Remembering Pauline Manaka

Irvine -- The tragic and unexpected passing this past Sunday (18 June 2017) of my long-term colleague and good friend cut short the amazing life of a librarian who reached the pinnacle of her profession (by serving on the Council of the American Library Association) and more importantly, became a strong voice for social justice. 

Hailing from Pretoria, South Africa, Pauline Manaka (photographed) was a student Fulbrighter, in the late 1970s, arguably the first to enter library school at Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia, on such a prestigious grant given by the U.S. to a national of South Africa.  She came to Atlanta at a time where her homeland was trapped in the Apartheid era.  In joining the library profession, she followed in the pioneering steps of her uncle, Seth Manaka, who would be the first black librarian and later university librarian and library school professor in the country, honored at his retirement in 2015 with his own festschrift.

Moving to Orange County by 1989, Pauline lessened my burden as a social sciences bibliographer by taking on the responsibilities for selecting in sociology and anthropology. She later also took on Women Studies when another librarian left.  In the 28 years I've known her, she was the voice on conscience as the library and the university took on the formidable challenge of diversifying its staff as well as its collections.

She kept her commitment to the struggles of her homeland.  In 1994 (April 24) she appeared as a committed  African National Congress member on my KUCI Subversity Show to talk about her organizing work among the South African diaspora in southern California for a historic post-Apartheid national election.  She was also quoted in a Los Angeles Times article.

She kept her interest in and her ties with South Africa, teaching in Anthropology a UCI class for many years on South Africa.  She also served as library liaison to the area Model United Nations.

She was active also in the librarians and lecturers union, UC-AFT.  Union president Andrew Tonkovich in fact wrote a very warm profile of her in Coast Magazine in January 2015.

It is fortunate that her voice will not be silenced, literally, since she provided the "clear narration" (as I wrote in a review in the 9 May 2002 OC Weekly) for UCI PhD student and Student Workers Union organizer Marty Otanez's  (he's now a professor in anthropology at University of Colorado, Denver) pioneering documentary short (with Michelle Otanez) on Big Tobacco, "Thangata: Social Bondage and Big Tobacco in Malawi".

In her narration, Pauline indicted the World Bank for causing economic instability in Malawi, described the slave trade,  and called out U.S. tobacco firms for the exploitation of labor in the growing of tobacco and its marketing to women and children in Malwai and other developing countries. That short film is available free online, where you can hear Pauline's lyrical voice.

She was also interviewed with two of her colleagues in an oral history video for the UCI Libraries' 50th anniversary.

I trust her adult son, Lesetja, a budding filmmaker, will emerge from the pain of losing his mother so suddenly, and take his own path, while recognizing his mom's pioneering role in America. -- Daniel C. Tsang.

Sepia-toned photos of Pauline Manaka taken in 2015. © Copyright Daniel C. Tsang.

First homicide on UC Irvine Campus

UPDATED (12:39 pm 14 September 2009): The victim in the UCI shooting has been identified as Rebecca Benedict; the trigger appears to be a doubling of child support a judge imposed on the suspect. See OC Register report.

Earlier entry:

The City of Irvine often touts itself one of America's safest cities. That may have been true, but no more. Even as college students across the country are shocked at what is believed to be the death of Annie Le, a Vietnamese American pharmacology graduate student at Yale, whose suspected body was discovered Sunday, a tragedy also happened closer to home for those in Orange County.

Last night (13 September 2009) a 30 year-old woman was killed in the parking lot at University of California, Irvine's Verano graduate housing on campus, the suspect a physics graduate student.

And earlier this month, the body of an unidentified black woman, in her 20s, was found after she was burned, in another parking lot, in an Irvine business area. See Irvine Police Department's request for help in identifying the victim. The Irvine PD press release calls Irvine "one of America's safest and most successful master-planned urban communities."

The suspect in the campus shooting death last night is, according to a report in the Orange County Register, Brian Hughes Benedict, 35, a graduate student. Benedict has been arrested and is being held on $1 million bail in Orange County Jail. He is listed as a resident of 4122 Verano Place, according to voting records, the OC Register reported. Apparently, Benedict was in a relationship with the unidentified victim; a 4-year-old child was also in the vicinity according to the report. An early Los Angeles Times story does not offer much detail.

UC Irvine records give his hometown as El Segundo, and his "major" as Physics.

In the meantime, in the Annie Le murder case, another Yalie who failed lie detector tests appears now to be a suspect, according to a news report in the New York Daily News.

Rest in Peace: Annie Le, and the two as yet unidentified Irvine victims.

