Erwin Chemerinsky's law school "team lineup"

Marla Jo Fisher over at the OC Reg just posted this:

Who is on UCI's law school team lineup?

Marla informs us that the "legal blogosphere around the country has been buzzing in recent weeks with speculation and news about Irvine's new faculty, which has been described as unusual in the number of prominent women, and also in its ethnic composition."

Indeed it has. You’ll recall that Erwin Chemerinsky, the new dean, was hired, then fired, then rehired. Evidently, local right-wingers were upset about Professor C's politics. Some intelligent conservatives (even local ones) came to his defense.

Among Chemerinsky’s hires are

• Rachel Moran, “a UC Berkeley law professor who will become the president next year of the Association of American Law Schools.”

“She has been the director of the Institute for the Study of Social Change at UC Berkeley's law school, Boalt Hall.”

• “A veteran Los Angeles Times legal affairs reporter, Henry Weinstein, who took a buyout recently, will also join the staff to teach fledgling lawyers how to investigate facts.” (New hire Catherine Fisk is pictured at right.)

The Reg article gives the full list of hires. Also hired was someone whose career I’ve followed for years: UCI Psychology Professor Elizabeth Loftus, a renowned expert on memory.

Loftus is somewhat of a hero in the “skeptical” movement (which, essentially, debunks pseudoscience and promotes logic and science). Wikipedia briefly describes the ”Jane Doe” case and Loftus’ famous investigation concerning it, which has helped discredit therapies involving repressed and recovered “memories”:

"Jane Doe" was the subject of a case study published in 1997 by Dr. David Corwin on issues of repressed and recovered memory. Neither the study nor later follow-up studies and articles referred to her by her real name. As a psychiatrist retained in a divorce case, Corwin had videotaped an interview with Jane Doe—then six years old—in which she claimed to have suffered physical and sexual abuse at the hands of her biological mother. Eleven years later, Corwin showed Jane Doe the original tape after obtaining approval from her and her guardian. Corwin then videotaped a follow-up interview in which Jane Doe appeared to spontaneously recall another abusive event she had suffered despite having had no conscious memory of abuse in the years since the initial interview. Corwin published a transcript of the tape and an explanatory article. With Doe's permission, Corwin also played portions of both videotapes to numerous professional audiences.

Loftus hired a private investigator in California and together with co-researcher Melvin Guyer undertook a subsequent investigation into the case, reviewed extensive court records and interviewed Jane's mother and foster mother. In 2002, based on the information obtained, Loftus and Guyer published an article entitled "Who Abused Jane Doe? The Hazards of the Single Case History" in the Skeptical Inquirer. The article was highly critical of the scientific validity of Corwin's 1997 article, and questioned the factual accuracy of his account.

SEE also:

• On so-called “repressed memories”
• ”The Myth of repressed memory”

Orange Coast College on sh*t list; money "falling from the trees"

• MORE ON IVC “HOMETOWN HERO” MIKE (Pal o' Fuentes) CARONA.

The LA Times has a seriously juicy story about Irvine Valley College “Hometown Hero” Mike Carona, the former Sheriff: Carona doled out Orange County reserve badges to 'friends' who donated $1,000, court document says.

The Times includes a link to a pdf file of some eye-opening court documents. (Check 'em out: pdf.)

While being interviewed by federal investigators last September, a month before Carona was indicted, [former Assistant Sheriff Don] Haidl leveled a variety of assertions:

• Carona and another former assistant sheriff, George Jaramillo, thought money was going to be "falling from the trees" once they assumed office.
• Carona wanted Haidl to handle all the business deals that were to benefit Haidl, Carona and Jaramillo, as well as deal with the "rich" people who came in contact with the Sheriff's Department.
• The three men talked about putting money they made in a trust or lobbying company until they could legally take it out after leaving public office.
• When Carona was involved in discussions about illegal topics, he would say, "That's a conversation for the boat" or "a conversation we should have at 40,000 feet," referring to his concern about the government monitoring his conversations.
• Carona often used the phrase "Give me the win," a reference to making sure he received full media credit when something positive happened in the department.

For the OC Reg’s version of this story, go to Carona was a paranoid egomaniac, former friend tells FBI

• MORE ON COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER RUEBEN MARTINEZ.

