Magic Taco Boy ([info]magictaco) wrote in [info]umstudents,
2005-09-18 18:59:00
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an open letter do Molly Bodnar, associate director of annual giving

September 18, 2005

Molly Bodnar
Develop/Budget & Administration
8000 Wolverine Tower
Ann Arbor, MI 48104-1288

Dear Ms. Bodnar:

As a recent graduate of the University of Michigan, College of Literature, Science and Arts, I received a phone call from a Telfund student soliciting contributions from alumni.

I find it morally repugnant that donations would be sought so soon after graduation. Many recent graduates are still seeking to find employment with their less than marketable liberal arts degrees. Many, like myself, are graduate students, amassing even more debt. The fact that these solicitations are made one month before most student loans enter repayment adds insult to injury. Asking for donations from newly graduated students is tacky, and makes the university appear needy and thoughtless.

To have some poor student calling other poor students begging for money while university President Mary Sue Coleman lives in a mansion and earns $484,500 a year is unethical. To beg for money while the departments are paying inflated wages to lecturers and graduate students is unethical. To beg for money from those that still owe the university thousands of dollars is unethical. To beg for money while thousands of Americans in the South are without shelter, food, and clothing is unethical.

If funding scholarships and improving technology is of the utmost importance that the Telefund representative made it out to be, then the fat should be trimmed from within to fund these programs, and this should start at the top. How much of your $59,450 salary do you contribute to the university each year? I'm positive it's a much lower share of your income than the $40 would be from my (non-existent) income.

I hereby request that my name and information be removed from further solicitations, as I pledge to you now to never donate a cent to the College of Literature, Science and Arts.

Sincerely,



Paul

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  • 70 comments

[info]starzysky

September 18 2005, 23:18:03 UTC 6 years ago

Please tell me you're putting that in the Daily!

[info]magictaco

September 18 2005, 23:28:53 UTC 6 years ago

i'll send it to them, but i fear it's too long.

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[info]starzysky

6 years ago

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[info]ryebreadboy

6 years ago

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[info]vsarto

September 18 2005, 23:34:35 UTC 6 years ago

that would explain the caller ID from the university. good thing i didnt pick up. hah. i knew it was gonna be some stupid alumni give us money shit.

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[info]magictaco

September 19 2005, 00:03:01 UTC 6 years ago

not quite. the girl first tried for $20.05 and then said
"get it, it's like the year you graduated in!"

i'm guessing that some of those alums that come from the families who have the average $200,000 income donate money.

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[info]sickleslut

6 years ago

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[info]lanie_lou

September 19 2005, 00:21:09 UTC 6 years ago

Not to sound callous, but my brother graduated in 04, about a month after he graduated he could more than afford to give the university a fair amount of money. I graduated a year before him, and am in no similar situation. We do however have the same degree from the same university. I am a teacher, he is a biochemist, it's just the way things go sometimes.

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[info]lanie_lou

6 years ago

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[info]dainslaif

6 years ago

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[info]magictaco

6 years ago

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[info]dainslaif

6 years ago

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[info]cokewithdrawl

6 years ago

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[info]magictaco

6 years ago

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...and 8 more comments... from [info]forever_dreams, [info]starzysky, [info]lanie_lou… Expand

[info]nallyo

September 19 2005, 00:22:17 UTC 6 years ago

Good luck getting your name removed. My parents graduated 25 years ago, and they are still getting bugged by the university. Only now, they are being sold "retirement trips" or other junk like that.

[info]poopbucket

September 19 2005, 00:40:16 UTC 6 years ago

With the exception of the statement about the south, I don't think unethical is the right word to be used in your post.

[info]adevlishlilangl

September 19 2005, 00:54:03 UTC 6 years ago

No matter what University you attend they are going to bother you your whole life. My mother attended San Jose State and she constantly gets calls from the alum association and has not been able to get them to stop calling her. Good luck!

[info]zealoustwist

September 19 2005, 01:49:01 UTC 6 years ago

What's great is that they're thinking about asking current students for money. As if we don't already give the university enough...

[info]starzysky

September 19 2005, 02:47:24 UTC 6 years ago

are you F*ING KIDDING me?!

[info]amelinda

September 19 2005, 03:25:50 UTC 6 years ago

the telefund was calling my boyfriend in his dorm room since his freshman year thinking he was an alumni and the mistake was never corrected.

[info]illimitably

6 years ago

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[info]jdcherry

September 19 2005, 03:01:54 UTC 6 years ago

Maybe I just don't get it but I don't quite see how asking for a donation is in any way "morally repugnant". If you don't want to give all you have to say is, "Sorry, but I can't afford to give right now."

[info]magictaco

September 19 2005, 03:22:51 UTC 6 years ago

1. There are lots of legitimate causes that I would donate to if I had the money--people in far greater need than the U of M. When the U sends telefunders panhandling over the phone claiming "need", they're reaching into the supply of potential funds available for these legitimate charities (that are not armed with telemarketers.)

2. They are directly aware of exactly how much I owe them (not a paltry sum either). Tacky is asking someone who owes you thousands of dollars for an extra $20.

3. The thrust of the telefunders argument was that I needed to donate to make the U a better place--to avail others luxuries that were not available to me. To fund scholarships when I received none.

4. Their "need" is illusory. I could easily suggest ten or so things that could save them millions of dollars a year. I'm sure a few millions would easily cover the things they want to do and more. The U could easily live within it's means.

[info]jdcherry

6 years ago

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[info]magictaco

6 years ago

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[info]jdcherry

6 years ago

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[info]hankash

September 19 2005, 03:26:37 UTC 6 years ago

Yeah, but they don't say ok and bye. They keep harassing you to the point where you have to hang up and be rude.

