Long day, then sundown

At the top of the grade, just after old Hamilton Truck Trail, I saw the spooky old trees to the left, just as the sun was going down, and the hills looked old and strange and full of Mystery History, which I love.

I had my camera, so I stopped, parked my Chrysler along Live Oak, walked across the road.

It was too late for my flash to do any good, so I took a few shots, holding the camera as still as possible.

Here's one of those old trees, next to some spooky old grass, on this spooky old night. Ain't much of a photograph, I know, but, I tell you, there's something weird and wonderful about this old tree with its big branches and frizzy, tiny micro-branches, right there where the old stagecoaches used to come and go up in these old hills, one hundred years ago.

Good multicultural vibe at the "Learning Center" celebration/lunch

It was in that whizz-bang room on the top floor of the Library.

The student at left demonstrated his Japanese speaking and bowing. Others told tales of Center wonderfulness and fabulousness.

Irvine Valley College's Learning Center held a "multicultural" celebration and lunch in that wacky whizz-bang room up on the second floor of the Library today. The Chancellor, the college President, the Dean, and the people who run the center (Bob Kopecky and Larisa Sergeyeva--see above) made brief presentations, as did various faculty and students who regularly use the center.

Japanese language instructor Fumiko Ishii had lots to say about the Center and its usefulness.

Karima, Larisa, and Bob (formerly "Park Ranger Kopecky").

Judging by the turnout and smiley faces, the event was a huge success. I had to leave half way into it (to teach), and, by then, there were lots more attendees than seats. A crowd had squeazed together in the hallway outside the room, creating a dynamic that threatened to tear down the back wall and initiate a domino effect that, no doubt, would have resulted in the end of civilization as we know it.

Yeah, but that didn't happen, as far as I know. A good time was had by all.


MEANWHILE, over near B200, I noticed that yet another sculpture had materialized on campus. It would seem to be part of IVC's "First Bi-Annual Outdoor Sculpture Invitational."

The good news: I like it

The bad news: I'm told that a really nice tree had to be removed to locate the sculpture in this prime location. D'oh!

There will be an "Open Gallery Reception & Meet the Artists Walking Tour" on Wednesday, May 13, at the IVC A Quad.

Bean packing plant in Irvine (Tia Juana's)

A few weeks ago, I posted the above picture of an "Irvine bean packing plant," which I found in the OC Almanac (OC Public Library). It seemed to me that this is the structure one finds today along Sand Canyon and interstate 5 and houses, among other things, Tia Juana’s Long Bar and Restaurante. So, I dropped by there today and took this pic:

Looks like a match to me. (The train tracks are on the other side of the building, which is unaccessible.)

I Googled Tia Juana's and found the site for the restaurant. There, we're told:

Tia Juana’s was the perfect fit for the 1885 lima bean warehouse. Once the center of the vast Irvine Ranch, the warehouse was originally built to process the lima beans which were grown on what is now El Toro Marine Base. At harvest time, as many as 200,000 hundred-pound sacks of lima beans would be shipped all over the world from the rail line at the back of the building.

As agriculture gave way to the high-tech urban Orange County, the warehouse was restored and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Tia Juana’s Long Bar and Restaurante moved in that same year [1986], using great care to preserve the original character of the building. Even when new touches, such as the murals that are painted on the walls, were added, they were installed on new wood, which overlays the old, leaving the walls intact. Most of the original equipment is located throughout the building and stored in the loft overhead.

While the ranch hands of a hundred years ago would indeed be surprised at how the building is being used today, we believe they would approve and would enjoy Tia Juana’s, as we hope you are.

Elsewhere on the site, we're told that the "bean and grain storage warehouse" was built in 1895, the blacksmith's shop was built c. 1916, and the hotel was built c. 1913. The site includes the following photos:

Old Town Irvine, across from Tia Juana's, this afternoon

Community colleges go prime time

This morning’s Inside Higher Ed reports on a new NBC comedy about lovable losers at a fictional community college. (Poking Fun at Community Colleges.)

