thenation--2020-05-20--Trump’s Crackpot Claims Are a Distraction—and We’re Taking the Bait

One of Tuesday ’ s finest pandemic entertainment offerings came from the actor , comedian , and viral video star Randy Rainbow , who ’ s been nailing Donald Trump , and sometimes the media , regularly during the dystopian Trump regime .
Titled “ Distraction , ” the video skewers Trump ’ s disastrous handling of Covid-19 to the tune of the song “ Tradition , ” from the great Fiddler on the Roof .
Once you ’ ve seen and heard it , you can ’ t get it out of your head .
It ’ s been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the media , in all its forms , cover Trump ’ s crackpot claim that he ’ s taking hydroxychloroquine , a drug to treat lupus and malaria , as a preventive measure against Covid-19 .
He blurted it out in a press conference Monday afternoon , and of course it became breaking news .
To their credit , cable news hosts—including Fox ’ s Neil Cavuto—immediately began warning against viewers ’ trying to get their hands on the drug , since it can have dangerous side effects and also seems worthless against @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But the story continued to dominate the news , and mostly it ’ s been framed wrongly—even if coverage is trying to warn against this—as reporting on the drug Trump “ is taking.
” We have no idea whether the pathological liar in the White House is actually taking hydroxychloroquine ; if I had to bet , I ’ d bet against it .
For one thing , he lies all the time ; for another , the White House physician released an evasive statement that could be taken as confirmation of Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s taking the drug .
White House Press Secretary Kaleigh McEnerny “ confirmed ” it , but she ’ s paid to lie , even if she ’ s not terribly good at it .
Yet on Wednesday The New York Times had an in-depth feature on “ the drug Trump is taking , ” according to its print headline ; on the Web , after some criticism , the paper appropriately changed that to “ the drug Trump says he ’ s using.
” MSNBC ’ s Chris Hayes , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ evidence Tuesday night and came down cautiously on a different side from me on his show last night : He thinks Trump is falling for his own con .
Hayes is somewhat convinced by the timeline of Trump ’ s claim : that he began taking the drug after his valet and Vice President Mike Pence ’ s press secretary both tested positive for Covid-19 .
“ The president literally thinks there is some secret magic solution , ” Hayes hypothesized .
“ Donald Trump is his own mark.
” What Happens When @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a Pandemic ?
The Virus , the Press , and the Comfortable Class More in this series He could be right , but the point is we don ’ t know .
Yet the story got disproportionate coverage for almost 48 hours .
It ’ s just another example of how Trump gets the media to cover his sideshows , which then edges aside coverage of real scandals ; like the firing of six inspectors general in six weeks ; or Attorney General William Barr ’ s dropping charges against former national security @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or on Wednesday his threats against Nevada and Michigan for the perfidy of sending voters absentee ballot applications .
It ’ s not crowding out coverage of the nation ’ s unconscionable and avoidable Covid-19 death toll—but there shouldn ’ t even be any competition .
And here , of course , I realize I ’ m doing exactly what I ’ m criticizing : covering a Trump sideshow instead of any of those scandals .
For now , I blame Pandemic Brain : the widely shared condition of being perpetually anxious and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ videos like a feast after a fast .
( Vox has a good piece about the possible science behind our distraction here . )
Whether or not we ’ re journalists , we cycle through what really matters : our own health and that of our loved ones , of course ; whether we ’ re making progress fighting the virus or going backward as states reopen ; whether scientists are finding reliable treatments or perhaps a vaccine .
( Today , drug company Moderna ’ s claim to progress on a vaccine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be swallowing pharmaceutical company Moderna ’ s claims as credulously as we swallowed Trump ’ s claim to be taking a worthless drug . )
But those of us whose job it is to tell you what ’ s going on , and what matters , struggle too : with all of the above , plus the almost hourly onslaught of horror and corruption associated with Trump , his administration , and many of his voters .
Which of the six fired IGs should I focus on ?
Is Barr ’ s shameful @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of State Mike Pompeo is doing at the State Department—whether having aides do personal errands or green-lighting weapons to Saudi Arabia ?
Oh , and we ’ re expelling young undocumented migrants under the cover of Covid-19 , reversing years of US policy .
While more than a million Americans ( including his wife ) have battled the disease , Trump aide Stephen Miller has been making all his xenophobic dreams come true .
Of course , it ’ s news that the president claims to be taking an unproven , possibly dangerous @ @ @ @ @ @ @ charged with vaccine development says he was fired for refusing to promote ( another scandal that didn ’ t get enough attention ) .
But too often we treat his passing craven mutterings too seriously , cover them too credulously , and lap up the freak-show coverage as a distraction .
We can control what we pay attention to , however .
If you need a distraction , pay attention to Randy Rainbow ’ s , not Trump ’ s .

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One of Tuesday’s finest pandemic entertainment offerings came from the actor, comedian, and viral video star Randy Rainbow, who’s been nailing Donald Trump, and sometimes the media, regularly during the dystopian Trump regime. Titled “Distraction,” the video skewers Trump’s disastrous handling of Covid-19 to the tune of the song “Tradition,” from the great Fiddler on the Roof. Once you’ve seen and heard it, you can’t get it out of your head.
It’s been my soundtrack as I’ve watched the media, in all its forms, cover Trump’s crackpot claim that he’s taking hydroxychloroquine, a drug to treat lupus and malaria, as a preventive measure against Covid-19. He blurted it out in a press conference Monday afternoon, and of course it became breaking news. To their credit, cable news hosts—including Fox’s Neil Cavuto—immediately began warning against viewers’ trying to get their hands on the drug, since it can have dangerous side effects and also seems worthless against coronavirus, if not actually harmful.
But the story continued to dominate the news, and mostly it’s been framed wrongly—even if coverage is trying to warn against this—as reporting on the drug Trump “is taking.” We have no idea whether the pathological liar in the White House is actually taking hydroxychloroquine; if I had to bet, I’d bet against it. For one thing, he lies all the time; for another, the White House physician released an evasive statement that could be taken as confirmation of Trump’s claim—but never actually confirms he’s taking the drug. White House Press Secretary Kaleigh McEnerny “confirmed” it, but she’s paid to lie, even if she’s not terribly good at it. Yet on Wednesday The New York Times had an in-depth feature on “the drug Trump is taking,” according to its print headline; on the Web, after some criticism, the paper appropriately changed that to “the drug Trump says he’s using.”
