More letters in support of Bosley

Letters to the Editor - Asbury Park Press, March 9, 2006

OCC leaders authoritarian

Shame on the Ocean County College Board of Trustees and President Jon Larson. ("Group: Reinstate professor; Report cites power struggle at OCC," Feb. 25.)

I urge all OCC alumni to reconsider making financial and in-kind contributions to the college in light of the recent removal of Karen Bosley as Viking News adviser. I was the sports editor of the Viking News from 1994-95, and Bosley acted as a mentor and a guiding light. She has always held the Viking News and its staff to the highest journalism standards and has been cultivating investigative reporters for decades. It is obvious this woman of integrity was dismissed for encouraging her students to pursue the truth.

The position of the trustees and Larson is that there are "too many errors" in the Viking News, and the Apple system is antiquated and not in step with professional newsletters. What a baseless pretext, and what a case of heavy-handedness on the part of these insecure, authoritarian and ignorant administrators. You have taken away her position, but your shameless act will not so easily erase her legacy.

BRIAN GREENAN
Baltimore, MD

NOTE: Mr. Greenan and I worked on the Viking News together in the mid-1990s and had lost touch soon after our time at OCC. In recent days, I have Googled him and realized he has gone on to have a very significant life, being involved in community revitalization projects while working in Mexico and later serving in West Africa as a volunteer with the Peace Corps. He is now an assistant director for a community-improvement organization in Baltimore.

Letters to the Editor - Times-Beacon Newspapers, March 9, 2006

Firings unfair

I am greatly troubled over the unexplained and arrogant removal of Ocean County College Prof. Karen Bosley as advisor for the student newspaper Viking News, and unfair firings, including that of two highly qualified and well-liked professors.

It speaks volumes of math professor Patrick Mitchell's qualifications, credentials and performance that he was promoted to assistant professor even before he was considered for tenure.

These poorly advised moves are obviously a knee-jerk reaction to their (ousted professors) support of free speech on the OCC campus.

It should be noted that all those individuals waived their privacy rights, requesting a deliberation at the OCC Board meeting Dec. 12, 2005. I understand the board attorney promised deliberations. However, there were none.

Observers at the meeting noted that the board members voted first and then stared into space as agitated professors and students spoke up in protest. It was a meeting that would be perfectly at home in a Lewis Carroll novel, but has no place in an institution that is supposed to be dedicated to helping to nurture the minds of tomorrow's business and political leaders, teachers, writers, professionals, etc.

What kind of a board, whether in the business or the nonprofit/educational sector, only listens to one side?

Back in the day, I worked on the Viking News, and had the privilege and pleasure of working under the direction and tutelage of Karen Bosley.

As an invaluable mentor and an excellent teacher, Bosley was a very helpful influence on my career. Now, not only is she facing retaliation for her uncompromising standards,including her excellent work on The Viking News, a publication that has won accolades from prestigious journalism organizations under her impeccable leadership, but so are the new professors mentioned above.

While the professors facing these unfair sanctions from the board are all willing to answer questions, the same cannot be said for OCC President Dr. Jon Larson, who has remained silent on campus, only to turn tail and take off on vacation.

What is he hiding from?

And the board members? Why aren't they questioning Dr. Larson?

Given these illegal and unethical retaliatory actions against well-qualified faculty, and the board's obvious reluctance to investigate Dr. Larson's insidious actions, I call for a thorough and impartial investigation by an outside and independent body, if necessary, the N.J. Attorney General.

SUSAN M. WALD
Southhampton, N.Y.