1982: The district hires Larry Stevens and learns to regret it

More SOCCCD history.

This story centers on Larry P. Stevens, that other awful Chancellor, and his stormy three-year tenure. The faculty's struggle to send Stevens packing reached its conclusion six months before I was hired at IVC, and so I came to this saga with no understanding but with a vague sense that Chancellor troubles are nothing new to the district.

What follows is based entirely on abstracts of old LA Times articles. (That’s right; I’m too cheap to pay for the articles themselves. There's like twenty of 'em.) Hence, the following account is full of gaps, some minor, some major. I'm hoping that some of them can be filled by readers. The most notable gap? Just what did Chancellor Stevens say at that assembly in November of 1982 that got people so riled?

Please note: the dates in parentheses are dates of source Times articles (i.e., abstracts).

Late 1982

Larry Stevens was hired as Chancellor of the Saddleback Community College District (SCCD) in September of 1982.

Stevens had been “president of Tacoma Community College in Washington before coming to Saddleback. In the late 1970s and early '80s, he was the target of faculty criticism—and a vote of no confidence—at that college” (2/19/85).

One report indicated that the “friction” between Stevens and SCCCD faculty “first surfaced in November, 1982…, when he addressed a faculty assembly…” (2/19/85).

(Gosh. Just what did he say?)

Evidently, Stevens “probed” issues in ways that were objectionable to some. E.g., he sought “more expansion land for fast-growing Saddleback College” (7/16/85).

1983

By 1983, the faculty union, led by Sharon MacMillan, charged that Stevens “’hired cronies,’ wasted money on administrative frills and was dictatorial” (11/4/85).

To complicate matters, starting in July of 1983, faculty were working without a contract (2/19/85).

During this period, the board of trustees comprised Eugene McKnight, William Watts, Robert Price, and Robert Moore. (Don’t know who the other three were.)

Stevens weighed in on the big "fees" debate, 5-24-84, Tustin News

1984

At the March 1984 board meeting, faculty of the district “called for the board of trustees to fire Chancellor Larry P. Stevens.” In a press conference held just before the meeting, faculty union president MacMillan reported that Stevens had suffered an overwhelming vote of no confidence (90%) (3/27/84).

The board refused to comply with faculty wishes. In response, faculty eventually “sought to recall three trustees who consistently supported [Stevens]” (11/4/85). Watts, Price, and Moore were targeted.

The recall effort was announced in early May of 1984 (5/4/84).

Soon thereafter, Stevens “rebuked” the union for pursuing a recall of board members (5/8/84).

In October, “Four Saddleback Community College District Trustees not named as recall targets …  condemned the recall threat and supported their three targeted colleagues” (10/28/84).

Union leaders denied that difficult contract negotiations were the reason for the recalls. The recalls concerned Stevens, not salaries (11/3/84).

"An accreditation team described the overloads as 'very heavy' and
recommended the practice 'should be examined to determine if
there is an adverse effect on the quality of education.'" (Tustin News, 5-17-84)

5-24-84, Tustin News

1985

The faculty contract was settled in February of ’85.

“Despite the overwhelming approval of the [contract] agreement, [Robert Kopfstein] said the union will continue to seek the recall of three college district trustees” (2/26/85).

“Effort to Recall Trustees Fails for Lack of Signatures” (5/30/85).

(On July 1, 1985, Saddleback College “North Campus” became the autonomous “Irvine Valley College,” Saddleback's sister college.)

“South County Veteran Saddleback Trustee to Step Down” (7/16/85).

Trustee McKnight was not running for reelection, and so the faculty union sought to fill his seat (in the Nov. ‘85 special election) with someone more to their liking (11/1/85).

“Mike Eggers, an aide to Rep. Ron Packard (R-Carlsbad), [was] among four candidates for [Eugene McKnight]'s seat. Eggers … clashed with the teachers' union and accused it of being behind a mailer … that accused him of unethical behavior and links to an alleged ‘racketeer.’ Eggers said the accusations were ‘lies’” (11/4/85).

In the end, though the 1985 recall effort failed (too few signatures), the union’s goals for the November ('85) election were successful. Watts and Price were gone. (Moore was not up for reelection.) McKnight was replaced with a union-friendly trustee (who?).  Both Iris Swanson and Marcia Milchiker became trustees in this election. (Swanson died in 1993 and was replaced by Teddi Lorch.)

At that point, the union had the votes it needed to get Stevens fired.

The salary debate, 5-17-84, Tustin News

1986

Stevens announced his resignation in January of 1986.

