Trumpian crisis du jour

✅GOP senators reject Trump’s assertion about transfer of power — with no direct criticism of the president 

—WashPo 

✅Trump’s escalating attacks on election prompt fears of a constitutional crisis 

—WashPo 

     The president’s continuing threats have prompted election and law enforcement authorities nationwide to prepare for an unprecedented clash. 

✅Trump’s team plots his departure — even if he won’t 

—Politico 

     One of the most organized parts of the White House these days is a surprising place — the West Wing office planning a presidential transition. 

✅Republicans break with Trump over peaceful transition of power

—Politico 

     But the GOP isn't saying what they'll do if the president resists leaving office.

...Trump’s comments are the latest headache for the Republican party, with the election just 40 days away. And Republicans’ response mirrors how they have often dealt with his most volatile remarks or actions — rebutting Trump or disagreeing with him, but without the harsh condemnation that could invite a Twitter attack from the president....

9-24: Covid: “the surface issue has essentially gone away”; Trump won't leave; young adults running amok; Cal State Chance Castro

✅Community College Enrollments Drop This Fall 

—Inside Higher Ed 

     Community colleges are seeing a bleak enrollment picture and undergraduate enrollments are down largely across the board, but not by as much as some had feared. 

✅A First Look at Fall Enrollment Shows a 2.5% Dip Among Undergraduates 

—CHE

✅College enrollment takes a hit this fall amid coronavirus 

—WashPo 

     A snapshot of fall enrollment shows fewer students are pursuing undergraduate degrees this semester as the coronavirus continues to sow fears of infection and devastate the economy. 

✅College openings fueled 3,000 COVID-19 cases per day, researchers say -- Researchers from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, Indiana University, the University of Washington and Davidson College tracked cellphone data and matched it to reopening schedules at 1,400 schools, along with county infection rates. Michael McAuliff in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/24/20 

✅‘The surface issue has essentially gone away’: Experts revise thinking on coronavirus transmission -- We know the coronavirus spreads through person-to-person contact when an infected person coughs, sneezes, speaks, sings, or even breathes. Aidin Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/24/20 

     “The surface issue has essentially gone away,” said Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease doctor and researcher with UCSF. “The virus is spread primarily by massive shedding from the nose and mouth.” In other words, there may be a slight risk of infection from touching a surface or object that has a large dose of viral particles on it and then touching your nose, mouth, or eyes. But the main routes of transmission are inhaling respiratory droplets and aerosols, which can remain in the air for hours. 

✅CSU Trustees endorse repeal of affirmative action ban -- California State University trustees voted Wednesday to join their counterparts in the University of California and California Community College systems in supporting the repeal of the state’s 24-year-old ban on considering race, gender and ethnicity in admissions and hiring decisions. Ashley A. Smith EdSource -- 9/24/20 

✅Trump won’t commit to a ‘peaceful transfer of power’ if he loses -- President Trump refused Wednesday to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the election, asserting that if he doesn’t win, it will be because of fraudulent mail-in voting and not because more Americans voted against him. Colby Itkowitz in the Washington Post$ -- 9/24/20 

✅Cal State gets its first chancellor of color: Fresno State president Joseph I. Castro -- Joseph I. Castro, the grandson of Mexican immigrants and a first-generation college student who rose during a career in higher education to lead Fresno State, has been named chancellor of the California State University system, trustees announced Wednesday. Nina Agrawal in the Los Angeles Times$ Ashleigh Panoo in the Sacramento Bee$ Nanette Asimov and Vanessa Arredondo in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Mikhail Zinshteyn and Felicia Mello CalMatters Ashley A. Smith EdSource-- 9/23/20 

✅Without Criticizing Trump, G.O.P. Affirms a Peaceful Transfer of Power 

     Several prominent Republicans, including Senator Mitch McConnell, insisted that there would be an “orderly transition” of power in January. 

—NYT 

✅Young Adults Seed Waves of Infection Among Older People, C.D.C. Says 

     The CDC reported a pattern of young people getting sick over the summer—and then older generations getting the virus days later. 

—NYT 

✅Republicans push back against Trump’s refusal to commit to peaceful transition 

—Politico 

✅‘The CSU Will Look Different’ 

—Inside Higher Ed 

     New Cal State chancellor, Joseph I. Castro, will thread the needle between consistent priorities and changing times. 

Ti**ypu**y for Secret Service

     Good grief! What’s happening with Saddleback College’s efforts to reconsider its “Gaucho” mascot? 

     Wasn’t there supposed to be some virtual meeting last night? (See Saddleback College's GAUCHO still causes OUCHO & Gaucho Oucho Part 2: the petition.)

     I emailed Rebel Girl about it. (My phone is out.) She wrote back that she had been "there" and, well, “UGH.” 

     That was her comment. 

     She noted that some related Zoom event occurred last week, and “this happened”: she provided a link to a bit of a Zoom meeting including folks who appear to be Saddleback College faculty. A “student” named Cole Hersch—evidently, an “internet personality”— asks to speak. So that’s what he does. He advises “murdering” the racist Gaucho and replacing him/it with something he calls “Tittypussy.” He holds up a drawing. His account of Tittypussy is lurid and offensive, near as I can tell. This goes on for about a minute.

     These kids today, I tell ya!

     He is then thanked for his comment and that is that, I guess. I think some of the Zoom-meeting participants were scandalized. Others may have been entertained. Not sure. 

     I noticed that, today, the LA Times has a piece about the mascot issue: 

Saddleback College considers getting rid of controversial mascot 

Saddleback College officials are considering whether to eliminate the school’s mascot amid calls from faculty and students that it perpetuates a racist stereotype. 

     —I haven’t read it since the Times insists that I pay, and that ain’t gonna happen. 

     Rebel Girl may have more about the meeting tomorrow or the next day. Can’t wait. I think she needs to get past that "UGH" feeling first. 

     Meanwhile, evidently Trump now refuses to commit to a “peaceful transition of power after Election Day,” as CNN puts it. 

     Yeah. Saw that coming. 

     UGH.

     Tittypussy for President?

     No, Tittypussy for Secret Service!

9-23: UC spanked hard for admit unfairness; the "reopening for in-person classes" FUBAR; in-person instruction paused; McCain, Trump, and the "country first" code; high OC Covid death numbers

✅Can Colleges Rely on the CDC? 

—Inside Higher Ed 

     Colleges rely on guidance from a federal health agency that is operating, as one public health expert put it, "with two hands tied behind its back." 

     Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, college leaders have looked to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for guidance and have pointed to their adherence to CDC recommendations to assure students and employees they are reopening responsibly. But reports of political interference in the public health agency’s scientific processes over the past month are raising discomforting questions of whether and to what degree colleges can trust the CDC. 

✅Not Shrugging Off Criticism 

—Inside Higher Ed 

     Scott Atlas, White House adviser on coronavirus, threatens to sue colleagues back at Stanford who spoke out against his approach. 

     In an unusual move for an academic, Dr. Scott Atlas, Robert Wesson Senior Fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, is threatening to sue Stanford colleagues who criticized his work. The work in question here is also unusual, as Atlas has since August served as an adviser on the White House coronavirus task force. 

     Atlas, a neuroradiologist and health-care policy expert, was immediately a controversial pick for the White House post, as he is not an immunologist, epidemiologist or public health expert. And some of his public statements before and after joining the task force have been controversial, as well. 

     In July, for instance, prior to his appointment, Atlas told Fox News, “These people getting the infection is not really a problem, and in fact, as we said months ago, when you isolate everyone, including all the healthy people, you're prolonging the problem because you’re preventing population immunity.” 

✅U of California Admissions Blasted by Auditor 

—Inside Higher Ed 

     Not just donors' children, but athletes and the babysitter of a colleague of the director of undergraduate admissions got into the university, although they weren't qualified. Berkeley in particular is criticized. The state auditor of California on Tuesday released a report harshly critical of the University of California -- and in particular its Berkeley campus -- for "improper influence in admissions decisions." The report says the university system "has not treated applicants fairly or consistently." 

     The audit is based on a review of the university's campuses at Berkeley, Los Angeles, San Diego and Santa Barbara from 2013-14 through 2018-19. In that time those campuses admitted 22 applicants as athletes "even though the students did not have the athletic qualifications to compete at the university," the audit stated. Berkeley was found to have admitted 42 students, "most of whom were referred to the admissions office because of their families’ histories as donors or because they were related or connected to university staff, even though their records did not demonstrate competitive qualifications for admission." 

