Posted on 06/03/2004 3:15:06 AM PDT by Zunt Toad
Setting the Record: New Trustee Defends His Ideas and His Name By T. J. Rodgers, Guest Columnist
Another assistant professor of history, Vernon Takeshita, has written a letter questioning my honesty and integrity regarding race issues. I hope it's the last letter like that. As explained below, this certainly will be the last reply from me on this topic.
The terrorists who attacked the World Trade Center have scored one victory beyond the physical -- they have reduced our freedom by causing us to have to deal with measures such as "red alerts" and a government takeover of airport security. The vision behind my election as a Trustee includes 1) championing freedom and free speech on campus and making the administration of the College more open and responsive, 2) preserving Dartmouth's mission as a small, superb liberal arts college focused on undergraduate education and 3) using the benefits provided by the first two reforms to re- engage a large group of alumni/ae that is currently disaffected. Regarding my terrorist analogy above, I will not give up the freedom of action I earned in the Trustee election and abandon my big goals in order to write a weekly "I'm not a racist" rebuttal to letters like that of Professor Takeshita, who wrote an ad hominem attack replete with rants and factual misstatements. Screaming "racist" is the academic equivalent of the nuclear bomb that ends rational debate. I see that weapon used too often on the Dartmouth campus.
Here are some facts about minorities at my company: The latest report on Cypress Semiconductor Corporation shows a U.S. workforce of 2,123 people, of whom 40.6 percent are self-declared minorities (by law we cannot require people to declare if they are minorities, and many of our employees refuse to check any race box on their application form). Our San Jose workforce of 1,150 is even more diverse, with 52.8 percent identifying as minorities. Our U.S. minority population includes 308 people from India and 360 people from Asian countries, both groups lumped into the nonsensical, government-mandated "Asian" category. We also employ 88 African-Americans and 100 Hispanics.
These figures broadly reflect the workforce in Silicon Valley. We do, indeed, enjoy a diverse workplace. However, I believe that the diversity statistics cited, which the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission finds meritorious, are meaningless. Cypress could be the best -- or the worst -- company in providing a racially harmonious workplace, despite these figures. The "diversitycrats," who like to use narrow statistical categories to "prove" prejudice, ignore the only point that really matters: Does a statistically diverse group work together harmoniously in a merit-based society of equals? Or do they squabble endlessly over racial issues? Do people get promoted on hard work and merit? Or are the promotions awarded to minorities degraded by being quota-driven? Is the race issue a simmering cauldron of attacks and defenses, impairing organizational effectiveness? Or does the seamless organization spend its time striving to be excellent? Organizations run by top-down diversity bureaucracies are often the ones characterized by racial tension, in which every gesture and nuance of speech is hyper-analyzed on the basis of race and gender. The better alternative is a world where people simply respect each other as peers as they work together.
As for Professor Takeshita's assertion that he would be surprised if I really knew what my immigrant workers thought about my company and me, I have some data that he may find more up-to-date than the stories he cites from unnamed "old Asian American guys" that "tell you about the discrimination they saw" and the "promotions that never materialized." He is invited to call Emmanuel Hernandez, our Chief Financial Officer and an immigrant from the Philippines, or Antonio Alvarez, the Vice President and General Manager of our Memory Products Division ($440 million in revenue per year) and a Cuban immigrant, or Ilhan Refioglu the VP/GM of our Timing Technology Division ($160 million) and a Turkish immigrant, or Cathal Phelan, the VP/GM of our Personal Communications Division ($160 million) and an Irish immigrant who was recently naturalized. They are four of Cypress' seven total Securities and Exchange Commission-recognized corporate VPs. (We have other employees with VP titles in our sales force, for example, that the SEC does not consider as "corporate officers," the people legally responsible for running the company.)
