Bonzo Park

     Matt Coker offers a curious piece in today’s OC Weekly. An excerpt:

Welcome to the Ronald Reagan Great Park

     …After nervous introductions, we get down to business. But something is missing.
     "I thought when you called you said you'd have documents?" I ask.
     "They're all right here," he says, tapping a finger to his temple. "I have a photographic memory. Won a contest once."
     Cut to the chase.
     "I'm about to blow your mind," he says like a stranger in a Phish concert parking lot. "Those bastards are actually going to name the Orange County Great Park after Ronald Reagan."….

     Hmmm. SOCCCD trustee Tom Fuentes once floated the idea of naming the park after Richard M. Nixon.
     This must be Plan B.

Meanwhile, the name of SOCCCD'S "board of trustees" room is no
April Fool's joke

The “entitled” student

Not mincing any words.

     Today, Rebel Girl alerted to me a brief opinion piece that appeared a few days ago in the Chronicle of Higher Education. The author, Elayne Clift, is an adjunct faculty member at several colleges in New England.
     I offer Clift's article as yet another installment in my recent "Going to Hell in a Handbasket" series:

From Students, a Misplaced Sense of Entitlement 

     It was the semester from hell. In my 20 years as an adjunct faculty member, I had taught in the Ivy League and at community colleges, in Brattleboro and Bangkok, in undergraduate and graduate schools. Never had I seen such extraordinarily bad behavior in my students.
. . .
     …Sometimes [my students’ behavior] was passive-aggressive, but much of it was just plain aggressive. It got so bad that a few students apologized to me on behalf of their colleagues….
     As the semester continued, I slipped further into despair. How could it be that graduate students delivered such appallingly poor papers and presentations? They'd gotten undergraduate degrees; why couldn't they write in sentences? Why were they devoid of originality, analytical ability, intellectual curiosity? Why were they accosting me with hostile e-mails when I pointed out unsubstantiated generalizations, hyperbolic assumptions, ungrounded polemics, sourcing omissions, and possible plagiarism?
     …Every college teacher I know is bemoaning the same kind of thing. Whether it's rude behavior, lack of intellectual rigor, or both, we are all struggling with the same frightening decline in student performance and academic standards at institutions of higher learning. A sense of entitlement now pervades the academy, excellence be damned.
     Increasingly, students seem not to realize what a college degree … tells the world about one's abilities and competence. They have no clue what is expected of them at the higher levels of academic discourse and what will be expected of them in the workplace. Having passed through a deeply flawed education system in which no one is paying attention to critical thinking and writing skills, they just want to know what they have to do to make their teachers tick the box that says "pass." After all, that's what all their other teachers have done. (Let the next guy worry about it.)
     When teachers refuse to lower standards, those students seem to resort to a new code of conduct that includes acted-out rage, lack of respect, and blame. That behavior is fueled by the absence of clear standards from the administration, and of administrators who care about learning, not just financial ledgers.
. . .
     I'm not sure how these problems should be tackled, but this much I do know: If they aren't dealt with at individual institutions as well as through universal reform, the familiar claim that American college students are "the best and the brightest" will become even more laughable….

     Sounds about right to me.

"We're the young generation,
and we've got something to say."

"Here Lies California Education"

California community colleges to slash enrollment, classes (LA Times)

     Facing a state funding cut of up to 10%, California's community colleges will enroll 400,000 fewer students next fall and slash thousands of classes to contend with budget shortfalls that threaten to reshape their mission, officials said Wednesday.
     The dire prognosis was in response to the breakdown in budget talks in Sacramento and the likelihood that the state's 112 community colleges will be asked to absorb an $800-million funding reduction for the coming school year — double the amount suggested in Gov. Jerry Brown's current budget proposal.
     As it now stands, the budget plan would raise community college student fees from $26 to $36 per unit. The fees may go even higher if a budget compromise is not reached.
     During a telephone news briefing, California Community Colleges Chancellor Jack Scott said the funding cuts, under either scenario, would be a tragedy for students and a deep blow to the state's economy.
     "Students seeking to transfer to Cal State and the University of California will be denied access, those students unable to get into Cal State and UC and who desperately need to get into a community college will be denied, as well as those who are out of work and are coming to us for retraining," Scott said. "We will do the best we can, but we will not be serving the needs of students or meeting our education goals."
     Under the best-case scenario, Long Beach City College will cut 222 course sections this fall, turn away 1,000 full-time students who can't get classes and lose more than 30 staff positions, President Eloy Oakley said. He and several other community college leaders joined Scott for the telephone briefing.
     "Given the scenario now before us, we will reduce our enrollment back to 1999-2000 levels, which is a significant defunding, particularly at a time when demand at Long Beach City College has never been greater," Oakley said.
. . .
     The three-college San Diego Community College District is planning to shed more than 1,000 classes and turn away 20,000 students, Chancellor Constance Carroll said. More classes and about 27,000 students would be turned away under the larger reduction.
     "In San Diego, with a 10% unemployment rate, we have new jobs that require a college education, there are shortages in nursing and other careers and an unprecedented demand for students," Carroll said. "The bottom line is students will not have the opportunities they need."
. . .
     John Hooper, a computer science major at Los Angeles Valley College, said the unavailability of summer classes means it will take him an extra two years to complete the requirements he needs to transfer to UCLA.
     He was among scores of students at several Los Angeles-area community colleges who held a "die-in" Wednesday to protest the effect of state budget cuts on their education.
     The students lay in rows on the pavement and held tombstones made of black poster board with inscriptions such as "Here Lies California Education." Hooper said he has tried for three semesters without success to get into one chemistry class that he needs. His plight is shared by thousands of other students….

Failure of California Budget Talks Is Bad News for State Colleges (Chronicle of Higher Education)

     In an ominous sign for California’s public colleges, negotiations broke down on Tuesday between Gov. Jerry Brown and Republican lawmakers without an agreement on how to close the state’s budget gap. Mr. Brown, a Democrat, was seeking a deal that would have put a package of tax extensions on the ballot in June that, if passed, would shield colleges and other state agencies from a new round of budget cuts. Colleges were already cut by $1.4-billion last week; without approval of the tax extensions, officials have warned that those cuts could double in size, possibly resulting in the closures of community colleges, increased cuts in enrollment, and widespread layoffs of faculty and staff members. Democratic lawmakers’ next move is not clear; they have signaled that they may ask voters to approve the tax extensions as part of an initiative on the November ballot.

