I see the future, and it's good

I do believe that Nguyen was once a
student of Red Emma's

Bao Nguyen Is Garden Grove's History-Making Mayor in More Ways Than His Ethnicity
(NavelGazing, Nov. 25)

…Bao seemed destined for electoral politics. He would argue with conservative classmates at Pacifica High during the 1996 Bob Dornan-Loretta Sanchez battle. He volunteered for former state senator Joe Dunn's campaign while studying political science at UC Irvine and won an internship that took him to Capitol Hill. But Bao left the political realm early last decade to earn a master's degree in Indo-Tibetan Buddhist studies at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, a private university founded by a Tibetan monk with the help of Beat poets.
. . .
Victory seemed unlikely, despite the backing of the Orange County Labor Federation and the Democratic Party. But through meet-and-greets, precinct walking, and calling on his volunteer base, Bao pulled off an improbable victory. Unsurprisingly, Bao had to weather smear campaigns painting him as a communist sympathizer, a move that cost him thousands of votes.
. . .
Bao takes a particular interest in the city's younger residents, not just because of his own age and his two years on the school board, but because he feels that constituency pushed him over the top. "We got a lot of mail-in votes from college towns--those students were the 15 [votes that secured his victory]."....

I found this on my Facebook Page this morning.

See Veterans' FUBAR

UC tuition increase plan wins tentative approval (OC Reg)
     The full UC Board of Regents will consider on Thursday the proposal to increase tuition by as much as 5 percent each year over the next five years.

These college kids

Click HERE

November's meeting of the SOCCD BOT: live and direct!

     Be sure to check out Tere's Board Meeting Highlights.
     7:08 p.m.: Well, here I am once again in the Ronald Reagan BOT meeting room in beauteous Mission Viejo, CA. The trustees are scheduled to emerge from closed session at 7:00 p.m., but that hasn’t happened. Stay tuned.

     7:12 – The room’s fairly full. I see some green shirts (the faculty union crowd, focused on "the contract," which is being negotiated with the district). No sign yet of the trustees.
     7:16 - I had to get one of the Saddleback tech guys to help me to connect to Wi-Fi.

     According to the agenda, the closed session once again concerns the evaluation of various college administrators, including: VP(SC) at Saddleback; Dean, Fine Arts, Business (IVC); Dean, Online (IVC); VPI (IVC); Dean, Fine Arts (SC); Director, Health and Wellness (IVC); VPI (SC).
     After last month's closed session, it was announced that the contract of  IVC's Dean of Fine Arts/Business was not renewed--no doubt based on the recommendation of either the Prez or the VPI (likely the latter). In the subsequent 24 hours, that action caused a bit of a ruckus for various reasons, including: administration at IVC hadn't bothered to consult any of the affected Schools (Arts, Business) before taking this action. That's typical of the top-down approach at IVC.

     7:21 - Still no sign of the Borg--um, no, the Board.

     7:22 - One might speculate that the trustees are late again 'cause they're engaged in "heated discussion" over the fate of some of these administrators. For instance, maybe they're thinking twice about what they did to Mr. Gatewood last time (the IVC Arts/Business dean). Arts and Business faculty at IVC are hopping mad. They've had like twenty different deans in the last fifteen years (something like that). Where's the stability, man? Other Schools, I'm told (e.g., maybe Life Sciences) have been similarly plagued with instability, caused, of course, by top administrative folly.

     7:27 - Trustee Tim Jemal emerges. Now Nancy Padberg. Dave Lang. This thing will start soon, but a half hour late.
     7:28 - Nancy came out to the audience to look for Tere, who stepped out. Needs a ride home, I guess. Bill Jay has appeared. And Marcia M. That leaves Wright and Prendergast, the board Prez.

     7:33 - Imminent commencemenship. A silence is slowly falling over the room. Here comes Warren Kinsler, one of the district's lawyers. (Sheesh, what's that about?) He shakes his head in the negative at Prendergast. So now, apparently, they're ready to start.

     7:33 - Some conferring between Marcia M and staff. (Marcia wants to get the reading of closed session actions right.) They begin!
     Marcia reads out actions taken in closed session: on a 7/0 vote, they approved leave with benefits for classified employee to teach a class; On a 6/0 vote [?], Jay negative [?], the board voted non-renewal (?) of contract of Dean Advanced Technology and something-or-other. I think. Fired? (I really need to start paying attention.)
     On a 7/0 vote, they accepted the resignation of IVC's Dean of Fine Arts, Business. I wonder if they were devided about that? Or maybe about the other guy who was canned?

