Friday, January 17, 2014

Brazen thefts at Irvine Valley College


     "Brazen motherf*cker," said the middle-aged employee.
     "Brigand!", shouted the English instructor.
     "WTF," said the philosopher, over the phone.
    Just got word that there’ve been some serious thefts at Irvine Valley College.
     Last night, someone broke into A200 and stole at least one faculty computer from one office and books and other things from that office and other offices. I’m told that an IVC police officer came to investigate this morning, but the prospects of identifying the thief seem grim.
     Those thefts occurred last night. But, yesterday, another faculty member found that her expensive Apple computer had been stolen from her office.
     Nearly two weeks ago, Rebel Girl had been contacted and told that some boxes of books had arrived for her from Norton publishing. But when someone went to the mail room (in A200) to retrieve them, they had disappeared. Stolen. That was clear by January 4.
     As usual, administration is manifesting its nincompoopery. Evidently, they've already begun to make noises according to which, well, A200 cannot be made secure. It’s just too far gone, I guess, what with the cricket shit, mold, disintegrating hardware, stray rednecks, antimicrobial remediation teams, scissors-wielding students, and mystery drafts. (I should mention that Dean Feldhus is an exception to the rule: as always, she has been very helpful and responsive.)
     Perhaps the idea is that we should take solace in knowing that we’ll be moving to a new building in a year or so—one that can be secured. (Yeah, you can't open any of the windows. They're "modern.")
     So shuddup.
     Oddly, the thief or thieves took only the newer text books, which suggests a surprising understanding of the book world for a "thief." (Only new texts are likely to be easily sold for profit.)
     Don't know yet whether thefts have occurred elsewhere on campus.
     Maybe Glenn should check his parking space (it's the one with the little sign, showing a free-falling screaming parachutist avatar).
     More later.

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

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