Columnists Paid Well For Doing Little

**I'm going to send this to Des Moines Register**

Dear Editor,

I'm not sure what the point of John Carlson's August 15th Column was supposed to be, but his attempt to tie in the abuses of tenure with overly generous family leave to the attempts to sell the Pollock was a worthy attempt that ultimately fell flat.

I agree with Mr. Carlson on the first two points- I grew up in Iowa City, so I'm perfectly aware of how cloying and irritatingly liberal of a community it can be. I'm far from being a Republican, but Iowa City tends to go the other direction to extremes sometimes.

On the issue of tenure: it's wrong to smack the University of Iowa around for that- I don't know who invented the idea of tenure, but it sounds like a pretty cool insurance policy against doing anything much at all. And Professor Miller, I think, should be put on unpaid leave not paid leave- especially given the seriousness of the allegations leveled against him. But again- it's the problem for academia at large, not just Iowa.

On the semester-long family leave: a wee bit excessive. A month, sure. Six weeks, why not? But a semester? That's a little extreme.

Carlson totally rides his column off the rails, however, when it comes to the sale of the Pollock. The real question isn't just about how to rebuild communities shattered by the devastating floods, it's about bringing people (and money) back to those communities. The University's collection, with the Pollock as it's centerpiece might not be a massive draw for people to Eastern Iowa- but I know that over my five years of working at the University, people would come from all around the country just to see that one piece. Selling it either to pay for flood damage (whether that can be done is another question entirely) or to build a new Museum may be tempting in the face of what we're trying to rebuild, but why sell the one piece that could be the biggest draw in a new Museum?

No, the hard questions to be asked are entirely different: why didn't the University put this Museum and it's incredible collection front and center to bring people and tourists to the community? Why wasn't the Museum in many major tour guides? Why was it so hard to find? The Museum (and the Pollock) were amongst the best-kept secrets of Iowa City.

And it's past time to give the Collection the kind of Museum it really deserves- and before people are quick to condemn the use of resources for 'art', just consider the question- how are we to bring people back to these communities? A rebuilt Museum could be one such draw. Rebuilding the Czech and Slovak Museum in Cedar Rapids- and all these cultural assets could prove key to bringing people back. Don't be so quick to throw that chance away.

Yours,
Tom Nixon