Letter from California Professors to Governor Schwarzenegger

October 15, 2008

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814

Dear Governor Schwarzenegger:

We are deeply disturbed by your veto of funding for the University of California Miguel Contreras Labor Program. This veto removes funds for programs that fulfill critical needs for working families and businesses across California. Moreover, it threatens academic freedom by singling out, without any academic review, one program within UC for elimination.

The Miguel Contreras Labor Program, which includes the Institutes for Research on Labor and Employment and Centers for Labor Research and Education at UC Berkeley and UCLA as well as the UC-wide Labor and Employment Research Fund, deserves state support on its own merits. It has generated high quality research on labor and employment on all of the UC campuses. This research is widely used by those in labor, business, and public policy who work to create and improve jobs in California, as well as scholars the world over. The Contreras Program also runs educational programs in UC and in the labor and business communities. Financial support for graduate students has helped to train new generations of labor and employment professionals and scholars, magnifying the statewide impact. As you well know, working families are struggling and the workplace is being transformed by dramatic, sometimes worrisome trends from offshoring to technological change. The work of the Contreras Program is thus more needed than ever.

We understand the need to balance the budget in difficult times and that UC should expect to make sacrifices along with other state programs. However, out of the $3 billion UC budget, the only item you vetoed was the $5.4 million Contreras Program. Given the tiny amount of savings, it is hard to understand this action as other than politically motivated. We see this as unwarranted political interference in the academic activities of the University of California. It violates the basic principle of the freedom to speak out and conduct research even on controversial topics; this freedom is a cornerstone of the vital, world-class university California needs.

We strongly urge you to restore funds to the University of California Miguel Contreras Labor Program this year, and support its funding in the future.

Sincerely,

(signatures listed by UC campus first, then other institutions in alphabetical order)

UC Berkeley

Norma Alarcon, Women's Studies

Sylvia A. Allegretto, Institute for Research on Labor & Employment

Robert Allen, African American and Ethnic Studies

Mirella Almaraz, Center for the Study of Child Care Employment, Institute for Research on

Labor and Employment

Robin Baker, Labor Occupational Health Program, Public Health

Ann Banfield, English

Dalm Bellm, Center for the Study of Child Care Employment, Institute for Research on Labor and Employment

Peter Berck, Agricultural and Resource Economics and Policy

Ruth Berins Collier, Political Science

Maria Blanco, Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute for Race, Diversity and Ethnicity

Arthur Blaustein, College of Environmental Design

Irene Bloemraad, Sociology

Joan R. Bloom, Public Health

Clair Brown, Economics

Wendy Brown, Political Science

Michael Burawoy, Sociology

Judith Butler, Rhetoric and Comparative Literature

Karen Chapple, City and Regional Planning

Helen Chen, Labor Occupational Health Program

Kurt M Cuffey, Geography

Elizabeth Deakin, College of Environmental Design

Harvey Dong, Ethnic Studies

William H. Dow, Public Health

Maria Echaveste, Law

Elaine El-Askari, Public Health

Peter Evans, Sociology

Neil Fligstein, Sociology

Louise Fortmann, Natural Resource Sociology

Thomas Gold, Sociology

Paul Groth, Geography

Jacob Hacker, Political Science

Ian Haney Lopez, Law

Gillian Hart, Geography

Heather A. Haveman, Sociology, Business

Mark Healey, History

Charles Henry, African American Studies

John Hurst, Education

Malo Andre Hutson, City & Regional Planning

Terry Huwe, Director of Library and Information Resources , Institute for Research on Labor and Employment

Ken Jacobs, UC Berkeley Labor Center

G. Mathias Kondolf, Environmental Planning

Cynthia Kroll, Real Estate and Urban Economics

George Lakoff, Linguistics

Jean Lave, Social & Cultural Studies in Education

Nancy K.D. Lemon, Law

Gillian Lester, Law

David Levine, Business Administration

Jim Lincoln, Business

John Logan, Director of Research, UC Berkeley Labor Center

Waldo E. Martin Jr., History

Kathy McAfee, Geography & Sustainable Development

Rebecca McKee, California Public Employee Relations, Institute for Research on Labor and Employment