Special board meeting tomorrow

     The district has posted notice of a "special" board meeting tomorrow (Thursday, March 31, at the usual place) to discuss a "proposed settlement" of Westphal v. Wagner (the prayer lawsuit).
     The meeting is at 5:00 p.m. and will include an opportunity for public remarks prior to the trustees' closed session.

Doom, de doom doom

California schools move closer to doomsday (Kathryn Baron; TOP-ed)

     On Tuesday Gov. Jerry Brown called off negotiations with Republican lawmakers that were aimed at putting the tax extension up for a statewide vote in June. This move pretty much crushes any chances of sparing public schools from even deeper cuts for the next school year.
     “Each and every Republican legislator I’ve spoken to believes that voters should not have this right to vote unless I agree to an ever changing list of collateral demands,” Brown said in a statement posted on his website….
. . .
     “Much is at stake, and in the coming weeks I will focus my efforts on speaking directly to Californians and coming up with honest and real solutions to our budget crisis,” said Brown in his statement. His communications staff wouldn’t elaborate on what that means; however, one idea under discussion is gathering signatures to put the tax extension on the November ballot. But that may be too late to help schools that will have already laid off teachers and implemented their “Plan B” austerity measures. It also poses a thorny political dilemma. The current tax increases expire at midnight on June 30. Any vote after that is no longer an extension of the current taxes; it becomes a new tax increase, and that’s a much harder sell to voters.

     In late January, we excerpted from an article by (CCLC’s) Scott Lay in which Lay proclaimed:

     As if Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal to slash $400 million from community colleges' budget was not bad enough, it looks like it could get worse. ¶ "If its an all-cuts budget with no revenues, we estimate it will be $900 million cut from colleges," said Scott Lay, a president and chief executive officer of the Community College League of California.
. . .
     Brown's spending plan, which assumes voters approve a $12 billion extension of existing temporary taxes in a June election, would eliminate funding for 67,856 full-time students across California…. ¶ If the tax revenues are taken off the table, community colleges would need to cut an additional $500 million in each of the next five years, according to the league….

SEE ALSO State budget talks collapse, no June ballot measure (Total Buzz)

     Among the Republican leaders who have brought us to this difficult situation is SOCCCD's own "Dandy" Don Wagner, who, these days, is squawking and peeving and poking at the State Capitol. Like so many Republicans, Don seems to have essentially one message: we hate taxes.

The latest on Orlando Boy: tyin’ up loose ends

Team Fuentes: Dave Lang, John Williams, Tom Fuentes -- aka "the Beelzebublians"

     Former Trustee John Williams isn't gone yet. A few minutes ago, the OC Reg’s Kimberly Edds posted the following:

Quisling Dave

$15k more requested to look into Public Guardian (Total Buzz)

The county’s chief executive wants to spend another $15,000 to wrap up its investigation into allegations of mismanagement by Public Administrator/Public Guardian John S. Williams. The investigation, which remains confidential under attorney-client privilege, has already resulted in demands Williams resign, the splitting of the two departments, and the removal of Assistant Public Administrator/Public Guardian [and OC DA fiance] Peggi Buff.
. . .

Orlando bound!

The law firm of Colantuono & Levin was hired by the county for $40,000 in November to look into a series of accusations against the Public Administrator/Public Guardian. Now the county wants to throw in some more money – $15,000 to be exact – to tie up a few loose ends and fund any necessary follow-up services, according to a staff report. Williams is both the elected public administrator and the appointed public guardian. The county spent weeks trying to negotiate Williams’ early exit from office, but calls for his immediate resignation went unheeded. He remains the county’s elected public administrator, a position the board cannot take from him and one he says he will hold until he retires Jan. 23, 2012….

     Loose ends, eh? Pretty tantalizing, if you ask me.
     The County surely ought to have a clear picture of just what Williams has been up to. If it’ll take another $15k, then it’s money well spent.
     And then surely the public should be able to see the facts for themselves. All of 'em.

To hell in a handbasket

Can run; can't hide

More Professors Face Records Requests for E-Mails (Inside Higher Ed)

     A think tank in Michigan has filed state open records requests seeking e-mail messages to and from labor studies scholars at three universities, related to the skirmishing over public employee unions in Wisconsin, according to the blog Talking Points Memo. In the wake of the controversial filing of similar request for the e-mail records of a leading scholar at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, the Mackinac Center For Public Policy submitted requests under the state Freedom of Information Act to policy centers at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, Wayne State University, and Michigan State University. The requests seek e-mails since early January that include the words "Scott Walker" (Wisconsin's governor), "Wisconsin," "Madison" and "Maddow" (for the MSNBC commentator Rachel).

Good grief.

Florida Bill to End Tenure at Community Colleges Advances (Inside Higher Ed)

     Just days after being introduced, a bill that would bar community and state colleges in Florida from awarding tenure to faculty members was approved, 8 to 4, by a House of Representatives subcommittee on Tuesday. Faculty groups and several college presidents have come out against the bill, but a representative of the Associated Industries of Florida, a business lobby, endorsed the legislation. The Orlando Sentinel reported that Representative Erik Fresen, a Republican who chairs the K-20 Competitiveness Subcommittee, said that tenure makes it difficult for colleges to adjust to meet student demand in certain fields. "Oftentimes, the colleges cannot respond in time because of these 'handcuff' situations," he said.

Good news; bad news

Defenders of the Humanities Look for New Ways to Explain Their Value (Chronicle of Higher Education)

     A crowd of nearly 200 people gathered here [in Washington] on Monday to listen to a series of academic luminaries speak passionately about the importance of the humanities.
     Though billed as a "Symposium on the Future of the Humanities," the talks were less about new directions than about the value of traditional humanities in an era of gutted budgets, and against the insistence, even by many in academe, on measurable "outcomes" in higher education.
     "We have come to rely on the explanatory power of quantification in a way that far exceeds its usefulness," said S. Georgia Nugent, president of Kenyon College. "The nation has succumbed to the myth that everything can be measured, and that, moreover, the measurements that count are those of the market economy."....

New York Times

The March meeting of the SOCCCD board of trustees: Merlin the Magician?

In the Reagan meeting room.

