Weekend Event Calendar

FRIDAY NIGHT FLICKS

Vince Turner over at the Claremont Community College sent us a reminder about his Friday Night Flicks short film series at the Claremont Village Expansion above Chico's.

Date: Thu, March 24, 2011 4:35:58 PM
To: moviefans@claremontcommunitycollege.com
Subject: WOW Friday Night Flicks!

We're batting a thousand! So far every chair has been filled at Friday night Flicks! (OK. So we didn't set up all the chairs!)

This weeks theme is WOW! If you don't say WOW after each flick, then we didn't do our job.

Friday Night 7 PM

101 North Indian Hill BLVD Suite C2 203

Claremont Community College Where the learning never stops!

--
Vince Turner
(909) 477-1747

Also, don't forget that CCC's 5 Second Film Festival is set for April 28. CCC's mission statement, which we've posted below, may preclude certain humor-impaired Claremonters from attending (you know who you are):

Our Mission Statement

• To acquire and disseminate knowledge in a humorous way.
• To recruit like minded people to spread the word that learning can be fun.
• To remember to laugh at our failings before somebody else does.
• To keep an open mind on suggestions even if they sound silly - which most are.
• To recruit more Deans than students for obvious reasons.
• To reserve the right to refuse entry to the College to anyone who takes our mission too seriously.

RAVELERS, HERE AND ON THE ROAD

The Ravelers, Claremont's classic rock band, are on the move. Tonight, they're at the Padua Hills Theatre for Claremont Community Foundation fundraiser (from The Ravelers' PR dept.):

Hey Now...

The Ravelers are proud to be asked to be involved in several fundraisers this year, providing fun music for great causes.

This one is special for us because we call Claremont our home, and we have been looking forward to playing in the newly renovated and historic Padua Theater! We have peaked through the door and walked in the old theater every time we played a wedding reception or event over the past 24 years...hoping someday it would be remodeled to provide a nice place for entertainment and gathering. That day has arrived!

The Claremont Community Foundation was established in 1989 to serve the longer-term philanthropic needs of the community. The Foundation has awarded grants to more than 60 programs and special projects, enriching the lives of youth and adults throughout the community. Please join us to help continue these contributions...

Friday, March 25- Sock Hop at Padua Hills Theater!!!
Padua Hills Theater
4467 Padua Ave
Claremont, CA 91711
(909) 398-1060

The Ravelers play 7-11pm. Join us at the newly renovated theater for some great tunes, a delicious retro buffet, a cash bar and special surprises!

The proceeds go to benefit the community. Tickets are $50. Click here for more details.

Hope to see you in the new theater!


Hai, Pat, Martie, Rob

The Ravelers
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Ravelers/266682436238?ref=ts

The Ravelers are also at Santa Anita racetrack for the 5th Annual Cal Rods Car Show this Sunday, March 27, from 1pm to 4pm and will be playing between races.

Also, on April 28, The Ravelers are at the Ontario Convention Center for a Campfire Girls fundraiser.



AT THE CLAREMONT FMC


Saturday night at the Claremont Folk Music Center, journey back to ancient Persia, land of poets and musicians:

Saturday, March 26, 2011

JOHN BILEZIKJIAN "master Oud player" show

John Bilezikjian is "America's Oud Virtuoso". Mr. Bilezikjian may be the most prominent Oudist of his generation. He is a master Oudist who has elevated this instrument to the concert stage as well as continues to perform as a folk musician. He has performed for some 51 years on this ancient eleven stringed Persian fretless instrument dating back some 2,000 years. The Oud is performed with an eagle's quill.

$10 (doors@7)

Folk Music Center & Museum
220 Yale Avenue
Claremont CA 91711
(909) 624-2928

AT THE 5Cs

Also, check out the Claremont Colleges calendar to see what's happening at the 5Cs this weekend. The following events are on tap:

Saturday, March 26, 2011

• 7:00 AM - 6:30 PM - Latina/o Student Union 4th Annual Rockabilly Festival
  
  Pitzer College
  1050 N. Mill Ave.
  Claremont, 91711
  (909) 607-7492
  
  Enjoy a day of cars, music and food. Hosted by the Latina/o Student Union.
  
