{"id":5700,"date":"2012-01-21T14:16:19","date_gmt":"2012-01-21T22:16:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/?p=5700"},"modified":"2012-01-21T14:16:19","modified_gmt":"2012-01-21T22:16:19","slug":"rouge-forum-dispatch-occupy-the-21st-century-enlightenment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/rouge-forum-dispatch-occupy-the-21st-century-enlightenment\/","title":{"rendered":"Rouge Forum Dispatch: Occupy the 21st Century Enlightenment"},"content":{"rendered":"

We Say Fight Back!<\/strong><\/span> <\/strong><\/p>\n

www.youtube.com\/watch?v=4A0hdq87cOc&feature=youtu.be<\/a><\/p>\n

Where is Bull Connor when the UC Regents So Do Need Him? <\/strong> UC Riverside police detained three people during protests Thursday, Jan. 19, outside the UC Board of Regents meeting taking place on campus. One protester was released without charge. Two were arrested and booked on suspicion of felony assault on a police officer: Kenneth Ehrlich, 39, of Los Angeles, and Humberto Rivera, 25, of Corona.
\nUCR Chief of Police Mike Lane estimated the number of protesters at between 300 and 500 people, but the crowds were difficult to estimate because a number of students were observing and following but not actively participating. After protesters blocked entrances to the meeting, police issued several orders for the crowd to disperse.
\nElsewhere, a UCR police officer fired pellets toward protesters who were trying to break through police lines. These are hard plastic pellets that are similar in force to a paintball. Officers from the University of California Police Department (UCPD) used batons at different times and locations in response to aggressive action by the protesters. The department is attempting to identify and contact anyone who was injured. \u00a0 \u00a0http:\/\/newsroom.ucr.edu\/2840<\/p>\n

Hawaii Teachers Reject Sellout <\/strong> Public school teachers have voted overwhelmingly against a six-year contract that proposed the transition to performance-based raises starting in July 2013.
\nSixty-seven percent of teachers voted against the contract, the Hawaii State Teachers Association announced tonight. \u00a0 \u00a0http:\/\/www.staradvertiser.com\/news\/breaking\/137739018.html<\/p>\n

Nigerian Direct Action Reverses Government Gas Attack <\/strong>Faced down by thousands of demonstrators, demands for his removal and a weeklong general strike that paralyzed his fractious country, President Goodluck Jonathan abruptly gave in, partly restoring the fuel subsidy that \u2014 more than an Islamic insurgency in the north or a long-running conflict in the south \u2014 seemed to crystallize the frustrations of the people and draw them to the streets in outrage. \u00a0 www.nytimes.com\/2012\/01\/17\/world\/africa\/nigerian-president-rolls-back-price-of-gasoline.html?emc=tnt&tntemail0=y<\/a><\/p>\n

Berkeley Library Occupied <\/strong> A group of 70 demonstrators occupied the anthropology library at Kroeber Hall Thursday evening as the Occupy Cal movement marked the start of the spring semester.
\nA \u201cstudy-in\u201d action at Kroeber Hall began at around 3 p.m., and continued past the library\u2019s new 5 p.m. closing time as demonstrators reiterated their determination to occupy the library through the night.
\nAs the protest got under way, anthropology department chair Terrence Deacon read aloud a statement which informed demonstrators that permission had not been granted for them to remain in the library after closing. The statement went on to advise the demonstrators that anyone who remained in the library would be in violation of university rules and subject to disciplinary action.
\n\u201cThe faculty and I have monitored the Occupy group all night,\u201d said Deacon. \u201cThey have been respectful and quite appreciative of our effort to make this a constructive interaction.\u201d \u00a0 \u00a0http:\/\/newscenter.berkeley.edu\/2012\/01\/20\/occupy-cal-stages-study-in-at-kroeber-hall\/<\/p>\n

Judge Orders Eviction of Occupy London<\/strong> An Occupy London protest camp that has sprawled outside the city’s St. Paul’s Cathedral for three months must be removed, a British judge ruled Wednesday. \u00a0 \u00a0http:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/news\/world\/story\/2012-01-18\/occupy-london-evicted\/52635964\/1<\/p>\n

The Little Red Schoolhouse<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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A Reminder from 1963—James Baldwin Talks to Teachers <\/strong>Since I am talking to schoolteachers and I am not a teacher myself, and in some ways am fairly easily intimidated, I beg you to let me leave that and go back to what I think to be the entire purpose of education in the first place. It would seem to me that when a child is born, if I\u2019m the child\u2019s parent, it is my obligation and my high duty to civilize that child. Man is a social animal. He cannot exist without a society. A society, in turn, depends on certain things which everyone within that society takes for granted. Now the crucial paradox which confronts us here is that the whole process of education occurs within a social framework and is designed to perpetuate the aims of society.<\/p>\n

Thus, for example, the boys and girls who were born during the era of the Third Reich, when educated to the purposes of the Third Reich, became barbarians. The paradox of education is precisely this – that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated. The purpose of education, finally, is to create in a person the ability to look at the world for himself, to make his own decisions, to say to himself this is black or this is white, to decide for himself whether there is a God in heaven or not. To ask questions of the universe, and then learn to live with those questions, is the way he achieves his own identity.<\/p>\n

But no society is really anxious to have that kind of person around. What societies really, ideally, want is a citizenry which will simply obey the rules of society. If a society succeeds in this, that society is about to perish. The obligation of anyone who thinks of himself as responsible is to examine society and try to change it and to fight it \u2013 at no matter what risk. This is the only hope society has. This is the only way societies change. \u00a0 richgibson.com\/talktoteachers.htm<\/a><\/p>\n

