"Less regulation," says OC GOP Emeritus Boy

Did you happen to see Steven Greenhut’s post on Orange Punch on Wednesday?
It provided Tom Fuentes’ assessment on the GOP’s election losses Nov. 4. Here's what Emeritus Boy had to say:

Objectively, nothing went wrong on Election Day. All went as expected on Election Day. But, a lot had gone wrong for many months, and for some years, before November 4th.

The results of Election Day give us cause to worry for the future of our republic. At the same time, the rebuke may be just what our party needs to get re-focused and to rebuild to better serve the nation.

The Republican Party strayed from its commitment to our core principles of traditional values, smaller government and less regulation. [That's funny.]

The American people should never be taken for granted. Republicans permitted an unchallenged increase in the size of government and the excessive influence of special interests. Those failures took their toll on our standing with the electorate.

Both here in California with the failed administration of Arnold Schwarzenegger and in the nation’s capital, we have not been faithful to the promises of our platform. We have not lived up to the traditions of the party of Lincoln and Reagan. [Deregulation again.]

It is time for our party to reassert the principles of the American founding and to deliver on those ideals, not just talk about them.

Ronald Reagan forged a victorious coalition of many diverse elements, including conservatives, libertarians, religious activists, ethnic communities, business, working people, and many more. We have to include all these segments in our party, once again. We need to find a welcome place for one and all. [Gays too?]

I walked my first precincts in 1960. So, I have been through the days following the Goldwater defeat; following Watergate; and, following the election of Bill Clinton. We rebuilt from those setbacks, and we can do it again.

Thomas A. Fuentes
Chairman Emeritus
Republican Party of Orange County, California [Tom is a trustee on the SOCCCD board]

Helping Community Colleges Raise the Bar (Inside Higher Ed):

…The latest findings from the Community College Survey of Student Engagement — an annual report providing comparative data on student experiences — suggest that two-year institutions need to raise the expectations they have of their students and improve access to services that help them meet these goals.

CCSSE assesses the quality of student engagement in five categories: active and collaborative learning, student effort, academic challenge, student-faculty interaction and support for learners.…

Overall engagement is low for community college students out of the classroom, according to the survey. Only 16 percent reported that they discussed ideas with their professors outside of class, and 21 percent worked with classmates outside of class to prepare assignments. In the classroom, engagement figures were higher but still notably low. Twenty-eight percent said they had either “often” or “very often” made a class presentation, and 46 percent said they had either “often” or “very often” worked with other students on projects during class.

These figures were higher for students at four-year institutions, according to this year’s NSSE report — 33 percent of first-year students had “often” or “very often” made a class presentation and 60 percent of seniors had done the same. Additionally, 43 percent of first-year students at four-year institutions had worked with other students on projects during class either “often” or “very often,” while 47 percent of their senior counterparts had done the same….

Compton College benefiting from takeover by El Camino (LA Times):

Two years after Compton College was stripped of its accreditation, a multimillion-dollar effort is underway to reestablish the two-year school as an institution of higher learning.

El Camino College, which has assumed management of Compton, has spent $41 million in local bond money to renovate facilities and recently hired three new deans to revamp a threadbare curriculum. The vocational division, which offered 12 programs in practical skills, such as welding and cosmetology, has added two new disciplines -- aerospace and robotics.

When Compton lost its accreditation in 2006, the campus was crumbling under the pressure of state audits that unearthed financial fraud, fake enrollments and missing computer equipment. El Camino in nearby Torrance stepped in, agreeing to oversee the budget while working with a state-appointed special trustee.

Officially, Compton College no longer exists. It's a satellite of El Camino and now goes by the lengthy name of El Camino College Compton Community Education Center.

Many at El Camino cautioned their administration against rushing to the aid of Compton. Some students were worried that they would not have a choice between campuses, while others feared the location, according to Thomas Fallo, president of El Camino.

But Fallo was more concerned that the loss of a college would harm the quality of life in Compton and neighboring communities. He said he did not hesitate to encourage a skeptical Board of Trustees to unilaterally support a partnership with the troubled school.
…
Compton could regain accreditation in 2013 at the earliest, officials estimated. Even though some Compton residents were initially dismayed at the loss of the school's independence, many are now hopeful that it is on the road to redemption.

"The mood is starting to change," Fallo said. "I have seen more of the students and community coming together to reach the understanding that, through time, this will work."