Help Defend the Social Safety Net – Save the Date: October 25
Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, will keynote a forum entitled A Call to Action: Defend the Social Safety Net on Tuesday, October 25 from 6:00-8:30 PM at the SEIU1199 Auditorium (310 West 43rd Street). The PSC is fully engaged in the fight to protect Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, employee health benefits, public-sector pensions and other safety net programs. Our Social Safety Net Working Group is sponsoring the event. RSVP online.
Defending Higher Ed Conference Wrap Up
Last Friday’s Defending Public Higher Ed conference was a smashing success, thanks in large part to the hard work of PSC members at the CUNY Graduate Center. More than 200 faculty, students and other members of the CUNY community turned out to engage Gary Rhoades, Frank Maruo, Francis Fox Piven, Antonia Levey and PSC President Barbara Bowen (speaker bios) in a very rich discussion of challenges facing public higher education. Photos of the conference are on the PSC’s Facebook page now. More extensive coverage will soon be available on the website.
Vote in our New Homepage Poll about Occupy Wall Street
Now that the Occupy Wall Street movement has touched a national nerve about growing inequality, do you think the chances for extending the millionaires’ tax have improved? Let us know and feel free to leave a comment.
Volunteers Still Needed in Ohio
The AFT, our national affiliate, needs volunteers to assist in the labor-to-labor campaign to “Vote No on Issue 2.” Defeating Issue 2 will repeal SB 5 – Ohio Governor John Kasich’s attack on public education, public services and working families in Ohio. The campaign is looking for volunteers who can commit to 12-day periods throughout October and early November. (Here’s the schedule.) AFT will cover all expenses. To volunteer, email Amanda Magalhaes.
We Have Lost a Dear Friend and Colleague.
Mary Bryce Jennings passed away last Wednesday, October 5th. She was an energetic PSC activist throughout her career at QCC and served as the Secretary of the Retirees Chapter for a number of terms. We mourn her loss. Services for Mary were held over the weekend.
“Mary is irreplaceable. Even as she became increasingly frail, she continued to show up at every union action—always full of interest in everyone else’s life and needs, beautiful and fearless in a pillbox hat or leopard-print coat, ” said Barbara Bowen, PSC president.
More Sad News
Derrick Albert Bell, Jr. also died last Wednesday, October 5th. Most recently a Visiting Professor of Law at New York University, he was also the first tenured African-American professor of Law at Harvard University, a tireless opponent of racism, and an effective advocate for increased faculty diversity. (See his NY Times obituary.)
Among his many other great achievements, Derrick Bell, showed remarkable generosity in participating in the PSC’s form to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board decision.