  
  
• For the kids:
  
  10:00 AM - Story Time at the Stone Center:
  Goldilocks and the Three Bears
  
  Stone Center for Children's Books
  Claremont Graduate University
  740 North College Avenue
  Corner of College and 8th St.
  Claremont, 91711
  (909) 607-3670
  
  
  
• 8:00 PM - Senior Recital:
  Eddie Sayles, tenor
  
  Bridges Hall of Music
  Pomona College
  150 E. 4th Street
  Claremont, 91711
  (909)607-2671
  
  Pomona College senior, Eddie Sayles will present his senior vocal recital performing the music of Barber, Donizetti, Ravel, Falla and others assisted by pianist Gayle Blankenburg.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

• 3:00 PM - The Claremont Concert Choir and The Chamber Choir Spring Choral Concert
  
  Garrison Theater
  Scripps College
  Scripps College Performing Arts Center
  
  241 E. 10th Street
  Claremont, 91711
  (909) 607-3267
  
  Charles W. Kamm (Scripps/Joint Music faculty), conductor
  Paul R. Bishop (Scripps performance staff), piano and organ works by Brahms, Britten, Purcell, Whitacre, and others.
  

Bill Gates Video

If you weren't able to catch Bill Gates at Bridges Auditorium last week, Pomona College has posted a video of Gates' talk with Harvey Mudd College president Maria Klawe. It's almost an hour, so, if you're going to watch it, you may want to grab some popcorn before you settle in and start the video:

Bill Gates at Pomona College from Pomona College on Vimeo.

Town Calendar

Now that the city election is over, the Claremont 400 have slunk back to their burrows to lick their wounds and heal up until their next opportunity to make fools of themselves. In the meantime, the rest of us can settle back into our regular lives and enjoy some of the finer things in town:


BILL GATES IS IN THE HOUSE

If your PC crashed recently, taking with it that bloviating blog post you slaved away at all night, you can voice your frustrations directly to the man whose company gave us MS-DOS and Windows. Bill Gates comes to the campuses of Harvey Mudd College and Pomona College today.

Gates will meet with groups of students during the day and will speak at Bridges Auditorium at 5pm. The Pomona College website has all the details:

In "A Conversation with Bill Gates," he will discuss a wide range of subjects with Maria Klawe, president of Harvey Mudd College, and then take questions from students. This event is co-sponsored by the Harvey Mudd College Annenberg Speakers Series and the Pomona College Distinguished Speakers Series.

Tickets for Pomona College students, faculty and staff (one ticket per ID) are now sold out from Bridges Box Office, which is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Limited general admission tickets may be available to the general public, from the Bridges Auditorium Box Office, as of March 1. There is no cost to attend the event, which will also be streamed live on Pomona’s web.

You can watch the webcast here.


FRIDAY FILMS

Vince Turner over at Claremont Community College has invited the community over to his newest event, Friday Night Flicks in the Claremont Village Expansion:

Date: Wed, March 9, 2011 11:32:49 AM
Subject: Friday Night Flicks
From: Vincent Turner

Friday Night! 7 pm!

Flicks!

We're starting Friday night flicks at The Center!

We are beginning with four interesting video lectures showing advancements in technology and how they will affect film making.

If you like watching cool stuff, this is for you. We'll have the chance to discuss these.

Come enjoy yourselves!

101 North Indian Hill Blvd
Building C2 Suite 203

We don't hand out degrees! Because the learning never stops!

--
Vince Turner
(909) 477-1747

FAREWELLS AND NEW BEGINNINGS

Claremont Mayor Linda Elderkin (photo, right) chose to not run for reelection this year, and the City will bid her a fond farewell Thursday, March 17.

That evening, at 6:30pm in the City Council chambers at 225 W. Second St., Elderkin will step down and the three winning candidates from Tuesday's election - Sam Pedroza, Opanyi Nasiali, and Joseph Lyons - will be sworn in. Expect Pedroza to be named mayor and council member Larry Schroeder to be named mayor pro tem.

