President Botman's Blog

Contemporary Middle Eastern rulers have intentionally kept their populations separated by ethnic and gender differences, religious schisms, tribal affiliations, geographic allegiances, and class divisions. Attachment to the nation state has been weak, especially because in many cases states are of relatively recent origin and borders were drawn by foreign diplomats. While Egypt, Iran and Saudi Arabia stand out as exceptions, think of Iraq, Jordan, Bahrain, the Arab Emirates.

Today, Libyans are speaking, and all over the world people are marveling at their bravery and their conviction. They resist the government’s brutal firepower, certain that they, too, deserve the rights that their neighbors throughout the Middle East are demanding.

No ruler has responded with the unabashed vengeance of Muammar Gaddafi. This ruthless mad man, who surrounds himself with a personal militia, family and tribal members, and female (!) bodyguards is capable of profound cruelty. He has directed his troops and his paid foreign mercenaries to carry out unspeakable brutality against his own people.

Where is NATO? Where is the international community? People are calling.

Why should Americans care about the events taking place in Bahrain?

Bahrain is a strategic American ally in the Middle East. The country is headquarters to the US Fifth Fleet. Bahrain collaborates with us in the war on terror, and is sympathetic to the America’s campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan. From its shores, Bahrain also allows America to keep its eye on Iran. Of considerable consequence, Bahrain also helps us keep the supply of oil flowing. As countries in the Middle East descend into chaos, the price of oil simultaneously rises.

For these reasons, the United States depends on a quiescent Bahrain. And yet, the majority of Bahrain’s population is anything but calm. Seventy per cent of the population is Shiite, and having suffered decades of discrimination at the hands of the ruling Sunni elite, are now calling for a new constitution and civil and political rights. They see what happened in Egypt and Tunisia. They, too, want substantial change, and believe it would show the way to a national reconciliation. So far, however, compromise is absent and the protests continue without solution.

Will the revolts lead to civil strife, violence, or attacks on peaceful protesters? Or, will the ruling family share power and wealth in the interests of a national accord? Time will tell.

Regrettably, Muammar Gaddafi is not the first Arab leader to turn against his own people.

In 1982, in retaliation against an assassination attempt against him, Saddam Hussein ordered the seizure of many of the men in Dujail, Iraq. These men disappeared and were never heard from again. Others detainees, including women and children, were tortured or exiled to a southern desert camp. As though that were not enough, Saddam obliterated the town, razing the houses and destroying people’s orchards and livelihoods. A half dozen years later, in 1988 and 1989, Saddam engineered the infamous Anfal campaign against the people of Halabja in northern Iraq. This time, Saddam’s purpose was to decimate the Kurdish population, and he used chemical weapons to accomplish his despicable goal.

Saddam’s neighbor, Hafiz al Asad in Syria, was no different. Asad engineered the Hama massacre in 1982 to suppress a revolt by the Muslim Brotherhood. Tens of thousands of people died, and an important part of this historic city was destroyed.

Like those in other Middle Eastern dictatorships, Gaddafi will also go down in the annals of history for his comparable brutality. Not only did Gaddafi order the 1988 Lockerbie bombing killing hundreds of innocent civilians, but he is intentionally trying to kill and maim his own nationals who are calling for his downfall after forty-two years in charge.

Gaddafi is losing control of the country, especially the parts outside the capital city of Tripoli. Ambassadors and political allies are deserting him. Parts of the military and religious establishment are turning against him. The people have clearly had enough. While the country’s future is uncertain, the challenges loom large. There are no stable institutions, political parties, or civic organizations that can mobilize to form a new government. Gaddafi played one group off another and terrorized people into submission.

We continue to watch events unfold and await new information from those in the streets.

Now that the world has had a few days to absorb the consequences of these early days of the Egyptian revolution, something very striking is perceptible. The wave of protests that swept Egypt over the last few weeks was a classic demonstration of the power of civil disobedience to shift the course of history. Instead of resorting to violence and terrorism, the Egyptian people rose in very public, incredibly brave protest, putting their faces and their names on the literal firing line, exposing themselves as individuals to the terrors possible under a police state.

Just as remarkable, these protests were spearheaded by no Nelson Mandela or Martin Luther King, although these leaders in the fight for freedom and justice would surely have been deeply impressed by the dignity with which the protesters carried themselves and their cause. Those at the forefront of this revolution were just middle-class, educated young people, fueled by the thoroughly professional Al Jazeera, the Internet, and the moral courage of people from all walks of life who joined the protests and demonstrations.

