Lehman College

Executive Committee of Lehman Chapter

• Chapter Chair: Diane Auslander (History), [email protected] 
• Vice Chair: Mary Phillips (Africana Studies), [email protected]
• Secretary: Ruth Wangerin (Anthropology), [email protected]
• Treasurer: Brian Morgan (Earth, Environmental, and Geospatial Sciences)
• Grievance Counselor: Ruby Phillips (Psychology), [email protected]
• Officer-at-Large: David Hyman (English)
• Officer-at-Large: Sarah Ohmer (Latin American and Latino Studies)
• Officer-at-Large: Ruby Phillips (Psychology)
• Delegate: Ayanna Alexander-Street (Biology)
• Delegate: Eleanor Campbell (Nursing)
• Delegate: Stuart Chen-Hayes (CLLSE)
• Delegate: Robert Farrell (Library)
• Delegate: Dana Fenton (Sociology)
• Delegate: Ruth Wangerin (Anthropology)
• Alternate Delegate: Maria Fernandez (Africana Studies and Women’s Studies)
• Alternate Delegate: Sheila Hankin (Nursing)
• Alternate Delegate: Humberto Lizardi (Psychology)
• Alternate Delegate: Mary Phillips (Africana Studies)
• Alternate Delegate: Luis Vega (Biology)
• Welfare Fund Rep: Brian Morgan (Earth, Environmental, and Geospatial Sciences)
• Welfare Fund Rep (Acting): Dana Fenton (Sociology)
• CLT Liaison: Brian Morgan (Earth, Environmental, and Geospatial Sciences)
• HEO Liaison: Takiyah Ali (Graduate Studies)
• CLT Chapter Delegate: Sharif Elhakem (Chemistry)
• HEO Chapter Delegate: Karlene Johnson (Bursar)
• HEO Chapter Delegate: Conard Mark Miller (Social Work)
• Adjunct Liaison: Ramon Belliard (Health Sciences)

Cross-Campus CLT Chapter

• Click here to access the webpage of the College Laboratory Technicians chapter.

Cross-Campus HEO Chapter

• Click here and then scroll down and click on the link for the Higher Education Officers chapter.

PSC Lehman chapter meeting

May 12, 2023, 11am

Minutes

Guardian: Mary Phillips

Meditation: Diane Auslander

Minutes-taker: Ruth Wangerin

Guest speakers: Penny Lewis, Felicia Wharton

Mary Phillips read the Chair’s report from David Manier. See below.

Ruth Wangerin updated members on the situation for adjunct faculty, including the one-year and three-year appointments, that reappointment letters are due 5-15, the importance of telling the union if there are non-reappointments or reductions in work hours, and the Unemployment Insurance meeting at 3pm on 5-12-23. One participant from Health Sciences reported a reduced workload for the fall.

Penny Lewis explained the issues around CUNY Online in terms of governance, union representation, curriculum, etc. CUNY Online raises troubling questions – PSC CUNY (psc-cuny.org) There’s a PSC Town Hall about it Monday, 5-15: https://psc-cuny.org/calendar/psc-town-hall-on-cuny-online/ Discussion included some of the dangers of this going forward. Some publishers, for example, have complete college course packages that could be administered without a faculty member. Steve Castellano also brought up the difficulties of switching from Blackboard to Brightspace. Penny asked for a report from our chapter, which PSC central will need from every chapter, on how many people are doing instructional design for online learning.

Felicia Wharton discussed the problem of CUNY not coming to the bargaining table but assured members that the Bargaining Team is meeting regularly. Members discussed various ways to get CUNY to begin bargaining. One suggestion was to make this a contractual issue, a deadline by which CUNY must begin bargaining. Penny explained some of the history of how municipal unions have lost ability to make employer begin bargaining promptly.

Breakout groups discussed wellness and local issues. The wellness group suggested an employee lounge and workspace where people could see each other and have some snacks as well as conveniences such as a copy machine. The other group talked primarily about the history increase in the percentage of the Lehman budget that goes to Executive Compensation personnel, from 2% in the past to 4% currently. Ideas included pegging salaries of employees to salaries of highest paid executives, demanding a cap to ECP at 3% of the college budget, and activating Senate to use its right, now in the Lehman Senate bylaws, to challenge each new ECP hire rather than rubber stamping it.

