Late November musings: remembering a veritable ruseological polymath, the Napolean of Slime

Turkey, oven, electrocution, slit throats

     1. ORWELLIAN CHOWDERHEAD. Early Wednesday afternoon, the IVC community received a chirpy “Thanksgiving” message from President Roquemore.
     Good for him, I guess.
     It contained the usual bromides (plus some Board brown-nosing).
     It also included an Orwellian element: “I am thankful for health [sic] of our institution and district as we work together with transparency and collaboration.”
     That reminds me of one of Raghu Mathur’s favorite ruses, the "false paper trail" gambit, which we explained in Dissent 19 (2/1/99):

     It works like this: you write someone, misdescribing some event (or including some lie) the acceptance of which by others would be to your advantage. When the letter’s recipient, who is in a position to know the truth about the event in question, fails to correct the distortion (as is likely, for he naturally feels that he has better things to do), you then cite the letter as proof that an independent witness to the event (namely, the letter’s recipient) views [the event] just as you [want them to]. Voila!

     I offered this example:

     In March of last year, [IVC President Raghu] Mathur received a letter from State Academic Senate President Bill Scroggins that essentially rebuked Mathur for his self-serving revisionism in a letter to Scroggins that referred to an earlier conversation. Scroggins wrote

     “Your letter inaccurately attributes your actions...as based on my advice. As you very well know, my advice to you was to meet the legal requirements for effective academic senate participation...The Academic Senate Vice President...was a party to our telephone conversation and will confirm that this was my advice to you.”

     Of course, ruse-wise, compared to Mathur, Roquemore is a pipsqueak piker; the former was and is a veritable ruseological polymath, the Napolean of slime. In this instance, the latter is thinking, I suppose, that if the Accreds (and others) see these uncontested references to “transparency and collaboration” (T&C), well, then, they'll think that there must be a whole lotta T&C goin’ on!
     Chowderhead.

     2. PHILISTINES. I went to my bro’s family’s Thanksgiving Day extravaganza yesterday (enormous turkey included; my folks brought a ham; meat, meat, meat). I love his family, especially the kids, but, gosh, next time I’m bringing a pair of Sony MDR-NC200Ds (noise-cancelling headphones). Between the caterwauling, colliding kids and skunky, skittering canines, I don’t think I heard a word anyone said to me. I do believe I suffered PTSD by the end of the evening.
     Later, at dinner, I compared my niece Natalie—she very nearly had a tantrum over some trifle—to the ill-tempered kid on the old Twilight Zone episode, the one who turned "bad" people into jack-in-the-boxes—whereupon some old guy (ex-military) complained loudly about how lousy TV is today. "Crap," he called it. I looked at him and said, “Really? In my opinion, we're experiencing the Golden Age of TV!” Horrified, he responded with a round of sloppy, beslobbering harrumphitude, which was immediately accompanied by my father’s similar jowl-jiggling stylings.
     It was hopeless. Mine was a vegeterarian comment in a meat-eating conversation.
     I thought, but did not say, “Philistines.” In fact, I said nothing, 'cept, "Breaking Bad was good."
     Years ago, I recommended to my folks that they watch Mad Men. Thought they'd like it. They saw one episode and declared the show to be "immoral." (And yet my folks aren't prudes: you should see my dad's callipygian sculptures; he's an "ass" man, he is.)

Biting and scratching; the price of love

     3. THE CAT. Former Smiths frontman and vegetarian, Morrisey, has criticized President Obama for chirpily participating in the usual anthropocentric atrocities of this time of year. No doubt, every idiot in the world has opined thereof.
     Meanwhile, an old friend wrote me about her new appreciation of The Cat:

     I am now officially a cat person. Olie curled up by the fire and simply demanded that I stop my nonsense. Totally irresistible.

     I, too, feel especially appreciative of my own cat, young Theodore, who routinely demands that I cease my bookish ways and just play with him, an enterprise that starts with the flying of fake birds and increasingly culminates in his pouncing upon my left forearm and tearing and biting it to pieces (I protect myself with a towel, but with limited success).
     “You silly, flesh-eating cat,” I say.
     Despite these entertainments, he’s a remarkably sweet cat. He's a good influence on me. He's calm, patient, good.
     And he’s seriously charismatic. He has numerous female admirers, namely, every woman he ever meets, darned guy.

Young Theodore, resting 

Young Theodore, yawning

And be transparent, too!

     4. CONVERSATION. Visited my folks at lunch today. Showed ‘em a website, called Big Think, that I thought they might want to explore. I explained it to them.
     They stared at me, uncomprehending.
     I grabbed their laptop (I bought it for them a couple of years ago) and showed them the site. We watched a video by an academic nutritionist, who remarked on vegetarian and nonvegetarian diets. (My folks are fully loaded with opinions about diet and health.)
     My folks stared at the screen and said nothing.
     “She’s giving you an overview of her understanding of what we know about diet and health,” I said. “And she seems to know what she’s talking about. She’s at New York University.”
     To use one of my dad’s own expressions, he stared at me blankly, as though he “didn’t know whether to shit or go blind.”
     My mom commenced making an irrelevant comment about the nutritionist’s age. The theme from the Twilight Zone played in my head.
     OK, I moved on to a video about education by psychologist Laurence Steinberg (Temple U). This particular video concerned the topic “Why Some Races Outperform Others” (see).
     I love what Steinberg has to say. My folks, however, didn’t seem to know what to make of it all. It's as if I were showing them a video about the life of the aphid.
     I do wish they’d use their laptop and surf the web once in a while. But, after years of my and my sister’s encouragement, they seldom do. They can barely turn their TV on and off. About once a week, they call me, saying, "The TV stopped working." I go down and fix it for them.
     There's never anything wrong with it. My dad seems to press buttons randomly and is inevitably puzzled by the results. In silence, I watch him fumbling, struggling. There isn't much I can do.
     Finally, I found a video about “public art” and played that. (My folks love art; they're potters.) An artist was explaining some of the limitations of public funding of art and the need for the public to catch up to the “conversation” going on among artists.
     Detecting my folks’ incomprehension, I briefly touched on some of these themes, especially the point about “conversation.”
     My dad thought a bit and then said, “You know, down at our studio, you don’t want a lot of conversation. Can’t get anything done.”

