The New Image of Baruch?

Posted by Lemuel Morrison on November 28, 2011 · 3 Comments 

November 28th, 2011.

We were warned in our first class of b-school that would come to pass.  Cynicism. The bright-eyed eager students in MKT 9703 couldn’t believe it would happen to them.  Well, as I walked out the library today into a phlanx of 50+ (yes I counted) of New York’s finest, it dawned on me that it happened to me.

Let me explain.  I’m rather sympathetic to the protesters for making their voices heard.  I quite admire it.   However,  cynicism took root after so many late bleary-eyed nights trying to take the second derivative of Porter’s 5 forces times an IRR divided by NPV and discounted by 1 plus core competency raised to power of absurdity.  I see those 50+ police and at two dozen CUNY’s  campus safety officers, and the PR men and women and wonder . . . what is all this costing? Is anybody accounting for this? Is the Board worth it?

  I won’t pretend to take a side or try to even understand what is going on.   This I do know.  What crappy year for the CUNY Trustees.  The Kushner debacle, the Academic Excellence Fee kerfuffle and now this?  Sigh.

  I hope everyone will be calm and that I don’t have to add pepper spray and sutures to the debit column.

Campus Police Getting Ready

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Comments
3 Responses to “The New Image of Baruch?”
  1. Lemuel Morrison says:
    November 28, 2011 at 4:55 pm

    As 3:53pm. Add one police helicopter.

    Reply
  2. Lemuel Morrison says:
    November 28, 2011 at 8:17 pm

    Whoa, way too many debits. At least two police helicopters and herds of blue beef on the street.

    Here some observations, in no particular order:
    The police presence was so over the top, you have to wonder. What’s the big deal? Seriously, there weren’t that many protesters and they were nice.
    A vocal, dedicated group of students, supported by PSC-CUNY sympathizers, and a collection of others, and yeah some OWS dudes
    CUNY trustees exited from the back door on 24th, to their waiting car service.
    Heaps and heaps of press. Probably more than the number of police. All the majors with their camera trucks, and every whack job with a cell phone and a blog. oh wait, that was me.
    Noisy, but mostly respectful demonstrators.
    Some, I will say agitating no-good-nics, yelling shame and f’ you to trustees as they got into their waiting car service.
    Very, very disturbing, NYPD TARU (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_Assistance_Response_Unit) filming individual demonstrators. Stazi anyone? These are students exercising a political right and doing nothing even close to illegal. Spine chilling in 2011 Obama America.

    I go back to the cost of this endeavor. Was the City’s and CUNY’s response worth it, just in pure dollars. This police action must’ve cost a lot of dough.

    Reply

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