The Bookman mystery photo

     I was in Bookman yesterday, the marvelous used bookstore in Orange—right next door to Pepperland Music, and three doors down from Brandi and Jarrod's crummy thrift store ("as seen on TV"). Been goin' to Bookman for many, many years. 

     Among the store's charms is the array of cool old photos, newspaper clips, and posters stapled randomly on the bookcases—if so elevated a word as "bookcase" may be used for Bookman's rustic shelving. Well, yesterday, as I walked past some of the postings at the end of one bookcase, an old German postcard caught my eye. It's the one at the top of this post. 

Brandi and Jarrod say "Hi"

     I asked one of the wacky Goth Girls who work there if I could buy it. "I don't see why not!", she said. She destapled it for me. I think I paid 50 cents for it.

     The photo caught my eye because, as you know, I'm the Bauer family archivist, and I've come across (and scanned) many photos that look just like this one, especially among the often mysterious pics from my dad's side of the family. The Bauers hail from a little town in the Black Forest near Stuttgart, Germany. (Böblingen.)

     On the back of the card is written, "Erinnerung an das Plätzchen im Dreisbachtal 1925." It means, "In memory of this spot in Dreisbachtal, 1925." 

     Today, I showed the card to my folks, who thereupon pondered, as is their custom. "I found this yesterday," I said.

     "This is one of Opa's pictures," said mom.

     "Opa" refers to my grandfather—my father's father, Otto Bauer—who lived from 1907 until 1998. At the time of the photograph, he would have been about 18 years old.

     One of the reasons I was interested in the photograph is that one or two of the young men in it seemed to resemble my grandfather, Otto. 

     Here's a photo of Otto taken in perhaps the late 20s:

Otto, hangin' with his Commie friends

     Otto—and the woman who became his wife, Louise, my paternal grandmother—were die-hard members of a nature organization called Naturfreunde ("friends of nature"). (See also here.) The Bookman mystery photo is very much like a picture of a Naturfreunde gathering—what with the flags, the natural setting, etc.
     "No," I said. "This is not one of Opa's pictures. I found it yesterday on a wall at Bookman in Orange."
     My folks stared at me, seemingly stunned. They often look that way.
     "I bought the photo because it really reminded me of some of Opa's old photos. Plus one or two of the men in the photo look a bit look Opa."
     Yesterday, when I first saw the photo, I thought that the Mandolin Man at left resembled Opa. Opa owned and played a mandolin that looked very much like the mandolin shown here. (We've still got the dang thing.)
     But when I got home and took a better look, I could see that the Mandolin Man didn't look like Opa at all. On the other hand, the guy crouching a few feet to his left (see below) did look like him.

   
     On the other hand, maybe not. Here's another shot of Opa/Otto:

   
     This last photo was likely taken a bit later than 1925. Same guy? Dunno.
     Here's another shot of Opa/Otto, sitting on a plane built by his boss and friend, the celebrated Hans Klemm:

     It's hard to say when this photo (it's actually an extreme closeup of a much larger photo) was taken. Probably in the 20s.
     Dreisbachtal (in German, "tal" is often a suffix meaning something like "dale" or "vale") may well refer to the town of Dreisbach, which is in Germany's Western Forest, about 150 miles to the north of Böblingen. Opa did a lot of "wandering," as per the custom at the time, especially when he was about 18, and so he might easily have been to Dreisbach. Who knows.
     I've encountered other "Erinnerung" ("Remembering") postcards among Opa's old things. For instance, here's a postcard, depicting people known by either Otto or Louise or both (I've found some of these people on other photos depicting Otto or Louise), from 1919 (when Opa would have been twelve years old):

     Kälberbronn is in a forest to the southwest of Böblingen.
     It's not likely, I guess, that my Otto is the guy in the Mystery Photo. 
     I still have a couple of leads. We'll see.

Opa's mandolin

Making the "scene," at Bookman

The Lariat is all over the Ali Syed story

• Ali Syed's first victim, Courtney Aoki, was allegedly pregnant at the time of death
• Ali Syed struggled with classes while at Saddleback*

*A commenter (on the Lariat website) asserts that, in this article, the Lariat violates FERPA—presumably, by reporting Syed's grades.

Lariat highlights Grimm

Amy Grimm

Susan Boettger

     Here’s a four-month-old Lariat article about one of the probies, in IVC’s School of Fine Arts, whose TRCs (tenure review committees) recommended not granting tenure. As a result, her name (and the name of the other 4th year Fine Arts probie) do not appear on the agenda item for Monday’s board meeting, recommending tenure.
     The case against these two women, I’m told, does not concern deficiencies in their teaching; rather, it concerns their alleged failure to be sufficiently collegial. Supporters, please be aware that the closed session begins at 5:00 p.m. There will be an opportunity to address the board before it retreats to that session.