Public comments:
     Paula Jacobs: a statement by a part-time faculty. Been teaching for more than 3 years. Stress of making a living--it's hard. Education has not been a pathway to stability for me. I owe $15K in loans. Lousy car. No A/C. No assurance of classes next semester. Students line up to talk to me after class--I have no office hours. This district does not pay me for them; provides no office space. I also teach at CSU as a lecturer. I get some health care there. Seniority means something there. Not at SOCCCD. I keep teaching here because I love the students. Students deserve better, faculty deserve better. We can make a big difference in students lives; but it's harder to do under these miserable circumstances.
     Juan Salazar (evidently, a student): my first time here. Very disappointed. My time is worth money, but you started more than a half hour late. I'm not allowed to be late to classes. I don't appreciate how teachers are being treated. I represent the future. People who are supposed to show me the way -- it's a trickle down effect when conditions are bad for instructors. I'm only given two minutes to speak. I have to go back to this reality. I hope you'll listen to our grievances. [The student's demeanor and words seem to be received by trustees as though they were smacked across the face. This kid ain't real smooth.]

Recognitions:
     Glenn Roquemore of IVC steps up, begins speaking. Evidently, this is in recognition of faculty Tiffany Tran, Diana Hurlbut, and (administrator?) Corrine Doughty. Applause. Photo op. No speeches. (Thanks!)
     Tod Burnett comes up. He commends Chris Wilkinson, Louis Sessler[sp?], and Michael James. A waterline break occurred here at Saddleback; very serious. These guys took care of it, avoided the otherwise inevitable three days without water. Restored water within 20 hours.
     Next: Burnett and Roquemore commend Saddleback College VETS Center and IVC Veterans Service Center for [our colleges'] being designated as 2015 Top Military Friendly Schools. Three individuals recognized.
   
Board reports:
     Student trustee Carillo: responds to the student's "disappointed" public comment. He seems pretty "mad," notes Carillo. Please come to me, says Carillo; that's what I'm here for.
     Trustee Dave Lang: Jemal and I are the audit committee. We met and were joined by VC Fitzsimmons, et al. The outcome of our meeting is on display, item 6.1, tonight. Lang wants to applaud "entire financial team." Those people are making our district perhaps the financially strongest in the state. Also: belated gratitude to all veterans.
     Trustee James Wright: attended a number of events. K-12/Saddleback partnership event. Football game against Fullerton. Won last game against Golden West. (As usual, Wright proceeds as though the Saddleback victories are district victories--i.e., IVC doesn't exist.) Attended IVC and SC veterans day commemorations. Well attended event. SC: Veterans day ceremony at the memorial. Enjoyed that. Applauds IVC for their model UN victory. Their team took away top honors in national competition. Also: SC--contributions to scholars' program. That fund has $409K.
     Trustee TJ Prendergast: also attended Vet's Day ceremony. Very nice.
     Trustee Nancy Padberg: I ran for reelection and was able to prevail; fourth consecutive term. Proud of that. (Nancy seems much more on her game, much stronger tonight.)
     Trustee Marcia Milchiker: attended a number of events: Vet's Day, "Frankenstein" thing, Science Lecture Series (Joe Palca?). Joe talked about how he has to make his radio show interesting and understandable or people just won't tune in. Just like a professor here! Etc. Went to an event where she could talk about her own research, years ago.
     Trustee Tim Jemal: congrats to Nancy P and her election victory. No mean feat. Notes that Lang comes to audit meetings with post-it notes, etc. Impressive. (Lang feigns embarrassment.) I think Jemal mentions some monthly Seizure World TV thing. Announcement from State's Chancellor's Office - job creation, etc. Yes, there are too many task forces, but some are really important.
     Trustee Bill Jay: doesn't have his mike on. Nobody can break in to tell him. Goes through a list of foreign places--destinations of summer college programs at nearby colleges, but we've only got Spain. We really "buttoned down" on safety on those trips several years ago. (Yeah, Fuentes was worried about boys and girls bunking together. Plus the possibility of violence. Clueless. Creepy.) Unfortunately, in the process, we managed to discourage these trips to other countries. We seem to be back to taking these trips. Holds up some pamphlet.
     Chancellor Gary Poertner: the state, the community, is looking more and more to have community colleges prepare our citizens for work. It's expected of us now to provide trained, educated workers. More connections now with the business community. At IVC, Prez Roquemore has been involved with the Irvine Chamber of Commerce, etc. Biggest feather in our caps: he was appointed to board of governance, OC business counsel. A three year term. (Meager, bewildered applause.)
     IVC Prez Glenn Roquemore: thanks to various people, etc. Solar decathlon, yadda yadda.
     SC Prez Tod Burnett: blah blah blah (I had some technical difficulties; struggling to get back online.) "Happy Thanksgiving."
     A student government kid speaks, charmingly. "Blah blah blah," she said. Ain't she cute? Nancy looks at this kid as though she's about to pick her up like a puppy. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)
     Board requests for reports: Lang has a request. Something, I dunno. They approve it unanimously. (Gosh, I really should start paying attention, but there's so much blarney and tediosity.)

