campus extensions in the People's Republic of China and Mexico.

The UIW is currently the fifth largest private university in Texas.

ATHLETICS
Synchronized Swimming
UIW is home to the 3rd nationally ranked synchronized swimming team.


HISTORY
UIW was founded by the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, who came to San Antonio in 1869 to assist with treating a cholera outbreak. The order follows the Augustinian rule.

The institution began as the Incarnate Word School in 1881 and was originally chartered as a college for women. It became fully coeducational in 1971.

The University first became accredited 1925 and its accreditation was reaffirmed in 2005 by Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.<1>

It's also described as a "liberal arts" college.

LOL cheap shot, but this dipso deservs it (the univ pres)

He pulled this idiotic stunt. He's not a priest & we don't even know that he's Catholic.

If you read the article, you'll see the staff librarians are mad at the idiot.

Jerks! I'm so thankful to be a recovering Catholic and shed all that self-righteousness. IMO, the Catholic leadership is nothing more than bunch of old BITTER single men preaching to the world. :thumbsdown:

I feel no sympathy for NYT. They have pimped for the Bush Crime Family and got burned. Maybe they will begin to act like a real newspaper again.

the NYT.

in the old testament. They might have heart palpitations.

Look at all of the "pornography" in their collection!

http://endeavor.uiwtx.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?Search_Arg=nude&Search_Code=FT*&SL=None&PID=633&SEQ=20060630101200&CNT=10&HIST=1&SEARCH_FROM_TITLES_PAGE=Y

And feminist literature and subversive 'cultural studies' texts, too!

of Jericho after the walls "came a'tumblin down."

:rofl:

amazingly convenient morality

The Dean appears to be making a political, not a moral decision. I disagree with it, but it does not appear to be a decision based on 'morals'.

"The University of the Incarnate Word does not take an official position on the recent decision to cancel the subscription of the New York Times at the university's library," the statement said. "This decision was made by the administrator in charge of the library whose authority extends to the contents of the library, and thus it was within his purview to make this decision. The university is supportive of the First Amendment, a free press and of the presentation of diverse points of view."

So they're supporting the First Amendment by allowing a freeper librarian to bar access to one of the nation's leading newspapers.

:crazy:

The article makes it sound as if the Dean made this decision on his own, something that just doesn't happen in libraries very often - decisions aren't made this way.

This is a bizarre story. I'm wondering if it isn't a misprint of some kind.

Those who actually read the article can find the librarians are angry. Let's see what happens next.

The NYT did an article on this a year back and nobody said a thing.

American Association of University Professors? If so, the UIW may be looking at a censure resolution and academic sanctions.

The dean probably cancelled the hard copy subscription, but students will still have access to the paper online through the Texshare consortium (http://www.uiwtx.edu/%7Elibweb/database.html).

The hard copy paper probably was not used all that much and the university may have been considering cancelling it to save money anyway, due to the fact that most people are accessing it online.

"My university rejects the finest single source of news reporting in the western world for political reasons, not spiritual ones. The New York Post and World Weekly News are just fine with us."

"Lala-lala-lala I can't hear you lala-lala-lala..."

"Next week we intend to burn the every copy of the World Book Encyclopedia in Texas, because of the articles on Evolution, Birth control, and Torquemada-bashing. Next we'll burn those Korans and the pesky Books of Mormon that keep showing up. All in the name of Jesus!"

Seriously. I worked at a public university for over seven years on the staff of the Dean's office (in another state). From my experience, librarians are at the top of the list in actively protecting the 1st Amendment (as well as the 4th Amendment). Every one of the librarians I worked with would have been up in arms and marching to the University President's office the on to the Board of Governors demanding a reversal of the decision. And if they didn't prevail, they'ld take turns buying the NYT to put it on the shelves while keeping up the pressure on the administration.

This country gets scarier every day.

drastic for a University - and as you say counter-Constitution.

I hope we hear when it is reinstated and why.

It's very interesting how University protests are entering the news more and more. They've been so silent incomparison to the Vietnam era.

It's a dumb decision and doesn't seem to fit with the library's collection policies. Maybe it's personal - the New York Times ran over his grandmother or something.

I'd hate to be doing research there .... this is surely not the only source that's been deemed unacceptable for the students to see.

