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
‘Zoombombing’ Attacks Disrupt Classes
Inside Higher Ed Online Zoom classes were disrupted by individuals spewing racist, misogynistic or vulgar content. Experts say professors using Zoom should familiarize themselves with the program's settings.
[This is happening to instructors here at IVC.]
Like many professors across the country who've been displaced from college campuses because of the coronavirus pandemic, Lance Gharavi suddenly found himself teaching his spring semester courses at Arizona State University online using the Zoom meeting platform. His first Zoom session for an approximately 150-student Introduction to Storytelling course went terribly wrong. Right off the bat, he said, one of the participants used a Zoom feature that lets a user display an image or a video in the background in order to show a pornographic video. “I didn’t notice it until a student on chat said something about it,” said Gharavi, an associate professor in ASU's School of Film, Dance and Theater. Participants were using fake screen names, some of which he said were very offensive. "The chat window became incredibly active. Most of the comments were not on topic. They were vulgar, racist, misogynistic toilet humor. I would barely even call it humor." . . . Zoom has also published a blog post on steps to take to keep would-be crashers out of Zoom meetings. The blog post gives tips on controlling access to meetings and setting up password protections and managing participants' ability to share their screens, as well as information on other options for controlling participants' activities including disabling participants' video, muting participants, turning off file transfer and annotation options, or disabling private chat functions. The company also suggests trying its waiting room feature, which it describes as "a virtual staging area that stops your guests from joining until you’re ready for them."….
AOC breaks with Bernie on how to lead the left
Politico The congresswoman is declining to back primary challengers following in her footsteps — and working within the system in Congress.
Five days ago, on March 19, 2020, Artists & Climate Change, a theatre project that uses drama to raise awareness about the climate crisis, began publishing a series of micro stories on their website which document life during the Coronavirus pandemic. 100 words in length and accompanied by photos, stories from around the world have been posted, four each day.
Because she was already a fan of their work, Rebel Girl heard the call early, submitted her own story and shared the project with her friends and students. Many have been accepted, published and more are forthcoming. As a result, in the first five days, five contributors with IVC ties appeared: three professors, and two former students. Not bad! UPDATE: as of today - March 25 - two more IVC-related contributions have been published - scroll down to see these additional tiny stories. ANOTHER UPDATE: Friday March 27 finds a Tiny Coronavirus Story written by IVC Professor Brittany Adams. Check it out below. UPDATE #3: Two more IVC-related contributions appear today, March 28. They have been added below. UPDATE #4: March 29 saw former Prof. Alex Bobrik's tiny story appear. check it out.
Perhaps you will write one of your own to submit. It's free to submit. Think about it. As one of Rebel Girl's students observed: "We are living through history."
Rebel Girl presents the IVC edition below, but click the links to go to the site and read the others. See how we live now.
Rebel Girl misses you all. Take care. Stay safe. Zoom responsibly.
Planting the beans made her feel like a woman in a fairy tale, the German kind, both magical and brutal. She and her son had bought the seeds years ago. They planted one, waited. Then he had taken the plant to school along with a chart marking its growth. She saved the rest. Now he was a senior and she was another kind of senior, which made her vulnerable during this plague. She planted the old beans in cans filled with dirt. She patted each down with a prayer. The day’s rain watered them. What did she have to lose?
— Lisa D. Alvarez (Silverado, California) March 20, 2020
Do you want the last egg?
POTATOES AND EGGS
By the second grocery store, he’s becoming mildly panicked. “It’s not about running out of supplies,” he’d told his wife. “I just want to see.” “Check for potatoes and eggs,” she says.
He thinks of the son and daughter-in-law working at the hospital. “Stay in medicine,” he’d advised, “it’s a good financial move.” Money. The President’s solution is a tax break. “We don’t need money. We need PPEs,” his son says. Over the phone. Now, it’s only phone and text contact. It strikes him he’s old, suddenly – by the stroke of a mouse on a spreadsheet, 67 and “At Risk.”