     6:30 I've set this post to appear at exactly 6:30 p.m., the scheduled start time of tonight's meeting of the SOCCCD board of trustees. Naturally, the meeting won't start then, but I'll likely be in the room, staring at the walls, feeling like Buster Keaton (with the rock 'n' string).
     Did you know that the district feeds the trustees during these monthly meetings? You betcha. Meat and cheese and such. On skewers maybe. With tiny flame-throwers and pseudo-napalm made of lard.
     6:31 - "The lawyers" just left the closed session. Couldn't read 'em. Grim, I think. But with lawyers, you never know.
     The room is slowly filling up. It's still light outside--I'm feelin' summer comin' on! A festive orange-and-blue gift basket (or some such thing) awaits each trustee. Don't know what that's about. Right about now, trustees are lappin' up milk 'n' cookies 'n' luncheon meat.
     6:42 - I checked those "gift baskets." Turns out they're just an IVC mug with an IVC T-shirt and chocolate stuffed into it, sittin' on a delightful bed of fake, orange confetti-substitute. Plus a blue ribbon. Wrapped in cellophane, natch.
     6:52 - Still got nothin'. I'm feeling that my life is ticking away. The outdoors calls to me....
     Yeah, it's great outside; nice California sundown. Kids are out there talkin' about surfing, of all things. I spotted Dante, the whizzbang financial guy, wearing a nice (albeit rumpled) suit. He's talkin' finance or business with Brandye and some other suit. It's 7:00 and nothing's happening. The room stopped filling up. It's still pretty much a skeleton crew.

Heaven forfend!

     7:11 - THE MEETING BEGINS. The trustees are emerging. I see Meldau, Fuentes, Prendergast, Jay, Padberg. Don't see Milchiker or Lang (yet). Ah, yes, Lang has appeared. Still no Milchiker. Padberg and Poertner have disappeared. Some trustees have examined their Cellophane Giftage. They seem unimpressed.
     7:18 - Still no Milchiker. Nancy is grabbin' her gift crap. She filed it below immediately.
She knows crap when she sees it. Poertner is more polite, pretending to admire the T-shirt and mug within.

     7:19 - Marcia Milchiker just arrived. They are starting the meeting!
     Milchiker reading out actions:

(1) An announcement re some litigation. I don't know what that is.
(2) 7-0 approved unpaid benfits for somebody taking leave.
Those are the only actions in closed session that she can "read out," Milchiker says.

     Bill Jay: moment of silence for Japanese victimsd of tsunami. 5.9, 6.3 pulled

Room of magic

SHOOTOUT AT THE ATEP CORRAL:

2.4 SOCCCD: Facilities Corporation 2011 of the South Orange County Community College District, Initial Organizational Meeting (I believe this concerns ATEP and the financial scheme discussed at recent meetings)
     Fuentes speaks: mentions effort to end redevelopment agencies in Cal. "And here we are" going along with redevelopment! Continuing to grow government and to spend. I believe this is wrong. At this time, we should be moving on a "pay as we go" basis. This is unwise, ill-timed. Will be projected to the people--why are we doing this when we are asking the people of CA to pull in their belts? Why do we have this approach of privilege? I don't think that ATEP should be approached except if we can afford to do it, on our basis, our time frame, not motivated by "outside forces"; not being told the speed in which we need to do it. Should have the taxpayer in mind. It is my intent to be with the times, and to vote "no."
     They vote: all yes, with Fuentes "no." Fuentes continues to vote "no" on particulars. All others vote "yes."

Reconvening the board meeting (ending facilities corporation meeting).

No public comments or resolutions.

J'accuse!

Board reports:

Bill Jay: no report
Frank Meldau: no report
Marcia Milchiker: blah, blah, blah. Attended workshop for new trustees with Meldau and Prendergast. Up at the capital, they met with Assemblyman Don Wagner and others on higher ed committee. Lobbied for CC's.
TJ Prendergast: thanks IVC for "our basket." Holds it in the air.
Nancy Padberg: no report.
Tom Fuentes: no report.
Dave Lang: no report.
Student trustee Shieh: no report

FOUR REPORTS:
Chancellor Gary Poertner's report: We're about to begin discussions that are important. Brandye D'Lena will present. We all saw the bond program problems in LA. Will we have the same problems? Asked Brandye to go over that matter. Another topic: 20-20 Vision/Student Success. Have to do something to improve # of graduates/certif holders we produce. We have a goal of 1 million more by 2020, and that's a big order. Bramucci will present about that. With regard to ATEP, will hear from David Bugay about New Market Tax Credits. Answering questions raised by Trustee Tom Fuentes: how will this look when we're done? Are we in debt? Not? Randy Peebles will report on a number of issues that require decisions soon (about ATEP). Describing where we've been; where we are now; where we could go. In April or May, the colleges will present their visions of what they'd like to do at ATEP. We need to set priorities. What will we offer at ATEP? The proposed programs involve 300,00 s.f. Must prioritize, since we'll have much less space in the short term at least. We've been talking about "ground leases" to generate funds. Partnering with other agencies? Should we go beyond public universities? Private? For-profit? Religiously affiliated? Need guidance about this. Finally: what kinds of corporate partners we might entertain for ground leases.

1. Discussion item: Brandye D: "Protective Measures Relative to Construction Complexities": LACCD scandals re construction program. "All construction is fraught with danger." The LACCD projects far exceed the scope of our projects.

     Program management assigned to consultants -- frivolous spending ($6 billion). This was put into the hands of only two employees. Compare that with SDCCD project ($64 million), much smaller, with ten employees. Our project smaller still, four employees ($30 million). Very hands on. LACCD moral: Joked about the goodness of micromanagement.
     In general, Brandye seemed to have lots of reassuring things to say. I won't bore you with the details. Lots of gremlins in her slide presentation, but she seemed unflustered.
     From now on, if there is an atypical situation, you'll be informed (special consultants), says Brandye.
     Poor planning at LACCD resulted in waste. Presidents had freedom to change things, stopped projects. But SOCCCD has stayed the course. We're developing our master plan now.
     At SOCCCD, we pay as we go. Not as vulnerable to future costs. Discussed shoddy construction. The case of the science building: problems with plumbing in LA. Our recently built science building at IVC also had air-flow issues. But our project was much smaller. Science projects coming up at Saddleback. Some of the same people are working on these new projects and understand our construction issues, etc.
     Lots of measures in place; very hands-on. Construction projects are "infinitesimally" opportunities for problems. Can't avoid that. But we're prepared.
     Brandye made a strong statement about "ethics" in construction. No funny business going on here.
     We've improved transparency and accountability. "Plan your work, work your plan." You trustees keep us accountable, as do Presidents.

Fuentes: asserts that he is reassured by all this. Says there is a "great tradition" of communities that we serve--Irvine, Mission Viejo, San Juan C, etc.--ranches, agriculture, adobe and red tile architecture, mission. These things reflect who we are in a tangible way. Are those things considered in all this construction? These buildings all seem so "modern" or "post-modern."

     Brandye wanted to let Fuentes know that people have access to meetings. But Fuentes pressed the point: elements in our community, historical organizations--we should get these "experts" involved with their artistic, cultural knowledge.
     Brandye said she is unfamiliar with these organizations, but she will research them. Agreed that it was a good idea.

The eternally incipient ATEP

Meldau: compares San Diego (ten employees) and us (two). Brandye: we're very hands-on. We go to all meetings. If we were to expand our projects, we would indeed need help, but we seem to be doing fine right now. Meldau notes that, in LA, there wasn't sufficient oversight. Brandye had already agreed (in back-and-forth with Marcia) that there will be many updates. Brandye was very reassuring. Poertner: addresses and corrects some concerns.

2. Advanced Technology & Education Park (ATEP) Planning and Development

     VC Randy Peebles: some history. Showed slides. Briefly describes activities re ATEP since 2004. We've been very active in last 9 months. Describes phases, including demolition, which has much improved the property. Career Technical Education is the focus at ATEP. Discusses Career Technical Education (CTE). Pretty rambling, dry, unexciting.
     Describes "progress" since 2007. Blah, blah, blah.... What we'll need to do to become a "center."
     Discusses "building 1." 30K s.f. One college? Two? Mix of programs? All CTE?
     Future partners: the possibility of "ground leases." Similar to what we're doing with apartment complex at Saddleback. Discusses a draft of "desirable criteria." Need direction from the board.
     Building at ATEP brought to halt a year ago by lack of agreement on programs. This continues (?).
   Key questions: Who will be at ATEP? IVC? Saddleback? Combo? Other key questions.
   Etc.

3. SOCCCD:  2020 Vision Report

     VC Bob Bramucci: brief introduction to national and state effort that will be a regular companion for the next 9 years. Blah, blah, blah. America's position re other nations is in decline with regard to education. Falling behind. Current generation may well be less educated than parents. Only 12% of initial group of 3rd grade students get college degrees, etc.
     Grim statistics. On the other hand, all entities are pulling together in same direction. 20-20, etc.
     Compares CA to Texas, New York, Fl, etc. We will be a huge part of the effort.
     CA's goal by 2020. A million more graduates.
     Bramucci is a good speaker. But his message was spooky. Hard to see how we'll accomplish in the state what we "need" to accomplish. Discussed diversity issues.

Fuentes to Dante: "Merlin"

4. SOCCCD:  New Market Tax Credit Report (Merlin the Magician)

     Last report: by VC David Bugay: positive murmurings. Has fun with the word "alocatees."
     Will there be debt? "Yes and no." District will loan money to corporation. Blah, blah, blah. A complex transaction. Five entities involved. Bugay does pretty well explaining the stuff, considering. Fees. Loans. Leverage. Buckets of money.
     I am now lapsing into a coma. Such pretty colors....
     ....Um, I can see Fuentes' face. He's concentrating. Grimacing. Lang yawns the biggest yawn ever yawned....
     Fuentes: 5.5 million in transaction costs: could you define? Dante comes up to explain. Conservative estimate of cost. Fuentes stares. Did you know that Dante is an opera singer? I see colorful lights....
     Endless murmurings about consultants and "alocatees"....
     Fuentes: transparent you say? How transparent? What we're used to?
     Dante: more murmurings... Fuentes grimaces, but that means nothing (beyond the room bathed in ugliness).
     Fuentes: I see you as Merlin. I learned long ago that there's no such thing as a free lunch. Nobody up here understands the magician's act you are selling us. Dante: I'm not selling you anything. Fuentes: you have been from the beginning....
     Blah, blah, blah .... Bugay describes attorney involvement, review. Lang: will there be a separate legal opinion in connection with this transaction? Dante: yes. Murmur, murmur.... Complicated scenario of opining by lawyers....
     Fuentes: might we turn to the Chancellor? I continue to have concerns. A redevelopment agency. A move afoot to do away with them in the state. Gary, can we obtain an opinion for us if we have anything to be concerned about. Gary: be pleased to do that.
     Fuentes: 64 days. Clock starts ticking. Full disclosure of participants. Find out who the investors are. Due diligence necessary. Bugay: we will be transparent. All parties will be identified. Will see who the participants are. You will be able to investigate. The board "owns this transaction."

PULLED FROM THE CONSENT CALENDAR:
(5.9 was pulled earlier.) Consent calendar. 5.13 separate, Milchiker. Lang: 5.6 and 5.8. They vote. Unanimous.

5.6. Award of bid, grant. Lang had questions about sustainability of program. Blah, blah, blah.

5.8. Community education at the colleges this summer. Lang: Honoraria set hourly fee, bonus. Blah, blah, blah. Burnett: no course goes forward unless it is economically feasible.

Once were cats

6.1. bam.
. . .
     It's now 9:04 and the board is powering through most of the rest of the agenda. Some confusion about something that was passed (6.4?) but should have been pulled. Tedium and annoyance fill the room. Everybody wants out of here by 9:30. They have to withdraw a vote. (I don't think I've ever seen that.) Now they're talking about "lease back services." Fuentes: thought this was being pulled, so did not speak to it. But I have serious problems with this, he says. Discusses an incident years ago in the County. Fears that this proposal "has some of that in it." Could we hold this matter for a month? Get some questions answered about "fair competition."
      Padberg tries to head of Fuentes at the pass. Fuentes: contractors participating in government projects. Opportunity of employment. Unions. That was the issue; you must not have read the paper. Prendergast suggests there's no problem...  Fuentes: pointedly: we're setting policy; let's not railroad this through. Padberg: we've discussed this before. You need to make a motion to table. Fuentes does so. Lang seconds. They vote.  Prendargast and Padberg do not prevail; it is tabled.