     Prendergast moves up 6.1, 6.2, 6.3 ("Time is money," he says, a sly allusion to the student harangue of a half hour ago.)

     6.1 Annual Fiscal Audit report presented. Lady speaks. Three opinions. [The upshot: her company's report, as far as it goes, is all positive. Whoopee.] On page 1 of report: auditor's report. "An unmodified opinion," which is the highest level, I guess.
     Financial statement opinion: did not locate material weaknesses. No findings or deficiencies. That's the verbiage for this sort of thing, I guess. Financial Aid cluster: unmodified opinion with no material weaknesses. I.e., "good."
     Prior year finding: cleared as well.
     Major portion of report: blah blah blah. Something about $542 million. $43 million over prior year.

     6.2 Retiree OPEB trust annual audit report. Same lady: the news is good, somehow. 11.5 million income. That's good, I guess.

     6.3 SC Foundation, IVC Foundation, ATEP foundation, SOCCCD foundation.
     Everything "presents fairly." Highest level, once again. Big change for that foundation--over $1 million. I assume she's talkin' dollars, but what do I know.
     IVC: "presents fairly." Yadda yadda. A favorable growth -- $200k or so.
     ATEP: "presents fairly." Assets: $12K. Not lots of activity in this foundation.
     SOCCCD foundation. "Presents fairly." Assets: $7K. Negative $234K for the year.
     Didn't find material weaknesses, etc. Her company's audit/report is limited. Not an overall review of fiscal health, I guess.
     Lady thanks staff and management for cooperation, help.
     6.1, 6.2, 6.3 -- unanimous approval.

     Back to agenda: consent calendar. Anything to pull? 5.3 and 5.10 (Jemal). They vote: unanimous
   
     5.3: Jemal: FLS international-intensive English program. Something about a "license to use" agreement. Has basic questions about it.
     Student trustee: how different than ESL program? Blah blah.
     Unanimous approval.

     5.10: Info Technology Consultant Services. Jemal: doesn't this belong on the general items list, not the consent calendar? Bramucci speaks: I don't really know what he said, but he noted that we have lots of consultant contracts, blah blah blah. Jemal seems satisfied. Vote: unanimous.

General Action Items:

     6.4 - Saddleback College Student Equity Plan Report. (Good Lord.) Guy (Alvarez?) comes up, brings up his "team." Draft of plan. Due to state in Jan. Blah, blah, blah. Success plan, Equity plan, blah. Access, course completion, transfer, etc. Equity issues. Special populations underserved, I guess.
     A little surprising, the data, he says. (I.e., we didn't know there were these underrepresentation issues. I think he's indicating skepticism about some of this data and the implications that something is amiss.) Various categories of age seem to be a problem. Analysis tells you about the disproportionality, not the reason for it. We're using a multiplicity of strategies.
     Digging deeper into the issues. That's one thing we've got to do. Some outreach and targetting. Enhancement of services. E.g., ESL population--make available outside regular hours, addressing age groups. Professional Development opportunities. (This guy is making sense for once. He's still got a weakness for buzzwords and such, but an improvement.)
     Gender, ethnic categories, DSPS, low income. We looked at these. Then two more groups: foster youth and veterans. Access issues for vets. Next step for us: will continue to work on plan. Aligning with strategic plan items. Lots of alignment. Blah. Blah. Blah.
     Questions?
     Jemal: thanks for your presentation. Age an area of concern? A number of age brackets. "Major disproportionate impact." Why? Alvarez(?): we have some theories, but nothing "definitive." Blah blah blah. Discusses some weirdnesses in the data. [I think he's hinting at skepticism.] In general, our service population is older. But college people are younger. That means we will have proportion/representation issues re age. We need to look at these age groups. Is it that they don't need us? Or are we failing to meet their needs?
     Lang: So, this report is required by Board of Governors? To whom is it submitted? Due date? Dollars available for this? What hours do we put in to do this?
     A: new requirements. Part of student success initiative. Will be submitted with student success plan. The data are new. Report due Jan 1 to Chancellor's Office. Has to go through Board approval. We expect to do that. Our district received about $1 million dollars--divided into 2/3 and 1/3 between two colleges. [!] Saddleback has been at "full bore" with this plan. Much of the work by "team" is voluntary (i.e., unpaid). At least ten hours per committee member (says one member of the team). Lang: an annual report? Yes. So will not be as "labor intensive" in subsequent years.
     Vote: unanimous approval.