The Reb came across this CBS Evening News segment (The Stay-In-School Hero Of Santa Ana) about Irvine Valley College’s recent commencement speaker, Rueben Martinez. (It aired June 25.) Martinez is a winner of the MacArthur “genius” prize.

• ORANGE COAST COLLEGE ON SHIT LIST.

According to this morning’s Inside Higher Ed,

The Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges [ACCJC/WASC] has announced a series of actions involving numerous two-year institutions in California. At its latest meeting, last month, the accrediting group placed Los Angeles Southwest College on probation and continued probation for Lassen College, while it removed from probation and restored the accreditation of the College of Marin and Los Angeles County College of Nursing and Allied Health, and removed College of the Redwoods from probation and placed it on warning. The commission also placed seven other colleges on warning — Cerritos, Copper Mountain, Mission, Ohlone, Orange Coast, Palo Verde and San Joaquin Delta Colleges — and continued Mira Costa College on warning. And it removed from warning status five other institutions: Cuesta, Hartnell, Porterville, San Joaquin Valley, and Western Career Colleges.

More specifically, OCC was "Placed on Warning on the Basis of a Progress Report and Visit."

• "OPERATION WHITEWASH" DIDN'T WORK?

Back on April 29, the Coast Report (Faculty Hands Over Complaints:
Teachers give notebook of grievances to state accreditation team) reported that

.....Four faculty members made a special effort this month to ensure their discontent with Orange Coast College top administrators was on the record.

.....The group sought out the ACCJC team during its follow up visit to OCC earlier this month and presented them a notebook filled with documents and emails detailing alleged transgressions of the school’s administration.


.....The delivery of the notebook is a response to some faculty members’ unhappiness about how the school’s accreditation process is being handled after a 2000 evaluation, including suspected censorship of faculty surveys for the accreditation report, the administration’s alleged use of retaliation against faculty for speaking out and how the campus is generally being run.


.....The issues have been building for some faculty members for years but seem to have ratcheted up during the past 18 months.




.....“This started when current administration decided they didn’t want to communicate with faculty about things that are normally considered shared governance,” biology instructor Ann Harmer said.


.....Sources said the issues have been going on since before the accreditation report happened and more than just the four faculty members who gave the notebook to the ACCJC have concerns.
..... The notebook was given to the accreditation committee when it returned to OCC April 15 for a follow up report, which according to technology instructor Ernest Maurer is unusual.


.....The team came to check up on three main issues they had with the school—the completion of student learning outcomes, the broadening of academic student services and administrative planning and budgeting, and the strengthening of its program review, according to a letter to OCC President Bob Dees from the president of the ACCJC. Faculty members said they feared the association’s concerns weren’t addressed by campus administrators.

“(Issues) they brought up we feel were really shoved under the rug by the administration,” Harmer said.


.....Several faculty members said they tried to arrange a meeting with the accreditation committee on April 15, but were stonewalled by the administration, who claimed to be unaware of where the committee would be meeting.
..... When they did find out where the team was, according to math instructor Maurer, the accreditation team leader told them he wasn’t aware anyone wanted to speak with him, but he accepted the notebook.


.....This isn’t the first time faculty members have contacted the accreditation committee. Last spring a letter was sent listing the problems that faculty saw on campus, Harmer said.


.....Vice President of Instruction Melinda Nish said faculty members are always able to give information to the accreditation committee and it is not unusual for information to be passed on.


.....OCC has an accreditation committee on campus made up of faculty, staff and administrators divided up into groups based on the mission statements and goals of the campus, who among their other duties, compile a report that is submitted to the state accreditation team, according to Harmer.


.....Several faculty members have expressed concerns that original faculty comments destined for the ACCJC team never made it into the final report or were censored.


.....“I don’t know if it’s faked, or is cleaned up,” Harmer said. “It (the final report) makes the administration look more favorable.”


.....Astronomy instructor Nick Contopoulos said the final report given to the team doesn’t accurately reflect the sentiments of the entire campus.


.....“I feel they were not represented. Period. They were representative of those who don’t cause trouble. We’re causing trouble,” Contopoulos said. “We’re not trying to cause trouble. We just know the history of the place and how it was at the highest level. I know what it used to be like and how it is now.”


.....Nish, co-chair of the campus’ accreditation committee, said faculty members were encouraged to give input.


.....“Our progress report was drafted and done by a faculty member,” Nish said. “That faculty member, Karen Felts, didn’t edit out or censor out any information.”


