Congratulations to Norman Matloff

Date: Tuesday, May 07, 2002 7:48 PM

*** H-1B NEWSLETTER ***

Get the Facts on H-1B at
www.ZaZona.com

Send your Donations
http://www.zazona.com/Donations.htm

I first learned about H-1B when I visited Dr. Norman Matloff's website:

"Professor Norm Matloff's Debunking the Myth of a Desperate Software
Labor
Shortage" at http://heather.cs.ucdavis.edu/itaa.html.

At the time I was trying to find out why my age seemed to be such a
factor
in my employment problems. Much to my horror I found out about the H-1B
visa. I learned that cheap, young, indentured workers that come here on
H-1B
visas were crowding me out of the job market. H-1B made gave industry
plenty
of reason to discriminate against anyone over the age of 40 and it was
even
hurting college graduates.

I was so inspired (or perhaps enraged) by his paper that I decided to
make
my own website that concentrated on H-1B.

We are very lucky to have someone like Norman Matloff on our side and I
hope
he never tires of fighting against age discrimination. If you haven't
subscribed to his free email newsletter I highly recommend it. Just send
him
an email at [matloff@cs.ucdavis.edu] and ask to be on the newsletter. I
archived a sampling of what I consider to be some of his best at
http://www.zazona.com/ShameH1B/Library.htm. I haven't had time to update
these in awhile so if you like what you see, sign up.

When I started to put my LCA Database together I noticed that UC Davis
employed enormous numbers of H-1Bs. I become worried that Matloff might
be
coerced into softening his message. Much to my surprise I found out that
he
has a lot of support for his advocacy at UC Davis. Naturally I couldn't
resist the temptation to send Matloff a few "tongue in cheek" messages
to
ask when he will be replaced by a more compliant and less controversial
H-1B. He took my chiding in stride because he has the full support of
his
university - and I thank UC Davis for that.

The award letter follows a comment by Matloff.

||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

I am often asked how my university reacts to my "rabblerousing" on the
H-1B and age discrimination issues. It is a very natural question.
After all, I have been highly critical of the computer industry, and
most universities, including mine, are very anxious to cultivate close
relations with industry, which is a major source of research funding,
equipment donations and even the construction of entire buildings.

My answer has always been that I've gotten very strong support from my
department chairs, deans and so on. The enclosed press release,
announcing that I was one of three faculty selected for this year's
Public Service Award, really reinforces this point.

In fact, at a luncheon hosted yesterday by our university's Chancellor
(i.e. our president) for the award recipients, the Chancellor's personal
remarks to me were again quite supportive, and made it clear that he had
been following the progress of my activities (approvingly) over the
years.

It is thus very much to UC Davis' credit that it can maintain its
independence in that sense. In this era of money-dominated
"University.com," I think our campus, and in particular Chancellor
Vanderhoef, are to be very much admired for sticking up for the
old-fashioned value of academic pursuit of truth, letting the chips fall
where they may.

Some government officials, in DC and elsewhere, wrote very thoughtful
letters in support of my department's nomination of me for the award.
(One in particular was quite long and detailed, taking, I'm sure, a very
considerable amount of time to compose.) I am highly grateful to them
for this.

Norm

||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

May 6, 2002
University of California, Davis

THREE WIN PUBLIC SERVICE AWARDS

A tireless campaigner on employment and immigration issues,
an eminent jurist and civil rights leader, and an expert in
response to natural disasters and terrorism who worked at the
World Trade Center site are the winners of this year's
Distinguished Public Service Awards at the University of
California, Davis.

They are Norman Matloff, professor of computer science; Cruz
Reynoso, professor of law, and Dr. R. Steven Tharatt,
professor of pulmonary and critical care medicine. They will
receive their awards at a ceremony on May 6.

The UC Davis Academic Senate, representing all tenured
faculty at the university, makes the awards annually to
recognize significant contributions to the world, nation,
state and community through distinguished public service.

Matloff has written extensively about immigration and
employment issues, affirmative action and age discrimination.
He has been a vocal critic of the use of young, skilled
foreign workers on short-term visas to fill jobs in the
computer industry, arguing that these jobs could be done by
older American programmers and that the foreign-born workers
are vulnerable to exploitation.

Matloff has testified before the U.S. Senate and House of
Representatives on immigration issues and has served as an
expert witness in age-discrimination lawsuits. He has advised
federal and state agencies, including the U.S. departments of
Commerce and State and the White House, on employment issues.
He has served on a number of panels and committees on
computer-industry hiring practices sponsored by industry,
academia, government and public interest groups.

He is a member of the steering committee of the Wen Ho Lee
Defense Fund, which is now working towards a presidential
pardon of the former Los Alamos scientist. Matloff also has
written and campaigned on other cases of alleged racial
discrimination against Asian Americans.

Matloff gained his Ph.D. in mathematics from UCLA in 1975 and
joined the UC Davis faculty the same year. He is a former
member of both the UC Davis and the University of
California's affirmative action committees and has been
active in minority outreach programs.

Reynoso holds the Boochever and Bird Chair for the Study and
Teaching of Freedom and Equality at the UC Davis School of
Law. In the words of his nominator, his career is "a
testament to his deep and enduring commitment to public
service."

One of the leading Chicano civil rights advocates of his
generation, he first gained national recognition fighting for
the rights of the rural poor with California Rural Legal
Assistance. After serving as a jurist with the 3rd District
Court of Appeal for California, Reynoso rose to become the
first Hispanic on the California Supreme Court, serving from
1982 to 1987.

Since 1994, Reynoso has been vice chair of the U.S.
Commission on Civil Rights. He has also served on numerous
other federal, state and professional boards and commissions
concerned with civil rights, immigration and refugee policy,
government reform, the administration of justice, legal
services for the indigent and education.

In 2000, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom,
the country's highest civilian honor, in recognition of his
lifelong devotion to public service and the Hispanic Heritage
Foundation's Hispanic Heritage Award in Education.

Since coming to UC Davis from UCLA last year, Reynoso has
been a frequent participant in campus and community events
concerned with civil rights and the Chicano/Latino community.

Tharratt serves as the medical director for Sacramento
County's Office of Emergency Medical Services; medical
adviser to the state Emergency Services Authority and Office
of Emergency Services; and medical adviser for the Sacramento
city and county fire departments. He also is a member of the
state's standing Commission on Terrorism and the FBI's
Northern California Task Force. In those roles, he is
responsible for assessing the threat of terrorist acts and
recommending the appropriate medical response.

Tharatt is medical manager for Sacramento's Urban Search and
Rescue Team Task Force 7, one of 28 specialized heavy-rescue
teams in the country. On September 11, 2001, he was part of
the team that responded to the World Trade Center attack and
spent 11 days searching for victims in the collapsed
buildings.

Tharratt was among 17 physicians and researchers who served
on a committee of the Institute of Medicine and the National
Research Council that assessed the nation's ability to
respond to biological and chemical terrorist attacks. In 2000
he participated in a two-week field exercise in Kharkov,
Ukraine, organized by the Ukrainian government and the U.S.
departments of defense and state. In 1997, he toured
Indonesia with a United Nations team evaluating poison
control, environmental assessment and food safety programs.

Note: Photographs of awardees are available. Contact Andy
Fell for details.

Media contact:
-- Andy Fell, News Service, (530) 752-4533,
ahfell@ucdavis.edu

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