     "By admitting 64 noncompetitive applicants, the university undermined the fairness and integrity of its admissions process and deprived more qualified students of the opportunity for admission," the report said. University of California policy puts strict limits on exceptions to admissions rules -- and bars the admission of wealthy students solely on the basis of their wealth. 

✅COVID-19 Roundup: ‘Circuit Breakers’ to Stop Virus’s Spread 

—Inside Higher Ed 

     Several more universities pause in-person instruction to stem spread of virus, as such moves spur decreases elsewhere. Study estimates sizable role of in-person instruction in local outbreaks. Most NCAA fall championships will be played in the spring. The temporary pause in in-person instruction -- or what the University of Utah is calling a "circuit breaker" -- has become the new favored tactic of colleges and universities trying to curtail the spread of the coronavirus. Several more institutions embraced the strategy in the last few days, as a few colleges that had done so previously announced that they were resuming in-person instruction after seeing declines in COVID-19 cases. 

✅Reopening for In-Person Classes May Have Caused Thousands of Covid-19 Cases a Day, Study Finds 

—CHE 

✅Pandemic ‘upended’ Orange County life, business report says 

—OC Reg 

     The coronavirus has impacted “nearly every aspect of public and private life," the Orange County... 

✅A Labor Day-fueled coronavirus surge? ‘Troubling trend,’ but no clear evidence -- When Los Angeles County officials explain the massive coronavirus outbreak that hit this summer, they often point to Memorial Day and the Fourth of July, two long weekends when gatherings with friends and family fueled the spread of the virus. Soumya Karlamangla in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/23/20 

✅Orange County could be set for wider reopening amid improved COVID-19 numbers -- The county is in Tier 2 — the second-strictest in California’s four-tier system that assesses COVID-19 transmission. However, officials said this week they think Orange County could soon enter the less-restrictive Tier 3, based on how numbers are trending. Luke Money in the Los Angeles Times$ Erika I. Ritchie in the Orange County Register -- 9/23/20 

✅UC Irvine to test students living on campus weekly for COVID-19 -- A majority of classes at UC Irvine will be taught remotely when the fall term starts Oct. 1, but that doesn’t mean the campus is empty of students. Alicia Robinson in the Orange County Register -- 9/23/20 

✅The Russian Trolls Have a Simpler Job Today. Quote Trump -- As part of their attempt to interfere with the 2020 election, Russians are grabbing screenshots of President Trump’s tweets, or quoting his own misleading statements, analysts and officials say. David E. Sanger and Zolan Kanno-Youngs in the New York Times$ -- 9/23/20 

✅Cindy McCain endorses Biden -- Cindy McCain endorsed Democratic nominee Joe Biden for president on Tuesday. “My husband John lived by a code: country first,” McCain tweeted. “We are Republicans, yes, but Americans foremost. There’s only one candidate in this race who stands up for our values as a nation, and that is @JoeBiden.” Matthew Choi Politico -- 9/23/20 

✅‘No safety, no learning’: Many Orange County teachers protest reopening schools -- Teachers in two Orange County school districts have banded together with bold public protests and petitions, saying they are unwilling to go back to campus in the days and weeks ahead and signaling an undercurrent of broad concern among educators over the safety of returning to in-person instruction. Howard Blume, Andrew J. Campa, Stephanie Lai in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/22/20

✅OC Covid numbers: continued low number of new cases BUT 2nd straight day of high death number. Today: 26. Yesterday: 22

9-22: Faculty member "thrown under the bus" PLUS higher ed mitigating tendencies toward authoritarianism

✅Alumni Blitz for the Liberal Arts 

—Inside Higher Ed 

     Adrian College planned to terminate history, philosophy, religion and more -- until graduates organized to stop it. Faculty members still don't understand why the programs were threatened. 

✅Professor Who Called COVID-19 the ‘Chinese Virus’ on Leave 

—Inside Higher Ed 

     The University of Cincinnati is reportedly investigating an instructor who referred to the coronavirus as the “Chinese virus,” a term that has been deemed xenophobic, unscientific and politicized, and which has been employed by President Trump. According to WKRC and screenshots of an email shared on social media, John Ucker, adjunct instructor of mechanical and materials engineering, responded to a student who had to miss an in-person lab due to a mandatory COVID-19 quarantine like this: “For students testing positive for the chinese virus [sic], I will give no grade.” 

