Jamaica Me Crazy

I’m up here in the Bay Area to visit my sister Fannie and her cat Tiger Ann. Elroy’s still around, and so is Kateta. Angela might drop by tomorrow.

Fannie insisted that we drive down to Half Moon Bay. She wanted to visit some junk shop called "Twice as Nice." It was way junky. Bought a Pez dispenser for Sarah & Adam plus some weird-assed spices and hot sauce.


We drove by this cool little seaside restaurant--the Moss Beach Distillery. Checked it out. Turns out Dashiell Hammett used to hang there. That was way cool.

We noticed artwork on the ceiling: a matador and bull. For some reason, the bull's scrotum was prominently displayed. Fannie notices such things.



They've got copper buildings in that town, among other things. Some nice old houses. Love it.

Came across what must surely be the ugliest car in the world. It was an American Motors Eagle (c. 1980). (I prefer to call it the Nash-Rambler Eagle.)



Tiger Ann says "hey."

Memorial Day news you can use

From the New York Times:

• British U.F.O. Shocker! Government Officials Were Telling the Truth

“The government has been telling us the truth,” declared David Clarke, a senior lecturer in journalism at Sheffield Hallam University, who has a side interest in U.F.O.’s. “There are a lot of weird things in the sky, and some of them we can’t explain, but there’s not a shred of evidence for a single alien visitation.”

• More Colorado Follies (Stanley Fish on the U of C’s “Chair in Conservative Thought and Policy”):

.....I’ve just returned from New Zealand and find that in my absence the University of Colorado – the same one that earlier this year appointed as its president a Republican fund-raiser with a B.A. in mining and no academic experience – has gifted me again, this time with the announcement of plans to raise money for a Chair in Conservative Thought and Policy.
.....Why? The answer is apparently given in the first sentence of a story that appeared in the May 13th edition of the Rocky Mountain News: “The University of Colorado is considering a $9 million program to bring high-profile conservatives to teach on the left-leaning Boulder campus.”
.....Embedded in this sentence is the following chain of reasoning: The University of Colorado, Boulder, is left-leaning and therefore it is appropriate to spend university funds (technically state funds) in an effort to redress a political imbalance.
…..
.....If the reason for funding a chair in conservative thought and policy is to correct a political imbalance, it is not a reason any university should take seriously until there is more than anecdotal evidence that ballot-box performance tracks classroom performance. And even if it were to turn out that ballot-box performance did in fact track classroom performance, the proper remedy would be not to even out the partisan numbers, but to remind faculty members of whatever political stripe of the distinction (on which the whole rationale for higher educations rests) between political questions and academic questions.
…..
.....G.P. Peterson, the chancellor of the Boulder campus, who has been prattling on about “intellectual diversity” (always and only a stalking horse for political diversity), did have a moment when he seemed to be an academic administrator rather than a political operative. He acknowledged that the professor of conservative thought didn’t have to be an actual conservative, and pointed out that many teachers of French “aren’t necessarily French.” ….

From the Chronicle of Higher Education:

• Colleges Must Prepare for New Wave of Federal Oversight, Speaker Warns:

.....Colleges must steel themselves for a new era of intensive federal oversight, an accreditation advocate said Sunday evening during a plenary address at the annual meeting of the Association for Institutional Research.
.....The speaker, Judith S. Eaton, who is president of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, predicted that the Higher Education Act — the final terms of which are still being negotiated — will require colleges to report to the federal government on at least 300 new topics, including tuition increases, transfer-of-credit policies, file sharing, meningitis outbreaks, fire safety, voter registration, and technology disposal. Ms. Eaton had an attentive audience: The institutional researchers gathered here will often be responsible for crunching the numbers and shipping their colleges’ reports to Washington.
.....Ms. Eaton expressed regret that the traditional relationships among colleges, accreditors, and federal regulators were being transformed. (One of her slides showed a representation of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, with the caption “The Government Drives Accountability.”) But she said that she understood the public anxieties that have given rise to the new federal role. “We ought to be accountable when we’re spending a hundred billion dollars or so in federal money,” she said. “We do have obligations here.”
.....Ms. Eaton urged college leaders to take their own steps to improve their institutions’ responsiveness and accountability. If she were a college president, she said, she would make clear to the world what her institution was trying to achieve and how it would measure its success. “I would do transparency audits,” she said. “I would have a Web site, for example, that tells anybody who goes there immediately some very salient things about the performance of my institution vis-à-vis its students. With all due respect to all of the wonderful college Web sites out there, that kind of information isn’t easy to find on many of them.” —David Glenn

Irvine Valley College Commencement

.....Our college's (IVC's) Commencement Ceremony was moved indoors, owing to the threat of rain, but it seemed to go off quite well. Generally, remarks were brief, although Chancellor Raghu P. Mathur used his 2-3 minutes to offer a fifteen minute speech about "fashion and perseverance," I think. Evidently moved by Mathur's sentiments, the student speaker briefly posed for cameras before offering his remarks, which were brief and well-delivered, if banal.
.....Luckily, the keynote speaker, McArthur Fellow Rueben Martinez, gave a marvelous and rousing address that seemed to hit just the right note for the occasion. (See him above.)
.....(For an account of Saddleback College's Commencement Ceremony—with pics—go to OC Register.)

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.