Chair’s report, by David Manier

The city and state budget negotiations (still underway) can be viewed as a prequel to our forthcoming contract negotiations.  Regarding the city, Mayor Adams has called for cuts (which some have called austerity).  But he is opposed by some members of the City Council and City Comptroller Brad Lander, who favor increased funding for CUNY and the shape of the final city budget has yet to be decided.  (City funding, of course, affects community colleges more than the senior colleges of CUNY.)

In Albany, the budget outlook is better than it is here in the city.  Gov. Hochul and members of the state legislature are backing increased funding for CUNY.  Importantly, there will be no tuition hikes.  Of course, PSC’s position on this is that there should be NO TUITION – we haven’t yet achieved that.  The budget agreement emerging from Albany has the following aspects:  an increase in the CUNY operating budget of about $100 million, an increase in capital funding of about $1 billion, and a commitment to increases in funding for CUNY for the following two budget years.  Of course, PSC would like the increases in funding to be higher (especially in the operating budget), but at least there is some movement in the right direction.

Chancellor Rodriguez has welcomed these budgetary allocations and has indicated that, during the coming fiscal year, individual CUNY campuses will not be singled out to be penalized if they have recently experienced steeper enrollment declines, as compared to other campuses.  But we are calling on Chancellor Rodriguez and President Delgado to go further:  We demand that they immediately reverse current plans for spending cuts and a hiring freeze in the coming year.  No Cuts to CUNY!

The first job of a union is to protect the jobs of its members.  Currently, the jobs of adjunct professors are especially at risk, given the way that spending cuts have been planned by CUNY administrators.  Also at risk are the (new as well as renewed) three-year reappointments which many adjuncts should be receiving this month.  EVC Hensel, in particular, as well as Provost Nwosu, have expressed the view that department chairs should have “flexibility” in offering positions to adjunct professors.  In some cases, health insurance benefits of adjunct professors may be imperiled, under current plans.  PSC calls on all CUNY administrators, as well as all department chairs, to preserve the jobs and benefits of all of our members, to the maximum extent possible.

One piece of good news is that EVC Hensel has indicated that she supports PSC’s call for a new Senior Lecturer job title, which will give promotion opportunities to current Lecturers – let’s be sure that this makes it into our new contract!

Regarding campus climate, there are many problems.  One is a lack of clarity about standards for tenure/CCE and promotion, including for adjunct professors to be promoted to the adjunct associate professor title.  Bullying, harassment, and discrimination continue to be complained about by far too many of our PSC members (as many as one out of five).  Administration must take urgent measures to correct this deplorable situation.  Health and safety also remain matters of serious concern.

This is just a brief summary of some of the opportunities, as well as the many challenges, that are currently facing us.  But we remain optimistic, because we know that we are stronger together, and we rely on our solidarity as fellow union members to continue making progress toward our shared goals.

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PSC Lehman Executive Committee

May 11, 2023, 11am

Minutes

Attendance: David Manier, Ruth Wangerin, Sarah Ohmer, Mary Phillips, Karlene Johnson, Takiyah Ali, Diane Auslander

Chair: David M

Agenda:

1. 3-year contracts

a. Possible poll of adjuncts about healthcare and employment concerns

b. Deadline is May 15

2. Bresi poll: https://qfreeaccountssjc1.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1GqgeXL3qKvnsdE

We invite students, staff, and faculty to take this *very* short survey. This is for a project run by BIPOC faculty at Lehman College, and funded by the Black, Race and Ethnic Studies Initiative (BRESI) Campus Climate Grant (see information about the grant, further below).

3. Chapter meeting for Thurs 5/12

Mary will be guardian. David unable to attend.

We’re inviting Penny or someone from central PSC to talk about CUNY online and the contract

Contract update

Reappointment of adjuncts

End of year party

Breakout groups:

a. What do we want concerning covid going forward?

b. Wellness – a theme that emerged from climate survey

c. Reappointments of adjuncts

d. Main room stays open for general discussion

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PSC Lehman Chapter Meeting

April 14, 2023, 11:08am

Minutes

16 attendees

David H, guardian, meditation

Ava Farkas as our PSC staff person

Chapter chair report, David Manier.