— Peter Gerrard (Irvine, California)
Sunday at the Seafood Festival
THE KEYS IN THE TIME OF CORONAVIRUS
Despite the declared national emergency, nothing changes in the Florida Keys. We arrive at the Seafood Festival early to avoid the crowd. We sit in the back. The conch ceviche is delicious. The band plays Tom Petty songs as the locals greet each other. “I don’t care. I’m still going to give you a hug.” In the bathroom a woman sighs impatiently as I wash my hands. When I explain I’m singing “Happy Birthday” in my head she says, “Oh that.” We stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, the Lord’s Prayer and the Star-Spangled Banner. Perhaps this will protect us.
Pushing carts, we milled around the empty shelves of meat, eggs, bread, when I spotted in a dark display, a loaf of pumpernickel—round, brown as peasant rye, the devil’s farts, my mother used to say. Sandwiches for my daughter’s lunch, a slather of mustard—I set the loaf into my cart and pushed on. Coming towards me, a couple, white, sixties, better than this neighborhood market. The woman said, “Look, no bread.” He grumbled. I pointed to my loaf: “pumpernickel.” A day’s loot. His face twisted with petulance, “What if I don’t like pumpernickel?” And I missed my mother most of all.
“Any kids or dogs?” the ranger asked.
“No.”
“Playground’s closed. I can’t touch money.”
Driving toward the trailhead: mother, father, son; near a picnic spot, not eating, not playing, just standing bewildered by sun and silence.
The same sun beats brutal on the steep, dry trail. I snap photos of empty ridges, brief green in the wake of rain, soon to be desiccated, dangerous, latent flames.
This desert climb offers poor comfort for a transplanted daughter of streams and trees. But on the path down, grasses aglow with wildflowers, poppies flashing hope, and in the distance, live oaks still stand.
The morning they announced the pandemic, my grandmother died. She died in one day.
My grandmother’s body shook on that afternoon. I held her. It would be the last time I would hold her. In the afternoon, I was visiting her and doing my homework and there was no quarantine. Eight hours later I was sitting inside the car and my mom sent me a text. She couldn’t make the phone call.
All of that seems far away because my dad bought twenty rolls of toilet paper and now I’m making my way through twenty bottles of beer.
— Cameron Diiorio (Costa Mesa, California)
Missing home from home.
THE OFFLINE PROFESSOR
I wake at 3 AM, as if prompted by an alarm, but I have nowhere to go. My school is closed; I am suddenly supposed to teach online. Fuck online. I miss my students, my colleagues, work. Do the students have reliable wifi? Do they even have computers at home? Are they working because they need to pay rent? So many of them work in food service. What is this tickle in my throat? Was that a dry cough? I get up and find the thermometer. No fever. No fever, but no more sleep tonight either.
I wonder how we got here. To the place where ordinary things frighten. A doorknob, the handle on the mailbox, the faucet, our own hands.
When our daughter learned to walk, ordinary things frightened us too. The corner of the coffee table, the brick fireplace, the stairs. It took six months for her to steady and for us to take a breath. Once she swallowed a small piece of plastic. A trip to the ER. A kind, older doctor who blew bubbles to calm our fears. Does that kind doctor have ordinary things: a mask, gloves, time to calm fears?
In these days of solitude, I remember why I no longer play my Baby Taylor and sing Psalms to the Lord, why I no longer sit in pews on Sundays and absorb the proclamations of charismatic men, why, now, I stare at my phone, at a Facebook post from a pastor I once admired, and war with myself. Should I say my Chinese wife owes him no apologies? Is it enough that people’s hearts have broken for those of his ilk to choose another adjective? “The virus is from there!” they’d say. And where it’s from is not here.
— Nathaniel Cayanan (West Covina, California)
Even the fog doesn't adhere to social distancing as it smothers the Pomona College clocktower.