Tucson Bans Freire, Rethinking Columbus, and More: <\/strong> <\/strong>The decision to ban books follows the 4 to 1 vote on Tuesday by the Tucson Unified School District board to succumb to the State of Arizona, and forbid Mexican American Studies, rather than fight the state decision. \u00a0 \u00a0http:\/\/narcosphere.narconews.com\/notebook\/brenda-norrell\/2012\/01\/tucson-schools-bans-books-chicano-and-native-american-authors<\/p>\n

Tucson Claims Books Not Banned, Just Stored….ah….somewhere <\/strong> Tucson Unified School District officials are denying news reports that the district has banned seven books that were used in the controversial Mexican American studies program it dismantled last week.
\nIn a statement Tuesday, TUSD spokeswoman Cara Rene wrote that the books were not banned. They are still available to students through their school libraries, she wrote.
\n“The books… have been moved to the district storage facility because the classes have been suspended as per the ruling by Arizona Superintendent (of) Public Instruction John Huppenthal,” Rene wrote.www.azcentral.com\/news\/articles\/2012\/01\/17\/20120117tucson-district-denies-ban-mexican-american-books.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Petition to Restore Mexican American Studies in AZ <\/strong> action.nclr.org\/p\/salsa\/web\/tellafriend\/public\/?tell_a_friend_KEY=8318<\/a><\/p>\n

Grinding Down California Higher Ed: <\/strong> Were it not for the financial aid that helps cover the cost of his tuition, it is unlikely that Devonte Jackson would be able to attend UC Berkeley.
\nThe political science major has two campus jobs, but his $12,000 state-paid Cal Grant is the glue that holds his education dreams together. Tuition, books, housing and other fees top $31,000 annually.
\nBut Cal Grants could become much harder to obtain for new students under restrictions proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown as part of his 2012-13 budget. One of the most contentious of them would increase the minimum grade point average needed to qualify for the two types of awards, which are merit- and income-based and are a key part of the financial aid package for many low- and middle-income students.
\nCal Grant “A” currently covers tuition up to $5,472 at Cal State universities, up to $12,192 at the University of California and up to $9,708 toward tuition and fees at private colleges. \u00a0 \u00a0 www.latimes.com\/news\/local\/la-me-cal-grant-20120115,0,2436169.story<\/a><\/p>\n

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The Big Cheats Want to Know how to Corral the Little Ones <\/strong> The Education Department wants the public’s input to develop guidelines to prevent and detect cheating. The effort comes after several cheating scandals involving teachers.
\nThe department is accepting opinions until Feb. 16. It says it will use them to create recommendations to be distributed to states, local school districts and testing organizations. \u00a0 \u00a0http:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/news\/nationworld\/sns-bc-us–education-cheating,0,2754134.story<\/p>\n

Funds Repaid in Atlanta’s Vast Cheating Scandal <\/strong> Officials say the school district in Atlanta has agreed to repay more than $363,000 in federal money the district won by teachers and administrators cheating.
\nState schools Superintendent John Barge told The Associated Press on Friday that the district has 90 days to return the money.
\nA state investigation in July revealed widespread cheating by educators in nearly half of the Atlanta’s 100 schools dating back to 2001. In all, nearly 180 teachers and principals were accused of giving answers to students or changing answers once the tests had been completed. \u00a0 www.bellinghamherald.com\/2012\/01\/20\/2358857\/apnewsbreak-atlanta-to-repay-363k.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Detroit EFM Continues to Appoint Bosses of Failed Government Motors to Run Schools <\/strong> Emergency Manager Roy Roberts announced five appointments Thursday in Detroit Public Schools as part of the district’s reorganization.<\/p>\n

The new appointments are in academics, the district’s bond program and risk management for DPS, the state’s largest school district, which has been run by an emergency manager since 2009.<\/p>\n

Two appointees are taking over positions held by Karen Ridgeway, who became DPS superintendent for academics in November. Two other appointees are former employees of General Motors, where Roberts was a top executive before retiring and accepting the job at DPS last May. \u00a0 \u00a0http:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/article\/20120120\/SCHOOLS\/201200354\/1026\/schools\/Roberts-makes-five-appointments-DPS-shake-up<\/p>\n

San Diego District Continues to Coverup PR Fees (among other scandals in these SoCal Capitalist schools) <\/strong> After some fanfare, the Sweetwater board of education in May decided to get to the bottom of suspicious public-relations invoices submitted to the district by commissioning an independent review.<\/p>\n

Eight months later, the report is finished. The district, however, has declined several requests to release it. Because the $15,000 report was compiled by a lawyer, Superintendent Ed Brand is citing attorney-client privilege.<\/p>\n

The report was a response to an April 28 report in The Watchdog about PR professional Scott Alevy. His $250-an-hour bills to the district, through its law firm, mentioned meetings with people who, when contacted, said the meetings didn\u2019t happen or were not as described. \u00a0 \u00a0 www.utsandiego.com\/news\/2012\/jan\/19\/sweetwater-withholds-report\/<\/a><\/p>\n

LA Times–Keep the Test Hysteria Blooming <\/strong> There are plenty of problems with the school reform movement, but the number of standardized tests isn’t one of them. The tests are still the most objective and affordable yardsticks of achievement available. They should be improved and the results should be kept in perspective, but there is no evidence that cutting back on them \u2014 as Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed \u2014 will improve education. \u00a0 \u00a0http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/news\/opinion\/la-ed-test-20120120,0,5177135.story?track=rss<\/p>\n

The International Hot War of the Rich on the Poor<\/span><\/strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n