The SOUTH ORANGE COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT —
"[The] blog he developed was something that made the district better." - Tim Jemal, SOCCCD BoT President, 7/24/23
Police have arrested a California State University at Fullerton employee in the stabbing death of a retired Fullerton administrator, CNN reported. Steven Shek Keung Chan, who retired in 2017 but had recently returned to work at the university as a consultant, was found dead in his car in a parking lot at Fullerton Monday. Officers arrested Chuyen Vo, an employee in the extended education office in which Chan formerly worked. Charges are to be filed today, when a motive might be clearer.
(See also 51-year-old co-worker arrested in fatal stabbing of retired Cal State Fullerton administrator (OC Reg)) Hong Kong Students Call for 2-Week Class Boycott
Inside Higher Ed
Student leaders at 10 Hong Kong universities have called for their fellow students to skip classes for the first two weeks of the fall term in response to mass protests that started this summer, the Associated Press reported. The student leaders said they would escalate their action if their demands are not met by Hong Kong's Beijing-backed chief executive by Sept. 13....
...As an OB-GYN with nearly three decades of experience, Gunter knows from crotches. And today she is angry about how certain products—“vaginal offenders”—are pitched at women. “Since the beginning of time, women have been told that they are dirty,” she says. “They want us to be ‘pure,’ they want us to be ‘clean.’ These words have been weaponized.” And shaky assertions made by natural health products serve only to misdirect women, Gunter argues in her new book, The Vagina Bible: The Vulva and the Vagina—Separating the Myth From the Medicine, a sassy manual of anatomy and self-care tips. If a topical product claims it can regulate pH, she writes, “I always wonder: What other false claims are they making?”...
As you may know, Dissent’s (or at least my) attorney is Santa Monica’s Carol Sobel, who has in recent decades gained a considerable reputation as a "civil rights" attorney.
Since our battles with the district twenty years ago, she has become a prominent advocate for the homeless in LA and OC.
Here is a series of articles, most by Nick Gerda, concerning her recent battles on behalf of the homeless in Orange County.
The latest news isn't good, I'm afraid:
…Many faculty and professional staff are worried about this concept because they have seen these sorts of initiatives used elsewhere to gut a variety of academic programs that are deemed “inessential” or that don’t lead students quickly enough to a career. The example of the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point is illustrative of this:
• UW-Stevens Point faces a deficit of $4.5 million over two years because of declining enrollment and lower tuition revenues. It proposes adding or expanding 16 programs in areas with high-demand career paths as a way to maintain and increase enrollment.
• To fund this future investment, resources would be shifted from programs with lower enrollment, primarily in the traditional humanities and social sciences. Although some majors are proposed to be eliminated, courses would continue to be taught in these fields, and minors or certificates will be offered.
As a result of this way of thinking, the University was reorganized in such a way that 13 majors including English, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Geography, Geoscience, and a number of languages were eliminated because these programs were not seen as contributing to the financial bottom line of the university. Aquaculture, Fire Science, and English for Teacher Certification (instead of English), on the other hand, made the grade as they shunt students straight through college and into narrowly conceived career paths….
Push for Ethnic Studies in Schools Faces a Dilemma: Whose Stories to Tell California’s newly proposed model ethnic studies curriculum has led to bitter debate in recent weeks.
NYT
…The 2016 law that led to the California course materials, which will be optional for schools to use, did not precisely define ethnic studies, leaving much of the work to a committee of teachers and professors appointed by a state curriculum board. Members of that committee said they had taken their cues from the way ethnic studies is taught at the college level, where the discipline has traditionally encompassed the study of four groups: African-Americans, Latinos, Native Americans and Asian-Americans.
The draft falls short, said Assemblyman Jose Medina, a Democrat and former ethnic studies teacher. He has introduced a bill to make ethnic studies a graduation requirement but said he now supported slowing down the process, in part to make the materials more inclusive….. (continue reading)
It's all Pride rainbows. Some will tell you that the administrators so present at today's event did not attend IVC's first ever Pride in 2018 when this photo was taken. Yes, that's Rebel Girl in green on the left, with the big chip on her shoulder.
LAST year during August FLEXweek, IVC denizens who showed up to the President's Welcome were treated to information about the dangers of texting while driving and advised how they too could sign up for the services offered by the Automobile Club of America, aka Triple A, a favorite organization of Rebel Girl who still can't change a tire on her own but not what she, or many others expected from FLEX week. You can read all about last year here: Flex Week Follies. This year was a very different story.
Gone was the usual triumphal braggadocio. In its place, the college president offered personal testimony about how he understood his place of privilege and shared his own story of encountering diversity and that of his wife. This was followed by two noted equity in education activists - The Campaign for College Opportunity's Audrey Dow and USC's Dr. Shaun Harper - who notably did not ask us to sign up for Triple A insurance plans but instead challenged us to do better. They were great. Unsparing. Direct. Pie charts. Data. They called out institutional racism and the white supremacy and the failure of our educational leader to address it. It's not enough to hang well-intentioned banners, Mr. President. Funny too.
