Purported author/editor of anti-Dissent newsletters |
12/16/1999 LA TIMES
Newsletters
lampoon college faculty, officials
They satirize relations between professors
and community college district.
By RENEE MOILANEN
MISSION VIEJO—Two mysterious newsletters
with “insulting” references to certain faculty leaders appeared in Saddleback
College staff mailboxes in the last few weeks, an apparent response to
satirical newsletters [Dissent and 'Vine] published by an Irvine Valley College professor…Both
newsletters were anonymous…[Saddleback Academic Senate President Anne] Cox said
she received the first newsletter a few weeks ago. s
she said, adding that it characterizes exactly the problems between the
district and college faculties.
“Ugly, vicious personal attacks flourish and
are encouraged by the leadership in the district,” she said….
[Bob] Cosgrove, a self-described “outspoken
critic” of the board, called the newsletters “juvenile.”
“They’re unsigned, which tells the people
are gutless,” he said.
Chancellor Cedric Sampson said he’d seen
only one of the newsletters.
“There are points and counterpoints to faculty
opinion. I don’t think that’s unusual,” he said.
Dissent 39
December 13, 1999
Dissent 39
December 13, 1999
Saddleback’s Nameless Newsletter
by Chunk Wheeler [Roy Bauer]
The Dissent/’Vine has evidently inspired one
or two anonymous “response” publications, which have appeared of late in some
faculty mailboxes. The first of these nameless documents surfaced, mostly at
Saddleback College, around the time of the last Accrediting team visit. Here
are some “highlights” from that initial publication:
- Saddleback College Academic senate president Anne Cox is described as “the queen of 80’s hair.” Evidently referring to physical attractiveness, the Nameless Newsletter (NN) opines, apparently without irony, that Cox is “no competition for the President of the Board.” The latter —viz., Dorothy Fortune—is described as “a snappy dresser [who] looks great on TV.”
- Inexplicably, IVC Anthropology instructor Wendy Phillips, who has twice defeated the district in court, is referred to as a “slut.” The “State Supreme Court [?],” insists the NN, “said” that one may publish such remarks with impunity.
- The Dissent’s own “Rebel Girl,” referred to as “Rebel Post Menopausal Girl,” is described as having “bad hair.” How odd. In fact, Rebel Girl is decidedly Pre-Menopausal, although I’m no expert. She certainly doesn’t have bad hair. Who does NN think Rebel Girl is?
- One well-known critic of the Board Majority and the union Old Guard is named and then described as “shaped like a pear.” Inexplicably, his wife is advised to get him some “Viagra.”
- Classified employee Linda Davies is called a “buttinsky,” having been identified as the “actual compiler” of the Dissent/’Vine. Odd. Linda has never had anything whatsoever to do with the Dissent/’Vine.
- Roy Bauer, says the NN, “has gone flaccid and neglects his personal appearance.” Again, this is quite odd. Since June, Bauer has lost over 35 pounds.
- In a section entitled “Most Recent Books They’ve Read,” Anne Cox is said to have just read the book “A Bitch Like Me.”
—Well, if you like all this talk
about sluts and bitches and post-menopausal bad-haired buttinskies,
Saddleback’s Nameless Newsletter is
the publication for you.
About a week ago, another unnamed
and anonymous publication appeared, again mostly in Saddleback College
mailboxes. Its format and crudity suggest that it was published by the same
anonymous scribblers who gave us Nameless Newsletter, Volume 1.
Volume 2 comprises a single article—a fantasy “narrated,” from the year
2020, by one “Rip Van Soc.” The piece seeks to ridicule the usual
suspects—Bauer, Phillips, Cox, Cosgrove, et
alia. In general, we at the Dissent/’Vine are disposed to encourage and
applaud competition. Unfortunately, like its predecessor, NN Volume 2 is
burdened, not only by very bad writing, but also by confusion and error and a
reliance on ad hominems.
The “Rip Van Soc” piece ends with these nifty lines: “I had a rewarding
career from which I had retired sometime early in the 21st century, and retired into a state of physical land
[sic] emotional comfort. Sometimes we just need to be reminded how good we have
it.” --I’m guessing that Dot Fortune is our mystery writer. What’s your guess?
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