Calling Brandon Short
- Thread starter Nitt1300
- Start date
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.
A
anon_xdc8rmuek44eq
Guest
he sure managed to when he was looking for our votes
To be fair, this isn't just a Brandon Short thing. Anthony Lubrano has been the only BOT member/candidate to consistently come here to post, and I give him credit for that even though I don't agree with him. Some have been quasi-active around election time, but not otherwise.
The MO is babble about Paterno and 409 a few times around election time, get you to vote for them, and then not be seen or heard from again until the next election. In between, they vote in-line with the other BOT members and can't be bothered to engage in anything of substance or that actually matters in terms of fiduciary (or fiscal) responsibility. Unless it's the statue or something related.
The MO is babble about Paterno and 409 a few times around election time, get you to vote for them, and then not be seen or heard from again until the next election. In between, they vote in-line with the other BOT members and can't be bothered to engage in anything of substance or that actually matters in terms of fiduciary (or fiscal) responsibility. Unless it's the statue or something related.
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?
He's done as much as the BOT as he did as a football coach himself:
Absolutely nothing.
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.
At this point I don't care either. I was just curious as to how he posted before, when he was running, if he lives over seas and has no access.
And if that is the case then the post in this thread that asked if he's at the BOT meetings seems relevant.
The alumni BOT are the distinct minority and have very limited chance to effect real change. The only hope is to pay your dues, be around for a long time and gain the trust of the real power players.
I voted for Barry.
I voted for Barry.
Well he'll be in the area next week
https://news.psu.edu/story/570982/2...ot-event-benefiting-penn-state-york-athletics
https://news.psu.edu/story/570982/2...ot-event-benefiting-penn-state-york-athletics
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.
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.
I was pretty jaded in my 30's and its since gotten worse but in this case I don't think Brandon needed any resume
filler. He was already very well established and respected.
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 point
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.
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.
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
A
anon_1eeb2b426hv3y
Guest
I am familiar with this error message, as I travel to Germany frequently for business. It is frustrating. As I recall, Tom said that Rivals was not going to spend the money necessary to upgrade its site security to comply with the GDPR.
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.
Last edited:
Yep. I was hoping to be wrong re: my cynicism about Brandon or any alumni BOT member. But sadly he's proven to be completely impotent on the board.
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
Thank you for reaching out to us. I completely understand the issues with BWI access from Europe as I’ve experienced similar blockages on other web sites when I am out of the US.
Since you are now back in the US, can you address what you and the alumni elected trustees are doing with respect to my main two issues with the board of trustees:
1. Since the alumni trustee review of the Freeh Report was published/leaked, what have you and the other alumni trustees done to get the board to publicly refute the Freeh Report in order to clear the reputations of Penn State, Paterno, Curley, Shultz, and Spanier? I’m VERY tired of constantly seeing Penn State’s good name bashed in media stories and in conversations I have with people when they find out I’m a Penn Stater. Until the university/BOT defends itself and corrects the false narrative, this negative perception of Penn State will continue forever.
2. Tuition cost and cost control in general. Penn State is one of the most expensive schools in the US for in state tuition, yet it seems like all the BOT does is rubber stamp significant salary increases to top administrators (Barron and Barbour in particular) as well as fund incredibly expensive projects, I.e. dorm remodeling. While it’s laudable that tuition did not increase last year(fees still did), a Penn State education is still not affordable for most blue collar families in PA.
Last edited:
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.
My concerns are pretty straightforward, and I will email you next week when I get home. But understand that I don't accept for one second the idea that there could possibly be much that the BOT should be allowed keep secret from the alumni, and that we all know that there always seems to be a great deal that they (and now you) do. What PSU does is not a matter of national security and treating it as though it were creates additional distrust- something that is not in short supply as it is.
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"?
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
Last edited:
