WALKOUT a success

At the college this morning

     [SEE PHOTOS BELOW!]

    In a coordinated protest, students across the country left their classrooms and marched in the streets a month after 17 people were killed in a Florida high school. 

    A month ago, hundreds of teenagers ran for their lives from the hallways and classrooms of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where 17 students and staff had been shot to death. 

    On Wednesday, driven by the conviction that they should never have to run from guns again, they walked. So did their peers. In New York City, in Chicago, in Atlanta and Santa Monica; at Columbine High School and in Newtown, Conn.; and in many more cities and towns, students left school by the hundreds and the thousands at 10 a.m., sometimes in defiance of school authorities, who seemed divided and even flummoxed about how to handle their emptying classrooms.... (National School Walkout: Thousands Protest Against Gun Violence Across the U.S. - New York Times)

     IRVINE - Don't know about anywhere else, but here at IVC, today's 17-minute school shooting "walkout" was a hit. At 10:00 a.m, about 200 students found their way to a presentation, led by writing instructor Lisa "the Reb" Alvarez (and dozens of students), in front of the Student Services Building. They took turns reading, school by school, a litany of persons killed or injured by gun incidents on campuses across the country. Hundreds of 'em. They had not finished when, at the 17-minute mark, the event came to a decorous close.
     Students immediately dispersed and returned to their classrooms.
     Several policemen were present.
     President Roquemore hovered in the background. He wasn't wearing his "Make America Great Again" cap. Must've left it at home.
     I surfed around a bit and found that similar events occurred all across the county.

Saddleback College plans to participate in the Women's March Youth Empower's country-wide demonstration on Wednesday, March 14 at 10 a.m.

Got these pics from Rebel Girl, who got 'em from friends

Don't know what the chairs were for. They looked sharp though.

Add caption

GUN LOVE

Meet Matti. She's cute. She shoots jackrabbits. Not to eat 'em, just to kill 'em. Yeah.
She even shoots at 'em in the dark. They haven't got a chance. That's called "sport."

MUSIC

Cat Power: Lived In Bars

Hank Williamss & Anita Carter (1952)

AT SADDLEBACK COLLEGE:

#Enough students and instructors speak out against gun violence (Saddleback College Lariat)

The Engaging Mr. Roquemore? (Faculty champions on campus!)

     Recently, I found a curious article in the “Lesson on Leadership” portion of the February/March 2016 issue of the Community College Journal. In Building Engagement for the college of the future, our own Glenn Roquemore crows about his/our success in developing ATEP, against all odds.
     The article is a bit odd, given that, to date, little has been accomplished at the "Advanced Technical and Education Park." There's money for the first of two major buildings, and planning and construction is going forward. That building will house IVC programs. The next building, of equal size, will house Saddleback College programs. (See HERE for the last word on what these colleges are planning.)
     As the article's title suggests, Roquemore's main point is that, in the course of developing the allegedly wondrous ATEP, stakeholder “engagement” has been sought and achieved. —"Especially faculty" engagement.
     Really?

The excitement is palpable

     Especially during those years (1996-2010) when Mathur and his crowd ran things at the district, faculty complained bitterly that they were left out of the ATEP planning loop, despite the law that gives authority to faculty in the planning and development of educational programs. After Mathur's departure, matters have improved on this score, but not nearly enough. From my perspective as a long-time member of the IVC Academic Senate, recent years seem to have been more about a turf war (over ATEP, between IVC's Roquemore and SC's Tod Burnett) than about anything else. Very little if any planning of the proposed ATEP programs has been accomplished thus far.
     It seems to me that Rocky is crowing about progress that hasn't actually occurred. And whatever progress has occurred has occurred essentially without faculty at the table.
     We've grown used to that sort of thing at IVC.
     Let us know what you think.
     An excerpt:

Just who are these "faculty champions"?

What the two colleges promise...er, plan.
Hey Saddlebackians: $2.75 is about the price of a good cup of coffee. What gives?

Also: we keep hearing that Tod's ass is grass.

Anybody know anything?

If so, who'll take his place?

The Ear Launch Party is a success

Copies of The Ear were on display
(Click on photos to enlarge them)

English Instructor Virginia Shank organized and MCed the event
The Ear is BACK thanks largely to Virginia

Free copies for contributors

Virginia was so busy, she became a blur

Prior to the proceedings

A visitation by George!

Art work that made its way into this edition of The Ear was on display in
the adjoining gallery

Brittany and Karima

The event was held in the Performing Arts Center, which looked pretty
spiffy. The PAC's colors grow lurid in the evening sun

The food was great

The room was full of attentive folks from all around, including local colleges and universities

About a dozen contributors read their works

Everybody did a great job

One of the student editors

Lots of enthusiasm, charm

Reliable colleagues

SEE ALSO 

The Ear Launch Party is a success (May 26, 2016)

Rocky's political patronage? Outrage over classified promotions at IVC

     The agenda for the May meeting of the SOCCCD Board of Trustees (tonight) can be found HERE.
     The relevant item: 6.7 - Classified Personnel Actions (late in the agenda)
     For more on the “Mighty Oaks,” see here and here.

Anonymous said...
Woah! Take a look at the board agenda where on Monday the folks (in what they've been trying to pass off as a "marketing department") are receiving huge raises! D.O. goes from a CL16 to CL21 and her side kick, the B-Ram, range 127 to a 138! What a total waste of resources!
4:18 PM, May 12, 2016

Anonymous said...
4:18 Where is this in the Board Agenda? Maybe I am not seeing this. It looks like a 12% increase over three years, just like the faculty.
9:55 PM, May 12, 2016

Anonymous said...
Found it, item 6.7 exhibit A, pages 6 & 8
11:20 AM, May 13, 2016

Anonymous said...
D.O. now makes 123k. With this promo she gets 10% more to equal 136k. After 6 years she will max out at over 182k which equals a 32% total increase. Take THAT, you stupid tax payers!
4:04 PM, May 13, 2016

Anonymous said...
She's making as much as a dean. And we can't hire more faculty? I wouldn't complain as much but she's also horrible at her job. Really, she's horrible.
4:06 PM, May 13, 2016

Anonymous said...
People ought to show up at the board meeting OUTRAGED over this!
4:09 PM, May 13, 2016

Anonymous said...
To be fair, B-Ram will be working in a temp assignment, but everyone knows how that will end up. Strings will be pulled so she gets the position. Initially she will receive a 12% raise putting her at 64k from 57k. After the new contract raises kick in, that puts her at 72k, a 22% increase. After 6 years she will max out at 92k, totaling a 39% raise!
4:32 PM, May 13, 2016

Anonymous said...
DO and BR, hmmm.... Guess little B-Ram needs to make that beamer payment somehow.
4:45 PM, May 13, 2016

Anonymous said...
Two self-serving twits. Oh by the way D.O., I was looking for B-Ram Friday afternoon and she was nowhere to be found. Keep a leash on your dog.
11:08 PM, May 13, 2016

Anonymous said...
She was probably out on her 3 hr. lunch...
1:46 PM, May 14, 2016

Anonymous said...
I'm sure D.O.'s promotion went through the process and was approved by the appropriate strategic planning committee. Does anyone know who serves on such committees know?
6:25 PM, May 15, 2016

Anonymous said...
I know! When D is away miss B is out on her 3 hour lunches
11:23 PM, May 15, 2016

Anonymous said...
These promotions have the optics of organized crime.
12:52 AM, May 16, 2016

Anonymous said...
Me thinks these comments merit being put on a new heading/thread highlighting the ongoing waste, fraud and abuse at IVC.
11:15 AM, May 16, 2016

