Two All-Beef Patties, Special Sauce, Lettuce, Cheese, Pickles, Onions on a Sesame Seed Bun

"If you want to see a bunch of community-college faculty members roll their eyes in unison, just stand up in front of them and utter the words 'customer service,'" so says Rob Jenkins over at the Chronicle of Higher Education.

I agree.

In his article, "Your Friendly Neighborhood Instructor," Jenkins addresses this topic in knowing fashion, pointing out the trend among adminstrators to characterize students as "customers" and colleges as "businesses." Jenkins makes a careful distinction:

"After 20 years as a community-college faculty member, I think I can speak for most of my colleagues when I say it's not the "service" part of that thoroughly despised phrase we object to. We all understand that teaching is, at heart, a service profession. That's why most of us got into it in the first place.

What bothers us is the suggestion that our students, while sitting in our classrooms, are customers. Because words have meaning, and that particular word carries some pretty dangerous connotations in an educational context."

To read the rest: "Your Friendly Neighborhood Instructor"

Orange County, county of lights, county of magic

● This morning’s LA Times reports that OC supervisorial candidate Trung Nguyen has been seen where he ain’t, and that’s a problem: O.C. candidate has serious image problem:

The campaign of an Orange County supervisorial candidate, whose slogan is "Honesty, Integrity and Leadership," has been caught doctoring a photo so that it places the politician close to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The photo into which Trung Nguyen was inserted appeared over the weekend in two Vietnamese-language daily newspapers, Vien Dong and Viet Bao Kinh Te. The papers are heavily circulated in Little Saigon, home to the largest Vietnamese community outside Southeast Asia.

Nguyen's campaign variously blamed the alteration on an advertising company and a volunteer.

● Meanwhile, on the “Fuentes’ World” front, former Mike Carona pal George Jaramillo has been sentenced to a year in jail: Jaramillo to serve year in jail:

Former Assistant Sheriff George Jaramillo stood somberly before a judge Monday and ended nearly three years of defending himself against public corruption charges with two words: "no contest."

Both the Reg (see article) and the Times (see Ex-sheriff's official gets a year in jail) offer nifty timelines of Jaramillo’s public career.

Gee, I wonder what got swept under the rug?

Student evaluations flawed

MORE TROUBLING FINDINGS regarding “student evaluations” are revealed in this morning’s Inside Higher Ed. In “New Questions on Student Evaluations,” IHE describes a new study by economists at Ohio State University:

Previous studies have found that students are more likely to give good reviews to instructors who are easy graders or who are good looking. The Ohio State study — in many ways larger and more ambitious than previous ones — found a strong correlation between grades in a course and reviews of professors, such that it is clear that students are rewarding those who reward them.

That finding alone, however, may not negate the value of student evaluations. One explanation could be that good students are earning good grades, and crediting their good professors for their learning. The Ohio State study, however, provides evidence for the more cynical/realistic interpretation — namely that professors who are easy (and aren’t necessarily the best teachers) earn good ratings. The way the Ohio State team did this was to look at grades in subsequent classes that would have relied on the learning in the class in which the students’ evaluations were studied. Their finding: no correlation between professor evaluations and the learning that is actually taking place.

In another finding of concern, the study found evidence that students — controlling for other factors — tend to give lesser evaluations to instructors who are women or who were born outside the United States. And they found this despite not finding any correlation between instructor identity and the level of learning that took place.

While there may be ways to improve the reliability of student evaluations, the authors write, “we believe that any student evaluations are best used in conjunction with peer reviews of teaching.”….

Don’t read this story! Toxic plume to be gone by 2037!

YESTERDAY, the OC Register offered a tiny story about cleanup of the huge TOXIC PLUME beneath us here at Irvine Valley College and environs: Getting El Toro spick-and-span:

The last major pollution cleanup at the old El Toro base has begun.

Thirty-five pumps are now drawing up 390 gallons of polluted groundwater per minute, around the clock. The remediation will cost the federal government $42 million and could take 30 years.

The pumps are drawing up solvent-laced water from rock, sand and clay in an underground plume that extends about four miles under the base and into the neighboring village of Woodbridge.

The pollution comes from years of aircraft parts being cleaned with a solvent called trichloroethylene. Rainwater carried the solvent into the earth, and now the plume ranges from 150 feet deep under the base and 300 to 1,000 feet under Woodbridge.

"This is the major item that put the base onto the Environmental Protection Agency's national priority list," Darryn Newton said Friday. Newton is the Navy's project manager for cleanup of the Tustin and El Toro bases.

Newton said the cleanup process is not expected to interfere with development of the Great Park. Some Woodbridge residents have worried about possible groundwater contamination—but Navy and Environmental Protection Agency officials say the plume is about four miles from the nearest drinking water well.

Uh-oh. He actually uses it

WELL, it’s the time of the year for Irvine Valley College’s charming and ridiculous ASTOUNDING INVENTIONS, in which kids present, well, astounding inventions.

