Chutzpah: Benedict Arnold asks Colonists for their support

.....TODAY, a colleague sent Rebel Girl an email, complaining about an email he had just received from trustee Dave Lang. Its subject heading was, “Dave Lang For OC Treasurer,” and it asked Dave’s “friends,” i.e., the email’s recipients, to vote for him and to get others to do likewise.
.....The colleague was miffed. He (or she) wrote:

The chutzpa he has, after treating faculty the way he has to mail this out to me! Did you guys get this too? (This seems like a conflict of interest to mix his external politics with my academic email!)

.....Evidently, Lang sent this solicitation to our colleague’s IVC email address. Have any others received it on their college account? (It appears, however, that Lang did not use his district account to send the email.)
.....In this instance as in so many others, Lang is clueless about how he is perceived by most faculty, at least at Irvine Valley College.
.....To us, he is the worst kind of turncoat. A Benedict Arnold. A Quisling.

.....FOR MANY YEARS, starting in 1996, Lang’s biggest supporters were a group of IVC faculty (and others) who valued Lang’s intelligence, prudence, and integrity. The latter, it seemed, was evident in his inveterate opposition to the c. 1996-2001 era Union Old Guard/Board Majority Axis. It was Dave who, in 1997, urged the DA to investigate the board majority’s blatant violations of the Brown Act; it was Dave who decried the board’s violation of best practices and its own policies in a series of hinky hires that promoted the careers of the unprincipled scum who controlled the Faculty Association; it was Dave who routinely focused the minority’s opposition to the hated Raghu Mathur, who owed his administrative career to Axis illegality and corruption.

.....But in mid 2005 (or thereabouts), that all changed. During tense board discussions regarding contract renewal for Mathur, apparently overnight, Lang joined Tom Fuentes (and John Williams and Don Wagner) in supporting the odious Mathur. In all other ways, Dave continued to be the fiscally prudent, moderate Milquetoastian fellow he had always been. But, with regard to any issue that concerned Mathur, Dave’s actions reflected a fidelity to the appalling fellow.
.....His supporters confronted him (yes, literally at a meeting at someone's home). What’s up, Dave? He had no coherent answer.
.....Pretty soon, Dave took Mathur on as his protégé. Dave, it seemed, had come to see that his heretofore unknown talents as a guru and a “changer of men” were required. Raghu, he seemed to say, can and will abandon his conniving old ways. Leave it to me. You’ll see! (See The New Goo.)
.....We asked ourselves: could Lang possibly believe this malarkey?
.....But, soon enough, a better explanation of Dave's breathtaking switcheroo arose. Lang reportedly told confidants that he coveted the OC Treasurer/Tax Collector job.
.....Oh.
.....Enter Fuentes: being the reptile he is, he had bided his time; then he sensed his opportunity; he Fausted Lang. (DtB wrote about this unpleasant theory at the time.)
.....Insiders say that Lang’s relationship with Fuentes hit a rocky patch during the election of 2006, for Fuentes had already joined forces with rising star Chriss Street, who, with support from Supervisor Moorlach (yet another pious right-winger), easily sailed to victory. He was our hot new "star" Treasurer.
.....Even before he was elected, however, Street’s hinky ways—especially in his role as trustee of the Fruehauf "End of the Road Trust"—had come to light. Four years later, he lost a huge civil suit. Politically, he was toast.
.....Well, here we are in 2010, and, despite his relatively moderate politics, Lang now cites über right-winger Tom Fuentes as among his top three endorsers.

THE EMAIL:

.....The email our colleague received includes the following:

Dear Friends,

.....Thanks in advance for all the good wishes and support being provided for my campaign. Please visit my website and I would encourage you to e-mail this to your friends and family to urge them to vote and pass this along to their contacts.
Best regards,

Dave

Then:

Election day is June 8. Please join me in supporting Dave Lang for Orange County Treasurer. Absentee ballots are out this week. Please send yours in.

