Orange County, county of lights, county of magic

● This morning’s LA Times reports that OC supervisorial candidate Trung Nguyen has been seen where he ain’t, and that’s a problem: O.C. candidate has serious image problem:

The campaign of an Orange County supervisorial candidate, whose slogan is "Honesty, Integrity and Leadership," has been caught doctoring a photo so that it places the politician close to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The photo into which Trung Nguyen was inserted appeared over the weekend in two Vietnamese-language daily newspapers, Vien Dong and Viet Bao Kinh Te. The papers are heavily circulated in Little Saigon, home to the largest Vietnamese community outside Southeast Asia.

Nguyen's campaign variously blamed the alteration on an advertising company and a volunteer.

● Meanwhile, on the “Fuentes’ World” front, former Mike Carona pal George Jaramillo has been sentenced to a year in jail: Jaramillo to serve year in jail:

Former Assistant Sheriff George Jaramillo stood somberly before a judge Monday and ended nearly three years of defending himself against public corruption charges with two words: "no contest."

Both the Reg (see article) and the Times (see Ex-sheriff's official gets a year in jail) offer nifty timelines of Jaramillo’s public career.

Gee, I wonder what got swept under the rug?

Student evaluations flawed

MORE TROUBLING FINDINGS regarding “student evaluations” are revealed in this morning’s Inside Higher Ed. In “New Questions on Student Evaluations,” IHE describes a new study by economists at Ohio State University:

Previous studies have found that students are more likely to give good reviews to instructors who are easy graders or who are good looking. The Ohio State study — in many ways larger and more ambitious than previous ones — found a strong correlation between grades in a course and reviews of professors, such that it is clear that students are rewarding those who reward them.

That finding alone, however, may not negate the value of student evaluations. One explanation could be that good students are earning good grades, and crediting their good professors for their learning. The Ohio State study, however, provides evidence for the more cynical/realistic interpretation — namely that professors who are easy (and aren’t necessarily the best teachers) earn good ratings. The way the Ohio State team did this was to look at grades in subsequent classes that would have relied on the learning in the class in which the students’ evaluations were studied. Their finding: no correlation between professor evaluations and the learning that is actually taking place.

In another finding of concern, the study found evidence that students — controlling for other factors — tend to give lesser evaluations to instructors who are women or who were born outside the United States. And they found this despite not finding any correlation between instructor identity and the level of learning that took place.

While there may be ways to improve the reliability of student evaluations, the authors write, “we believe that any student evaluations are best used in conjunction with peer reviews of teaching.”….

Don’t read this story! Toxic plume to be gone by 2037!

YESTERDAY, the OC Register offered a tiny story about cleanup of the huge TOXIC PLUME beneath us here at Irvine Valley College and environs: Getting El Toro spick-and-span:

The last major pollution cleanup at the old El Toro base has begun.

Thirty-five pumps are now drawing up 390 gallons of polluted groundwater per minute, around the clock. The remediation will cost the federal government $42 million and could take 30 years.

The pumps are drawing up solvent-laced water from rock, sand and clay in an underground plume that extends about four miles under the base and into the neighboring village of Woodbridge.

The pollution comes from years of aircraft parts being cleaned with a solvent called trichloroethylene. Rainwater carried the solvent into the earth, and now the plume ranges from 150 feet deep under the base and 300 to 1,000 feet under Woodbridge.

"This is the major item that put the base onto the Environmental Protection Agency's national priority list," Darryn Newton said Friday. Newton is the Navy's project manager for cleanup of the Tustin and El Toro bases.

Newton said the cleanup process is not expected to interfere with development of the Great Park. Some Woodbridge residents have worried about possible groundwater contamination—but Navy and Environmental Protection Agency officials say the plume is about four miles from the nearest drinking water well.

Uh-oh. He actually uses it

WELL, it’s the time of the year for Irvine Valley College’s charming and ridiculous ASTOUNDING INVENTIONS, in which kids present, well, astounding inventions.

This morning, the OC Register reports on the 20th edition of the event in Celebrating young inventors:

Christian Molfetta was tired of picking up what his two dogs were leaving behind…So the fourth-grader…invented "Fido's Feces Flipper"—a wheelbarrow-like scooper that launches dog poop into a trash can with the twist of a handle.

"The great thing is, he actually uses it," his mother Elizabeth said.

…Second-grader Will Tate invented the Mop on Wheels—roller skates with mops attached. "I clean the house when it's dirty," he said….

…Some aim to help in the classroom, ...[such as] a flag that signals teachers with the flip of a switch, allowing the student to continue working instead of raising his or her hand.

…Not everyone had their creations on hand for demonstration…They included...a flying car to solve traffic problems and a robot that keeps secrets and helps with homework.

…The annual competition was conceived by Irvine Valley College in 1987 to promote creativity and interest in mathematics and science education.

…Students may go on to compete at different levels of state and national math and science invention competitions. Previous winners have also been featured guests on "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno.

Contra Wiki? Or contra Encyclopedias?

CHECK OUT the interesting article about Wikipedia in Friday’s Inside Higher Ed: A Stand Against Wikipedia. The article, which reports Middlebury College History Department’s ban on citing Wikipedia articles as a source in student papers, isn’t as negative (re W) as you might expect:

…Experts on digital media said that the Middlebury history professors’ reaction was understandable and reflects growing concern among faculty members about the accuracy of what students find online. But some worry that bans on citing Wikipedia may not deal with the underlying issues.

