Short week feels long

DESPITE THE OCCASIONALLY BLUSTERY WEATHER, it was pleasant and nice at Irvine Valley College this morning. Things were buzzin'. The sky was stormy-beautiful.

After my 9:30 class, I graded homework for an hour or so, but then Rebel Girl had an idea. She insisted that we go take a look at "Kenny the Skeleton" over in the Library. I didn't even ask what that was about. "Sure," I said. Off we went. (The library is about 1 minute from our office.)

We found Kenny—hidden in a librarian no man's land behind a swinging door—and I took a few shots. The lady in charge came around and asked what we were up to. "We've got a campus blog," I said chirpily. "This is for the blog."

"Oh," she said. She was dubious. No doubt we were the first persons ever to seek out Kenny. Obvious troublemakers.

We got outa there.

"Let's take a shot of that skeleton in A400," said the Reb. I agreed. Can't say "nope" to the Reb.

For some reason Irvine Valley College is, like, the skeleton capital of the freakin' universe. Don't know why.

The A400 skeleton is in a glass case. Very nice. It is cleverly labeled, "Human skeleton." I took a pic. Students were swarming, just getting out of class.

On our way out, we noticed a big dumb sign on the wall. The sign asked, "Nothing to do Feb. 11-15?"

"Gosh, that's a long stretch to have nothing to do," I said.

The sign continued: "Go online and vote—HOMECOMING King + Queen."

"Hey," said Reb. "Let's see if we can make these skeletons the homecoming king and queen!"

Reb's like that. Every once in a while, she creates tiny pockets of anarchy. Makes her feel better. Me too.

* * * * *

I told the Reb that I'd try to get away early to take pictures of the snow up in Modjeska Canyon, but, what with classes and grading and letter-writing and all, I couldn't get away until nearly 5:00. I headed over to the canyon anyway to see what I could see. It was getting dark.

No snow, really. It had melted. Still, check out the pics. Especially the trees. Love those trees.

Up on Modjeska Grade, where most everything burned.

Down on the canyon floor.

As I headed home, I caught a glimpse of some snow up on the mountain (Modjeska Peak).

"Whoosh!" goes the Chrysler 300, in the cold night air. Heading toward Cook's Corner—and home.

P.S.: Just the other day, I found this old topographic map of our mountains. Evidently, it was produced by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1942. I've added some things in red. (Click on it to make it larger.)


Find: Aldous Huxley's place, Nixon's haunt (the steakhouse), Arden, etc.

Let it Snow!

~
.....Rebel Girl doesn't have a camera on hand but from the vantage point of her living room window this morning she can see with her two aging eyes snow on the peaks surrounding Modjeska Canyon.
.....After the fire and the ash and the mud, snow on the burnt peaks is pretty darn beautiful.
.....She knows that if you take a look toward Saddleback Mountain today you too will see snow. Go ahead. Look.
.....And someone take a photo please. Send it on to Rebel Girl or Chunk (you know how to reach us) and we'll publish the best of the lot.

Harassment vs. Academic Freedom

From this morning’s Inside Higher Ed: Harassment vs. Academic Freedom, Round Two:

…Donald Hindley first learned through twin October 30 letters that he was deemed in violation of Brandeis University’s nondiscrimination policy for allegedly uttering “inappropriate and racially derogatory statements.” The provost, Marty Krauss, informed the professor of politics that a “monitor” would observe his classroom and that he would be required to attend “anti-discrimination training.” The administration’s sanctions were deemed unusual by veteran observers of academic freedom, such as the American Association of University Professors, and the allegations set off a furor among faculty members at the institution, named for the free-expression defender and Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis.

“Brandeis still refuses to let me or my lawyers know what I am supposed to have said or done that allegedly constituted racial harassment and/or discrimination,” Hindley said in an e-mail.

Last month, the provost rejected an appeal by the university’s Committee on Faculty Rights and Responsibilities, leading Hindley to seek counsel and outside backing to pressure the university directly. At issue is a fundamental dispute about which is more important: protecting academic freedom, or ensuring students’ willingness to come forward with allegations of harassment?

The monitoring of his class has stopped this semester, and Hindley has so far refused to participate in the mandated training sessions. According to statements he and others have made to campus newspapers, the allegations revolve around students’ interpretation of comments he made using the term “wetback,” a derogatory reference to Mexican immigrants. Hindley, who has taught at Brandeis for almost 50 years, said he was using the term in his Latin American politics course in the context of explaining how it had been used historically. The department chair, Steven L. Burg, has previously said that at least two students approached him separately about Hindley’s remarks.

A campus publication, The Brandeis Hoot, pseudonymously interviewed one of the students, who said Hindley had used phrases like “mi petite negrita” and “wetbacks.”

…The dispute first escalated when the Faculty Senate took up the issue in a November 8 emergency session, unanimously expressing that it was “seriously concerned about procedures.... The Human Resources policies stress the importance of resolving such issues in an ‘informal manner’ with ‘flexible’ solutions. Furthermore, the Provost’s letter to the professor includes reference to ‘termination’ as a possibility if the professor does not accept the suggested remedies. This violates section VIIC2a of the Faculty Handbook: ‘When considering suspension or dismissal, the Provost will first consult with the Faculty Senate Council.’ No such consultation occurred before this letter was delivered.”

Accepting Hindley’s appeal, the Committee on Faculty Rights and Responsibilities wrote to the provost on November 29, asking her to fully reverse her decision, citing threats to academic freedom, procedural irregularities and excessive punishments. For example, the committee said that the sanctions against Hindley should have been lifted under the appeals process; instead, a monitor was immediately sent to his classes after the decision.

The committee argues that the administration didn’t follow basic procedures as outlined in the Faculty Handbook and the nondiscrimination policy, such as allowing Hindley to choose a witness to be present throughout the process. Responding to the committee’s letter on December 10, the provost rejected its findings and referred to “errors, both factual and legal,” in the analysis. “I am committed to academic freedom for our faculty and students, but I am equally committed to the principle that we will not tolerate racially harassing speech,” Krauss wrote….

Rio Salado Puts Brakes on Proposed Sale:

The chancellor of the Maricopa County Community College District sent an e-mail message to its employees late Wednesday saying that the institution would not seriously consider a private investor’s offer to buy the online operations of Rio Salado College, its “college without walls.”

“I feel the need to set the record straight,” Rufus Glasper, chancellor of the Maricopa system, wrote in the e-mail…. “Rio Salado College is not for sale.”....