I mean, 1001 books came up in a search for "feminism", for example:

http://endeavor.uiwtx.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?Search_Arg=feminism&Search_Code=FT*&SL=None&PID=633&SEQ=20060630101230&CNT=10&HIST=1&SEARCH_FROM_TITLES_PAGE=Y

Is this an attack on the school, Catholicism, the library, or a reasoned criticism of one Dean's actions?

Some people don't want to make that distinction.

for a dean to make a decision like this about what the library will or will not be allowed to offer its students. There are professionals in place to make those decisions based on their own criteria, and that is a responsibility that's taken very seriously. I don't know what their normal collection development policies are, but I find it troubling that the dean is so willing to step in and ban any publication on political grounds. At most universities, that kind of action would infuriate the librarians and result in serious problems for the dean. His actions are so far outside the norm that it makes me wonder what the climate is like there. I wouldn't want to be put in the librarians' position, caught in the middle like this.

shocked and upset by this. I personally don't think the administration should let this decision stand. It sets a bad precedent.

right to inflict his personal political views on all the library's users.

He sounds like an arrogant so-and-so.

"The university is supportive of the First Amendment, a free press and of the presentation of diverse points of view."

No, it isn't.

This article is about one Dean's unilateral decision. It doesn't appear that he consulted anyone. It is an unprofessional act, but it says nothing about the university, its policies, or the library.

"The university released a statement Thursday saying Morgan had the authority to remove the newspaper.

"The University of the Incarnate Word does not take an official position on the recent decision to cancel the subscription of the New York Times at the university's library," the statement said. "This decision was made by the administrator in charge of the library whose authority extends to the contents of the library, and thus it was within his purview to make this decision. The university is supportive of the First Amendment, a free press and of the presentation of diverse points of view." "

Do you know how a university or an academic library operates?

The statement the university made is with regard to what is within his expressed authority as a Dean. They are merely stating what is very likely in his job description. I suppose this incident illustrates that his job duties and responsibilities are poorly defined. They are not taking a stance, they are stating what IS , at the moment, within his jurisdiction. How much you want to bet that will come under review?

The school's librarians are not happy. And the Administration was probably blindsided.

Once everyone comes back from vacation, let's see what happens...

question, but I've worked at other universities, and that kind of action would have gotten him in serious trouble at any one of them. It's just not appropriate.

That's disgraceful for a librarian, though. So much for librarians being such great defenders of free speech.

He's is Dean of Libraries. A lot of universities fill that post with a professor (PhD), not a librarian (MLIS/DLS). I checked the sight and couldn't find where he received his MLIS.

This is really bizarre coming from Incarnate Word!

They are definitely a legit school, private, Catholic - beautiful campus, in fact, my stepsister got married at one of their chapels.

In San Antonio it did have the reputation of being one of the "easier" colleges to graduate from, as compared to the other private institutions (Trinity University, St Mary's) or the public ones (UTSA). But, I would NEVER have expected something like this!

Incarnate Word must have really run off the rails to allow anti-intellectualism & politicizing like this!

college and university librarians is? I'm thinking there could be some real shit-stirring still to come, if the UIW is a member of said library association, not to mention if the faculty are members of the AAUP (American Association of University Professors).

Association of College and Research Libraries. http://www.acrl.org is the homepage. I am a member. There is a serious disconnect between practicioners and admin in most college libraries. In fact there is a war over whether practicing college librarians are faculty or staff. Of course, the admin does not want us to be unionized staff or faculty, rather a separate animal. Now that is a generalization, of course, but the war is real.
Not all college library deans are shills for the admin, in fact, many are at a level on par witht the Provost and have come up through the ranks and oversee up to ten separate libraries. The heads of each library are pretty independent in the scheme of things and concentrate on "admins stuff", especially money. The library wants to prove that it just has to have more money than the last year's allotment of the general budget, and makes exaggerated claims of need to get what they really need when cooler heads prevail.
If UIW is an institution that does not tenure track its librarians or even give them faculty status, then the dean will basicly be the only one in the overall scheme of decision making finality.
If the librarians are faculty there, they can take it up with the faculty senate and introduce a motion of censure and/or no confidence. If they are "staff" then they can only go along with his decision (in theory). But don't think for a minute that they will keep quiet or stand still.
One thing they can do is to put in an ILL request for every single article out of the Times they want to read, from students to faculty. The cost in manpower will be staggering! But I'm sure that the faculty and librarians know this already.