This morning, the OC Register reports on the 20th edition of the event in Celebrating young inventors:

Christian Molfetta was tired of picking up what his two dogs were leaving behind…So the fourth-grader…invented "Fido's Feces Flipper"—a wheelbarrow-like scooper that launches dog poop into a trash can with the twist of a handle.

"The great thing is, he actually uses it," his mother Elizabeth said.

…Second-grader Will Tate invented the Mop on Wheels—roller skates with mops attached. "I clean the house when it's dirty," he said….

…Some aim to help in the classroom, ...[such as] a flag that signals teachers with the flip of a switch, allowing the student to continue working instead of raising his or her hand.

…Not everyone had their creations on hand for demonstration…They included...a flying car to solve traffic problems and a robot that keeps secrets and helps with homework.

…The annual competition was conceived by Irvine Valley College in 1987 to promote creativity and interest in mathematics and science education.

…Students may go on to compete at different levels of state and national math and science invention competitions. Previous winners have also been featured guests on "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno.

Contra Wiki? Or contra Encyclopedias?

CHECK OUT the interesting article about Wikipedia in Friday’s Inside Higher Ed: A Stand Against Wikipedia. The article, which reports Middlebury College History Department’s ban on citing Wikipedia articles as a source in student papers, isn’t as negative (re W) as you might expect:

…Experts on digital media said that the Middlebury history professors’ reaction was understandable and reflects growing concern among faculty members about the accuracy of what students find online. But some worry that bans on citing Wikipedia may not deal with the underlying issues.

Roy Rosenzweig, director of the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University, did an analysis of the accuracy of Wikipedia for The Journal of American History, and he found that in many entries, Wikipedia was as accurate or more accurate than more traditional encyclopedias. He said that the quality of material was inconsistent, and that biographical entries were generally well done, while more thematic entries were much less so. Like [Wikipedia spokeswoman Sandra] Ordonez, he said the real problem is one of college students using encyclopedias when they should be using more advanced sources.

“College students shouldn’t be citing encyclopedias in their papers,” he said. “That’s not what college is about. They either should be using primary sources or serious secondary sources.”

Yes, Wikipedia has a similar take:

Wikipedia officials agree — in part — with Middlebury’s history department. “That’s a sensible policy,” Sandra Ordonez...said in an e-mail interview. “Wikipedia is the ideal place to start your research and get a global picture of a topic, however, it is not an authoritative source. In fact, we recommend that students check the facts they find in Wikipedia against other sources. Additionally, it is generally good research practice to cite an original source when writing a paper, or completing an exam. It’s usually not advisable, particularly at the university level, to cite an encyclopedia.”

The "flesh-eating cart from Hell" and other tales

ABSURDITY HAPPENS, boy. There I was, reading Don Wagner’s ultra-peevish letter to the editor in the Lariat, when a maintenance worker walked up to me, complaining that the college has run out of paper towels for the restrooms. “How can that be?” I asked. It can be all right, he said.

“Didn’t Wayne know he’d run out?”

“Well, we told ‘em. But I guess he didn’t order enough.”

He told me to check out the restrooms, so I headed to SSC and I managed to get a picture inside the ladies’ restroom over there.

It looked like a bomb had hit it.

How does it work with women anyway? Is it like: “Hey, there’s no paper towels! So, naturally, we’ve gotta trash this dump!”

Now, I’m the first to admit that men are dirt compared to women, but that said, men don’t trash restrooms just because the towels ran out, not in my experience.

Anyway, Wayne and the boys are now scrambling to get some paper towels. Years ago, before Wayne, we once ran low on TP, so the women bitterly complained while the men just looked bewildered. In response, the head of maintenance sent over about 20 rolls: one per faculty member. “Here,” said a note.

Meanwhile, the offices in my part of A200 are freezing cold. I think I spotted an icicle hangin’ from Jeanne’s nose yesterday. It was like we were at Frostbite Falls in the Yukon, waiting for the Winter stage.


The maintenance guy told me about the Flesh-Eating Cart From Hell, too. He had first told me about this legendary vehicle months ago. He kept going on and on about the danger and the hazard. “I don’t get it,” I said. “How can a goddam golf cart pose any danger?”

“All the edges are ragged, and that causes injuries,” he said. “One guy already hurt his knee. Pretty soon, somebody’s gonna be out on workman’s comp!”

Today, I went out to take a look at the thing. It looked pretty ragged all right. Workers had stuck some kind of foam thingy next to the steering column to protect their legs. All the edges of the cart were missing some kind of protective plastic or vinyl, and so it was like a Russian jet liner. The windshield was some cheap clear plastic secured with duct tape. It was strictly Third World, man.

I looked up and the maintenance guy was shaking his head: “It’s just a matter of time,” he said.

He explained that Wayne had been told about this atrocity, like, a year ago, but still nothing has been done. We stared at the thing. “It’s just a matter of time,” he said again, shaking his head gravely.

Well, I guess so.

I was going to tell you about something significant that happened today, but now I’ve forgotten what it was. Something about a blinding light maybe? No, that can't be it.

Anyway, I ended up staying late, and I drove home in the dark, onto the toll road, past the friendly toll lady, down El Toro Road, up to my little place against the canyon wall. I was greeted by one pissed off cat.

