Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Ugly, ignorant bullies


.....I've been ill—only now emerging from a haze—so maybe that's why I missed this story in yesterday's OC Reg about the Cypress City Council:
.....[The City of Cypress]... will be the county's second to display the nation's “In God We Trust” motto inside the Council Chambers after a 2-1 decision by the City Council late Monday night.
.....Councilman Leroy Mills introduced the item. There was opposition from three of the five council members, but two abstained from voting, saying they did not feel it was their place to give their views on religious beliefs.
........Councilman Phil Luebben voted no and urged fellow council members to not abstain and to instead vote no.
.....“We're here to represent all the people,” Luebben said. “I would hate to see the one in five (who don't) believe in God come in front of the podium and see that ‘In God We Trust' motto in back of us.”
.....Mayor Todd Seymore and Mills voted yes.
.....“It is our nation's motto and is displayed on government buildings all over the country,” said Mills, who is retired from the U.S. Air Force.
........At least 28 California cities have now approved placing the motto in a government building; the campaign was started by a Bakersfield councilwoman....
.....As you know, prayers are routine at board meetings in the South Orange County Community College District. They have been for a long time. Individuals periodically come up before the board of trustees to complain. "Some of us don't believe in god, you know," they say. Sometimes groups get behind them. "Be fair, be considerate," they say.
.....But the trustees don't even listen to them.
.....I'm not a believer. I don't like the prayers. But if, when all is taken into account, there's no good solution, and the prayers remain, then I can live with that.
.....It's the not even listening that bothers me.

.....I put up another video last night—something from nearly two years ago. Check it out. Once again, faculty come before the board to complain (it doesn't matter what they're complaining about). They're articulate, passionate. They're obviously good people, and they're making good points. But the trustees—not all of them, you know the ones I mean—aren't even listening.
.....Look and see!
.....Ugly, ignorant bullies.
.....If Jesus were alive, surely he'd go in there and wack 'em good with a stick.

Wascally WASC: wegent woles & wesponsibilities!

In this morning’s Inside Higher Ed:
The University of California is facing new criticism over governance—this time from its accreditor. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that while the Western Association of Schools and Colleges normally accredits individual UC campuses, it prepared a special report on system governance in the wake of several controversies over compensation for executives in the system. The report found confusion over the roles and responsibilities of regents, the system president and the chancellor, as well as a lack of a consistent system for evaluating top officials. University officials said that they are moving to address the issues. [My emphasis.]

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...