TOP TEN REASONS TO VOTE FOR DAVE LANG FOR TREASURER

1. He is the only candidate in the race who has had Treasurers working for him. Other candidates currently work at a Treasurer’s office, but none has had the responsibility to direct a Treasurer.
2. He has more real world investment experience than any other candidate in the race. He has been a CPA for over 30 years, with vast organizational Treasurer experience.
3. He is the only serious candidate in the race not tainted by former Treasurer issues or beholden to any county supervisor.
4. He is the only candidate endorsed by Lew Uhler, President of the National Taxpayer Limitation Committee. He will protect taxpayers and restore credibility to the Office of Treasurer.
5. He is the only candidate in the race with elected “Trustee” experience with final responsibility for safeguarding a public entity’s funds
6. He is the only candidate in the race with the experience of being a business owner with the responsibility to meet a payroll, with over 25 years of experience with his well-established CPA firm in Irvine.
7. He is the only candidate with Governing Board experience, with three years as President and over 13 years as an elected Trustee.
8. He will restore integrity to the office of Treasurer. He has the proven credibility that will restore the trust of the County Supervisors, giving them the confidence they need to give investment authority back to the office of Treasurer.
9. He is the only candidate with the broad experience and countywide reach who can work with diverse professional, non-profit and business groups as Treasurer
10. He is the only candidate in the race with bi-partisan support countywide.

VISIT OUR WEB SITE AT www.DaveLangforOCTreasurer.com

Tension and bullying at UCI

.....Our pal Jason often sends us wonderful photos of events at UCI, just up the road. He's definitely a guy with a point of view--and his eyes are open. 

.....He seems particularly disgusted with some of what went on in the last few days, which he dubs, "Hate Week." 

.....As we reported three days ago, the Muslim Student Union presented "Israeli Apartheid Week" at the university.

.....Jason said he observed a fair amount of bullying--and some verbal push back--during the event, some of which is documented in these photos.

.....Included below: a message to students from UCI Chancellor Drake.

Late Saturday, UCI Chancellor Michael Drake sent the following message to students:

As I often do when events occur that breach our university's
commitment to values and civility, I feel a necessity to speak out.
I'm speaking today of the offensive remarks supporting terrorism made
during the question period following a noontime lecture at the
flagpole on Thursday.

The past week included several speeches, lectures and discussions
providing opposing views on the Middle East conflict, one of the
world's most troubling confrontations. Much of what was said was the
type of discourse on a difficult issue that is the hallmark of an
educational institution committed to an exchange of ideas. Some of
these views are very difficult and offensive to listen to. As is the
case on all campuses, events sponsored by campus organizations and
visitors may feature ideas and opinions that can be starkly different
from ours. But as we know, it is nevertheless incumbent upon us to
protect the freedom of speech of those who visit our campus to express
their views, even when we disagree.

Let me be clear: we condemn the speaker's endorsement of terrorism.
Nothing could be more contrary to our fundamental values and our
commitment to dialogue and democratic rule, not violence. We are an
educational institution that promotes, practices and teaches
tolerance; these remarks supporting terrorism were deplorable.

As a public university our free speech venue is open to a broad range
of views, and we're a stronger campus for doing that. But we will
never allow ourselves to be defined by the outside views of others.
They may speak here, but they don't speak for us.

Chancellor Michael Drake

Chomsky: persona non grata

Noam Chomsky Is Refused Entry Into Israel (Chronicle of Higher Education)

The linguist and activist Noam Chomsky, who is due to deliver a lecture on Monday at Birzeit University in the West Bank, was denied entry into Israel on Sunday, Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, reported. He was turned back at the Allenby Bridge crossing into Israel from Jordan after first being detained for questioning, according to Haaretz. The MIT professor is a harsh critic of Israel but, according to the Associated Press, he told a Jordanian television station on Sunday that he has "often spoken at Israeli universities." A spokeswoman for Israel's Interior Ministry said that Mr. Chomsky was refused entry for "various reasons," but would not provide additional details….

Colorado Community Colleges Repeal Policy Prohibiting Concealed Weapons (Chronicle of Higher Education)

The Colorado Community College System has repealed a policy banning concealed weapons from its 13 campuses, the Associated Press reports. The move comes a week after the Colorado State University System dropped plans to prohibit concealed firearms, in response to a state appellate court ruling last month that reinstated a lawsuit challenging the University of Colorado's concealed-weapons ban.