Peter's retirement party

.....Ageless Peter Morrison is undoubtedly the single most important person in the development of Irvine Valley College. Peter was there from the beginning, thirty years ago, and, with striking intelligence, boundless energy, and unfailing kindness, he, more than anyone else, guided and inspired the development of this very special place (still!) that is IVC.
.....Peter’s role in the evolution of the district—e.g., concerning the faculty contract and collegial consultation—is also impressive. Ask old-timers. (Somehow, Peter himself seems not to have aged.)
.....A great many people, comprising several generations and representing every corner and level of our district and beyond, came together on this night to express their love and appreciation. It was surely one of the great occasions in the history of IVC and the SOCCCD. (The party was hosted by Julie, Keith, and Amy.)

Dan can be devilish.

The party was a reunion of sorts. (Linda and Rebecca.)

Julie provided great food, including a seriously fancy log of cheese—I've already forgotten the name, but I recognized it as one of Wallace and Gromit's favorites. Linda gave me the stink eye when I accidentally knocked it over. She appreciates good cheese.

Frank, who was a kind of master of ceremonies, told some great "Peter" stories.

Former IVC VPI (and founding faculty) Terry Burgess told some very funny stories, including one about Peter's first "Van Morrison," a VW bus.

Wendy has always looked up to Peter.

At one point, Dale Larsen—who was acting President of IVC when I arrived in 1932 (er, 1986)—took umbrage at something Cal said, whereupon he barked, "I choose you off." Gary then muttered, "I've got your back." Luckily, someone stomped on a Whoopee cushion and the tension quickly dissipated.

You know how sentimental Wendy can get. At one point, she read the IVC Academic Senate's resolution in honor of Peter, a task which, owing to the document's wealth of WHEREASes, took about a half hour.

Two of Peter's many close friends. Peter's got about a thousand of 'em. (Well, these two are special.)




Peter won some valuable cash prizes. Did you know that he once worked as a lumberjack in the Yukon? Well, no, I just made that up. But I wouldn't be surprised.

Peter told some stories, including how he got the job at IVC, which is amazing. We especially liked his tale of the stolen Selectric typwriter. At the end of it (set circa '79), Peter calls the Saddleback police, asking, "So, did you find out who took the typewriter from my van?"

"Yeah," said the cops. "We did." (Well, it was plainly one of the college's Selectrics, and there it was, sitting on the ratty, duct-taped seat of Der Deathtrap, aka Van Morrison #1, a VW bus whose doors were secured with coat hangers and whose owner looked like some kinda Hippie.)

Jeff and Pam renewed their friendship.

Limber Lou provided the six-year-old perspective. He ran wild; Keith tried to capture him. No luck.

Kay presented Peter with a marvelous "memory book." Among its highlights: pictures of a hirsute and shoeless Peter in 1982, from an early IVC journal.

—Plus lots of memories written by numerous scribbler friends.


Jesus made a cameo appearance.



That's former trustee Harriett Walther hiding behind a post. She looked great.

Jeanne explained how Peter expanded her vocabulary, especially with regard to adjectives for administrators. The word "egregious" proved to be very useful.

That's Jeff, sneakin' up on my Heineken.

End of the evening: writing off-color remarks in Peter's memory book, which sports comment pages in the back. Somebody decided to antique the edges of these pages with a fine red wine.

Mike is a Dick—Dick Nixon, that is

In the OC Register:

• Carona had secret cameras in his office (Peggy Lowe):

.....Former Sheriff Mike Carona had a camera recording events in his office, which was linked to a computer located in a secret compartment in a closet, sources told me tonight.
.....In yet another revelation in a case that never ceases to astonish, the hard drive of that computer was recently found in Carona’s old office, acting Sheriff Jack Anderson informed the Board of Supervisors this morning in a confidental email. Anderson said he has shared the revelation with federal prosecutors who have charged Carona with public corruption.
.....Anderson, who never moved in to Carona’s office, told supervisors that he hasn’t viewed the contents of the hard drive, as it’s password protected, all my sources told me.
.....“It’s like something out of ‘Get Smart’,” said one of my sources, referring to the old TV series.
.....The revelation raises so many questions.
.....For instance:

– Does this confirm the odd language during Carona’s conversations with former Assistant Sheriff Don Haidl in the now-infamous tapes about the “pinhole” cameras?
– How many public figures — apparently unaware — were caught on digital tape?
– What does it mean for his federal case? Have the feds been over to seize the, well, evidence?
– Is it legal to do this kind of Nixonesque public taping?
– How much did it cost taxpayers to offer Carona a private video surveillance?