…Monday, NBC announced its fall lineup, including “Community,” a comedy about a lovable group of "losers" at Greendale Community College, a fictional two-year institution. The show comes from the creative minds of Joe and Anthony Russo, who won Emmy Awards for directing several episodes of the now-defunct Fox sitcom “Arrested Development.”

“It's been said that community college is a ‘halfway school’ for losers, a self esteem workshop for newly divorced housewives, and a place where old people go to keep their minds active as they circle the drain of eternity,” reads a network description of the show. “Well, at Greendale Community College ... that's all true.”

The show will star Joel McHale (of “The Soup”) and Chevy Chase (of nothing). Chase plays a perpetual student.

Naturally, many community college leaders are pissed about this. But some aren’t. Betty K. Young, President of Houston Community College’s Coleman College for Health Sciences, declares

“It could be a great statement about the role that community colleges play in society,” Young said. “A few years ago, people pretended that we didn’t exist. Now, we’re going to become a prime-time television show. That’s amazing, and it’s recognition that community colleges are a uniquely American institution.”

Drat! I guess NBC didn’t like my idea about a loveable bunch of community college instructors struggling to rid their district of a ruthless and incompetent chancellor and the clueless right-wing board that perpetually supports him.

Too real, I guess.

End of Semester Follies

It's the end of the semester.

This means that students are rustling through the hallways, searching for instructors whose last names they can't remember ("Mac, Mac, Mac - something," sputtered one. "He's an old guy.") and faculty offices they've never visited before ("Can I walk in here?" asked another, pointing to the general office area.)

The flurry of celebration invitations and announcements has become an avalanche in the virtual email box (jazz picnics! banquets! retirement parties! retirement receptions! transfer celebrations! art walks! multicultural menus! dance concerts! fairs! commencement!) What's a girl to do?

Ah yes, the signs of the season are here.

Along with the season, some questions have come our way.

Rebel Girl can't answer them but maybe you can.

Number One: A quick search of the college website reveals no announcements about the ever popular end-of-the-semester Scholarship Awards ceremeony where a parade of our best and brightest receive big checks. It could be that the announcement was lost in the previously mentioned avalanche but now more than a few student applicants have asked Rebel Girl about it. It could be that all of Rebel Girl's students are losers and the losers along with their instructors aren't told about the ceremeony. Harumph. But faculty who have written a dozen of so letters of recomendation deserve to know if they need to arrange for childcare or other plans in order to attend. When is the shin-dig scheduled?

Number 2: For some faculty, questions remain about the efficacy of the college's Early College Program at neighboring high schools. There are special concerns and questions about the teaching of particular biology courses to such a young audience.

Number 3: Some people remain curous about the reasons the flag was flown at half-mast for about a week in mid-semester. Any ideas?

Number 4: Will shrimp be served at the faculty reception before commencement?

Number 5: Will the chancellor's commencement speech be its usual stew of Bartlett's Quotations meets Hallmark? Rumor has it that someone is running a pool about the number of quotations Raghu will use in his speech. Rebel Girl heard that last year's winner walked away with $175 - not bad for a five dollar investment. The winning number last year? 15!


UPDATE:

I think it is only fair to note that a notice regarding the Scholarship event (see below) did in fact go out on Fri 3/27/2009 @ 11:01 AM. This has been verified. See below. --RB

Team Epoxy

Raghu Mathur is the kind of guy who’ll hear a stupid joke or saying and then repeat it for decades.

I first met the fellow in 1986 or 1987 during some kind of accreditation organizational meeting at IVC. I do believe that the first thing I heard him say was: “If you point your finger at people, three fingers point back at you!”

I remember him trotting out that ”pointing finger” cliché when he was illegally appointed interim President of IVC in 1997. It was especially hard to take ‘cause, by then, it had become clear to me how essential to his being finger-pointing is. He pointed at me a lot.

Then, years later, when he became Chancellor (after pointedly suing the district for failing to protect him from me when he sued me and lost in the countersuit), he pulled out that finger again, and he said those stupid words anew.