Roy Rosenzweig, director of the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University, did an analysis of the accuracy of Wikipedia for The Journal of American History, and he found that in many entries, Wikipedia was as accurate or more accurate than more traditional encyclopedias. He said that the quality of material was inconsistent, and that biographical entries were generally well done, while more thematic entries were much less so. Like [Wikipedia spokeswoman Sandra] Ordonez, he said the real problem is one of college students using encyclopedias when they should be using more advanced sources.

“College students shouldn’t be citing encyclopedias in their papers,” he said. “That’s not what college is about. They either should be using primary sources or serious secondary sources.”

Yes, Wikipedia has a similar take:

Wikipedia officials agree — in part — with Middlebury’s history department. “That’s a sensible policy,” Sandra Ordonez...said in an e-mail interview. “Wikipedia is the ideal place to start your research and get a global picture of a topic, however, it is not an authoritative source. In fact, we recommend that students check the facts they find in Wikipedia against other sources. Additionally, it is generally good research practice to cite an original source when writing a paper, or completing an exam. It’s usually not advisable, particularly at the university level, to cite an encyclopedia.”

The "flesh-eating cart from Hell" and other tales

ABSURDITY HAPPENS, boy. There I was, reading Don Wagner’s ultra-peevish letter to the editor in the Lariat, when a maintenance worker walked up to me, complaining that the college has run out of paper towels for the restrooms. “How can that be?” I asked. It can be all right, he said.

“Didn’t Wayne know he’d run out?”

“Well, we told ‘em. But I guess he didn’t order enough.”

He told me to check out the restrooms, so I headed to SSC and I managed to get a picture inside the ladies’ restroom over there.

It looked like a bomb had hit it.

How does it work with women anyway? Is it like: “Hey, there’s no paper towels! So, naturally, we’ve gotta trash this dump!”

Now, I’m the first to admit that men are dirt compared to women, but that said, men don’t trash restrooms just because the towels ran out, not in my experience.

Anyway, Wayne and the boys are now scrambling to get some paper towels. Years ago, before Wayne, we once ran low on TP, so the women bitterly complained while the men just looked bewildered. In response, the head of maintenance sent over about 20 rolls: one per faculty member. “Here,” said a note.

Meanwhile, the offices in my part of A200 are freezing cold. I think I spotted an icicle hangin’ from Jeanne’s nose yesterday. It was like we were at Frostbite Falls in the Yukon, waiting for the Winter stage.


The maintenance guy told me about the Flesh-Eating Cart From Hell, too. He had first told me about this legendary vehicle months ago. He kept going on and on about the danger and the hazard. “I don’t get it,” I said. “How can a goddam golf cart pose any danger?”

“All the edges are ragged, and that causes injuries,” he said. “One guy already hurt his knee. Pretty soon, somebody’s gonna be out on workman’s comp!”

Today, I went out to take a look at the thing. It looked pretty ragged all right. Workers had stuck some kind of foam thingy next to the steering column to protect their legs. All the edges of the cart were missing some kind of protective plastic or vinyl, and so it was like a Russian jet liner. The windshield was some cheap clear plastic secured with duct tape. It was strictly Third World, man.

I looked up and the maintenance guy was shaking his head: “It’s just a matter of time,” he said.

He explained that Wayne had been told about this atrocity, like, a year ago, but still nothing has been done. We stared at the thing. “It’s just a matter of time,” he said again, shaking his head gravely.

Well, I guess so.

I was going to tell you about something significant that happened today, but now I’ve forgotten what it was. Something about a blinding light maybe? No, that can't be it.

Anyway, I ended up staying late, and I drove home in the dark, onto the toll road, past the friendly toll lady, down El Toro Road, up to my little place against the canyon wall. I was greeted by one pissed off cat.

“What is your problem, dude! I’ve been alone here all day!” she yammered, even before I entered. I nearly laughed.

Yeah, but she got happy real quick. I gave her her blob of cat food and she went at it like a hopped up weasel. Almost immediately, she puked on my foot, leaving a big fibrous log there. It felt like a Quarter-pounder.

But it was OK. Really. —CW

Cocksure

LAST TUESDAY, at the board meeting, I watched the Chancellor carefully. He seemed confident. Cocky even. He was a bit showy about it, if you ask me.

But you never know with Raghu. He’s a funny kind of guy. If he gets smacked around by a superior, he’ll take it, but then he’ll find an underling for him to smack, and then he'll feel OK again. When he’s told that he’s nothin’ but dog crap, he’ll immediately put on airs of top doggery.

That’s our Raghu.

So, he’s cocky. What does it mean? Hmmm….

A Chrysler 300 passin' me on the tollroad last night

Meanwhile...

Everybody gets evaluated, even the Chancellor.

One of the “closed session” agenda items for the December 11 board meetings was “Public Employee Evaluation of Performance…Chancellor.” But that doesn’t mean that the trustees finished their evaluation of the Chancellor then. It doesn’t even mean that they discussed it.

For the January 16 meeting, the board (or the Chancellor?) seems to have adopted a new agenda format and possibly some new agenda-writing guidelines. So I’m not sure what to make of the fact that the only “evaluation” item listed (for closed session) is this one:

Public Employee Evaluation of Performance

These people clearly haven’t embraced the spirit (nor the letter, probably) of the Brown Act. Here, the public discovers only that an employee’s performance is being evaluated. Which employee?

Thank you, SOCCCD board, for cluein’ us in. Your profound respect for "the good people," aka the taxpayer, is once again made manifest.

So are they still evaluating the Chancellor? Is that process complete or not? Who knows.


I’ve heard rumors that the evaluation of Raghu is complete, and it is VERY NEGATIVE. Does anyone know?

If you have any reliable info, please send it our way!

And do try to avoid that junkyard dog over in HS. He bites.