Wilson Michael P., Public Health

Rachel Morello-Frosch, Environmental Science, Policy and Management, Public Health

Calvin Morrill, Jurisprudence and Social Policy

Carlos Muñoz, Jr., Ethnic Studies

Kevin O'Brien, Asian Studies, Political Science

Michael Omi, Ethnic Studies

Dara O'Rourke, Environmental Science

Nancy Peluso, Environmental Science, Policy and Management

Jeffrey M. Perloff, Agricultural & Resource Economics

Trond Petersen, Sociology

Jo-Ellen Pozner, Business

John Radke, Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, City and Regional Planning

Ray Raka, India, South Asia and Asian Studies, Sociology

Isha Ray, Energy & Resources Group

Michael Reich, Director, Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Professor, Economics

Jeff Romm, Agricultural and Resource Economics

Stephen A. Rosenbaum, Law

Laura Sakai, Center for the Study of Child Care Employment, Institute for Research on Labor and Employment

Alex M. Saragoza, Ethnic Studies

Nathan Sayre, Geography

Richard M. Scheffler, Public Health

Susan Schweik, English

James Selbin, Law

Elizabeth Semel, Law

Harley Shaiken, for Latin American Studies

Andrew Shanken, Architecture

Sandra Susan Smith, Sociology

Barry Staw, Business

George Strauss, Business

Esther Suarez, Center for the Study of Child Care Employment Institute for Research on Labor and Employment

Juliann Sum, Institute for Research on Labor and Employment

Paul Thomas, Political Science

Katherine Thomson, California Public Employee Relations, Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE)

Barrie Thorne, Sociology and Gender and Women's Studies

Lloyd Ulman, Economics

Kim Voss, Sociology

Richard A. Walker, Geography

Michael Watts, Geography

Margaret Weir, Sociology and Political Science

Marcy Whitebook, Study of Child Care Employment, Institute for Research on Labor and Employment

Harold L. Wilensky, Political Science

Sau-ling C. Wong, Ethnic Studies

Keiko Yamanaka, Ethnic Studies, Asian Studies

Hsing You-tien, Geography

J. Nicholas Ziegler, Political Science

UC Davis

Tom Beamish, Sociology

Beth Bechky, Management

Chris Benner, Human and Community Development

Fred Block, Sociology

Cynthia Brantley, History

David Brody, History

David Campbell, Human and Community Development

Gregory Clark, Economics

Cameron A. Colin, Economics

Natalia Deeb-Sossa, Sociology

Brenda Deen Schildgen, Comparative Literature

Jesse Drew, Technocultural Studies

Bob Faris, Sociology

Ryan E. Galt, Human and Community Development & Agricultural Sustainability Institute

Laura Grindstaff, Sociology

Drew Halfmann, Sociology

John R. Hall, Sociology

Bruce D. Haynes, Sociology

Greta Hsu, Management

Bob Huckfeldt, Political Science

Carole Joffe, Sociology

Suad Joseph, Anthropology

Caren Kaplan, Women & Gender Studies

Lyn H. Lofland, Sociology

Kari Lokke, Comparative Literature

Bill Mc Carthy, Sociology

Stephen A. McCurdy, Public Health

Michael McQuarrie, Sociology

Siobhan O’Mahony, Management

Marianne Page, Economics

Michael Rios, Environmental Design

Kevin Roddy, Medieval and Early Modern Studies

Seth L. Schein, Comparative Literature

Marc Schenker, Medicine

Kimberlee Shauman, Sociology

Vicki Smith, Chair, Labor and Employment Research Fund, Professor and Chair, Sociology