     6.5 Next: IVC Student Equity Report (final). Linda Fontanilla, VP, Student Services. Presented a draft last time. We had not yet received our "college allocation" when we spoke last time. Have received it now. Acknowledged her team. We started in March. Didn't have quite as many folks come forward--but those who did are very committed. Goes through list of The Committed: student rep, Kathy Schmeidler (Ac Senate Prez), Craig Hayward, Director, Planning/Research, Lisa Wang, Vince Cooper (Classified Senate Prez), Dennis Gordon, Maria Nunez, Candice, "the counselors," et al. Small group, but very committed "to the plan."
     We had our minds on "student success" throughout. We've got six areas of disproportionate impact. Added "foster youth and veterans" to list of target areas. Access, ESL completion, basic skills, certificate completion, transfer: that's what we're focusing on here, part of student success, blay blah. Older students: dis. impact. Why? Had conversations about that. Came up with similar conclusions to SC. Many of our students have said: they're in class to have conversation with the rest of their family. Parents sometimes show up for that. So, foten, they're not there to transfer or earn a certificate. [I think Schmeidler, too, was suggesting reason for skepticism about this "underrepresented" or "disproportionate" guff.] Will do more research. Will do outreach to students. Disproprotionate impact: African American students. We could not answer, says Fontanilla, whether these students were of African descent or African-Americans. We'll go out and see if we can differentiate. Disproportionate group: ages 25-29. Moving out of home. Not used to work schedule, etc. We've speculated, but will do outreach to find out what the problem is. African-American males and Hispanic: known disproporition issues.
      Craig Hayward steps up. I don't know this guy, but, suddenly, the verbiage wafting over the air sounds intelligent. Ironically, however, he's got nothin'; says he's just there to answer any questions. (Really? OK.)
     Lang: thanks for the report. I found the IVC report to be more reader friendly (graphics, color). (I hear a squeal. Then a snort.) One item: page 20. Error? Yes, minor error.
     Milchiker: thanks both groups for reports. Perhaps have student researchers work with you, she suggests. "Excellent suggestion," says Hayward.
     Team member Kathy Schmeidler insists on speaking: statistics about completion, etc. We are now requiring all students to have an academic plan. But we don't look at that plan when we measure success! That seems odd to me. [More sub-snarkian skepticism.] Shouldn't a student's completion of his own plan be counted in this data? She offered a resolution to that effect at State Academic Senate Plenary over the weekend. Some students don't really need the packages that we offer in terms of transfer/certificates. That can be "completion" too, but it isn't counted. As we'll go forward, we're likely to find these things.
     Vote: unanimous approval.

     Wright: moves to extend meeting to 9:30. (Ouch.) Unanimous if begrudging.

     6.6: something about air blown fiber. I've fallen asleep. Bramucci says something. They vote: unanimous.

     6.7: board policies for review and study. Fitzsimmons addresses: some changes to one of these. Some word-smithing in one case. Pulled. What's left: unanimous approval.

     6.8: 0.85 COLA. Unanimous.

     6.9 Academic personnel items. No changes. Vote: unanimous.

     6.10 Classified personnel items. Unanimous approval.

     Reports:

     7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 7.5, 7.6 - no comments. I guess others are falling asleep too.
     Lang: whatever happened to report about Futuris.. something-or-other. Why not here? Fitz: will be here next time. Donchoo worry 'bout that.

Reports from governance groups.
     OK, I'm outa here.
   

Functionary of the Borg. Think of it.