     5. GAGA. Check out this cool video:

The Bauer kids, recently, in the old studio

Stars in their Cleveland hometown, unknown elsewhere (except for the minor national hit "It's Cold Outside"), the Choir played an accomplished, if a bit anachronistic, British Invasion-influenced pop/rock in the late '60s. The Mersey-mod hybrid "It's Cold Outside" went to number one in Cleveland in 1967. The group was then picked up by Roulette, but a couple of subsequent singles were subject to inappropriate material and over-production, and stiffed. Obscure and unissued material by the Choir is beginning to appear on CD, and reveals them branching out from power-pop to encompass progressive sounds as they changed personnel in the late '60s. Members of the group later played in the Raspberries, and the Choir is still fondly remembered in Cleveland for their strong and melodic original material. 
—From All Music

IVC Employee Survey (Don't be a turkey)

     I'm told that all participants in the survey receive a free turkey.*†

    *A voice in my head told me that. So I'm guessing it isn't true. But who knows.

    †If you take the survey today, do try to resist the urge to get all thankful. You get to be pissed, even on Thanksgiving Day. I know because a wise old Turk told me so.

Dad and his "avocado crew"

The SOCCCD BOT selects its management philosophy

Oddly, in our district, the piñata tradition is strictly binary.

The Veterans Center fubar, part 5: administration's dog and pony show

     We’ve been talking with more veterans on campus. And we’ve reached out to various others, including Minkler himself.
     One fellow, an active member of the vet community at IVC for some time, offered this picture: that the prominent players among vets are “good guys,” though some do have rough edges. A few are not without “ego,” evidently. For this and other reasons there have been some tensions and conflicts.
     On the other hand, such difficulties have not precluded the formation and persistence of a fairly close vet community, a group that enjoys genuine camaraderie.
     We asked: How do you feel about IVC administration?
     This vet is pretty cynical. The administration, he says, seem always to use the vets for “dog and pony shows.” They’re always smiling at us and showing us off at events, but one gets the distinct impression that they’re mostly about good press, photo ops.
     They do seek to attract more veterans in the competition for them with other schools. But they don’t seem to understand that lots of vets need more than an office to pick up forms. Especially combat vets.

Glenn leads by example.

     Our vet seemed to say that, where the rubber meets the road, IVC’s administration doesn’t seem to care much about IVC vets. And, now, things are pretty f*cked up.
     What about Minkler? What do you make of him?
     He’s a "snake," said our vet.
     And President Roquemore?
     Our vet has been observing the situation for some time. He offered this assessment: Roquemore seems to want to be the guy who comes around to smile and shake hands. But he hires people who seem to do dirty work. He obviously wants that work to get done. But he doesn’t want to do it himself.
     He mentioned Fontanilla.
     What about Darryl Cox?
     Loved ‘im. All the vets loved ‘im.
     Have you spoken with him about his getting axed?
     Nope. They (HR?) told us that we weren’t ever to communicate with Darryl. They told him the same thing.
     And Darryl’s shit is still sitting on his desk.
     As we’ve reported recently, there are those, including reliable sorts, who know Minkler and who have a favorable impression of him.
     Nevertheless, he’s been moved out of the Veterans Service Center and located elsewhere. Why?
     You’d think we’d hear from administration. Some kind of explanation.
     Well no. It’s IVC, Jake. Expect to hear nothing.

Nobody could find parking.
There was a dog and pony show. The dog seemed ambivalent.
A disturbing silence permeated the grounds.
Inexplicably, a helicopter appeared.
Nothing was explained; no one was warned.
Eventually, the dog wandered home, having been abandoned
on the grounds with an old biscuit and a surly cat.

The “Fubar” series:

• The Veterans Center FUBAR, Part 1 — or "Why do the Veterans hate the veterans' counselor?"*
• The Veterans Center FUBAR, part 2: protection!
• The Veterans Center FUBAR, part 3: a room of one’s own
• The Veterans Center fubar, part 4: another side?
• The Veterans Center fubar, part 5: administration's dog and pony show
• The Veterans Center fubar, part 6: the "other side" re Mark Minkler

The November meeting of the SOCCCD BOT, live and direct! Briefly clucking and gobbling, then heading home

Turkey

     Be sure to also read Tere's Board Meeting Highlights.

     NO PLEASURE. There are those who insist that all human action is self-interested. The proof of this, they say, is that, when we get what we want, we feel pleasure. And whenever we do anything, we obviously want something. Thus, to do something is to seek pleasure.
     To all this I say "Humbug." For I wanted to come to this meeting. I did, after all, go out of my way to travel here, disturbing a perfectly nice moment with my cat Theodore, who was happily attacking my forearm with his needle-like claws--our standard form of entertainment on wintry nights. And so here I am, having fought Marguerite traffic, my arm barely bloodied, my interests definitely flagging.
     And so I wanted to be here, and here I am, and yet I am certain that no pleasure is about to be had. Not by me anyway. On the contrary.
     My motivation to show up to these absurd meetings has hit an all-time low. Long gone is the kind of sulfurous fun one might enjoy watching Tom Fuentes make ugly faces at liberals, real or imagined, in the room & world. —Or the delight one would feel upon seeing Don Wagner's bottle of sneer and peeve building pressure in someone's direction—a state inevitably culminating in bloody Neanderthalic pouncification and predation. Oh, the humanity!
     It's 6:08, and there's no sign of trustees. The audience is pretty light—why would it be otherwise? And here I sit, disappointing young Theodore, a personage of far greater estimability than any trustee for hundreds of miles around. Certainly, he's more perceptive. And he's not blinded by a sense of importance produced by having tens of thousands of morons voting for whatever incumbent is available.
     I'm being much too negative. This board is, as I've often declared, the best that the district has ever seen. Yes. On the other hand, previous boards comprised Nazis, rednecks, and massive gas bags, floating stupidly in the sky. And that's just John Williams, who, thank God, finally popped and got boxed up and carted away.
     Lately, this board and their Chance have blathered about their unparalleled labors bringing about civility and warm-and-fuzzitude throughout the district. They have relied on such sure-fire means as threatening to write up anybody who says anything negative. (That was Glenn's idea, but it got nixed.) They're still trying to get a "civility" board policy passed, but the senates are still carping. My own view is that a kind of incivility should be encouraged. After all, somebody's got to compete with the ruthless bastards who run things up in IVC.
     6:22: Aha! the trustees have appeared, and some of 'em have strange growths under their noses! I'm trying to read their faces and body language, but that only makes me think of some depraved version of the Brady Bunch.
     So far, we've spotted three trustees: Lang, Wright, and Prendergast, the latter keeping his nose warm with that Movember growth. —And Gary. Lang seems to be counting beans, privately. Prendergast looks grumpy and furry.
     Aha! Bill Jay has tottered in and has landed in his chair. And now Marcia and Nancy! The end is near! James Wright is now wandering back to his seat. The only trustee unaccounted for is Tim Jemal, the fellow I like to call the Spirit of the Mere Possibiility of Intelligence. Natch, that one's a no show.