Professor Takeshita derides my description of the current attacks on outsourcing as "low-class" and a "diatribe." That's because he clearly does not understand job and wealth creation. Here are a few more economic facts on the jobs we've created. Since our founding in 1983, Cypress has created 2,123 American jobs. In the last 10 years, we've paid $1,899 billion in wages, $40 million in direct taxes and $570 million more in withholding taxes for our employees. We have thus been a positive influence on both U.S. employment and the economy. Our shareholders have invested $322 million of their (retirement fund, college account and house savings account, among others) money in the company. The stock they hold is now worth $2.7 billion. When our investors sell their stock, they will pay at least $500 million more in taxes on their $2.4 billion capital gain, which will be reinvested to create more jobs. We export 61 percent of the chips we make in Minnesota and Texas, creating a net trade surplus. And yes, Professor Takeshita, we have also created 2,129 jobs offshore during that same period. The vast majority of our foreign workers perform test and packaging operations in our Philippines manufacturing plant -- which is across the street from the Intel plant that packaged your Pentium chip and down the street from Analog Devices, the company that makes accelerometers for the airbags in your car.
And, to be completely forthright, we do have 100 engineers in Bangalore, and we do plan to double that number in a year or two. The unemployment rate in Silicon Valley is about 6 percent. That's too high, but it means that 94 percent of the engineers here are off the market. India graduates four times more engineers than the U.S. does. It is therefore inevitable that U.S. companies must hire in India to remain competitive. Would you prefer that Hitachi hire those excellent Indian engineers and use them to compete with us? So, sir, to your question, "What can Rodgers say to graduates from Thayer when the very jobs for which they trained may not even be offered to them because of outsourcing?" My response is, "Send me your resumes -- we hire many more engineers in the U.S. than elsewhere -- and ignore Professor Takeshita's diatribe."
I close with one final point on admission preferences. Please read what I said before condemning my views. I do believe in a merit-only admissions policy -- for the relatives of alumni, for the football team and for minorities. However, in a world where other admissions preferences exist, it would be unfair to challenge only minority preferences at Dartmouth. Furthermore, the issue of preferences has never been on my priority list or highlighted for action in my Trustee statement.
That said, the racially charged environment at Dartmouth, the one exemplified by Professor Takeshita's letter, is a product of a "diversity machine" at Dartmouth that injects fear, hate and recrimination into the environment. That issue is on my "A" list for action.
Dartmouth's new trustee (and Cypress's CEO) is showing backbone on coerced "Diversity"!
mhking: Please ping your list (if you don't mind.) Thanks!
Looks to me like Prof Takeshita needs to do just that, take a S--t, and clear his racebaiting mind.
It's also the ideological bone marrow of today's 'Rat Party.
I really like this guy. He's been on the front line of numerous fights. He built Cypress Semiconductor from nothing. I wish him well in trying to turn Datmoth College around.
I dunno, a woman in the personnel department at Draper Lab, when I interviewed there some years ago, said they don't even consider Dartmouth graduates. Engineering degrees from Ivy League institutions have to be something of a bad joke. You might be better off getting a certificate from "close cover before striking" tech.
I note Takeshita is not tenured. Let it remain so!
Start now. Look what open education has done to our morla climate. Middle school kids having fun with sex is not like middle school kids getting ready for a science fair.
Beautifully stated... this gent is wonderful :-)
My understanding is that their graduate program is quite respectable. Maybe she means that they're not worth the money considering the head trip you get with them.
Rodgers basically flat out told Jesse that the industry wasn't refusing to hire black chipmakers, that if there were more blacks who could design chips they'd hire them!
It is also a good sign that such a refreshingly able man managed to be appointed to the Board of Trustees at Dartmouth.
Congressman Billybob
"It is also a good sign that such a refreshingly able man managed to be appointed to the Board of Trustees at Dartmouth."
Trustees are elected, not nominated.
This having been clarified, I'm very pleased to hear that so many of my fellow Dartmouth alumni agreed with me. The hounds of diversity have terrorized Dartmouth for far too long, at the expense of far more important issues.
"It is also a good sign that such a refreshingly able man managed to be appointed to the Board of Trustees at Dartmouth."
Trustees are elected, not nominated.
This having been clarified, I'm very pleased to hear that so many of my fellow Dartmouth alumni agreed with me. The hounds of diversity have terrorized Dartmouth for far too long, at the expense of far more important issues.
I see no similar signs of intelligent life on the Board of my university, down the pike in New Haven. Congratulations on leading the pack.
John / Billybob
This is the guy who faced down Jesse Jackson when Jackson tried to pull one of his trademark shakedowns on Cypress Semiconductor. Would that more CEOs had his guts.
I also worked with a guy who used to be the head of the Electrical Engineering department at Dartmouth. He had a PhD in physics from Princeton and an ego the size of a galatic black hole. Besides being a total pain in the ass on a personal level he couldn't get anything done. When our division laid him off (after about a year) he caught on with another division of our company, much to the surprise of everyone I knew. I later found out that his father-in-law was a vice president in that division. When Dah-tee retired about ten years later, son-in-law found a job with another company.
All it takes is one of the Ivy's to raise price and the rest follow suite. The same applies to junior Ivy's. Check this out:
Dartmouth Trustees set tuition, approve affirmative action plan
Dartmouth College Office of Public Affairs • Press Release Contact Roland Adams or Laurel Stavis (603) 646-3661
Student life, facilities projects reviewed During its winter meeting March 4-6 in Hanover, the Dartmouth Board of Trustees set tuition for the 2004-2005 academic year, approved the college's annual affirmative action plan, and received reports on student life, facilities and financial matters.
The trustees also met with the Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital and Hitchcock Clinic governing boards and with the college's student leadership, and conducted informal discussions with undergraduate and graduate students and faculty members.
President James Wright said the meeting was highly productive. "The conversations with students were substantive and covered several important issues," he said. "We also addressed a number of financial matters and set tuition for next year. We agreed on a modest increase coupled with a continuation of our firm commitment to meeting the financial aid needs of our students."
The board set tuition at $30,279, an increase of 4.5 percent (or $1,314) over the current year's tuition rate. With room, board and mandatory fees, next year's overall charges will be $39,465. The rates apply to students in the Arts and Sciences at Dartmouth, including all undergraduates as well as graduate students in Arts and Sciences and all students in Dartmouth's Thayer School of Engineering, which offers both undergraduate and graduate programs. The rates represent a continuation of efforts the college has made to slow the rate of increase in its charges.
Ozzie Harris, special assistant to the president for institutional diversity and equity, reviewed the affirmative action report, highlighting several areas. "Dartmouth has done a remarkable job, relative to our Ivy League peers and other select institutions, when it comes to the percentage of women in our faculty," Harris said. Dartmouth has the highest percentage of women in all faculty ranks among its peers, and has maintained this position over the last 10 years. The board also reviewed the college's success in recruiting minority group members, and discussed ways to build on that success.
The board discussed various student life matters and received an update on the communication between the leadership of the Coed, Fraternity and Sorority system and Dean of the College James Larimore.
"The board had a good discussion with the students, and we are aware of their concerns and the challenges we continue to face," said Susan Dentzer, chair of the board. "It is clear that we are making progress toward enhancing the quality of student life on campus, and that there is effective work being done by the students and the administration. We are confident in the direction of the administration, and pleased to hear about conversations that Dean Larimore is having with the CFS leadership."
The trustees reviewed plans for new residential facilities for about 340 students at the intersection of Maynard and College streets, and received a presentation by Tony Atkin of the architectural firm Atkin Olshin Lawson Bell on the design for a planned residence on Tuck Mall for approximately 160 students. Both projects are progressing toward anticipated groundbreakings during the 2004-05 academic year. The board's committee on facilities also received updates on several other projects, including the selection of the architect for the arts building and the plans for the Engineering Sciences Center and the Kemeny Hall/Academic Centers project.
The board reinforced the college's commitment to need-blind admissions for undergraduates, which means that in making its admissions decisions the college does not take into account an applicant's ability to pay. For those who enter the institution with demonstrated financial need, the college commits to create financial aid packages that meet the full extent of demonstrated need for a full four years. Dartmouth expects to award more than $44 million in financial aid to its approximately 4,200 undergraduates next year, an increase of $6 million over the current year.
Tuition charges for Dartmouth Medical School will be $33,000 per year, a 4.4 percent increase, and for Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business Administration $36,390, a 5.5 percent increase.
He's also one of the few who told Jessie Jackson to take a hike.
