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Several Analyses of WBAI Local Station Board composition 2-10-03 |
Also see: Pacifica wide LSB composition chart -------------------------
From: Steffie Brooks [WBAI List-Prog slate]
Sheila and women of WOW, I have also undertaken a demographic analysis and I copy it below (scroll, scroll). I noted what Sheila points out, the underrepresentation of women in particular but other holes as well, but chose to do a comparison between the demographics of the candidates running and the demographics of the elected LSB. I found a direct correlation, except in the case of Black women, who were elected at a much lower rate than anyone else, and disabled candidates who were not elected at all. The relative lack of women, East Asians, and many other demographics on the board are a direct reflection of the lack of candidates from those groups. In turn, I believe that the lack of candidates ultimately reflect failures in programming and hiring policies at the station. Addressing these problems, rather than making cosmetic fixes to the LSB, is what we should be about, imo. Further, nobody has yet proposed a way to adjust post-election results that I believe would withstand a court challenge given that is the law of the land that numerical set-asides are illegal. I leave it to others to analyze whether the very poor showing for Black women and disabled people reflected voter bias or something else. But I believe that the Committees of Inclusion, powerful affirmative action tools written into our current bylaws, can improve our track record significantly. The COIs are empowered to monitor the candidate pool for LSB and national PNB elections, among other powers, and to do outreach to increase the diversity of the candidate pool. Okay, here goes my data and analysis. If you want the data in a Word document (much easiesr to read) email me and I will send it to you .....
Steffie
When you look at the demographics of the candidates and the demographics of the people elected to the LSB, some very clear patterns emerge. First of all, there were 24 seats to be divided among 70 candidates, so if there were no bias at all in the elections (coins were flipped) each candidate would have a .343 (24/70) or 34% chance of being elected, or about a third of the candidates running would be elected. . This held true for white candidates. 12 out of 40 white candidates running were elected = 30 %. And the figures were the same for white men and white women. Among Black candidates, 46 % of the men who ran were elected but only 20 % of the women who ran were elected. Half of all Laltnos and Latinas who ran were elected. One out of 4 Asians running were elected (or 25%) and the runner-up for the listener seat was an Asian woman. Half of Native people running were elected. Two out of 5 "out" GLBT candidates were elected, both men. Two out of 3 GLBT men were elected. 0 out of 2 GLBT women were elected. 0 out of 4 people who claimed disabilities were elected. My conclusion is that the demographics of the LSB flows pretty directly from the demographics of the candidate pool, except in the case of Black women who were elected at proportions way lower than anyone else and disabled candidates, none of whom were elected.
Steffie
Candidates (Listener)
GLBT 1 1 2
Candidates (Staff)
GLBT 2 1 3
======
Elected (Listener & Staff)
Listener Staff Listener Staff
GLBT 0 2 0 0
=========
#Elected / #Running (Listeners/Staff Combined)
GLBT 2 3 0 2
=============
(but if you include Yvonne Liu, the runner-up, it becomes 2/4 -- 2 women out of 2, 0 men out of 2) 1/2 = 50 % Native people elected/Native people running (1 man) 2/5 = 40 % GLBT elected/GLBT running (both men) 0/4 = 0 % Disabled elected/Disabled running --The End of Steffie's Transmission --
From: Shiela Hamanaka [WBAI Justice & Unity slate supporter]
Attention: scroll down for analysis of elections. The new LSB is two thirds male. I hope the women on this list who opposed affirmative action remedies will think about what this means for women. Next time, please support the demand for affirmative action to be put into the bylaws (and puh-leese, don't try to claim they are there, There is NO REMEDY IN PLACE TO CORRECT THIS ATROCIOUS IMBALANCE ON THE BOARD.)
Or, perhaps some think it was simply a case of "may the best
man win" and
want to continue their mindless worship of "the sanctity of the
vote".
Sadly, some white women who may be appalled at the gender
imbalance on the
LSB fail to see this situation from the POV of people of color.
For
example, I was often mocked for decrying the lack of Asian
representation on
the Pacifica boards. Now, once again, there are no East Asians
on any
boards. We are lumped together into the "POC" or "people of
color" lump.
Please scroll down for:
1. UNOFFICIAL ELECTION RESULTS for Listener and STAFF
elections.
