Commentary: Ochoa doesn't show much other than ethnicity
Elisha Maldonado
Issue date: 5/8/08 Section: News
It's rib-tickling that SJSU's presidential race is so reminiscent of the one going on at the national level: two men (one man being a minority), one woman - and no shining star.
I am not quite certain what I expected, but I am pretty sure it was a whole lot more.
Jon Whitmore, a candidate from Texas Tech University, said he wasn't "fully informed" on the budget and cultural diversity of SJSU - which leads me to think he doesn't have a clear understanding of SJSU in the first place. (If he did, he would be all-too-aware that SJSU epitomizes cultural diversity and that the budget issue is one of the latest in a string of controversies.)
Elizabeth Grobsmith's vacuous answer concerning President Kassing's blood ban - would she change it? - was a little too evasive for my taste. She said: "That is a very difficult question, and I think I would need to come to better understand the context and environment in which that decision was reached." (I advise she concoct an original answer soon because this issue isn't a light one, especially among the SJSU community.)
As for Eduardo Ochoa, he said he didn't have any changes he would make outright, which concerns me slightly. Surely, he isn't in complete agreement with everything Kassing and his administration has, or is, doing.
I know the aphorism is that they save the best for last - but what I can't ascertain is if there is a "best" among the three (that goes for the national race, too).
Though any dirt - or any real information for that matter - on Ochoa was hard to find, he is the only candidate with experience in the CSU system; he is the provost and vice president of academic affairs at Sonoma State University.
When speaking at the open forum Thursday morning, Ochoa looked nervous. His hands were clasped the entire time in front of him, and he stuttered through his answers as if were afraid to speak slowly, methodically and with intention - as if he were making up his answers while plodding along.
Ochoa began his oratory by complimenting SJSU (a bit I find trifling) and then waited for the deluge of questions- all of which were a bit soft.
This, of course, elicited soft responses.
Ochoa was asked, simply, why he wanted to be president of SJSU. He answered, mundanely, that SJSU's mission is a wonderful one.
But Ochoa does have at least one up on his counterparts and that is his ethnicity.
So it would seem, Ochoa, an Argentine, and a first generation American, he said, would understand and embrace the diversity that is SJSU. (Plus, I feel the selection committee really, really wants to demonstrate they are diverse - so he may have a fairly good shot at winning.)
Check one for Ochoa.
I am not quite certain what I expected, but I am pretty sure it was a whole lot more.
Jon Whitmore, a candidate from Texas Tech University, said he wasn't "fully informed" on the budget and cultural diversity of SJSU - which leads me to think he doesn't have a clear understanding of SJSU in the first place. (If he did, he would be all-too-aware that SJSU epitomizes cultural diversity and that the budget issue is one of the latest in a string of controversies.)
Elizabeth Grobsmith's vacuous answer concerning President Kassing's blood ban - would she change it? - was a little too evasive for my taste. She said: "That is a very difficult question, and I think I would need to come to better understand the context and environment in which that decision was reached." (I advise she concoct an original answer soon because this issue isn't a light one, especially among the SJSU community.)
As for Eduardo Ochoa, he said he didn't have any changes he would make outright, which concerns me slightly. Surely, he isn't in complete agreement with everything Kassing and his administration has, or is, doing.
I know the aphorism is that they save the best for last - but what I can't ascertain is if there is a "best" among the three (that goes for the national race, too).
Though any dirt - or any real information for that matter - on Ochoa was hard to find, he is the only candidate with experience in the CSU system; he is the provost and vice president of academic affairs at Sonoma State University.
When speaking at the open forum Thursday morning, Ochoa looked nervous. His hands were clasped the entire time in front of him, and he stuttered through his answers as if were afraid to speak slowly, methodically and with intention - as if he were making up his answers while plodding along.
Ochoa began his oratory by complimenting SJSU (a bit I find trifling) and then waited for the deluge of questions- all of which were a bit soft.
This, of course, elicited soft responses.
Ochoa was asked, simply, why he wanted to be president of SJSU. He answered, mundanely, that SJSU's mission is a wonderful one.
But Ochoa does have at least one up on his counterparts and that is his ethnicity.
So it would seem, Ochoa, an Argentine, and a first generation American, he said, would understand and embrace the diversity that is SJSU. (Plus, I feel the selection committee really, really wants to demonstrate they are diverse - so he may have a fairly good shot at winning.)
Check one for Ochoa.
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