I would have just yelled down - "quiet down you water buffaloes"
The problem is - that statement would get me expelled from Dartmouth.
.I've heard Cornell has a good Engineering program,and the Alumnus I know from that program seems pretty good.
.Of course, they graduated a while ago, and the current program may have suffered.
Worked with some Cornell Physics grads, they were very sharp. Only worked with one Cornell Engineering Grad, he was definitely an affirmative action case and not someone I would hire if I were starting my own company, so I will give Cornell the benefit of the doubt.
Actually, I completed up his half-finished design, and it's hard to think kindly of someone who leaves you a pile schematics and chips. He was the only person I ever knew who drove a DeLorean (new). He also dressed like a pimp. Maybe not a real pimp, but like a pimp in a Hollywood movie.
I may be mistaken on past trustees, but this year was different:
"Dear Alumnus/a:
You have a special opportunity to influence the destiny of Dartmouth College. The Alumni body nominates seven trustees to the board. This year we have the privilege and responsibility to fill one alumni position.
The Alumni Council has selected a slate of candidates for your consideration. This year there is also a candidate nominated by petition of at least 500 signatures..."
One of those was mine. I was most impressed by his petition. I wish I could find it at the moment so I could quote the paragraphs which struck a deep chord within me.
At any rate, he's in. Let's see what he'll be able to accomplish over the next 4+ years.
"With room, board and mandatory fees, next year's overall charges will be $39,465"
Wow. I matriculated in the fall of '73 (the second year they accepted women). The whole four years cost about 40K.
John / Billybob
Hey John,
(I didn't know you were a Yalie!) Unfortunately your assumption above is incorrect. TJ's nomination was the result of an alumni campaign and was an alternative to the Board's hand-picked slate. This is the second time that this has happened at Dartmouth. The previous time was in the early '80s when John Steele was nominated and elected to the Board. (John is a good friend of many regular CPACers.) The encouraging news, however, is that alumni can still get together and have an influence on the Board of Trustees.
Perhaps we can apply some old fashioned FReeper support of similar initiatives at other colleges and universities!
Julian Bond, George Soros and Al Gore have gone mad.
Re: reasonable pricing, this was back when minimum wage was $2.10/hr. For what it's worth ;-)
John / Billybob
" the normally incestuous relationship between the administration, faculty, and board"
Clusterf*ck, you mean!
Here's the text of the WSJ piece on TJ:
Mr. Rodgers Neighborhood
Wall St. Journal, March 26, 2004
That's T.J. Rodgers, founder of Cypress Semiconductor. As CEO of a Silicon Valley enterprise, Mr. Rodgers has spent his career thinking about how to attract the best people of whatever background and get them to be their best. Now he is hoping to bring that expertise to a place he believes is sorely in need of a lesson: academe.
Specifically, Mr. Rodgers, Dartmouth Class of '70, is running to fill a seat on his alma mater's board of trustees. Plainly his is the insurgent candidacy. In contrast to the other three candidates, who were nominated by committee, Mr. Rodgers has his name on the ballot only because enough alumni petitioned for it. And he says that he is running because the college has lost its sense of mission as a small, liberal-arts college. In a nutshell, he proposes a re-emphasis on excellence, open debate and a diversity based on merit rather than gender or skin color.
T.J. Rodgers would like to see Dartmouth's engineered diversity become merit-based.
In academe, of course, them's fighting words. Look at what happened to John Moores. When the chairman of the University of California's Board of Regents recently charged that Berkeley's admissions were still being dictated by racial preferences in defiance of California law, his own board censured him despite the evidence backing his claim. It's similarly telling that among Mr. Rodgers's complaints is the restriction on free speech placed by a trustee oath "which prevents the trustees from publicly expressing dissenting opinions" and thus serves to keep alumni in the dark about any real debate.
For his part, Mr. Rodgers is no stranger to controversy. His byline has occasionally graced our op-ed pages on issues from immigration to corporate welfare. Back in 1996, a page-one Journal story reported how he'd replied to a nun who had self-righteously attacked him for not having enough women and minorities on his board by suggesting her views were "more accurately described as 'politically correct,' than 'Christian.'" Now he's taking some of that same frank talk to Dartmouth.
Just compare the "healthy," merit-based diversity he says prevails at his own company with the gooey Diversityspeak offered by the other three trustee candidates (dartmouth.edu/alumni/Election_site/). Cypress, he notes, is a company that extends full spousal benefits to gay employees and boasts a work force that is 35% minority with all hiring and promotion done on merit. In other words, maybe it's the American campus that occasionally could stand to learn a few things from the American corporation.
"People who have chosen to work together deal with each other respectfully as peers," he says. "People who are forced together -- and given mandatory 'diversity' training, as are fraternity members at Dartmouth -- live in a tense society in which every attribute, every nuance of speech is hyper-analyzed in terms of race, gender and sexual preference. This situation cannot possibly be the 'dream' given to us by Martin Luther King."
Alumni are famous for grumbling about their beloved universities. But at least in this election at Dartmouth, they can't complain that they haven't been given a real choice
Although a woman, and a minority (outside of Japan, where she would be in the majority, and where they don't provide any quotas or considerations for white folks, and are often downright ornery to black ones) the untenured person hopes against hope that she can play one of the race cards one more time.
Rush once interviewed him, didn't he?
"as are fraternity members at Dartmouth"
Maybe not diversity training, but some decency training was in order after the Zeta Psi debacle just over 3 years ago.
I think we will all agree that honorable behavior is still something to prize. Too bad this had to fall under some politically correct banner, because it isn't a matter of political correctness or "sensitivity" - it was foul and demeaning behavior unworthy of "future leaders of America" or whatever you want to call undergraduates of an elite university.
The link is dead now, but I saved the story. This particular bit of coverage doesn't reveal the truly nasty nature of the newsletter in question:
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 7:07 p.m. ET [May 11, 2001]
HANOVER, N.H. (AP) -- Dartmouth College said Friday it is shutting down a
fraternity for printing newsletters in which members detailed their sexual
escapades with undergraduate women who were identified by name.
The Ivy League school that inspired the movie ``Animal House'' said the
48-member Zeta Psi fraternity will no longer be allowed to hold meetings or
other activities on campus, and all members must move out when the spring
term ends on June 10.
``Zeta Psi undermined fundamental values we hold dear,'' said Dartmouth
President James Wright. ``When such conduct violates our standards, the
college must take action.''
The decision was made by Martin Redman, dean of residence life, after a 5
1/2-hour hearing with fraternity members on Sunday. Redman said the
fraternity harassed fellow students and violated ethical standards.
Officials became aware of the newsletters last month during sexual-awareness
week at the school.
The newsletters named women with whom frat members claimed to have had sex.
One of the newsletters said that a future issue would give one member's
``patented date rape techniques.''
The frat had been placed on probation by its national governing body pending
the college's decision. The executive director of the Pearl River,
N.Y.-based organization said he was disturbed the college acted before the
national group finished its investigation.
``We are very disappointed that Dartmouth College has taken the decision to
issue a lifetime ban ... without providing (the frat's) members the due
process to which they, and every citizen, are entitled,'' Richard Breeswine
said.
The fraternity was chartered at Dartmouth in 1853
My #1 complaint against John Kerry and 99% of the other Senators and Representatives serving on the Hill.
The anti-diversity crowd talks. The diversity crowd wins.
John Chandler, probably for serving the cause of diversity, sexism and the beginnings of correctness seems to have been rewarded.
They took care of their own by moving him higher up as John Chandler elevated to Trustee and the Trustee Emeritus at Duke.
John Chandler was single handedly responsible for dismantling the fraternity system at Williams College in the Berkshire Mountains of Mass.
Other schools followed suite. These were some of the most beautiful houses I had ever seen. This was a cool way to live on campus.
I couldn't judge every frat house at D'mouth, but the majority were far from beautiful. Didn't look like the brothers took much pride in them.
Good places to play beer pong, though.
Extremes are rarely sensible. I think that the Greek system has a lot to offer.
Regarding the diversity crowd, they remind me of unions. The more concessions they win, the more emboldened they become. Before long, they've completely lost touch with reality.
Well written piece. Thank you for posting.
There are many layers of Reward and the rewards are greater than the old days.
