Hurdles soon to be cleared for veterans

.....Are we ready?
.....An article in this morning’s Inside Higher Ed (Preparing for an Influx) discusses a two-day summit called “Serving Those Who Serve: Higher Education and America’s Veterans,” sponsored at Georgetown University by the American Council on Education:

.....The event comes amid growing attention in higher education, and in society generally, to the issue of how to ensure that the growing legions of men and women who have represented their country in the armed forces return successfully to society. While some colleges have long served military service members and veterans, and many others are just beginning to report growing numbers of veterans flowing onto their campuses, most educators and military officials expect that a boom is around the corner. That’s partly because the number of men and women who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan continues to rise and partly because, as now appears likely, the government is poised to significantly expand educational benefits for veterans, under legislation that Congress is on the verge of passing. [Major Expansion of Veterans’ Tuition Aid Clears Big Hurdle.]
..... “At some point there’s going to be a major influx in the number of veterans going to school,” said Patrick Campbell, legislative director for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and a recent graduate of Catholic University of America’s law school. “A lot of schools are treating veterans just like every other student, and that’s just not going to work.”
.....“We have to reintegrate veterans back into our society,” said U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel, a Nebraska Republican, Vietnam veteran, and leading co-sponsor of the bill now surging through Congress. “Education does that about as well as any sphere of our society. You shape people in ways that other groups can’t,” he told the college officials in the audience.
…
.....There was widespread agreement at the meeting that the veterans’ benefits bill sponsored by Hagel and Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia, assuming it becomes law, virtually wipe out the financial barriers to college that veterans face. Especially, Campbell of the veterans’ association argued, if private colleges and graduate schools find ways to bring their tuitions within reach of the benefits contained in the Webb bill, which would essentially cover the costs of attending the average four-year public college….

• To learn more about the bill, go to FACTS ABOUT THE WEBB-HAGEL-LAUTENBERG-WARNER G.I. BILL (pdf).
• To sign a petition to the President supporting the new G.I. Bill, go to Petition.
• See also White House pushes GI Bill compromise on Iraq bill.

John Stewart on the new G.I. Bill

ALSO:

Police usher Cal chancellor from angry meeting

Campus police escorted University of California-Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau out of the back of a building Thursday after angry union members took over a meeting, yelling and screaming about living wages….

Tiger Ann says "hey"

But she's philosophical.

“If it’s true, they’re nuts,” said the Republican

.....An article in this morning’s Inside Higher Ed (‘Last Bite at the Apple’ on Accreditation?) reviews what’s been happening on the Higher Ed “accreditation” front—and suggests that the Bush administration might be fixin' to pull another fast one.
.....A little background: Accrediting organizations (such as WASC, the parent of our accreditor, ACCJC) are not government agencies. They represent a voluntary effort at self-regulation by colleges and universities.
.....Supposedly, conservatives favor small government and despise government regulation, even while recognizing the need for such regulation in some cases. K-12 education in the U.S. is clearly in need of a fix, but higher education continues to be a success story, although affordability is a big and growing issue (and since when do Republicans care about that?). And thus it is curious that Bush and company have been pursuing oversight of accreditation of U.S. colleges and universities.

.....A year after Education Secretary Margaret Spellings abandoned plans to propose new federal rules governing higher education accreditation, under heavy pressure from members of Congress, the Education Department is reportedly contemplating issuing such regulations when legislation to renew the Higher Education Act becomes law. That possibility is being met with astonishment by college leaders and many on Capitol Hill, who describe it as both practically difficult and politically foolhardy.
.....Last spring, in the face of strong opposition by several key U.S. senators, who (cheered by college leaders) argued that the department was overstepping its bounds, Spellings grudgingly agreed not to publish regulations to toughen the government’s oversight of the activities of accrediting agencies, the product of contested negotiations among accreditors, college administrators and U.S. officials….
.....Congress went on, in a measure allocating funds for the Education Department for 2008, to include a provision that specifically barred the department from promulgating rules on accreditation.
.....Ever since, Spellings and her top aides, including Sara Martinez Tucker, … have made clear in various venues … their frustration at having their hands tied. Department officials had viewed changes in the accreditation system as a major tool for bringing about some of the changes in higher education called for in Spellings’s Commission on the Future of Higher Education, including prodding them to more aggressively measure and improve the quality of student learning. By barring the department from imposing the accreditation regulations, Spellings wrote in her fiery op-ed, Congress was “digging a moat around the ‘ivory tower’ instead of knocking down the very barriers that block access to an affordable postsecondary education and to information that can guide a student’s decision-making process.”
.....“Would the American people let powerful lobbying forces persuade Congress to handcuff the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from carrying out its responsibility for ensuring that consumers have the data they need to make informed decisions about their investments, whether saving for a home, their retirement or their children’s education? Of course not! Then why has Congress been persuaded to block the U.S. Department of Education from overseeing the quality of institutions of higher education by special interest forces determined to keep the accreditation process insular, clubby and accountable to no one but themselves?”
.....With the clock ticking on the Bush administration’s time in office, many higher education officials have wondered whether (and in some cases feared that) Spellings and her aides might make a final push to institute policies that might instigate change in higher education — to take “one more bite at the apple,” as one Congressional aide put it.
…
.....A spokeswoman for the department, Samara Yudof, said this week that department officials “did not have any plans at this time” to reintroduce the accreditation rules that emerged from the 2007 negotiated rule making sessions. “We continue to work closely with Congress and at such time a bill is signed in to law, we would begin a new [negotiated rule making] process,” Yudof said. Asked specifically if the proposed rules from last year are “dead, or is there a chance that they will be implemented (perhaps as a placeholder?) once the Higher Education Act legislation is signed by the president?” Yudof said department officials were unwilling to speculate about hypothetical situations.
.....College lobbyists and some Congressional aides said they were stunned that department officials would consider such a tack.…
.....But even if there might be a passable legal justification for issuing the accreditation regulations, most higher education lobbyists and Congressional aides say, the department might be on shaky political ground in coming forward at this point with rules that have been widely opposed by many on Capitol Hill.
.....“If it’s true, they’re nuts,” said Victor Klatt, a former top aide to Rep. Howard P (Buck) McKeon (R-Calif.)….
.....Klatt and others speculated that introducing the regulations now could infuriate key legislators, notably Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), on whom the department may depend to achieve important goals in its final months, including making desired changes in the No Child Left Behind law. [Emphasis added.]