p.s. Nearly every single library in the US and Canada subscribe to the NYT. It is considered a given in collection management.

the Library must answer to a Chancellor (or maybe a VP of Academic Affairs). If the AAUP gets involved and censures UIW, only way to get censure removed is through some kind of "consent decree." I've never heard of AAUP doing this for a library matter, they're usually more pro-active about tenure and due process issues, like Charles Curran's case against Catholic U. But I wouldn't be entirely surprised if this becomes a "governance issue" that AAUP takes up.

Bow to the Pontiff with great respect, and genuflect, genuflect, genuflect."

Their catalog appears to be pretty standard. Perhaps the Dean should be fired for being out of step with the library's apparent collection policies?

of character.

after all, they presumably had a subscription because they thought some of the reporting was of value. Maybe the Dean could take it upon himself to decided for everyone else what's safe to read, and cross out all the offending language...like domestic spying...or stem cell research...or evolution...

also . . .

The Washington Post and Chicago Tribune, surely!

since George W. Bush is the one who was talking about snooping in the finances - wayyyyy back in 9/2001 . . .

story of the Librarian who stood her ground and demanded subpoenas for an FBI request to get records to find someone who had bothered a girl outside the library. The girl remembered a book that the 'offender' was holding. Now the Librarian is being tormented for delaying the capture of this offender who said something to this girl. She was within the law and now exoriated.

This country has flipped its values - led principally by religions, corporations, and war mongers - all playing up to each other.

If it were up to PNAC - this would be all about war, weapons, profit, control, (and drugs?). But, because of the religious we have the Federalist Society trying to change the Constitution for the corporations, plus the religious.

It just goes to show that there are responsible professionals and there are those, like this Dean, who behave irresponsibly and out of self-interest.

in the right wing hard cover are on a roll and the rest of us are trying to preserve our Constitution.

What the right wing is trying to do to this country is completely change it - Ten Commandments every 20 blocks - imperialism without constraints - doing everything possible to make us a no-job country with benefits bleeding away - being dictated to by religions, corporations, war mongering profiteers and the barons who push them.

That's what I mean by flipping values.

It may never be the same for our children.

Nice way to give a huge voice to a minor player into the media chamber.

This is just some Dean acting unprofessionally and behaving irresponsibly.

Don't you find this interesting? Would this unknown fellow get any play if he had issued a memo supporting the NYT?

This is all bullshit, and certainly RIGHT-WING biased bullshit.

I think such narrow-minded censorship on the part of a college dean (Dean of Library Studies) is rather shocking and newsworthy. Hopefully the publicity will embarrass the university sufficiently to reverse his policy.

The newspaper chose to report it. If you have a problem with his "huge megaphone", I suggest you take it up with them.

As for me, I'm for freedom of information, so this is good to know. You have to ask how often administrators abuse their privileges like this.

about this guy's actions. Ignoring censorship only encourages it.

in case you haven't noticed.

I don't agree with the defeatist attitudes of some on DU. If "the fundies" are taking over the country, the majority isn't doing its job - defending the Constitution. I don't believe that. Instead, I believe that "the fundies", or whatever you want to call them, would like to believe that they are taking things over, and will force that illusion on the rest of us as much as they can.

In other words, they are harassing the government and what it stands for.

Librarians are up there with saints for me and always have been. I can't think of another discipline where the quality of folks I have encountered has been so uniformly high, in terms of being of service to others, creative thinking, refraining from being judgmental, etc., etc. I'm going to have to go on trust that Mr. Morgan has strayed badly. Or perhaps he was never really qualified to practice in the first place - a not uncommon explanation for so many folks ending up in senior management and administration.

In librarianship, are males still preferred for promotions?

The article indicates the REAL librarians are pissed off.

Why do they circulate feminist, liberal, civil rights and cultural studies literature?

211 results when you do a keyword search for "lesbian", for example. 91 for "Marxism".

Boy! I tell ya' the world is your oyster with a diploma from the University of the Incarnate Word! Harvard watch out.