In the short term, the military can end emergency rule, amend the constitution, and lead a transitional government that includes members of the opposition to Mubarak and his cronies. In the long term, Egypt’s armed forces could either stay in power as a military government, in the name of national unity, or hand over power to a civilian government and begin a self-reformation into a true defender of the nation’s best interests.

Knowing what I do about the nature of the Egyptian people and their aspirations to freedom and respect for civil rights, I expect it to be the latter. Egyptians are not yet finished with their revolution. In fact, it has just begun.

Attention may well shift to events in Yemen, Iran, Jordan, or Algeria, but the Egyptian example will remain in the minds of people across the Middle East and North Africa. Egypt, that ancient land whose civilization has contributed so very much to world history and culture, has given the world another gift, this time one of democracy and the willingness of common people to rise together and assert their claim to freedom and its rewards.

Developments in Egypt have turned both distressing and unfortunate. On Wednesday afternoon (February 2), international news accounts have begun reporting that the government has directed its supporters to turn a peaceful week‑long demonstration of popular will into a chaotic and brutish melee. The pictures from the streets of Cairo are appalling. Why is the Egyptian government spoiling for a fight with the protesters in Cairo? Doesn’t President Mubarak hear the voices of the people and recognize that provoking violence and death will only reinforce their determination to promote change?

First, the governing regime sought to bully the protesters with the presence of intimidating police and security forces. The numbers of protesters mushroomed. Next, the government tried to silence the activists by interrupting their access to social networks like Facebook, You Tube, and Twitter. Not surprisingly, the unintended consequence of shutting down the networks and cutting off internet access across the nation was that the financial and commercial sectors were also closed down. When neither of these measures produced the anticipated results, the government turned to belligerence, encouraging thugs armed with rocks, whips, and Molotov cocktails to challenge nonviolent dissenters who continued to call for Mubarak’s departure. What had been a remarkably buoyant, disciplined mass event turned into an ugly street battle.

Let’s keep our attention on Cairo and hope that the forces of aggression and violence do not prevail.

I lived in Egypt for about a year and half in the 1970s and 1980s. Conducting research on political movements in the country, I met scores of people from every walk of life – from political activists to trade union leaders, from journalists to academics, from young people to their elders. I can personally attest to the decency of the Egyptian people. The vast majority simply wants to be given a chance to contribute positively to their society.

Before the last few days, the Egyptian population had experienced its version of the Rip Van Winkle syndrome. After decades of governmentally enforced “sleep,” this ancient land has awoken in the 21st century. Led by formerly disenfranchised, discouraged, and disheartened youth, nearly the entire Egyptian population has said, “Enough.” Enough authoritarianism, governmental corruption, economic hardship, deterioration of the educational and health systems, and hopelessness. Egyptians are crying out for the return of their dignity and the resurrection of their human rights. And they have asked the world to take note through You Tube, al-Jazeera, and other outlets that allow spectators to watch real-time events.

Anyone who has paid attention to Egyptian society over the last few decades has been aware of the indignities its people have suffered. Political liberty is absent. The police arrest and imprison people willy-nilly. The lower and middle classes suffer from what we would consider an intolerable daily life while income disparities have grown increasingly severe over the last decades. While the unemployment rate is officially just under 10% for the entire population, it exceeds 25% for youth – and is especially high among college graduates.

Entrenched elites, in both the civilian and military sectors, have enjoyed special treatment and have been indifferent to the absence of democracy. Not so for the masses. Once the protestors in Tunisia demonstrated the power of the people, the Egyptian young freed themselves from the mindset of fear. They took to the streets and peacefully called for regime change. Assisted by social networking – easily accessible in Egypt – these courageous young people, who were later joined by a cross section of the population, attained their voice.

Egypt will probably never be the same again. That’s my hope, anyway.

Food is important in so many ways, right? It’s our sustenance. It’s our delight. It’s even an economic driver—especially in Portland, Maine, which is one of America’s new foodie havens. It’s also the chosen arena of my daughter, Megan, who is enrolled in a master’s program in nutrition. Since Megan is developing an encyclopedic knowledge of food preparation and consumption, I decided that I, too, should learn something about how food is professionally cooked.

Like others in my family, I opted for Bill Buford’s Heat: An Amateur’s Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany. Indeed, this book turned out to be an excellent introduction to a cook’s education and career. A journalist by training, Buford—who quit his job as a writer—became a volunteer “intern” at Babbo, a premier New York City restaurant owned by the celebrity chef Mario Batali. Or as they say in the trade, he became a “slave” to the master of the kitchen. Heat is funny, wise, even erudite in parts, and a terrific read. Buford knows how to tell a story and to describe in scrumptious detail novice professional experiences, travels to gain more instruction, and finally expert practices.