.....Some faculty members said the report misrepresents the present climate of the campus and Maurer said they don’t have confidence that faculty viewpoints were accurately represented.


.....One of faculty’s concerns is the administration’s use of retaliation against those speaking out against the administration. Specifically, they say administrators are using the right of assignment as punishment to take faculty off classes they want to teach.


.....“They can specifically tell you what you’re going to teach, if you get overload, or summer school,” Maurer said. “They use right of assignment as a punitive measure.”


.....Maurer said that faculty members are willing to risk retaliation because the issues are affecting the students.


.....“It is always about the students,” Maurer said. “You hear it from the faculty, but not from the administration. They continue to go after people that speak up. They get transferred. Classes get disbanded.”


.....An issue that several faculty members have brought up is the differences between the current president and vice presidents and those of the past.


.....“Faculty loved when administration poked their heads in,” Maurer said. “Now we only see them at an arms length.”


.....Harmer echoed the sentiment, saying the president and vice presidents would be out walking around campus in past administrations.


.....“That doesn’t happen now,” Harmer said. “Our position is that it’s your job. Your job as vice president of instruction is to communicate with instructors. Your job as president is to go out and communicate with the public. It’s not getting done.”


.....Nish said there are many opportunities for communication for faculty and administration.


.....“I don’t really perceive there is a problem,” Nish said, “but, there is a lot of information out there on campus and it can be overwhelming.”


.....Nish said she is always walking around campus, attending faculty senate meetings, or having forums or informal chats.


.....Some faculty members said all the administration needs to do is step out of their offices and sit down and talk.


.....“It wouldn’t take a lot to solve the issues and that’s the sad part,” Maurer said. “It would take open communication, realizing and admitting they’ve made mistakes. They can’t continue to cover some stuff up.”

.....Contopoulos echoed the sentiment, but added that it isn’t going to be an easy process.


.....“It’s not going to be easy for both sides,” Contopoulos said. “We need to find a solution for the students. You want to mend the fences. You can’t pretend like nothing’s happened. You have to face up to the hard things. You need big people to get up and stay ‘enough.’ I’m going to say enough.” [All emphases added.]

• SOCCCD's ACCREDITATION CRISIS:


.....Years ago, Chancellor Raghu P. Mathur (then IVC President) foisted his good pal Ray Chandos onto the college as Accreditation Chair. Chandos' whitewash was so obvious that it attracted the attention of the local news media. It didn't work then either. (See IVC Accreditation Whitewash.) I am not suggesting, of course, that OCC's Karen Felts engaged in a similar sort of whitewash. Don't know. Whitewashery can be subtle and need not be perpetrated by the Accred Chair.
.....Meanwhile, Chandos' program dwindled to almost nothing, but that wasn't a problem. Mathur protected him. Mathur believes in having friends and doing them favors. Know what I mean?
.....As readers of DtB know, the two colleges of the SOCCCD are in an accreditation crisis, for we have been informed by the ACCJC that we must finally fix problems identified by them by the end of this year. There will be no extensions. (See graphic above from ACCJC letter to Saddleback College.)
.....The problems largely concern trustee micromanagement (and micromanagement through the trustees' agent, the Chancellor), a "plague" of despair, a failure to define roles and responsibilities of groups, etc. Like OCC, Saddleback College is viewed as deficient with regard to establishing "student learning outcomes."
.....These difficulties are long-standing. During the last "round" with the ACCJC, the Chancellor and trustees insisted on inserting defensive language into the accreditation reports, contrary to appropriate processes. It is widely thought that that action helped ensure a poor outcome.
.....I am told that Saddleback College has already written a draft of its new report. It is very brief, and it was written without faculty participation. I have been told by those who have read it that it is very unimpressive. This does not bode well for Saddleback College.
.....(Imagine the year 2010. You phone Saddleback College information. You then hear, "Irvine Valley College, Mission Viejo Center.")
.....Irvine Valley College, it seems, has taken the opposite tack. It has worked very hard to produce new regulations and understandings during a lengthy series of meetings that include faculty reps (everyone is represented). I am told that it has sought to create an atmosphere in which participants can speak freely, and they have done so. As near as I can tell, no "censorship" is involved in the process, and all parties have been able to express their concerns, which are to be included in the final report. (IVC's Accred "focus group" met today from 8:00-11:00.)

This just in

• For some reason, a Nobel Prize-winning economist is at Chapman U, teaching high school kids about the dismal science. Apparently, Vernon Smith “won the Nobel Prize in 2002 for his revolutionary approach to proving economic theories using lab experiments to simulate real-world markets.” Which reminds me: how come every time I turn on my TV, Chapman's James Doti’s got his face up there? Doesn't he have better things to do?

• The OC Register has a lovely photo essay of the Whiting Ranch area—not far from my home—which was affected by the October fires. (See photo above.) UPDATE: the LA Times has some purdy pictures too.

• I suppose you’ve followed that story about the Irvine Eagle Scout who broke into cars and stole iPods. Well, the punk’s gonna spend 60 days in jail. In my day, Eagle Scouts didn’t usually do such things, and when they did, they only did 'em because of brain tumors.

• This just in: Raghu P. Mathur continues to make one of the biggest salaries anyone’s ever seen while destroying South County’s two community colleges. In November, voters are expected to reelect two of the fools (Dave Lang & Tom Fuentes) who are responsible for this man's reign of terror, which started in 1997, when, despite having no full-time administrative experience, he was appointed interim President of Irvine Valley College, thanks to the corruption and lawlessness that then prevailed among trustees and union leaders who got these bozos elected using false and homophobic fliers.

• Dave, tell me. How do you sleep at night?

Not all Raghu Mathurs are bad

.....Dennis Overbye, a science reporter for the New York Times, has a great little article (in yesterday's Times) in which he answers readers’ science questions: 
Dennis Overbye, Science Reporter.
.....Overbye, prompted by readers, touches on randomness, dark energy, and God, among other things. He's good.
.....Great stuff, even if the fellow doesn’t know how to spell “Antarctica.”

* * * *
NOT ALL RAGHU MATHURs ARE BAD

.....It isn't always easy maintaining rationality. I recall talking with a colleague once who admitted that he could no longer stand the thought of eating curried food, owing to associations with the unsavory Raghu Mathur (the latter fellow hails from India, land o' turmeric).
.....I've gotta say, that's pretty nutty. I just stared at 'im.
.....My grandfather, who died in his 90s maybe ten years ago, for a long time refused to eat Italian food owing to its association with, well, Italians. During the war, he fought alongside soldati (he was in the Wehrmacht, an infantryman, assigned to tanks). He claimed that, when faced with the enemy, the Italian soldiers would run away, leaving the German soldiers holding Der Bag.
.....There was no use arguing with him about Italians. There's no prejudice like Old World European prejudice, I find.
.....But I did defend pizza. "Look, Opa, this pizza right here wasn't made by any Italians. I made it. And it's good!" I held up a slice. I took a bite.
.....Eventually, he caved, but I think that was mostly because of the stroke.
.....Occasionally, I Google "Raghu Mathur," and the Facebook page of some kid—named "Raghu Mathur"—always comes up. He's a good-looking kid. For all I know, he's the nicest, most honest kid in the world—no duplicitous, narcissistic, avaricious, back-stabbing rat bastard from hell, like some Raghu Mathurs I've known.

At Santa Ana College, an "Opportunity Scholarship" goes big

.....No doubt this brought out the local Know-nothings, of which there are many. In this morning’s Inside Higher Ed: Professors Pay Students’ Tuition:

.....Tuition usually … helps to pay faculty salaries. But at California’s Santa Ana College, some professors are paying their students’ tuition.
.....The community college’s Opportunity Scholarship will be offered for the first time this fall. The scholarship, for those with unmet financial need and a grade-point average of at least a B, was created by professors. Faculty members, either by themselves or with a colleague, are agreeing to pay for a full year of tuition for a student. Tuition for a California resident is $20 per unit, with full-time students taking at least 12 units a semester.
…
.....Santa Ana College, in Orange County, serves many low income and immigrant students, said Jeff McMillan, a chemistry instructor and former president of the Academic Senate. Many students are the children of undocumented immigrants, and they are not eligible for assistance from the government, he said. This led McMillan to try to find ways to help students stay in college.
…
…[P]eople wrestling with the problem on their own, like [VP of SS Sara] Lundquist and [counselor Issac] Guzman and McMillan, started working together. Once the project was approved, professors, administrators and departments joined in. An article in the Los Angeles Times led to contributions from people who don’t work at the college.
.....Originally, the scholarship was planned to be an “intimate” program, and was only going to be serving somewhere between 10 to 25 students, Lundquist said. However, with the additional support, there will be close 100 students receiving the scholarship.
…
.....Although, many of the scholarship recipients are the children of undocumented immigrants, McMillan said it’s important not to see this as an immigration issue. He sometimes hears the argument that these students in need of financial aid “shouldn’t even be here anyway.” However, he noted that these students typically didn’t make the decision to come to the United States and that not helping these very “gifted” students would be a missed opportunity.
…
.....Alex Flores, a second year student at Santa Ana and newly elected Associated Student Government President, applied for the scholarship. “I think it’s a great, like the name says opportunity, for students to pursue their education,” he said.
.....Flores is originally from Mexico, but moved to the United States when he was in second grade. He said he’s applying for the scholarship so he can focus on academics. … After he is done with Santa Ana, he plans to go to California State University at Fullerton to study political science. He wants to work in government some day, he said.