IVC Model UN team. One wonders what it's like to be
an act in Glenn's perpetual dog and pony show

     6:29 They've started the meeting.
     Actions reported. Leave of absence approved for somebody, classified. Also amended: somebody—a noneducational manager, I think—gets to be fired if they agree to a one-year contract. Something like that. Golly.
     Bill Jay does a moment of silence for the people of the Phillipines. Dave Lang leads the Pledge, a bean quietly falling from his fingers to the floor.
     There are no resolutions, but there is a commendation. Glenn Roquemore presents the Model UN team of IVC, which recently excelled in some way. Each member is handed a certificate or something. It's the usual thing. On it goes. Nice kids, I'm sure. Tere takes a lovely pic, struggling to get all fifty members in one shot. (Well, there're about fifteen.)

     Any public comments? OF COURSE NOT. WHY WOULD ANYONE DO THAT?

Only males gobble

     6.1, 6.2, 6.3 advanced: independent auditors.
     Deb Fitz introduces somebody who introduces an auditor. A blond gal. "A very positive audit result." Financial statements of the district. Blah, blah, blah. All of the funds of the district, but also fed and state funding. Several auditors' opinions. Auditors offered "unmodified" opinion, which is really good, evidently. They tagged the district on "one minor" item. An auditor bumped into Dale C, I guess. Blah, blah, blah. Financially, we're on an upturn here in Cal. We did not have any concerns. Some positive trends going on. Could pay down something, make a contributiont to something. You're in a "sound condition." Questions?
     Lang: congratulates staff. Have done an excellent job, making sure our financial statements are terrific, etc.
     Motion, etc. Unanimous approval. That's 6.1. They move on to 6.2. Same thing there. Some recommendations for the foundations, however. You can read them. No questions. Approval carries unanimously. They do 6.3 also. Something about OPEB trust. Fitz asserts that we got an "unqualified opinion." That's good. Unanimous approval.

     Board reports:

     Bill Jay: "no further comments, thank you." (Gosh, has he uttered a single word yet? Oh yeah, he introduced that moment of silence.)
     Marcia Milchiker: recommends new online format of agenda. (She's right about that.) Did lots of usual things. Legislative Task Force meeting in Fullerton College. Working to help veterans: better opportunities, etc. Saddleback College Veterans Center dedication: "heart rending." We had "several" BOT forums.
     TJ Prendergast: attended IVC veterans ceremony. Always a pleasure to celebrate the veterans. Forums were well attended, especially here at Saddleback. Good discussion at both sites. He commented on his mustache: Movember, etc.
     Nancy Padberg: I attended the forums, veterans events. Worked with audit committee.
     James Wright: K-12 partnership breakfast at SC. Paramedic graduation at SC. Attended both Veterans Day ceremonies, etc. Attended district forums: "those are good events." He looks forward to them. Football games. (By now, half the room is snoozing.) Last thing: community college league of Cal convention in Burlingham, CA. A wonderful event. (If you say so.) Chancellor Bryce Harris gave a wonderful report on Cal CCs. We need to "stay focused." The Bacc. degree. We need to study possibility of CCs offering these, I guess.
     Dave Lang: no formal comments, but wanted to wish everyone a good Thanksgiving.
     Student trustee Robinson: congratulates various winners of this and that. Mentions that his father served as Air Force Captain during Viet Nam "conflict." I think this kid hopes to run for office some day. D'ya think? He looks like he lives in a poster.
     Chancellor Poertner: wants to reiterate forum comment: the climate in our district, a vast improvement from where we were in the past. Particularly important as we try to move forward. Urges continued work. Board continues to have high level of interest in student success.
     IVC Prez Roquemore: thanks trustees for attending Vets day ceremonies. Our keynote speaker was trustee and veteran James Wright. (Kiss, kiss, kiss.) Also, IVC is now offering "freshman advantage," colloborating with our sister college. Matriculation program.
     SC Prez Burnett: very pleased to report SC approved year-long efforts to create success committee.  (Yes, pleased as punch.) Bring our college together to move on student success. Thanks board for attending veterans celebration. Thanked board for "terrific" board forum. Very positive. Lots of good questions, dialogue. Administrators and managers went through training recently for emergencies. Coming events: Feast of Lights with our choir and orchestra, Dec. 7-8. Next board meeting: official groundbreaking of new Science Building. Happy Thanksgiving.

Board requests for reports:

Females are called hens; they cluck
but do not gobble

     Milchiker requested report and so did Jemal (security cameras?). Approved unanimously.

     5.1 Consent Calendar. Anything to be pulled? Apparently not. "This must be a record," said Nancy.
     Naturally, carries unanimously. "Wonderful," says Nancy.