[info]jdcherry

6 years ago

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[info]magictaco

6 years ago

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[info]jdcherry

6 years ago

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[info]magictaco

6 years ago

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[info]sickleslut

6 years ago

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[info]sickleslut

September 19 2005, 03:21:04 UTC 6 years ago

As an ex-telefund employee, I feel I should say something here.

First of all, although I do agree with a lot of the points made, I don't think it's necessarily "morally repugnant" to call up alumni and ask for money. Although it's true that many of the people, and especially the recent graduates, don't have that much money, there are also many alumni who either from working or from coming from a wealthy background can afford to give $1000 or more without even batting an eye.

Obviously most recent grads can't give in that range, but one of the facts at telefund that's used a lot is that major companies often look at the alumni participation rate (the rate which alumni give back to the school) to determine whether or not they will donate money. This basically means that even giving a little could possible help overall.

I also disagree that we are "paying inflated wages to lecturers and graduate students". Most of the lectures and GSIs get payed next to nothing, that's what the whole LEO and GEO things have been about these past couple of years. Beyond that, as hard as this is to swallow, if we don't pay professors and faculty a certain amound, it makes it difficult to attract quality faculty.

I agree that there still are a lot of areas that could be considered "fat to be trimmed" though, and I think the tuition increase is ridiculous, but I'm also saying that it's more complicated than just greedy people at the top.

Oh, and for the record, I hated working at telefund. I just felt like I should set the record straight.

[info]sickleslut

September 19 2005, 03:28:05 UTC 6 years ago

P.S.

At Telefund, we're trained to never hang up on you unless you're yelling. If you want to get off the phone and not receive any more calls, say the following:

"I'm not interested, and please remove me from all university solicitations" and then hang up. Simply saying "I'm not interested" means you get a call next year.

[info]starzysky

6 years ago

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[info]magictaco

September 19 2005, 03:46:35 UTC 6 years ago

I think that contributions are important (in that they are voluntary, and not imposed on the taxpayers), but they necessarily increase the U's dependence on them, thus not teaching it the invaluable lesson of living within a budget.

I think the "moral repugnance" that I described stems from the timing of the solicitation. But I'm also offended by the notion of further supporting such a bloated bureaucracy.

Finally,
http://www.d-struct.org/projects/salary/

After googling three of my most recent lecturers, I can hardly say that $50,000 is "next to nothing" for 9 months of work. But the market should decide.

[info]amelinda

6 years ago

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[info]magictaco

6 years ago

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[info]illimitably

6 years ago

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[info]amelinda

6 years ago

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[info]illimitably

6 years ago

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[info]amelinda

6 years ago

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[info]ryebreadboy

6 years ago

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[info]amelinda

6 years ago

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[info]super_me

6 years ago

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[info]amelinda

6 years ago

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[info]super_me

6 years ago

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[info]sickleslut

6 years ago

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[info]sickleslut

6 years ago

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[info]magictaco

6 years ago

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[info]sickleslut

6 years ago

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[info]zigziggityzoo

September 19 2005, 17:39:25 UTC 6 years ago

GSI's get paid next to nothing....heh...

I beg to disagree. They are among the highest paid GSI's around. Most get 70-100% of their tuition paid for in addition to their $13-19k Salary for their 8 months of work which entails grading about 60 essays and babysitting Undergrads. If they want more, Eff them.

[info]ryebreadboy

6 years ago

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[info]hankash

September 19 2005, 03:31:32 UTC 6 years ago

I'd NEVER donate to the U because there are more important causes to donate to than the U. If all the problems in the world were solved, then I'd donate to the U.

[info]scintille

September 19 2005, 04:09:50 UTC 6 years ago

if i knew my money would be going towards reparing things that would actually affect the students (like the bathrooms in stockwell 3-0, or it's elvator which WILL shut down if you push the door open button, trapping innocent victims inside) or maybe actually sending out financial aid award notices in paper form so as to not strip children of low income brackets of money because they didn't check their email that week.. then i would donate. but it seems like the only things ever getting attention are the allready giant buildings complete with air conditioning and marble floors, or the 1434395489343 construction projects, and I have only figured out what two of them are.

i'm a little bitter.

[info]bittershell

September 19 2005, 06:45:48 UTC 6 years ago

Money donated to Telefund goes towards student services such as financial aid and scholarships, not building costs.

[info]scintille

6 years ago

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[info]ryebreadboy

6 years ago

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[info]bittershell

6 years ago

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[info]slrcosmos

September 19 2005, 21:16:18 UTC 6 years ago

You think that's bad? My little sister goes to MSU (no cracks please) and someone wanting money called about two weeks ago. My lil sis is a freshman. They pretended to be all buddy buddy and then starting hitting me up for money. I told her no and she still did her little spiel. Finally I said 'that I wasn't interested, take me off your calling list and if I get a call after 30 days have passed, I will take action' and hung up. Comapanies have 30 days to remove you from their calling list.

I don't get Telefund calls, partly because I haven't updated my alumni info. That or my cell is listed as my primary number and companies aren't allowed to call it.

[info]bittershell

September 20 2005, 03:45:12 UTC 6 years ago

Ok, you are really misinformed. Groups like Telefund are NOT considered telemarketers, since they are not selling any product to you and they are non-profits. So if you "take action" it won't do anything. You lose.

Second of all, I worked at Telefund and if parents gave out the student's cell phone number to update the alumnus' information, we were allowed to call it. You're wrong again.

[info]slrcosmos

6 years ago

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