Eddy U, Sociology

Karen Ann Watson-Gegeo, Anthropology, Education

Miriam Wells, Anthropology, Department of Human and Community Development

Stephen Wheeler, Landscape Architecture

UC Irvine

Edwin Amenta, Sociology

Nina Bandelj, Sociology

Victoria Beard, Planning, Policy and Design

Victor Becerra, Planning, Policy & Design, School of Social Ecology

Helen Chenut, History

Raul Fernandez, Social Sciences

Gilbert Gonzalez, Chicano Latino Studies

Matthew Huffman, Sociology

David Neumark, Economics

Francesca Polletta, Sociology

Vicki Ruiz, History and Chicano/Latino Studies

Rubén G. Rumbaut, Sociology

David A. Smith, Sociology

Judy Stepan-Norris, Sociology

Heidi Tinsman, History

Stephen C. Topik, History

Rodolfo D. Torres, Political Economy, Social Policy, and Urban Studies

UCLA

Emily Abel, Public Health

Richard Abel, Law

Joyce Appleby, History

César J. Ayala, Sociology

Peter Baldwin, History

Ritz Beate, Epidemiology

A.E. Benjamin, Public Affairs

Gary Blasi, Law

Ruth Bloch, History

Evelyn Blumenberg, Urban Planning

Robert Brenner, History

Karen Brodkin, Anthropology

E. Richard Brown, Public Health

Moshe Buchinsky, Economics

John Caldwell, Film, Television, and Digital Media

James Catterall, Education

Stephen Commins, Public Affairs/Urban Planning

Mary F. Corey, History

Randall Crane, School of Public Affairs

Chris Erickson, Management

Leo F. Estrada, Urban Planning

Susan Ettner, General Internal Medicine

Joel Fadem, Management

C. Cindy Fan, Geography, Asian American Studies

Seymour Feshbach, Psychology

Aisha Finch, Women's Studies & Afro-American Studies

Miriam Golden, Political Science

Carol Goldstein, Urban Planning

Miki Goral, College Library

Kenneth Graham, Law

Gilda Haas, Urban Planning

Gerry Hale, Geography

Sondra Hale, Anthropology

Joel F. Handler, Law and Public Policy

Cheryl Harris, Law

Yeheskel Hasenfeld, Public Affairs

Charles C. Healy, Education

Susanna Hecht, Urban Planning

Toby Higbie, History

William Hinds, Public Health

Raul A. Hinojosa, Political Economy

Grace Hong, Asian American Studies, Women’s Studies

John Horton, Sociology

Darnell Hunt, Sociology

Sanford Jacoby, Management

Marie Kennedy, Urban Planning

Katherine C. King, Comparative Literature and Classics

Archie Kleingartner, Management

Gerald F. Kominski, Public Health

Jacqueline Leavitt, Urban Planning

Ching Kwan Lee, Sociology

Robin Liggett, Urban Planning and Architecture/Urban Design

Ivan Light, Sociology

Christine A. Littleton, Law & Women's Studies

Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, Urban Planning

Reynaldo Macias, Professor of Chicana/Chicano Studies, Education, and Linguistics, and Acting Dean, Division of Social Sciences