MSNBC’s Chris Hayes, a friend and former colleague, weighed the evidence Tuesday night and came down cautiously on a different side from me on his show last night: He thinks Trump is falling for his own con. Hayes is somewhat convinced by the timeline of Trump’s claim: that he began taking the drug after his valet and Vice President Mike Pence’s press secretary both tested positive for Covid-19. “The president literally thinks there is some secret magic solution,” Hayes hypothesized. “Donald Trump is his own mark.” The Coronavirus Crisis What Happens When You Age Out of Foster Care During a Pandemic? Jessica Suriano Facing a Real Catastrophe With a Pretend President Jeet Heer The Virus, the Press, and the Comfortable Class Michael Massing
He could be right, but the point is we don’t know. Yet the story got disproportionate coverage for almost 48 hours. It’s just another example of how Trump gets the media to cover his sideshows, which then edges aside coverage of real scandals; like the firing of six inspectors general in six weeks; or Attorney General William Barr’s dropping charges against former national security adviser and confessed liar Michael Flynn, or on Wednesday his threats against Nevada and Michigan for the perfidy of sending voters absentee ballot applications. It’s not crowding out coverage of the nation’s unconscionable and avoidable Covid-19 death toll—but there shouldn’t even be any competition. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann
And here, of course, I realize I’m doing exactly what I’m criticizing: covering a Trump sideshow instead of any of those scandals. For now, I blame Pandemic Brain: the widely shared condition of being perpetually anxious and distracted, and eating up Randy Rainbow videos like a feast after a fast. (Vox has a good piece about the possible science behind our distraction here.) Whether or not we’re journalists, we cycle through what really matters: our own health and that of our loved ones, of course; whether we’re making progress fighting the virus or going backward as states reopen; whether scientists are finding reliable treatments or perhaps a vaccine. (Today, drug company Moderna’s claim to progress on a vaccine was questioned by StatNews. We might be swallowing pharmaceutical company Moderna’s claims as credulously as we swallowed Trump’s claim to be taking a worthless drug.)
But those of us whose job it is to tell you what’s going on, and what matters, struggle too: with all of the above, plus the almost hourly onslaught of horror and corruption associated with Trump, his administration, and many of his voters. Which of the six fired IGs should I focus on? Is Barr’s shameful decision on Flynn worse than what Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is doing at the State Department—whether having aides do personal errands or green-lighting weapons to Saudi Arabia? Oh, and we’re expelling young undocumented migrants under the cover of Covid-19, reversing years of US policy. While more than a million Americans (including his wife) have battled the disease, Trump aide Stephen Miller has been making all his xenophobic dreams come true.
Of course, it’s news that the president claims to be taking an unproven, possibly dangerous drug—one that the head of the agency charged with vaccine development says he was fired for refusing to promote (another scandal that didn’t get enough attention). But too often we treat his passing craven mutterings too seriously, cover them too credulously, and lap up the freak-show coverage as a distraction. We can control what we pay attention to, however. If you need a distraction, pay attention to Randy Rainbow’s, not Trump’s.


thenation--2020-05-20--If Cuomo Cuts Funding, CUNY Layoffs Will Be a ‘Bloodbath’

In New York City , the global epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic , the shocking number of people killed has been accompanied by devastating economic fallout .
More than 22,000 in New York State have likely died from the novel coronavirus .
With many businesses shut down , billions in tax revenue are gone .
For the first time since the 1970s , New York City , America ’ s wealthiest municipality , is at the fiscal brink .
Public schools , transit , and social services could all see severe cuts in the forthcoming state budget , punishing the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ likely to include cuts to the City University of New York .
If federal stimulus money doesn ’ t arrive—and Governor Andrew Cuomo resists raising taxes to avoid gaping shortfalls—this world-class public higher-education system may be crippled .
CUNY , which includes 25 campuses around New York City , was underfunded before the pandemic .
Its colleges are now bracing for major layoffs .
One senior college has said that it may not rehire the vast majority of its adjunct professors .
Another is seeking to slash course offerings by as much as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of this pandemic , it ’ s obscene , ” said James Davis , a professor of English at Brooklyn College and a chapter chair in the Professional Staff Congress ( PSC ) , the union representing CUNY professors .
“ It ’ s a bloodbath.
” Cuomo Helped Get New York Into This Mess Though CUNY is located in New York City , much of its funding—and its fiscal future—is determined by the state government in Albany .
Governor Andrew Cuomo ’ s press conferences have drawn praise from liberal pundits and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ percent .
But he is widely loathed by higher education advocates and unionized professors in New York , who blame him for failing to lavish more state aid on the public colleges before the pandemic .
Cuomo has governed New York state since 2011 .
State aid to CUNY , adjusted for inflation , has declined by nearly 5 percent during his tenure , though the state ’ s gross domestic product has increased .
At the same time , CUNY tuition has steadily risen .
A New York State resident who is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ school now pays $ 6,930 a year , up from $ 5,130 in 2011 .
New York ’ s Tuition Assistance Program , which provides aid to students below a certain income threshold , no longer covers the full cost of tuition , and Cuomo forces individual colleges to make up the difference .
Another tuition increase of $ 200 per year , along with a $ 120 “ health and wellness ” fee , is set to be voted on by the CUNY Board of Trustees in June .
While the cost @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lower than that of many other large public institutions around the country , CUNY ’ s 271,000-large student body is overwhelmingly low-income : Forty-two percent of all first-time freshmen come from households with incomes of $ 20,000 or less , and more than 70 percent of students enrolled at senior and community colleges identify as nonwhite .
“ It ’ s a hugely important system because of the nature of the students it serves , ” said Thomas Brock , director of the Community College Research Center at Teachers College , Columbia University @ @ @ @ @ @ @ important role in higher education more generally .
Historically , it ’ s done a very good job helping low-income students move into the middle class.
” At the John Jay College of Criminal Justice , the vast majority of adjuncts say that they found out earlier this month that they were not rehired for the fall semester , meaning classes could be dramatically larger come September .
Brooklyn College and the College of Staten Island are grappling with proposed overall department cuts as high as 30 percent , which would also most @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the PSC anticipates that actual student enrollment for this fall could increase , as it did during the last economic downturn in the 2000s .
Simultaneously , course offerings could shrink , meaning students could struggle to complete their majors on time .
Full-time faculty and adjuncts would strain to give any kind of individualized attention to students , especially if CUNY continues remote instruction but with far larger classes .
For adjuncts , many of whom are hired only semester to semester , the layoffs are traumatic .
Though each adjunct earns @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they are able to access comprehensive health insurance through PSC .
“ The biggest problem is stress , ” said Elizabeth Hovey , an adjunct professor and union leader at John Jay .
“ People in this era shouldn ’ t be threatened with the loss of their health insurance.
” CUNY has a long history of both expansion and contraction .
Though the university system itself was formally created in 1961 , some individual CUNY colleges date back further .
City College and Hunter College both were founded in the 19th century @ @ @ @ @ @ @ during the depths of the Great Depression , in 1930 and 1937 , respectively .
A hub of radical thought and high achievers , City College , in particular , was known as the “ Harvard of the proletariat.
” Thirteen Noble Prize winners are among CUNY ’ s alumni .
Until the mid-1970s , CUNY was largely tuition-free .
Then , in 1975 , New York City nearly went bankrupt .
White flight , the decline of manufacturing , and poor fiscal management had driven the city into a fiscal crisis that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , even after the economy recovered .
For CUNY , it was a tragic turning point .
For the first time , tuition was imposed for all students and the budget was drastically cut , resulting in mass layoffs , reduced course offerings , and a noted decline in building maintenance .
Advocates at the time correctly predicted that once CUNY introduced tuition , administrators would never make the schools free again .
Now , the specter of another fiscal crisis looms , this time because of Covid-19 .
New York City no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ during the 1970s—the city ’ s economy was humming along until March—but the evaporation of tax revenue is a disturbing echo of that era .
What ’ s uncertain , still , is how hard the latest budget axe will fall .
Thanks to new powers granted by the state legislature when New York state ’ s budget was passed in April , Cuomo has the power to impose rolling cuts on local services throughout the year .
The governor has said that without a fresh infusion of federal funding , aid to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 10 billion , a number that has no precedent in modern times .
K-12 public schools across the state , the State University of New York system , and CUNY could be hit the hardest .
In the coming days , Cuomo is expected to detail the severity of this first round of cuts .
In addition , a CUNY representative told The Nation that New York City ’ s government , which partially funds the system , is seeking a $ 31.6 million reduction target for the next fiscal year , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ New York State ’ s draconian cuts is Cuomo ’ s budget director , Robert Mujica , now one of the most powerful people in the state .
Mujica is a former Republican staffer who shares Cuomo ’ s willingness to shrink budgets .
In early 2016 , in a far better economic climate than today ’ s , Cuomo attempted to slash state aid to CUNY by nearly $ 500 million .
After encountering fierce backlash , Cuomo reluctantly backed off the plan .
A few months later , however , he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Trustees , consolidating the governor ’ s office ’ s control over the university system .
Freeman Klopott , a spokesman for the state ’ s budget division , argued that Cuomo ’ s government had been generous to CUNY in the past , and that the coronavirus-induced economic crash necessitated cuts .
Columbia Has the Chance to Expose the Lie of Austerity “ New York State is contending with a 14 percent revenue loss , amounting to $ 61 billion over four years , ” Klopott said in an e-mail .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ goes to schools , health care , local grants , and services for the most vulnerable populations .
In the absence of federal funding , we will have to cut spending , with a plan for specific reductions coming this month.
” This statement was echoed by a CUNY representative : “ The state is facing a more than $ 13 billion revenue shortfall due entirely to the pandemic , and if the federal government doesn ’ t step up to offset those losses , the state will have to reduce spending by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” CUNY professors and students are directing their anger toward both Cuomo and the administrators of certain senior colleges who are preemptively telling department chairs to start cutting staff and reduce course offerings .
They feel that schools should wait to find out whether federal stimulus money will show up , or the Democrat-controlled legislature will force Cuomo to approve tax hikes .
“ It ’ s sending a message that cuts to CUNY are inevitable , that cuts to CUNY are acceptable .
And they are not acceptable , ” said Barbara @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Our main concern is the governor will enact cuts and those cuts will not be beaten back by legislature.
” So far , the New York State Legislature has been largely content to fade into the background as Cuomo ’ s popularity soars .
Legislators have not met remotely to pass any bills since the budget was approved at the beginning of April , though that is expected to change soon .
Some Democrats are pushing Cuomo to enact new taxes on high-earners—something he has historically resisted doing—to help offset the enormous @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Stavisky , the Democrat who chairs the Senate ’ s Higher Education Committee , introduced a bill last week to temporarily raise taxes on those earning more than $ 5 million to help fund K-12 schools , SUNY , and CUNY .
Whether the bill will make it through the legislature and to Cuomo ’ s desk is still unclear .
“ CUNY hasn ’ t been properly funded for probably two decades , if not longer , because more and more of the burden has fallen on students , and not the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ We just can ’ t take a meat cleaver and slash .
”

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In New York City, the global epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic, the shocking number of people killed has been accompanied by devastating economic fallout. More than 22,000 in New York State have likely died from the novel coronavirus. With many businesses shut down, billions in tax revenue are gone. For the first time since the 1970s, New York City, America’s wealthiest municipality, is at the fiscal brink.
Public schools, transit, and social services could all see severe cuts in the forthcoming state budget, punishing the working class and poor. That is likely to include cuts to the City University of New York. If federal stimulus money doesn’t arrive—and Governor Andrew Cuomo resists raising taxes to avoid gaping shortfalls—this world-class public higher-education system may be crippled. CUNY, which includes 25 campuses around New York City, was underfunded before the pandemic. Its colleges are now bracing for major layoffs.
One senior college has said that it may not rehire the vast majority of its adjunct professors. Another is seeking to slash course offerings by as much as 25 percent.
“In the middle of this pandemic, it’s obscene,” said James Davis, a professor of English at Brooklyn College and a chapter chair in the Professional Staff Congress (PSC), the union representing CUNY professors. “It’s a bloodbath.” Related Article Cuomo Helped Get New York Into This Mess Ross Barkan
Though CUNY is located in New York City, much of its funding—and its fiscal future—is determined by the state government in Albany. Governor Andrew Cuomo’s press conferences have drawn praise from liberal pundits and rocketed his approval rating to over 70 percent. But he is widely loathed by higher education advocates and unionized professors in New York, who blame him for failing to lavish more state aid on the public colleges before the pandemic.
Cuomo has governed New York state since 2011. State aid to CUNY, adjusted for inflation, has declined by nearly 5 percent during his tenure, though the state’s gross domestic product has increased.
At the same time, CUNY tuition has steadily risen. A New York State resident who is a full-time student at a four-year CUNY school now pays $6,930 a year, up from $5,130 in 2011. New York’s Tuition Assistance Program, which provides aid to students below a certain income threshold, no longer covers the full cost of tuition, and Cuomo forces individual colleges to make up the difference. Another tuition increase of $200 per year, along with a $120 “health and wellness” fee, is set to be voted on by the CUNY Board of Trustees in June. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann Current Issue View our current issue
While the cost to attend a CUNY college is still lower than that of many other large public institutions around the country, CUNY’s 271,000-large student body is overwhelmingly low-income: Forty-two percent of all first-time freshmen come from households with incomes of $20,000 or less, and more than 70 percent of students enrolled at senior and community colleges identify as nonwhite.
“It’s a hugely important system because of the nature of the students it serves,” said Thomas Brock, director of the Community College Research Center at Teachers College, Columbia University. “And it has a really important role in higher education more generally. Historically, it’s done a very good job helping low-income students move into the middle class.”
At the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, the vast majority of adjuncts say that they found out earlier this month that they were not rehired for the fall semester, meaning classes could be dramatically larger come September. Brooklyn College and the College of Staten Island are grappling with proposed overall department cuts as high as 30 percent, which would also most likely lead to layoffs.
Meanwhile, the PSC anticipates that actual student enrollment for this fall could increase, as it did during the last economic downturn in the 2000s. Simultaneously, course offerings could shrink, meaning students could struggle to complete their majors on time. Full-time faculty and adjuncts would strain to give any kind of individualized attention to students, especially if CUNY continues remote instruction but with far larger classes.
For adjuncts, many of whom are hired only semester to semester, the layoffs are traumatic. Though each adjunct earns only several thousand dollars per course, they are able to access comprehensive health insurance through PSC. “The biggest problem is stress,” said Elizabeth Hovey, an adjunct professor and union leader at John Jay. “People in this era shouldn’t be threatened with the loss of their health insurance.”
