The SOUTH ORANGE COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT —
"[The] blog he developed was something that made the district better." - Tim Jemal, SOCCCD BoT President, 7/24/23
Good for you! You get a prize—namely, by clicking the big arrow, you get to watch OCN's coverage of the FROGUE affair (1997-9).
Watch union VP Sharon Macmillan condemn the media and the "extremists" they pay attention to! It turns out the extremists include both the local Republican and Democratic parties, which, months later, supported the Frogue Recall. Watch John Williams stand by his man as the fellow presents a stack of very important papers—pumpkin papers, I think.
☺● For those who missed it: here's Teddi Lorch evidently getting all bent out of shape because we put her head on a pterodactyl:
Aside from her association with the Board Majority—and the fact that she's south of competent and that she managed to weasel that job she now has—we've got absolutely nothing against Ms. Lorch. She was never on our radar. So what was all the fuss about? I don't get it.
Plus we always used her high school photo, which is nice. Even on that pterodactyl! Sheesh!
(We fixed the technical snafu. Now it's smooth as silk.)
.....The documents below shed light on, among other things, trustee Williams' familiar talking point concerning the accrediting agency and its alleged failures of transparency. .....Essentially, right-wingers want to dump the DOE in favor of local control, but (say right-wingers) if we've gotta have a DOE, it ought to make colleges focus on "outcomes," especially as this concerns a useful workforce. For these people: Academic Freedom, Schmacademic Freedom.
...Accreditation agencies should make performance outcomes, including completion rates and student learning, the core of their assessment as a priority over inputs or processes. A framework that aligns and expands existing accreditation standards should be established to ... allow comparisons among institutions regarding learning outcomes and other performance measures… In addition, this framework should require that the accreditation process be more open and accessible by making the findings of final reviews easily accessible to the public…. (25)
...[In the report, A]cademic freedom and democracy do not even warrant discussion. Infringements that have taken place on campuses because of laws such as the Patriot Act are not discussed. The postsecondary institution is seen as having a single function—to transmit skills that equip people for the workforce....
...President Ronald Reagan promised during the 1980 presidential election to eliminate the Department of Education as a cabinet post…. Throughout the 1980s, the abolition of the Department of Education was a part of the Republican Party platform…. In 1996, the Republican Party made abolition of the Department a cornerstone of their campaign promises, calling it an inappropriate federal intrusion into local, state, and family affairs…. During his 1996 presidential run, Senator Bob Dole promised, "We're going to cut out the Department of Education." …In 2000, the Republican Liberty Caucus passed a resolution to abolish the Department of Education…. 2008 presidential candidate Ron Paul has campaigned in part on an opposition to the Department....
...Before her appointment to George W. Bush's presidential administration, Spellings was the political director for Bush's first gubernatorial campaign in 1994, and later became a senior advisor to Bush during his term as Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000....
…Judging from Monday’s meeting of NACIQI (nuh-SEE-kee), the first since Education Secretary Margaret Spellings and the report of her Commission on the Future of Higher Education put major changes in accreditation near the top of their reform agenda, that visibility is likely to turn up the pressure on accreditors and colleges to provide tangible proof that they are educating their students…[S]ome of the reports the panel’s staff prepared for this week’s meeting were perceived as pushing accreditors harder and further on measuring learning outcomes than they have been pushed before. And the one accreditor that had a chance to respond Monday — WASC — was firm in pushing back…The staff report for the Western accreditor found four areas in which the agency needed to improve, including a need to “clarify how it will evaluate the quality of an institution’s effectiveness based on the student outcomes data it collects and to outline in its procedures its expectations for institutional improvement (student learning) throughout the accreditation cycle.” Although the staff recommended that the Western association be re-recognized for the standard five years, it urged that the accrediting agency be required to report back in a year on its progress in fixing the perceived deficiencies….
.....Recently, our two colleges received dismal letters from the accrediting agency—the ACCJC. All of a sudden, we were told that we must satisfy the agency re its recommendations (i.e., we must fix the problems it identified three years ago)—or else. And we’ve gotta do that by October (that’s when we submit our progress reports; the commission meets and makes its decision about our colleges' accreditation status in January of 2009). .....What’s that all about? Well, it concerns the Department of Education (DoE) and the federally-imposed “Two-Year Rule.” It's been around a while. .....Here’s an excerpt from an article, by Janet Fulks, in the February issue of the (State Senate's) Rostrum newsletter:
.....At the second annual … Accreditation Institute…, many were surprised to hear about the impact of the “two-year rule” implementation on our accreditation process. The “two-year rule” is a federally imposed mandate that requires accrediting agencies to place a two-year deadline on correction of all recommendations that relate to deficiencies. .....Following an accreditation visit, colleges usually receive commendations … and recommendations that may be either: 1) recommendations for improvement or 2) recommendations for correcting deficiencies. Since the Accreditation Standards represent the minimum qualifications for accreditation, fulfilling the standards are [sic] not something colleges must attempt to do, but rather are the minimum expected level of performance. If your college has not shown evidence that it meets this minimum expectation, the result will be a recommendation to correct this deficiency. .....But why haven’t we heard of this short two-year timeline before? .....When the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) was being reauthorized as an accrediting agency this fall, the reviewers discovered that this rule had not been enforced in the past, even though the federal government had required it for many years. The federal motivation for enacting this rule was to guarantee that students attending a deficient institution had an opportunity to see that corrected during the course of their study so that they did not receive a deficient college education. This is also why, when being accredited for the present year, the visiting team reviews the previous accreditation reports to see that recommendations have been addressed.... .....Many faculty have commented that in the process of reviewing previous accreditation reports to write their current self-study, they found that some of the same problems were still alive and well. Recommendations have often indicated that institutions failed to meet previous recommendations adequately, allowing the deficiencies to extend into the next six-year cycle (and some for two accreditation cycles). In January, the ACCJC sent out a letter explaining that the two-year rule must be enforced and that it requires recommendations be corrected within a two-year period or increasing sanctions will be placed on the institution. ….[My emphasis.]
