Asbury Park Press: OCC trustees face hostile questioning

Well, it appears that Ocean County College just wants to piss off everybody now...or at least all of those who haven't been hired as administrators yet.

OCC trustees face hostile questioning
Planetarium closing, charges in student newspaper debated

Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 04/27/06

BY JOSEPH PICARD
TOMS RIVER BUREAU
DOVER — A story in the student newspaper and the closing of the college planetarium dominated the public input of the monthly meeting of the Ocean County College Board of Trustees on Wednesday.

Board members and school administrators defended budgetary decisions, and denied charges of retaliation against opponents.

The student-operated Viking News, which has been crossing swords with the administration of OCC President Jon H. Larson since at least the start of the academic year, ran a front page article April 6 claiming that of the 10 New Jersey community colleges for which they could acquire data, OCC had the highest number of administrators per 1,000 students — 2.4 — and that increases in administrative salaries since 2000 have far outpaced faculty raises...

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News 12 NJ: Ocean County College professor to fight dismissal as newspaper advisor

If you are a subscriber to a cable company that carries News 12 New Jersey, you should be able to view this story on the channel's Web site. If not, you will have to pay something like $5 a month to subscribe to the site.

However, if you open Windows Media Player and choose File->Open URL..., and then copy and paste http://ondemand1.cv.net/news12/BNADVIST.asx into the box that appears, you may be able to view the News 12 report without being logged into the site. It might not work, but give it a shot.

Bosley's plight featured in Sunday's New York Times

The New Jersey section of Sunday's New York Times (April 9 issue) included an article written by Bill Finley titled "No News is Bad News for Adviser." The story chronicles the conflict between Prof. Karen Bosley and Ocean County College Pres. Jon H. Larson.

Unfortunately, the story has not been posted to the New York Times' Web site so I can't link to it. Until I can find an available online source, I'll include some of the article here:

...Over the years, the staff of the newspaper, The Viking News -- which is published 12 times a year -- has included some aggressive reporters who have kept close tabs on the college's administrators. But Ms. Bosley, 63, says she never told her students what to report, nor did she advise them to write uncomplimentary articles about Dr. Larson. On the other hand, she said, she never discouraged them from taking on difficult subjects.

''Being Viking News adviser has been my favorite part of the job," said Ms. Bosley, who was paid $4,856 this year as the newspaper's adviser. ''It has given me great satisfaction to help young people to use their First Amendment-protected rights to develop and practice good journalism by producing a quality collegiate newspaper.''

Here's another excerpt:

This is not the first time Dr. Larson has been involved in a dispute while serving as a community college president. When at Luzerne, he was sued by the associate dean of human resources, Susan Merkel, who accused him of demoting her because she refused to lie on his behalf at the termination hearings of teachers and employees he wanted removed.

Ms. Merkel, who eventually reached an-out-of-court settlement with the college, also claimed that Dr. Larson had instructed her to place false and derogatory material in the files of some employees. ''Jon Larson is a bully,'' she said. ''He intimidates people, and he doesn't make any secret of it. He would mention a person's name and say he wanted that person to retire. I'd say I didn't think that person was ready to retire. His response was, 'I'll meet with them for five minutes, and when I'm done with them they will be ready to retire.'''

In 2000, the faculty at Luzerne passed a vote of no-confidence. About a month later, Luzerne officials announced that Dr. Larson would be leaving after he and the college had failed to agree on a new contract.

Asbury Park Press: CMA reiterates support for Bosley

The comments made by Tara Kelly appearing in this article from today's Asbury Park Press are very disturbing.

Newspaper group urges college to reinstate Bosley
Censure could be a possibility

Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 04/1/06

BY JOSEPH PICARD
TOMS RIVER BUREAU
DOVER TOWNSHIP — A national support group for college newspaper advisers is calling for the reinstatement of Karen Bosley, the ousted adviser of the Viking News, Ocean County College's student publication.

"We'd like to see both sides work out their differences and the college reinstate Bosley to her former position," said Kathy Lawrence, director of student media at the University of Texas at Austin and chairwoman of the advocacy program for College Media Advisers.

"That's not going to happen," said Tara Kelly, OCC vice president for college advancement. She added that, because of the school's budget crisis — triggered by a $1.2 million cut in state aid — the administration is not going to assign any newspaper adviser.

Bosley herself said Friday she was pleased that the report supported her position, but she did not expect the administration to give any ground.

"They're going in the opposite direction," she said...

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