by Ed Berry
This is an outline of my response to the prescribed questions to candidates that I delivered to the FVCC Board of Trustees Candidate Forum on April 18, 2011.
Introduction
The primary responsibility of a trustee is to insure college resources are best dedicated to fulfilling the college mission.
Our college provides three functions:
- 2-year scholastic program to prepare students to transfer to a 4-year university,
- technical program to prepare students for good jobs within 2 years, and
- classes and programs desired by the community.
If you want to fly, you choose an experienced pilot. If you want to play the piano, master self defense, math or physics, you choose a qualified mentor to guide you.
If you want to improve education in Flathead County, you will elect me because I am the only candidate who can lead you successfully and efficiently into the future.
1. What experience qualifies you to be a trustee of FVCC?
At least one trustee must have a PhD degree in the hard sciences with a strong math and software background. Otherwise, the trustees will have no ability to set policy for critical math and science education.
I have
- Graduated from top universities and been taught by the best teachers.
- Taught undergraduate and graduate physics.
- Performed advanced research with national funding.
- Managed large university research projects.
- Managed National Science Foundation projects.
- Been a consultant to the Department of Defense top secret research and operations projects.
- Been part of growing Nevada’s Desert Research Institute from 2 people to 100s of people.
- Started my own high-tech businesses.
- Guided talented one employee (
aan Orthodox Jewish lady) to get her own PhD and permanent employment.
2. If you are elected to FVCCs Board of Trustees, what would be your priorities for the Board and the College?
- To insure college resources are dedicated to best fulfill the college mission.
- To provide the trustees insight into what it takes to prepare students for advanced degrees in math, science and engineering.
- To help local high schools better prepare students for academic excellence.
- To encourage stronger focus on math and languages in preparatory schools.
- To help improve the technical program to prepare students for good jobs within 2 years.
- To encourage a strong focus on the philosophy of science.
- To encourage presentation of all sides of controversial issues.
- To encourage teachers to teach students how to think rather than what to think, and to learn how to learn.
- To encourage participation in politics.
3. What are your thoughts regarding the value of local funding combined with state funding and federal funding?
- A college should seek all available sources of funding consistent with its mission and goals, and not accept funding that is inconsistent with its mission and goals.
- A college should seek funding that helps build its base of operations and talent to enhance its future funding.
- We need more funding to support quality research programs and to build facilities to improve instruction and research.
- I will help as far as a trustee can, to open new avenues of funding and focus and help faculty get funding for their research proposals.
4. What are the duties of a trustee?
A trustee must
- Be faithful to the college mission and by-laws.
- Insure college resources are dedicated to best fulfill the college mission.
- Insure the college does not engage in any unauthorized activities.
- Establish college policies and select a president.
- Not seek to benefit personally from any business derived from the college without fully disclosing this to the board.
- Avoid conflicts of interest and the appearance of conflicts of interest.
5. What is the importance of embracing a diverse range of ideas at an institution of higher learning such as FVCC?
- The word embrace is incorrect. A college should present a diverse range of ideas but should not embrace such ideas.
- College is a place for students to learn how to think for themselves and not be told what to think.
- Students must never be required to adopt any belief in order to pass, graduate, or be accepted by a peer group.
- Students should not be subjected to social pressure to accept or pledge allegiance to any ideas.
- Students should not be subjected to special interest lobbying groups or college promoted opinions.
- Students must be allowed to debate with faculty on any subject without any affecting their grades.
- Faculty should encourage professional discussion and debate of all controversial subjects
- Faculty should encourage students to subject all ideas to the scientific method.
- In summary, I encourage more diversity than is now present at our college.
6. Conclusion
- I have the experience and expertise you need.
- I support the priorities you want.
- I support a wide range of funding.
- I understand the duties of a trustee and have the qualifications and experience to be an excellent trustee.
- I encourage more diversity than you now have.
- If you truly want diversity, I am your diversity!
If you want to improve education in Flathead County, you must elect me because I am the only candidate who can lead you successfully and efficiently into the future.
See fvcctrustees.com.
In his “I AM your diversity” statement, Dr. Berry certainly made the point that his PhD wasn’t in English when he wrote the grammatically challenged:
9.Guided talented employees (a Orthodox Jewish lady) to get their own PhD’s and permanent employment.
Students of the English language will instantly recognize that he should have written “an Orthodox…” and “their own PhDs,” not “a Orthodox…” and “their own PhD’s…” Truly amazing.
How can someone demonstrating such a basic lack of fourth grade-level literacy claim that they are qualified to be the trustee of any institution of higher learning? It is a ludicrous presumption.
@1 Mark, Thank you for properly noting my typographical error. Indeed the “an” is the correct formulation as we both well know. I recall I had first written “a Jewish lady” and then afterward inserted “Orthodox” because this designation was particularly important to her. When I made this insertion, I neglected to change the “a” to an “an.”
