They're making their own sauce

     EXCELLENCE, CONFERENCE-WISE. Today we noticed that Elise Blackwell’s recent piece in the Chronicle of Higher Education (The Word on Writers’ Conferences), which discusses the virtues and vices of the country’s major writers’ conferences, favorably refers to her experiences at The Community of Writers at Squaw Valley conferences in particular.
     As you know, our own Rebel Girl co-directs (along with Louis B. Jones) the Writers Workshop of the CWSV.
     Just sayin’.

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Just add water

     SELF-DEFECATING RIGHT-WINGERS. The “I named my dog Muhammad” story first broke (I believe) on the estimable Voice of OC.
     Yesterday, VOC returned to it (San Juan Councilman Is Criticized, Applauded, for Muhammad Comments), noting events at Tuesday night’s meeting of the San Juan Capistrano City Council.
     VOC reminds us of the issue—that libertarian and conservative Derek Reeve, a City Councilman (and Saddleback College adjunct), announced, a few weeks ago, that he had named one of his dogs “Muhammad”—a prima facie act of ridicule of Islam and of Muslims, who traditionally regard dogs as unclean creatures.
     VOC then reports that “Councilman Larry Kramer called on Reeve to apologize for the comment and promise not to make remarks at public meeting[s] that are offensive to minorities.” But “Reeve refused to apologize, instead unleashing a diatribe on what he considers radical Muslim societies in other nations.”

The Bauer family, 1961: first visit to San Juan Capistrano

     By the way: yesterday, the OC Reg’s Frank Mickadeit noted that the two City Councilmen who have taken issue with Reeve’s remarks have the greatest right-wing cred:

     But, funny, the two council members most vocal about saying they too were offended by Reeve's comments, and who most strongly urged him to apologize, were [Sam] Allevato, a 30-year cop, and Kramer, a 30-year Navy officer, a sub boat captain. Not exactly your weak-livered liberal kowtowers….

     The VOC article ends thus:

     At the end of his speech, Reeve's supporters cheered and hooted. … Everyone who spoke on the issue during public comments backed Reeve and attacked what they said was the threat of radical Islam and the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim organization that condemned Reeve's remark.
     "These radicals have one evil goal, and that is to gain total domination of this beautiful Christian nation and western civilization," said Vaughn Becht, a Westminster resident.  
     "We Christians will not succumb to their evil ways."

     BAUER-SPEAK. As I have mentioned previously, the Bauer family—especially during the era of my and my siblings’ childhood (from the mid-1950s to the mid-1980s)—always and compulsively played with the English language, which was actually a second language for my sister and me (we originally spoke German).
     In a situation like this (i.e., the spectacle of citizens making such remarks), a Bauer sibling—especially my little bro Ray, the master—would simply remark: “Just add water; it makes its own sauce,” a reference to those stupid commercials, now long forgotten. For some reason, such blatherings were constant objects of ridicule among us. And they became important vehicles of commentary and entertainment too. But that's another story.

1961: "Please don't ring bells."

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     THOSE AMAZING FULLERTONIAN DOLTS. The Fullerton PD is certainly making its own sauce. That is, they have a scandal, an ever-deepening scandal, that is entirely of their own making. First came the incident itself—the murder of “schizophrenic drifter” Kelly Thomas, back in July. And then there’s everything they’ve done since: releasing no information, yada yada. The Fullerton PD looks like a bunch of assholes. Everything they do makes them look worse. They're making their own sauce—you only need to add water (that is, you don't need anything, I guess).
     Today, the OC Weekly’s Gustavo Arellano blogged about a new video about the Kelly Thomas case put out by Reason Magazine (see Reason Magazine's TV Outfit on the Kelly Thomas Murder and the Power of Citizen Media).
     From the beginning, we here at DtB understood that the Kelly Thomas case is important, but there was no particular reason for us to comment on it. The case has particular resonance for me because my own brother, Ray, was also a “schizophrenic drifter”—one who, ultimately, lived a tragic life and met a tragic end at age 39, though not one quite so horrific as Thomas’. (He died very suddenly in a construction accident.)
     I am very pleased to see that the Kelly Thomas story has gone big and that, contrary to expectations (for OC political/governmental culture is about as dismally unhealthy as OC cop culture), the OC DA is pursuing the case aggressively. I didn’t expect that.
     Arellano provides the Reason Magazine video, though he carps (justifiably, I think) that it fails to take into account the important work done by the blog Friends of Fullerton’s Future.
     Here’s the video. It emphasizes how the growth of this particular "story" illustrates a larger phenomenon: a replacing of traditional journalism with citizen efforts, fueled by technology and the internet.

