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I have not.Either Mr. Short is not active here or chooses not to respond here. Has anyone broached this subject with him on social media? (I’m not on social media.)
I have not.
Since he actively sought support here, I think it's appropriate that he respond here. I'm sure the BOT monitors know about this thread.
Maybe- but it will have to be someone else. I don't do any of that stuff.I fully agree that he should respond here. Social media is a possible next step.
I fully agree that he should respond here. Social media is a possible next step.
Either Mr. Short is not active here or chooses not to respond here. Has anyone broached this subject with him on social media? (I’m not on social media.)
He’s on Instagram all the time. Drop a comment on one of his pics.
he sure managed to when he was looking for our votesHe lives overseas. He couldn't even access this board.
He lives overseas. He couldn't even access this board.
How about the son of the former head football coach? What has he done in his time on the BOT? Passed the onion dip like the rest of the alumni trustees?
Personally, I couldn't care less if some Trustee ever posted through this forum or not - - - - IF they did indeed use ANY other reasonable forum to engage in some meaningful dialogue with the people they are supposed to represent (and, the people who they ASK for votes from.... every three years ).
If anyone is interested in whether or not such dialogue occurs - let me save you the trouble of looking for it.
It doesn't.
It is - truly - quite stunning.
FWIW: If there was an issue raised wrt whether or not he - specifically - had been in attendance at BOT meetings, I coulda’ answered that.
He has been, to the best of my OTTOMH recollection.
There have been 4 meetings since the last group was elected. I believe he has been on site for each of those Board meetings.
Guys, he doesn’t care. He filled up his resume with a “leadership” position, mission accomplished. If you’re thinking it’s beyond that, I have some swamp land to sell you. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become more jaded. Not to steer this in any way, but do you really think for a second that any politician really cares about their constituents? I’d say 99.99% of the people who run for any type of elected office do so because of ego or some other motive.
I admit it’s a terrible outlook, but these people disappoint you at every turn every time. I don’t believe in them for a nanosecond. Still waiting for any one of them to prove me wrong.
He touted his international experience being a benefit for his "change agent" role in the BoT. He hasn't done jack squat. He's Adam T lite to this pointGuys, he doesn’t care. He filled up his resume with a “leadership” position, mission accomplished. If you’re thinking it’s beyond that, I have some swamp land to sell you. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become more jaded. Not to steer this in any way, but do you really think for a second that any politician really cares about their constituents? I’d say 99.99% of the people who run for any type of elected office do so because of ego or some other motive.
I admit it’s a terrible outlook, but these people disappoint you at every turn every time. I don’t believe in them for a nanosecond. Still waiting for any one of them to prove me wrong.
Lol. You’re awesome. Keep on keeping onHe touted his international experience being a benefit for his "change agent" role in the BoT. He hasn't done jack squat. He's Adam T lite to this point
Right. What does that have to do with following through on campaign promises?Brandon Short never had the ability to facilitate any change on the BoT or how the university is run nor does he have any power to investigate anything from the 90's or change the power dynamic of the BoT. These are powerful, successfull, and well connected people we are talking about that are in the inner circle of the BoT. They'll change if and when THEY want to change.
I unfortunately am unable to attached the screenshot of the error I was getting so if someone knows how to do that please let me know
Most of the work we do is confidential and we’re unable to address our work in a public forum.
These are challenging and complex jobs which we can’t discuss in detail.
Brandon: You really need to consider having someone (someone who is smart and reasonably informed concerning PSU) proof read your posts here.
Your two statements above go well past inadequate. They insult the intelligence of PSU alums and make a mockery of some of the promises/assurances you made when you were seeking votes in the last Board of Trustees election. Surely, you can do better than "The work we do is confidential and complex" and "We can't discuss it in any detail.". You would have been better off saying nothing at all.
How to stop tuition from increasing? Cut costs, just like every other industry has been asked to do the last 20 years. And stop holding tuition hostage with state appropriations
$200?
Closer to $1,000 (no hyperbole)
Well..... just two OTTOMH:
$500,000 per unit for the Abington Dorms (OTTOMH, not sure what the square footage is, but 2 dorm-sized bedrooms and a small living space couldn't be much over 500 sq ft, if that..... which would be $1,000 per sq ft)
And
The RENOVATIONS to East Halls are coming in at $200,000 per unit..... and each of them (the same old one room/two students dorm rooms).
How big are those rooms? 100 sq ft? Maybe 150 tops?
If you even assume that is only 1/2 of the total space - that is close to $1,000 per sq ft for RENOVATIONS.
It is insanity at a level that I can't even begin to make people aware of.
Alas.
Apologies for my late response to this thread. I am not sure if many of you are aware but last May data privacy laws changed in Europe due to this several US websites that do not comply with these regulations are blocked here. Due to this I have not been on BWI as i kept getting the attached message. My wife this morning signed me up for a VPN service which I can use to access the website. I apologize again but I'm not an expert on these tech things and couldn't figure out a solution on my own and didn't want to ask my wife for help but finally broke down to do so.
Most of the work we do is confidential and we’re unable to address our work in a public forum. For example, I serve on two Board Committees 1) Finance and 2) Audit & Risk Management. On the Finance Committee we work on PSU strategy, how & why we spend, and most importantly how to keep tuition from increasing. On Audit & Risk we monitor every aspect of PSU operations and address ways to mitigate our risk. These are challenging and complex jobs which we can’t discuss in detail. That said, as an elected representative I have a responsibility to keep our Alumni informed (to the best of my ability) and to seek feedback on how best to address the issues we can discuss publicly. Going forward I will do a better job!
I have had several direct conversations with concerned Alumni. And I encourage you to email me, BSHORT4PSU@gmail or message me your phone number and I will give you a call so we can discuss your concerns. You can also follow me on twitter @BrandonShort43, instagram @bshort43psu and on Facebook.
Also, I saw it mentioned that I hadn't been attending meetings. Since I have been elected I have attended EVERY meeting in person and also have dialed into every call as now that is how subcommittees meet. I will be back in the US next week, first to attend a Clay Pigeon Shoot to raise money for Penn State York (so if you live near there please join us) and then to the Board Meetings on Thursday and Friday.
Ok, so as a contractor how do I get this gig?Actually.... the East Halls dorms are listed at 180 sq ft.....
So that would come out to $1,100+ per sq foot...
FOR JUST THE RENOVATIONS!
If you assume that only 1/2 of the space is Dorm Rooms (which would be an awfully low number)…… that still comes out to $550 per square foot.
Again, just for RENOVATIONS!
And, here they are after the $200,000 per room renovations:
The size of the rooms is, of course, unchanged.
Do you think the folks who authorized the spend of hundreds of millions of dollars on these renovations even know what they spent your money on?
I doubt it.
In fact, I KNOW that most of them do not.
Brandon, thank you for responding.Apologies for my late response to this thread. I am not sure if many of you are aware but last May data privacy laws changed in Europe due to this several US websites that do not comply with these regulations are blocked here. Due to this I have not been on BWI as i kept getting the attached message. My wife this morning signed me up for a VPN service which I can use to access the website. I apologize again but I'm not an expert on these tech things and couldn't figure out a solution on my own and didn't want to ask my wife for help but finally broke down to do so.
Most of the work we do is confidential and we’re unable to address our work in a public forum. For example, I serve on two Board Committees 1) Finance and 2) Audit & Risk Management. On the Finance Committee we work on PSU strategy, how & why we spend, and most importantly how to keep tuition from increasing. On Audit & Risk we monitor every aspect of PSU operations and address ways to mitigate our risk. These are challenging and complex jobs which we can’t discuss in detail. That said, as an elected representative I have a responsibility to keep our Alumni informed (to the best of my ability) and to seek feedback on how best to address the issues we can discuss publicly. Going forward I will do a better job!
I have had several direct conversations with concerned Alumni. And I encourage you to email me, BSHORT4PSU@gmail or message me your phone number and I will give you a call so we can discuss your concerns. You can also follow me on twitter @BrandonShort43, instagram @bshort43psu and on Facebook.
Also, I saw it mentioned that I hadn't been attending meetings. Since I have been elected I have attended EVERY meeting in person and also have dialed into every call as now that is how subcommittees meet. I will be back in the US next week, first to attend a Clay Pigeon Shoot to raise money for Penn State York (so if you live near there please join us) and then to the Board Meetings on Thursday and Friday.
Just curious because I know that you would be the person to ask, what would the average person get if they they filed a RTK request on "privileged info"?You ever been to a BOT meeting?
If you have, you would:
A) Know the answers to a lot of your questions
And
B) Realize that some of what you assume simply isn’t true.
38 trustees - I laughedThis most certainly does not apply solely to BShort - in fact, it applies to all 38 members of the Board - but:
The old:
"Most of the work we do is confidential and we’re unable to address our work in a public forum."
Is pure BS. End of story.
It is incredibly disingenuous - - - and absolutely infuriating - - - to see that nonsense again, and again, and again.
I will be making a BLOG public within the next couple days that addresses that crapola…. and I will link it in here later.
How long will the folks on the Board continue to spoon-fed that BS?
IDK, but probably as long as folks are willing to eat it up. And I don't know what the shelf life of that is.
Thank you. I guess this is also how billions got diverted from a gas tax supposed to be used for one thing got used for another. No one was watching for 6 years.Nothing
1) There are only a select few legally “confidential” items undertaken..... and those items (things like legal settlements that are covered under confidentiality agreements, and some specific personnel related issues) are not “discoverable” under RTK anyway
2) There is just about nothing done.
If you read the Blog I posted recently, you would have seen that the last public Board meeting lasted 40 seconds (literally). It took longer for the roll call than it did to hold the meeting (literally, no hyperbole).
There are five of them per year.
If you went to the committee meetings - something almost no one does, it is usually me, maybe a reporter or two (but often not) and a handful of PSU staffers hanging around - what you would see is a handful of Trustee committee members sitting around a table, doing nothing. Usually trying to stay awake through a presentation put on by some PSU staffer or some Student Group rep, or some such thing.
If you listened in to the teleconferences, you would “see” the same thing - - - except with your ears instead of your eyes.
The idea that there is some huge cache of impactful “work” being done - but that you are just not privy to it - is utter nonsense.
(Even though most of your representatives on the Board May want you to believe that is the case )