“What is your problem, dude! I’ve been alone here all day!” she yammered, even before I entered. I nearly laughed.

Yeah, but she got happy real quick. I gave her her blob of cat food and she went at it like a hopped up weasel. Almost immediately, she puked on my foot, leaving a big fibrous log there. It felt like a Quarter-pounder.

But it was OK. Really. —CW

Cocksure

LAST TUESDAY, at the board meeting, I watched the Chancellor carefully. He seemed confident. Cocky even. He was a bit showy about it, if you ask me.

But you never know with Raghu. He’s a funny kind of guy. If he gets smacked around by a superior, he’ll take it, but then he’ll find an underling for him to smack, and then he'll feel OK again. When he’s told that he’s nothin’ but dog crap, he’ll immediately put on airs of top doggery.

That’s our Raghu.

So, he’s cocky. What does it mean? Hmmm….

A Chrysler 300 passin' me on the tollroad last night

Meanwhile...

Everybody gets evaluated, even the Chancellor.

One of the “closed session” agenda items for the December 11 board meetings was “Public Employee Evaluation of Performance…Chancellor.” But that doesn’t mean that the trustees finished their evaluation of the Chancellor then. It doesn’t even mean that they discussed it.

For the January 16 meeting, the board (or the Chancellor?) seems to have adopted a new agenda format and possibly some new agenda-writing guidelines. So I’m not sure what to make of the fact that the only “evaluation” item listed (for closed session) is this one:

Public Employee Evaluation of Performance

These people clearly haven’t embraced the spirit (nor the letter, probably) of the Brown Act. Here, the public discovers only that an employee’s performance is being evaluated. Which employee?

Thank you, SOCCCD board, for cluein’ us in. Your profound respect for "the good people," aka the taxpayer, is once again made manifest.

So are they still evaluating the Chancellor? Is that process complete or not? Who knows.


I’ve heard rumors that the evaluation of Raghu is complete, and it is VERY NEGATIVE. Does anyone know?

If you have any reliable info, please send it our way!

And do try to avoid that junkyard dog over in HS. He bites.

Monkeys build college

SOMEHOW, we managed to overlook the following article from Wednesday’s OC Register. It concerns Saddleback's 'sick building', namely, BGS. Evidently, that building was poorly constructed (and maintained?).

But, of course, Saddleback's "monkey construction" issues don't just concern BGS. The Library’s got serious structural problems too, as does the Advanced Technology and Science Building, and maybe even Science and Math!

Um, I'm beginning to detect a pattern here.

The Business and General Studies Building at Saddleback College officially closed last week in order to allow renovations to rid the building of mold discovered at the end of 2004.

…Prior to that contaminated parts of the business building, about 20 percent of it, were sealed off while the rest of the building remained in use….

[Classes have been moved into] portables, which house 35 classrooms, [and] cover about 50,000 square feet in an area of the campus referred to as the Village.

…The estimated $7 million in renovations to the BGS building, built in 1984, are expected to be complete by the end of the year, said [John] Ozurvich [director of facilities, maintenance and operations]. Much of the building will be gutted except for studs that support the walls and some of the walls will remain.

…Windows that were not fabricated and not installed properly was discovered as the root of the mold problem by allowing water to drain into the walls. There was also an issue with the external roof drainage system. The roof has since been replaced.

…When he used to teach in the building [John] McCotter said he would feel flu-like symptoms.

Returning to the building a couple weeks ago to finish transferring everything over to the portables, McCotter said he felt congested in his head and throat.

"You could feel it as soon as you enter the building, how dirty the air was," he said.

…A redesign of the interior of the library is expected to begin upon completion of the BGS building. Expanding soil caused uneven and cracking floors in the library. The college was approved state funding for the project in 2006.

Similar repairs of uneven and cracked floors in the Advanced Technology and Science Building also caused by expanding soil are expected to begin after the library is complete.

The Science and Math building is currently undergoing soil surveys for similar problems.

OK, now I don't wanna be an alamist, but when I was walking around the BOT meeting room over by Health Sciences last Tuesday, I noticed a crack in the floor over by the majestic "trustee staging area." I peeked down there. Didn't see no monkeys.

But I could see straight down into Hell!

That ain't a construction problem, though. --CW

Just who are these moppets?

You’ll find some fascinating data in yesterday’s Inside Higher Ed. In “Profiling the American Freshman,” we learn that, each year, UCLA researchers survey 270,000 (Wow!) entering undergraduates at 400 colleges. Results of the latest survey are in:

This year’s data show that the first-year students are increasingly politically minded and moving away from the center of the political spectrum. They are far apart on many social issues…. They are concerned about financing their educations and are fully confident in their academic abilities.

One in three students reported discussing politics frequently during their last year of high school…. That’s up from 26 percent in 2004, the last time that question was asked, and represents the highest total in the 40 years of the survey.

Evidently, that figure is high even for an election year. What’s it all mean?

… The proportion of students who identified themselves as being liberal (28 percent) and conservative (24 percent) were the highest in decades….