✅AAUP to Investigate COVID-19 ‘Crisis in Academic Governance’ 

—Inside Higher Ed 

     The American Association of University Professors will investigate the "crisis in academic governance that has occurred in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic," it said Monday. The resulting report, expected in early 2021, will focus on Canisius College, Illinois Wesleyan University, Keuka College, Marian University, Medaille College, National University and Wittenberg University. AAUP investigators will determine whether these colleges and universities have strayed from the association’s widely followed principles and standards of academic governance during the pandemic, not least of all when laying off tenured faculty members. 

Thanjavur, formerly Tanjore, is a 
city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

✅Liberal Arts Majors Less Drawn to Authoritarianism 

—Inside Higher Ed 

     Higher education in the U.S. seems to be especially effective at mitigating tendencies toward authoritarianism, a new report suggests. 

     The report from Georgetown University’s Center for Education and the Workforce finds that bachelor’s degree holders are significantly less inclined, and associate degree holders are somewhat less inclined, to express authoritarian preferences and attitudes compared to high school graduates. 

     Among college graduates, holders of liberal art degrees are less inclined to express authoritarian attitudes and preferences compared to individuals who hold degrees in business or science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields. 

✅‘Scared to Death to Teach’: Internal Report Cites ‘Chilling Effect’ 

Southern Cal professor’s removal over use of Chinese word has led to anxiety and distrust 

—CHE 

     An anonymous survey of 105 professors at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business suggests that many of them have lost confidence in the dean, and that they feel “livid,” “betrayed,” and “scared of students” after a fellow faculty member was “thrown under the bus,” as several of them described it, following a controversy over his use of a Chinese word. 

✅Fewer students attending California community colleges, early fall numbers show -- California’s community college system is experiencing a systemwide decline of student enrollment this fall, with some campuses reporting double-digit losses. Ashley A. Smith EdSource -- 9/22/20 

✅California’s COVID-19 positivity rate drops below 3% for the first time -- The share of Californians who tested positive for COVID-19 in the last week dipped below 3% for the first time, a sign that the Golden State is finally starting to beat back the spread of the coronavirus, officials said Monday. Laura J. Nelson in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/22/20 

✅UC San Diego tries to avoid the coronavirus chaos that has upended San Diego State -- With 882 students testing positive or likely to be positive, San Diego State University is reeling from an outbreak of COVID-19. Is the same thing about to happen at UC San Diego? The answer will begin to emerge as 7,500 undergraduates start to move into meticulously cleaned dorms on the sprawling La Jolla campus for the start of the fall quarter. Gary Robbins in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/22/20  

✅California schools launch anti-racism plan, flouting Trump's threats -- The California Department of Education announced new anti-racism lessons and teacher training for school districts on Monday, days after President Donald Trump decried the notion of teaching slavery as a founding tenet of the U.S. and called for a more “patriotic education." MacKenzie Mays Politico -- 9/22/20 

✅Trump Could Be Investigated for Tax Fraud, D.A. Says for First Time -- The Manhattan district attorney’s office, which has been locked in a yearlong legal battle with President Trump over obtaining his tax returns, suggested for the first time in a court filing on Monday that it had grounds to investigate him and his businesses for tax fraud. Benjamin Weiser and William K. Rashbaum in the New York Times$ -- 9/22/20 

✅How the GOP is trying to justify its Supreme Court reversal -- It has been two and a half days since Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death set a political tempest in motion. Four years after Senate Republicans declined to take up President Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland in a presidential election year because they said voters should decide the matter, they’re now casting that standard aside and pressing forward. Aaron Blake in the Washington Post$ -- 9/22/20 

✅Trump Could Be Investigated for Tax Fraud, D.A. Says for First Time 

—NYT 

     The assertion by the Manhattan district attorney is the most detailed disclosure about its efforts to obtain eight years of President Trump’s tax returns.

9-21: “You can’t argue with them, you can’t talk sense into them”; Trump loses ground with white voters

✅Professor on Leave After Statement on Trump Supporters 

—Inside Higher Ed 

     Marshall University has placed a professor on administrative leave after a video circulated on social media of her making inflammatory comments about supporters of President Donald Trump. The video showed biology professor Jennifer Mosher in a virtual class session discussing a recent indoor Trump campaign rally where few attendees were wearing masks, The Herald-Dispatch reported. “I’ve become the type of person where I hope they all get it and die,” she says in the video. “You can’t argue with them, you can’t talk sense into them.” 

