To the editors:

I am appalled by the story in the Sept. 10 edition of The Maine Campus about University of Maine President Robert Kennedy’s position on the board for FairPoint Communications.

The University of Maine community is facing more staff cuts, a faculty hiring freeze and low enrollments. Some students cannot continue with school due to lack of funding, and those who have been lucky enough to return are struggling to simply pay for books. In addition, a committee has recently been convened to determine which programs should be cut, which will put more educational opportunities out of reach for our students and cut more jobs.

Yes, other university presidents hold similar positions on corporate boards, but this does not make it right or appropriate. Some actually give their earnings back to their community. Yes, we also need to remain attractive to industry, but why are we allying ourselves with a communications company that is so poorly regarded? Not to mention being under investigation by regulators in several states? With the amount of money Kennedy is currently receiving for his participation on FairPoint’s board, he could fund several staff salaries, endow a faculty chair, make a significant contribution to the library for much needed books and electronic resources, sponsor the arts or establish a scholarship fund.

As an alumna of UMaine and a current graduate student, I am seriously disappointed in what I perceive as Kennedy’s lack of commitment, vision and support of what we are here for: education. The students, faculty who teach them and the staff who make our university function are the future we need to focus on in these tough times, not catering to the promises of corporations.

- Lisa Nielson
Doctoral student

Facebook has right to delete “I hate The Maine Edge”

To the editors:

In Thursday’s edition, Eryk Salvaggio wrote an editorial about Facebook reprimanding him for something as simple as creating a group devoted to hating The Maine Edge. The act was relatively innocuous, and let’s be honest, I think most people hate the Maine Edge. Eryk was standing up for the most-quoted part of the most-referenced amendment in the U.S. Constitution. While I agree with Eryk’s position that free speech means being able to express like and dislike equally, that really has no place in the argument.

The fact is that Facebook is a private enterprise, and can do as it pleases. If we don’t like the way it does business, we are totally free to go back to MySpace or even start our own online network. The idea that Facebook should somehow be legally obligated to allow whatever we want to post would be a violation of Facebook’s own rights as a private group. If Facebook wanted to disable every account of brown-eyed people, they’d be completely within their rights, because it’s a private networking Web site. If we don’t like it, we have plenty of other options.
Furthermore, Eryk goes on to say that Facebook has grown too powerful: “If you mess with Facebook, you don’t just lose access to a Web Site, but to pieces of your personal history and connections to your friends and family. It is too much power for a site to have.”

Does Facebook have the power to separate you from your friends and family? The short answer is “no.” The long answer is, “No, that’s stupid.” Facebook can’t control you phone, your car, your mail, your e-mail or what you do with the rest of the Internet. Facebook is not our only connection to our families or our personal histories. Facebook makes it easier to communicate with our friends and family.

Eryk’s final words concern me the most. “It is too much power for a site to have.” Facebook has grown, but what power does it have that we haven’t given it? Granted, it’s creepy that Facebook knows where my long-lost high school buds are before I do, but Facebook is only able to make that connection because I gave it the information to make the connections.

In the end, the editorial sounded less like a trumpet for free speech and more like a kid upset about being slapped on the wrist.

- Joey Pelletier
Senior English student

FairPoint recently bought the telecommunications operations for Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont from Verizon. Since the switch, FairPoint has faced strong criticism for its service and has had to answer to regulators in all three states.

FairPoint and the University of Maine System are now competing for federal funds to expand high-speed Internet, according to spokespeople from both organizations. Kennedy said he has not been officially approached to take part in the discussions.

“The subject, in terms of decision-making, has not come up,” Kennedy said, although he has talked informally with both parties. Kennedy said the official conversation has not yet reached either the university presidents or the Board of Directors.

If Kennedy was asked to engage in an official conversation, or if he were in any other way to encounter a conflict of interest, he said he would immediately recuse himself.

“[Kennedy] believes that the state’s telecommunication’s infrastructure is critical to the state in many ways,” said Joe Carr, UMaine’s Director of University Relations. Kennedy now has a role in helping to determine the future of the state, Carr said.

Kennedy has not been involved in FairPoint’s regulatory hearings, either, saying only that there have been some “general briefings, occasionally.”

According to a report filed by FairPoint, non-employee members of the Board of Directors receive a $55,000 retainer for their service and about $45,000 in stock awards per year.

In addition, board members can receive an additional stipend for work on a particular committee. Kennedy received $15,000 over two years as a member of the succession committee, which picked FairPoint’s next Chief Executive.

Kennedy was appointed in March 2008, and therefore did not receive full compensation for that year. Kennedy received $84,068 in compensation from FairPoint in 2008, according to the report.

Combined with his $210,405 salary, not including benefits, from UMaine in 2008, he earned nearly $300,000 last year.

Kennedy has since been re-elected to serve FairPoint until 2012.

The board meets four times a year in person, and approximately four more times by teleconference. Kennedy said he takes personal leave when attending such meetings.

Kennedy was suggested for the Board of Directors by Verizon. When FairPoint purchased the telecommunications operations in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, Verizon spun its New England operations into a separate company, which FairPoint immediately acquired, according to Eric Rabe, Verizon’s Vice President for Media Relations. Verizon shareholders then had a majority stake in the company, and Verizon had the right to appoint three members to the Board of Directors. Verizon chose one member from each of the three states, although they had no requirement to do so.

“We tried to pick folks who we thought would be good stewards of FairPoint,” Rabe said.

According to Kennedy’s contract, he “shall not, without prior written permission from the Chancellor, enter into services of any professional nature with any person or firm other than to the UMS, and shall absolutely not engage in any activity that may result in a conflict of interest or be competitive with and adverse to the best interest of the UMS.”

Kennedy said his membership on the board was approved by the system office and that he met several times with the chancellor and the system’s legal counsel before making a decision.

“You want your president to be attractive to different industries,” Kennedy said. While he did not know of any predecessors in a similar situation, Kennedy said many of his counterparts at universities across the country hold similar dual roles.