CUNY has a long history of both expansion and contraction. Though the university system itself was formally created in 1961, some individual CUNY colleges date back further. City College and Hunter College both were founded in the 19th century. Brooklyn and Queens College were created during the depths of the Great Depression, in 1930 and 1937, respectively. A hub of radical thought and high achievers, City College, in particular, was known as the “Harvard of the proletariat.” Thirteen Noble Prize winners are among CUNY’s alumni.
Until the mid-1970s, CUNY was largely tuition-free. Then, in 1975, New York City nearly went bankrupt. White flight, the decline of manufacturing, and poor fiscal management had driven the city into a fiscal crisis that would haunt it for decades to come, even after the economy recovered.
For CUNY, it was a tragic turning point. For the first time, tuition was imposed for all students and the budget was drastically cut, resulting in mass layoffs, reduced course offerings, and a noted decline in building maintenance. Advocates at the time correctly predicted that once CUNY introduced tuition, administrators would never make the schools free again.
Now, the specter of another fiscal crisis looms, this time because of Covid-19. New York City no longer faces the structural challenges it did during the 1970s—the city’s economy was humming along until March—but the evaporation of tax revenue is a disturbing echo of that era. What’s uncertain, still, is how hard the latest budget axe will fall.
Thanks to new powers granted by the state legislature when New York state’s budget was passed in April, Cuomo has the power to impose rolling cuts on local services throughout the year. The governor has said that without a fresh infusion of federal funding, aid to localities could be slashed by more than $10 billion, a number that has no precedent in modern times.
K-12 public schools across the state, the State University of New York system, and CUNY could be hit the hardest. In the coming days, Cuomo is expected to detail the severity of this first round of cuts. In addition, a CUNY representative told The Nation that New York City’s government, which partially funds the system, is seeking a $31.6 million reduction target for the next fiscal year, starting in July.
The architect of New York State’s draconian cuts is Cuomo’s budget director, Robert Mujica, now one of the most powerful people in the state. Mujica is a former Republican staffer who shares Cuomo’s willingness to shrink budgets.
In early 2016, in a far better economic climate than today’s, Cuomo attempted to slash state aid to CUNY by nearly $500 million. After encountering fierce backlash, Cuomo reluctantly backed off the plan. A few months later, however, he appointed Mujica—a CUNY alumnus—to the CUNY Board of Trustees, consolidating the governor’s office’s control over the university system.
Freeman Klopott, a spokesman for the state’s budget division, argued that Cuomo’s government had been generous to CUNY in the past, and that the coronavirus-induced economic crash necessitated cuts. Related Article Columbia Has the Chance to Expose the Lie of Austerity R.H. Lossin and Lexie Cook
“New York State is contending with a 14 percent revenue loss, amounting to $61 billion over four years,” Klopott said in an e-mail. “About 90 percent of state funding goes to schools, health care, local grants, and services for the most vulnerable populations. In the absence of federal funding, we will have to cut spending, with a plan for specific reductions coming this month.”
This statement was echoed by a CUNY representative: “The state is facing a more than $13 billion revenue shortfall due entirely to the pandemic, and if the federal government doesn’t step up to offset those losses, the state will have to reduce spending by billions of dollars to balance its budget.”
CUNY professors and students are directing their anger toward both Cuomo and the administrators of certain senior colleges who are preemptively telling department chairs to start cutting staff and reduce course offerings. They feel that schools should wait to find out whether federal stimulus money will show up, or the Democrat-controlled legislature will force Cuomo to approve tax hikes.
“It’s sending a message that cuts to CUNY are inevitable, that cuts to CUNY are acceptable. And they are not acceptable,” said Barbara Bowen, the president of PSC. “Our main concern is the governor will enact cuts and those cuts will not be beaten back by legislature.”
So far, the New York State Legislature has been largely content to fade into the background as Cuomo’s popularity soars. Legislators have not met remotely to pass any bills since the budget was approved at the beginning of April, though that is expected to change soon. Some Democrats are pushing Cuomo to enact new taxes on high-earners—something he has historically resisted doing—to help offset the enormous gap in funds.
State Senator Toby Stavisky, the Democrat who chairs the Senate’s Higher Education Committee, introduced a bill last week to temporarily raise taxes on those earning more than $5 million to help fund K-12 schools, SUNY, and CUNY. Whether the bill will make it through the legislature and to Cuomo’s desk is still unclear.
“CUNY hasn’t been properly funded for probably two decades, if not longer, because more and more of the burden has fallen on students, and not the state,” said Stavisky. “We just can’t take a meat cleaver and slash.”


thenation--2020-05-20--DSA Was Only Getting Started

DSA Was Only Getting Started

A few days before May Day , Marcela Mitaynes , a Brooklyn tenant organizer who is running for the New York State Assembly , started getting calls from neighbors she hadn ’ t heard from in a while .
Rent was due , and they were worried about paying .
Many were already living paycheck to paycheck before the pandemic .
Now , Mitaynes told me in a phone conversation , families who had been depending on two or three incomes were scraping by on one or none .
Tenants were worried about sinking into debt—even if they could delay @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thanks to a temporary moratorium on evictions , they would still owe back rent .
Mitaynes is one of five New York City candidates for office to score the endorsement of Democratic Socialists of America ( DSA ) —the largest socialist organization in the United States—last week .
The local chapter , NYC-DSA , has become known as a “ progressive king-maker ” in New York City after helping Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez oust Joe Crowley from his House seat in 2018 , and backing Tiffany Cabán , who came within 55 votes of winning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Mitaynes , who is running for state assembly in Brooklyn ’ s District 51 , is part of a five-member slate backed by both the local chapter and the national DSA .
She is running alongside Zohran K. Mamdani , candidate for a Queens state assembly seat in District 36 ; Jabari Brisport , candidate for a Brooklyn state senate seat in District 25 ; Phara Souffrant Forrest , candidate for state assembly in Brooklyn ’ s District 57 ; and Samelys López , who is running for Congress in New York @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bronx .
( I volunteered for Mitaynes this year and for Brisport when he ran for city council in 2017 . )
The only other time DSA has endorsed a local chapter ’ s entire slate was in 2019 , when it backed Chicago DSA ’ s picks for city council .
Democratic socialists now control one-10th of the Chicago City Council .
The candidates have earned high-profile endorsements in addition to DSA ’ s .
The four running for state office have the backing of Cynthia Nixon , who won over a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ primary challenge to Governor Andrew Cuomo .
The Working Families Party , has endorsed Brisport , Mitaynes , and López .
And Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has endorsed López , who hopes to join the Representative and fellow Bronxite in Congress next year .
All five candidates volunteered for Bernie Sanders or cited him as an inspiration .
They all stressed the importance of building a multiracial , working-class coalition to demand that government treat things like health care and housing as rights , not commodities .
Yet several key characteristics set them apart from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who democratic socialists are .
The most obvious are age , race , and gender : All are people of color and immigrants or children of immigrants , and all were born and/or raised in the areas they are seeking to represent .
Four of the five are under 41 , and three are women .
