You would think they would learn. If you work for a public/government institution any thing you do, say or write down related to your position is public record and subject to FOIA, unless it is protected by attorney client privelge. What is so hard to understand about this? It doesn’t matter if you use a private email (think Hillary), your personal cell phone, or the B1G platform, it is subject to FOIA. It doesn’t matter if a meeting takes place at someone’s home or in a bar. It is subject to FOIA.
It looks like our B1G presidents do not have an understanding of this. According to the Washington Post today, “The Big Ten portal, which uses Nasdaq Boardvantage’s software, allows users to communicate with one another, share meeting materials and view documents — but the school presidents value it at least in part because they see it as exempt from open-records laws. This portal seemingly served as a primary form of communication for conference leaders, including university presidents and athletic directors, when they were vacillating over whether to stage a football season, amid varying pressures ranging from players’ parents to the Oval Office. Thus the deliberations that led to the initial decision to postpone the season until the spring and the subsequent about-face that led to a cancellation-plagued campaign that began in late October remain shrouded from public view. Open-records requests to several schools for the documents and communications housed on that platform were denied.The apparent attempt to avoid public scrutiny alarmed public records experts, who voiced concern over the possibility that the leaders of 13 of the nation’s richest public institutions (Northwestern is the only private school in the conference) are taking steps to avoid scrutiny from the taxpayers who fund their universities.” In my 40 years of working for two public universities I never had an issue with the FOIA laws. It is not that difficult of a concept to understand.
Then there is this from the NY Times today regarding Governor Cuomo and his senior aides. “Top aides to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo were alarmed: A report written by state health officials had just landed, and it included a count of how many nursing home residents in New York had died in the pandemic. The number — more than 9,000 by that point in June — was not public, and the governor’s most senior aides wanted to keep it that way. They rewrote the report to take it out, according to interviews and documents reviewed by The New York Times. The extraordinary intervention, which came just as Mr. Cuomo was starting to write a book on his pandemic achievements, was the earliest act yet known in what critics have called a monthslong effort by the governor and his aides to obscure the full scope of nursing home deaths.” Again, what were they thinking?
If you have never been to Petoskey in the winter, it is incredibly gorgeous, especially on a day like today when there was not a cloud in the sky and the ice formations on the bay were forever changing with the wind. Without leaves on the trees I can see from my condo the golf course which takes on a whole new and beautiful look in the winter when it is snow covered.
In reading the press coverage of the MSU/UM basketball game last night, I found out I was not the only one who thought it was a poorly officiated game. Every article I read about the game had some comment about how the game was officiated. MSU coach Tom Izzo said it best. “Michigan played well….it was a strange game, a lot of weird calls.”
Stay safe. Wear your mask correctly. Social distance. Wash your hands regularly. Schedule your vaccine.
Quote of the Day: “It was rigged! MSU won that game easily!!! The scorekeepers at Crisler Arena kept counting MSU baskets as Michigan baskets!! Yeah! That’s what it was!!! MSU needs to file lawsuits 1st thing in the morning!!! Geore Mihaiu, my best friend and former MSU quarterback on Facebook after the game yesterday.
Orchid of the Day: The nine seniors on Michigan’s mens basketball team for helping the Wolverines win the B!G regular season championship. They have created a culture that will hopefully carry M to many more championships.
Onion of the Day: B1G presidents. See explanation above.