Some say this is Glenn's doing. Many claim it is the influence of the new chancellor. After all, so many of us have seen what Glenn's priorities have been for nearly two decades. Equity assessment that looks at how institutions perpetuate racism and sexism instead of combat it have never ranked this high before. For example, just take a look at the college website page for DACA students which continues to languish. We are beginning to lose a generation of students here who are too afraid to enroll at community college once they graduate high school, so worried are they that doing so will risk themselves, their families. So what has changed? And why? You tell us.
Then everyone else in the room, which was pretty full. It took a while.
Lots of applause.
Board Prez Prendergast speaks
Blah, blah, blah
New budget from governor.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you” to everyone
"Have a great start of the year"
IVC Prez Roquemore (Good Lord!) comes up to introduce new hires, I guess
Blah blah blah
Saddleback Prez Elliot Stern is next. (I like him, so far.)
Bah blah blah
Again, lots of applause
Vice Chancellor (HR), Dr. Cindy Vyskocil, comes up for district services. Seems like a good egg.
Chancellor’s remarks
My notes:
Slide show accompanied by Aretha Franklin’s “Respect.” Laughter in response to clever fortuities. Applause.
75th Anniversary of D-day. I love travelling. Been to Normandy beaches. Life-altering experience.
My father is an immigrant. Immigration in the news these days. Immigrants make a tremendous contribution!
50 years ago: the moon landing.
Day after moon landing, “Abbey Road” recorded. Last album recorded by Beatles together. “Come together.”
Woodstock.
Something about a “Mindset List.”
GUN VIOLENCE. 254 victims as of August 8 – gun violence, mass shootings. (Anything involving 4 victims or more.)
Naturally, we’re concerned, afraid. I’ll do everything I can to support you, she said. Inclusivity. Her theme. Talked about the current student generation’s assumptions, notions (based on surveys and such).
1995-2012 generation: “iGen” or “plurals”
Inclusivity (diversity, etc.) is appealing to this gen
Poll taken: they value it, man
Ideal: equal attention paid to students by professors
Protect students from attack, harassment
Student’s job to be open and respectful
Social segregation a hindrance
Characteristics of this gen:
Diverse, driven, open-minded, altruistic, creative problem-solvers
High levels of anxiety and depression (!)
What has influenced these characteristics? Over-parenting, etc.
Students think professors should protect their comfort. “This feels uncomfortable, so something must be wrong.”
Faculty (in the classroom, and elsewhere): two faculty recently lost. She honors mentor lost.
He's taken some bows.
New slide show. Plays Queen’s “We are the Champions,” a much misunderstood song, she said. (Yeah, I guess it champions the underdog, like Freddie, not the “winners.”)
During the part of the slide show that shows IVC’s Prez Roquemore, we hear Freddie sing: “I’ve taken my bows.” — Ha ha ha. (See Let’s compare IVC’s Prez Roquemore with Saddleback’s Prez Stern!)
Very nice [END]
Musical offerings: Saddleback College “Chamber Singers”
“I’m the one who can make the difference.”
“Against all odds,” etc. Pretty professional.
Keynote speaker: Michelle Deutchman: “free speech on campus: new challenges”
Iconic pic: Berkeley free speech, 1964? Berkeley 2016: “out of Berkeley, Nazi sum!” (Oops)
Today’s challenge on campus:
Polarization, lack of civic knowledge, increased use of heckler’s veto, misunderstandings about hate speech, impact of anti-bullying campaigns….
Polarized incoming class
Most politically polarized group in the 51 year history of the survey
Can you name specific freedoms that are protected by First Amendment? Few can.
Heckler’s veto is not protected speech; it infringes on the rights of speakers and of the audience
Protest and disruption: where do you draw the line?
Hate speech IS free speech
48% of students think the 1st Amendment should not protect hate speech!
Voltaire’s famous remark: I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it
Many Americans think defending hater’s free speech is contrary to free speech. Nope
Those targeted by white supremacist groups, which are on the rise,
Highest number of incidents are in Cal
Impact of social media.
Free speech Is not free. Marginalized communities pay a high price
What can we do?
Education!
Historical context, etc.
Cleveland State U flier. Encouraging members of the LGBT community to commit suicide!
Yes, but: protected speech!
Can’t stop that speech. But you can speak out against it. (Not against right of speaker; against content of speech)
You have a right not to speak, too.
Speech codes have been struck down; counterproductive
Policy making:
Create, review and update policies, include feedback by campus stakeholders
Make sure people are aware
Institute clear, time place and manner policies and permitting requirements
Amplified sound is permitted in designated campus outdoor locations from noon to 1 p.m., Monday through Friday
Where do we go from here ? [END]
NEXT came what I like to call the annual pinning of the tail to the donkey—i.e., the distribution of service pins.
C’mon, man. Ray got the biggest one. The biggest pin for the biggest asshole.
I noticed that, once again, my service (I was hired in the middle of the Reagan years: 1986) was not listed in the program.
What’s up with that, Glenn?
I booked
Overall, it was a fine opening session. Notably absent were descents into anti-intellectualism and patriotism (leaving aside that pledge thing) or any reference to idiotic buzz words and harebrained initiatives.
… The county that nurtured Ronald Reagan’s conservatism and is the resting place of Richard Nixon is now home to 547,458 registered Democrats, compared with 547,369 Republicans, according to statistics released early Wednesday morning by the county Registrar of Voters. The number of voters not aligned with a political party has also surged in recent years, and stands at 440,711, or 27.4% of the county’s voters…..