If freepers are being "edumacated" at idiotic institutions like this, we really don't have much to worry about.

J

Bob Jones Univ or a fundie school of any sort.

It is a small, private, accredited Catholic college w/a long history in the community. Not a trailblazer or powerhouse university like St Mary's Univ in SA, but a quiet campus.

I think this is the action of some renegade nutjob.

I hope the college has the good sense to correct this before it ruins it's reputation further.

If the university cares about its reputation, it should overrule this "dean".

I mean, maybe this guy went off his medication or something. I never heard of such a thing.

Their college name sounds like some sort of David Koresh correspondence school. It might be time to change the name to sound less nutty.

J

But why should the name be changed to satisfy the ignorant?

Universities are supposed to enlighten, not obfuscate truth with religious mumbo-jumbo. If they want to be a religious school, then I would suggest dropping "University" and going with seminary or the like.

J

Tell them you don't approve of the university's name. In fact, take a big sign expressing your opinion to a football game.

Then hop over the pond & set Oxford straight. Start with "All Souls College" & work your way down the list.
www.ox.ac.uk/colleges/

Here's a school with a down-to-earth name--just your sort! www.bju.edu/

J

Then again, I cancelled my subscription, but for entirely different reasons. I would think that a library would have slightly different standards.

subscription to the Times. They are such mealy mouths, I really can't stand them; but it's Time to buy on principle.

Nothing like putting a Freeper in charge of the library. Truly the mark of a great university.
Bingo!

Some newspapers even give discounts to libraries, so make sure you get their "library rate."


Giving & Memorial Opportunities For Library Books and Resources

At University of the Incarnate Word

The Gift Book Program is a wonderful opportunity to commemorate the memory of a friend or relative who has died. Or, you may celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, and other special occasions through the Gift Book Program.

For each gift of $35 and above, a book will be added to the J.E & L.E. Mabee Library at the University. A handsome bookplate bearing the name of the person being honored or memorialized will be placed on the inside cover. An appropriate card is sent to the person(s) you designate, giving immediate notice of the thoughtfulness of your gesture.

You may choose to make a special gift by purchasing a multi-volume set, a particular collection, or multimedia items. If making a special purchase is of interest to you, please contact Mendell D. Morgan, Jr., Dean of Library Services at (210) 829-3837 or email morgan@universe.uiwtx.edu.

Gifts of any size are welcome.
All are tax-deductible

4301 Broadway, San Antonio, Texas 78209 • 210-829-6005 • 1-800-749-WORD

More:
http://www.uiw.edu/giving/lib.html


A student gasps in horror as she discovers that the internets are full of free speech.



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First of all, you can't just wave your arm and cancel a newspaper subscription. Secondly, something tells me this won't be taken seriously and this will be reversed. It's not in the interests of the academic community there.

I don't think they're in need of charity.

When they stick their head in the sand, that puts their ass in the air, where BushCo can f**k them even harder. They must like it.

I just noticed that he said this in an e-mail!

What kind of academic professional announces important decisions through e-mail, and what's more, who published the e-mail?

This guy is sounding more unprofessional the more I think about it.

There is something screwy here.

And are they aware that the secret progam ISN'T SECRET???

:headbang:
rocknation

managed to make the news.

One that evidently HATES the separation of church and state! Fuck him and his worthless school. Try UTSA if you are in SA and want to go to a REAL university!

:)

How will they ever survive without the University of the . . . Whazzit??
:rofl:

I predict he won't.

I can't remember the last time anybody used the hard copy of Wall Street Journal or the NYT in my library. It has been at least three years. We have them online through subscription databases (that cannot be cancelled because we get them in a Texas consortium that UIW is also a part of). The databases contain up to the current day issues, there is just no need to bother with the hard copy anymore. My suspicion is the university was seeking to cut funding, and a hard copy nobody uses anyway is extraneous when you have an electronic access.

it's a commercial/for profit money school. Their business school sucks huge rocks. When I was taking a graduate level economics course at University of Texas at San Antonio there were 4 or 5 kids from UIW that thought they would pick up a quick graduate course. They were all gone before the end of the second week of class because they were in way over their heads.

UIW is not a U. They're accredited by some less than honest organization. This type behavior is why "U"IW is not a real university.