—Evidence of increased polarization? Yeah, probably. On the other hand, maybe these kids don’t know what the words “liberal” and “conservative” mean! So they pick the shorter of the two. Just a theory.

…Two of three students surveyed said they have “some” or “major” concerns about paying for college….

That third one must be brain-dead. Or just a Bush “conservative.”

…Making more money and getting a better job were two of the top reasons that students cited for choosing to go to college.

And Lake Wobegon lives: Seventy-two percent of men and 66 percent of women surveyed said they are either “above average” or in the “highest 10 percent” of academic ability.

I bet that's true about bloggers, too.

"Drop the knife, honey," they said

MAKES YOU PROUD, doesn’t it? I’m talkin’ about the “professionalism” of our police and police departments.

Today’s Times (Man arrested in Costa Mesa was stroke victim...) reports that a man arrested for drunkenness two years ago in Costa Mesa may have been having a stroke instead.

According to the man’s lawyer, when he was arrested, officers ordered him to stand up, but he couldn’t. When he was hauled off to jail, he was again ordered to stand, but he kept falling down.

The man—a gardener with a Latino name—then spent 10 hours in jail. At that point (for reasons left unexplained), he was taken to Hoag Hospital “where doctors determined that he had suffered a stroke,” according to the lawyer.

And the drunkenness charge? Dismissed, says the lawyer, when the DA’s office determined that the man had not been exhibiting drunkenness. Instead, it seems, the DA determined that the man was exhibiting an inability to use his right arm.

Yesterday, the Times reported on that horrible incident last summer in which cops shot an 18-year-old girl, killing her (Police who shot O.C. 18-year-old...). She had weighed 120 pounds. She had wielded a 4-inch blade.

Had these officers acted properly? The matter went to our DA, the sleazy and corrupt Mr. Tony Rackaukas, who is near the middle of that very small circle of rat bastards sometimes called the the OC “Republican Mafia.” It is a world that embraces cops and their shoot-‘em-up & move-'em-along mentality bigtime.

Naturally, Rackaukas has now determined that officers Park and Randell acted properly. It was “clear-cut,” evidently:

"It turned into a situation where they were really left with no other choice," Rackaukas said.

The officers, according to the investigation by the Sheriff's Department and district attorney's office, were forced into a split-second decision to kill a woman who was far more dangerous than was depicted in news reports.

Well, when the cops arrived at the scene, they already knew that young Ms. MacDonald was wacked out and probably dangerous, wielding a knife.

Here’s my question. Why didn’t they show up with a net and throw it over her? I've seen it done. It's effective!

Nets too expensive? OK, knock her over with bean bags. Too expensive still? I’ve got some big sticks out here where I live. I’ll provide them for free.

But no. She was shot fifteen times:

[O]fficers Park and Randell … ordered MacDonald to give up her weapon. "Drop the knife, honey," they said, according to [Assistant DA] Brent. MacDonald told them, "I'm on drugs, just … kill me." She then ran toward the officers and was shot 15 times when she came within 8 to 10 feet of one of them, Brent said.

At the time of the shooting, an officer nearby was loading a gun with nonlethal pepper-spray pellets and a fourth officer was rushing to the scene with beanbag ammunition.

Now tell me this. If these other guys are around the corner with nonlethal force, why didn’t these two cops on the scene leave and monitor this gal from some safe distance? As I recall, it was in the middle of the night, and nobody was around. So why wasn’t that an option?

My problem here, of course, isn’t necessarily with the officers. It could be with the policies with which they are saddled. Maybe these policies just assume that you’ve got to confront perps ASAP. Maybe they assume that cops don’t scatter or retreat.

If so, why?

Or maybe my issue is with a world in which people just don’t care that people are killed when nets can be thrown over ‘em instead. A world in which a guy is treated like crap while he’s having a stroke.

C’mon everybody. Get pissed off!

Unpleasantness

AS I SAID LAST NIGHT, I missed the first 30 minutes of the board meeting, and so I can’t report on that portion. Luckily, Tracy Daly’s fine Board Highlights (BH) fill in the blanks!

As usual, trustees offered their reports. According to the BH,

Board President David B. Lang congratulated Chancellor Mathur on an outstanding Opening Session, probably the best he has attended in his time on the Board. He thanked Vice Chancellor Andreea Serban, who lined up Dr. Robert Bramucci as a speaker.

Bramucci truly was excellent.

During his report, Trustee Don Wagner said that he’s written a response to a Lariat editorial. Hope they print it. Peevish Don never fails to entertain.

According to Tracy, Trustee John Williams, too, was pleased by the Opening Session, which he judged to be “the best he has attended during his 14 years on the Board.” Williams evidently found the music to be fun. You remember. Elvis, Neil Diamond.

Evidently, during his report, Chancellor Raghu P. Mathur said that “enrollment is healthy at both colleges.”

Virtually all the consent calendar items were approved.

Next came the ATEP proposals. (ATEP is the district’s Advanced Technology and Education Park, situated at the old Tustin helicopter station.) According to the BH, the board accepted for review and study “all of the 13 ATEP partnership proposals, in preparation for presentations at subsequent meetings,” namely, on Feb. 1.