Hometown stonewaller

The OC Register has posted a video of Irvine Valley College “Hometown Hero” Mike Carona repeatedly “taking the 5th” during a recent deposition (concerning a lawsuit). (To see the video, click on the link below.)

His lips are sealed

An attorney keeps asking the Mikester such embarrassing questions as, “Did you conspire to enrich yourself through the power of Sheriff?”

No answer.

Video of the May 27 board meeting

The district has now made available "streaming video" of the May 27 meeting of the SOCCCD Board of Trustees.

You can view the video by going to Archived Board Meetings at the district website. (Click on the blue words above. Then, at the site, click on the "video" link for May 27. Allow the video data to load.)

Among other things, the May 27 meeting included:

1. CARMEN DUMPED? Public comments about recent or planned changes in the (theater production) teaching assignments of Saddleback College's Academic Senate President, Carmen Dominguez.

Go to 16:45-43:00
DESCRIPTION OF DISCUSSION: Some student speakers suppose that Saddleback College's musical theater program is being cancelled. At the very start of the meeting, Trustee Wagner insisted that that rumor is false, hoping this would obviate public comments. (It didn't work.) Students and others who now speak refer to a move to “get rid of” Dr. Dominguez—as head of (or participant in?) musical theater program. The names of the dean (Rocky Cifone), colleague Patrick Fennel, and colleague Ellen Prince come up. (See Reefer Madness.) One speaker makes clear that their issue is not the program’s cancellation; it is, rather, removal of Carmen as head of the program. Students refer to Fennel's alleged remarks about Carmen's future and a vulgar remark about a student's mother. Reference is made to Prince being chosen by dean to replace Carmen. 25:11: Wagner asks aloud, is Carmen going anywhere? He has a brief exchange with Carmen. A “campaign" has been "launched against" Carmen, says one student. Several students warn that, if Carmen leaves, they will leave too. She’s being removed “for no apparent reason,” says one student.

2. WAGNER INSULTING? Public comments about Board President Don Wagner's remarks (re prayer at district and college functions) at the SC scholarship event. (See Wagner's "scholarship" remarks.)

Go to 43:02-59:45
DESCRIPTION OF DISCUSSION: A middle aged woman says she found Wagner’s remarks to be “extremely disrespectful,” as expressing “contempt.” Almost 1000 people lectured at, insulted, she says. Letter from two faculty who fund one scholarship. Now reconsidering the funding after “egocentric” and “mean-spirited” remarks by Wagner. According to Karla W, prayers have long been a feature of scholarship events and commencements, despite protests. Board received letter from Americans United for Separation of Church and State, urging trustees to cease prayers, and Wagner’s remarks were a response to that letter. Karla asks for a public apology from Wagner. Refers to Williams’ religious prayer at commencement as well. Another speaker describes Wagner’s “belligerence” and “antagonism.” One speaker announces will no longer support one of the scholarships. A speaker refers to Wagner’s “political grandstanding” and “disgraceful” behavior. Another speaker states that she will no longer participate in the ceremony, will no longer fund scholarship through this means. One instructor described negative student reactions to these prayers, especially from students who worship non-Judeo-Christian faiths.

Wagner responds (59:45): during trustee Reports (immediately following the above), Wagner responded with defiance. He won't take back anything he said. Accused the other side of contempt for the "majority."

3. PADBERG CONTRA WAGNER. Trustee Nancy Padberg's criticism of Wagner regarding those remarks

Go to 1:06:52
According to Trustee Padberg, Wagner did not give an invocation, he gave a political speech. She was offended. Would like to challenge Wagner to personally make up for all the scholarships we are losing “because of your actions.”

Cal State Fullerton's "loyalty oath" case resolved

In this morning’s LA Times: Cal State Fullerton lecturer allowed to add to oath:

A Cal State Fullerton lecturer who lost her job because she objected to signing a loyalty oath was reappointed Monday to teach next fall in an agreement worked out between the university and a national civil rights group. ¶ Wendy Gonaver, a Quaker and pacifist who said that California's required loyalty oath violated her religious beliefs and her right of free speech, will be allowed to attach a personal statement of her views when she signs the pledge.
…..
The loyalty oath was added to the California Constitution in 1952 in an attempt to force communists out of public jobs, but in recent years it appears to have done more to keep out religious believers, such as Quakers and Jehovah's Witnesses.
…..
Earlier this year, Cal State East Bay fired another Quaker instructor, Marianne Kearney-Brown, after she altered the oath by adding the word "nonviolently." She was rehired days later after her case became public. ¶ [Gonaver’s attorney Judith] Schaeffer said she expects Gonaver's settlement to set a precedent for other Cal State employees.
…..
Claudia Keith, a spokeswoman for the university system, said it would not be adopting a new policy on how to handle such cases but would notify administrators on the 23 campuses of the agreement in Gonaver's case. ¶ Keith acknowledged that the dispute could have been handled better, adding, "We certainly respect employees' rights to believe in anything they want to believe in."….

Saturday!

Name those current and former IVC employees! Winner gets prize! (Click on the photo for a larger image.)