     The university responded with a statement Friday. 

     “The university does not support or condone the use of any of its educational platforms to belittle people or wish harm on those who hold differing political views,” it said. “The professor was removed from the classroom yesterday and is on administrative leave, pending an investigation.”

✅When it comes to race relations, the left and the right are miles apart -- We know there’s a difference between Republicans and Democrats when it comes to views on race relations, but just how far apart they really are is eye-opening According to a survey from the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, racial inequality is a top three issue for Democratic voters. But it does not even crack the top 10 for Republicans. Eugene Scott in the Washington Post$ -- 9/21/20 

✅What California’s COVID approach could teach the country if Joe Biden wins -- Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and California Gov. Gavin Newsom share the same basic COVID-19 philosophy: The government must focus on fighting the virus before the economy can recover. Sophia Bollag and Lara Korte in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/20/20 

✅UC San Diego trying to avoid the coronavirus chaos that has upended SDSU -- San Diego State University is reeling from a calamitous outbreak of COVID-19. Is the same thing about to happen at UC San Diego? The answer will begin to emerge this weekend as 7,500 undergraduates start to move into meticulously cleaned dorms on the sprawling La Jolla campus for the start of the fall quarter. Gary Robbins in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 9/20/20 

✅Denial and Defiance: Trump and His Base Downplay the Virus 

With resistance to face masks and scorn for science, President Trump and many of his supporters are pushing a alternate reality before the election 

—NYT 

     This mix of denial and defiance runs contrary to the overwhelming evidence about the spread and toll of the virus, and it is at the center of Mr. Trump’s re-election effort as early voting begins in Minnesota, Virginia and other states. It is an outlook shared among his most loyal supporters and pushed by many of his allies in the political and news media establishment. 

✅Rep. Ilhan Omar Is Not Here to Put You at Ease 

—NYT 

✅The N95 shortage America can’t seem to fix 

—WashPo 

     Nurses and doctors depend on respirator masks to protect them from covid-19. So why are we still running low on an item that once cost around $1? 

✅The CDC says coronavirus is airborne and spread by aerosols, warns of poorly ventilated spaces 

—WashPo 

     “There is growing evidence that droplets and airborne particles can remain suspended in the air and be breathed in by others, and travel distances beyond 6 feet (for example, during choir practice, in restaurants, or in fitness classes),” the agency says. “In general, indoor environments without good ventilation increase this risk.” 

✅CDC says coronavirus is airborne and can spread farther than 6 feet 

—Politico 

     The CDC is now warning that the coronavirus spreads most commonly through the air and is more contagious than the agency had previously suggested. 

     The new advice, which the CDC released quietly on Friday, comes as the country prepares for flu season and cooler fall and winter weather that will likely drive many people to spend more time indoors. 

The danger arises when an infected person coughs, sneezes, sings, talks or breathes, emitting droplets and particles that can travel farther than 6 feet and are especially dangerous in enclosed spaces with poor ventilation, the agency says. 

     The CDC now specifically cautions that choir practice, restaurants and fitness classes or any indoor environments without good ventilation increase a person's risk of catching the virus…. 

✅‘It’s a big, big swing’: Trump loses ground with white voters 

The president is running well behind his 2016 pace with the demographic that sent him to the White House. 

—Politico 

     In Minnesota, where the contest between Trump and Joe Biden had seemed to tighten in recent weeks — and where both candidates stumped on Friday — a CBS News/YouGov survey last week had Trump running 2 percentage points behind Biden with white voters, after carrying them by 7 points in 2016. Even among white voters without college degrees — Trump’s base — the president was far short of the margin he put up against Hillary Clinton there. 

     It’s the same story in Wisconsin, where Trump won non-college educated white women by 16 percentage points four years ago but is now losing them by 9 percentage points, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll. In Pennsylvania, Biden has now pulled even with Trump among white voters, according to an NBC News/Marist Poll. 

Upheaval, pandemic weirdness and a fragile stability

Sivakasi is a City in Virudhunagar District
in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu

The fall opening of colleges: Upheaval, pandemic weirdness and a fragile stability
—WashPo
     For higher education leaders, the decision to teach primarily in person or primarily online is an extraordinarily difficult call. They face competing and overlapping pressures from governors, governing boards, faculty, alumni, neighbors, parents and students.