This book not only taught me a lot, but it was also culturally enriching. I realized, for the first time, that for chefs and would-be chefs, food preparation is a calling, almost akin to a religious experience. Buford described the cooks at Babbo, crammed into small, hot, hierarchically-organized spaces where they learn—through instruction, observation, imitation, and intimidation—the practices of this modern guild. The pressure of the kitchen is as intense as the temperature, the schedule fast-paced, the interdependence of one worker to another both highly elaborate and complex.

But since chefs only reach the summit of their profession by immersing themselves in the cultures that originally produced the food, one after another of the chefs and interns (including Buford) at Babbo make their way to Italy. This is fitting since Babbo serves Italian food, and Batali, the master, the superstar, the big personality, paid his dues in Italy honing his craft.

If you want to discover how an expensive, upscale, New York City gourmet restaurant owner and staff buy, prepare, and cook the food they serve with love, read Heat. It’s a delicious read.

Recently, I visited Oak Hill High School in Wales, Maine. It is one of more than 15 such visits I’ve made to high schools across the state to talk with students about the importance of a university education and, of course, the opportunities available to them at USM. On the way back to campus, I stopped by the GE plant in Auburn, a visit that reinforced the value of experiential learning opportunities that complement academic coursework. The Auburn plant is hosting six of our technology and engineering students who are competing in what’s known as the GE Lean Manufacturing Challenge. The USM team is one of seven in the nation invited to compete. Students, under the guidance of GE engineer Barry Fuller, have worked throughout the semester to develop more efficient and effective (“lean”) manufacturing techniques that can be applied to the production of a GE electrical component. The students presented their project to national GE executives. Later this month, the winning team will be announced.

This is the second such competition our students have been engaged in this semester. Three of Professor Jeanne Munger’s marketing students are competing in the Honda CR-Z Media Challenge. Their proposal was one of only 10 in the nation chosen to develop and implement a social-media marketing plan for Honda’s new hybrid sports car. With only a Flip Video camcorder, a $150 budget, and a new CR-Z at their disposal for the six-week competition, this high-energy team traveled throughout New England visiting festivals, spoke at a USM Corporate Partners Breakfast, and organized a campus food drive, all the while keeping their Facebook and YouTube fans updated about their activities. These USM students have made connections in Portland’s business community that will serve them well upon graduation. They learn on December 8 if they proceed to the next level of the competition.

As Election Day nears, all of us should consider voting in order to exercise our right to shape the course of government and its policies. It has been a tumultuous campaign season, but now is the time to decide on which candidates are best suited to address the challenges of our state and nation, to voice our opinions about bond and local issues. Tomorrow is election day. Every vote matters. Our democratic system of government is predicated on an active, engaged citizenry.

Tomorrow night, join me in following the election results as they are tallied in Maine and across the country. The results will have a profound impact on the direction of our public policies. Don’t wake up Wednesday morning and wish that you had taken the time to participate. Voting is a fundamental civic responsibility. Our future depends on our willingness to take it seriously.

At a time of constrained resources, states all across the country are slashing their higher education budgets. Yet, those of us advocating for baccalaureate and graduate education view public higher education as an investment, not a cost. Countless reports make the case that education is valuable not only to individuals but to communities and whole societies. Recent data about the comparative earnings of college graduates vs. those who lack the associated skills and knowledge—especially during times of economic upheaval and financial unease—speak for themselves.

The long-term benefits of earning a college degree are measurable, according to a report issued recently by the College Board. “Education Pays: the Benefits of Higher Education for Individuals and Society” outlines many of the financial advantages a college degree brings. Specifically, the data reflect a substantial gap between both the earnings and the unemployment rates of those with different education levels. The median earnings for full-time workers with bachelor’s degrees in 2008 were $55,700, whereas the median earnings of those with a high school diploma were only $21,900. Even more revealing is the difference in unemployment rates. The unemployment rate for those with only a high school diploma between 1992 and 2009 has consistently been about twice the rate for those with a bachelor’s degree. This has remained true regardless of the fluctuations in the economy.

The findings of this report and countless others clearly demonstrate the value of a college education in both good times and in unpredictable economic circumstances. This is especially true in states, like Maine, that experience a “brain drain.” Educators, political leaders, and business professionals are searching for ways to keep the best and the brightest right here in the state—working, living, raising families and paying taxes. Through philanthropic support, tuition reimbursement, and other creative strategies, Maine’s innovative businesses are supporting institutions of higher education.

This is precisely the time to be championing the value of baccalaureate and graduate education. In light of the data provided by the “Education Pays” report, the key to Maine’s economic growth and the continuation of its healthy communities lies in its public colleges and universities.