At the time, Bill Watts, opined: “I think [the faculty’s] biggest complaint is that Larry Stevens expected them to work five days a week"(1/8/86). McKnight spoke of a “communication problem” between Stevens and faculty.

“Faculty in the Coast Community College District [sic], after failing at a recall, succeeded in electing three union-endorsed trustees, who became the new board majority. The incumbent chancellor, whom the union opposed, resigned a week after those elections” (1/8/86).

The terms of Stevens’ resignation were that “neither the trustees nor Stevens would issue any ‘negative comments’ about each other” (1/8/86).

Upon Stevens’ exit, executive Vice Chancellor (of Educational Services and Student Development) David Habura served as acting chancellor (2/26/86).

Eventually, Richard Sneed succeeded Stevens as Chancellor.

* * * *

In 1986, Stevens became “Assistant Professor of Administration, Rehabilitation and Postsecondary Education” at San Diego State U. He retired in 1991. He came out of retirement to set up Cascadia Community College. He then worked in accreditation until 2001. He is again retired.

Comments:

Bob Cosgrove said...


When Stevens was interviewed he indicated that he taught communication courses but no one followed up on that until I requested a copy of his dissertation. In the blurb that we all write about ourselves, he indicated that he taught in (I believe) an elementary school. He was not quite as forthright as he claimed. The FA [faculty union] made copies of the self assessment page from his dissertation. There was a brief period of embarrassment for him and some BOT members. The dissertation was not well written and typical of bad education degrees of that time.

7:45 PM, January 01, 2010

P.S.: found this:

Saddleback College Faculty's Actions, LA Times, Apr 29, 1984

     Recently, I have been drastically disturbed by the lack of professionalism and, more important, the lack of objectivity demonstrated by some of my fellow faculty members at Saddleback College. Some have rushed to judgment without having researched the facts related to administrative leadership by Chancellor Larry Stevens.

     An essential ingredient of any teaching learning process is objectivity. I would have to assign an F grade to the recent conduct of some of the Saddleback College faculty for their lack of objectivity in asking the board of trustees to discharge its recently selected chancellor.

     Stevens’ actions since assuming the role of chancellor have been evaluated and praised by many objective groups, including the Western Assn. of Schools and Colleges [the accreditor].

     In its evaluation, that body made a number of recommendations. Dr. Stevens embarked on programs to make those improvements.

     One program Dr. Stevens improved was that of affirmative action. Historically, Saddleback College has been criticized and sued for discrimination in its hiring policies. Recently, the board, with the leadership of Dr. Stevens, strengthened its affirmative action program and policies. As a result Saddleback College has welcomed to its administration three very capable females: Dr. Maria Sheehan, a Hispanic, who was elevated to vice chancellor; Constance Carroll, a black, who was recently installed as president of South Campus, and Marley Bergerud, who heads the South Campus Business Science Division.

     For these and other improvements, the students and taxpayers of this district owe Dr. Larry Stevens a debt of gratitude and support. I call upon my fellow faculty members to accept a position of reconciliation so that together we can work to offer quality education to people of all ages.

JACK BYERLY

Lake Forest

History question: who argued that college Poli Sci professors should teach the Board’s political views? Guess!

Orange Union High, 1920. Now: Chapman U

During my historical internet wanderings this morning, I came across an odd claim somebody made about Tom "bagman" Fuentes, one of the SOCCCD's arch-conservative trustees. It was something about Tom's view regarding what college Poli Sci instructors should teach, expressed back in 1993.

I did some Googling and quickly found what I was looking for. The info I needed was in a small piece,  appearing just days before the disastrous 2000 election, by our old pal Matt Coker of the OC Weekly: Ralph crammed in (11/02/00).

Nearly four months after Holocaust denier Steve Frogue’s resignation from the SOCCCD board of trustees and then-OC GOP chair Tom Fuentes’ highly hinky appointment as replacement (by our all-Republican board), the infamous Bush/Gore Presidential race was in full swing.

You’ll recall that, unfortunately, famed consumer advocate Ralph Nader was in that race, drawing progressive votes from Mr. Gore. At the time, many (not me) worried that Nader would insure a Bush victory. Well, as you know, that’s just what happened.

In late October of 2000, somehow, the local Green Party managed to hold a rally for Ralphy Boy at Chapman U’s Memorial Hall (Oct. 20). In his report, Matt explained all that and then turned his attention to an incident involving Fuentes:

Chapman political-science department chairman Fred Smoller was instrumental in bringing Nader to the Orange campus. But before the rally, he talked to us about Tom Fuentes, grand wizard of the Orange County Republican Party. Fuentes was recently appointed to fill an unexpired term on the South Orange County Community College District board of trustees, which oversees Saddleback and Irvine Valley colleges.