     For those who care (and if you don’t, for God’s sake stop reading), here’s a kind of quick update on Don Wagner, former SOCCCD trustee. Presently (and since 2010), of course, he is a Republican member of the California State Assembly.
     I mean, just in case you need reassurances that, indeed, Big Business pulls the strings that run the world and Don is one of its puppets, read on. The good ol' SOCCCD helped ready Don for his role as Borg widget. Think of it.
     Don’s own website tells us that

First elected in 1998 to the South Orange County Community College District Board of Trustees, Don served three consecutive terms, including an unprecedented six years serving as Board President. Under Don's leadership, his district balanced every budget and paid off all its debts, without raising taxes.

     Well, that’s sort of true. “His district” spent a shitload of taxes—more taxes than other districts spent—owing to the “basic aid” gravy train. He didn’t have to ask for beaucoup de tax money, ‘cause the gravy train was built and running and regularly bringing in the gravy, like the Union Pacific.
     Wagner’s Wikipedia entry describes Don’s accomplishments as Assemblyman as follows:

* On February 16, 2011, Wagner authored a bill (AB 632) that would require the Office of Administrative Law to send notices to the legislature of proposed regulatory actions, including information regarding the economic costs of the regulation: AB 632
* Wagner has also proposed bill (AB 338) in advocacy for greater transparency in the passing of new bureaucratic regulations. [sic] bureaucracy tries to put in place by requiring a copy of each new regulation to be submitted to the Secretary of State.

     Yeah, Don's one of those guys who thinks that regulations, like taxes, are always bad. That would make him an anarchist, I suppose. He's a radical, he is.
     Anyway, Don has been a good friend to business, a foe of regulation, a foe of taxes. No surprise there. He often described himself as a Libertarian of sorts when he was on the board, ignoring the voices of pointy-headed academics and similar caterwauling varmints.

     Let's talk about Don's donors. According to a site called Crowdpac, Don’s “individual” political donors include Martha, Pamela, and Rick Goacher. I’m not sure who Martha is, but Rick, who died recently (brain cancer), was the president of Rich Goacher Planning Inc. and a long-time member of the Lake Forest Planning Commission. Pam was his wife (and an employee of RGP).
     According to one bio,

Rick served as planning director for many of the industry’s top land use consulting and engineering firms, managing and overseeing literally hundreds of land-planning and development projects throughout California, the United States and the world. … [A]fter years of loyal clients urging him to start his own firm, Rick started the land-use planning firm “RGP” in 1991 with his family and has grown it into California’s premiere land planning firm over the course of 22 wonderful years.

     He was a devout Christian, natch.
     Another donor has been Wendy Hershmann, who is (or was) Vice President Human Resources, Amerita, Inc. What’s that? Well,

Amerita, Inc. is a Specialty Infusion company focused on providing complex pharmaceutical products and clinical services to patients outside of the hospital. This market is expanding rapidly and is driven by increasing healthcare costs that are moving patients into the most cost effective delivery settings, a growing bio-pharmaceutical pipeline of infuseable and injectable medications, an aging population and the recent addition of a Medicare benefit for these products and services.

     Garsh.

     Another individual donor (or couple) is Mark and Joan Walmsley. Mark seems to be a computer programmer for Boeing.
     Then there’s Dwight Robinson:

He and his wife, Holly, were married in 1999 and immediately decided to make Lake Forest their home. …
 Dwight has been very active in the Lake Forest community over the last decade. He is a Charter Member of the Lake Forest Chamber of Commerce, a Sunday School teacher and a Little League coach. Previously, Dwight was a board member at Grace Christian Schools, an elder in his church, and board member of the Kiwanis Club of Lake Forest. Dwight owns and operates a few businesses in California and also serves as the Managing Partner of a small business located in Lake Forest.

     Don tends to cozy up with devout Christians. But you knew that.
     And then there’s David Horowitz, who, I’m guessing, isn’t a devout Christian, but who knows:

The Horowitz Family owned and operated Standard Concrete from 1949 until 1990. David Horowitz was its CEO and controlling member for 17 of those years. Today, Horowitz Group is a single family investment office based in Orange County, CA. The family office invests opportunistically in private equity and real estate and was an early capital provider to multi-unit brands, such as Lemonade Restaurant Group, Sprouts Farmers Market, and MiniLuxe, Inc. On the philanthropic front, David was Chairman of the American Cancer Society in the '90s, while also supporting and participating in the CASA program. Recently, he has been involved with MIND Research, Discovery Science Center, GERI at UCI, TEDx Orange Coast, and as a Trustee at Cate School….