Concern about anti-racism, meeting soon

Renee Bell reported on May Day event. Food from La Morada, local restaurant. May 1, 4-5. Making posters that can be shared around campus. Rally and march around campus. Come early to make posters.

We discussed EVC Hensel “town hall” at the same time. David M said that she had said we can’t ask students to mask. Another person suggested we all wear masks to the town hall.

David Hyman reported on letter from James Davis to department chairs. CUNY has told colleges to reduce their budgets, and that will be mostly faculty, mostly contingent faculty. He pointed out that chairs are quite a lot more powerful than most of them realize. David posted the main bullet points:

• Avoid assigning teaching overloads to full-time faculty members.
• Reappoint adjuncts currently serving on three-year contracts..
• Adjuncts eligible for a first or a subsequent three-year contract should receive a comprehensive review of their performance (per Appendix E) and if it is satisfactory should be appointed, as should those who rely on CUNY employment for health insurance.
• Next, consideration should go to adjuncts newly eligible for a one-year contract, and those who have otherwise provided the longest service to the department or program.
• Seek the assistance of your counterparts in other programs, departments, and campuses to identify classes that could be staffed by adjunct faculty that you are unable to appoint.
• Convene a discussion of your full-time faculty to find out if they are interested in teaching an underload in one semester that can be made up in another.

We talked about how this letter from James is in the spirit of the strike at Rutgers, where the various titles of faculty, including grad students, are showing incredible solidarity.

General discussion.

Can we connect anti-racism issues as part of the budget fight and contract fight?

Funding goes differentially to campuses that have more white students, at SUNY for sure, probably at CUNY.

Staff are also under attack. Including staff who are people of color.

At 12 noon, we adjourned. 15 attendees.

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PSC Lehman Executive Committee

April 14, 2023, 10am, Zoom

Minutes

David Hyman, Ruth Wangerin, Renee Bell, David Manier, Brian Morgan, Robert Farrell, Stuart Chen-Hayes, Ramon Belliard, Luis Vega

David Hyman, guardian

David Hyman said they had pressure to run fewer courses, but it didn’t come with a demand to increase class sizes

David Manier said during covid the course cap went down. Leaders in dept thought in-person classes needed more physical space in the room. David H pointed out that the chair has the power.

1. May Day. Renee reported on May Day protest. Catering from La Morada. Poster. Walkway between art and Shuster. A student, Monique, a student of Sarah’s, was participating actively. She’s also in SGA and took a proposal to them, but there was miscommunication about role of Monique. That she wasn’t official rep of SGA. The email was about SGA doesn’t take a position on an issue. We agreed to add “teach-in” to the poster. We agreed to the budget, unanimously, and to put “teach-in” in the flyer.
2. Let’s focus on the future, not personal opinions.

David H. a Twitter account is only valuable if it’s out there being used.

Ruth suggested a few helpers to watch over each other and spread out the work.

Ruth also said EC should just make up some rules/guidelines.

Rules: The purpose of our twitter account is to build and organize our Lehman, Union, and Bronx community.

Use it to tweet or retweet collective rather than personal opinions.

Endeavor to keep content closer to mainstream views unless endorsed by the EC/Chapter

Stick with union issues — a pro-union stance. And Bronx issues — basic news about housing, health, etc.

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PSC Lehman chapter meeting

March 10, 2023, 11 am, on Zoom

Minutes

Attendance: 38

Facilitator (Guardian) and meditation leader: Diane Auslander

Minutes-taker: Ruth Wangerin

I. Chapter chair’s report: David Manier

Report on Labor-Management meeting of March 6. Key issue: need to have union, faculty and staff voice in the Vacancy Review Board (VRB), currently 100% management. The union position is that we reject these budget cuts.

Introduction of Ramon Belliard, the new adjunct liaison, who urged people serving in adjunct titles to contact him with any issues. [email protected], 971.504.0861.

II. Contract fight: Ruth Wangerin

Two fronts – convince government officials to increase funding, build union power vis a vis management.