Fuentes' campaign for a full term on the board alarms Smoller, who recalled a bizarre phone call he got seven years ago in which the GOP henchman and Chapman alum apparently said that political-science professors should teach the views of their college's board of trustees—Chapman's board is composed mostly of conservatives. While Fuentes was "soundly rebuffed by the [university's] provost," Smoller is frightened that Fuentes may wind up foisting his "anti-academic" perspective on academics.

Fuentes could not be reached for comment, but Mark Petracca, UC Irvine's political-science department chairman, said it's common for professors to teach from the perspective of their college's governing board—at "small, liberal-arts, Christian schools where the value we generally place on academic freedom is not so well-respected. But at any major-league university, that kind of censorship would not be tolerated. It'd just be ridiculous."

How about at public colleges? Petracca burst into laughter before saying, "It's easy to imagine groups of government bodies—boards of trustees, regents or the state legislature—getting upset at someone for something she says, something she writes, or something she teaches. But no one tries to do anything about it. And I'm fairly certain if somebody tried, the reaction would be pretty severe." ….

I missed that one. But Wow. (Petracca is [or at least was!] a big fan of this blog.)

Saddleback College's "Nutt" Memorial Library

Photo at left from the SOCCCD website: "In 1973, the James B. Utt Memorial Library was dedicated in honor of Orange County's late U.S. Congressman Utt."

Not long ago, while listening to trustee Tom Fuentes refer to the “James B. Utt Memorial Library,” a bell went off in my head. “Hey,” said Herr Bell, “I think I heard something in Fuentes' voice; he reveres this guy Utt. Utt's gotta be some kind of Neanderthal.”

Couldn’t find much info on the guy, but here are some preliminary factoids (or alleged factoids).

According to Wikipedia, Utt, born in Tustin in 1899, was a “conservative Repubican Congressman” who held that office from the early fifties until his death in 1970. (His successor: John Schmitz!) That means that Fuentes, as OC Supervisor (and Republican) Ronald Casper’s bagman (er, executive assistant), may have known the guy. It’s hard to say. I guess I could ask Tom.

Utt was seriously right-wing. According to Wikipedia, “one of his unachieved goals was to remove the United States from the United Nations.” (For what it's worth, the right-wing fringe views the U.N. as involved in vast conspiracies: black helicopters, one-world government, etc.) Further, he “voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1960, 1964, and 1968, and against the Voting Rights Act of 1965.”

Tsk, tsk.

And get this:

In 1963, [Utt] claimed that "a large contingent of barefooted Africans" might be training in Georgia as part of a United Nations military exercise to take over the United States. [See OC Almanac.] In 1963, he also claimed that black Africans may be training in Cuba to invade the United States. [See Washington Merry-Go-Round.]

The bell in my head went off again. It yelled, “Hey, maybe Utt was somehow associated with Liberty Lobby, the seriously evil anti-black and anti-Semitic organization started by the seriously wicked Willis Carto.”

You remember Willis C. He was the guy behind “Spotlight” newspaper and its boy reporter Michael Collins "count my footnotes!" Piper, Trustee Steven Frogue’s Holocaust-denying, conspiracy-mongering, pal. Carto started OC’s own “Institute for Historical Review" (it denies the Holocaust), with which he eventually had a seriously nasty falling out—in the early 90s as I recall. A lawsuit between the two sides of that war went against Carto and finally ruined Liberty Lobby in 2001. (Recently, Carto has started a new newspaper, The American Free Press. It's more of the same.)

I looked up “Liberty Lobby” on Wikipedia and, according to W, there is a Liberty Lobby/Utt connection:

The Liberty Lobby was the subject of much criticism from all quarters of the political spectrum from the first day of its founding [in the late 50s]. … ¶  Many critics...have noted that Willis Carto, more than anybody else, was responsible for keeping organized antisemitism alive as a viable political movement during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, when it was otherwise completely discredited.

Evidence for the antisemitic stance of the Liberty Lobby began to mount when numerous letters by Carto excoriated the Jews … began to surface. "How could the West [have] been so blind. It was the Jews and their lies that blinded the West as to what Germany was doing. Hitler's defeat was the defeat of Europe and America."….