.....—Some of the recommendations given to our two colleges go back to 1998.
Pictured: Babs Beno, Managing Director of the ACCJC, in 2006, commending our colleges/district for the lovely progress we are making (See Explaining Babs Beno?.)
Beno's seriously odd "commendation," in 2006: (For Beno, jump to 6:21)
…Under U.S. DoE regulations, institutions out of compliance with accrediting standards are expected to correct deficiencies within a two-year period…There has been increased pressure recently on regional accrediting agencies to enforce standards following the Spellings Commission Report and subsequent review of all accrediting agencies, including ACCJC/WASC…The National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Improvement of the U.S. Department of Education recently criticized ACCJC/WASC for failure to meet the "two-year rule." The rule requires accrediting agencies to provide no more than two years for an institution to meet standards.
…Shasta College has been given a warning by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) in California…"This is all kind of new and a surprise to us," said Bill Cochran, vice president of academic affairs at Shasta College…But the college is not alone. Of the 109 community colleges in the state, 103 were given warnings or put on probation…" This is not a Shasta College thing -- this is hitting the whole state," Cochran said. [My emphasis.]
.....YESTERDAY, the OC Register reported that Westminster school trustees reject[ed] 'In God We Trust' motto. .....The proposal to adopt the motto came from Ocean View School District trustee John Briscoe. .....The Reg explains how Briscoe got his bright idea:
…[H]e wanted Westminster School District to be [the] first district in the county to display the words publicly because Westminster city officials in January became the first in Orange County to display the words in their City Council room….
.....Evidently, Briscoe has busied himself recently passing out fliers and sending emails, drumming up support. .....But now get this. According to the Reg,
Westminster officials said a press release written by Briscoe and sent out to local media misrepresented his position with the district. In the press release, Briscoe identified himself as "Elected Trustee John Briscoe working with Westminster School District." [Westminster Trustee Jo-Ann] Purcell said some could infer that Briscoe had been elected to the Westminster School District, instead of to neighboring Ocean View. [My emphasis.]
.....The 1968 Federal Flag Desecration Law criminalized the act of flag burning when it was passed by congress. The legislation was a result from anti-war demonstraters who burned our flag in protest of the Vietnam War. .....[Though] The act is extremely appalling, it is protected, by our first amendment rights and the freedom of speech. .....Expression in art forms is also protected by our constitution. Music, or a scene from a play would fall under this protection. .....In Saddleback College's musical, "Reefer Madness," which closed over the weekend, a scene was removed because it involved the burning of the U.S. Flag in a desecrating manner. .....Although this was only a projection of the flag being burned, it was still deemed inappropriate by school officials and was ordered to be removed from the final production. .....The administration of the school didn't have a premise to really demand this censorship. The flag wasn't ever really burned, it was just an illusion created by projection. .....Even if the flag had been burned it is protected by the burners freedom of speech. .....In this case the freedom was not about the flag-burners beliefs, rather the expression in art forms. The college's production was an expressive art. .....While the musical is based on smoking marijuana, the last thing an administrator needs to do is worry about the projection of an American Flag being burned. It is a play, and plays are often filled with adultery, crime, or really anything that could be found offensive to anyone. .....In this county, we are all too accustomed to the horrible act of censorship. With the unfortunate FCC, censored material is something we as Americans experience too much. Compared to other prominent nations, such as Germany and England, censorship is much more rampant in the U.S. .....We rarely hear unnecessary bleeps, or see unnecessary blurs in foreign countries, that is, if we do at all. .....If the reason we use censorship is to protect our society, morals and values, it would make more sense to stop it at its root, rather than smother expressive art forms that are doing their part to motivate and stimulate the public. .....The musical was a satire focusing on education and awareness, and the burning the flag would have only fueled the message "Reefer" promoted about governments telling people what to think and how to act. —Lariat Editorial Board
--NOTE FROM DtB: I don't usually say such things here, but some of our readers are IDIOTS. I'm sorry, but it's just got to be said. See COMMENTS. -CW