It’s not just the finger. Remember when Raghu discovered Thomas Friedman’s The World is Flat? Good Lord, he wouldn’t stop talking about that damned book. He brought it up at every occasion for several years, plus he forced every single one of his lackeys and underlings to read the damned thing. (I do believe that the HS 3rd Floor’s well-known antipathy for the New York Times derives from the Friedman episode.)

This reminds me of a family I knew when I was a kid. They discovered epoxy—admittedly cool stuff—and the event struck a chord so deep in that family’s soul that, for them, it replaced God. Something broken? Get out the epoxy! Loose tooth? Get out the epoxy! Soup too thin? Why, get out the epoxy! It’s good for everything! After a while, they lost their friends and moved to Vegas.

We appear to have passed through the “”World is Flat” phase and have now entered the “everything is a team” phase.

A friend of mine dropped by today and speculated that Raghu must’ve read a book about teams.

“What makes you say that?”

“Do you remember Raghu’s ‘District Management Council’”?

“Yeah?”

“Well, that morphed into the ‘District Leadership Council’—the DLC—and that finally became the ‘District Leadership Team’.”

“OK. So?”

“So there’s also the ‘Chancellor’s Executive Committee,’ or CEC. That, I’m told, has now been renamed the ‘Chancellor’s Executive Team.’”

Gotta go. I’m the Instructional Delivery Team (IDT) for this morning’s Introductory Student Philosophical Informational Reception Team (ISPIRT).

Go team.

New Class! ENG 371WR

Just in time to help us through these last weeks of the never-ending semester, McSweeney's offers a new course to consider.

Check it out.

It's bound to be popular.

ENG 371WR:
Writing for Nonreaders in the Postprint Era
M-W-F: 11:00 a.m.–12:15 p.m.
Instructor: Robert Lanham

Course Description
As print takes its place alongside smoke signals, cuneiform, and hollering, there has emerged a new literary age, one in which writers no longer need to feel encumbered by the paper cuts, reading, and excessive use of words traditionally associated with the writing trade. Writing for Nonreaders in the Postprint Era focuses on the creation of short-form prose that is not intended to be reproduced on pulp fibers.

Instant messaging. Twittering. Facebook updates. These 21st-century literary genres are defining a new "Lost Generation" of minimalists who would much rather watch Lost on their iPhones than toil over long-winded articles and short stories. Students will acquire the tools needed to make their tweets glimmer with a complete lack of forethought, their Facebook updates ring with self-importance, and their blog entries shimmer with literary pithiness. All without the restraints of writing in complete sentences. w00t! w00t! Throughout the course, a further paring down of the Hemingway/Stein school of minimalism will be emphasized, limiting the superfluous use of nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, conjunctions, gerunds, and other literary pitfalls.

Prerequisites

Students must have completed at least two of the following.

ENG: 232WR—Advanced Tweeting: The Elements of Droll
LIT: 223—Early-21st-Century Literature: 140 Characters or Less
ENG: 102—Staring Blankly at Handheld Devices While Others Are Talking
ENG: 301—Advanced Blog and Book Skimming
ENG: 231WR—Facebook Wall Alliteration and Assonance
LIT: 202—The Literary Merits of Lolcats
LIT: 209—Internet-Age Surrealistic Narcissism and Self-Absorption

Sample assignment:

Week 8: New Rules

Students will analyze the publishing industry and learn how to be more innovative than the bards of yesteryear. They'll be asked to consider, for instance, Thomas Pynchon. How much more successful would Gravity's Rainbow have been if it were two paragraphs long and posted on a blog beneath a picture of scantily clad coeds? And why not add a Google search box? Or what if Susan Sontag had friended 10 million people on Facebook and then published a shorter version of The Volcano Lover as a status update: "Susan thinks a volcano is a great metaphor for primal passion. Also, streak of my hair turning white—d'oh!"

To read more, click here.

More old Orange County pics

Santa Ana: c. 1930
(Click on the photos to enlarge)

I found these photos at two websites: City of Anaheim: historic Anaheim photos & Santa Ana History. Check' em out.