     According to Crowdpac, Don’s “Organizational donors” include:

UPSPAC California [the political arm of United Parcel Service; UPS seeks to cut pensions]
California New Car Dealers Association [Um, check out their Facebook Page]
Microsoft
Philip Morris [i.e., Altria Group, an American multinational corporation based in Virginia. One of the world’s biggest tobacco firms.]
Reynolds American Inc. [The second biggest tobacco company in the U.S.]
Philip Morris USA Inc. [The tobacco company, owned by Altria]
BNSF Railway [The second-largest freight railroad network in North America]
Anthem Blue Cross [A major, and controversial (recissions, rate increases), US health insurance provider, a subsidiary of Wellpoint]
Edison International [It's a utility company based in California. Its subsidiaries include Southern California Edison]

     Are you reassured?
     OK, then.

The Borg

Monday's Board meeting: agenda

     As is his custom, Chancellor Poertner has sent us a link to the agenda for Monday’s meeting of the SOCCCD Board of Trustees.
     The open session will commence an hour later than usual: 7:00 p.m.
     The closed session will start at 4:00 (as usual, an opportunity will be provided for public comments prior to the meeting; same goes for the open session at 7:00).
     Item 1.3 of the closed agenda is “Public Employee Appointment, Employment, Evaluation of Performance, Discipline, Dismissal, Release (GC Section 54957(b) (10 matters)”
     Here are sections A, B, and C:

A. Public Employee Employment, Evaluation of Performance (GC Section 54957(b).) (7 matters)

1. Vice President for Student Services (SC)

2. Dean, Fine Arts and Business Sciences (IVC)

3. Dean, Online and Extended Education (IVC)

4. Vice President for Instruction (IVC)

5. Dean, Fine Arts & Media Technology (SC)

6. Director, Health and Wellness Center (IVC)

7. Vice President for Instruction (SC)

B. Public Employee Discipline, Dismissal, Release (GC Section 54957(b).) (2 matters)

C. Public Employee Employment (1 matter)

     At the last meeting of the IVC Academic Senate, senators discussed the recent board action not to renew a particular dean's contract here at IVC. Faculty of the affected Schools expressed consternation over the process--one that failed to consult them prior to the decision, among other perceived problems. (Faculty are aware, of course, that these trustee actions are based on the recommendations of top administrators.)
     The discussion also highlighted the remarkable ongoing instability (endless dean turnover, etc.) of administration in some schools at the college. Our faculty, said some senators, are very concerned and hope that the senate can address the problem--a problem, of course, with top college administration (Roquemore and Justice), which is generally perceived as wanting and problematic.
     Faculty are discouraged and demoralized. Why don't our trustees do something?
     But, as usual, they won't. No doubt IVC faculty expect that, on Monday, VPI Justice, who is up for review, will receive a hearty handclasp and a Gold Star, as Glenn Roquemore whispers sweet nothings into trustees' ears, and a once great college slides further into dysfunction and mediocrity.

Roquemore: education and corporate synergies

     Gosh, IVC President Roquemore isn’t big on transparency or even letting faculty in on what the college is generally up to. Take the college's "Early College" program. Faculty have viewed it with suspicion or worse–it's got "bad idea" written all over it (you can take the high schooler out of the high school, but you can't the high school out of the high schooler)–from the beginning. But Roquemore has pursued it and developed it anyway, despite evidence that the predicted problems are born out. As in other cases, here, instruction goes on and faculty are largely out of the loop, largely because they oppose the program.
     Another case in point: ATEP (the district's Advanced Technology and Educational Park), a campus at which, supposedly, IVC will have a large building, brimming with instruction. (The Solomonic district Chancellor has decided that our sister college, Saddleback, will get a similar building at that site.) By law, faculty are supposed to be primary authorities on the development of instructional programs and such. (“…[T]he district governing board shall develop policies on academic and professional matters [including “educational program development”]… relying primarily upon the advice and judgment of the academic senate….” –Title 5, § 53200) But ATEP and its educational direction has been developed, it seems, off campus somewhere–or, at any rate, far from IVC faculty. I dare say that faculty generally have no idea what we'll be teaching at the site (when the building is completed in a year or so). By no means have they been involved, via their organized voice, the Academic Senate, in deliberately considering possible programs for the site. When, at senate meetings, I ask what, if anything, is happening with ATEP (the site has been mired in start-up difficulty for ten or fifteen years!), the answer always sounds like, "Don't worry about it. College administration is on top of it." Yeah, like they're on top of the Early College Program.
     If programs are being developed for ATEP, just where is that happening? Just who's involved?
     Here's an interesting factoid: maybe not IVC faculty, but the local Chamber of Commerce, that bastion of business boosterism and corporate worship, seems to be very much in the loop as far as instructional development of ATEP is concerned:

     I found this at the Irvine Chamber of Commerce website:

ATEP Takes Center Stage
Friday, September 26th, 2014

     At a recent Irvine Chamber Economic Vitality Council “Power Meeting”, the combined strengths of the business community and education community came together to begin the design of the next stage learning and business model.
     The South Orange County Community College District’s Advanced Technology Education Park (Irvine Valley College) in partnership with the Irvine Chamber of Commerce is working to create a unique, integrated urban community that supports the “learn and earn” model.
. . .
     ATEP’s goal is to create a Regional Hub for Global Innovation that is fully integrated in the local culture, community, business, educational institutions, residential neighborhood, transportation corridors, retail, and hospitality establishments. ATEP is and will continue to be a sustainable community that is nimble, flexible, fully integrated and designed for the next generation of innovators and students.
     With 17 institutions of higher learning and Advanced Manufacturing and Bio-Medical Sciences thriving both internationally and in Orange County, ATEP is poised to be an essential component for education and employment. The core principle underlying ATEP is a belief that businesses will be successful and profitable because employees will love coming to work and school to attain practical and real world experience in an engaging and vital community.   
     Dr. Glenn Roquemore, President of Irvine Valley College and Chair of the Chamber’s Economic & Workforce Development Committee, Co-Chair Cynthia Lenahan with Edwards Lifesciences, David Anduri, Chair of the Chamber’s Economic Vitality Council and the Chamber’s ED team agree that businesses can enhance their competitive positioning by strengthening their workforce pipeline and ability to attract and retain well-prepared employees. Identifying education and corporate synergies encourages a long term, integrated and effective approach to workforce development.
     “Our mission is to leverage the expertise of the private sector and the education community to a common purpose: better preparing our current and future employees so that businesses are poised to compete more effectively in the 21st century global economy," said Linda DiMario, Senior Director, Irvine Chamber Economic Development & Tourism.
     For more information about this project or to post comments, suggestions or ideas, please visit www.irvineecondev.com/survey.

     Allow me to suggest that, thanks to Roquemore's "leadership" in the last dozen years, IVC really should replace it's "laser" mascot with Calvin Coolidge, who once said that America's business is, well, business. –That and having young people ask no questions and fight foolish wars.
     I don't think Roquemore understands what a college is.

As it turns out

"You still write for the Orange County Register?" the older Latina asks as she monitors the young volunteers helping voters at Franklin Elementary School in SanTana.
"No, I never wrote for the Register," I say. "I write for the Weekly."

Pause.
"You still write for the Orange County Weekly?" she asks.
"Yes."
"You should write about the Orange County Register."
"I do."
Pause.
"They don't deliver my newspaper anymore, until I called them and said I was canceling my subscription--and then they started delivering again."
"You should still cancel your subscription--the Register sucks."

Pause.
"How much is a subscription for Orange County Weekly?
"Free."
Pause.
"I like subscribing." (Gustavo Arellano)

From The Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener, Martin Gardner

John Edwards’ exciting opportunity

     Late this morning, IVC President Roquemore sent members of the college community a letter announcing John Edwards’ new job:

     John Edwards, IVC Director of Facilities is the newly established Director of Site Development for Advanced Technology and Education Park (ATEP) within district services....

     Glenn goes on to sing John’s praises.

     John joined IVC in 2000 as the Director of Admissions and Records. In 2008, John joined maintenance and operations as the Director of Facilities, and the transformation of campus appearance under his leadership has been truly impressive. Some of John Edward's major accomplishments during his tenure as Director of Facilities include:

• Completion of the Business Sciences & Technology Innovation Center
• Renovation of A-300
• Renovation of A-100
• Construction of the new Life Sciences Building
• The design and groundbreaking of A-400
• Completion of multiple demolition projects at ATEP

     So, who’ll be in charge of Facilities for the time being?

     With John's departure, effective yesterday, Jeff Hurlbut will serve as acting Director of Facilities and James Bettencourt will act in the Assistant Director capacity.

     As is his custom, Glenn ends with some personal thanks.

Firecrackers and duds

     ABSOLUTE FIRECRACKER. Our own Wendy Gabriella is running for the 73rd Assembly District, which is about as right-wing as Derek Reeve’s little corner of hell (see below), so her chances looked mighty slim at the start. But she surprised everybody by coming out on top in the primary—she secured more votes than any Republican (natch, she was the only Dem). But, since then, she’s run an effective campaign and so, as things stand, she has a chance of clinching victory tomorrow.
     As she likes to say, her Republican competitor is “ethically challenged,” and he surely is (he doesn’t seem to be into the honesty thing).
     Meanwhile, Wendy's coming across like new-fangled motherhood and fiscally conservative apple pie. Check out Wendy’s whiz-bang campaign here.
     The 73rd Assembly District comprises these areas of South County:

• Aliso Viejo
• Coto de Caza
• Dana Point
• Ladera Ranch
• Laguna Hills
• Laguna Niguel
• Las Flores
• Mission Viejo
• Rancho Santa Margarita
• San Clemente
• San Juan Capistrano

     Here’s the Orange Juice Blog’s description of the race for the 73rd:

AD-73: Bill Brough (R) vs. Wendy Gabriella (D) — Gabriella, a first-time candidate, has turned out to be an absolute firecracker, while “experienced” candidate Brough has turned out to be a total dud. The Republican argument for supporting Gabriella is that it avoids 12 years of Brough. (There are plenty of more qualified candidates in this district.) It would be shocking if Gabriella could beat Brough in such a Republican district — but I think that it would be a lot less shocking inside of OC than outside of it. Do you want 12 years of “Unpaid Bill,” and a chance to try again, South County Republicans — or do you want a couple of years of a brilliant and fiscally conservative Democrat?

     DOUBLE D DUD. You’ll recall the sad and silly saga of Derek Reeve, a Tea-gulping, six gun-packin', right-winger who taught Political Science for Saddleback College and who, a few years ago, managed to get himself elected to the San Juan Capistrano City Council.
     DtB had a problem with Derek. Among other things, he was an outrageous serial plagiarist who made numerous fraudulent “contributions” to a local Patch. When caught red-handed, he defended his action to the hilt, which seems strange for an academic, but not for a knuckle-dragger. That cost him his gig at nearby Concordia—naturally, they’re a college and they frown on intellectual theft—and, ultimately, it cost him his Saddleback job, too.

     You'll also recall that ol' Derek also went out of his way to offend the Muslim community—he declared that he had named his dog “Mohammed”—and, as an adjunct prof, committed various sins of the “unprofessional” variety. Then there was the time he advocated allowing citizens to bring their guns to the park. Etc.
     None of this, of course, seems to matter to the gun-slingin' right-wing fools who elect him every four years. Check out his campaign website: Derek Reeve for City Council. (I looked, but I couldn't find his position on intellectual theft. I figure he's still Pro Plagzzh.)

And now for something completely different...

On Saturday Rebel Girl returned to her feminist performance arts roots and took to the streets of Santa Ana to bear witness to the 43 students of Iguala, Mexico who have been disappeared, as they say, for over a month now. The occasion was the Noche de Altares, Santa Ana's popular observance of El Dia de los Muertos.

Rebel Girl is wearing a costume she sewed and painted herself, made of newspapers and fliers over a thrift store petticoat.

She was stopped throughout the afternoon and evening by people who wanted photos.

There were three other altars dedicated to the missing students.  Rebel Girl was a kind of a walking altar. She didn't anticipate the response she received, but it couldn't have been better. She had to move slowly through the crowd because people wanted to take photos, many wanted to pose with her, wanted to tell her that their families were from Guerrero, that their uncles had gone to that school, that they knew people who had been disappeared, etc. They wanted to tell her what they felt about the Mexican government and how  sad and angry this event made them. They thanked her for being there. (Most of this in Spanish.)

When Rebel Girl used to do performance art protest like this, it was often in settings where one was not so welcomed. On Saturday, she was so welcomed. It seemed to be the perfect occasion for this. And she didn't have to say anything for the most part. Everyone knew what she was and why she was there and they wanted her to be there.

A demonstration has been called on Thursday November 20 at the Mexican Consulate in Santa Ana.  Meet at  Cabrillo Park at 4:00 and march to the Consulate. 

*

Tea and empathy are hallmarks of Coastline Community College foundation's executive director (OC Reg)