     6.4 - Contract with Neudesic. Wright asks question about wait lists. Being redesigned from the ground up because earlier incarnation "did not meet expectations." Approved.
     6.5 - Board Policy revision, etc. For review and study.
     6.6 - Board Policy revision, etc. Approval. Carries unanimously.
     6.7 - Academic Personnel Actions (this is interesting). Bugay makes some corrections. Refers to replacement pages. Prendergast makes a point of clarification. Approved unanimously.
     6.8 - Classified personnel actions. Prendergast: asks about Richard Morley. Is this in line with the presentation we had before, restructuring the foundation to bring in more people to generate more funds? Is this related? Roquemore looks worried: yes, related, but there's a lot more to that. Strategic planning work. Refers to pp. 20 to 25. SC has already gone forward with this. Standard in the state to have this title/position. —There are no other questions. Approved unanimously.
     6.9 -  Request to rescind sabbatical for Lisa Davis Allen. No comments or questions.

[It's 7:05]

7.1 speakers
7.2 basic aid
7.3 projets for local funding
7.4 retiree trust fund
7.5 monthly financial status report
7.6 quarterly investment
7.7 non-resident tuition.

Reports from constituent groups:

Wild turkeys can fly; domestics are too fat

     SC Ac Senate: no report
     Faculty Association: no report
     IVC Academic Senate: leaders of academic senates of both colleges attended statewide plenary meetings.
     Peebles: Tustin Ranch Road opened on Sunday. People seem pleased as punch to hear about this. We've made good progress on demolition. Hydroseeded. Spaces to develop, retangular spaces. (Gosh, he's got lots to say.)
     VC Tech Bramucci: alignment of forces on completion agenda. Want them to be aware of what we are doing. We've been going around to see folks at state and fed level. Lots of speaking, oh good. Lots of meetings. Buzz, buzz, buzz. Student software programs.
     VC Bugay, Human resources: two reports on training. Tenure review process. Upbeat blarney.
     VC Fitzsimmons: Blah blah blah.
     Others: Blah blah blah.
     I'm outa here. 7:14, p.m.

The Veterans Center fubar, part 4: another side?

     Any intelligent denizen of IVC confronted with two possibilities—that, owing to their usual abysmal incompetence and utter unsuitability for higher education, Glenn Roquemore and Co. have made a total mess of things, or, alternatively, that they have made sound judgments and have thereby produced an essentially sound state of affairs—would, owing to that intelligence, confidently wager that the former is afoot and the latter is a mere possibility. It is with this reasonable and widespread prejudice that we at DtB were confronted, last week, with sometimes angry, sometimes sober, but consistent accounts of the grotesque misbehavior and incompetence of one Mark Minkler, the newly-hired veterans counselor.
     Still, though it is hard to make one’s lips say it, it is indeed possible that the usual suspects are in this instance largely innocent and that Mr. Minkler is not the lout he has been described as being.
     We at DtB are in the habit of reporting stunning fubars and then inviting and permitting alternative perspectives and criticisms of our reportage. And so, when, as usual, we went out of our way to invite perspectives running contrary to the story we were telling (we did that last week*), we naturally supposed that those sharing that perspective would do so. And when they did not (yes, we received the usual unhelpful charges that we were being unfair; but where exactly the unfairness lay was, as usual, unspecified), we naturally, though perhaps erroneously, concluded that there simply are none who share the contrary perspective. And this, of course, can seem to be evidence that, for once, there is a controversy for which there is only one side worth stating, and we have stated it.
     But it is important to remember that Irvine Valley College is an odd place, for it is populated, to an unusual degree, by trembling employees who live in mute silence about all things wrong, ridiculous, and regrettable. This (often) unseemly Irvinean diffidence and abject ridiculosity is usually attributed to fear: of retaliation from superiors (Craig, et al.), of being perceived as “uncooperative” and “uncivil.”
     It is also attributable, I suppose, to sheer unmitigated Republicanism, with which far too many citizens are afflicted in these parts.

* * *

     To my amazement, recently, I have at long last encountered the other voices, though I generally had to go out of my way to find them.
     One source, a reliable person who is admirably tapped into the goings on of this campus, suggested to me that, in their experience, Mr. Minkler has never exhibited the boorish and disturbing behaviors that have recently been attributed to him.
     This report, in itself, does not go far, but my source went further. According to the source, it is indeed true that formal complaints have been made against the new counselor, and at least one of them has been investigated. In the case of the first complaint, however, the investigator found the accusations to be less than credible.
     Again, that, in itself, if true, does not go far. But my source went on to explain that at least some of the complainers seem connected to each other, and that the prime or initial complainer seems to be in a glaring conflict of interest (for reasons I feel uncomfortable sharing). That is, among some of these complainers, one can identify a motive to find (or exaggerate) Minklerean misconduct beyond the existence of actual Minklerean misconduct.
     I have heard other reports, too—of Mr. Minkler’s seeming outstanding reasonableness in at least some settings about subjects about which such reasonableness might be unexpected.
     Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not reversing what we thus far have reported. It seems clear at this point that the development of the Veterans Service Center has proceeded less than optimally. Some administrators appear to have handled a bad situation badly.But it is beginning to appear that, in this case, as in so many others, the truth likely lies somewhere in the middle between two seemingly incompatible accounts coming from two mutually-hostile parties.
     I wonder whether, in this instance, DtB has heard only “one side” of a genuine two-sided controversy.
     Please let us know what you think. And do try to be helpful and not simply to vent or rage or spew.

   *Last week, I wrote: "I have said this many times before and I will say it again: those who wish to provide an opposing view should simply provide it. If an alleged fact is not a fact, they should simply say that and make their case. Further, they can contact me—I make no secret who I am or where I can be found—and I'd be happy to listen to you and even to provide you an opportunity for an written response. I have often done that over the years."

The “Fubar” series:

• The Veterans Center FUBAR, Part 1 — or "Why do the Veterans hate the veterans' counselor?"*
• The Veterans Center FUBAR, part 2: protection!
• The Veterans Center FUBAR, part 3: a room of one’s own
• The Veterans Center fubar, part 4: another side?
• The Veterans Center fubar, part 5: administration's dog and pony show
• The Veterans Center fubar, part 6: the "other side" re Mark Minkler

Mini bikes?

Now what are they doing?