Is it final? SAAS Closure: Dean sends out statement

The official word of closure from UCI Division of Undergraduate Education Sharon Salinger, emailed to "UCI Campus Community" 24 August 2009 at 6:01 pm:

Dear Colleagues, Students and Community Partners,

As a result of the unprecedented fiscal crisis facing the University
of California and the resulting permanent budget cut of 16 percent
allocated to UC Irvine Division of Undergraduate Education, a decision
was made to close Student Academic Advancement Services effective Aug.
31, 2009. Services offered by this unit including study skills
workshops, academic counseling, career planning, and tutoring will
continue under the direction of the dean of undergraduate education.

Funded in part by a grant from the US Department of Education, SAAS
programs are designed to increase retention and graduation rates of
first-generation, low-income students. Among these programs, Freshman
Summer Bridge is the most visible and engenders the most comment from
past participants for its critical role in their success at UCI and
for its lasting impact.

To minimize the effects of this closure on students, DUE plans to
partner with existing units across campus to continue services
formerly offered by the program. This restructuring plan is based upon
recommendations from an outside review team that visited UCI in spring
2008. It includes the appointment of a faculty member committed to
working with first-generation, low-income students who will be
responsible for academic oversight of Summer Bridge and other
workshops and classes. DUE will continue to partner with Summer
Session on administration and co-curricular activities for the Summer
Bridge programs. Further, if the U.S. Department of Education renews
its partnership with DUE, the restructuring will allow the
continuation of the two-unit course on Graduate Education as well as
this year's pilot program for a Transfer Summer Bridge. Moreover,
the continued partnership will result in a 62 percent increase in
Summer Bridge financial aid available annually.

DUE intends to continue to provide physical space as well as
professional staff and a peer mentor team devoted to student support.
Additionally, the Learning and Academic Resources Center within the
DUE will offer tutoring and study skills workshops for eligible
students. Watch for future announcements on the DUE website as we make
this transition.

Along with many colleagues, past and current students, and community
partners, we extend to the SAAS staff our thanks for their years of
service and their dedication to the programs: Joe Maestas, director;
Audrey Al-Hamd, associate director; Stephen Domingues, coordinator,
Summer Bridge and program development; Angelita Salas, counselor; and
Ashley Melton, administrative assistant.

The unit's closure is a regrettable consequence of these budgetary
times. DUE is confident that students still will receive excellent
support through vibrant programs and the commitment of professional
staff and faculty.

UCI Seeks Input on Different Set of Furlough Closure Days

Late Wednesday (6 August 2009), UCI administration announced in a campus email that it is seeking input on a different draft proposal to close the campus during 7 furlough days. In contrast, a faculty proposal seeks furlough day closures on a different set of 10 days. The draft proposal for which UCI Chancellor Michael Drake and Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Michael Gottfredson are seeking feedback is as follows:

• Close campus Dec. 21, 2009-Jan. 1, 2010: This would extend our standard holiday closure practice by three-days. Dec. 24, 25, 31 and Jan. 1 would remain university holidays; the six remaining days (Dec. 21-23 and 28-30) would not be paid holidays, and eligible employees would be encouraged to take them as furlough days.
• Close campus March 25, 2010: This precedes the March 26 Cesar Chavez holiday, creating a four-day weekend. Again, eligible employees would be encouraged to take March 25 as a furlough day.

In fact, as listeners to KUCI Subversity's 20 July 2009 show already have discovered, the University has told one union (CUE) at the bargaining table that these furlough days are in fact paid holidays. This is no doubt because affected employees will be having their pay cut monthly anyway, so if their furloughs are also to result in more reduction in pay, that would be placing them in double jeopardy!

In any case, the University does not want to hear from UCI union members, who instead are directed in the mass email to send any feedback to their own union representatives.

Both Drake and Gottfredson will answer questions at a Budget Town Hall noon-1 p.m. Thursday, 6 August 2009, in UCI's Student Center, Pacific Ballrooms C and D.

UCI Faculty Seek Campus Closures on Furlough Days

The governing body of the UCI Academic Senate has endorsed a UCSC faculty plan to make the pain from UC paycuts and furloughs visible. The faculty senate cabinet is recommending closing the UCI campus on these dates, according to a 28 July 2009 letter from UCI Prof. Jukka Heckhausen, who chairs the UCI Academic Senate, to Prof. Mary Croughan, who chairs the UC system-wide Academic Senate:

Fall quarter

• September 21
• November 23,24,25 (Thanksgiving Week)

Winter quarter

• January 4, 5 (delay start of winter quarter)
• February 12

Spring quarter

• March 29, 30 (delay start of spring quarter)
• May 28

The letter asserts: "A majority of the Cabinet felt that the plan makes the consequences of the budget cuts and furloughs visible to the public, the Legislature, and the Regents while at the same time limiting the negative impact on instruction." At least 74 UCI faculty members signed a petition recommending this route.

No word yet on whether this would go into effect or not.

Of course, unionized UC workers are not (as yet) subject to the pay cut and furlough plan, so how this would work with just faculty not showing is anybody's guess. UC has yet to seriously begin negotiating with campus unions on this matter.