Ann Markusen, Urban Planning

Valerie Matsumoto, History

Michael Meranze, History

Ruth Milkman, Sociology

Daniel J.B. Mitchell, Management

Vinit Mukhija, Urban Planning

Don T. Nakanishi, Asian American Studies

Victor Narro, Center for Labor Research and Education

Gary Nash, History

Jeannie Oakes, Education, ACCORD

Frances Olsen, Law

Paul Ong, Public Affairs, Urban Planning

Gary Orfield, Education, Law, Political, Science and Urban Planning

Karen Orren, Political Science

Carole Pateman, Political Science

Jan Reiff, History, Statistics

Neil Richman, Director of the Center for Neighborhood

Gaspar Rivera-Salgado, UCLA Labor Center

Dylan H. Roby, Public Health

Mike Rose, Education and Information Studies

Robert Rosen, Dean: School of Theater, Film and Television

Jack Rothman, Public Affairs/Social Welfare

William Roy, Sociology

Bob Samuels, Writing Programs

Leonard Schneiderman, Public Affairs

Allen J. Scott, Public Affairs, Public Policy & Geography

Melvin Seeman, Sociology

Janna Shadduck-Hernandez, Center for Labor Research and Education

Ladan Shams, Psychology

Que Hee Shane, Public Health

Barbara Sinclair, Political Science

Edward Soja, Public Affairs, Urban Planning

Daniel G. Solorzano, Social Science & Comparative Education

Michael Stoll, Public Affairs

Katherine Stone, Law

Michael Storper, Urban Planning

Lois M. Takahashi, Urban Planning

Brian D. Taylor, Public Affairs, Urban Planning

Chris Tilly, Director, Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Professor, Urban Planning

Sharon Traweek, History

Abel Valenzuela Jr., Chicano Studies and Urban Planning

Paul Von Blum, African American Studies and Communication Studies

Roger Waldinger, Sociology

Steven P. Wallace, Public Health

Rui Wang, Public Affairs, Urban Planning

Michelle Wilhelm, Public Health

Goetz Wolf, Urban Planning

Victor Wolfenstein, Political Science

Kent Wong, Center for Labor Research and Education

Irving Zabin, Medicine

Noah Zatz, Law

Maurice Zeitlin, Sociology

Min Zhou, Sociology & Asian American Studies

Lynne G. Zucker, Sociology & Public Policy

(Name withheld by request), College of Letters and Science

UC Merced

Robin DeLugan, Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts

Ruth Mostern, Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts

Todd C. Neumann, Social Sciences, Humanities & Arts

Nella Van Dyke, Sociology

Simón E. Weffer, Sociology

Alex Whalley, Social Sciences, Humanities & Arts

Katie Winder, Economics

UC Riverside

Edna Bonacich, Sociology and Ethnic Studies

James Brennan, History

Susan Carter, Economics

Piya Chatterjee, Women's Studies

Adriana Craciun, English

Carole Fabricant, English Department

Dave Fairris, Economics

Alessandro Fornazzari, Hispanic Studies

Stephanie Hammer, Comparative Literature and Creative Writing

Matthew Mahutga, Sociology

Molly McGarry, History

John Medearis, Political Science

Toby Miller, Media & Cultural Studies

Tanya Nieri, Sociology

Karen Pyke, Sociology

Ellen Reese, Sociology

Jonathan Ritter, Music

Todd Sorensen, Economics

Erika Suderburg, Dance, Media and Cultural Studies

David A. Swanson, Sociology

Marguerite Waller, Women's Studies and Comparative Literature

Jane Ward, Women's Studies

Devra Weber, History

UC San Diego

John D. Blanco, Literature

Amy Bridges, Political Science

Ellen Comisso, Political Science

Steven Epstein, Sociology

Steve Erie, Political Science

Ivan Evans, Sociology

Gary Fields, Communication

David Fitzgerald, Sociology

Ross Frank, Ethnic Studies

Peter Gourevitch, Political Science and School of International Affairs

Jeff Haydu, Sociology

Ruben Hernandez-Leon, Sociology

Robert Horwitz, Communication

Stephanie Jed, Literature

Rebecca E. Klatch, Sociology

Misha Kokotovic, Literature

Richard Kronick, Health Care Sciences

April Linton, Sociology

Richard Madsen, Sociology

Jorge Mariscal, Literature

Isaac Martin, Sociology

Luis Martin-Cabrera, Literature

Hugh (Bud) Mehan, Sociology

Michael Monteon, History

Roddey Reid, European Studies

Don Wayne, Literature

UC San Francisco

Daniel Dohan, Health Policy

Charlene Harrington, Sociology and Nursing

Robert Harrison, Occupational and Environmental Medicine

Galen Joseph, Anthropology, History & Social Medicine, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center