Link to memo from Hector Batista announcing hiring freeze and calling for budget cuts: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1U5dgZ1Kp-uIoSbgtAo-pldb9t8AJPDwo4nZ1Ygpebis/edit?usp=sharing

III. May Day Protest March and Teach-in: Stuart Chen-Hayes

IV. Anti-racism campaign on campus: Luis Vega

Summary of various plans and initiatives  so far. Importance of centering students. Awareness. Push for mandated CUNY anti-racism training. Curriculum. “Illusion of Inclusion” conference. Building union chapter anti-racism team for Lehman campus community.

V. Breakout groups:

1. Campus action. Building for May 1 and other campus actions. Forming Campus Action Team. Facilitator: Stuart Chen-Hayes.
2. Anti-racism. Facilitators: Luis Vega, Takiyah Ali.
3. Response to threat of lay-offs among adjunct titles due to cut-backs. Facilitators: Ruth Wangerin, David Hyman.

VI. Reports back and discussion

Campus Action Team formed (Sarah Kotzin, Dana Fenton, Renee Bell, Stuart Chen-Hayes, Brian Morgan (treasurer)) and still recruiting. Will meet Tuesdays at 2pm. Zoom link: https://lehman-cuny-edu.zoom.us/j/89099025205?pwd=dVNjeFNQZjdNVlNEc3JWcSsvRVdxdz09

Anti-racism group emphasized importance of improved reporting, including how to loop in the union. Also changes to curriculum. English Dept. Chair David Hyman reviewed how English curriculum was remodeled with inclusion in mind. “Your curriculum shows your values.”

Cut-backs group. Dept chairs have many options and a lot of power. They need guidance on resisting and managing cut-backs so as to save jobs and recall workers in the most ethical order. Concern about threat of closing entire departments. Plans to close EEGS were in the works before Batista memo.

Google doc with notes from breakout groups. 

Interesting discussion in the chat throughout meeting. Highlights, regarding proposed budget cuts: “Chop from the Top!” was a much-liked comment. Related: the scandalous salary increases for top CUNY administrators. Great enthusiasm and helpful information were shared in the chat; chapter secretary has those notes if anyone needs them.

Robert Farrell shared a petition for department chairs to push back against CUNY central.

VII. Adjournment at 12:45 pm.

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PSC Lehman Executive Committee

March 9, 2023 11am (Zoom)

Minutes

Guardian/Facilitator: Diane Auslander

Minutes: Ruth Wangerin

Attendance: David Manier, Takiyah Ali, Karlene Johnson, Diane Auslander, Dana Fenton, Ruth Wangerin, Luis Vega, Stuart Chen-Hayes, Ramon Belliard

1. Chapter meeting planning
2. Event on campus for May 1
3. Labor-management meeting report
4. How can we make progress against racism on campus?
5. David M needs to inform Kathleen Offenholley, chair of PSC Elections Committee, that we have a vacancy for Welfare Fund Rep and will elect a new rep in the April EC meeting

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PSC Lehman chapter meeting

Feb 10, 2023, 11 am, on Zoom

Minutes

Attendance: 36

Facilitator (Guardian): Diane Auslander

Meditation leader: Takiyah Ali

Minutes-taker: Ruth Wangerin

1. Reports:

• Takiyah Ali  – HEO issues
• Stuart Chen-Hayes – The bargaining process and how to influence the bargaining agenda
• Ruth Wangerin – Demands in the bargaining agenda especially relevant for adjunct titles
• David Manier – Demands in the bargaining agenda especially relevant for full-time faculty titles; Chancellor’s memo threatening hiring freeze and cut-backs
• Brian Morgan – CLTs and the bargaining process
• Jorge Guzman – Come to Feb. 27 rally; sign the petition to CUNY to begin bargaining