A JOYFUL, SELFISH RESPONSE
It’s pouring. I wander, watching the torrent-soaked boxes carrying student valuables. Puddles coalesce. Students hug each other. They butcher pop tunes. Music reverberates from several dorms. Beer cans and wine bottles clog trash bins. “A far cry from social distancing,” I tell myself.
After avoiding handshakes and giving virtual hugs or elbow-bumps to favorite professors and not-so-close friends, I find someone I’ve missed dearly. We hug and catch up over dinner. I briefly think to myself, “how many people can’t hug loved ones because of carelessness?” We hug again and say goodbye. Letting go is hard.
At the store, I replenish food supplies and check, again, for cleaning products. I’m struck by the boundaries that have been placed, the subtle encroachment of a new age, an air of sci-fi dystopia. Tall robots clean the aisles. “We’re stronger together,” a soft, feminine voice says over the loudspeaker. There are acrylic shields between guests and clerks, tape on the floor designating six feet between each patron like marks on the stage of a surreal, somber play. I pick up a jar absentmindedly, put it back, feel guilty; I never realized how frequently we touch each other.
Remote work is proving difficult for many professors, given the circumstances and despite some early predictions to the contrary. What institutions are doing and can start doing to ease the pressure.
When institutions started sending students and professors home due to COVID-19, more than a few academics opined on social media that this would be a boon for research productivity: the idea, presumably, was that isolation breeds creativity. A significant share of these posts mentioned Isaac Newton, who discovered calculus while “social distancing” during the Great Plague of London, starting in 1665.
Newton -- then still a student at the University of Cambridge and not yet a sir -- also watched apples fall from “thattree” on the grounds of his family estate during the plague, as a recentWashington Postessayexplains. The period has since been called Newton’sannus mirabilis, or “year of wonders,” even if nearby London itself was draped in death.
The retorts came almost as quickly as these views were voiced. No, this spring will not be a time for groundbreaking insights and increased productivity, and institutions should not expect either, academics argued. Many also pointed out that Newton was not a professor during his isolation, let alone one thrusting all his courses online for the first time. Nor was he a parent, simultaneously acting as daycare provider or teacher to children displaced by widespread pre- and K-12 school closures.... continued
Orange County has 30 new cases of coronavirus; total number up to 125-- Orange County has 125 confirmed cases of the coronavirus as of Monday, March 23, up from the 95 reported on Sunday, marking the biggest one-day jump in the numbers thus far. The number of cases nearly doubled over the weekend in Orange County. And, about 600 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in Southern California, with that number expected to grow quickly as more testing is done.Jeong Parkin theOrange County Register-- 3/24/20
California now says it needs 50,000 more hospital beds to meet coronavirus surge-- New modeling shows California needs 50,000 additional hospital beds to meet the incoming surge of coronavirus patients, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday. It’s a dramatic jump from the 20,000 extra beds Newsom said the state needed just two days ago, and reflects what the governor describes as dynamic modeling that’s constantly changing as new numbers about coronavirus infections pour in.Sophia Bollagin theSacramento Bee$Taryn Lunain theLos Angeles Times$Thomas Fuller, Tim ArangoandJo Beckerin theNew York Times$ -- 3/24/20
Coronavirus: Social distancing measures could last two or three months, Newsom warns-- Tough social distancing measures to stamp out the coronavirus’ spread may need to last two or three months in California, Gov. Gavin Newsom suggested on Monday, in a drastic contrast with President Trump, who just minutes earlier had predicted the U.S. economy could reopen for business in weeks, not months.Casey Tolan, Fiona Kelliher, Paul RogersandKerry Crowleyin theSan Jose Mercury$ -- 3/24/20
Trump says he may soon push businesses to reopen, defying the advice of coronavirus experts-- President Trump, under growing pressure to rescue an economy in free fall, said Monday that he may soon loosen federal guidelines for social distancing and encourage shuttered businesses to reopen — defying public health experts, who have warned that doing so risks accelerating the spread of the novel coronavirus or even allowing it to rebound.Philip Rucker, Jeff Stein, Josh DawseyandAshley Parkerin theWashington Post$ -- 3/24/20
"A Keystone Cops level of incompetence in the Federal Government. ... [With] two or three months of inexplicable delays and screw ups.... by the federal government...you have a really, really bad situation. .... We've never seen the CDC this dysfunctional..."