See, it’s like this. Park Ranger BOB KOPECKY and his team have managed to attract 13 proposals for what to do with our facilities (or some of our acreage) at the old Tustin base. Everything turns on the quality of these proposals. If just a few of them are worthwhile, well, we’re in business at ATEP. That’s what the Feb. 1 meeting is all about, I suppose.

Hey, everybody, this is important!

LITTLE SAIGON

One proposal comes from EBD (Economic Business Development, Inc.). They’re the “Little Saigon” people I mentioned last night. For some reason, they were given a special opportunity to present who they are and what they propose. According to Tracy’s highlights, they propose

to build a business incubator and economic development center with a $2.5 million EDA grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce. The facility would be open to small or incubating businesses with educational resources determined by SOCCCD. Students would fill internships on a one-to-one ratio with business professionals and have opportunities for job placement.

I dunno what that means.

The presentation was made by an earnest Asian woman with a thick but not unpleasant accent. Alas, the video portion of her presentation sported its share of PA system gremlins. She made up for that by introducing half the people in the audience, including some Dean from CSUF. She took questions.


Lang worried that this project seemed focused on denizens of Little Saigon. What about South County? As I recall, Ms. EBD said that it’s illegal to zero in on one ethnic group, and anyone will be able to participate. Wagner said that he was unclear about the “educational component” of the proposal. She gave some kind of answer, I dunno. At one point, she seemed to refer to the need to design courses. Uh-oh.

IVC Senate Prez WENDY G zeroed in on this “course design” stuff. Ms. EBD sought to assure Wendy that her organization would consult with faculty. “You are the experts,” she said. Wendy seemed dissatisfied with that. She asked whether EBD would “dictate our curriculum.” That remark seemed to fluster Ms. EBD. She looked a tad desperate. Or maybe just annoyed.

As you know, curriculum is the responsibility of faculty.

Who knows, though. This EBD thing could turn out to be a good thing. Don't forget Feb. 1!

STREAMLINING

Item 5.7 was “Effectiveness of Board Agendas and Meetings.” During the December meeting, Chancellor Mathur showed up with a list of suggested changes to the agenda and the board meetings. Well, they reappeared last night. The board was being asked to approve them.

Naturally, the perpetually staunch Mr. Williams said that they are “long over-due.” But Trustee Marcia Milchiker objected to one of the suggested changes, namely, the idea that, when meetings run long, college presidents and governance groups might be told to turn in written reports in lieu of oral reports during the meeting. Trustee Nancy Padberg concurred, noting that a report that is filed in written form is ipso facto not “made public.”

Another controversial proposal was to diminish the right of a trustee simply to pull items from the consent calendar (i.e., the set of usually-routine items that are approved wholesale) for further discussion. Trustee Don Wagner chimed in to say that the changes that Mathur proposed were not as drastic as some trustees supposed them to be. Trustee Tom Fuentes reminded the group that trustees were supposed to provide feedback (about these proposals) to the chancellor between the last meeting and this meeting. Had these naysayers done that? Trustee Bill Jay said that he had made his objections to some of these ideas at the last meeting, so what further feedback was he supposed to provide? Williams chimed in to repeat one of his favorite idiocies, namely, that board meetings are meetings of the board, not of others (e.g., Academic Senate Presidents).

UNPLEASANTNESS

At one point, Mathur commenced saying unpleasant things. He said that Trustee Padberg’s requests for reports seem to “waste our time.” He and his staff produce a report, he said, and then “nothing comes of it.” He seemed to be suggesting that Padberg wasn’t really interested in gaining information, that she was somehow playing politics most foul.

Raghu seemed pleased with himself. His body smiled.

I suppose that all of this had something to do with Padberg’s history of shining light upon inconvenient truths. Take the case of trustee travel expenses. Not so long ago, Nancy asked for a report on trustee expenses for one year. The resulting report evidently (I never saw it) embarrassed John “Orlando” Williams. She then asked that the report be expanded to cover five years. The Board Majority ruthlessly voted the request down.

Gee, if some trustees are abusing the system, shouldn’t the public be made aware of it?

Eventually, the board got to Mathur’s recommended changes regarding the ability of trustees to remove items from the consent calendar. Padberg noted that that item was “directed at me.” She declared, defiantly, that she would continue to pull items from the CC, when, that is, she feels that questions about them are warranted.

That seemed to set Don off. You know how he is. “Yes,” he said, this is “geared at you, Trustee Padberg.” He seemed to join Mathur in accusing Nancy of asking “rhetorical” and “political” questions about board items.

“Frankly,” he said, “we’re tired of it.”

Nancy defended herself, noting that mistakes can be made in constructing the CC such that her questions might well be warranted. She alluded, too, to the Brown Act.

Williams, a man with no imagination and even fewer gray cells, seemed to say yet again that certain trustees (Padberg) should “do their homework.” Some trustees, he said, show up to meetings “unprepared.” Jay and Milchiker took Nancy’s side. But they didn’t have the votes to stop approval of this recommendation.