Anonymous said...
   6:25 is correct to ask. Who are the people on the committee that made this decision? I bet, as the caption implies, the decision was unilaterally made by Glenn without no stink'n committee! Process, schmocess! Perhaps D.O. made the decision herself, like how she was able to override the commencement speaker selection committee and exclude Gustavo...
   Then there is the question of how these promotions can be justified. Has marketing really changed so drastically that it requires new, special skills, and thus, huge increases in sallaries? I seriously doubt it. I bet no justification exists.
   On its face it looks like political patronage, so what else is new?
   On the worthiness of the promotees: all we've ever heard (and read) is about the negative experiences people had when trying to deal with these two. They both fail the worthiness test.
   This is just more in the continuing IVC saga of promoting mediocrity, incompetence and rewarding political allies.
   These bogus promotions certainty do not pass the smell test. And yes, take THAT you stupid tax payers!
4:11 PM, May 16, 2016

Anonymous said...
This is outright waste, fraud and abuse and should immediately be brought to the attention of the California Attorney General.
4:26 PM, May 16, 2016

Anonymous said...
The foundation director became an "executive director" and got a huge jump in salary, too. But who complained about that? Could this be a little unfair?
5:20 PM, May 16, 2016

Anonymous said...
   No she didn't. First a new position was created and advertized. Then E.O. was recruited from the East coast to fill that position. The rumble was mostly about the second director in that area and why they need two directors.
6:02 PM, May 16, 2016

Anonymous said...
   So, the Foundation has an Executive Director and another Director position and you are complaining about Diane Oaks and the PIO Office. I dunno about you, but at least there are publications, flyers, TV and movie advertising, multi-media, etc. coming out of that department. Believe it or not, there is a lot being done by that staff.
   The Foundation on the other hand, not so much (or in current terminology "crickets")
6:14 PM, May 16, 2016

Anonymous said...
You don't have your facts straight, 6:02. The foundation director position was changed to an executive director long before E.O. came from Saddleback College, not the east coast. Either way, nobody complained about the huge increase for that position.
6:32 PM, May 16, 2016

Anonymous said...
   So the argument made at the board meeting was that marketing is key and therefore needs to be expanded. IVC has a student population of roughly 13,000 which is the result of a healthy, steady growth. One can easily make the case that this steady growth occurred and will continue at the same rate regardless of an enlargement of "marketing," unless we're missing something here. Is the real goal to increase the student population to that of Saddleback's?
   When the economy busts and things tighten up IVC will feel the pain of poorly allocated resources. Only then will they be forced to contend with a bloated and overly expensive administration. I think this needless promotion was a bad decision that will only lead to future regret.
10:54 PM, May 16, 2016

Anonymous said...
Can't believe this action was approved. No way this was justifiable in level of work and volume. What a waste of $$$$$$.
11:16 PM, May 16, 2016

Anonymous said...
Bad bad decision.
1:04 AM, May 17, 2016

Anonymous said...
Crappy decision. Graphics use the same software, same macs. Nothing has changed. No need for oaks to add another manager. Waste of taxpayer's monies. Takes weeks to get a flyer completed. Adding a new manager position is so that she can promote one of her two pets britany ram and brenda costtoomuch plys give herself a promotion. BS!!!
1:42 AM, May 17, 2016

Anonymous said...
So in 6 years Oaks will be raking in over $182,000 per year. Rewarded for crappy performance, bad PR and anti service attitude. Irrational because it is pure patronage.
8:18 AM, May 17, 2016

Anonymous said...
I want to know what the 600 jobs in the cue are. That seems rather inflated. Actually, a lot inflated. is this over the course of a year, or constantly ongoing? If we all added up every single little thing we are asked to do, we'd all have 600 items in the cue. The only difference is most of us just get the job done, rather than talk about all the work we have to get done. That's always a sign of someone who is really not as busy as they claim to be.
12:03 PM, May 17, 2016