Starting in October 1966 two American journalists, Drew Pearson and Jack Anderson, published a series of stories under [the title] "The Washington Merry-go-round" that recounted the findings of a former employee, Jeremy Horne. Horne said he had discovered a box of correspondence between Carto and numerous government officials establishing the Joint Council of Repatriation (JCR), a forerunner organization to the Liberty Lobby. The JCR stated that their fundamental purpose was to "repatriate" blacks "back to Africa". Ex-Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Tom Brady and various members of the White Citizens' Councils who had worked to [establish] the JCL, also contributed to the founding of the Liberty Lobby. Other correspondence referred to U.S. Congressional support for the emerging Liberty Lobby, such as from South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond (former Dixiecrat Party presidential candidate in 1948) and California Congressman James Utt.

Good grief.

The reports on Utt's remarkable comments about black or barefoot "Africans" appear to be reliable, though it must be said that Mr. Pearson—and to a lesser extent, his protégé Mr. Anderson—had a reputation for ruthlessness and occasional significant error. (Fox's Brit Hume used to be one of Anderson's "legmen.")

I'm still looking for verification of the Utt-LL connection. I doubt I'll find that.

It does appear, though, that Saddleback’s gosh-darned Library was named after a right-wing, UN-bashing nut—who was hostile to, or at least, um, unsupportive of, his African-American brethren.

I know. Let's just add an "n." Just call it the "Nutt" Memorial Library.

That would be cool.

Our recent past: Saddleback College and “anti-black harassment”

Much ado about nothing? —Or: a pattern of distressing incidents at a cheery college in a sunny place (OC) with a cloudy history

I’ve been looking for stories about our district’s history, and, in the course of pursuing the lurid tale of a certain notorious former chancellor (no, not Mathur), I came across an old (4/10/94) OC Reg article about “anti-black harassment” at Saddleback College—and the hiring of Ned Doffoney, an African-American (not the first; he succeeded Constance Carroll), as President. (See A VISION OF CONFIDENCE: Ned Doffoney, president of a college with a history of racial problems, says he is not single-issue oriented).

You know about Ned: he’s from Louisiana but spent time in education in LA before taking on the Saddleback gig. After he was ousted by 1997’s notorious right-wing Board Majority (Frogue, Williams, et al.), he went back to Louisiana. More recently, he was the President of Fresno City College and, a year and a half ago, he became the Chancellor or the North Orange County Community College District. (See North Orange County gets a New Chancellor.)

According to the Reg article, back in early 1994, “anti-black harassment” had often “put the college in the news”—for years, evidently going back to about 1991.

The Reg explained:

Since 1991, a handful of black staff members and students have sporadically received threatening or harassing fliers or phone calls. Last fall, two black students running for homecoming king and queen abandoned their quests after receiving hate mail. ¶ In November, even as nearly 600 people packed a campus forum on racial intolerance, Ricc Waddell, the would-be homecoming king and president of the black student association, found a threatening, racist note under his vehicle's windshield wiper.

According to the Reg, at the time, the college had hired consultants “to help smooth the way as the campus becomes more diverse.” Evidently, just then, these consultants were about to file “a report…calling for a department of ethnic studies.” (See College May Offer Ethnic Studies Dept. (L.A. Times, 5/19/94).)

The Reg seemed to expect the recommendation to inspire opposition “from parts of the faculty.”

Don’t know what that’s about. (Do you?)

This Waddell kid (of the black student association) was pretty cynical about the Doffoney hire:

…Waddell, 23, the history and psychology major who was the target of the latest racist fliers, said Doffoney has yet to "see the irony in this whole situation." ¶ "He's the master token, and he doesn't realize it," Waddell said. "I just think he's being brought in as a pacifier. (District trustees) don't want Saddleback to get the name of being racist."

But Ned is a pretty charming—and genuinely nice—guy, and so Waddell met with him and then reported that "He's a real cool guy. I'm very happy that he's here."

Nevertheless, Waddell opined that Doffoney would be dealing with a “hostile climate” for minorities. (No doubt there was some hostility. Any old-timers want to weigh in on whether this episode leaves a false impression? A correct impression? A small handful of rat bastards can cause quite a stink. Is that what this was, essentially? On the other hand, South County is the home of both the Minutemen and the Birthers, both arguably racist organizations. Newport Beach, of course, is the home of the nation's foremost Holocaust denial organization, the IHR, whose friends came to the district in significant numbers to support their hero Steve Frogue a decade ago.)

Within a year or two after Doffoney’s arrival, trustee Steve Frogue commenced his perplexing series of criticisms of the IVC Academic Senate--and the Jewish Anti-Defamation LeagueHe even seemed to question an instructor’s inviting an ADL official to speak to a class (at IVC), learning about the Holocaust.

Naturally, that didn’t please the district’s Jewish population.