Come on out on the 17th and see how you like your new council.


AN EARLY 4TH OF JULY

Plenty of fireworks will be on display Saturday, March 19, when the National Socialist Movement (yes, those guys) arrive in Claremont's Memorial Park for a rally and march of some sort. A counter demonstration is also planned.

Here's what the City's website says:

City Response to March 19 Demonstrations

The City of Claremont is aware of the rally and march being planned by the National Socialist Movement and counter rally at Memorial Park scheduled for March 19, 2011. The Claremont Police Department has prepared a tactical plan and is in contact with the organizers. The Claremont Police Department has scheduled additional officers for the day and will be assisted by neighboring police agencies if necessary.

The City of Claremont is respectful of every organization's right to demonstrate and encourages the peaceful expression of differing viewpoints.

The City has a Committee on Human Relations to address and respond to citizen's concerns on issues of diversity. Citizens wishing to contact the Committee on Human Relations to may call (909) 399-5356.

Measure CL Update

CHS STUDENTS TO CL CAMPAIGN:
THANKS, BUT NO THANKS!

A reader sends word that the student paper at Claremont High School had an editorial urging a NO vote on the school district's $95 million Measure CL. One of the reasons the Wolfpacket cited for recommending a NO on CL was that it doesn't make any sense to fund operational costs with bond:

Though all of the 95 million dollars are supposed to go towards the Claremont schools, only about a third of the money will actually benefit schools. The high interest rate of the bond will result in increased prices for basic purchases--If the school was to buy a computer costing $1000, due to the interest rate, that computer would cost the school $3000.

The students are right on this count. Although the Claremont Unified School District and its superintendent, Terry Nichols, have refused to release the financing details for the bond, we do know that the bond proponents have acknowledged that the CL bond will be financed over 40 years and that the total costs, with interest payments, will approach $250 million. The district has essentially stipulated to that much.

So for every dollar we borrow and spend, we'll be paying back more than $2.50. The CUSD board of education's enabling resolution for this bond stated that some of the borrowed money from CL will go towards paying operational costs. It means a ream of paper that costs you and I $5.00 would end up costing CUSD $15.00.

Using the bond money in such a way is no different than using a credit card or borrowing against your house to pay for a car. And like a car, that computer the Wolfpacket editorial referred to is going to be worth much less by the time it's paid off. In the case of a computer, it'd be worth nothing at all, except as a collector's item. Ask yourself how much is your own computer going to be worth in 40 years?

We're surprised to see that many people associated with this extremely flawed district finance plan are affiliated with the Claremont Colleges. Pomona College president David Oxtoby, Harvey Mudd College president Maria Klawe, Claremont McKenna College president Pamela Gann, Claremont Graduate University interim president Joseph Hough, CGU president emeritus John Maguire, retired CMC president Jack Stark, and others like Pomona College professor David Menefee-Libey have all endorsed CL.

Yet, if those same parties tried to run their own institutions with bond money financed as proposed under Measure CL, the trustees of their respective colleges be screaming bloody murder. It's simply foolish to spend money in such a way, and the CHS students are on target with their commentary.

Incidentally, this reminds us of some information buried in that the pre-election polling commissioned at a cost of $35,000 by CUSD earlier this year. The poll, conducted by our favorite district consultant, Jared Boigon of TBWB Strategies, indicated that a bond would have less support among people with kids in Claremont Unified schools than it would with people who were older and who didn't have children attending the schools. We suspect that this is because the closer one is to the actual day-to-day workings of our school district, the less wonderful it actually is.

As they do with most things they want you to pay for, the Claremont 400 have romanticized our schools to the point that their idealized vision of our local schools bears no relation to the reality of the situation.