     One of our readers spotted a couple of surprising things on the agenda for next week's (Nov. 25) meeting of the SOCCCD board of trustees:

6.7 SOCCCD: Academic Personnel Actions…

Exhibit B

ASSISTANT DEAN OF FINANCIAL AID AND STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES – ID #, Irvine Valley College, Integrated Academic and Classified Administrators/Classified Managers Salary Schedule Range 20 (Academic Administration) 

DEFINITION
     To provide leadership to plan, develop, organize, schedule, implement, direct, improve and evaluate the financial aid, veterans, scholarship, ambassador, outreach, and other assigned student support services programs, operations and activities at a community college; prepare and administer annual program budgets; ensure compliance with District policies and applicable state and federal regulations related to financial aid and other student support services; train, supervise and evaluate assigned staff; serve as custodian of records and ensure the timely, accurate and legal maintenance, storage, retrieval and release of all records associated with assignment.
     To foster a culture of collaboration, mutual respect, innovation, and continuous improvement throughout the District; lead by example; actively participate in and support District-wide participatory governance components and activities and other collaborative processes; encourage professional excellence among the staff and promote an organizational culture of customer service, innovation, and quality services. 

DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS:
     There is one position assigned to direct financial aid operations, services and activities at each of SOCCCD’s two colleges. The responsibilities differ at each college. The Assistant Dean of Financial Aid and Student Support Services at Irvine Valley College is an academic administrative position. The incumbent also supervises the Veterans Program, Scholarship Program, the Outreach Program the Ambassadors Program, the Student Services Specialist at the Advanced Technology Education Park (ATEP), and other student support services as assigned. The Director of Financial Aid at Saddleback College is only responsible for financial aid and scholarship programs and is a classified management position that reports to a Dean….

     Until a couple of months ago, Darryl Cox had been the Director of Financial Aid.
     One of our readers writes: "Well placed sources have indicated that a good friend of our illustrious VP Linda F from Cuesta College is the new heir apparent. She is not a Director, but happens to be a faculty member, so the job description has been changed so she can qualify. Be on the look out for a new hire by the name of Ornelas coming to your college soon. I offer this information so you know who to vote for if you happen to be on the hiring committee. This way you won't have to wait for Linda or Glenn to tell you."
     I've done some checking. This looks to be more than a rumor.

6.8 SOCCCD: Classified Personnel Actions ….

Exhibit A

     Morley has been a remarkably unpopular Director of the IVC Foundation.

The Veterans Center FUBAR, part 3: a room of one’s own

     At this point, we have spoken with quite a few people about the Veterans Service Center and the history of vet services at IVC.
     One person in particular—a man in his late twenties who greatly impressed us with his compelling blend of humility and gravitas—noted that the vets gain much simply from having a place to hang out together. Often, one learns more, he said, from other vets than from anyone or anything else.
     Ironically, I suppose—given the money recently spent—earlier incarnations of the Vet Center were far more attractive in this regard—a fun place, not really for study but for hanging out and talking, with a backdrop of the expected services. The existing Center does not inspire the hope that such camaraderie will be found. And, obviously, it hasn’t helped that Mr. Minkler has turned out to be a repellant character, a turd in the glass of milk.
     The center, said our vet friend, is the reason he was able to transition successfully to academia. (He’ll be transferring in the Spring.)
     Sadly, the new Vet Center has become something of a vet repellent.
     “The Center,” said this particular military veteran, “shouldn’t be a place where you pick up and turn in forms.” But that’s pretty much what it has become.

The “Fubar” series:

• The Veterans Center FUBAR, Part 1 — or "Why do the Veterans hate the veterans' counselor?"*
• The Veterans Center FUBAR, part 2: protection!
• The Veterans Center FUBAR, part 3: a room of one’s own
• The Veterans Center fubar, part 4: another side?
• The Veterans Center fubar, part 5: administration's dog and pony show
• The Veterans Center fubar, part 6: the "other side" re Mark Minkler

The Veterans Center FUBAR, part 2: protection!

     Recently, I spoke with a veteran who’s been part of the vet community here at IVC for some time. He too has complained about Mr. Mark Minkler, the new full-time counselor for the Veterans Service Center. He has verified what other observers have told us.
     As you know, many vets have complained about Minkler’s disrespectful treatment of others—staff, students, vets, et al. (Several formal complaints have been filed with HR, I’m told.) But, evidently, Roquemore and Co. have remained foursquare behind their man and have pushed back against the complaining chorus, in some cases demoting them or firing them,* despite their longtime devotion to the vet community and vet services at IVC.
     As per usual, Roquemore has put himself in a pickle. He wants the world to believe that he’s a great friend of the veteran, a heroic champion of our men and women in uniform, etc. But, owing to his incompetence,† he’s managed to hire and support a fellow who, by all (believable) accounts, is an unmitigated disaster. What to do?
     It won’t do, of course, to acknowledge that Minkler’s a bad egg, a lousy hire. No, not that. The alternative, of course, is to portray all these carping veterans as the problem.
     They’re hostile to him. Yeah, that’s the ticket. Who knows why. But they’re the problem. Not Minkler. So, there we have it. The predictable Roquemorian game plan: defend the indefensible.
     Recently, I was told that Minkler has begun to play the “victim” card, asking for protection (from vets!) as he walks to his car in the parkinglot.
     Gosh. I asked, “How can this guy run the Vet Center—that seems to be Roquemore’s plan—if he’s afraid of the vets? My vet source pointed at me and feigned an epiphany. He said: “Yeah, that’s what we want to know!”
     Today, I visited the Veterans Service Center and discovered that Mr. Minkler is no longer there. Yesterday, I was told, he was moved up to the second floor, home of Guidance and Counseling.
     How come?
     Evidently (I was told), it’s because he’s afraid of the vets. He needs protection from them.
     Wow.
     "I have an alternative explanation," I said. "Could it be that, down here at the Vet Center, Minkler's reputation among vets has made him the Maytag Repair Man of Counseling?"
 

(IVC Happenings.)