Digression: the "Menorah cartoon" incident, 1989-1990:

The 26-year old art editor of the Saddleback College Lariat ran a cartoon criticizing Israel's nuclear policy--using Jewish symbols (Menorah, Holocaust). People went apeshit. For a (partisan) review of the facts concerning the incident, see Orange County: A Tragicomedy in Three Acts, by Tom Moran, 3/90 in the willing-to-criticize-Israel (yikes) Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. See also Apology: offensive Lariat editorial cartoon, LA Times, 12/17/89

TigerAnn, cat

I then (as now) taught at Saddleback’s sister college to the north, and, frankly, I didn’t pay any attention—indeed, I was oblivious—to the racial tensions referred to here. I came into the (political) picture only when Frogue commenced sniffing around my office mate’s Holocaust course (c. 1995). (I wrote a piece for IVC’s Voice, criticizing Mr. Frogue’s apparent embrace of the incompetent Institute for Historical Review, a local Holocaust denial organization.)

Do any readers have information concerning these events at Saddleback College of the early 90s?

The article reveals how times have changed—not just with regard to interracial relations (which seem good these days, on our campuses). Doffoney identified among his challenges the setting up of a “computer network”: “Many of our students have computers. Their homes are technologically equipped. And it's our task to catch up," he said.

It's hard to remember a time when we didn't have computers in our offices. Our computers arrived in the mid-to-late 90s.

I recall the district dragging IVC’s computer-savvy (and otherwise-savvy) Peter Morrison out of the classroom (this must’ve been about 1997) to organize and plan this computer catch-uppery. I think they were also trying to keep him above the various frays that then raged at IVC and the district.

Did you know former Chancellor Robert Lombardi? I never had a problem with him, but he occasionally offered less-than-articulate comments to the press over the years. This particular article ends with a typical Lombardian "comment." Commenting on Doffoney, he was quoted as saying

"He makes us all easier with diversity…. When you experience people who are different from yourself and you have a real positive experience with that ... that experience helps us then deal with other people who are different than we are."

Um, yeah. Sure.

“Moments in SOCCCD History” coming soon*:

• Saddleback instructor’s lurid “wide stance” student/teacher conference in the Utt library restroom
• Saddleback instructor’s student-bimbo v. wife brass-knuck-assisted on-desk bout leading to über-costly medical payout
• Irvine Valley banana boy’s unseemly & illicit internet surfin’ in the stacks
• Irvine Valley gasbag leading student prayer huddles pre-tournament, amen

*Well, no, we won't be delving into this kind of history. I mention these events (all real) only because three of the instructors were supporters of Raghu P. Mathur and were part of the corrupt union inner circle that brought us the 1996 Board Majority. And guess what? Those are the three who weren’t fired.

Photo from Steve Turnbull’s “The Great Laguna Fire of 1993”

Comments

Anonymous‬ said...
I was there.
 Brother Ricc invited the Minister of Information from the Nation of Islam [to] speak in the BGS large lecturer hall. The "bodyguards" from the Nation Of Islam were patting down anyone who attended at the entrance. Who knows where our Campus Police where.



Later in the semester the "note incident" occurred. Things were very odd at the time. Linda Newell and her assistant Norma Yanni were the "District Diversity Office" or something like that. They seemed to have an agenda, but I couldn't figure it out.



The forum was hosted by another "Diversity Officer" from another college. Paid, of course. To me it smelled like a RICO investigation was needed. Cause some trouble and collect the cash. Why didn't Linda run the forum? Did her paid host get her a gig on his campus for a forum? Pure speculation on that part, but it sure felt like it.



Not long after that the "District Diversity Office" was dissolved and Saddleback got both employees.



I had the pleasure of working with Ned and he was a professional and a gentleman. He did what was best for the college and—shock—believed in shared governance. He was in charge, but he did listen and work for the best outcome.



Peter Morrison was a most interesting person. He pushed through a District Budget Allocation Model that favored IVC for many years. He was the terror of "DRAC". He got drafted to the District network/computer project because the colleges were bypassing the district in technology.
For those in the know "The (Ed) Buck Stopped Here".



My favorite memories of Peter was when he walked out during Frogue's tirades in the BOT meetings about the IVC Academic Senate elections. When he was done, Frogue would look up and ask "he wouldn't stay to hear me out?"

12:29 AM, December 31, 2009

Inside Higher Concept

Sexy English faculty:

Here’s an odd item from this morning’s Inside Higher Ed:

Does Dismal MLA Job Market Add to Hook-Up Demand?