IVC offers access to museums and galleries through new art program - Thursday, October 18, 2012

     IVC Art History Professor Amy Grimm is currently heading a newly developed program in Applied Museum Studies that is exclusive to Irvine Valley College.
     Grimm offers students the opportunity to go behind the scenes in Galleries and Museums by gaining valuable knowledge from experts and hands-on experience.
     “The key elements are we are not just working not just in the classroom, but we are actively in the field talking to experts who do this type of work,” Grimm said.
     According to Grimm, Orange County and neighboring cities offer great opportunities for museum visits and guest lectures.
     “Because of the area that we are in (Orange County) we have an embarrassment of riches. We have so many fantastic museums here, plus in greater San Diego, Los Angeles and Palm Spring areas. We’re kind of spoiled here, but in a good way,” she said.
     Grimm’s experience in the museum field spans over 15 years.
     She has worked in the Albany Institute of History & Art, the South Carolina State Museum, the El Paso Museum of Art and recently the Long Beach Museum of Art.
     Representatives from LACMA, The Hammer, OCMA and among many others are set to visit IVC for students to hear from those working inside museums and galleries.
     “We are working with people who are at the top of their careers. We have some great colleagues who are the best of the best to come and spend time with us and my students which is pretty fantastic,” said Grimm.
     The Museum Applied Studies program is still new to IVC, but the response has been positive according to Grimm.
     “We are getting good feedback from working professionals to help make our students more marketable," she said. "Our students are really going to have a competitive edge."
     Grimm begins teaching Collections Management (ARTH 115) this Friday, Oct .19 in IVC.

The President on vacation with another probie.
His TRC recommended tenure.

BOT meeting preview

Poertner

     As per Chancellor Gary Poertner’s email earlier today, the agenda for Monday's meeting of the SOCCCD BOT is now available (see here).
     Given the latest killer maniac episode—the seemingly unmotivated murder, two days ago, of three people by Saddleback College student Ali Syed—newbie trustee Tim Jemal’s request, last month, for a report on the mental health services provided at Saddleback College, Irvine Valley College, and ATEP seems downright prescient.
     In truth, however, there have long been indications that, at least at IVC, the college is less-than-prepared to deal with alarming behavior exhibited by students. On at least one occasion (about two years ago), a junior faculty member was left to twist in the wind by incompetent administrators when she sought to draw attention to the plainly disconcerting behavior of one student who, as it turns out, had a history of mental health problems. That episode and others have left many of us with little confidence in the college’s ability to deal with students who exhibit disconcerting behavior.
     The reports—from the two colleges—will be presented at Monday’s meeting of the SOCCCD BOT.
     I’ve accessed the agenda. Saddleback College’s report begins thus:

     The Counseling Services faculty and Student Health Center nursing and psychological staff have a long history of working collaboratively to address the mental and emotional issues of our students. The Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) was created in the early 1980’s to better address the needs of students, faculty, staff and community members in crisis. This team has continued to work collaboratively over the years to provide immediate assistance to those in need. As we have grown and matured as a campus and community, the occurrence of students in crisis has become a regular occurrence that has required a more proactive offering of education, training, intervention and followup of mental health services to better address the needs of our students.

Jemal

     Saddleback’s report makes much use of the phrase “Identify, Assist, and Educate.” The targets of such assistance and edification are, not troubled students, but employees, including faculty, who have available to them a “Faculty Guide” and an inservice activity.
     It all seems so feeble.
     For a delightful romp through our recent past re "disturbed students" and addled administrators, read

• Running with Scissors - Nov 3 10
• More criticism for IVC administration - Nov 5 10
• Benighted and bewildered - Jan 11 11
• Listening? - Feb 28 12
• Waking up with a horse head in your classroom - Feb 21 12

     Earlier, we noted the curious fact that the two fourth-year faculty probies in IVC’s School of Fine Arts up for tenure have reportedly received negative (i.e., terminal) recommendations by their Tenure Review Committees. In the case of at least one of these instances, a notorious faculty bully is involved, and some of us have grown concerned that an injustice is afoot. Glenn Roquemore’s history of accomodating bullies leaves us with little hope that pleas to look into possible problems in the process will yield anything.
     I noticed that the two probies in question are not on the list of fourth-year tenure-track faculty recommended for tenure:

From item 6.9

     Expect litigation.

What next?

Rampaging OC killer turns out to be a Saddleback College student:
Police ID man suspected in rampage (OC Register)

     A 20-year-old man armed with a shotgun and driven by no motive that investigators could discern blasted his way through Orange County on Tuesday, killing three people and then himself, authorities said.
     Police identified Ali Syed, an unemployed sometime-student who lived at home with his parents, as the killer who stole cars and fired into freeway traffic during a shooting spree that covered 25 miles and took less than an hour. “I killed somebody,” he reportedly told the driver of a pickup during one carjacking. “Today is my last day.”….

'Warnings From the Trenches' (Inside Higher Ed)
     “No Child Left Behind went into effect for the 2002-3 academic year, which means that America’s public schools have been operating under the pressures and constrictions imposed by that law for a decade,” largely sacrificing meaningful content and development of critical thinking and writing skills for test preparation, Bernstein wrote. In other words, if it wasn’t tested, it wasn’t taught.

The Irvine Valley College Zombies

A popular suggestion for IVC mascot: the zombie.
That's a little too "on the nose" for me. And it's almost
the same as "IVC Republicans." But maybe.
Hungry Zombies? That's almost "aspirational,"
as they say!  I like it. I'm pretty sure if we suggest this
idea to some of our students, they'll run with it.
We'll be the college with the wicked sense of humor!

• College of the Sequoia on accred shit list; accred upgrades for Cuesta and College of the Redwoods (Inside Higher Ed)