--Dr. Irwin Redlener, Director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness
Orange County’s number of coronavirus cases jumps by 13, now up to 78 -- Orange County has 78 confirmed cases of coronavirus as of Saturday, March 21, an increase of 13 from the day before, officials said. Of the 13 new cases, seven are related to travel and three were acquired locally. Others are under investigation or involve someone who had contact with a known COVID-19 case. Jeong Park in the Orange County Register -- 3/22/20
Californians urged to stay home as experts warn coronavirus-related death toll will rise-- As the number of California coronavirus infection cases reached 1,500, state officials called on residents to stay home as much as possible, raced to get more people tested and enlisted the support of tech titans. Experts, meanwhile, warned that the number of U.S. deaths would rise in the months ahead.Phil Willon, Alex Wigglesworth, Richard Winton, Laura Kingin theLos Angeles Times$ -- 3/22/20
With coronavirus, California’s economy is in uncharted territory-- COVID-19 is almost certain to cause the first pandemic-induced recession of the postwar era. For millions of Californians and their families, that may mean less work, lower income and more financial stress.Ben ChristopherCalmatters-- 3/22/20
‘Time to wake up,’ Newsom says, again urging Californians to stay home in coronavirus fight -- “Be a good neighbor. Be a good citizen. Those young people that are still out there on the beaches thinking this is a party time — grow up,” Newsom said during a news conference on Facebook and Twitter on Saturday afternoon. “ Phil Willon, Taryn Luna, Hannah Fry in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/22/20
Deniers and Disbelievers: ‘If I Get Corona, I Get Corona.’ -- A climbing destination on the remote eastern side of the snow-capped Sierra Nevada, Bishop, Calif., was packed last weekend, as crowded as any holiday, despite growing calls for isolation in advance of a predicted wave of coronavirus cases. John Branch in the New York Times$ -- 3/22/20
Short-term thinking plagues Trump’s coronavirus response -- The show of action played well in the White House briefing room and with the public, but has had a different impact behind the scenes. Health-agency officials and outside advisers to the administration, speaking on the condition of anonymity, described a chaotic situation in which leaders rushed to address presidential requests that sometimes seem to come on a whim while losing focus on longer-term challenges. Dan DiamondPolitico-- 3/22/20
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE Influenza 1918
Season 10 Episode 5 | 51m 32s
Influenza 1918 is the story of the worst epidemic the United States has ever known. Before it was over, the flu would kill more than 600,000 Americans - more than all the combat deaths of this century combined.
UC Irvine officials on Saturday, March 21 said a resident living in the university’s graduate student housing tested positive for the coronavirus. In a tweet, UCI Police said the resident is isolated. The risk of others contacting the virus from the resident is low, the department said. The resident, who is not a student, is believed to be the first living in UC Irvine’s student housing to have tested positive for the coronavirus….