The board eventually turned to the proposal according to which the college presidents and governance groups can have their (oral) reports cut when meetings run late. Predictably, the minority (Jay, Padberg, Milchiker) argued on behalf of the presidents/governance groups. And, just as predictably, the majority (Lang, Wagner, Fuentes, Williams) argued on behalf of Mathur’s trustees-über-alles proposal.

Wendy G asked: what if the Academic Senates have an important issue, and then the board meeting runs late. Does this mean that the senates are just out of luck? That their concern will not be voiced?

No problem, said Dave. They can still turn in their written reports.

“OK,” said Wendy. That “OK” sure sounded a lot like “you, sir, are a jackass.” But I could be mistaken. My hearing isn't so good.

Fuentes, who had hung back, finally had had enough. With obvious annoyance, he declared that “anyone can fill out” a yellow form to make a public comment! So “what is all the debate about?”

I smelled sulphur.

In the end, the Board Majority got their way.


Another recommendation concerned the notion that trustees should contact the Chancellor before a meeting, should they have a question about an item. Nancy, I think, argued that she should be allowed to bypass the Chancellor to ask staff for information. This caused Wagner to play the M card. “That’s micromanaging,” he roared. “When we start freelancing, we get ourselves into trouble,” he declared.

The recommendation passed.

After this “agenda” shootout, Mathur made some remarks that were seriously pompous. I haven’t the will to describe them.

Next came Andreea Serban’s presentation concerning “Transfer Rates” for IVC and Saddleback College. It was excellent. Tracy provides a link to Serban’s full report in her Board Highlights.

I hope to provide a review of some of her findings in a future post. —CW

Generating heat

JUST GOT BACK from the board meeting. Nothing major occurred, far as I know (I showed up a half hour late, so maybe someone went postal, but I didn't spot any bodies).

One thing for sure, though. This is one dysfunctional board. They were sniping at each other all night. They were hissin' and spittin' and lookin' ugly too.

At one point, Trustee Don Wagner seemed to point to Trustee Nancy Padberg and call her a "trollop." Well, no, but he did say that she was the one causing lots of problems with the agenda and with clueless yappage, and, boy, is everybody sick and tired of it, he said. You know how Don gets.

She gave 'im the stink eye, which is a terrible thing, accompanied by a hollow Padbergian laugh. Yikes!

It's hard to believe that these two--Don and Nancy--blew in together, back in '98, basing their candidacy on opposition to the "El Toro Airport" (ha!) and funding their campaign with corrupt rat bastardular Old Guard union cash. Back then, they seemed like twins, even though Don's a good deal taller. But, sheesh, I think Don and Nancy need to be kept on opposite sides of the building from now on. Plus Don better watch his back.

These days, everybody's got ATEP on the brain, and, on Feb. 1, there'll be a special meeting in which various proposals (for partnerships with SOCCCD at the old Tustin base) will be discussed. At tonight's meeting, a group that had submitted one of the proposals was allowed to make a half-hour presentation. Technical difficulties messed it up pretty good--there was a weird Morse Code of buzzing. I gather, though, that the proposal was something about incubating small businesses down in Little Saigon.

Lots of fed money is involved. I mean LOTS. Shitloads.

I think the Academic Senate Presidents got a little leery, though, when the Asian woman who did the talking for this group spoke of the special courses that would be taught. Who would generate these courses exactly? I mean, who's in charge of course development, anyway? You guys?


Vice Chancellor Serban gave a great report on student transfers, in effect making a case for the burning of the Register building down in Santa Ana. I think a mob's headed there right now, shouting: "Transfer rate? We'll show you our stinkin' transfer rate!"

Well, let's see, what else happened? At the December meeting, Chancellor Raghu Mathur showed up with an armful of nasty little suggestions as to how to streamline board meetings, and that generated lots of heat. Somehow, those same suggestions and that same heat showed up for this meeting.

On and on they went. Should the college presidents and the governance groups give reports, or should they just shut the **** up? The Board Majority (Lang, Wagner, Fuentes, Williams) opted for the latter. The minority preferred the former.

John Williams brought talking points--two of them, cuz he's got a very small brain--and he repeated them interminably: (1) Let's give Raghu's ideas a shot, why don't we?! (2) Nancy Padberg sure is a trollop!

Well, no, he didn't say that 2nd one, but he sure was thinking it. I believe that the 2nd talking point was that this is a meeting of the board, not of those other guys, so screw 'em. Besides, I wanna go to Orlando and spend some taxpayer money!

Well, that's my report. Hope it helped. I'll have more tomorrow, when I've recovered from the effects of one super-cold beer on one super-tired brain.

And Spanky: you know. Be good, be happy.

Carp, carp, carp

I WALKED through the A200 “faculty lounge” this morning at about 9:30, and what did I find? Aha! Furniture! True, it was wrapped in hideous stinky plastic. And yes, it sat upon the world’s harshest, ugliest, linoleumist floor.

BUT THERE WAS FURNITURE! NEW FURNITURE!