Skeptics of Sanders-style democratic socialism often caution that the whole world isn ’ t Ocasio-Cortez ’ s deep-blue Queens district .
City & State New York posited in October that the DSA slate ’ s races will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ working class voters of color.
” “ DSA gets maligned in the press as an organization for gentrifiers , and it ’ s just not true , ” said Brisport in a phone conversation .
“ We are specifically running candidates that are from our communities.
” That said , he added , there is always “ room for improvement ” when it comes to diversity , and no one-size-fits-all approach to communicating with voters .
“ If you put up a flyer that says , ‘ Socialism meeting on the corner at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ white people would show up , ” he joked .
“ Not everyone hears the word ‘ socialist ’ and says , ‘ Oh , let me go to that meeting.
’ ” Mamdani made a similar observation .
“ For some people the term ‘ democratic socialist ’ means nothing , ” he said in a phone conversation .
“ I explain it as a belief that the state needs to provide whatever is necessary for a dignified life : housing , health care , education.
” López , whose district is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ me that she talks to constituents about “ bread-and-butter issues.
” Having spent part of her own childhood in the city ’ s shelter system , she encourages them to question why they are struggling to meet basic needs .
“ We ask people , ‘ Do you think this is right that you ’ re going through this ?
Do you think it ’ s your fault that you ’ re going through this ?
’ ” Often , López said , they will realize that “ it ’ s actually not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to three jobs to survive , and every day I come home tired.
” In March , the pandemic forced all five campaigns to transition from block-by-block canvassing to campaigning online .
With the shift in strategy came a shift in focus to the immediate needs the crisis had created .
“ We begin all of our calls to voters by asking if they need groceries or medicine , ” Mamdani said .
Like López , he prompts his constituents to consider why the state is “ abdicating its responsibility to provide [ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Under the shadow of the Trump administration ’ s disastrous handling of the coronavirus pandemic , Governor Cuomo has garnered attention and praise for his leadership of his state during the crisis .
The self-styled progressive ’ s popularity has spiked in recent months thanks to his sober and informative daily press briefings .
But his initial handling of the crisis , insistence on slashing Medicaid in the midst of it , and refusal to cancel rent have angered many .
For those on the left , these moves reinforce the urgency of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ made in Albany in 2018 .
Mayor Bill de Blasio—once a great progressive hope—has come under fire for perceived fecklessness in his management of the crisis .
Some believe his delayed decision to close public schools led to the preventable deaths of dozens of NYC Department of Education employees .
New York ’ s management of the crisis has been unfavorably compared to that of California and Washington , where state and city officials coordinated their efforts effectively and scientists rather than politicians took the lead , Since at least 2015 the two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ public pissing match ” —a serious liability in the best of times , let alone in a pandemic .
Their wrangling delayed New York City ’ s shutdown , arguably leading to a higher death toll ; now , they can ’ t even agree on how many have died .
Brisport said both men deserved “ failing ” grades for their handling of the crisis .
Mitaynes said it has been “ disheartening ” to see different levels of government unable to work together effectively .
While critical of both , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ worse press ” because Cuomo is “ more adept at media.
” However , he added , “ Cuomo gets an F.… If you ’ re busy trying to survive and you ’ re not paying much attention , what you see is a competent executive…given the facts , you would begin to question more deeply why we have had such a horrific outbreak and high death toll.
” The crisis , he added , has been thoroughly mismanaged at the executive level , “ from Trump to Cuomo to de Blasio.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ candidates before , but there ’ s facts and there ’ s bumper stickers and you can ’ t run a government on bumper stickers , ” Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi responded to these criticisms in an e-mail .
“ You also shouldn ’ t be running for office on a platform of misinformation and purity tests .
We tell people the facts , good and bad , they made their own judgments and , last I saw , more than 80 percent of New Yorkers approved of our handling of this crisis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ campaign advice , but no one is going to fall for this garbage.
” As for the Medicaid cuts , Azzopardi added , “ The numbers need to add up .
We had a $ 6 billion hole and the moment we solved that a $ 14 billion one opened up because of Covid-19.… This is a pandemic and Washington needs to do its job and provide states and localities with relief.
” The mayor , for his part , has “ dedicated his entire career to fighting for working people , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : universal pre-K , historic low crime rate and enforcement , and the most aggressive affordable housing program in the city ’ s history , ” his press secretary Freddi Goldstein said in an e-mail .
“ New Yorkers care about results , not punditry and we remain laser focused on making the city fairer.
” She added that de Blasio “ has led from the front , calling for a shelter in place , the use of face coverings in public and keeping schools closed .
His leadership has helped us flatten @ @ @ @ @ @ @ helping the nearly 9 million New Yorkers he is responsible for.
” Given the failures of New York leadership , the candidates ’ strategy of asking what people need—and delivering—has proven both necessary and effective .
Asked what drew him to Mamdani ’ s campaign , Omar Abouhamama , a 16-year-old volunteer from Astoria , described helping the campaign pack groceries and prepare meals to deliver to neighbors in need .
“ I like politics , ” he said , “ but I like helping people , also.
” Of Mamdani , he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t [ usually ] see politicians in the street helping people out themselves.
” While Mamdani and his fellow candidates hold Sanders in high esteem , they have also learned from his mistakes and are carving out a new approach based on their own lives and experiences .
As Brisport told The Intercept in 2017 , “ I love Bernie .
I would vote for him 10 times , ” but Sanders ’ s “ blinder ” was “ seeing so much from an economic lens , when you do need a mixture @ @ @ @ @ @ @ toward marginalized groups.
” Forrest made a similar point .
“ What [ Sanders ] did right was really speak to the issues that the working people most cared about , ” she said , citing employment and health care that was “ free ” and “ not tied to your job.
” These are “ some policies that had we had a president like that right now , we would be in a lot better shape to deal with Covid-19.
” That said , she added , “ If you are still @ @ @ @ @ @ @ still question if your new system has them in mind , then you really need to go back and build your coalition a little tighter .
The platform was great , but the coalition still needed to be worked on.
” Forrest sees the need to expand Sanders ’ s coalition as an argument for her candidacy .
“ That ’ s why we need people like me on the local level to say , ‘ Bernie Sanders was not crazy—he was saying something that we need and we need to be all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Until we have all these assemblymen , state senators saying the same thing , all these housing groups saying the same thing , it will be hard to get a Bernie Sanders in office.
” Bringing forth Sanders ’ s vision , Mamdani said , means “ not only fighting for a political revolution but making sure the electorate is fundamentally transformed , ” adding that his campaign has knocked on the doors of voters about which “ a consultant would say , ‘ Don ’ t waste your time , they haven @ @ @ @ @ @ @ López told MTV News in March that she encourages even those who can ’ t vote because of their citizenship status to get involved .
This called to mind a story Ocasio-Cortez told me in a 2018 interview about meeting an older Bengali couple while canvassing .
“ We spent a long time sitting down with them , ” she said , “ and probably only one of them was a registered , eligible Democrat.
” In addition to bringing in new constituencies and expanding their coalition , these candidates want to bring @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said there are two types of politicians : ideological hard-liners and those who change with the wind .
“ Our job is to elect more people in the first category , ” he said , offering DSA ’ s slate as an example , and , for the rest , “ change the direction of the wind.
” “ There ’ s a lot of folks that are hurting and need assistance , ” Mitaynes said .
“ The grassroots power that we ’ re trying to build is to go beyond this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this one candidate , and to be able to cultivate that power and have the people be able to decide their futures .
”

A few days before May Day, Marcela Mitaynes, a Brooklyn tenant organizer who is running for the New York State Assembly, started getting calls from neighbors she hadn’t heard from in a while. Rent was due, and they were worried about paying. Many were already living paycheck to paycheck before the pandemic. Now, Mitaynes told me in a phone conversation, families who had been depending on two or three incomes were scraping by on one or none. Tenants were worried about sinking into debt—even if they could delay paying for a couple of months, thanks to a temporary moratorium on evictions, they would still owe back rent.
Mitaynes is one of five New York City candidates for office to score the endorsement of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)—the largest socialist organization in the United States—last week. The local chapter, NYC-DSA, has become known as a “progressive king-maker” in New York City after helping Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez oust Joe Crowley from his House seat in 2018, and backing Tiffany Cabán, who came within 55 votes of winning the Queens district attorney race in 2019. Mitaynes, who is running for state assembly in Brooklyn’s District 51, is part of a five-member slate backed by both the local chapter and the national DSA.
She is running alongside Zohran K. Mamdani, candidate for a Queens state assembly seat in District 36; Jabari Brisport, candidate for a Brooklyn state senate seat in District 25; Phara Souffrant Forrest, candidate for state assembly in Brooklyn’s District 57; and Samelys López, who is running for Congress in New York’s 15th congressional district in the Bronx. (I volunteered for Mitaynes this year and for Brisport when he ran for city council in 2017.) The only other time DSA has endorsed a local chapter’s entire slate was in 2019, when it backed Chicago DSA’s picks for city council. Democratic socialists now control one-10th of the Chicago City Council.
The candidates have earned high-profile endorsements in addition to DSA’s. The four running for state office have the backing of Cynthia Nixon, who won over a third of the vote in her 2018 primary challenge to Governor Andrew Cuomo. The Working Families Party, has endorsed Brisport, Mitaynes, and López. And Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has endorsed López, who hopes to join the Representative and fellow Bronxite in Congress next year.
All five candidates volunteered for Bernie Sanders or cited him as an inspiration. They all stressed the importance of building a multiracial, working-class coalition to demand that government treat things like health care and housing as rights, not commodities. Yet several key characteristics set them apart from Sanders—and defy persistent stereotypes about what and who democratic socialists are. The most obvious are age, race, and gender: All are people of color and immigrants or children of immigrants, and all were born and/or raised in the areas they are seeking to represent. Four of the five are under 41, and three are women. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann
Skeptics of Sanders-style democratic socialism often caution that the whole world isn’t Ocasio-Cortez’s deep-blue Queens district. City & State New York posited in October that the DSA slate’s races will “test democratic socialists’ appeal to working class voters of color.”
“DSA gets maligned in the press as an organization for gentrifiers, and it’s just not true,” said Brisport in a phone conversation. “We are specifically running candidates that are from our communities.” That said, he added, there is always “room for improvement” when it comes to diversity, and no one-size-fits-all approach to communicating with voters. “If you put up a flyer that says, ‘Socialism meeting on the corner at 7 o’clock,’ 50 white people would show up,” he joked. “Not everyone hears the word ‘socialist’ and says, ‘Oh, let me go to that meeting.’”
Mamdani made a similar observation. “For some people the term ‘democratic socialist’ means nothing,” he said in a phone conversation. “I explain it as a belief that the state needs to provide whatever is necessary for a dignified life: housing, health care, education.”
López, whose district is the poorest in the country, told me that she talks to constituents about “bread-and-butter issues.” Having spent part of her own childhood in the city’s shelter system, she encourages them to question why they are struggling to meet basic needs. “We ask people, ‘Do you think this is right that you’re going through this? Do you think it’s your fault that you’re going through this?’” Often, López said, they will realize that “it’s actually not my fault, because I work two to three jobs to survive, and every day I come home tired.”
In March, the pandemic forced all five campaigns to transition from block-by-block canvassing to campaigning online. With the shift in strategy came a shift in focus to the immediate needs the crisis had created. “We begin all of our calls to voters by asking if they need groceries or medicine,” Mamdani said. Like López, he prompts his constituents to consider why the state is “abdicating its responsibility to provide [them] with a dignified life.”
Under the shadow of the Trump administration’s disastrous handling of the coronavirus pandemic, Governor Cuomo has garnered attention and praise for his leadership of his state during the crisis. The self-styled progressive’s popularity has spiked in recent months thanks to his sober and informative daily press briefings. But his initial handling of the crisis, insistence on slashing Medicaid in the midst of it, and refusal to cancel rent have angered many. For those on the left, these moves reinforce the urgency of maintaining and expanding the fragile inroads leftists made in Albany in 2018.
Mayor Bill de Blasio—once a great progressive hope—has come under fire for perceived fecklessness in his management of the crisis. Some believe his delayed decision to close public schools led to the preventable deaths of dozens of NYC Department of Education employees. New York’s management of the crisis has been unfavorably compared to that of California and Washington, where state and city officials coordinated their efforts effectively and scientists rather than politicians took the lead,
Since at least 2015 the two have generated stories about their increasingly acrimonious “public pissing match”—a serious liability in the best of times, let alone in a pandemic. Their wrangling delayed New York City’s shutdown, arguably leading to a higher death toll; now, they can’t even agree on how many have died.
Brisport said both men deserved “failing” grades for their handling of the crisis. Mitaynes said it has been “disheartening” to see different levels of government unable to work together effectively. While critical of both, Mamdani pointed out that de Blasio gets “worse press” because Cuomo is “more adept at media.” However, he added, “Cuomo gets an F.… If you’re busy trying to survive and you’re not paying much attention, what you see is a competent executive…given the facts, you would begin to question more deeply why we have had such a horrific outbreak and high death toll.” The crisis, he added, has been thoroughly mismanaged at the executive level, “from Trump to Cuomo to de Blasio.”
“I never heard of these candidates before, but there’s facts and there’s bumper stickers and you can’t run a government on bumper stickers,” Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi responded to these criticisms in an e-mail. “You also shouldn’t be running for office on a platform of misinformation and purity tests. We tell people the facts, good and bad, they made their own judgments and, last I saw, more than 80 percent of New Yorkers approved of our handling of this crisis. Maybe I shouldn’t give campaign advice, but no one is going to fall for this garbage.” As for the Medicaid cuts, Azzopardi added, “The numbers need to add up. We had a $6 billion hole and the moment we solved that a $14 billion one opened up because of Covid-19.… This is a pandemic and Washington needs to do its job and provide states and localities with relief.”
The mayor, for his part, has “dedicated his entire career to fighting for working people, and has had a clear record of success: universal pre-K, historic low crime rate and enforcement, and the most aggressive affordable housing program in the city’s history,” his press secretary Freddi Goldstein said in an e-mail. “New Yorkers care about results, not punditry and we remain laser focused on making the city fairer.” She added that de Blasio “has led from the front, calling for a shelter in place, the use of face coverings in public and keeping schools closed. His leadership has helped us flatten the curve and his focus remains on helping the nearly 9 million New Yorkers he is responsible for.”
Given the failures of New York leadership, the candidates’ strategy of asking what people need—and delivering—has proven both necessary and effective. Asked what drew him to Mamdani’s campaign, Omar Abouhamama, a 16-year-old volunteer from Astoria, described helping the campaign pack groceries and prepare meals to deliver to neighbors in need. “I like politics,” he said, “but I like helping people, also.” Of Mamdani, he said admiringly, “I don’t [usually] see politicians in the street helping people out themselves.”
While Mamdani and his fellow candidates hold Sanders in high esteem, they have also learned from his mistakes and are carving out a new approach based on their own lives and experiences. As Brisport told The Intercept in 2017, “I love Bernie. I would vote for him 10 times,” but Sanders’s “blinder” was “seeing so much from an economic lens, when you do need a mixture of an economic approach and an approach toward marginalized groups.”
Forrest made a similar point. “What [Sanders] did right was really speak to the issues that the working people most cared about,” she said, citing employment and health care that was “free” and “not tied to your job.” These are “some policies that had we had a president like that right now, we would be in a lot better shape to deal with Covid-19.”
That said, she added, “If you are still having people of color, women, still question if your new system has them in mind, then you really need to go back and build your coalition a little tighter. The platform was great, but the coalition still needed to be worked on.”
Forrest sees the need to expand Sanders’s coalition as an argument for her candidacy. “That’s why we need people like me on the local level to say, ‘Bernie Sanders was not crazy—he was saying something that we need and we need to be all on the same page’…. Until we have all these assemblymen, state senators saying the same thing, all these housing groups saying the same thing, it will be hard to get a Bernie Sanders in office.”
Bringing forth Sanders’s vision, Mamdani said, means “not only fighting for a political revolution but making sure the electorate is fundamentally transformed,” adding that his campaign has knocked on the doors of voters about which “a consultant would say, ‘Don’t waste your time, they haven’t voted since 2010.’”
López told MTV News in March that she encourages even those who can’t vote because of their citizenship status to get involved. This called to mind a story Ocasio-Cortez told me in a 2018 interview about meeting an older Bengali couple while canvassing. “We spent a long time sitting down with them,” she said, “and probably only one of them was a registered, eligible Democrat.”
In addition to bringing in new constituencies and expanding their coalition, these candidates want to bring permanent change to Congress—and Albany. Mamdani said there are two types of politicians: ideological hard-liners and those who change with the wind. “Our job is to elect more people in the first category,” he said, offering DSA’s slate as an example, and, for the rest, “change the direction of the wind.”
“There’s a lot of folks that are hurting and need assistance,” Mitaynes said. “The grassroots power that we’re trying to build is to go beyond this one campaign, this one election, this one candidate, and to be able to cultivate that power and have the people be able to decide their futures.”


thenation--2020-05-20--How Stanford Lost Its Soul

How Stanford Lost Its Soul

Stanford University enjoys an international reputation for excellence and an endowment of more than $ 27 billion , making it the third-wealthiest private school in America .
The endowment lags behind only Harvard and Yale .
In some ways , Stanford ’ s wealth is all more impressive since , unlike its venerable Ivy League rivals , the school itself is the very source of its own fortune .
The campus is surrounded by Big Tech firms that were more or less created by its former students .
Start at the center of Stanford and head north to go to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ east to run into Google .
The close proximity is no accident : Silicon Valley is the child of Stanford .
Big Tech , out of filial gratitude , is always happy to lavishly fund its alma mater .
But during the current pandemic , Stanford is making a mark for something less admirable than birthing the tech revolution .
Stanford has become the main academic vector for contrarian Covid-19 thinking , helping give legitimacy to arguments that the world is overreacting to the virus .
In March , Richard Epstein , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Stanford-affiliated think tank , published an influential article arguing that America could expect only around 500 deaths from the pandemic .
He later revised that number to 5,000 .
Still later , he said he meant 50,000 .
Even that number , of course , is far short of the more than 93,000 Americans who have already died of Covid-19—a figure that itself is almost certainly an undercount .
It ’ s easy enough to dismiss Epstein as a buffoon .
He ’ s a law professor , not an epidemiologist , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Would You Buy a Used Progressive Agenda From This Man ?
Racism Is All Trump Has Left Much more serious was the April 17 study released by a team headed by Dr. John Ioannidis , a professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine .
Unlike the interloper Epstein , Ioannidis is one of the world ’ s leading experts on epidemics .
The study reported findings based on tests done in Santa Clara County showing that the virus was much more prevalent than previously suspected , which also means the overall @ @ @ @ @ @ @ assumed .
The Santa Clara study , as it came to be called , was quickly picked up by the right-wing media , eager for ammunition for the argument that the lockdown had to be ended quickly .
“ Most of the population has minimal risk , in the range of dying while you ’ re driving from home to work and back , ” Ioannidis told Fox News .
The Santa Clara study was a preprint , meaning it had not been peer reviewed but was being shared so it could be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the scientific community was harsh .
As a column in The New York Times by Aleszu Bajak and Jeff Howe noted , “ What followed next was the academic version of a roast , with critics raising issues with the researchers ’ recruitment method ( Facebook ads ) , flaws in their statistical methods , and even the tests themselves—manufactured in China , and since banned from export.
” Last Thursday , Stephanie M. Lee of BuzzFeed reported that the Santa Clara study had been “ funded in part by David Neeleman , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ proponent of the idea that the pandemic isn ’ t deadly enough to justify continued lockdowns.
” The airline industry , of course , has been badly hit by the pandemic , so Neeleman has a vested interest in any research that makes the case that the lockdown is an overreaction .
Drawing on a whistle-blower ’ s evidence , Lee documented just how closely Neeleman had been involved in shaping the Santa Clara study .
Beyond helping to fund the research , Neeleman tried to facilitate the study by pressuring Dr. Taia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Ioannidis ’ s team wanted Wang to give her stamp of approval to the test they were using .
Wang was reluctant , writing that the experiments she conducted on the test left her “ alarmed.
” Neeleman wrote to Wang emphasizing the urgency of quick approval for the tests .
“ If you are willing to do a 5,000 test in New York , just tell me the cost and I will raise the money immediately , ” Neeleman wrote .
“ Time is of the essence.
” Wang resisted Neeleman @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , “ In her email to the group of faculty , Wang was clear : She did not want her name on the paper and did not trust the test.
” The Santa Clara study is likely to be remembered as a major black mark against Stanford .
But the tainting of research by big money is not a new story .
Stanford has long had this problem .
As Ken Auletta noted in The New Yorker in 2012 : John L. Hennessy , the president of Stanford from 2000 to 2016 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ billion-dollar deals in the Valley with a handshake.
” Hennessy sat on the boards of Google and Cisco Systems while running Stanford .
He was keen on encouraging Stanford students to start tech companies , with some of the profits flowing back to the school , and facilitated an environment where the university merged with the corporate giants that surround it .
As Auletta observes , “ The attitude on campus [ is ] that business is a partner to be embraced , not kept at arm ’ s length.
” Some Stanford @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s easy fusion with big business .
“ The entire Bay Area is enamored with these notions of innovation , creativity , entrepreneurship , mega-success , ” Stanford historian David Kennedy told The New Yorker .
“ It ’ s in the air we breathe out here .
It ’ s an atmosphere that can be toxic to the mission of the university as a place of refuge , contemplation , and investigation for its own sake.
” While enjoying the lucre of high-tech plutocracy , Stanford has become prone to petty @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the administration pushed to end funding for the university ’ s press in 2019 .
“ Stanford ’ s commitment to the humanities has , at least in recent decades , been a matter of debate , ” argues Grant Barnes , a former director of the Stanford University Press .
More bluntly , the humanities are second-class disciplines at Stanford .
The history program there saw a 40.1 percent decline in enrollment in the last decade .
By contrast , Princeton in roughly the same period saw a 5.6 percent increase in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contrarianism is only one symptom of a larger sickness at Stanford .
The university is richer than it has ever been , but the school has lost its soul .

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Stanford University enjoys an international reputation for excellence and an endowment of more than $27 billion, making it the third-wealthiest private school in America. The endowment lags behind only Harvard and Yale. In some ways, Stanford’s wealth is all more impressive since, unlike its venerable Ivy League rivals, the school itself is the very source of its own fortune. The campus is surrounded by Big Tech firms that were more or less created by its former students. Start at the center of Stanford and head north to go to Facebook, south to hit Apple, east to run into Google. The close proximity is no accident: Silicon Valley is the child of Stanford. Big Tech, out of filial gratitude, is always happy to lavishly fund its alma mater.
But during the current pandemic, Stanford is making a mark for something less admirable than birthing the tech revolution. Stanford has become the main academic vector for contrarian Covid-19 thinking, helping give legitimacy to arguments that the world is overreacting to the virus.
In March, Richard Epstein, a fellow at the Hoover Institution, a Stanford-affiliated think tank, published an influential article arguing that America could expect only around 500 deaths from the pandemic. He later revised that number to 5,000. Still later, he said he meant 50,000. Even that number, of course, is far short of the more than 93,000 Americans who have already died of Covid-19—a figure that itself is almost certainly an undercount.
It’s easy enough to dismiss Epstein as a buffoon. He’s a law professor, not an epidemiologist, and is known for his extremist libertarian views. More From Jeet Heer The Indigenous Roots of Robbie Robertson’s Rock and Roll Revolution August 14, 2023 Why Does This Racist Keep Getting Silicon Valley Money? August 11, 2023 When Phallocrats Go Limp August 4, 2023
Much more serious was the April 17 study released by a team headed by Dr. John Ioannidis, a professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Unlike the interloper Epstein, Ioannidis is one of the world’s leading experts on epidemics. The study reported findings based on tests done in Santa Clara County showing that the virus was much more prevalent than previously suspected, which also means the overall mortality rate is much lower than commonly assumed.
The Santa Clara study, as it came to be called, was quickly picked up by the right-wing media, eager for ammunition for the argument that the lockdown had to be ended quickly. “Most of the population has minimal risk, in the range of dying while you’re driving from home to work and back,” Ioannidis told Fox News.
The Santa Clara study was a preprint, meaning it had not been peer reviewed but was being shared so it could be examined by colleagues. The response of the scientific community was harsh. As a column in The New York Times by Aleszu Bajak and Jeff Howe noted, “What followed next was the academic version of a roast, with critics raising issues with the researchers’ recruitment method (Facebook ads), flaws in their statistical methods, and even the tests themselves—manufactured in China, and since banned from export.” Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann Current Issue View our current issue
Last Thursday, Stephanie M. Lee of BuzzFeed reported that the Santa Clara study had been “funded in part by David Neeleman, the JetBlue Airways founder and a vocal proponent of the idea that the pandemic isn’t deadly enough to justify continued lockdowns.” The airline industry, of course, has been badly hit by the pandemic, so Neeleman has a vested interest in any research that makes the case that the lockdown is an overreaction.
Drawing on a whistle-blower’s evidence, Lee documented just how closely Neeleman had been involved in shaping the Santa Clara study. Beyond helping to fund the research, Neeleman tried to facilitate the study by pressuring Dr. Taia Wang, a Stanford infectious disease expert. Ioannidis’s team wanted Wang to give her stamp of approval to the test they were using. Wang was reluctant, writing that the experiments she conducted on the test left her “alarmed.”
Neeleman wrote to Wang emphasizing the urgency of quick approval for the tests. “If you are willing to do a 5,000 test in New York, just tell me the cost and I will raise the money immediately,” Neeleman wrote. “Time is of the essence.” Wang resisted Neeleman’s wheedling. As BuzzFeed reports, “In her email to the group of faculty, Wang was clear: She did not want her name on the paper and did not trust the test.”
The Santa Clara study is likely to be remembered as a major black mark against Stanford. But the tainting of research by big money is not a new story. Stanford has long had this problem. As Ken Auletta noted in The New Yorker in 2012:
At Stanford more than elsewhere, the university and business forge a borderless community in which making money is considered virtuous and where participants profess a sometimes inflated belief that their work is changing the world for the better. Faculty members commonly invest in start-ups launched by their students or colleagues. There are probably more faculty millionaires at Stanford than at any other university in the world.
John L. Hennessy, the president of Stanford from 2000 to 2016, boasted, “I’ve cut billion-dollar deals in the Valley with a handshake.” Hennessy sat on the boards of Google and Cisco Systems while running Stanford. He was keen on encouraging Stanford students to start tech companies, with some of the profits flowing back to the school, and facilitated an environment where the university merged with the corporate giants that surround it. As Auletta observes, “The attitude on campus [is] that business is a partner to be embraced, not kept at arm’s length.”
Some Stanford scholars have been troubled by the school’s easy fusion with big business. “The entire Bay Area is enamored with these notions of innovation, creativity, entrepreneurship, mega-success,” Stanford historian David Kennedy told The New Yorker. “It’s in the air we breathe out here. It’s an atmosphere that can be toxic to the mission of the university as a place of refuge, contemplation, and investigation for its own sake.”
While enjoying the lucre of high-tech plutocracy, Stanford has become prone to petty acts of anti-intellectual spite, as when the administration pushed to end funding for the university’s press in 2019. “Stanford’s commitment to the humanities has, at least in recent decades, been a matter of debate,” argues Grant Barnes, a former director of the Stanford University Press. More bluntly, the humanities are second-class disciplines at Stanford. The history program there saw a 40.1 percent decline in enrollment in the last decade. By contrast, Princeton in roughly the same period saw a 5.6 percent increase in history majors.
The flourishing of Covid-19 contrarianism is only one symptom of a larger sickness at Stanford. The university is richer than it has ever been, but the school has lost its soul.