Sounds ike my experiences with Notre Dame grads.
Oh, GREAT piece by T. J. Rodgers!!
Thanbks, sir or madam.
Thayer has a great record of turning out good engineers.
The fraternities at Williams were huge, about twice the size of the houses at Dartmouth. During the early 80's, they were also in better physical condition, although they had a similar amount of trash strewn about.
Don't know as I'm not a faithful listner of the Rush hour(s).
High tuition at the colleges results in most undergraduates requireing some form of aid. This allows the admission department to more readily select who they want to admit, i.e. indoctrinate.
 Groups, symbols, events Williams History topics |
Abolition of Fraternities at Williams Beginning 64'Cite: http://www.williams.edu/library/archives/williamshistory/greylock/abolitionfrat.html Serious questions about the viability of Greek life at Williams had been raised for several years before any significant actions were taken to address the problem. In one of the first steps toward non-affiliation, following the recommendation of the January 1951 Sterling Committee Progress Report, Baxter Hall was constructed from 1953 to1954. After the opening of this student union, freshman center, and dining hall, all fraternity rushing was to be delayed until sophomore year and all freshmen were compelled to eat together. Questions of the educational and social costs of the Greek letter societies were highlighted in the "Statement of the Board of Trustees and Report of the Committee on Review of Fraternity Questions," released June 30, 1962 and more commonly known as the Angevine Committee Report. This report came to an overall conclusion concerning the ills of the Williams fraternity system: Long continued delegation to the fraternities by the College of a large part of its responsibility with respect to the housing, eating, and social accommodations of the student body is a major cause of many existing conditions which are harmful to the educational purpose of the college; and early steps should be taken by the College to re-assume this responsibility and integrate these functions into the life of the College, where they properly belong. Attempts to reform the fraternities had met with only limited success and had even exacerbated existing problems. These measures had included quotas, barring freshmen from fraternity affiliation, alternate organizations (such as the ill-fated Garfield Club), and the system of "Total Opportunity" which opened fraternity involvement to larger numbers of students. In addition to their vast control over campus social activities, fraternities were responsible for feeding 94% of the upper classes and housing 44% of students. The College wanted greater control over these aspects of campus life and also hoped to do away with "hell week" and curb the growth of alcohol consumption. As expected, the College met with opposition from both students and alumni who believed that the fraternities continued to provide opportunities for significant connections to be made in closely-knit groups, to foster independent living, and to make useful contacts with alumni. On October 30, 1962, four months after the publication of the Angevine Report, "A Report to the Williams College Family Containing Additional Information and Some Alternate Views on the Williams Fraternity System" was published with the official support of Psi Upsilon and Theta Delta Chi, and also the unofficial support of alumni from other fraternities. This particular pamphlet provided a direct critique of the Angevine Report, evaluating its "technique and methodology, historical and current interpretation, and the implications of the presently advanced proposals." The critique also took exception to the Angevine Report's depiction of the fraternities' attempts at reform. It asserted: It must honestly be said that a number of the most liberal Williams graduates and many members of the faculty have felt that the fraternity system contained within itself the seeds for further improvement. Continuing evaluation along paths already laid out by the majority of fraternities that are financially solvent and intellectually and morally responsible seems preferable to a completely new and untried institutional system. part II |
In 1843 a chapter of Kappa Alpha Society was established at Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts. One year later, rival anti-secret societies know as the "Social Fraternity," at Williams were united into Delta Upsilon. 3 - The Miami Triad and Others
Alpha Delta Phi expanded to Miami, Ohio, in 1833. Founded, however, at Miami, were Beta Theta Pi in 1839, Phi Delta Theta in 1848 and Sigma Chi in 1855. The latter three became known as the "Miami Triad" and spread over the western and southern states.
Earlier, however, other fraternities had made their appearance on the national scene: Delta Kappa Epsilon at Yale in 1844, Alpha Sigma Phi at Yale in 1845, Delta Psi at Columbia College in 1847; Zeta Psi at New York University in 1847, and Phi Gamma Delta at Jefferson College in 1848
......................................................http://www.isomedia.com/homes/jalford/genhist.htm
Have a look at this.
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