In the 1990's the Pennsylvania Manufacturers Association stacked the deck and took over control of the PSU BoT. By 2002, they re-wrote the bylaws ensuring their control of the school.
This article explaining how it all happened , from 2002, was first linked by JimmyW in a prior thread but it is so shocking I thought it deserved its own thread. There is a lot of maddening stuff in it but this is a critical passage;
According to Paula Ammerman, Associate Secretary of the Board and Director of the Penn State Trustees’ office in Old Main, the university determines the qualification of each industrial society or association. Letters are sent to the acting secretary of each qualifying organization, which allows them to then nominate three delegates per county chapter. Ammerman could not provide an exact figure at the time, but estimated that the number of qualifying organizations was over 150 throughout Pennsylvania.
In instances where more than one society or association exists in a particular county, the nominated delegates from those societies must caucus and elect three delegates amongst themselves to represent their county.
Out of 150 qualifying societies and organizations, PMA Capital sends almost all of the delegates. Out of 65 delegates registered in the 1998 industrial election, 60 were registered as PMA delegates.......
.........
Horst talked with dozens of delegates at the 1996 election and discovered that every delegate he spoke with had been recruited from the streets and retirement communities of Centre County – an obvious violation of the 3-delegate-per-county allowance.
One delegate he spoke to was a resident of State College, the spouse of an elected State College official, yet she voted as a Clinton county PMA delegate.
“After the election, she asked me what the letters PMA stood for,” Horst recalled.
This is where it all started. The PMA rigged the BoT elections to get their own people in charge and now we are stuck with total corruption. The PMA represents huge manufacturers along with powerful bankers and financiers. And they all have major political influence.
Footnote; The article poorly explains the PMA. It is one of dozens of trade associations in Harrisburg that promote various industries There are such trade groups for just about everything from autos to coal miners to zoos. One of their primary functions is to monitor all proposed laws and regulations and lobby on behalf of their members. The PMA would consist of manufacturers and all related businesses like banks, financiers, suppliers, and retailers of manufactured goods like automobiles. That would include companies like US Steel, GE, Mellon Bank, Merck, and more.
The article talks alot about PMA Capital, which is the insurance division of PMA. During the '70s and '80s workmen's comp and insurance became huge issues for the businesses across Pa and the country. In response to member's needs, many of these trade associations formed for-profit subsidiaries to offer insurance to it members where members paid in annual rates and the subsidiary insured them, in affect they became self-insured. PMA Capital became very wealthy and very powerful.
Closing quote just to piss you off some more;
In the 1998 industrial trustee election, Horst discovered that a PMA insurance branch located in Blue Bell, PA served as headquarters for the “Penn State Project.” The project coordinated PMA Capital employees who were provided delegate credentials and accommodations in State College for the weekend of the election.
Besides the investigation in 1996, calls for reform have largely gone unanswered. After persistent inquiries from Robert Horst, former Chairman Junker eventually replied: “I will not respond again to further correspondence from you on this subject.”
Old Main has maintained silence on the matter as well. Officials declined an invitation to respond to Horst’s March 17th CDT editorial. Likewise, Penn State spokesman, Tyson Kendig, declined an invitation from Voices to comment on the specific allegations, but maintained that, “Penn State’s trustee election process is held up as a model for universities across the country.”
This article explaining how it all happened , from 2002, was first linked by JimmyW in a prior thread but it is so shocking I thought it deserved its own thread. There is a lot of maddening stuff in it but this is a critical passage;
According to Paula Ammerman, Associate Secretary of the Board and Director of the Penn State Trustees’ office in Old Main, the university determines the qualification of each industrial society or association. Letters are sent to the acting secretary of each qualifying organization, which allows them to then nominate three delegates per county chapter. Ammerman could not provide an exact figure at the time, but estimated that the number of qualifying organizations was over 150 throughout Pennsylvania.
In instances where more than one society or association exists in a particular county, the nominated delegates from those societies must caucus and elect three delegates amongst themselves to represent their county.
Out of 150 qualifying societies and organizations, PMA Capital sends almost all of the delegates. Out of 65 delegates registered in the 1998 industrial election, 60 were registered as PMA delegates.......
.........
Horst talked with dozens of delegates at the 1996 election and discovered that every delegate he spoke with had been recruited from the streets and retirement communities of Centre County – an obvious violation of the 3-delegate-per-county allowance.
One delegate he spoke to was a resident of State College, the spouse of an elected State College official, yet she voted as a Clinton county PMA delegate.
“After the election, she asked me what the letters PMA stood for,” Horst recalled.
This is where it all started. The PMA rigged the BoT elections to get their own people in charge and now we are stuck with total corruption. The PMA represents huge manufacturers along with powerful bankers and financiers. And they all have major political influence.
Footnote; The article poorly explains the PMA. It is one of dozens of trade associations in Harrisburg that promote various industries There are such trade groups for just about everything from autos to coal miners to zoos. One of their primary functions is to monitor all proposed laws and regulations and lobby on behalf of their members. The PMA would consist of manufacturers and all related businesses like banks, financiers, suppliers, and retailers of manufactured goods like automobiles. That would include companies like US Steel, GE, Mellon Bank, Merck, and more.
The article talks alot about PMA Capital, which is the insurance division of PMA. During the '70s and '80s workmen's comp and insurance became huge issues for the businesses across Pa and the country. In response to member's needs, many of these trade associations formed for-profit subsidiaries to offer insurance to it members where members paid in annual rates and the subsidiary insured them, in affect they became self-insured. PMA Capital became very wealthy and very powerful.
Closing quote just to piss you off some more;
In the 1998 industrial trustee election, Horst discovered that a PMA insurance branch located in Blue Bell, PA served as headquarters for the “Penn State Project.” The project coordinated PMA Capital employees who were provided delegate credentials and accommodations in State College for the weekend of the election.
Besides the investigation in 1996, calls for reform have largely gone unanswered. After persistent inquiries from Robert Horst, former Chairman Junker eventually replied: “I will not respond again to further correspondence from you on this subject.”
Old Main has maintained silence on the matter as well. Officials declined an invitation to respond to Horst’s March 17th CDT editorial. Likewise, Penn State spokesman, Tyson Kendig, declined an invitation from Voices to comment on the specific allegations, but maintained that, “Penn State’s trustee election process is held up as a model for universities across the country.”