Karen MacLeod, Keck Center Surgery, Physiology

Howard Pinderhughes, Social and Behavioral Sciences Department

David Rempel, Bioengineering

Diane Rittenhouse, Family and Community Medicine

Elizabeth Smith, Social & Behavioral Sciences

Ed Yelin, Medicine and Health Policy

UC Santa Barbara

Adebisi Agboola, Mathematics

Richard P. Appelbaum, Sociology and Global & International Studies

Randy Bergstrom, History

Eileen Boris, Feminist Studies

Maria Charles, Sociology

Patricia Cohen, History

Adrienne Edgar, History

Sharon Farmer, History

Mary Furner, History

Nancy Gallagher, History

Avery Gordon, Sociology

Lisa Hajjar, Law and Society Program

Lisa Jacobson, History

Laura Kalman, History

Carl Lansing, History

Nelson N. Lichtenstein, History

John Majewski, History

Hani Mansour, Economics

Harold Marcuse, History

Cecilia Mendez, History

Ken Moure, History

Alice O'Connor, History

Michael A. Osborne, History and Environmental Studies

Ann Plane, History

Luke S. Roberts, Japanese history

Leila Rupp, Feminist Studies

J. Sears McGee, History

Paul Spickard, History

Verta Taylor, Sociology

Zaragosa Vargas, History

M. Stephen Weatherford, Political Science

Howard Winant, Center for New Racial Studies, Sociology

UC Santa Cruz

Christopher C. Barkan, History of Consciousness Department

John Borrego, Latin American and Latino Studies

David Brundage, Community Studies, History

Sean Burns, Community Studies Department

Bernard Elbaum, Economics

Robert Fairlie, Economics, Engineering

Jonathan Fox, Latin American and Latino Studies

Susan Gillman, Literature

Walter L. Goldfrank, Sociology and Latin American & Latino Studies

Susanne Jonas, Latin American & Latino Studies

David Kaun, Economics

Lori Kletzer, Economics

Ronnie D. Lipschutz, Politics

Steve McKay, Sociology

Kysa Nygreen, Education

Craig Reinarman, Sociology

Jonathan Robinson, Economics

Helen Shapiro, Sociology

Berkeley City College

Charles Wollenberg, Social Sciences

California Polytechnic State University

George Cotkin, History

CSU Dominguez Hills

Vivian Price, Interdisciplinary Studies and Labor Studies

CSU East Bay

Kim Geron, Political Science

CSU Fresno

Matthew A. Jendian, Sociology

CSU Long Beach

Berger Gluck Sherma, History

CSU Los Angeles

Enrique C. Ochoa, History, Director of Latin American Studies

CSU Sacramento

R. Jeffrey Lustig, Government Deptartment

CSU San Bernardino

Rosalind Bresnahan, Collective of Coordinating Editors, Latin American Perspectives

Wendy Smith, English

Joe Sutliff Sanders, English

CSU San Francisco

David Novogrodsky, Labor Studies

CSU Sonoma

David Walls, Sociology

California Western School of Law

Edward A. Dauer, Law

Ruben J. Garcia, Law

Jan Stiglitz, Law

Roberta Thyfault, Legal Writing

Chaffey College

Fred Samia, Visual, Performing and Communication Arts

City College of San Francisco

Jeff Goldthorpe, English

Hastings College of the Law

Joseph R. Grodin, Law

Occidental College

Peter Dreier, Urban & Environmental Policy

Martha M. Matsuoka, Urban & Environmental Policy

Pomona College

Susan McWilliams, Politics

Sheila Pinkel, Art and History

San Francisco State University

Ramon Castellblanch, Health Education

Roma Guy, Health Education

Peter Richardson, Department of Humanities

San Jose State University

Terry Christensen, Political Science

Stanford University

Kenneth J. Arrow, Economics

Paula England, Sociology

William B. Gould, Law

Tomás Jimenez, Sociology

Doug McAdam, Sociology

Thomas Jefferson School of Law

Susan Bisom-Rapp, Law

University of Southern California

Jody Agius, Sociology

Sharon Hays, Sociology

Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo, Sociology

Elaine Kaplan, Sociology

Manuel Pastor, Geography and American Studies & Ethnicity

Laura Pulido, American Studies & Ethnicity

Leland Saito, Sociology and American Studies & Ethnicity USC