This year's annual meeting of the Modern Language Association has featured much chatter about how the terrible job market has changed things. Attendance is down; those on the market seem more stressed than ever (not that they ever didn't seem stressed). Several have asked about whether there is new research, following on last year's panel on MLA sex. on the impact of the economy on conference encounters. We didn't see any such research but a review of Craigslist personals suggests that some academics did have hopes for connections outside of the sessions and cash bars. Only when the MLA is in town will you find listings such as "Hot English dork here, looking to play with another hot English dork." And we guess that most of the time, Craigslist hook-up personals (seeking kink no less) aren't illustrated by the cover of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.

SEE ALSO:
Missing in Action at the MLA: Today's Teachers of Today's Students (The Chronicle, 12/29/09)

The New York Times’ books section notes the phenomenon of academics embracing cult films such as “The Big Lebowski” with “it’s beatific slacker, the Dude,” the subject of a new anthology (Dissertations on His Dudeness).

Readers were invited to share their thoughts.

MW peevishly opined:

There is no mention in this article -- and possibly in the anthology -- about the severe gender split around the Dude. I do not know of any women, myself included, who like the film. There are likely a few, but the film is the cinematic equivalent of The Three Stooges: beloved by most men, incomprehensible by most women. Why men are so hungry to validate a juvenile position in relation to the world... I don't get it. Can you think of any 'slacker' films with a female protagonist?

Are (white) men really under that much social pressure? Three guesses who gets to clean up the slackers' messes, pay the bills, speak sense...

But, later, Amy retorted:

As a female quickly approaching my 7th decade (so how old does that make me!?!) I would like for readers to know that there is at least one woman who loves the movie - me!! My husband (younger than me - GRRRRRR says the cougar!) and I own a copy and watch it at least once a year. We also own bowling balls and shoes, and bowl several times a year. How great that there are people who want to write essays about this movie. It is a treasure!! Long live the Coen Brothers!!

Wooden butter knifery

Annie picks up pieces of wood around the property and fashions them into knives and spoons and such. She showed up today with her latest effort.

"It's a butter knife," she declared.

I took these pics of the thing.

Do you think there's a market for such things? —For these carvings, I mean.

Every time I turn around, Annie's making something—yogurt, cheese, bread, furniture, paintings, drawings, and whatnot. One time, she painted a "bunny" that ended up on some stamp for the Cancer Society. No, maybe it was a goose. Some kinda goofy animal. Won a prize.

When she worked at the USGS, she drew in "Bauer's Canyon" on the map, right where my folks live here in the Santa Ana Mtns. It took. Now, all the maps show "Bauer's Canyon." Check it out.

Did I ever tell you about my bro Ray's invention for hang-glider pilots? No? It was a thing you dropped to determine the wind direction. After he died, these Europeans came around, trying to nail down the right to his invention or something. Don't know what ever happened to that. Doesn't much matter now.

Incorrect IVC mascot suggestions

Fullerton Junior College cheerleaders, 1946. What's with those tobacco leaf pom-poms?

I recall this sentiment being expressed over the years. Now? Not so much.

Two or three months ago, I bought my first laptop—an expensive Mac—and it's just great, but it's also so new-fangled that it cannot deal with the (pre-OS X) version of Photoshop that I had been using. Well, today, I finally acquired a workable version of the program, and so I thought I'd fool around with it a bit.

Everybody knows that there's no truth whatsoever to that horrible stereotype of the Gypsies as, um, thieves.

Somebody oughta tell Wikipedia, which (in its article on "Romani people") refers to a 2006 study, involving 363 Gypsies (Romani), that “found results that placed participants in the IQ range of 70 (borderline mental retardation) and on the executive function tests at the level of a Serbian 10 year old.”

It goes on to assert that the “crime rate of Romani communities is highly disproportionate as well.”

Such incorrectitude!

How incorrect of me. I recall kids like this in high school, sans cellphones. (Apologies to Tom Tomorrow.)

As in "casual." Does anyone still say "cazgh"? Many of my students wrote about "casual determinism" on the final exam. I sometimes announce, "You don't want to confuse 'causal' with 'casual.'"
"What's the difference?" asks a student way in back.
And "Dick Hart" was a French philosopher, evidently.

OK, the "Aphids" aren't incorrect. Better than Anteaters though.

This alludes to South County's own Orly Taitz, queen of the "birthers"--you know: the people who think that citizen Obama isn't. She's a dentist.

This one's just to piss off trustee Tom Fuentes, is all. Students tend to be neither. They tolerate me. I appreciate that.

Just a suggestion. Graucho was pretty incorrect in his own day.
But, in a way, not.