See also: Kelly Thomas: O.C.'s thoughts on the charges (Wow. Virtually all of these Orange Countians seem to be more or less on the same page.)

 

With my dad, feeding a "swallow." 1961

Mom and friend, SJC, 1961

The Politics of the Mid-Year Student Fee Increase

Posy patrol

Members of the IVC community received good news from the college president this morning via email: Glenn happily informed us that Governor Brown had signed ABX1 32 into law, which will delay the anticipated and dreaded mid-year $10 student fee increase. Glenn proudly touted his own participation in the successful passage of this bill as he is a Commissioner on the Commission on Finance and Legislative Advocacy and represents our college. (See your inbox: "ABX1 32 Passes").

Okay.

Rebel Girl has long been interested in how people's personal politics can challenge the wellbeing of their workplace, particularly how this contradiction manifests in Orange County's higher education community. You know, conservative, anti-public education types working at public education institutions.

How does that work exactly?

You remember former SOCCCD trustee Don Wagner, now Assemblyman Wagner representing Aliso Viejo, Irvine, Laguna Beach, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest, Newport Beach and Tustin. As a candidate, he was the recipient of much money and support from many in the SOCCCD, including IVC president, Glenn Roquemore. As a candidate, Don benefited from his service as a college trustee which helped to catapult him up to Sacramento.

So, how did former SOCCCD trustee now Assemblyman Wagner vote on ABX1 32?

Do you really have to ask?

Of course he voted no. Of course he did. Of course.

Along with 26 others, who, Rebel Girl would wager, are Republican members of the assembly. (To check the vote tallies, click here.)

Glenn would join them too, Rebel Girl would wager, were he a Republican member of the state assembly.

See?

He's sort of stuck, isn't he? What's a guy to do?

She just wonders how it all get reconciled, how it all works out. Of course, part of it is that these contradictions or inconsistencies are seldom pointed out. For example, Glenn's email didn't mention Don's lack of support.

Why would it? Then again, why shouldn't it?

I am saddened to report that former Trustee Wagner failed to support this important bill; fortunately however, enough Democrats saw the wisdom of it and the bill passed. Whew.

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Plain old prejudice

     For what it’s worth, OC Reg columnist, Frank Mickadeit, isn’t buying Derek Reeve’s account of his now-notorious “named my dog Muhammad” story and his subsequent explanations. See Free speech, or plain old prejudice?
     The local GOP establishment doesn't seem to be circling the wagons around Reeve. On the other hand, Reeve does have the support of such local right-wingers as Barbara Coe. Yeah.

UPDATE: just posted:

• Muslim group wants official to apologize for dog Muhammad (OC Reg)
     Islamic Circle of North America’s Southern California chapter praises a council member’s criticism of Councilman Derek Reeve’s comment that he had named his dog Muhammad, after the Muslim prophet. The group says it won’t rule out a protest in San Juan Capistrano against the remark....

See also Offensive 'speech' in SJC poses problems

Also in the news...

• Universities now urging freshmen to consider studying the forgotten humanities (San Jose Mercury)
     On 21st century American campuses, is there room for Shakespeare, Sartre and Sondheim?
     A declining number of students think so – a trend that worries leaders at many top universities, where engineers often outnumber humanists.
     Seeking to reignite interest in the liberal arts, this week Stanford University is welcoming the Class of 2015 with a rich opening volley of literature, film and philosophy designed to elevate freshmen dreams beyond that cool job at Google….

• A Civilized Debate (Inside Higher Ed)
     Towson University is the latest battleground in a controversy over a student group whose presence is growing on college campuses.
     Youth for Western Civilization appeared on the scene in 2009 as a co-sponsor of the Conservative Political Action Conference, sparking the interest of students across the country to start university chapters of their own. It has grown from about eight college chapters in its first year to about 15 today, with Towson as one of its newest member institutions.
     The group has garnered a lot of attention for its stated standpoint – opposing “radical multiculturalism, political correctness, racial preferences, mass immigration, and socialism” – and particularly from hate-awareness groups saying it could have white nationalist ties. The group's leaders vigorously challenge such assertions….