An hour and a half later, I was back, and they (whoever they are) had unwrapped and positioned the furniture. I stopped and beheld the scene. “Well, it’s a start,” I said to myself. I went to get my camera. In the hallway, I ran into Mr. M, who said, “Thank you, Mr. Squeaky Wheel!”

“You’re welcome,” I said. In truth, I have been but one of a chorus of squeaky wheels, and by no means the squeakiest. Rebel Girl, for one, has squealed and screeched numerous decibels higher and longer than me.

I happened to catch the eye of a nearby denizen who complained that the furniture was “ugly.” “Plus,” she added, “what about that horrible unmatched tile on the other side of the room!”

Well, yes, there’s that. Who would even think to do this and call it “tile replacement”? A monkey, maybe.

And plainly we need an area rug. That linoleum is shitulistic. Vomitous, even. Sure, sure.

But step back and receive the gestalt. Experience the spankin-new-roomedness of the scene! Is it really so bad?

“Yeah, now that we’ve got some decent furniture, the walls, in contrast, look like total crap,” said Mr. D, peevishly. “We’re gonna have to paint ‘em, that’s what!”

“Yeah,” said someone else, unpleasantly.

OK, I guess so.

Carp, carp, carp.

I found a quiet moment and, alone in the room, I sat upon one of the chairs.

“Not bad,” I said. “Not bad at all.”

The Dog Ate My Homework

CHECK OUT this article by Don Troop from the Chronicle of Higher Education entitled: "You're Never Going to Believe This One." It offers an inspired sampling of the latest and greatest of student excuses – and there are some doozies including my fave:

"Sorry I missed class, professor, but I had to stay with my girlfriend while she was getting her hair cut."

Most of the excuses are gleaned from the ever peevish RateYourStudents blog.

What? You haven't visited that site? What's wrong with you? Hurry up! Time's a wastin'!

The Chronicle article is good for laughs--and who doesn't need an extra chuckle?--but the RateYour Students blog gives you more than that. Take some time and scroll around. Go ahead. No one's looking. Really.

Tom's crowd

As you know, a few years ago, the IRVINE VALLEY COLLEGE Foundation honored Orange County Sheriff MIKE CARONA as it’s “Hometown Hero.” How did that happen? Well, at the time, Carona was a Republican star, and Tom Fuentes, one of our trustees, was the chair of the OC GOP. Maybe that's it. Dunno.

So, anyway, Carona gets this hero prize. But there's a turd in the punchbowl, cuz Carona, as it turns out, is a seriously out-of-control lecher, is generally sleazy, and is a member of the ruthless and corrupt gang that seems to own this county. Some hero.

The gang? Some people call ‘em the Republican Mafia. (See our recent "The man who sued his own mother".)

For a while, Carona’s best pal was similarly unsavory Assistant Sheriff GEORGE JARAMILLO, Carona’s likely successor. But, somehow, Jaramillo got on somebody’s bad side, and so he was charged with bribery and corruption by the OC DA, TONY RACKAUCKAS, another member of our Republican central mob.

Naturally, Jaramillo doesn’t want to be prosecuted by Rackauckas, cuz Rackauckas is part of Carona’s gang, and he’s advised by the same rat bastard who advises Carona, namely, Friend-of-Fuentes MICHAEL SCHROEDER.

Schroeder seems to be the Republican Mafia’s consigliere—you, know, like Robert Duvall's “Tom Hagen” in The Godfather. He may be more than that. Brando? Dianne Keaton? Talia Shire?

Today’s papers explain that Jaramillo’s request to move his case out of the OC DA’s office was denied. (DA still on Jaramillo case.) According to the Reg,

Jaramillo said he was a friend of Rackauckas' before he was fired by Carona in 2004, and that Rackauckas' office filed charges against him after being influenced by Carona and Republican activist Michael Schroeder. Schroeder is an adviser to both Carona and Rackauckas.

MEANWHILE, the state has been investigating our boy Carona for sexual harassment. But, yesterday, in the blog Total Buzz, Peggy Lowe reported that one of Carona’s accusers now refuses to cooperate with the state:

The state AG's office had to drop its probe into the claims made by Erica Hill, who had said Carona made inappropriate sexual advances, because she refused to cooperate. I left her a message yesterday and she got back to me last night. I picked up her message today...Hill, as those of you following the sheriff saga well know, is the sister-in-law of George Jaramillo.

Here's what she told me about why she wouldn't talk to investigators:

"Look what happened to George Jaramillo when he became a threat. Look what happened to BILL HUNT when he became a threat. I'm just a little, single mother of three."

See Hill speaks on sheriff investigation

Lovely, isn’t it?

You're supposed to obey, lady

DO YOU REMEMBER that 85-year-old woman and leader of a Christian sect in Costa Mesa who was arrested during a rhubarb over the presence of county health inspectors at the group’s little "tea room"? It was all about health permits, the county’s health standards, and, well, whether the county may enforce its notions of how people should run businesses.

Marie Kolasinski was sentenced to 10 days in jail and three years probation. According to the Times (“O.C. sect leader gets 10-day sentence”), at a court hearing,

Piecemakers Judy Haeger, 59, and Doug Follette, 52, were [also] sentenced to three years' probation and 30 days of community service.

…"No man is above the law, and no man is below it," the judge said, quoting Theodore Roosevelt.

When the judge asked the three if they understood their sentences, [leader Marie] Kolasinski, wearing a black beret, said she didn't know why she was being punished.

…[Judge] MacEachern said Kolasinski got jail time because she was the "instigator" and had a "long history of disobedience."

Some Piecemakers burst into tears as deputies took Kolasinski into custody.

…The Piecemakers, made up mostly of 26 elderly women who live communally, run a homey store on Adams Avenue that features handmade quilts, craft supplies and a small tearoom that serves sandwiches, soups and sweets.

Since 1991, the group has barred health inspectors from its facility, citing freedom of religion.

…"These laws are stupid laws," said Diane Sieker. "The government bullies us, terrorizes us. They come in with their guns and attitude and give us people who are trying to make a living a hard time."

…According to probation reports, the three refused to acknowledge wrongdoing and felt they were victims of government harassment, unjust laws and discrimination.

…Kolasinski said she had "absolutely no remorse" and "regrets nothing."

According to the OC Register (“Piecemakers leader gets jail”), the judge told Kolasinski, “Mrs. Kolasinski, you're going to jail right now…How much time that you get is up to you."

I suppose this means that she got the jail time that she did because she failed to be penitent. I mean, you’re supposed to “obey.” And when you don’t, you’re supposed to say sorry.

That’s the way it works, lady. Just suck it up.

P.S. (11:00 a.m.):

Just came across the OC Register's Steven Greenhut's angry reaction to the Kolasinski judgment (yesterday):

...Yes, jailing an 85 year-old woman for illegally selling soup and pies to non-complaining customers really warranted the time and effort of the justice system...So congratulations to the OC DA for imprisoning a peaceful, senior citizen, who makes her living running a crafts store and baking apple pies and proving that government is the boss in America of 2007....

"Offhand" question

● IVC EARLY COLLEGE @ TUSTIN HIGH SCHOOLS? ALL ABOARD! See this morning's OC Register: ”Tustin high schoolers can take college courses”. Some excerpts:

Tustin high school students will be able to graduate with a high school diploma and a college associate's degree at the same time after the district and Irvine Valley College agreed Monday on a program that will start in the fall.

The program will put college professors in high school classrooms to teach college courses, giving students a chance to earn college credit throughout high school without paying college tuition.

…The early college program will launch in the fall at Beckman High School, and will be brought to Tustin High and Foothill High schools soon after.

…The district is targeting students in high school honors and college preparation courses…Students participating in the program will be enrolled in Tustin Unified and Irvine Valley at the same time. Credits earned through Irvine Valley will count toward high school graduation.

…The early college idea has been around since November 2005, when the partnership was formed. The possibility for Tustin high schoolers to take college courses at Irvine Valley has been around for years, but never as a program.

…Board President Jonathan Abelove will also be impacted by the program. He is a parent of a Pioneer eighth grader who will be going to Beckman when the program begins. He said he was worried about the idea that college courses would be taught to a young age group….

This program was explained during last week’s IVC Academic Senate meeting. During the meeting, some issues and concerns arose (including Abelove’s sort of concern).


● HOWARD AHMANSON AGAIN. The OC Register is now on the “Let’s call it Christmas” story ('Christmas' comments revive religion claims.) Unsurprisingly, Trustee FUENTES’ pal, HOWARD AHMANSON, pops up:

A question about what to call the winter holiday has resuscitated concerns that three new trustees for the Capistrano Unified School District are backed by religious interests.

Ellen Addonizio – who, with Larry Christensen and Anna Bryson, was elected to the district board in November – asked during a board meeting Monday whether naming the holiday break "Christmas vacation" would be appropriate, Capistrano Unified spokeswoman Beverly DeNicola said.
The question, described by DeNicola as "offhand," came during a discussion of the school calendar.

It was followed by requests from Addonizio and Bryson that district staff look into the legality of the matter. A report will be written.

"The federal government has established the Christmas holiday because most people have asked for it to be in that manner," Bryson said. "That doesn't mean we aren't aware of other values, Hanukah and everything else."

…During the election, the candidates' opponents criticized them for what they saw as a connection to religious groups – including donations from the foundation of philanthropist Howard Ahmanson, who has supported religious causes….

Ahmanson is one scary dude, and he’s got some serious money. (Heir to Home Savings fortune.)

● @ UC/CSU, PISSED OFF AT ARNOLD. In this morning’s Inside Higher Ed:

When he was running for re-election last year, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made much of his work with legislators to find money to cancel planned tuition increases for the University of California and California State University systems. Now that he’s inaugurated for a full term, tuition increases don’t bother him so much, and they were included in his budget plan for higher education, released Thursday. Student leaders are calling the budget “a betrayal,” the Los Angeles Times reported. Community college fees would not increase under the plan.

● BOARD MEETING, NEXT WEEK. Don't forget: there's a meeting of the South Orange County Community College District Board of Trustees next week (on the 16th). For the agenda, go to SOCCCD board agendas