Dartblog

Good for the D for running an editorial asking why the implementation of the AMP alcohol rules, much worked on by Dean Crady and students, and the replacement of Blitzmail by GMail have been put on hold. Some speculation:

Dean Crady told me himself that he was in favor of loosening up the enforcement of the drinking laws immediately, but he was having trouble getting his subordinates in the Office of the Dean of the College to go along with his changes.

As for Blitz, there are parts of the administration that are already using Microsoft’s Life@edu (hmmm… why did they get to switch from ol’ Blitz first?) and, heaven forfend, a change to GMail would involve additional effort for them. (Rumor has it that they also listen to their music on Zunes.)

So despite much committee work to get things moving in two stuck-in-the-mud areas, the internal dramas of administrative life continue to play out. It seems to this writer that the adminstration’s Olde Guard is once again trying to protect its own turf and prevent positive change for students.

How to break the impasse? Well, does anyone know anything about l-e-a-d-e-r-s-h-i-p around here? Let’s stop just talking about it. I’d like to see some local examples.

Addendum: In the real world, if a committee’s conclusions are rejected, and a new committee is constituted to study the same question, the members of the new committee should understand that someone somewhere did not like the conclusions of their predecessors. Let’s see if the new folks have the courage to come to the right conclusion, or if they follow the political signals that they have been sent.