.....Will update tomorrow when I get copies of the email or confirmation from the sheriff’s office, both of which I’m trying to get tonight.

SEE ALSO, LA Times, 5/24: Video recording system found in former O.C. Sheriff Carona's office, P. Lowe's update

•14-year-old Irvine college grad wants to create artificial intelligence:

.....14-year-old Evan Ehrenberg is such a math whiz, he's made extra cash tutoring classmates at Irvine Valley College.
.....Today, the Irvine resident will put on a cap and gown to graduate from the school as its youngest graduate ever. An associate degree will be tacked on his resume….
.....Evan started at the college three years ago after trying public schools, private schools and homeschooling.
.....His parents took him to educational consultant Annemarie Roeper, who specializes in gifted children, because their fast learner was a bit bored. Roeper recommended that their son try college so he could learn from experts in their fields in a more challenging environment.
....."We were skeptical," said his father David. "A kid in college?"
.....At age 11, Evan took his first college class.
....."I wasn't that nervous," said Evan, reflecting back on that first day. "I was excited to go and learn at such at a high level."
.....The college route was exciting but not always easy. Evan started with "a C or something" on a quiz in physical anthropology with instructor Chris Loeffler.
....."I was a bit down that I had not done so well, and my professor said 'keep at it,'" he said. "She made me feel like I belonged at IVC, like a real student and not just a kid coming here."
.....Evan eventually snatched an A in that class – and in all his classes at the college, as one of 15 who will graduate summa cum laude with a 4.0 GPA this year. His degree will be in University Studies with an emphasis in psychology.
.....At age 12, Evan took honors calculus with Professor Miriam Castroconde.
....."Everyone was like 'oh my gosh, there's a 12-year-old kid in here, what's he doing?'" Evan recalled.
.....But soon, the students realized that he belonged there and some even asked for his help. Students from other classes caught on that he was a math whiz and asked for tutoring, which led to a small side job for the youngster.
.....Evan strolled campus after his last final on Thursday and said he'd miss the friendly atmosphere with classmates who treated him like a peer and teachers who became his friends.
.....Spanish teacher Beatrice Tseng calls Evan "an inspiration and an amazement" for her class. Tseng said some students tried to coax Evan into going to UCLA with them.
.....But Evan will be moving north this fall where he will start at UC Berkeley as a junior.
.....Evan started college as a math major but switched to psychology when he became fascinated by processes that underlie human behavior and thought.
....."But I miss the math, the hard sciences," Evan said. So, he's found a way to bridge his two interests by majoring in cognitive science at Berkeley.
....."I'd probably work on building computers based on the layout of the human brain to give them more cognitive ability," he said of his post-Berkeley plans. He hopes to go for his doctorate as well.
.....Castroconde said she's seen young students who were very bright but had not developed the appropriate social skills for college. But she was glad to see Evan being very focused and mature for his age, fitting in well socially with an older group.
....."Sometimes I had to tell him it's working time, not chatting time," she said with a laugh. "But I have to do that for 25-year-olds too."
.....Before Evan, Irvine Valley College's youngest graduate was a 16-year-old, according to college records.

• From this morning’s Inside Higher Ed:

Margaret West has taught part-time for 21 years at Edmonds Community College, in Washington State, gaining good reviews and annual contract renewals. The FACE blog — part of the Faculty and College Excellence Campaign to get more tenure-track faculty slots and improve the treatment of adjuncts — reported that West was told recently that her services would no longer be needed and that a dean, asked why, told her “because I can.” This came shortly after West started running, unopposed, to serve as president of the faculty union — where she would be the first part-timer to lead the American Federation of Teachers unit at her college. “There is no excuse for what happened to Margaret. The administration at Edmonds Community College should be ashamed of themselves,” said the blog. A spokeswoman for the college, asked about the blog posting, released a statement that did not name West. The statement said: “Edmonds Community College values its longstanding relationship with part-time faculty.... Faculty assignments are determined through the appropriate deans in accordance with the negotiated faculty contract. We resolve all contract related disagreements through established processes.”

• From this morning’s New York Times: Online Video’s Grave Consequences:

.....For a decent sense of which organizations are still hellbent on hand-swatting every mosquito in the copyright-violation forest, the new site YouTomb provides a valuable service. It’s a video-sharing joint, but only for videos that have been removed from YouTube — for supposed copyright violations. And other reasons.
.....You can search by claimants, like crabby old NBC Universal, which recently yanked “Senator McCain on Saturday Night Live Weekend Update.” The whole site is also a good reminder of what sticklers they are over at the high-minded World Wrestling Entertainment Inc.
.....The project comes from M.I.T., a copyright-reform-watchdog group called M.I.T. Free Culture.
…..
.....The M.I.T. crowd say they want to try to make YouTube’s complex takedown ideology more transparent. You don’t get to see the video — um, then it would be taken down again, see? — but you do get to see stills from the deleted videos, and read stats about the circumstances of its disappearance. I’m still mystified, but fascinated. Take a look at YouTomb.

• Be sure to check out Andrew Tonkovich’s posts at the Reg’s College Life blog. Here’s an excerpt from his latest, which concerns the south county high school teacher being sued for his remarks in class: Jesus Glasses! Joseph II! Historical Mythology!:

…Meanwhile, despite likely being advised by all of his attorneys against it, Corbett gave a public talk over the weekend to, of all groups, the OC chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. He’s a provocative fellow.
.....Corbett pretty much read his lecture, with notes and asides. He is a gregarious, funny, engaging guy. He wore a conservative suit (sorry, couldn’t resist) and I kind of figured the lecture, titled “Historical Mythology and the Schools” was something like what he’s done in class for nearly twenty years, with only one complaint. You know, a survey of the political value of a variety of mythologies, Greek and Roman and Christian, to, well, Greek and Roman and Christian rulers. Like our own. “Anyone,” he read from his notes, “who challenges these myths does so at their peril, especially teachers.” Corbett is smart, and his thesis relied on familiar historical revisionists, including James Loewen…, Richard Hofstadter … but he really got cookin’ when he took apart the powerful American cultural myths of the founding fathers as believers in Jesus and then attacked the dispensational millenialists so many teachers have gotten tired of, ignored, rolled our eyes over but pretty much seem afraid to call the low-grade fascists (my phrase, not Corbett’s – he called them, helpfully, “reactionaries”) that they are: Falwell, Robertston, Rove, et al.
.....“Parents tell kids don’t talk religion and politics,” said Corbett, “but I think they’re the two things you should be talking about.” That got a big laugh, and applause from the AU crowd, mostly nice old people. And in response to a question from one of the wise seniors, he advised, “Truth is the measure of how to talk about the failings of religion.” Corbett is candid and open, and seems to think the case against him will fail. I hope so.
.....My favorite part of the appearance was his promise to take his own legal action, presumably to countersue the failed righties. “There are no risks for them,” he pointed out. He’s correct. Whatever his former student’s motives, the young man and his family risked nothing at all, not with a well-funded cherry-picking team of lawyers working gratis. Meanwhile, defending Corbett is costing the district and the CTA big bucks. See the strategy?....

Mudville

From this morning’s OC Reg:

• Canyons brace for 2nd round today; more rain expected:

.....The rain transformed Trabuco Creek from a trickle to a 30-foot-wide river, causing some minor flooding at O'Neill Park. A swift-water dive team had to rescue a Rancho Santa Margarita man after he was swept off his motorcycle while riding on a creek-side trail.
.....At Cook's Corner, manager Rhonda Palmeri watched as a nearby creek surged over its bank. Thick, sludgy mud and debris poured across Live Oak Canyon Road and smother a small, white car as she and about 10 patrons in the bar rushed to close doors.
.....But the mud was coming too fast. It swept through the bar, knocking down tables, burying stools and flipping over a cooler. More than 12 people had to use chainsaws and shovels to dig themselves out.
....."It was unbelievable – if you got outside the door, the mud would have swept you away," Palmeri said.
…..
.....In Modjeska Canyon on Thursday, Bill La Bar heard the sound of crashing rocks as a nearby hillside gave way. He ran outside and shouted at a group of school children in Modjeska Wilderness Preserve to get out.
.....Then he and his dog jumped into his truck and got out themselves.
.....Boulders the size of basketballs crashed through the La Bar's white fence, knocking the slates more than six feet into their front yard. Mud and water swept into one room of the house and into the barn, where the La Bar's kept a collection of horseshoes for good luck. The mud reached to the windows of a motor home parked nearby.
…..
.....Carlie Dearborn, 34, watched from the second floor of her canyon home as a wall of mud careened through a drainage ditch and crashed through the sliding doors on the first floor.
.....The mud filled a bedroom, flowed through the house and the garage and poured into the front yard, carrying household belongs with it.

