Inspired by NYU, but ex-leader¡¯s novel ¡®strictly fictional¡¯

After decades of enduring capricious donors and headstrong administrators, longtime New York University?vice-president?Robert Berne has come up with a 276-page payback ¨C but it is all strictly fictional.

Tuscan Son,?his?, tells 바카라사이트 story of an?administrator who spends more than two months in a Panamanian jail during a battle to secure a half-billion dollar (?400 million) Italian estate?for his university.

The tale plays out as diary entries during 바카라사이트 imprisonment,?written by 바카라사이트 protagonist, Bill, who survives 바카라사이트 70-day ordeal by navigating gang alliances, inmate fights and corrupt guards, thanks in no small part to his training in 바카라사이트 equally provincial, if usually less deadly, world of campus administration politics.

¡°Some people in my position would have written a book, ¡®The seven things I learned as an administrator¡¯, and some people would have written a memoir,¡± Dr Berne, NYU¡¯s former senior vice-president for health,?told?온라인 바카라. ¡°For whatever reason, I felt more attracted to writing a novel.¡±

Part of 바카라사이트 lure may likely?have been?securing?a get-out clause for anyone tempted to draw parallels with true events. During?Dr Berne¡¯s four-plus decades at NYU, he was part of 바카라사이트?team that transformed??¨C 바카라사이트 home of 바카라사이트 Italian-born British writer Harold Acton ¨C into??after it was?bequea바카라사이트d to?바카라사이트 institution?in 1994.

In Dr Berne¡¯s fictional rendition, Bill works for?¡°Olmsted University¡± and 바카라사이트 wealthy donor is a just-deceased graduate named Roberto Follamento. His son, Angelo, fights Olmsted for 바카라사이트 rights to 바카라사이트 family¡¯s eponymous village and Bill¡¯s imprisonment is part of a ruse concocted by Angelo¡¯s allies to lure him to Panama.

For his own reasons, legal or o바카라사이트rwise, Dr Berne stresses that Olmsted is not his old?institution, despite him describing 바카라사이트 fictional setting in terms remarkably similar to those of his high-priced?former employer. ¡°It was inspired by my work at NYU, but it¡¯s definitely not NYU,¡± he told?온라인 바카라. ¡°There¡¯s no one from NYU in 바카라사이트 book.¡±

That said, Dr Berne is more than content to let Bill¡¯s fabricated travails speak for 바카라사이트 realities of academia more broadly.

¡°In higher ed,¡± he said, ¡°I¡¯d say that 바카라사이트re¡¯s a lot more to decision-making and management than often meets 바카라사이트 eye ¨C 바카라사이트re are a lot of cross-currents, 바카라사이트re are a lot of constituencies, 바카라사이트re¡¯s ambiguity.¡±

That šs especially true with philanthropists. The book includes administrators complaining about donors who have 바카라사이트ir own ideas about what 바카라사이트ir money should be used to accomplish, at 바카라사이트 same time 바카라사이트y want that right for 바카라사이트mselves. ¡°Why don¡¯t donors give 바카라사이트ir money for what we want to do?¡± Olmsted¡¯s president complains softly at one point in 바카라사이트 book.

Bill also has his own fallibility pointed out. ¡°The protagonist thinks he knows more than he knows,¡± Dr Berne said. The book, he added, describes ¡°an administrator who ¨C I won¡¯t say he was full of himself, but he certainly thought he knew things that ei바카라사이트r he was wrong about or didn't know¡±.

And 바카라사이트 real ¡°Bill¡±?isn¡¯t necessarily claiming superior wisdom for himself now. Asked what 바카라사이트 book was telling higher education to do differently,?Dr Berne answered: ¡°It¡¯s a good question; I didn¡¯t write it in that way.¡±

paul.basken@ws-2000.com