The above 1926 photo is explained as follows:

"Bernardo Antonio Yorba adobe residence, known as "San Antonio", built ca. 1834 on his Rancho Canon de Santa Ana in Santa Ana Canyon; two-story home had 30 rooms for the large Yorba family as well as many rancho workers... image shows ruins of two-story adobe building, several columns along street; two men [one possibly Samuel Kraemer?], standing behind an automobile parked on the street, are pointing to large portion of demolished wall; telephone poles and two oil drilling platforms visible in background; adobe demolished March 11, 1926 by Samuel Kraemer."

They demolished it? Of course they did.

Here's what the adobe looked like in 1881 and then in about 1920:

CLICK ON THE PICS!

Santa Ana, c. 1920

Anaheim, c. 1887. Description:

"View of West Center Street (later Lincoln Ave.); image shows Center Street looking west, a dirt street flanked with telephone poles and hitching posts; Metz Block building is visible to the left, and the Federman Block building, telegraph office, post office and Paul A. Derge drug store visible to the right; a horse-drawn carriage is on the right and a horse-drawn streetcar in the background; the Anaheim Streetcar Company, [Theodore Rimpau, president] operated from January, 1887, until the fall of 1899; the tracks were removed in 1901; signage on facade of building at far right reads "PAUL A. DERG[E] / MEDICAL HA [...]" above a sign that reads "[...illeg.] TELEPHONE"

1899:

"Anaheim City Hall and business block, Anaheim; image shows second City Hall, located on Center Street (later Lincoln Ave.), constructed in 1892, with tower in center of building; also housed the Anaheim police and fire departments; other buildings visible to the right of City Hall are identified as Anaheim Realty Co., Dr. W.H. Syer Physician, dentistry, and a hardware store; telephone pole visible at the right and horse-drawn carriage at far right; muddy road and sidewalk visible in foreground."

Anaheim: great flood of 1938

Anaheim, 1899:

"Metz Block building, built in 1889 and located at 106 S. Los Angeles St. (later Anaheim Blvd.); image shows two-story brick facade...; various store signage reads, from left to right "STAPLE HARDWARE CROCKERY GLASSWARE TINWARE AGATEWARE, ETC.", "L.E. MILLER HARDWARE" and "PACIFIC LODGING HOUSE"; visible at top of the building is "1889" and METZ BLOCK;" visible at extreme left is the Candy Kitchen, and at extreme right is C.H. Schaefer Cabinet Maker and the Anaheim Bakery."

Anaheim 4th of July parade, c. 1901

Trustees are clueless

WORKIN’. Is it just me, or is this an especially busy semester?

Last week, I—and five or six other instructors, among others—finished work on a search for IVC’s first full-time Film Studies instructor. That went very well, I think. With any luck, we’ll hire someone soon and great things will begin to happen in the area of Film (and TV, etc.), starting in the Fall.

Yesterday, I finished work on a search for an Art History/Museum hire. That went well, too, I think. The committee was terrific. (Next come the second-level interviews.)

Most of my colleagues have been on at least one of these search committees in recent months, and some of us have been on two or three or more. The paper screening alone can take twenty or more hours. And it’s tedious, boy. Then come the interviews and deliberations, which can take days. (I recall one committee I served on that did its interviews for two days on the weekend.)

During this last semester, I've chaired two student grievance committees, a task the involves setting up meetings, writing letters, and whatnot. (Like service on search committees, such work is uncompensated.) Many of my colleagues regularly do this kind of work, which can be difficult.

At the last board meeting, on Monday, Trustee Tom Fuentes—who once complained about instructors’ alleged 36-hour work week—was perplexed when he learned that faculty go through something like 1000 curriculum changes per year (at IVC alone). IVC Academic Senate Prez Wendy G, among others, tried to explain this to him.

The fact is that most of our district’s trustees haven’t a clue what instructors do.

Last year, Board President Don Wagner worked with a team of faculty (among others) on our college’s accreditation problems. His exposure to faculty over those many months led him to a new appreciation of IVC personnel. To his credit, since that time, he has gone out of his way to praise and appreciate these people. His “eyes have been opened,” he said.

That’s great. But Don has been on the board since freakin’ 1998. How can it be that our faculty’s virtue, earnestness, and hard work have come to his attention only recently?

Hey trustees! I hereby invite you to a ride-along! Wanna experience my day? Wanna know what people like me really do?


You don’t have to hang with me, of course. I’m sure that many faculty at IVC and Saddleback would be more than pleased to have you tag along.

–And don’t forget to come home with us, too, to watch us process a huge pile of student writing. It'll be like watchin' paint dry.

COLLEGE PAPERS:

Once in a while, I check out the local college papers.

This time, I didn’t find much.

This story from the Lariat is pretty old, but it’s interesting:

Saddleback College Lariat: Author [Anouar Majid of the University of New England] says dissent is good for U.S.

“We need free thinkers in society,” Majid said. “We need heretics.” ¶ According to Majid, we should reject our “culture of obedience”and think for ourselves. For Majid, this means questioning how the Bible became a published book or why God allegedly spoke to only a handful of prophets.

Yes, dissent is good. We’ve always said so here at, um, Dissent.


Here’s proof that virtually nothing ever happens at OCC. One of their paper’s big stories is:

The OCC Coast Report: Faculty upset by campus policy

Orange Coast College faculty members are rallying behind Literature and Languages division secretary Betty Rodriguez, who is being required to pay for keys stolen in a recent theft. ¶ English department faculty members are circulating a petition condemning the OCC policy that requires Rodriguez to pay for keys stolen out of the Literature and Languages buildings.

Yep, a slow news day.

Gosh, Tom, are you sorry?

• The OC Reg reports that, according to a federal court, Mission Viejo history teacher James Corbett violated the First Amendment when making comments in his history class disparaging Christians and Christianity.

…Corbett, a 20-year teacher at Capistrano Valley High School, was found guilty of referring to Creationism as “religious, superstitious nonsense” during a 2007 classroom lecture, denigrating his former Advanced Placement European history student, Chad Farnan.
…
"Corbett states an unequivocal belief that Creationism is 'superstitious nonsense,'" U.S. District Court Judge James Selna said in a 37-page ruling released from his Santa Ana courtroom. "The court cannot discern a legitimate secular purpose in this statement, even when considered in context."
…
The establishment clause prohibits the government from making any law "respecting an establishment of religion" and has been interpreted by U.S. courts to also prohibit government employees from displaying religious hostility. (See High school teacher guilty of insulting Christians.)

Naturally Farnan’s attorney (of Advocates for Faith & Freedom) was thrilled.

Still to be determined is whether Corbett (or his school district) will be required to pay damages and attorney’s fees.

SEE ALSO: Judge swings both ways (OC Weekly)

• According to the Reg, Irvine cops are asking citizens to identify a thief. (See Police ask public’s help in search for Irvine office thief.)

Apparently, the guy (see pic of suspect at left) has taken wallets, cash, and credit cards in office buildings near the 405 and Jamboree.

He looks pretty dapper for a guy who steals wallets for a living.

• The OC Weekly’s Matt Coker notes that OC Reg editorialist Steven Greenhut is taking former Sheriff Carona’s big Republican supporters to task for their fair-weather friendship and silence, now that the Mikester is headed for the Big House. (See Greenhut Praises Moxley, Blasts Carona's Disappeared Defenders.)

Writes Greenhut,

It would be nice to read what Carona's staunchest GOP defenders have to say now about the conviction and sentencing. Were they duped? Are they sorry? Is this merely a case of prosecutorial abuse? Do they still think Carona epitomizes GOP values? Did they just not see the other side of Mike? Did they know about how he was running the department? Were they simply doing the bidding of the party?

Among the Mikester’s staunchest supporters has been our own Trustee Tom Fuentes, who made sure that “America’s sheriff” made Irvine Valley College his second home.

Gosh, Tom, were you duped? Are you sorry?

In particular, are you sorry that you have once again tarnished the image of Irvine Valley College and the SOCCCD?

SEE A pious Mike Carona at IVC, 9-11-07