.....Tien Van stands on the sidewalk outside Nguoi Viet Daily News holding a loud speaker in one hand and the South Vietnamese red-and-yellow flag in the other. .....Behind her is a shrine that has been erected to a much larger version of the flag with a fruit offering and incense burning on a table below it. She and a dozen others are protesting the newspaper's publication of a photo that showed a foot spa bearing the flag colors. Van says the photo broke her heart. ....."Our flag is sacred," she said. "People sacrificed their lives for it. My father and brother died for this flag." .....Anti-communist protests and demonstrations have come to be a way of life in Little Saigon, whose residents are mostly refugees who fled the communist regime after the fall of Saigon in April 1975. This area is home to the largest Vietnamese population outside of Vietnam. .....But the recent wave of protests against Vietnamese publications such as the eight-month protest outside Viet Weekly in Garden Grove and the weeks-long demonstration outside Nguoi Viet Daily News in Little Saigon—as well as the threat of protests against Irvine Valley College over a campus flag exhibit that included the flag of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam—has led to debates about a clash of freedoms. .....The protests, which have been peaceful in recent years, are escalating in seriousness. Nguoi Viet's leadership has reported threats and intimidation. Merchants on Main Street in Garden Grove say they are being bullied and business is being disrupted. Nguoi Viet has fired two top editors. .....Scott Weimer, president of the Downtown Garden Grove Business Association and owner of the Viet Weekly building, said he is worried the protesters won't stop until the newspaper shuts down. ....."If the newspaper buckles down, it means that this type of mob bullying works," he said. "I understand their feelings about communism, but it doesn't justify the use of these fear tactics—the kind the communists probably use themselves." .....Protesters accuse Viet Weekly of taking a pro-communist stance by profiling communist leaders, publishing their interviews as well as opinion pieces that favor communists. .....Nguoi Viet, the largest Vietnamese daily published outside Vietnam, fired two of its top editors after the controversy over the foot spa photo, which was published in the newspaper's Lunar New Year special edition. The paper's editor issued a public apology after an internal investigation, admitting the photo was an error that should not have occurred. .....The article was about an art exhibit at UC Berkeley of a foot spa created by a UC Davis student in honor of her mother-in-law who worked in nail salons to put her through college. .....But the protests continue even after the apology and the firings. Protesters now say that they want a public hearing. The newspaper has not responded to that request and protesters say they won't stop until that happens. In recent weeks Nguoi Viet filed a lawsuit and asked for a restraining order against the protesters, alleging that they are threatening and harassing the newspaper's employees and customers. .....The paper's attorney, Luan Tran, declined comment. .....Trong Doan and Ky Ngo, who are heading the protest, deny those allegations. ....."We're not trouble makers," says Ngo. "We're here because we love our flag and don't want to see anyone disrespect it." .....Hai Phan, an editor at Viet Bao Daily News, said the issue has been tough on the Little Saigon media. ....."My friends are on both sides and I feel like I'm stuck in between," he said. "I'm thinking about a lot of different issues right now, but I can't talk about them." .....Protesters have the constitutional right to assemble and express their dissent peacefully, but when a newspaper buckles under the pressure, it makes a dent in the First Amendment, said Peter Scheer, executive director of the California First Amendment Coalition. ....."It's easy to understand why these are sensitive issues in the Vietnamese American community," he said. "But the newspaper has the right to exercise its First Amendment rights too and when the media's voice is silenced by protesters, it's a loss for all of us." .....The constitution protects the minority point of view and the unpopular opinion as well, Scheer said. .....The Westminster Police Department is "caught in between" in trying to protect the rights of property owners and businesses in Little Saigon and making sure that protesters follow the law, said Sgt. Dan Schoonmaker. .....Schoonmaker says the Nguoi Viet demonstration has been different from previous protests in Little Saigon. Officers are investigating reported threats against employees' lives and at least one reported bomb threat at the newspaper, he said. .....Detectives are trying to determine who is responsible and what connection, if any, exists between these threats of violence and the demonstration, Schoonmaker said. Police continue to respond to disturbances outside the paper several times a week aside from regular patrol checks, he said. ....."It's unusual to have such disturbances, code enforcement violations and criminal threats associated with a protest in Little Saigon," Schoonmaker said. .....Ron Bauer [sic], professor of philosophy at Irvine Valley College, said he believes his college was "bullied" by members of the Vietnamese American community into taking down the colorful flag exhibit. ....."It's one thing to raise a concern," he said. "But it's another thing to come in with the threat of bringing in protesters. Such bullying tactics are, I hate to say it, very un-American." .....But Westminster Councilman Andy Quach and Garden Grove Councilwoman Dina Nguyen, who spoke with college officials on behalf of the community, said it was not a threat. ....."In Bolsa (Avenue), protests are a way of life," Quach says. "Our people love freedom because they lived without it. Protests should be done legally and peacefully, but they should certainly not be viewed as threats or bullying." .....Nguyen said protests are a legitimate way for community members to disagree with an opposing point of view. ....."The press is a bigger machine," she said. "But these are ordinary people and it takes a lot for them to get organized and express themselves."