     Just now, I spoke with yet another veteran—one of the Reb's favorite students—who is very familiar with the Center. He too gave us an account of the goings on at the Center that matched what we've been hearing from other vets.
     "There are lots more veterans at the center today," he reported.
     Let's hope they continue to keep the vet counselor away from the vets. That seems to be working out well.
     A fine mess, Glenn.‡

     *Sources tell us that one of the demoted/fired vets is Chris Hooshmand. According to IVC Happenings (4/30/12), “Chris Hooshmand is the IVC Veterans Transition Coordinator [and] Founder of the IVC Veterans Center….” See also the Irvine Rotary Blog. Note: thus far, Hooshmand has not been among our sources. We'd love to hear from him though.
     †The first hiring committee came up with a few candidates, but they were not to Glenn's liking, and so he ordered them to restart the process. Second time around, Glenn found someone he really liked. Minkler.
     ‡We wish to thank the veterans who first alerted us to this situation and others who have provided invaluable background information about the Center and about the history of the veteran presence at IVC.

IVC vets Gabrielle Cobos & Chris Hooshmand receiving scholarships from the
Rotary Club of Irvine.  (Irvine Rotary Blog)

Dedication of IVC's new Veterans Service Center in September. (OC Register)

The “Fubar” series:

• The Veterans Center FUBAR, Part 1 — or "Why do the Veterans hate the veterans' counselor?"*
• The Veterans Center FUBAR, part 2: protection!
• The Veterans Center FUBAR, part 3: a room of one’s own
• The Veterans Center fubar, part 4: another side?
• The Veterans Center fubar, part 5: administration's dog and pony show
• The Veterans Center fubar, part 6: the "other side" re Mark Minkler

The Veterans Center FUBAR, Part 1 — or "Why do the Veterans hate the veterans' counselor?"*

     For months now we’ve been asking why Financial Aid Director Darryl Cox was fired. It was a typical IVC incident: here’s this universally liked guy who’s been around forever. Suddenly, he’s escorted off campus by cops. What’s that about?
     We ask. We get no answer. Just silence.
     I recall going to a meeting of the “scholarship” task force (or whatever it’s called) soon after Darryl was fired. We were roaring through the agenda that Vice President (for Student Services) Linda Fontanilla had composed. Bang, bang, bang!
     I finally said, “Aren’t we gonna talk about the 800 pound gorilla in the room? What happened to Darryl?” Darryl had always been an important voice in the discussion of scholarships.
     Nope, we weren’t gonna talk about Darryl. That’s it.
     So, as usual, there’s silence. No explanation. People wonder, they theorize.

     I have some idea why he got canned. It likely concerns, at least in part, the new full-time counselor over at the Veterans Center. There sure was a lot of hoopla when that guy was hired (see Honoring our vets, Lariat, 8/31/13 & Veterans Center provides outstanding services, Lariat, 9/11/3). Gosh, they even celebrated more than once just to make the point. As usual, there were the endless dog and pony shows, and, at the center of the carnival was the new guy, the full-time counselor, dedicated to helping vets.
     At first, the vets on campus were very excited. The center was now in a prominent place at the entrance of the Student Service Center, and now they’ve got a full-time faculty working for them! It’s a new day!
     But no. Right out of the gate, I’m told, this guy showed who he really was. He talked down to vets. He made inappropriate remarks. He yelled at people. He gave “wrong advice” to the vets he counseled.

     And then: women started complaining. Female staff, students, and faculty.
     It was a total disaster.
     Some of the founders and pioneers of the Vet presence on campus were working at the Center. But they saw what there was to see and they commenced complaining to Glenn and Linda. And they kept complaining.
     At first, Linda and her crowd assured everyone that they’d fix it. No problem. But there never was any fix. As usual, Glenn was behind his man.
     And so the complaints persisted. After a while, Linda F came around and “made very clear” that nobody would be messing with the new counselor. "We were all to somehow get along with him, and that was it," one vet told me. “I don’t give a shit,” she would say, "if we have to close the center, but you’re gonna get along with this guy."
     But the vets kept complaining.
     Pretty soon, the main complainers were gone. Transferred or fired. They even tried to pull the funding for their jobs.
     "It's like a ghost town over there," one longtime supporter of the vets on campus told us.

     Darryl Cox was among the complainers, evidently, though he complained discreetly. He had carped about other things, too, over the years, such as the curious fact that Glenn and the Foundation Director kept crowing that they had raised so much money for the vets.
     “OK, so where’s the money?” the vets would ask. Darryl too.
     “It’s become a joke,” said one vet. One they’ve been telling each other for a long time now.
     All the vets loved Darryl. He was in their corner. And, though he tried to mediate between the new guy and the complaining vets, he knew what the score was. The new counselor behaved badly. Even Darryl tried to rein him in.
     And, as we all know, suddenly, Darryl was fired. Escorted off campus. Couldn’t even get his stuff from his office.
     A few minutes later, Linda F showed up at the Vet’s Center. “I’m in charge,” she declared.
     (Stay tuned for further chapters.)

     *One vet told me: "I am asked this question several times a week and so are many of the other veterans that hang out on campus." He urged me to use the question as a title.

From July 23, 2013 SOCCCD board agenda

From July 23, 2013 SOCCCD board agenda

What's a FUBAR? "Fubar" is cool WWII Army lingo. Like "snafu," another DtB favorite.

Darryl, Glenn, and some IVC veterans

The “Fubar” series:

• The Veterans Center FUBAR, Part 1 — or "Why do the Veterans hate the veterans' counselor?"*
• The Veterans Center FUBAR, part 2: protection!
• The Veterans Center FUBAR, part 3: a room of one’s own
• The Veterans Center fubar, part 4: another side?
• The Veterans Center fubar, part 5: administration's dog and pony show
• The Veterans Center fubar, part 6: the "other side" re Mark Minkler
• The Veterans Center fubar, part 7: Glenn's poster boys for vet-friendliness respond to the Minklerian narrative

Common Core: "contrived by an insular group of educational testing executives"

"I've already been told by legislators and administrators, Ethan, it's just the way things work; but why? I'm going to answer that question, it's bureaucratic convenience. It works with nuclear reactors, it works with business models, why can't it work with students?"