Orange County officials shift focus to mitigating coronavirus impacts -- As Orange County’s number of new coronavirus cases continues to climb, health officials are shifting resources away from investigating sources of contact and toward protecting the most vulnerable populations, such as seniors and those with chronic health problems, by limiting their exposure to the virus. Jeong Park in the Orange County Register -- 3/21/20
Irvine firefighter has coronavirus; Orange County cases rise to 65 -- An Orange County firefighter at Station 4 In Irvine has tested positive for COVID-19 as the total number of cases in the county rose to 65. The Orange County Fire Authority has placed 24 other firefighters who associated with the sick firefighter into self-isolation. Richard Winton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/21/20
DMV making changes to fight off coronavirus -- Effective immediately, you must have an appointment to get service at the DMV. Weekday hours have been scaled back. The popular Saturday office openings have ended, fewer seats are available in lobbies, and there are no behind-the-wheel driving tests for the next month. Gary Richards in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/21/20
First weekend of California stay-at-home order hits millions -- California has never seen a weekend quite like this. No sports practice for the kids. No dining out. No church services. Brian MelleyAssociated Press -- 3/21/20
Safeway increases hourly wages by $2 as thanks for working amid coronavirus crisis -- Thousands of grocery workers at Safeway supermarkets across the nation will receive an extra $2 an hour in pay in appreciation for continuing to serve customers during a time when Californian and other Americans are sheltering at home to avoid becoming infected with the new coronavirus. Cathie Anderson in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/21/20
Stater Bros. bumps workers’ hourly rate $2 for four weeks -- Stater Bros. on Friday announced it was boosting its workers’ pay $2 hourly, compensating them for working through frantic shopping days amid the coronavirus pandemic. The news came just hours after the parent company of the Albertsons, Vons and Pavilions stores said it will pay workers an extra $2 an hour through March 28. Jack Katzanek in the Orange County Register -- 3/21/20
Homeowners are getting federal mortgage relief, but renters aren’t so lucky -- Federal officials announced a nationwide halt to foreclosures and evictions this week, protecting more than 30 million Americans from the risk of losing their homes as the coronavirus outbreak ravages the economy. But the federal plans don’t cover more than 40 million renters, many of whom, housing advocates worry, may not be able to pay their rent next month. Renae Merle in the Washington Post$ -- 3/21/20
Few homeless off California’s streets as virus spreads -- Homeless people in California congregated in parks, popped into each other’s tents on sidewalks and packed closely together to get food Friday, routine scenes that took on different and dangerous significance as state officials try to contain spread of the coronavirus. Stefanie Dazio and Kathleen RonayneAssociated Press -- 3/21/20
USC cancels May in-person graduation. What about UCLA and other colleges? -- USC has joined a growing list of colleges and universities across the county, including UCLA, that are canceling or postponing in-person graduation ceremonies in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Teresa Watanabe in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/21/20
‘A mess in America’: Why Asia now looks safer than the U.S. in the coronavirus crisis -- In Asian countries that initially faced the gravest risk from the coronavirus, the shambolic U.S. response to the pandemic has elicited confusion, horror and even a measure of pity. Suddenly, it seems, the U.S. is the basket case, an aloof, inward-looking power that has weakened its alliances, failed to lead on global emergencies such as climate change and shrunk in a crisis. Shashank Bengali in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/21/20
Seven days as a ‘wartime president’: Trump’s up-and-down command of a pandemic -- Fixated on his portrayal in the media, Trump has used this past week to try to rewrite history in hopes of erasing the public’s memory of him dismissing the severity of threat and bungling the early weeks of the administration’s response. Philip Rucker and Ashley Parker in the Washington Post$ -- 3/21/20
Trump Resists Pressure to Use Wartime Law to Mobilize Industry in Virus Response -- President Trump and his advisers have resisted calls from congressional Democrats and a growing number of governors to use a federal law that would mobilize industry and provide badly needed resources against the coronavirus spread, days after the president said he would consider using that authority. Katie Rogers, Maggie Haberman and Ana Swanson in the New York Times$ -- 3/21/20
U.S. intelligence reports from January and February warned about a likely pandemic -- U.S. intelligence agencies were issuing ominous, classified warnings in January and February about the global danger posed by the coronavirus while President Trump and lawmakers played down the threat and failed to take action that might have slowed the spread of the pathogen, according to U.S. officials familiar with spy agency reporting. Shane Harris, Greg Miller, Josh Dawsey and Ellen Nakashima in the Washington Post$ -- 3/21/20
Officials long warned funding cuts would leave California vulnerable to pandemic. No one listened -- California public health officials have repeatedly warned over the last decade that federal budget cuts were weakening their ability to respond to a widespread health crisis like the current coronavirus pandemic. Patrick McGreevy Jack Dolan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/20/20
ALSO:
Orange County federal, county officials clash over coronavirus policies
Supervisor Wagner says Gov. Newsom’s more restrictive order already supersedes county orders.