Just added (1/14)

1969: Saddleback's war on hair

Forty years ago: Fullerton College students were protesting the draft. Meanwhile, at Saddleback College, hairy male applicants were turned away

Shining, gleaming, streaming, flaxen, waxen:

Back in 1969, some hairy kid named Lindahl King tried to register for classes at Saddleback College, but he was turned away owing to his long hair. Fred H. Bremer was the Superintendent of what was then the Saddleback Junior College District, and he supported the action.

King sued.

(If you’re interested in the details of the court case, you might want to look here and here.)

In January of 1970, the “District Court issued its preliminary injunction enjoining [Saddleback] from refusing to register King in the college and from refusing to allow him to attend classes on the ground that his hair style was not acceptable under the applicable dress code.”

Two more kids signed on, and the same thing happened.

But, near as I can tell, things went downhill from there for these hairy kids. In the end (I believe), the courts ruled in favor of Bremer and Co.

I think King went on to make wooden tubas. Don't know what's become of his hair. I think maybe John's now got it pasted to the top of his head.

This is from the district’s 1970 appeal:

This is an appeal by Saddleback Junior College District from a grant of two preliminary injunctions sought by Lindahl King and two other students at the Junior College. ¶ Lindahl King alleged in a complaint filed in the United States District Court that he was refused registration at Saddleback Junior College … unless and until he conformed his hair style to the requirements of the established dress code of the school. The regulation in question proscribes:

"Hair which falls below the eyebrows, or covers all or part of the ear, or hangs entirely over the collar of a dress shirt."

He sought a declaratory judgment invalidating the regulation and an injunction enjoining the Junior College District, its Superintendent, and the president of the college from enforcing the regulation….

Fred H. Bremer: hair style "conducive to learning"

The matter came on for hearing on December 29, 1969…. On January 6, 1970, the District Court issued its preliminary injunction enjoining the defendants from refusing to register King in the college and from refusing to allow him to attend classes on the ground that his hair style was not acceptable under the applicable dress code.

Subsequently, two other students were added as plaintiffs, and on January 19, 1970, a hearing was held on their similar complaints. Upon a substantially like record the District Court, on February 5, 1970, issued the preliminary injunction in identical form against the defendants and in favor of the new plaintiffs, Mark Carlson and Michael Martin.

Well, like I said, things went downhill from there. In this appeal (April of 1970), the court opined:

Where preservation of the status quo favors denial of the injunctions, where the probability of ultimate success is in doubt, where the appellants have not shown any real hardship resulting from denial, and where the record at this time is based on affidavits which are confusing and contradictory, we do not believe the two preliminary injunctions should have been granted.

But litigation lasted at least until 1971, when the above April '70 decision was upheld. So this must have cost the district some real money.

Luckily, we know how important this case was to Bremer. In one of the filings, he was on record as opining:

"Based upon my academic training and administrative experience, I am of the opinion that dress codes which include regulations applicable to male hair styles are desirable for junior colleges. Such codes aid in maintaining an environment which is conducive to learning and in avoiding disruptions of the educative process."

Um. Guess so. In fact, no disruptions occurred with these three hairy kids set loose at the college.

Yeah, said the judge. But that doesn't mean it couldn't occur.

Young Natalie, Christmas Eve

Top photo: right-wing rocker, Ted Nugent, c. 1969

Stupid mascots and the Irvine Company's "black heart"

Pretty soon, Irvine Valley College students will confront the crucial matter of selecting a mascot to replace the ridiculous “Laser”—which, as you know, is a kind of flashlight. I’m rootin’ for the Bobcats.

For about forty years, Saddleback College has been saddled, mascot-wise, with the “Gauchos,” although all known “Gaucho” images used at the college make clear that the Saddleback College Gauchos have no clue what a Gaucho is. (They confuse the South American gaucho with, well, not the Mexican vaquero, but, well, the freakin' Frito Bandito.)

The only thing worse than the IVC Lasers and the Saddleback College Gauchos is the UCI “Anteaters.”

I arrived at UCI straight from high school, in 1973, and I guess I wasn’t very impressed. I’m pretty sure that the only club was the Young Republicans. It didn’t help that we called ourselves “anteaters.” That seemed stupid to me.

They still haven't dumped that silly mascot.

Well, in case you’re interested, above is a YouTube slide show about the selection of UCI’s mascot. It accompanies a rambling account, by one Schuyler Hadley Bassett, of how the mascot selection was made during the university’s opening year in 1965. (A conversation with Schuyler Hadley Bassett.) A freshman at the time, he spearheaded the “anteater for mascot” campaign, despite his well-founded reservations about that awful idea. Essentially, they pursued the "anteater" idea 'cause they didn't want to be pushed around by the Man.