Knowing, not knowing, and "confident boobery"

.....A week ago (What Do Americans Know?), Newsweek reported the results of a poll that it conducted that was designed to gauge what “U.S. citizens know on a broad range of topics.”
.....Since we've been focused on American boobery lately, I figured we might take a look at this poll. First, here are some of the poll’s questions and results (correct answers are in bold):

• Do you happen to know the name of the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court?


15 Yes, John Roberts
7 Yes, other name given

77 No/Don't know/Can't name anyone

1 Refused

• As far as you know, what is Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's religion? Is he a Christian, a Muslim, or something else?


61 Christian

13 Muslim

7 Something else

19 Not sure/Refused

• Do you think Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq was DIRECTLY involved in planning, financing, or carrying out the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, or not?


Yes 34

No 56

Don't Know 10

• Which of the following is the TOTAL national debt at this time?


15 About 3 trillion dollars

15 About 5 trillion dollars

22 About 7 trillion dollars

32 More than 9 trillion dollars

16 Don't know

• Which of the following is the holiest place in Islam?


30 Jerusalem

56 Mecca

1 Medina

3 Islamabad

10 Don't know

• Which of the following is NOT a play written by William Shakespeare?


4 Hamlet

4 Macbeth

20 The Merchant of Venice

58 The Crucible

14 Don't know

TRIVIA, SENSE OF PROPORTION:

.....It seems to me that some of Newsweek’s “knowledge” questions were really “trivia” questions: "Which of the following is the most-watched episode ever of a primetime TV series?"

.....Further, this Newsweek bunch seems perfectly happy to mix the unimportant with the important. Surely it is important for Americans to know who the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is. But is it important for Americans to know when TV broadcasts will switch over to digital or just how many children this year will see their parents divorce? Don't think so.

.....At least one of Newsweek's questions was incoherent:

• In which of the following areas do you think stem cell research would be MOST useful?


17 Spinal injuries

4 Brain injuries

2 Blindness

69 In all of these areas

8 Don't know

.....According to Newsweek's pollsters, SC research will be “most" useful in all three of the three areas named.
.....That makes no fucking sense.

.....Some of the poll's results are appalling, I suppose:

• 34% of respondents thought that Saddam Hussein was directly involved in the 9-11 attacks, and 10% didn't know. (It is, of course, a crucial fact of our present political reality that many Americans were misled about this by the Bush Administration. How can 44% still be out to lunch?)
• 44% of respondents didn’t know the importance of Mecca to Muslims.

"KNOWING" FALSELY: THE CONFIDENT BOOB FACTOR

.....It’s one thing to not know something and to know that one does not know. It is quite another—it is far worse—to “know” something falsely.
.....With regard to the question of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, 84% didn’t know the answer (John Roberts), but the vast majority of these people knew that they didn’t know. (I'm impressed.) The rate of “false knowing” was only 7%.
.....BUT—now look at many of the other questions. Very often, one finds a very high rate of “false knowing” (i.e., a high rate of confident boobery). For instance, consider this question:

• China and India have the largest armies in the world. Which one of the following countries do you think has the THIRD largest army?