2. Discussion

3. Breakout rooms — bargaining and contract concerns — and reports back

• why aren’t there more specific demands and specific numbers in the bargaining agenda?
• it would have been better if chapter could have met to discuss this before DA adopted it
• understaffing and underfunding
• low pay for CLTs and other needs for CLTs
• threats of hiring freeze and cutbacks
• adjunct rates too low to attract clinical supervising nurses
• open bargaining
• address HEO and CLT understaffing
• bargain for the common good (e.g. menstrual products in ALL bathrooms)
• bargaining agenda language on racism is minimal, not strong enough, and contradicts itself
• Austerity/cut backs (fears of cancelled classes, jumbo classes, and problems with SEEK, LEH, and other programs
• poor handling of three-year appointments in some departments
• Bullying
• Not enough for lecturers and program directors
• Need more diversity in hiring
• Need transparency re: funding
• Strengthening the Bargaining Agenda (striking adjuncts, activism re: budget in Albany etc)
• More for CLTs (not just salaries)
• lack of follow-up from campus climate survey (https://lehman.edu/media/Lehman-College-Website/resources/documents/campus-climate/Lehman-Final-Report—Grayscale.pdf ; https://lehman.edu/media/Lehman-College-Website/resources/documents/campus-climate/Assessment-of-Climate-for-Learning—Secured,-Grayscale.pdf ; https://lehman.edu/media/Lehman-College-Website/resources/documents/campus-climate/Lehman-Executive-Summary–Grayscale.pdf )

Note: Members express many great ideas during chapter meetings and in breakout groups; those who don’t attend are missing a lot

4. Announcements

• Jeannette Graulau – PSC International Committee was sponsoring a forum on the evening of Feb. 10 with the Cuban ambassador to discuss the sanctions.
• Ruth Wangerin has door posters for contract campaign and invites members to stop by Davis 111 between 12-1pm on Mondays or Wednesdays to pick some up

 

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PSC Lehman Executive Committee

Feb 9, 2023 11am (Zoom)

Minutes

Guardian/Facilitator: Diane Auslander

Minutes: Ruth Wangerin

Attendance: David Manier, Brian Morgan, Takiyah Ali, Diane Auslander, Dana Fenton, Ruth Wangerin, Luis Vega, Stuart Chen-Hayes

1. Chapter meeting planning
2. Campus topics – climate survey, harassment policy, progress against racism in departments and on campus
3. Bargaining agenda and contract process — importance of knowing what the needs and wants of members on Lehman campus are, whether or not these are included in the bargaining agenda
4. Next EC will be chaired by an EC member who missed this meeting
5. Get-togethers on campus between EC/chapter meetings
6. Vacancy on EC for Welfare Fund rep – does not have to be faculty

 

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PSC Lehman chapter meeting

Dec. 2, 2022, 1:30-3:30pm, on Zoom

Minutes

Attendance: 31 (varied over time, with 22 near end of meeting)

Facilitator: Diane Auslander

Meditation leader: Brian Morgan

Minutes-taker: Ruth Wangerin

1. Reports:

    Ruth Wangerin – 

• Organizing adjunct titles, 
• Recruitment of union department reps 
• Recruitment of adjunct reps in departments who would serve as department reps for union and also represent the department’s adjunct faculty in departmental faculty meetings
• Pop-up tabling during Union Week, Tues-Wed Dec 6-7
• Coffee hour during Union Week, Wed Dec 7, 12:30-2, Music Building, Underground Lounge

    David Manier

• College climate survey, question of follow-up. Highlight of relevance for the union: 1 in 5 faculty/staff respondents said they’d experienced bullying. Unsatisfactory response of College management to the issue during in General Faculty meeting. 
• Union Week https://psc-cuny.org/about-us/lehman-college/#unionweek
  • Wear Red for Ed on Monday, Dec. 5. 
  • How to attend Board of Trustees public hearing Monday, Dec 5 CUNY Board of Trustees Budget Hearing – PSC CUNY (psc-cuny.org) and how to submit testimony online: https://www.dropbox.com/request/ptBFbhcFoQCD337TlbCA
  • Attend press conference and rally at Hostos on Thursday Dec. 8: https://psc-cuny.org/calendar/psc-and-uup-joint-press-conference/
• Lehman holiday party, Dec. 16. Union members encouraged to attend and show our presence at this event.