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO SUPPORTED THE *JUSTICE AND UNITY CAMPAIGN*! I have noted the members of the *JUC* slate in the unofficial results below. Unfortunately, the campaign was marred by unequal access by all candidates to the membership (List-Prog, the anti-affirmative action slate with financial backing from millionaire Steve Brown, sent out a mass mailing, and of course Gary Null's own Producer Paul DiRienzo unbelievably won a Listener seat. DiRienzo was a shameless Coup Supporter who had the gall to simultaneously run for the board AND organize a BOYCOTT of the fund drive!!!) 1. UNOFFICIAL ELECTION RESULTS ARE IN! Scroll down for Listener and STAFF elections. WBAI Listener-Sponsor Delegate Election Results These nine members were elected as Listener-Sponsor D8egates for terms expiring December 2006. [Note: listed in order, with highest vote-getter first]
These nine members were elected as Listener-Sponsor Delegates for terms expiring December 2004. Kathy Goldman ELECTED -- 45th round Patty Heffley ELECTED -- 45th round Zara Khan ELECTED -- 50th round *JUSTICE & UNITY Berthold Riemers ELECTED -- 50th round Alex Steinberg ELECTED -- 50th round Luanne Pennesi ELECTED -- 50th round Vincente Alba-Pana. ELECTED -- 54th round *JUSTICE & UNITY Robert (Bob) Owens ELECTED -- 54th round Alice Shields ELECTED -- 54th round This member is the next in line as a replacement Delegate for any listener-seat vacated prior to the next election. Yvonne Liu *JUSTICE & UNITY These three staff members were elected as Staff Delegates for terms expiring December 2006.
Bob Lederer ELECTED -- 9th round *JUSTICE & UNITY
These three staff members were elected as Staff Delegates for terms expiring December 2004.
R. Paul Martin ELECTED -- 13th round
This staff member is the next in line as a replacement Delegate for any staff seat vacated prior to the next election. David Occhiuto
Terry Bouricius
2. PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS OF RESULTS BY RACE AND GENDER, etc by the JUC. Here is the preliminary Demographic analysis of WBAI results, according to the Justice & Unity Campaign. Our decision to support affirmative action remedies was a sound one. Just look at the ratio of men to women. There is NOT ONE PERSON WITH A DISABILITY on the new board. No East Asians. Only 3 Latinos in a city that is 25% Latino (and growing). Only one person under 30. Race & gender breakdown of the new LSB: Gender: 8 women, 16 men - that is, 33% vs. 66% - a terrible, imbalanced composition.
Race: 12 people of color, 12 whites, or 50-50%. This matches
the
Census data for our signal area (see below), but we all know
how
notoriously the Census undercounts poor people, people of
color, and
undocumented immigrant. Plus the breakdown within the 50%
is grossly
inadequate:
To our knowledge, the other demographics are as follows (we
may be
corrected):
From: Berthold Reimers [WBAI List-Prog slate]
Name|Years|Race|Sex|Slate
Shawn Rhodes 3 B M Independent
Listener/Member representatives: 11 males & 7 Females: 1 Female Arab (J&UC); 3 black male (J&UC); 1 black male (List-Prog); 1 black male (PRS); 1 hispanic female (J&UC); 1 hispanic male (J&UC); 1 hispanic male (List-Prog); 1 white female (Gary null); 1 white female (Independent); 2 white female (List-Prog); 1 white female (PRS); 1 white male (Garu Null); 2 white male (List-Prog); 1 white male (PRS). 9 whites; 1 arab, 3 hispanics & 5 blacks. That means: 50% whites; 16% hispanics; 5.5% arab; 27.78% black and 61% male & 39% female. Let us compare this to the % of candidates who ran: 56.6% white (22.64% female & 33.96% male); 5.66% arabs (3.77% female & 1.89% male); 28.3% black (11.3% male & 17% male); 9.43% hispanis (3.77% female & 5.66% male) So 56% wite ran & 50% whites were elected; 16% hispanics ran & 9.43% hispanics were elected; 5.5% arabs ran & 5.66% arabs were elected; 27.78% blacks ran & 28.3% blacks were elected. Conclusions: 6% less whites were elected than the proportion that ran; 6.57% less hispanics were elected than the proportion that ran; 0.16% more arabs were elected than the proportion that ran; 0.55% more blacks were elected than the proportion that ran. The hispanics & whites were the two groups that received a lower proportion of elected members to their candidate representation and the % was taken by blacks and arab/asians. 41.51% of those running were female and 39% were elected and 58.49% of those running were male & 61% were elected. So, proportional representation is not so bad. Berthold Reimers -------------------------- Also see: Pacifica wide LSB composition chart |
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