Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Loyalty oath, veterans memorial

From this morning’s Inside Higher Ed
The California attorney general’s office on Tuesday issued a letter backing the way California State University East Bay fired an instructor who wanted to modify the loyalty oath required of all state employees. Cal State has been much criticized by faculty and employee groups for its decision to dismiss Marianne Kearney-Brown, who tried to insert the word “nonviolently” before a pledge of support for the U.S. Constitution. Many Cal State employees — including some posting comments at Inside Higher Ed — have said that they made similar changes in the past, and did not get fired as a result. But a letter to Cal State from Jacob A. Appelsmith, senior assistant attorney general, released by East Bay Tuesday, said that Kearney-Brown’s situation was handled correctly. Appelsmith noted that the oath does not require anyone to commit a violent act. He said that Kearney-Brown appeared to be acting “in good faith,” but said that court decisions backed a strict interpretation of the oath requirement. Allowing Kearney-Brown to modify the oath would “introduce uncertainty and equivocation,” he wrote. For these reasons, he said, Cal State acted “appropriately in requiring Ms. Kearney-Brown to sign the oath as written.”

From yesterday’s OC Reg: Saddleback College breaks ground on veterans' memorial:
.....Saddleback College breaks ground Wednesday on a memorial to honor the college's and city's veterans.
.....The event begins with four veterans discussing their experiences in the attack on Pearl Harbor, D-Day, the liberation of the Buchenwald concentration camp and combat in the Vietnam and Iraq wars.
.....The concrete and ceramic memorial has been in various stages of development since 2005, when college administrators began considering ways to leave a mark on the city. When the idea for a veterans memorial surfaced, administrators formed a committee of veterans to consult for different designs.
.....When the two designers, Richard White, chair of Saddleback College's art department, and Fred Olsen, an associate professor, presented the design to the committee, there was a “silent moment” of approval among the veterans, said Saddleback College President Richard McCullough.
.....“The general consensus of the committee was that's it,” he said.
.....White and Olsen sculpted a model of the memorial using the “fire in place” technique, which allows them to create large, hollow pieces of ceramic that would not fit in a traditional kiln. McCullough said the men are two of the few artists who know how to use the technique, which made the design unique to Saddleback College.
.....“We have the expertise here,” he said. “We didn't want to bring something in that somebody else built; we wanted to design it ourselves.”
.....White said he and Olsen designed the memorial to be interactive, with a seating area and a space for visitors to walk through. He said he hoped the memorial would reflect the relationship between the public and the military, which he said has been much more positive during the Iraq war than it was during the Vietnam war.
....."Even though this war is unpopular, everybody sees that the soldiers are serving us, and they’re protecting us," he said.
.....Several cities and service organizations have donated to the memorial, which will cost about $250,000 and is slated to open next fall.
.....The veterans forum will take place at noon in room 212 of the Student Services Center of Saddleback College, 28000 Marguerite Parkway. The groundbreaking is at 1 p.m. outside the Administration and Governance building. Parking will be free across campus all day.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is embarrassing that, even today, people have to sign idiotic loyalty oaths. Could we please leave the 50s? soon?

Anonymous said...

Sort of a sign of a totalitarian government, isn't it?

torabora said...

One of my biggest complaints about the Venezuelan government is how it dominates the lives of it's citizens. If someone there is a civil servant they too have to profess loyalty to Chavez...and it is proven by checking up on who you vote for. Vote wrongly and you lose your job...and don't be asking the government for help of any kind. You won't get any.

This California "loyalty" oath is tripe. How can it account for the looting of the public treasury that occurs due to the administrators who took that oath? Gee, that worked well.

Despite the "progressive" nature of our state, how can such a dinosaur survive?

Anonymous said...

You people stand for nothing. How pathetic.

Anonymous said...

Do your Board meetings begin with a prayer and the Pledge of Allegience, or just a prayer?

And in what order?

--Heinrich Himmler

torabora said...

7:45 If what you say is true, then we do stand for something....nothing. As my President W would say (with Texas drawl) "That don't make any sense?!"

I, particularly,stand for a fair days work for a fair days pay. If you don't then I believe your idea of fair is perhaps going downtown to a street corner and bargaining with an illegal to mow your fucking grass and educate your precious children.I bet you make them give a loyalty oath too...to you!!Ha HA HA.

While you're shopping you can pick up a College President for less than a C note/day.They all vote Republican on those street corners too!

There is something decidedly uncivil to your approach to problems 7:45. You are viciously presumptuous.

The "loyalty oath" is a problematic approach to solving a "what if". When I worked in private industry there wasn't a loyalty oath per se. But there was a company handbook that laid out what was expected of you and you had to sign it to work there. Violate the precepts in the handbook and you COULD be fired. But I didn't have to swear an oath.Company policy was rational.I didn't have to swear a oath to be loyal to my companys tomato products. sheesh.

I'm on of those guys who believes that if my work isn't good enough then it will be painfully obvious. It is good enough and it is because I adapt to the task necessary. The "loyalty oath" has what to do with getting work done pray tell 7:45?

Or is this just another barking session?

Anonymous said...

Your a half-pence from a bawbee in your thinking, Torabora. You truly need to seek help at the nearest mental health center.

Anonymous said...

Good response, 8:30. It must have taken you, oh, say, 4 seconds or so to torture your cerebellum for that.

What a dick.

Anonymous said...

Now, boys. Could we have fewer comments about "me, me, me"?

All these loyalty oaths do is cause many people to swear in bad faith. Is that a good thing? It is not. Better to leave the matter alone.

Nobody is pressing to abandon the Constitution. It's safe. Now, if only the Republicans would actually READ it.

Anonymous said...

Thank you, you condescending twit, but I doubt you know much about the Constitution, 11:40. However, I'd wager to say that you can probably give a pretty good lecture on Marx and his bankrupt manifesto.

Anonymous said...

Yes, old Marx sure is a major threat, isn't he? That's why we need a loyalty oath, to protect us from ideas.

torabora said...

10:07 Actually it was more like .02 sec, not 4.

And on reflection of your latest post I can see a little more of your being ...and boy, am I impressed!

Without engaging in any debate, without giving any reasoning to support any argument, you have humbled me into a quivering bowl of worshipful jello. You clearly are the Superior Being...my Burning Bush (no pun intended DHS) I have spent a lifetime looking for. You are my God!

How can I can gain enlightenment and eternal life oh Perfect One? Please tell me how to live in your grace! I need You to help me get my lightening fast mind right.

torabora said...

8:30 Still waiting for your wisdom.

Anonymous said...

Um, TB, you're mistaken as to who you are directing your antagonism. 10:07 was in support of you.

Roy's obituary in LA Times and Register: "we were lucky to have you while we did"

  This ran in the Sunday December 24, 2023 edition of the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register : July 14, 1955 - November 20, 2...