Pity poor David Rosen. The long-suffering Director of Public Relations sits in his office with a perpetual scowl etched on his face as he attempts to staunch the never-ending deluge of PR disasters dropped in his lap by the powers that be. The unfolding MTA mess is only the latest example of mismanagement so blatantly imbecilic and ill-thought out, that, institutionally, this university is beginning to resemble a macabre three-ring circus with perpetual lunacy as the main attraction.

I am not a Human Resources expert. My solitary semester of Management I certainly does not qualify me as all-knowing in the fields of employee and public relations. I am just a simple student who stands back incredulously and watches in sheer amazement as the upper echelon of the administration stumbles around like a blind drunk in a maze looking for a way out. The magnitude of the mistakes being made is so great, the blatant fumbling and blundering are so obviously apparent, that I sometimes feel like a character trapped in a Franz Kafka nightmare.

Why should I care? I am not a MTA legacy child. My grandfather did not learn at Rav Moshe Soleveitchik's knee, nor do I have an uncle who will be left unemployed if the school closes. In all honesty, I don't have strong feelings about the high school one way or another and its existence or lack thereof really has no impact on my life whatsoever. For heaven's sake, I'm from California.

But I love this place. I love this institution and the values for which it purportedly stands. The positive potential contained within this university, this yeshiva - whether academic, religious, social or scholarly - is basically limitless. YU can be on the cutting edge of both the Jewish and secular worlds; it can lead the way by bravely blazing the path so others may follow; it can set the courageous example for the rest of the flock to emulate; yet instead, this great ship floats rudderless on the high seas. That hurts. It really hurts. It is exceeding painful for me personally to watch this once-great institution become the dysfunctional laughingstock of the Jewish world. It is with shame and embarrassment that I have to answer people who inquire, not about the glory of YU, not about the wonderful innovations in scholarship and learning, but rather about the latest scandal or political brouhaha that has erupted in the pages of The Jewish Week. To watch this institution be dragged down into the mud time and time again for no other reason than petty personal vendettas and half-witted cockamamie posturing, is torture of the worst kind.

Therefore, I feel compelled to speak out. I do so with a sense of pained filial bewilderment, like a child who for the first time finds out that his father is fallible. I consider Rabbi Norman Lamm a great man and respect him immensely. He is the father of this institution, spiritually and physically. As both president and Rosh HaYeshiva, he is supposed to lead and direct us in the proper direction, ensuring that the University maintains the straight and true course while keeping the institutional keel pointed well into the future. Hence, the blame for the current fiasco rests solely upon his doorstep.

That said, how does an issue that was really nothing but a minor annoyance in the greater scheme of things become a conflagration so great it mobilizes students, faculty, parents and the broader Jewish community, and publically leaves YU with egg all over its face? Anyone observing the mishandling of the MTA situation should have a perfect primer on how to really, really screw something up.

Note to self: when making decisions, do not get all the facts and speak to others who can advise and counsel you with logical guidance that is not emotionally or personally tainted. What ever decision you do eventually make, be sure not to stick to it. Waffle, waver, and vacillate. Whatever you do, publically cave in to pressure and appear indecisive and out of control. This leads to more confusion and dissension within the ranks, ultimately creating anarchy.

Yet that is only the beginning. After being humbled and cowed, attempt to backtrack upon yourself, frantically dissembling while desperately searching for a face-saving way out of the slop you jumped into. Postpone your decision and dump the matter on a committee, when the outcome of the committee's decision is well known before it will ever be received. Enlist various ineffective administrators to analyze the issue and call them "liaisons" and "consultants." You will then have all the pieces in place to perform your very own Hindenburg re-enactment.

That sounds pretty nutty, no? Yet that is basically the exact chronology of the decision making process concerning MTA.

But it didn't stop there. One would think that the administration would have learned a lesson, gotten its fingers burned, and have retreated somewhere to lick its wounds. The logical thing would have been to stabilize the situation, reassure parents and students that their school would still exist, and attempt to right the course. Naah. The story gets better and better, to the point where the entire leadership of this school now resembles one big Chinese fire drill.

They went ahead and fired Rabbi Michael Taubes, the principal of MTA, who was seen by both parents and students as dedicated and committed to achieving excellence. (The obvious impetus appears to be a letter Taubes wrote to The Jewish Week defending the school and decrying the bumbling way the university went about its business. Hey Mr. Bockstein, can you spell lawsuit?) And how was the good rabbi informed of this decision? Over the phone! Common decency, let alone mentchlichkiet, would seem to indicate you at least give the man the courtesy of telling it to his face.

Compounding this gross breach of manners and intelligence, the university contacted various teachers and rabbis to inform them that they would have nothing to worry about concerning future employment, leaving others hanging in the breach. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Now they have an uproar on their hands. If you want to prune dead wood, that's fine, but do it with a little seichel, a modicum of discretion and put some thought into it. Why give indication that you are contemplating serious personnel changes while classes are still in session and students are still on campus to raise a ruckus? And two weeks before Pesach!! It boggles the mind.

To top off this sad litany of lunacy , they proceeded to disband the high school's board of trustees. That must have seemed like a sure-fire way to reassure parents and show everyone that business would continue as usual. And how did Elliot Gibber, the board's chairman and a tireless defender of the school, find out about the dissolution of his board? According to MTA sources, Gibber was approached by a high school student at a Sarachek Tournament game who wished to express his condolences upon Gibber being fired. That came as quite a shock to Mr. Gibber, because that was apparently the first he had ever heard of it. It is a sad day in YU history when a tenth-grader knows about a board chairman's removal before the chairman himself does.

When will this madness end? How much longer must this great institution be reduced to a running joke that could have been scripted by an inebriated half-wit dwarf? The entire decision making process is flawed - one need look no farther than MTA to see the sad sorry state of YU.