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
Rebel Girl is more sentimental than you may suspect. Hence she shares these photos of last year's commencement as it becomes all but certain this year's ceremony will not occur. So much loss already and more to come.
Rebel Girl tries to feel grateful for employment, for family, for health (so far) - but nothing is certain. As one of her students pointed out during their last class on campus: "We are living through history." Reb agreed and pointed out that it was the kind of historical moment one could hear, grinding its gears. She now sees those students, not all of them, only some, via Zoom meetings. They are smaller on the screen, more anxious, alone, worried. While some are working (many too much), others have lost their jobs. Their parents have lost their jobs. Their family obligations interrupts their virtual classes. Some have not returned at all.
Yesterday, IVC staff received the appeal below and Rebel Girl passes it along to you, hoping that you will click this link (as she did) and make a donation to help the most vulnerable through this time. It's not going to get better for awhile. Let's help. Most of us are so lucky.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Irvine Valley College Foundation has established a new Emergency Fund.
Within the first two hours of announcing the IVC Emergency Fund to our campus, we received over 200 requests from frightened members of our campus community who are not sure how they are going to get through the next month or two.
NOW, MORE THAN EVER, OUR IVC FAMILY NEEDS YOUR HELP!
COVID-19 presents a new set of obstacles for our students and some employees, including:
Loss of income to afford housing, food, and childcare
Increased healthcare costs
The need to access the internet and remote-learning technology
Our new Emergency Fund will provide immediate emergency bridge funding to our most vulnerable students and employees, helping them through this challenging time.
Your support will enable us to meet these evolving needs. Together, we can make sure Irvine Valley College students and employees get the critical assistance they need for themselves and their families
WE ARE STRONGER TOGETHER!
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‘Zoombies’ Take Over Online Classrooms
Inside Higher Ed Digital disruptors sharing racist, sexist and pornographic content in Zoom videoconferences show no sign of slowing down as “Zoombombing” trend grows.
…Zoombombing attacks, or Zoom raids, are planned on services such as Discord, a communication platform popular among gamers. In a Discord group accessed by Inside Higher Ed, online trolls seemed to delight in the confusion and distress they caused instructors, some of whom, they gleefully reported, had burst into tears. Some members of the group described themselves as wishing to pursue “good old-fashioned trolling” and said they drew the line at “really fucked-up shit” such as sharing child pornography or repeating the N-word over and over. “That’s boring,” one user wrote….
Dozens of resources advising instructors on how to secure their videoconference calls have been published in the past week as awareness of Zoombombing grows, including this one from the company itself. The University of California, Berkeley's information security office shared this detailed prevention guide. On Twitter, instructors also shared tips and tricks to prevent intrusions….
The escalating problem of Zoombombing isn’t exclusive to education. AA meetings, prayer groups and book readings for children have been recently commandeered by Zoombombers. A small number of people have started referring to these trolls as “Zoombies” -- a fitting term for the apocalyptic atmosphere of a nation gripped by a global pandemic….