The Kills - The Last Goodbye

Women's Studies courses at IVC: a deeper look

     It appears that there is continued interest among colleagues and readers in the courses and instruction offered by IVC's Women's Studies Program, which, as you know, is housed in, of all places, the School of Guidance and Counseling.
     Recently, members of that school took great umbrage when a member of the School of Humanities & Languages—a new hire with strong credentials in the area of Women's Studies, acting on behalf of her department and School—approached them with a proposal to develop an inter-disciplinary program to be housed in H&L. (See Dissent's weekly "Hallway Blather"; Counselors' death grip on Women's Studies. See also Women's Studies at other colleges.)
     Those who seek a more detailed look into these courses can consult the following links (available at IVC's Schedule of Courses for Fall 2013 and Spring 2014):

A text for WS 10 (Spring 2014)

Women’s Studies Courses, Fall 2013

• WS 10 – Introduction to Women’s Studies

Topics Covered,
Learning Objectives,
Methods of Evaluation

• WS 120 – Women and Work

Topics Covered,
Learning Objectives,
Methods of Evaluation

Women’s Studies Courses, Spring 2014

• WS 10 – Introduction to Women’s Studies

Topics Covered,
Learning Objectives,
Methods of Evaluation

• WS 20 – Women in Contemporary Society

Topics Covered,
Learning Objectives,
Methods of Evaluation

     I have read through these course outlines, and they are illuminating.
     As I read, I noted that one of the six “topics covered” in “Introduction to Women’s Studies” is “Relgion [sic] vs. Spirituality, and the Importance of the Distinction for Women.”
     That surprised me a bit. But what do I know.
     Also, I was surprised to find that the course's second learning objective (out of 8) is: “[Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to] Define feminism and list its three main goals.”
     I do wonder if students will be let in on the fact that, as in the case of most other isms, the meaning of “feminism” and the nature of its goals are matters of controversy.

Young Teddy,  cat, resting with his dad this afternoon

Today’s Board Forum: big fuzzy balls

Board Prez Nancy P

     EVERYONE GETS A PRIZE. When I got to Bonzo’s Bigtop, aka the Ronnie Reagan Meeting Room, just after 3:00, Saddelback’s Prez Todd Burnett was yammering about something and handing out certificates to the trustees. Don’t know what that was about. Those people are always handing each other prizes. They’re shameless.
     All of the trustees ‘cept Bill Jay were present. I’ve seldom seen so much boardulosity outside a board meeting.
     Earlier, from 12:30 to 2:00, the same crew (with Roquemore instead of Burnett) held a forum at IVC. Here and there, trustees alluded to that. Sounds like getting the IVC crowd to say something, anything, was like pulling teeth. Teeth got extracted lots easier under Bonzo’s Bigtop.
     Natch, the board did a prayer, which turned out to be a moment of silence for veterans and typhoon victims. That was followed by the Pledge. At that point, there were maybe 40 in the audience, though the number later swelled to 60 or so.
     Board Prez Nancy P welcomed everyone in her usual minimally friendly manner. When it comes to spending friendliness, the woman is thrifty. She enjoys these forums, she said. She then turned the whole shebang over to the Chancellor, Gary P.

     MORE ON MUTUAL RESPECT. Gary yammered, somewhat sheepishly, about “mutual respect and collaboration,” though he seemed aware that many of us have heard all that we ever want to hear and more about that tired topic, especially from him. When he “took over,” he said (a reference to his ascendency to the Chancellorship, post-Mathur), “mutual respect and cooperation”—or, rather, the lack thereof—was district problem #1, and so they got to work immediately.
     As Gary spoke, Tere or somebody started distributing a hideous pamphlet about “Barriers.”
     Surely others in the room were thinking what I was thinking: that, sure, during the Mathur years, the district/colleges tanked, mutual-respectwise. But then the district moved onto another species of tankage: we lurched, hideously, into a permanent death-spiral of mindless committeeization, yielding idiotic lists of “barriers,” “recommendations,” and whatnot. Inanity and self-delusion most foul.
     Have you seen the “five barriers to mutual respect, cooperation and collaboration” that these committees came up with? Here they are:

B1: unhealthy competition within and between IVC, Saddleback, and District Services.
B2: lack of utilizing [blecch] data and metrics for decision making [sic]
B3: circumvention and lack of established policies, procedures, and protocols [commas, anyone?]
B4: lack of district-wide perspective and mutual understanding and acceptance of the roles of each college and district services
B5: lack of district policy encouraging civility, respect, and collegial behavior

     No, I’m not making this up. These are the alleged “barriers” to mutual respect, etc. Only administrators—with their ed degrees and enthusiasm for sheer uselessness—could come up with verbiage that inelegant and muddle-headed.
     Attached to the five barriers are 34 “task force recommendations,” which are almost as useless.

     KNOBS. As Wittgenstein wrote, “he turned a knob which looked as if it could be used to turn on some part of the machine; but it was a mere ornament, not connected with the mechanism at all.” Yeah, the shiny knob called “five barriers.” The august knobs called committees. Watch 'em turn. Make sure the world watches; watch the world feel relief. Jump off cliff. Repeat.
     Burnett chirped that, now that we’ve produced all this, “our district is operating much, much better.” “Everyone agrees,” he said, that “results are being felt.”
     He read the five “barriers.” The barriers, we were told, produced five task forces. They in turn produced recommendations to alleviate the barriers. Now, it seems, we need to create committees to consider whether these recommendations will work. So we’ll next develop a survey to get feedback on the barriers. After that, we’ll consider how we’re going to implement, um, whatever. (Then we’ll go to a cliff somewhere and dutifully jump.)
     Then, said Burnett, “we’ll get back to the college community.”
     He smiled.

     COLLABORATIN'. Burnett, feelin’ pretty dang good, passed off to Poertner, who commenced yammering about “collaboration.” One can get lots more accomplished, he said, if one collaborates. With others.
     One example is the VETS program (I think that was it). Next was a Dept. of Labor grant. Blah, blah, blah.
     Collaboration, man.
     We scored $2.7 million thanks to all that collaboratin’. These examples of collaboration, said Gary, “can be repeated all over the district.”

     DISTRICT-WIDE PLANNINK. Gary moved to another topic: district-wide planning. Have you seen the products of said plannage? (See SOCCCD Goals and Values.) It's enough to puke a dog off of a gut wagon.
     Where’s that cliff?
     We were one of the first multi-campus districts, said Gary, to get tagged by the Accreds for a lack of d-w planning. So, said Gary, we acted quickly. We identified four goals. Then came the objectives.
     Gary went through the four goals. My eyelids grew heavy. Time seemed to stand still. Nevertheless, I had the presence of mind to give Dave Lang the stinkeye.
     Gary noted that we’re feeling pressure to get students through the system tout de suite and to amp up technical instruction. It isn’t natural for us to do things quickly, said Gary. We’re more glacial, said Gary (maybe he used another word).
     Then Gary launched into something about “business process analysis,” which seemed to be about increasing efficiency, overcoming duplication, culling administrators (well, no), etc.
     Nancy then noted that there were a fair amount of students in the room. She espied them as though she were birding dodos. I think she speculated that they wandered in by mistake.
Awkward.
     The trustees then took turns saying something—anything, evidently.
     Lang started by saying, uselessly, that he looked forward to questions from the audience. This is the best place to ask questions, he said, since board meeting follow a “rigid agenda.”
     Jim Wright was next. He thanked everyone for coming. His voice started trailing off like it always does, like he was an aural version of the Incredible Shrinking Man. By the time he was finished, I think his mouth no longer produced any sounds whatsoever; crickets everywhere gradually commenced their chirpy song.
     Prendergast made some kind of joke, but I didn’t hear it.
     Jemal declared that he wanted to hear from “you” (the audience), that his desire was genuine. He challenged the audience to come up with a question, “having just come from our sister college”—where, evidently, the audience simply gaped, silently, like fish. It seemed to horrify him to recall that moment. He sought to avoid more such horror at any cost.
     Milchiker yammered chirpily like she does. Everywhere she goes, she said, “I hear wonderful things about the college.” There’s lots of “respect and love out in the community for Saddleback College.” We need to keep hiring the “best and the brightest.” Leave ‘em alone; they know what to do.
That seemed to be the message.

QUESTIONS?

     Bob Cosgrove got up to say that he agreed that “cooperation and mutual respect” are better, I guess. “It is a lot duller though.” Laughter.
     He mentioned the nasty business up in San Francisco where the ACCJC (Accreds) are about to pull Frisco’s ticket. There are three lawsuits pending against the ACCJC, he said. Evidently, some (ACCJC) Commissioners are asking for “letters of recommendation.” Bob urged our board not to provide any: “don’t get into this fray.”
     The inevitable Lee Haggerty had a question. It was about parking. I guess these Saddlebackians have it bad, parkingwise. There seemed to be more interest in parking issues than in anything else. Burnett offered soothing yammerings about the future of parking. In the long run, he said, we’ll have to turn to a parking structure.
     Said Padberg: what about a tram?
     “Doesn’t work,” said someone, grumpily. Others agreed. There was snortage.
     Somebody named Babs Cox asked another question about parking. Whatever.
     Dave Anderson, the Emeritus guy, told some goofy yarn about his two daughters and how the bright one decided to go to Saddleback (not IVC?), where she got a great education. Meanwhile, the dullard of the two went to some pricey private college and just did OK. Laughter. (Well, titterage.)
     Nancy asked if there were “any other hands?” She was referring to people with questions, I suppose. I think she was hopin’ to book.
     A student journalist (with the Lariat) asked about the fate of the old Math and Science building as the new Science Building is constructed.
     Haggerty asked about the district’s fiscal solvency. Boy are we ever solvent, said Nancy.
     Deb Fitzsimons explained that we’re “blessed” owing to “basic aid” (local property taxes), which allows us to spend like drunken sailors--on buildings and whatnot. She noted our unusually large reserve (7.5%, not the required measly 3-5%).
     Oddly, Cosgrove asked if anything interesting came up during the IVC leg of the forum.
     Prendergast had something: he seemed to suggest that the board had to “prime” the moribund IVC audience to get them to say anything. They were like carps, evidently.

     Tim Jemal said something about hearing from a guy (connected to the SC Foundation?) who opined that he’d never heard of IVC until the dang place was mentioned by SC. What up with that? Why is IVC so “under the radar”? There were other references to IVC’s oblivion.
     Prendergast mentioned that recent OC Reg article about Coast CC and those wacky four-year online degrees they’re gearin’ up for. What a stupid idea.
     Milchiker said something about how the college gets the same amount of money per student despite the higher price tag for some kinds of instruction, such as CTE. Nancy got all peevish: why doncha explain what CTE is, she said. So Marcia did. ("Career Technical Education," I think. Used to be called "Voc Ed.") Then she launched into yet another account of her adventures as an instructor at Santa Ana College back in the days of yore. I scanned Nancy’s face for eye-rollage, but she did a fine job keepin’ her peepers in place.

     Kathy Werle stood up to say something. I kept thinking: you must be so happy!
     That’s about when a series of big, fuzzy softballs were launched toward the board by that goofy SC crowd. Somebody got up to yammer about how she “loves the new progress.” (My notes just say: “rosy horseshit.")
     Brandye D got up, all chirpy, to ask the trustees to list their committee assignments.
     Good Lord! Another big fuzzy softball! Why?!
     They really loved listing their labors. One at a time.
     I was dying.
     Then somebody got up to ask: hey, maybe you should explain just what it is that trustees do!
     Really. I couldn't frickin' believe it.
     And so they took turns up at bat. Good grief.
     Then Martin W, the real estate guy, got up to say something like this: hey, doesn’t Saddleback teach way more CTE than IVC? And isn’t CTE instruction really expensive? So is this (injustice!) taken into account by DRAC or by district budgeting?
     There were movements in the audience: hey yeah! What about that!
     I considered walking over to punch Martin in the face. (Not really. I guess we talk lots of trash, too, up at IVC.)
     Poertner sensed that he needed to soothe the savage breast, so he warbled about how there are “many factors” that enter into budgeting and whatnot, and, besides, given the new pressures, IVC is really “stepping up” its CTE instruction.
     Then Deb Fitz launched into something about DRAC. I dunno what.
     Then a student, referring to the board as “you guys,” asked if it’s really true that they’re gonna get rid of the [golf?] driving range?
     Nancy barked: there’s no truth to that.
     Then somebody asked about ATEP. By then, it was getting pretty close to 4:30, and I got the heck outta there.