Confusion over Orange County’s official response to the coronavirus pandemic flared up again Friday, as a clash between federal and county officials prompted questions that led to contradictory answers. The questions started when all seven members of Orange County’s congressional delegation sent a letter Friday morning to the Board of Supervisors urging them to postpone property tax payments for all residents and to immediately adopt a shelter-in-place order that’s in line with astatewide directiveissued Thursday by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The House members who signed the letter cited public health concerns and confusion with earlier directions from the county, also asking officials to provide specifics on what qualifies as an “essential business” that’s allowed to stay open as shelter-in-place orders are considered.. . . Orange County Supervisor Don Wagner said he didn’t believe the congressional delegation was correct in stating that the county’s public health order carries more weight than the order from Newsom. And he said Orange County residents should get guidance from the California directive, which says all residents should stay at home until further notice unless they’re working in one of 16 sectors deemed “essential” by the state….
Map shows daily count of coronavirus cases in Southern California by county
Here's How Long the Durable Coronavirus Survives on Different Surfaces -- On plastic, after eight hours only 10% of what researchers deposited was still there, according to a study published on Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. But the virus didn’t become undetectable until after 72 hours. On stainless steel, the numbers began plummeting after just four hours, becoming undetectable by about 48 hours. On copper and cardboard, virus was undetectable by eight hours and 48 hours, respectively. Sharon Begley STAT via KQED -- 3/20/20
‘Complete chaos’ as Orange County courts reopen amidst coronavirus panic -- Orange County’s first attempt to hold court hearings after a brief closure due to concerns over the spread of the coronavirus descended into “complete chaos” Thursday, with packed courtrooms seeming to fly in the face of recent guidance offered by health officials, some of the county’s top legal officials said. James Queallyin the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/20/20
Fashion Island, Irvine Spectrum open for “essential” merchants despite coronavirus concerns -- As competitors shut malls due to fears of the coronavirus spread, Irvine Co. said Thursday evening in a statement that stores open at its 39 shopping destinations in Orange County will be providing basic necessities following a new California “stay at home” order. These include “gas stations, pharmacies, grocery stores, convenience stores, take-out and delivery restaurants, banks, and dry cleaners.” Jonathan Lansner in the Orange County Register -- 3/20/20
Coronavirus: Asian American groups compile hate crime reports as Trump persists in ‘Chinese virus’ attacks -- Distressed by the rise in xenophobia and racism during the coronavirus pandemic, a coalition of Asian American groups based in California have created a reporting webpage for victims of virus-related hate crimes. Michael Cabanatuan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/20/20
California governor: 60,000 homeless could get virus -- As worries about the spread of the coronavirus confine millions of Californians to their homes, concern is growing about those who have no homes in which to shelter. Gov. Gavin Newsom estimates up to 60,000 homeless could end up infected. Don Thompson and John AntczakAssociated Press -- 3/19/20
Tips to safely shop at grocery stores in the coronavirus age -- Here are a few tips for all shoppers, regardless of age, so they can protect themselves and others from virus spread at the grocery store: Michael Nowels in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/19/20
If I become infected with the coronavirus, what are my odds of survival? -- Left unchecked, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 could infect billions of people. By one estimate, up to 70% of the world’s population may contract the disease. That means there’s an excellent chance that, sooner or later, you will be one of them. David Pierson in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/19/20 ALSO:
