In the future, everyone will have an IQ of 15.● CRANKS. They’re fun! Years ago, the SOCCCD was wildly entertained by Holocaust denier and Mathur pal trustee Steve “the ADL did it!” Frogue.
You’ll recall that he was nearly recalled by the voters.
In recent years, the Orange Unified School District has had their own village idiot, the marvelous Steve Rocco, who was elected sans campaign by clueless voters in the city of Orange in 2004.
Well, as in the case of Mr. Frogue, Mr. Rocco now faces a possible recall: Group wants to recall Rocco from Orange school district.
The Reg tried to contact Rocco about all this, but he hung up the phone on ‘em. Perfect!
Rocco, who wears a knit cap and sunglasses during meetings, has been known to go on conspiracy theory speeches and does not attend closed-session meetings.
He gained attention after victory in November 2004 election. He was elected without campaigning…In April, the board voted to restrain Rocco's speeches by making it harder for him to place items on agendas….
Late last year, Rocco and an activist group filed a lawsuit alleging board members of violating Rocco's rights of free speech. The board censured Rocco for stating in a meeting that he would "vote to fire" a high school principal rather than reassign him….
Rocco eventually bailed on the lawsuit. Also perfect.
● Once again, the city of Irvine has been designated the country’s most boring city, or something. According to the Reg,
For the third straight year, Irvine is America's safest city, topping all large cities in the nation with the lowest incidence of violent crime in 2006, according to preliminary FBI data released Monday…One of the first and largest master-planned communities, Irvine recorded a nearly 17 percent drop in violent crime last year – while violent crime in Orange County's eight largest cities climbed 2.79 percent….
Gee, I wonder how that compares with crime rates in Santander, Spain?
● Inside Higher Ed reports on a widening “cash-for-grades” scandal up in northern Cal:
Los Medanos College has been the second institution in California’s Contra Costa
Community College District hit with a cash-for-grades scandal, The Contra Costa Times reported. As many as eight Los Medanos students may have paid to have grades changed; dozens of students are being investigated at Diablo Valley College, also in the district.● Meanwhile,
The Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media has announced the first fellows in a new program to encourage more sophisticated journalistic coverage of community colleges. The fellows will receive support for a major project on community colleges. Details on the fellows and their projects are available here. Inside Higher Ed congratulates one of its columnists, Wick Sloane, who won one of the fellowships. The Hechinger Institute is part of Teachers College, Columbia University.