6.5. CCT board of directors, election. Blah, blah, blah. Poertner is asked to clarify. Something about nominating someone. Always a bit confusing, says Gary. He seems bemused. Prendergast seems annoyed or lost. Fuentes: the tradition has been to send an OC voice to the board. I dunno. Prendergast is glad to get clarification. The matter passes.

6.6. Wanna nominate a trustee for OCSBA board of directors? Lang: anyone interested in serving? Milchiker: served on this for 20 years. Hopes someone else takes the opportunity. Prendergast utters a loud "no." Laughter. Everyone passes on this "opportunity."

6.7. Board policy revisions. Lang asks about if we had a "UCI type of event" in our district. How would we respond? What are our regulations. (A reference to BP 5401-Student Conduct.) Gwen P comes up to discuss this. The policy is very thorough, she says. We haven't had exactly that kind of situation at IVC. (Referring to Muslim hecklers issue?) Gwen points out that the first thing listed on the policy is "disruptive behavior," then "willful misconduct." Then "disorderly conduct." All mentioned in policy. Lang seems reassured. Blah, blah, blah.

They vote to continue the meeting until 10:00

Lang: re student trustee board policy. Suggested modifications. Catches a glaring error. Easily corrected. It gets pulled. Everything else is approved.

6.8. Calendar: accepted for review and study.

6.9 same.

6.10. Lang asks about new dean position. Burnett explains. Blah, blah, blah.... Everything passed except b1 and b2, which will be discussed separately.

Gwen P: with this position, two things happen. Service to students is pulled together in way more expedient, available. Also a savings of $20k. Pretty dry. She's pretty passionate about it, though.

--My battery's nearly dead. Don't think anything else will occur tonight. I'm outa here.

     See also Tere's Board Meeting Highlights

Krugman v. Cro-Magnon

"Hey, what are you thinking?"

American Thought Police (Paul Krugman, New York Times)

     Recently William Cronon, a historian who teaches at the University of Wisconsin, decided to weigh in on his state’s political turmoil. He started a blog, “Scholar as Citizen,” devoting his first post to the role of the shadowy American Legislative Exchange Council in pushing hard-line conservative legislation at the state level. Then he published an opinion piece in The Times, suggesting that Wisconsin’s Republican governor has turned his back on the state’s long tradition of “neighborliness, decency and mutual respect.”
     So what was the G.O.P.’s response? A demand for copies of all e-mails sent to or from Mr. Cronon’s university mail account containing any of a wide range of terms, including the word “Republican” and the names of a number of Republican politicians.
     If this action strikes you as no big deal, you’re missing the point. The hard right — which these days is more or less synonymous with the Republican Party — has a modus operandi when it comes to scholars expressing views it dislikes: never mind the substance, go for the smear. And that demand for copies of e-mails is obviously motivated by no more than a hope that it will provide something, anything, that can be used to subject Mr. Cronon to the usual treatment.
. . .
     What’s at stake here … is whether we’re going to have an open national discourse in which scholars feel free to go wherever the evidence takes them, and to contribute to public understanding. Republicans, in Wisconsin and elsewhere, are trying to shut that kind of discourse down. It’s up to the rest of us to see that they don’t succeed.

This is your brain on drugs

     OK, I don't usually do this sort of thing, but, today, I'm gonna mention some paradoxes. Some philosophers love paradoxes. I merely like them.
     Here's one that, like it or not, I think about all the time, owing to how I make my living:

The Surprise Quiz Paradox:

[Y]our teacher tells you (i) she's going to give the class a surprise exam next week, and (ii) you won't be able to work out beforehand on which day it will be. Using this information, you work out that it can't be on Friday (the last day), or else you'd be able to know this as soon as class ended the day before, contrary to the second condition. With Friday excluded from consideration, Thursday is now the last possible day, so we can exclude it by the same reasoning. Similarly for Wednesday, Tuesday, and finally Monday. So you conclude that there cannot be any such exam. This chain of reasoning guarantees that when the teacher finally gives the exam (say, on Wednesday), you're all surprised, just like she said you'd be. (The Surprise Examination Paradox)

     As a teacher, hearing about this paradox is a little like receiving a notification from your insurance company that your policy is cancelled now that you're dead. You're pretty sure you're not dead. But then there's this notice. Cool.
     Here’s a paradox (or a set of paradoxes) that I often refer to in my lectures:

Puzzles (paradoxes) attributed to Eubulides of Miletus:

The Heap: Would you describe a single grain of wheat as a heap? No. Would you describe two grains of wheat as a heap? No. ... You must admit the presence of a heap sooner or later, so where do you draw the line?*
The Bald Man: Would you describe a man with one hair on his head as bald? Yes. Would you describe a man with two hairs on his head as bald? Yes. ... You must refrain from describing a man with ten thousand hairs on his head as bald, so where do you draw the line? (Sorites Paradox)

     Students imagine that every word can be defined with a precise definition.
     Nope. Imagine a series of slight modifications (removal of small amounts) of a chair. When does it cease to be a chair? Any answer will be unacceptable because it is arbitrary.

     VOTING. More than one thing is referred to as the “paradox of voting.” The particular “paradox” I have in mind (roughly) is discussed in the encyclopedia entry below:

The paradox of voting … is that for a rational, self-interested voter the costs of voting will normally exceed the expected benefits. Because the chance of exercising the pivotal vote (i.e. in case of a tied election) is tiny compared to any realistic estimate of the private individual benefits of the different possible outcomes, the expected benefits of voting are less than the costs. The fact that people do vote is a problem for public choice theory, first observed by Anthony Downs. (Paradox of Voting)

     Now, don’t get me wrong. I believe in voting. I vote (most of the time). I think that I have good reasons to vote.
     But, in my view, one reason that I do NOT have for voting is the one we most often hear, namely, that “one’s vote counts!”**

     Unless one will countenance the fallacy of equivocation, one cannot really defend the notion that one’s vote “counts,” for, to say (in the relevant contexts) that one’s vote “counts” is to suggest that it will make, or it quite possibly will make, a difference to the election’s outcome (winning/losing). (I'm not particularly interested in the issue of self-interest; I'm interested in a point about efficacy.)
     Here’s where the so-called paradox*** of voting comes in. Obviously, for typical government elections (I’m not referring to elections involving small numbers of people—department elections and the like), the chances that one’s vote will make a difference to the outcome are extremely small.
     Consider the recent election for the “board of trustees” seat now held by TJ Prendergast, which was unusually close. The final tally was the following:

115,304 Prendergast
111,197 Muldoon

     As it was, Prendergast received 4107 more votes than Muldoon did. Suppose that Smith voted for Prendergast. Had Smith not voted, the outcome would have been only very slightly different: Prendergast’s total would have been 115,303, not 115,304.
     So, in fact, Smith’s vote, if it “counted,” it did not “count” in the sense that it made a difference (of any consequence) to the outcome. To be sure, his vote was “counted.” Nevertheless, it did not “count.” (Remember: equivocation is verboten.)
     It is true, of course, that it could have counted, though, in fact, it did not count. But, clearly, the odds of one’s vote “counting” are infinitesimal. Very likely, all of you who read this (hundreds!) will go through your entire lives voting and, in the end, there will not have been even one election in which any of your votes “counted” or even came close to counting in any meaningful sense.
     Some will respond to this by noting that, in recorded history, there have been elections in which a single person’s vote “counted” in the way I have in mind. (For an illustration, see Examples of Why Your Vote Counts.)
     Of course this occurs. Given the great number of elections that occur, this goes without saying, I think.
     But the occurrence of these events does not respond to the point at hand, namely, that, though it is possible that one’s vote will “count,” it is extremely unlikely that it will count. Given that one could live a great many lifetimes before encountering even one election in which one’s vote “counted,” in what sense is one being told anything true and motivating**** when one is told that one’s vote “counts”?
     In my view, when we seek to persuade people to vote on the grounds that their “vote counts,” we are either confused (i.e., we think we have a valid point when we do not) or we are lying/manipulating (we know that we have no valid point, but we offer it anyway perhaps because [we think] our end is good).
     My guess is that confusion more than lying is afoot.
     On the other hand, there are so many instances in which our “teachings” are manifestly (or nearly manifestly) invalid, we should consider the possibility that, yes, we offer this false point not “knowing” that it is false—but, still, it must be said that we have good reasons to suspect that, often, what we “teach” is logically hinky at best, and so, quite possibly, this is logically hinky too.
     Organic muffins, anyone?

Footnotery:

   *So what's paradoxical about this? Well, you start with a heap of sand. Plainly, after removing grains of sand for a sufficient period of time, you end with a non-heap (one grain). And yet there is no "line" that you cross to get from "heap" to "non-heap." You cross a line, but there is no line to cross.

   **To act to influence large numbers of voters—something sometimes available to leaders—means the difference between a significant number of people voting for X or not. Here, whether or not “Smith’s vote counts,” the leader’s urgings might count a great deal. It will remain true, however, that not one of those votes counted.
   “Yes, but what if everyone thought that way.” It is of course true that what (say) 50,000 voters in state X do during a particular election can make all the difference. And that is why those who care about the outcomes of elections rightly concern themselves with persons and events that influence large numbers of voters. But all of that can be acknowledged without falsely supposing that each voter’s vote “counts.” That the collective vote of 50,000 voters “counts” does not imply that each of those votes “counted.”

   ***What is “paradoxical” here? It is, I suppose, that, though it matters a great deal how everyone votes, in fact it matters not at all how any given voter votes. That Americans in general voted for candidate X matters to the outcome of the election. That any given voter voted for candidate X does not matter to the outcome of the election. To endorse both statements might seem to be the endorsement of a contradiction, but it is not.

   ****Obviously, one is not being told anything of significance if one is being told merely that one's vote could mean something like the difference between Prendergast's receiving 115,304 and 115,303 votes. Why would anyone care about that difference?







Good Eating Habits

iPad profs prosper; cheaters don't; @ Repub Congress, oil companies prosper—The planet? not so much

The iPad for Professors: Evaluating a Productivity Tool After One Year (Chronicle of Higher Education)

Excerpt:

“I am not an Apple fan by any means. I use Windows and Linux machines. My phone is an Android. I scoff at my wife's Powerbook. Yet I love my iPad. It's become indispensable for my teaching, research, and other scholarly activities….”

Many Cheaters Are Overly Optimistic About Their Academic Ability, Study Finds (Chronicle of Higher Education)

     A new series of studies has found that a majority of students cheat, and that those who do often have inflated expectations of how well they can perform without cheating. In a survey of 40,000 students at public and private high schools, 59.4 percent admitted to cheating on a test, and one in three said they had cheated on a test twice or more in the past year. Another study, by Harvard Business School and Duke University, found that students who were given the opportunity to cheat on a test predicted they would perform just as well on a second test when they weren’t given the opportunity to cheat. Students who received a certificate of recognition for their scores on the first test were even more likely to overestimate their success on the next test. The results of the study suggest that some cheaters set themselves up to fall behind academically after becoming overly confident about their abilities, said John Fremer, president of consulting services at Caveon LLC, a private test-security company.



Physicist Bob Park rants anew:

IGNORANCE: HOUSE COMMITTEE VOTES TO OVERTURN NATURAL LAW. The price of gasoline at the pump is at the highest level ever for this time of year. That’s not all bad; raising the price is the only effective way to reduce consumption, thereby improving the environment and delaying the dreaded Hubbert peak. There are, however, two ways to raise the price to the consumer: increase the profit margin of the oil industry, or levy a large consumption tax. The revenue from a heavy consumption tax would help to pay the crushing costs of the Bush economy. You will not be surprised, however, to learn that the Republican Congress overwhelmingly prefers the first method, which [will be] embodied in the Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011, in preparation. But first they had to amend the Clean Air Act to eliminate the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency over greenhouse gases. According to an editorial in last week's Nature, the Republican disdain for climate science was evident in the "anger and distrust directed at scientists and scientific societies." The widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global average sea level, is unequivocal evidence of global warming.

Rebel Girl's Poetry Corner: "The label, the labor, the color, the shade. The shirt"

Shirt
by Robert Pinsky

The back, the yoke, the yardage. Lapped seams,
The nearly invisible stitches along the collar
Turned in a sweatshop by Koreans or Malaysians

Gossiping over tea and noodles on their break
Or talking money or politics while one fitted
This armpiece with its overseam to the band

Of cuff I button at my wrist. The presser, the cutter,
The wringer, the mangle. The needle, the union,
The treadle, the bobbin. The code. The infamous blaze

At the Triangle Factory in nineteen-eleven.
One hundred and forty-six died in the flames
On the ninth floor, no hydrants, no fire escapes—

The witness in a building across the street
Who watched how a young man helped a girl to step
Up to the windowsill, then held her out

Away from the masonry wall and let her drop.
And then another. As if he were helping them up
To enter a streetcar, and not eternity.

A third before he dropped her put her arms
Around his neck and kissed him. Then he held
Her into space, and dropped her. Almost at once

He stepped to the sill himself, his jacket flared
And fluttered up from his shirt as he came down,
Air filling up the legs of his gray trousers—

Like Hart Crane’s Bedlamite, “shrill shirt ballooning.”
Wonderful how the pattern matches perfectly
Across the placket and over the twin bar-tacked

Corners of both pockets, like a strict rhyme
Or a major chord. Prints, plaids, checks,
Houndstooth, Tattersall, Madras. The clan tartans

Invented by mill-owners inspired by the hoax of Ossian,
To control their savage Scottish workers, tamed
By a fabricated heraldry: MacGregor,

Bailey, MacMartin. The kilt, devised for workers
To wear among the dusty clattering looms.
Weavers, carders, spinners. The loader,

The docker, the navvy. The planter, the picker, the sorter
Sweating at her machine in a litter of cotton
As slaves in calico headrags sweated in fields:

George Herbert, your descendant is a Black
Lady in South Carolina, her name is Irma
And she inspected my shirt. Its color and fit

And feel and its clean smell have satisfied
Both her and me. We have culled its cost and quality
Down to the buttons of simulated bone,

The buttonholes, the sizing, the facing, the characters
Printed in black on neckband and tail. The shape,
The label, the labor, the color, the shade. The shirt.

*

Note: The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City on March 25, 1911 was the deadliest industrial disaster in the history of the city of New York and the fourth deadliest from an industrial accident in U.S. history. Most of the workers killed were women.

*

Really, Republicans?

Wisconsin GOP Seeks E-Mails of a Madison Professor Who Criticized the Governor (Chronicle of Higher Education)

     The Republican Party of Wisconsin is seeking, under the state's open-records law, to obtain e-mail sent by a Madison professor who has publicly criticized that state's Republican governor, a move the professor is denouncing as an assault on his academic freedom.
     Officials at the University of Wisconsin at Madison received the records request on March 17, two days after the professor, William Cronon, published a blog post examining the role conservative advocacy groups have played in formulating legislation recently proposed by Gov. Scott Walker and Republican lawmakers. The most prominent of the legislation, a bill to strip University of Wisconsin and other public employees of their collective-bargaining rights, was passed after a bitter debate that featured huge rallies at the State Capitol and demands for the recall of lawmakers on both sides of the issue.
. . .
     Gregory F. Scholtz, associate secretary of the American Association of University Professors, said his group planned to urge the university to resist the open-records request because it believes complying with it will have a chilling effect on academic freedom. Characterizing Mr. Cronon as an "extremely major" player in his academic fields, Mr. Scholtz said "they picked on the wrong guy this time."

It's like waving a red flag in front of 'em!

By Orange County's  Emigdio Vasquez

Todd Spitzer

     WHISTLE BLOW HARD. A few months ago, when Assistant DA Todd Spitzer accidentally poked into the nasty FUBAR that is John Williams’ Public Administrator/Guardian office (down at the County), it got him summarily fired from the DA’s office.
     People noticed. It was like turning on a flashing neon sign that said, “corruption and mismanagement, here.”
     Now, of course, Spitzer’s running for Supervisor, and so, naturally, he’s exploiting his recent adventures in accidental whistle-blowery for all that they’re worth.
     For instance, in today’s Red County (Public Administrator John Williams: Pension and Salary Robber), the Toddster roars

     The now-infamous Orange County Public Guardian John Williams was stripped of his powers as both the Public Administrator … and Public Guardian … on Tuesday after he refused to resign based on his incompetence in office and failure to perform his basic duties.
     It is my unwavering successful efforts for two decades as a prosecutor and elected official to get to the bottom of government corruption that has the backroom power brokers concerned.  For years they have comfortably placed their pals in position of power, gained lucrative no-bid contracts and hid behind the lack of transparency in government for their own personal gain.
     This online story from two days ago is now a FRONT PAGE OC REGISTER LOCAL Section story today. Read it. The article connects a lot of dots of the politically powerful in Orange County. But this is why I am running for County Supervisor. To end the nepotism, pension spiking, "I'll hire you if you hire me" mentality and the liability exposure to the taxpayer for putting incompetent politically connected people into important government positions. Enough already!

     Let’s hope Spitzer is serious about all this. I mean, what he’s describing, more or less, sure is real (like I’ve been sayin’). But will Todd really blast Crony-Connectoville once he’s elected (if he’s elected)?
     Maybe.

To be an Orange Countian is to have Mexican and Vietnamese tastes

     THE OC: PORTAL TO VIETNAM. Meanwhile, our pal Gustavo Arellano over at the “Stick a Fork in It” blog posts today about, of all things, a recent addition to the OED!

   Oxford English Dictionary Adds 'Banh Mi' to Dictionary

     Ah, the august [OED], grammatical gatekeeper to all that is proper and just in the world of the English language. The great thing about the tongue of Shakespeare, of course, is how it absorbs foreign words as they inextricably become part of the Empire—and, just this week, OED deemed bánh mì worthy of inclusion.
     "As the culinary appetites of the English-speaking world grow ever more diverse, loan words referring to new cuisines are a perennial source of new OED entries," explains Katherine Connor Martin, senior editor of new words (how awesome a job is THAT?!) for the dictionary….

     I’m none too worldly, but I’m guessing that this OED business is newsworthy (here in OC) because the term “banh mi” has entered the English language via Orange County, which is after all home to, well, the biggest Little Saigon in the world—namely, Westminster and Garden Grove, a portion of OC that is about 25% Vietnamese.
     —And very Republican. You know, like Miami with all those commie-hating Cubans.

     ART SHOULD BE PROTECTED. A few days ago, I posted about the “Cypress Street Barrio” in the city of Orange, my hometown, sort of. In the course of that story, I mentioned OC artist Emigdio Vasquez, who, as it turns out, grew up in that barrio and, I’m told, still lives on Cypress Street.
     Rebel Girl reminded me that IVC is in possession of a fine Emigdio Vasquez mural—it’s in the hallway bisecting the B100 building, one of IVC’s many architectural monstrosities. I was going to take a picture of it today, but that didn’t work out. I’ll try again on Monday.
     Rebel Girl tells me that the mural is on canvas and is utterly unprotected—and there’s lots of traffic in that hallway.
     Tsk, tsk. That ain't right.

Flag of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam

     BRING BACK THE FLAGS O' THE WORLD! And that reminds me—let’s try to get those “flags of the world” flying again in the Student Services Center! You’ll recall that, a couple of years ago, some Vietnamese Americans complained that, included among the flags of the world colorfully displayed in SSC, was the flag of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (boo, hiss!). Well, owing to the particulars of OC’s Vietnamese community (namely, their bein’ refugees from the Communist invasion that occurred after we declared victory and left Southeast Asia), flyin’ that flag around OC's Little Saigon crowd is like, um, waving a red flag in front of 'em.
     Yeah, it’s like dressing up as Castro down in Miami. It just won’t do, I guess.
     Naturally, when these none-too-subtle Vietnamese-American bulls hinted that there might be hell to pay if that red flag keeps flyin’, our Rocky decided to take down all of the flags. Problem solved.
     I.e., he caved.
     Well, that’s just bullshit. Let’s get those flags back up there. They were purdy. They shouted "global community." And, like it or not, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is among the nations of the world. Heck, we have friendly relations with ‘em these days!
     That’s good, right?
     Yes, it is.

Heads up: Monday's board meeting

     The agenda for the March meeting of the SOCCCD board of trustees—on Monday, the 28^th—is now available at the district website. There, look for the blue box, which includes a link to a pdf of the "current agenda."
     For what it’s worth (not much), the agenda for the 5:00 p.m. closed session includes the following item:

     I’ve glanced over the agenda for the open session, which is set to start at 6:30 p.m., and it contains nothing of obvious interest (to me). Possibly, the item concerning the proposed 2012-2013 district calendar (item 5.16) is interesting. Check it out:

     The meeting’s discussion items are the following:

"Ching Chong!"—pleasantly countering Stupid Girl's anti-Asian rant

The original rant HERE

Who can ‘splain 'em?

OC Republican: inexplicable

     It must be tough being a conservative and a Republican in Orange County. On the one hand, you’ve got the hypocritical bastards who maintain the cronyistic, self-perpetuating, corrupt County GOP machine—Scott Baugh and his crafty colleagues, all sucking on the public teat while regularly denouncing teat suckery. And then you’ve got the rest of the party faithful down at the Central Committee—an inexplicable crew who’ve stolidly put up with this leadershite—from Tom “Big Foot” Fuentes to Scott “Slime” Baugh—for decades.
     What’s the matter with those guys? Who can ‘splain ‘em?
     In the last couple of years, the Tea Party crowd has shaken things up on the Central Committee, but, while the Teasters hate hypocritical and sleazy establishment Repubs, they also, well, love to be stupid, and that’s almost as bad as sleazitude. For instance, the local GOP leadership now includes Villa Park City Councilwoman Deborah Pauly, who has taken it upon herself to alienate both Muslims and sodomites*. I don’t know about Muslims, but I’m sure local sodomites used to vote solidly Republican.

Baugh, Reagan bust

     In recent years, the Crony Club for Men have been scramblin’ to protect their own, and that’s been an endless PR nightmare (think Carona, Street, Nielsen, Beelzebub, et al.) for local conservatives. The latest fiasco, of course, concerns the unfolding and deepening fubar that is John Williams’ tenure as Public Administrator/Guardian.
     Williams, who was until December a SOCCCD trustee, must be seen to be believed. He’s so clueless that his official portrait is regularly assumed to be dirty trick against Williams. He once defended his habit of taking repeated, expensive, taxpayer-funded junkets to Orlando by arguing that it would be “unethical” for him not to! One time, a guy showed up to a board of trustees meeting, urging trustees to train people to respond to gun-toting “perpetrators” by throwing books and desks at ‘em. Really.

Tom Fuentes, praying

     I watched Williams. He was carefully taking notes. His pencil broke. He panicked and poked himself.
     Supervisor Bill Campbell is, of course, a card-carrying member of Team Crony, and so he’s joined his wall-to-wall-Republican Supe colleagues in protecting Williams from the urgings of common sense and decency to fire his fat, junket-taking ass.
     But, in recent months, local Repubs have been taggin’ the Campbster for not seeking to fire Williams. For instance, in today’s Red County (Really? Only the incredible mind of Bill Campbell), “Frustrated Republican” offers the following rant:

     Hey, Supervisor Bill Campbell: if your wife goes out and buys the $100 outfit instead of the $150 one, she didn't save you fifty bucks!
     What are we referring to? This quote:
     “I look at it as saving the taxpayers $450,000 if he would have stayed for another three years.”
     ...which is how Campbell justifies the absurd situation of paying double to man the post of O.C.'s public guardian: one salary ($150k) to the scandal-plagued John Williams, and another (of a similar size) to his 'replacement.' Meanwhile Williams will stay on for another year, collecting his salary while doing literally nothing….

     I’ve been keeping track of comments to stories about Williams in the Reg (etc.), and it’s pretty clear that many Republicans are fed up with Campbell and his pals, including the County’s unfortunately high-profile DA, Tony “the unscrupulous” Rackaucas, and low-profile über-wheeler-dealer-consigliere (and chiropractor advocate) Mike "Darth Vader" Schroeder. It's a strong and consistent phenomenon.

Williams: a real winner

     I don’t know what to make of it all. And what's with the Central Committee? You’d think that any group of self-respecting conservatives would immediately rout this rude crew of venal, taxpayer-exploiting assholes. Yeah, but, if that were true, how to explain the astounding fact that this same crowd of hyenas**, more or less, has been in charge of the county GOP for decades?
     I dunno. Beats me.

*Notoriously, Ms. Pauly, reacting to the President's health care bill, asked, "do you feel sodomized?"
**Pace hyenas!

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