Club Day at IVC (plus ye olde inexplicable medieval dude)

IRVINE. As you know, I'm on sabbatical, so I make a point of staying away from the college. But I've insisted that Rebel Girl take some pics, and so here's what she sent me today.
It was "Club Day" at Irvine Valley College, so the various clubs—there's a few goofy ones (stock market investment club?) among the usual suspects (Christian, cheerleading)—put up booths and provided the usual clubby things. No doubt there were blue and white balloons.  Check it out.

For some reason, an old guy in a vaguely Arthurian costume from "Medieval Times" was among the clubbers. Don't know why. At IVC, if you ask why, you don't get an answer. Or you get several, and they're all wrong.
Evidently, one of our sharp new hires wandered outside and saw this guy; she ran back into A200, yelling, "WTF! Did you see the Medieval Guy out there? What's up with that?!"
Everyone just stared. Hey, it's IVC.

Rebel Girl dropped by the MRC, the subject of much Sturm und Drang and gnashing of teeth in recent months. "It looked like the Playboy Club, but without the bunnies," said the Reb. It does seem to have a wealth of pizzazz—I mean, for a room at a freakin' college.

The MRC is a celebration of glass and, um, uselessness, I guess. Nobody seems to know quite what's going on with the MRC. It used to have students on computers.

An offensive trend among OC elected officials (louts)

     Derek Reeve, a San Juan Capistrano City Councilmen and an adjunct Poli Sci instructor at Saddleback College, received harsh criticism from some of his colleagues last night for his jocular remark, two weeks ago, that he had named his dog “Muhammad,” something highly offensive to Muslims, who regard dogs as “unclean.”
     Read all about it in the OC Reg.
     According to the Reg, at last night’s City Council meeting, Mayor Sam Allevato, alluding to Muslim citizens and city workers, declared that

"When you're up here on this dais, ...[Y]ou're an elected leader of the 37,000 people who we represent. We're here to represent everyone."

     Councilman Larry Kramer said

"As leaders we should be setting a higher standard of behavior ... We should be asking ourselves what is best for the people of San Juan Capistrano."

     According to the Reg, Reeve took offense to those remarks and “became emotional”:

     Reeve said he named his dog Muhammad to make a political statement against oppression in other societies regarding issues like this one. Reeve also objected to comments from Kramer regarding how he raises his children. "Mr. Kramer is criticizing me on how I raise my children," Reeve said. "To hell you say – I will teach them and educate them on these principles until the day I die."

     Oh my.
     Some citizens came in support of Reeve. They seemed to think that his First Amendment rights were being violated. Of course, they were not.
     Meanwhile,

     Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Greater Los Angeles Area office of [Council on American-Islamic Relations], wrote a statement expressing disappointment of what he called an offensive trend in Orange County: "It is unfortunate that we are witnessing a trend of local elected officials engaging in actions offensive to Muslims or promoting outright anti-Muslim bigotry. We want to remind these elected officials that our great nation was built on the values of respect, inclusivity and religious pluralism."

In education news:
What does the research [re online courses] show?

     Several recent research studies of online courses at community colleges have direct relevance for the high school experience. Underwritten by the Lumina Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a study released last summer that tracked community colleges in Washington State over a five-year period concluded that “students were more likely to fail or withdraw from online courses than from face-to-face courses.” A similar study in Virginia came to the same conclusion. As the Chronicle of Higher Education reported, “online students often have little training in how to navigate the online interfaces of their courses and struggle to manage their coursework without the grounding of weekly class meetings.” A study at a Texas community college found that students in online developmental classes (classes students must take before they are allowed to take college-level courses) had among the highest failure rates—around 60 percent.
                                                                       --(From EdSource)

Over the cliff we go!

Click on image to enlarge.

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Closing Time

via Los Angeles Review of Books via Galley Cat - a photo taken by a reader identified as Jessers25 at a Borders going out of business sale.

In the photo (click to enlarge), a Thomas Jefferson quotation, "I cannot live without books," presides over a bare wall and dismantled bookcases, and discarded subject signs including "WORLD HISTORY."

Today is Borders' last in business.

Rebel Girl is busy using up all those old Borders gift cards she has lying around.

According to Galley Cat: "No matter what you think about mega-bookstores or Borders management, this is a sad year for everyone who loves books. If you want to help, the Help Ex-Borders Employees page is collecting resources for the thousands of booksellers looking for work."

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