On the Banks, a Rutgers Scarlet Knights community

Barchi is an idiot. Dumping Pernetti basically forces Barchi to resign too, since he either blessed the suspension w/o paying attention OR lied about seeing the tape - there's really no other possibility. What an idiot. Protecting Pernetti and letting him land a big fish coach to change the news cycle was their only hope.

How can there be a compromise though, when George Norcross wants to steal all of RU-Camden's funding, and RU doesn't want that to happen? Apparently, the answer is that Rutgers has to pay Norcross a $3m yearly blackmail tax for his bankrupt hospital. That's the cost of staying independent.

The New Jersey legislature has finally recognized the obvious: their proposed merger bill is plain unconstitutional without the approval of Rutgers University governing boards, which up to this point have largely been a bystander in the process, as the Newark and Camden delegations demanded unfair concession after unfair concession. Not only were those self-serving changes largely unacceptable to Rutgers, but the backroom politicians making those deals did not have authority to negotiate for Rutgers! Now the question becomes who blinks with Christie's July 30th deadline fast approaching. There's the old car salesman trick, where terms of a deal change at the last minute, and you go along with it anyway because you are already far too invested in negotiations. That's the pratfall that has to be avoided. Rutgers needs to be ready to walk away, because they only get one thing they want in this deal, at too high a cost. (While the original, simple Camden for UMDNJ-NB trade was unfair, it still would have been a net boon for the university.) It's time to tell Norcross off. The only part of this merger that makes any sense at all is the New Brunswick part, and that should be the only change that happens.

Rutgers announced some really exciting news today - they're going to develop lot 8 where the grease trucks already sit, along with partnering with DEVCO to buy the New Brunswick Theological Seminary site. (Don't know what's up with them, but they should probably just move to Somerset or Piscataway, somewhere like that.) Sure, people will be ticked about moving the grease trucks, but can anyone deny that there should be something more important on that spot than a parking lot? Besides, the idea of grease truck lot is a relatively recent development, with Rutgers first offering use of the site to get the trucks off of College Avenue several years back. Relatively, it's ahistorical. You should be far more upset over Rutgers paving over the spot of the first ever college football game with a parking lot. Rutgers, frankly, is cramped for space. Now they get to build two huge swaths of valuable College Avenue real estate. The seminary spot will have a brand new academic complex, lot 8 will have a new Rockoff-style (re: souped up and more expensive) dorm, and another parking deck (eh, it's needed, but these are hard to not make really ugly) is on tap as well. Update: this thread on Rivals has the goods with more details.

A SL report this morning says that the UMDNJ/Rowan mergers will be pushed back to July 2013. This is probably a combination of many factors - opposition to the Rowan plan, Newark whining about University Hospital, and RU's lawsuit threats suddenly becoming very real by hiring the likes of Neal Katyal. The report also says that, surprise surprise, the universities involved will have to pay for the mergers. The current proposal is both nonsensical and unconstitutional, so it's good to see a delay in that sense. However, the merger between Rutgers and UMDNJ in New Brunswick and Piscataway remains a vital, urgent necessity for recharging New Jersey's economy. We cannot allow that part of the process to be delayed. We just need to stop the parts of the plan that don't make sense (Norcross stealing Camden, giving Rutgers the corrupt part of UMDNJ, Newark demanding unfair payoffs) to be stopped cold. Just do the part of the plan that everyone wants to happen. Update: a corrupt backroom deal has been negotiated with the Newark delegation. The idea that there are going to be Essex County seats on the Rutgers board, or that Rutgers may be forced to take over University Hospital are mortifying. These legislators are negotiating on behalf of Rutgers when they do not have that authority! Only the university BoG does. Rutgers cannot stand idly by while these corrupt politicians try to take over our university. It's time to sue and tank this legislation once and for all. These amendments simply are not acceptable under any standard.

The gist of the statement is essentially that the current proposal is insane and a horrible deal for Rutgers, but let's talk. Obviously, you have lots of different factions at play here. Ralph Izzo on the BoG is very close to Chris Christie, but he also has to recognize how bad this deal is; but on the other hand, his loyalty is to Rutgers, not Rutgers Camden, and Izzo won't hesitate to negotiate for a better deal. On the other hand, you have Camden professors and students who are opposed to a deal under any circumstances. To them, all I can say is that if the Rutgers BoT/BoG releases a statement that does not outright dismiss the proposal, like it or not, it's time to make preparations that your campus is going to be traded for a medical school. If the deal is right, that always has been and always will be a very easy choice for Rutgers. Of course, this deal is not right, not even close. Rutgers needs to torpedo all of the Newark proposals, refuse to take on UMDNJ's debt, stop George Norcross from using the Rutgers name, extract additional financial concessions, and maybe even consolidate the law schools in New Brunswick. The Sweeney proposal could not possibly be a worse piece of legislation, which is why Loretta Weinberg's statement of praise, and support from other Senate Democrats like Paul Sarlo and Joe Vitale (a traitor to Middlesex County if there ever was one) are enough to induce vomit. As for Farmer's article, the points are correct with respect to Sweeney's awful proposal. However, as to the broader idea of separating Rutgers-Camden, I don't really agree. It's clear that Norcross U would be a clown college with no academic prestige, and it would be completely devoid of funding as all resources are shifted into debt-ridden Cooper Medical School. Therefore, there is no chance that it would pose a genuine threat to Rutgers. The thing is though that this so-called university cannot be allowed to use the Rutgers name, and that Sweeney's idea to designate Rowan as the research university for South Jersey, and Rutgers as the research university for North Jersey must be eviscerated, never to return. Now and forever, Rutgers must retain its status and sole designation the state university for all of New Jersey - regardless of whether it keeps its satellite campuses in Newark and Camden or not.

As expected, the proposal includes provisions for new governing boards in Newark and Camden, which is anathema and unacceptable to the Rutgers boards. George Norcross is still free to loot the Camden campus. Other changes include: 1. As an apparent end-run around Newark's excessive desire for political bribes, Sweeney proposes that Rutgers absorb EVERY UMDNJ asset except for University Hospital. Actually, Rutgers would not want to do this, because UMDNJ is a political patronage mill more than a medical school. It does create the super-patronage mill that Essex County politicians want though, and NJIT has to feel nervous tonight that they will be next in the crosshairs to be gobbled up. 2. In an effort to further curb RU's political independence, Stephen Sweeney's proposal would increase the size of the university's board of governors from 11 to 15 members. Sweeney does concede that the proposal will change, and Newark is definitely gearing for a fight. Now it's up to Rutgers to pit these two groups of fools against each other, and somehow get out of this mess by regaining its stolen medical school.