Board Forum: don't nobody ask the obvious questions

Nobody gave a crap

     Naturally, there was no chance of my attending today's Trustee Forum. These Presidential and Board extravaganzas are invariably scheduled when I teach. Such was the case today, for the forum started at 12:30, the start time of my Philosophy 2 class.
     Undeterred, immediately after class at about 1:50, I walked over to the A100 Building, hoping to find the meeting--or at least a few stragglers and cupcakes. I found three or four people standing around. I got nowhere.
     Later, I ran into one or two people who could fill me in on the event. "There was a Monopoly Game about ATEP," said one wag. Not sure if he was kidding. But I wouldn't be surprised if some version of that proposition were true. ATEP is, of course, the Eternally Amorphous Kollege (EAK). It was once slated to become the new home and headquarters for a band of young performers called the "Young Republican Hoofers" or some such thing. The Young Hoofer idea fell through, though, and, since that time, ATEP has lacked any discernible identity or vision or Zip Code. Last I heard, it was still an enormous Money Pit, sporting three or four tin shacks and the sad sawdust residue of a chapel that had been built for soldiers back in 1942. (I tried to get people interested in saving the chapel, but nobody seemed to give a crap.)
     "Was it well attended?" I asked. Well, yes it was, I was told, "though there were only two or three faculty."
     Oh. I guess maybe they were teaching. Classified employees get brownie points for attending, I bet.

The Plastic People of the Universe

     As you know, recently, the state promulgated the result of an effort to collect factoids per college regarding "success." It's called the "student success scorecard." "Completion" and "success" are, of course, the buzzwords de jour. Generally speaking, our two colleges did OK, completion-wise, though, on some measures, we were way behind other local colleges or districts. For instance, the SOCCCD was in distant last place with regard to the ratio of full-time instruction to part-time instruction (aka "reliance on slave labor"). It was kind of embarrassing. A debacle even.
     That's not about completion, I guess, but it sure is about something important.
     "Anybody talk about the recent State Scorecard for the colleges?"
     "Nope."
     "Nobody? ... Nothing?"
     Head shake.
     "What did they talk about then?"
     "I dunno. ATEP, I guess."
     Someone else told me that five of the seven trustees showed up. Only PJ Prendergast and Bill Jay were no-shows. I wonder what these trustees made of the "Scorecard." Were they embarrassed? Concerned?
     Maybe they've never heard of it. I mean, nobody brought it up today at IVC. Could be nobody in the room heard about it. It somehow fell between the cracks, like oversight of evening classes.
     Maybe, here, in the SOCCCD, we're in one of those Bubbles. Could be.
     Hello? Anybody out there? HELLLOOOOOOOO!

Gone forever

Plagiarism is a form of theft, Glenn (but all is well, really)

Chris Mars: "Community Pillars"

     Here’s a story we’ve held back for a week and a half, not wishing to spoil students’ big day:

     You’ll recall that we’ve offered some, um, perspective on IVC President Glenn Roquemore’s curious approach to choosing commencement speakers. (See Too political and That’s some leadership!)
     This year, as usual, the Commencement Speaker Committee, comprising wide representation, selected three speaker candidates from a master list that they had assembled. They sent those names forward to the President for consideration.

     But, for whatever reason, Roquemore didn’t secure any of those three. Without conferring with the committee, he went back to the Committee’s master list and chose Mr. Keith Rhodes, CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County—a “safe” choice, I guess, among the embracers of the GOP world view (according to which, essentially, all is well and patriotism—combined with cheerful "getalongitude"—are the chief moral virtues).
     Well, whatever. Process Schmocess, I guess.
     Rhodes was entertaining, if manifestly unoriginal. (I barely listened to him, occupied as I was by my photographic efforts. I do remember his bit about marrying somebody smarter.) But, immediately after the ceremony, I started hearing from faculty who found Mr. Rhodes’ address—oh, kinda familiar.
     Since that day, several faculty have sent us a link to a recent article in which NPR lists advice from the book The 10 Things You Won't Hear At Commencement by Charles Wheelan.
     Gosh, that advice does seem awfully familiar.
     Oh my.
     Draw your own conclusions.

• D.A. won't charge accused coaches (OC Reg)

…Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, meanwhile, disciplined one athletic department employee in the Lapes Athletic matter, while Irvine Unified completed an investigation but determined no wrongdoing on the part of its employees….

• Attorneys General Urge Congress to Close Military 'Loophole' at For-Profit Colleges (Chronicle of Higher Education)

Attorneys general for 21 states have called on Congress to close an "apparent loophole" that they say encourages for-profit colleges to use "high-pressure recruiting tactics" on military veterans….