Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Anybody attend the forum? (What's up with "Sons of Guns"?)



     AS YOU KNOW, I'm on sabbatical, and so I didn't (wouldn't, shouldn't) attend today's "forum" re IVC's response (in draft form) to the Accreds and their recommendations. Someone told me that faculty member Ray C attended and asked some challenging questions concerning matters (about program discontinuance?) he asked to be included in the report—but that, evidently, have not been thus far. I'm told that, at the forum, they essentially "blew him off." Ray responded by suggesting that he would then communicate his concerns directly to the Accreds.
     Oh my. We can't have that.
     These forums are almost invariably scheduled at times seemingly chosen to minimize faculty attendance. 12:00 to 1:00 is teaching prime time! Further, faculty were first told of the forum two days ago! 
     One would naturally expect a low turnout, at least among faculty. Is that what happened?
     Did you attend? If so, let us know what happened.

     SPEAKING OF BULLIES, I see that "Sons of Guns" is playing on the Discovery Channel. This episode: "The taser shot gun."
     I gather that this new show is a hit. I'm not sure what to make of that.
     I enjoy watching SOG—I'm funny that way—but the program is in many ways appalling. It is a "reality" show about a Louisiana shop that fixes and modifies guns: pistols, rifles, automatic weapons, even grenade launchers. The boss—Will Hayden—is an imperious redneck who, shall we say, does not seek to be loved. His crew comprises mostly fearfully obedient (even worshipful) youngish rednecks who are happiest when they blow things up: trees, cars, buildings, even living things. Hayden's world-weary 30-ish daughter runs the front office/finances. Most episodes revolve around efforts to satisfy a customer's request to fix a gun or create a new kind of gun—or the shop's own efforts to create—and thus market—a new weapon, such as an arrow-shooting shotgun, a gizmo that shoots 4 German WWII automatics simultaneously, or a gun for use at night to kill allegedly dangerous wild dogs. (Good grief.)
     Hayden appears to be a bastard, the kind of guy who keeps his employees scared—but not his daughter, to whom The Menacing Man is utterly devoted, despite her whiny nature. Most employees are young and full of youthful foolishness. Some treat Boss Man, the bastard, as a mentor. One senses that they worship Hayden, not despite his being a bastard, but because of it. He's a winner who does what the f*** he wants. And he's a fatheaded, the-military-can-do-no-wrong patriot, too.
     Now, I like guns—I think they're fascinating, sometimes amazing, even beautiful. (I have always had an interest in military weaponry, especially that of WWI and WWII.) But I'm not in favor of ordinary people owning guns (or grenades, etc.). I think the American way with weaponry is manifestly insane. Obviously, there are those who feel very differently.
     It is disturbing to think that the people of this show represent any significant portion of this country. I suspect they do. What do you think?

OC Register

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

How could we attend a hastily called one hour forum during prime teaching time and during the second week of classes?

Anonymous said...

They don't have to show that faculty or staff ATTENDED any of these forums - they just have to show that they offered them. Done.

Anonymous said...

I have never understood why they don't have measures for real input from a wide variety of people, whether it is Accreditation matters or parking or how to get air conditioning in your classrooms. People are always happy to email or forward emails about inspid announcements about a variety of matters but not what really matters and affects our daily lives. Drives me crazy.

Anonymous said...

Did it appear that anyone was listening? Or was this just puttin' a check mark in the box and on to biz as usual?

I looked in the MRC today. Empty.

Anonymous said...

I thought the meeting went well but it was at a bad time.

Anonymous said...

Has anyone noticed in the District Services Evaluation Action Plan (sent out by the Chancellor), how HR is attempting to push all the important issues/concerns under the rug? I wonder why they haven't included any of the actual neg comments like other area plans did. 31 negs to 27 pos! I think they've got some serious problems over there.

Anonymous said...

I heard that every administrator was there singing Kumbaya. Only one brave faculty member showed up, and was ignored.

Anonymous said...

How could many make it to that meeting? (Actually more than one faculty member showed up - but as usual it was arranged so most could not. I mean, midday, second week of classes? Come on. They forget we teach. They forget we arrive late and stay later and need parking.)

Roy's obituary in LA Times and Register: "we were lucky to have you while we did"

  This ran in the Sunday December 24, 2023 edition of the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register : July 14, 1955 - November 20, 2...