• Motorcyclist gets stranded on Trabuco Creek island:

.....A motorcyclist swept from his bike was rescued by swift-water dive teams late Thursday night.
.....According to police, the Rancho Santa Margarita man had been riding along Trabuco Creek when a flash flood pulled him off his bike and swept him 3 miles down the fast-moving river.
.....He managed to stop himself and pulled himself to safety on an island but was trapped by high water on both sides near Oso and Antonio Parkway. He called 911.
.....The Sheriff's Swift Water Dive Team assisted the Orange County Fire Authority to get the man out of the water.

Wagner at the scholarship ceremony

A reader alerted us to the existence of this video of comments by SOCCCD Board President Don Wagner a week ago at the Saddleback College scholarship awards ceremony. I've been told that Wagner's remarks angered some in attendance.



As you know, Trustee Wagner is a member--indeed, he is on the board--of Education Alliance. Among the planks of the EA platform is the following:

All educational processes necessarily impart values of some sort to their pupils. We reject the fallacy that it is possible to educate children in a "value neutral" manner. It is no more possible to govern schools in a "value neutral" manner than it is to govern an entire nation or state in such a manner. Likewise, just as it is not possible to govern an entire nation or state that is in anarchy, it is not possible to govern a school system or a class that is in anarchy and where discipline is neither maintained nor enforced.

We do not support teaching religion in our schools. Liberal defenders of an education system devoid of values charge that the teaching of values is somehow synonymous with teaching religion. We believe that this is a ridiculous [sic] and is designed by the defenders of the educational status quo in an attempt to deflect attention from their own failures.

Slippin' an' slidin' down Live Oak Cyn. Rd.

Just got back from Live Oak Canyon Rd. Right now, it’s impassable, unless you’re a lunatic with a silver Chrysler 300. Man! I was surfin’! Even our little private road (Lambrose Canyon, not far from Hamilton Trail) is essentially impassable. It's clear that, had anyone been driving across our creek at the wrong moment, they would have been swept down the canyon. Really. I'm talking maybe 3-4 feet of water coming down fast.

I made it maybe a mile and a half down the road (i.e., about a mile and a half above O’Neill Park) before I ran into some heavy equipment that wouldn’t let me pass. Dang!

I took a few pics. I do hope they tell the story.




The Reb just called. They are letting people into their homes in Modjeska Canyon to collect a few things and then evacuate again. She has no idea where her family will be staying tonight. I offered my place, but that won't work. They won't let anybody in, near as I can tell.

The OC Reg just posted some pictures:

Downpour in the mountains

Whoa! About two hours ago, it started hailing out here in Trabuco Canyon (in Orange County)! Then came lots of thunder, followed by rain—as in "cats 'n' dogs." A half hour later, I started getting those automatic calls from the county telling me to vamoose. The voice mentioned most of the canyons out here, including Trabuco and Modjeska.

Then Rebel Girl, who's at Irvine Valley College, called me to report that KNX is saying that there's some kind of mudslide down by Cook's corner and the road is closed. (Cook's is a mile from my place, which is 3 miles above O'Neill Park.)

Sheesh!

UPDATE: Rebel Girl just called me. There's a mandatory evacuation of Modjeska Canyon, of course, but she's at the community center along Santiago Canyon (between Modjeska and Silverado canyons) with Limber Lou. She's safe and sound, but they won't let her into Modjeska Cyn. where her home is.

A neighbor just informed me that, at Cook's Corner, the police are preventing entry into Live Oak Canyon (my location, across from Hamilton Trail). Live Oak Road continues down to Trabuco Canyon and then crosses Trabuco Creek before climbing up to Rancho Santa Margarita. The neighbor told me that the creek crossing has "one hundred feet of mud" across it. I'm pretty sure he didn't mean one hundred feet deep. 100 feet along the road, I figure. Impassible (right now) for ordinary vehicles.

So, for now, I'm boxed in. If I leave via Cook's Corner, they won't let me back in, so I'm sittin' tight. (There's no threat of mudslides where I live; the winter fires stopped just short of my area, at Hamilton Trail.)

I'll keep you posted!

3:00: The Register reports that "Torrential rain falling in the canyon areas this afternoon has created mud and debris flows with unconfirmed reports that people are trapped in homes and at a park."

Evidently, the first reports of mud flows started at about 12:30.

There also are unconfirmed reports of people trapped in O'Neill Regional Park near Trabuco Canyon, and two dozen damaged homes in Modjeska Canyon.

Heavy rainfall has caused debris and mud flows in Santiago, Modjeska and Williams canyons and closed many streets, officials reported. The intersection of Santiago Canyon Road and Modjeska Canyon Road is blocked, and from Fire Station No. 18 to the top of Modjeska grade is covered in mud, Blawn said.

Cook's Corner also is shut down and there is no access to the canyons from the southern El Toro area, Blawn said.

"Fire crews were forced to back out of cook's corner because debris was coming down," Blawn said. Cook's Corner restaurant is flooded and water is ankle-deep.

Near as I can tell, there've been no reports of anybody getting hurt.

3:10:
The Times now reports that

At Cook's Corner, about 12 people were eating burgers and omelets when water and mud poured into the restaurant at about 12:15 p.m.

"It's super bad," said Rhonda Palmeri, manager of the biker bar, which is at the juncture of Santiago Canyon and Live Oak Canyon roads. "It's all mud. The bar is all flooded out and we're trying to get the patrons out."

Rebel Girl just called. While we spoke, a woman who had just left Modjeska Canyon reported that there’s mud and boulders behind Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary (at the end of the canyon). Not sure what to make of that.

I'm heading down to the creek, see what's up. Be back soon.

10:10ish, to be exact

.....Did you read, in the OC Register, about the UFO sighting in Irvine the other day? (Westpark UFO Sighting.)
.....(To see the 54-second video, which is pretty cool, go to Video)
.....A family saw it Monday night. Here’s mom’s account:

.....Irvine Westpark, Monday, May 19, 2008. It was 9:45ish pm to be exact. My nine year old started thumping the bedroom wall frantically calling. The drama queen didn’t catch my attention except for the panic tone in her voice. “It’s a UFO,” she yelled.
..... Laughter erupted from the other bedrooms of supposedly sleeping children. I went to squelch the activity by quickly identifying whatever it was she was morphing into a visiting out of space alien. But as I looked out her bedroom window there was no easy explanation.
.....I watched mesmerized as a circle of lights hovered just north on the horizon. The object was high above streetlights, too low for an airplane. Not gliding not turning just hovering. Couldn’t be a kite or a glider. The object indeed was Unidentifiable, an Unidentified Flying Object.
.....The UFO made a buzzing noise as it suddenly zipped towards us. Then rose upward banking to the west. I still couldn’t define the outline or shape. My older girls chattered as they watched from the next bedroom window. With their camera flashing trying to catch a picture. Only getting a smear of light. My husband finally got out of bed to place proper identity to the orb and return peace to the house. He too however, looked from the window in silence. “What is it Dad?” No answer. He wandered barefoot out into the back yard, my nine year old traipsing behind him. “If it shines down a light beam on someone’s house were in trouble,” a sister teased.
.....My husband found binoculars and came back upstairs hoping for a clear view and a clear explanation. We watched, guessed. Tossed ideas traded humor as our UFO turned circles, went vertical, horizontal and hovered. It’s bright circular lights taking new shapes from different angles. Then our UFO quietly descended back to earth some where near mortal Main Street. It was 10:10ish to be exact. The scene ended. We wandered back to bed. Still wondering.

.....Again, to see the video, go to Video