Week 4 - Linnea Patterson A02

Linnea Patterson
23 April 2017
ASA 2 Section 2

Week 4: Corporatization of the University

This week's readings focused on the corruption and hidden mysteries of the University system, especially the UCs and UC Davis. Two readings that stuck out to me were Alan Markow's comparison of UC Berkeley versus UC Davis' response to occupy protests by students, along with Amy Block Joy's experience with whistleblowing on UC Davis. Both readings illustrate how large institutions, and UC Davis in particular, have fundamental flaws in their foundation, as well as the way they treat students and staff.

Markow's analysis of the two UCs response to the occupy movements makes the differences between the universities clear. Whereas Berkeley responded to student protests by making its tuition more affordable to middle class students, Davis administration condemned the students for the damages caused by the protests, with no promise to make changes. It is interesting how even though these universities are based within the same system, their reactions and administrations are completely different. Whereas Berkeley had an egalitarian response, Davis is more of a tyranny, in their attempts to silence the protestors. The fact that Davis' concern remained over damages, while Berkeley's concern resided in the students shows how money is the main factor motivating our school, rather than the well-being of the students. This emphasis on monetary gain or loss illustrates the corporatization of UC Davis. This goes to show that the problems within Davis' institution runs deep. Although Katehi was a problem for many years, I believe the misconduct of our university is more deeply rooted and exists beyond her.

Joy's retelling of her whistleblowing experience further illustrates the corruption that exists within UC Davis. Because Joy exposed UC Davis' embezzlement, she was questioned by police, which she retells in a chilling manor. What stuck out the most to me was how her boss kept attempting to silence her from displaying the wrongs of the university. She asked herself "What on Earth was he hiding" (Joy 2010). I think this question could relate to the university in full: what are they hiding? UC Davis has a history of wanting to silence and cover the truth up, as seen in Katehi's attempt to scrub the 2011 pepper spray incident. Again, this excerpt displays the extent to which our university could be very corrupt, under the surface. My question is: How do we try to reveal the truth about higher institutions like UC Davis, without the fear of termination or oppression like Amy Block Joy faced?

Included is an image that depicts the infamous Davis cop spraying the Google search bar, representing UCD's administration attempting to scrub this incident from the internet. This is just one example of the university's corporatization and corruption that we can see.

Works Cited

Feldman, B. (2016, April 15). UC Davis Tries to Scrub Pepper-Spray Incident From Web, Which Means It's Now the First Result on Google. Retrieved April 23, 2017, from http://nymag.com/selectall/2016/04/uc-davis-tried-to-hide-pepper-spray-incident.html

Joy, A. B. (2010). Whistleblower. Point Richmond, CA: Bay Tree Pub.

Markow, A. (2011, December 22). A Tale of Two Campuses: Berkeley and Davis respond to Occupy movements. Retrieved April 23, 2017, from https://ivn.us/2011/12/19/a-tale-of-two-campuses-berkeley-and-davis-respond-to-occupy-movements/