.....I don’t know about you, but I would be very clear that I just don’t know the answer to this question. I could guess (I would have been wrong), but why would I do that? My answer is: I don’t know.
.....Here’s how people answered:

29 North Korea

22 Russia

39 United States

1 Australia

9 Don't know

.....I’m impressed that 29% got this one right. 9% acknowledged their ignorance. Those people are like me.
.....Now, assuming that respondents were aware that they could just say “I don’t know” (is that a bad assumption?), the data here suggest that 62% (i.e., 22+39+1) of respondents had “false knowledge.” 9% knew that they didn't know, but Sixty-freakin'-two percent thought they knew when in fact they did not know.
.....Who are these people? Where do they come from? HOW CAN I AVOID LIVING AMONG THEM?

If Truth is so valuable, why is there so much B.S.?

.....On Saturday, the LA Times wrote about a crazy little Sunday morning radio show—featuring two well-regarded Stanford U professors—called “Philosophy Talk.” (Yeah, these philosophy professors will give it some thought):

.....…It was just another Sunday morning for Ken Taylor and John Perry, who dissect life's big mysteries on "Philosophy Talk," believed to be America's only live weekly call-in radio show dedicated to the philosophical.
.....In this celebrity-soaked era, when Americans seem to spend more time pondering whether Britney Spears' underwear exists than whether God does, these two Stanford philosophy professors take on everything from the weighty to the winsome.
.....On this June morning in the little broadcast booth at KALW-FM (91.7), "Philosophy Talk" tackled the problem of evil—or, as Perry put it, quoting Epicurus: "If God can abolish evil, and God really wants to do it, why is there evil in the world?"
.....They've prodded political correctness, postmodernism and prostitution. They've wondered aloud: "Can science explain consciousness?" "If Truth is so valuable, why is there so much B.S.?" "What are numbers?" "What is a child?"
…
....."Philosophy Talk" is Perry's brainchild, and a very old child indeed. Until he met Taylor 15 years ago, he said, "I couldn't get any other suitable partner who didn't think it was a completely loony idea. . . . Unlike me, Ken not only has ideas, but he acts on them."
.....Which is probably why the two men began working together. They got seed money from Stanford, made two pilots and sent them to KQED, San Francisco's top-shelf public radio station. They were unceremoniously turned down. [The second-shelf public radio station, however, accepted.]
…
.....The show began airing weekly in January 2004 and has since been picked up by Oregon Public Radio, which airs Taylor and Perry statewide. They can be heard on stations in New York, Louisiana, Colorado and British Columbia, and on KUCR in Riverside. Listeners everywhere can tune in online at www.philosophytalk.org.
…
.....Taylor: "I think that our culture, our public discourse especially, is utterly debased. . . . It's meant to manipulate rather than enlighten and inform. . . . It's a disease that we've caught. Philosophy is one elixir, one magical elixir for helping to cure that disease."
.....Perry: "Ken, I knew Socrates. And you're no Socrates. But we do our best."
.....Taylor: "Think of our first episode: Bush's doctrine of preemptive self-defense. A doctrine is supposed to be kind of a systematic body of evidence and belief that kind of hangs together. . . . But that so-called doctrine is a bunch of, well . . ."
.....Perry: "Hooey."
.....Taylor: "Yeah."
…
.....It was [one listener’s] query about animals and the evil they endure that led to the most spirited exchange among Taylor, Perry and their guest this day, University of Colorado philosophy professor Michael Tooley.
.....Tooley: "If [God] created a being that's capable of suffering and then put it in a sort of hellish world where it would suffer almost all the time, it would seem to me to be morally wrong . . . "
.....Perry: "Maybe God created us to be the kings and queens of creation, but do we really want to worship a God who created so much suffering among animals? . . . "
.....Taylor: "There's two different possible conclusions: One is, there isn't a God. At least there isn't a benevolent, all-knowing, all-perfect God. And one is, even if there is a God, it is not worth our worshiping him . . . So Michael, which is it?"
.....The short answer? There is no short answer….

• LA OBSERVED has taken notice of Orange Coast magazine's "best of" issue, highlighting its choice of "best columnist" (Frank Mickadeit). But it also mentions OC's "best literary blog," namely, the REB's The Mark on the Wall.

Check it out: The Morning Reading: Independence Day

• For a horror story about a Massachusetts community college, go to ‘Reign of Terror’ at MassBay? (in this morning's Inside Higher Ed).

• For some fun, see "Bill-O's rant remix" video on Keith Olbermann's site: Remix of O'Reilly

• This week's Guardian Science Weekly podcast concerns women in physics, dark matter, and the underappreciated Alfred Henry Wallace.