I appreciate your keeping me on my toes and your willingness to engage in debate and discussion. As much as we may disagree in our fundamental political beliefs, I compliment you on your interest and ability to engage in open discussion.
While I disagree with the validity of your extrapolation of my typographical error into the area of my knowledge of English, I do not object to you taking your best shot. I encourage and certainly allow people to present controversial opinions on all my websites.
To keep controversy productive, however, I draw the line at not allowing personal, ad hominem attacks, otherwise known as mudslinging. So far, you have not done this and I am sure you will tell me if you think I have done so.
I look forward to being on the Board of Trustees with you. In fact, I would rather be on the board with you than with any of the other present trustees. The FVCC Board of Trustees will better accomplish its mission by having trustees, like you and me, who are almost political polar opposites yet who can debate our differences than by having all trustees the same.
Having the two of us on the Board will be far better for FVCC than by having mushy “go along to get along” trustees who are incapable of having intelligent disagreement. On this point, Tom Harding and Shannon Lund must be replaced because they have taken my campaign attacks so personally that they cannot talk to me. Frankly and truly, neither Harding nor Lund have the qualities necessary to be trustees. To be fair, I compliment John Phelps on his ability be friendly and personable in spite of my campaign attacks against his record.
It would be a breath of fresh air for Flathead County voters to have both of us on the Board, and for both of us to publish articles on this website expressing our opinions about FVCC issues. This would allow the citizens of Flathead County to comment on our opinions and express their own views.
If you agree with me on this point then you will promote my candidacy for Trustee.
Ed
This is typical of almost every on-line public discussion, also known as blogging. This is Dr. Ed Berry’s website, so I hope not to abuse my privileges to join this discussion.
Read any public on-line discussion, i.e., msnbc.com or youtube.com, and it always seems when someone’s feelings get hurt after reading a typed out message, the first thing that happens is a retaliation based on the accuracy of someone’s spelling or grammar rather than the content of the message. Anyone who has used texting technology or on-line blogging long enough knows how rapid people want to send messages without first proof-reading before tapping the send button.
Mr. Holston, I have to say you have fallen prey to the same lousy response tactics used by children on YouTube! Why don’t you respond to the content and enlighten us with your ideas rather than grade us on our spelling and grammar?
Mr. Twin Lakes, it is interesting that you hide behind a fake name, but, in this nutty world of sites such as this, that’s customary. I, however, am always upfront about my identity. There’s no reason to hide one’s identity if the information you are presenting is factual and you are not just trying to smear someone.
The reason for my post: A centerpiece of Berry’s “campaign” has been to trumpet his vast academic achievements and his wide assortment of advanced degrees, stating that every current trustee is somehow not qualified to serve and should just resign and step aside to make room for his intellectual superiority. He raise the issue of academic qualifications (of which there are none required) and his alleged intellectual superiority. He put it out front. Then he writes something that was not even spell-checked and filled with common grammatical mistakes that would make an average sixth grader cringe. He made his intellectual competence an issue, not me or anyone else. Many would be quick to give him due credit for his marvelous résumé. But his site is full of misleading and outright false information, which further raises the issue of his ability to discern fact from the fiction which he has created and which his cronies have simply parroted. Further, he is a scientist and understands that to prove something, every detail has to be accurate. If a scientist wrote a paper with such mistakes, it could undermine the hypothesis. Accuracy in all things, from science to written statements, is basic to the integrity of what’s being presented.
It is also my understanding — and I stand to be corrected if wrong — that he initially filed to run in the wrong district. I find that amazing, in that there are only two districts in the entire county. He claims to be a world class researcher, yet when it came to obtaining the most elementary and easy-to-obtain information about where he lives in relation to a particular school district, he failed the test. I find that to have been an astounding lapse for someone who touts their research abilities.
So, I stand by my criticism. Berry, not I, put his intellectual superiority front and center.
@4 Good morning, Mark. You will find my explanation about my filing under the menu “Your Ballot.” In short, had the FVCC trustees advertised the openings for trustee nominations as required by Montana law, then such advertisements would have contained an explanation of the trustee districts.
Further, the FVCC trustees improperly set the trustee application closing date as March 24 at noon when the legal closing date should have been April 4 at 5 pm, as finally revised by President Karas after she learned I had discovered relevant parts of Montana Code Annotated.
So you and your fellow trustees score zero on legally and properly advertising, and score zero on date setting. You really need my help.
When FVCC finally allowed me to pick up my trustee nomination application, I asked the administrative staff what district I should file in. FVCC question: Where do I vote? My answer: in Somers. FVCC response: then I should file in the Kalispell district.
When I turned in my application, the FVCC staff did not question my district. That error was found by our election department using their GIS.
So, Mark, it seems all the misinformation on the subject of my district came from the college. You really need me on the Board to help you and the other trustees read the law and act accordingly.