His account is mildly amusing.

I’ll give this Bassett fella credit: he manages to refer to the “black heart” of the Irvine Company. I guess he thinks everybody thinks that. I guess they do. According to Bassett, students wanted a silly mascot, like Santa Barbara's "banana slugs," but the Irvine Co. hired professionals to come up with dignified mascots and images, and the pressure was on. The students rejected all that. Must've pissed off those Irvinos.

I found the video on a blog called Anteater Antics, “Odds and ends from Special Collections and Archives, UC Irvine Libraries.” It ain’t much.

Previous posts (surprisingly brief) have included

Waiting for LBJ
(That’s right. The crude Texan was on hand for the opening.)

“Silent Movie”
(I was around for that one, in 1976. I recall thinking that Mel Brooks was the grumpiest man alive. He was that day.)

Famous speakers from the past
(Angela Davis, Eldridge Cleaver. Back in ’68 and ’69.)

From Gaucho and Laser ridiculosity (DtB, 2/15/06)

I'm told that, when the "mascot" issue first came up at IVC, then-President Ed Hart was determined to choose, as IVC's mascot, a critter like the Wolverine. "Wolverines"? said everybody. "Yeah, goddam Wolverines!" said Ed. He was like that.

Well, I asked IVC's surviving geezers—there's like three or four of 'em, and you have to catch them between naps—and some of 'em say it was the Wolverines, and some of 'em say it was the Wildcats.


There's a great "Wildcat" story. Once the "Wildcat" mascot idea was put out there, the campus was immediately divided about it. So one of the opponents of Wildcattery found a photograph of a cat engaging in, um, personal lickage. This lurid photo was circulated around campus. 

Upon it was written, "Nobody licks the Wildcats!"

Compare and contrast...

Lasers! Lasers!
Generating an intense beam of coherent monochromatic light!
Lasers lasers,
fight fight fight!

We are Bobcats, you are toast!
We use your ass as a scratchin' post!

Meanwhile, at Saddleback College:

Gauchos? Vaqueros? What the hey!
Get our learnin' from Frito-Lay!
Gooooooooooo Gauchos!

Xmas with Love on Letterman; plus Big Star gets all existential and sings about Jesus

The glorious original recording

Alex Chilton (of Big Star) is some kinda lunatic. But he’s brilliant and wonderful and I love this song. Always have. (I hear irony—especially when he sings, "we're gonna get born now," but Chilton is from the south, so who knows.)

From Big Star’s Third, recorded in 1974. Originally, only 250 copies were made.

Nevertheless, for what it’s worth, the album has long been a critical favorite. Rolling Stone included it on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. New Music Express ranked it as #1 of “the Top 30 most heartbreak albums.” (Evidently, the Brit rock press is illiterate.) Have a listen.

Some of you oldsters will  remember Chilton from his 1967 hit "The Letter," when he was singing for the Box Tops. He was sixteen-years-old when he recorded it. Had a gravelly, soulful voice. Another great song: "Cry Like a Baby" in 1968. (Love the fake-sitar guitar, the backing singers, the production—and Alex's soulful voice.)

As Chilton grew older, the growl in his voice disappeared. Go figure. I think he was moving toward purity, angelhood.

Angels from the realms of glory
Stars shone bright above
Royal David's city
Was bathed in the light of love

Jesus Christ was born today
Jesus Christ was born
Jesus Christ was born today
Jesus Christ was born

Lo, they did rejoice
Fine and pure of voice
And the wrong shall fail
And the right prevail

Jesus Christ was born today
Jesus Christ was born
Jesus Christ was born today
Jesus Christ was born

And we're gonna get born now

An excellent companion song/performance: Randy Newman in Rotterdam, 1979: "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" (original album: 1968)

Broken windows and empty hallways
A pale dead moon in the sky streaked with gray
Human kindness is overflowing
And I think it's going to rain today

Scarecrows dressed in the latest styles
With frozen smiles to chase love away
Human kindness is overflowing
And I think it's going to rain today

Lonely, lonely
Tin can at my feet
Think I'll kick it down the street
That's the way to treat a friend

Bright before me the signs implore me
To help the needy and show them the way
Human kindness is overflowing

And I think it's going to rain today

I’ve always included this among the great flawed songs. Why flawed? It’s flat bitter; its irony is callow. (No?) Another example: the Kinks’ “A Well Respected Man” (or “Dandy”). Great song (still magical for me), but it’s something that only a young and haughty whippersnapper would foist upon the world.

–Still…..

Big Star (were never big stars; just great little ones)