2. Breakout groups by title, 30 minutes.

3. Reports back from breakout groups.

1. CLT group: Brian Morgan reported. The discussed a variety of issues, including contract demands.
2. HEO group: (Secretary neglected to note the name of the HEO who reported for that group.) They discussed a number of chronic problems that HEOs face.
3. Full-time faculty group: Robert Farrell reported. His written notes are appended to these minutes. He shared the following resolution about the Lecturer title series in the chat: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vQdzgGO7XNXbkhdP93LIT0U77OFdW8uqBVmqA8eByT_TFrfHGwunx812NLEVB_68swh77yBJGjYZGg-/pub
4. Part-time faculty group: Luis Vega reported. Discussed the importance of focusing on bullying as an issue and discussed several approaches in addition to contract language, such as an education campaign during February, anti-bullying month, and efforts to empower employees who are targets of bullying. It is helpful to see bullying in the broad sense as a structural problem produced by the internal hierarchies in the workplace and the external power differential between labor and management and between labor and capital

4. Motion (Ruth Wangerin): Call for a show of hands in support of the following statement: We support the right of the railroad workers, and all workers, to paid sick days. Discussion included comments on resolution earlier drafted in the chat by Stuart Chen-Hayes but not formally introduced into the meeting. Discussion focused on a) whether a carefully written resolution would be more helpful and how and when that could be drafted and voted on, including by what body, and b) how the 22 persons present in the chapter meeting at that time could show support for the railroad workers immediately. Several members commented on need to support railroad workers in present time. No one spoke against the principle of the right of workers to paid sick time or against the notion of supporting the railroad workers. Decision: Participants raised physical and/or zoom hands. There was a general sense that the motion carried but it was not possible to get an exact count of hands raised for a variety of reasons.

5. Adjournment at approximately 3:30pm.

Appendix:

Discussion topics in the full-time faculty breakout group at 12/2/22 chapter meeting (submitted by Robert Farrell):

• Lecturers – promotions – currently Lecturers don’t have enough ranks; Lecturer/Senior Lecturers; “Teaching Professors” — though this may be problematic language given that everyone does a ton of teaching; having doctoral lecturers and non-doctoral advance
• Creation of more tenure track positions
• Program coordinators – not compensated well enough
• Remote work for Library Faculty – 70/30 remote work
• Library faculty – annual leave still not equitable; 8 weeks vs. 12
• Equity for other constituencies – staffing; how budgets are spent; administrative bloat and not enough staff
• Perhaps adopt what’s at the graduate center – executive officers receive a differential
• 7500K annual for mental health benefits
• Open bargaining
• Free tuition, free metro card, housing allowances for staff and faculty; more student housing; free washers and dryers
• Anti-Bullying language in contract
• Long serving adjuncts be given Lecturer positions
• What is the consequence of ECP having professorial title

Gripes

• Survey results should be shared
• Campus communication is not great right now — important information not being shared; provost’s report not helpful; senior administration is not being transparent or communicative
• EEGS – where’s the shared governance and discussion of this program’s future
• Labor/Management
• Fundraising – what’s going on there

 

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PSC Lehman Executive Committee

Dec 1, 2022 3pm (Zoom)

Minutes

Facilitator: Diane Auslander

Meditation: David Manier

Minutes: Ruth Wangerin

Attendance: David Manier, Brian Morgan, Humberto Lizardi, Takiyah Ali, Diane Auslander, Dana Fenton, Ruth Wangerin

1. Chapter meeting planning
2. Discussion of COACHE survey or Rankin survey on campus climate. What is the follow-up plan? Notable finding: 22% of faculty/staff said bullying was a problem they had experienced. Bullying was not a widespread complaint among students who took the survey, 
3. Union Week. 
   1. Decision was made to distribute t-shirts and sweatshirts in advance of press conference at Hostos. 
   2. Decision to hold a coffee hour on Wed 12:30-2:00pm in Music and distribute swag. Default location is Underground Lounge unless David M. discovers that Faculty Dining Room is available.
   3. Ruth and Diane announced that pop-up tabling had been arranged for Tues and Wed, involving Jorge Guzman bringing materials, Luis Vega, Mariposa Fernandez, Ruth and Diane. David agreed to contact Jorge to make sure he brought large quantities of t-shirts and sweatshirts.

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