Here's the Wolfpacket editorial, courtesy of our reader:

Click Image to Enlarge

At the Claremont Colleges

Now that the Claremont Colleges are back in session and are abuzz with activity. The CC Calendar lists all of the goings on:


POMONA COLLEGE ART AND LECTURES

The Pomona College Museum of Art has a pair of exhibit opening receptions this Saturday. The museum's located at 330 N. College Ave. You can get all the details here, or you can call (909) 621-8283 for more information.

Steve Roden: when words become forms

Now through December 19, 2010
Opening Reception: Saturday, September 11, 4-6 p.m.

A Conversation with Steve Roden and Michael Ned Holte:
Thursday, October 7, at 8 p.m. in the Museum,
followed by a book signing and reception.


Project Series 41: Ginny Bishton

Now through October 17, 2010

Opening Reception: Saturday, September 11, 4-6 p.m.
Artist Lecture: Wednesday, September 22, at 3 p.m. in the Museum

Pomona College is also hosting a landscaping working shop by the Sustainable Claremont Water Action Group. The city of Claremont may want to send some representatives to learn about irrigation.

Landscaping with Beautiful Native Plants and Efficient Irrigation

Saturday, September 11, 2:00-3:30pm
Hahn Building, 420 Harvard Ave.
Call (909) 607-2768 for information

The event features three landscapers who specialize in native plants.

EVENTS AT SCRIPPS COLLEGE

The Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery on the Scripps College campus will host an opening reception this Saturday. The gallery is located at 251 E. Eleventh St. Admission and parking are free. For information, call (909) 607-2029.

Luminous Line: Contemporary Drawings in Metal Point

The exhibition includes works by Steve Comba, Howard Hack, Marietta Hoferer, Michael Kukla, Cynthia Lin, Morgan O'Hara, Ben Polsky, Carol Prusa, Lucy Pullen, Susan Schwalb, and Fran Siegel.

Now through October 17, 2010
Opening Reception: Saturday, September 11, 4-6pm
Artist Lecture: Susan Schwalb, Monday, September 13, at 7pm. in the Hampton Room, Mallot Commons

Scripp's Clark Humanities Musueum has two ongoing exhibits. The museum is located at 981 Amherst. For information, call (909) 607-3397:

Rendering the Female Subject

Rendering the Female Subject features works on paper, ceramic pieces, and wood sculptures from the Scripps Permanent Collection. The selection includes Pre Columbian terracotta figures, Satsuma ware, Andy Warhol polaroids, an Alison Saar print, an acrylic painting by Jamini Roy, and much more.

Student curator: Aleedra Price under the supervision of Professor Mary MacNaughton and Kirk Delman.

Now through October 13, 2010
Exhibit reception: Wednesday, September 15th in the Clark Humanities Museum from 4-5pm.


Imaginary Travel to Exotic Lands

Now through October 13, 2010

Paintings and engravings, drawn from the permanent collection of the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery.

As part of its Fall 2010 seminar, "Engagement: Mind, Body, and Soul," the Humanities Institute at Scripps offers a couple events tonight and next week:

Flow and the Quality of Life

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Professor of Psychology and Management Claremont Graduate University

Wednesday, September 8, 2010 - 6:00 p.m. - Boone Recital Hall

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is a Distinguished Professor of Psychology in the School of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences at Claremont Graduate University. Professor Csikszentmihalyi is the director of the Quality of Life Research Center (QLRC). The QLRC is a non-profit research institute that studies "positive psychology"; that is, human strengths such as optimism, creativity, intrinsic motivation, and responsibility. His books include the bestselling Flow, Being Adolescent, The Evolving Self, and Creativity. He is a member of the American Academy of Education, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Leisure Sciences. He is noted for his work in the study of happiness and creativity, but is best known as the architect of the notion of “flow”- a state of concentration or complete absorption with the activity at hand and the situation - and for his years of research and writing on the topic. He is the author of many books and over 120 articles or book chapters. Martin Seligman, former president of the American Psychological Association, described Csikszentmihalyi as the world's leading researcher on positive psychology.


NO IMPACT MAN
Laura Gabbert and Justin Schein, Directors
USA, 2009, 93 min
Co-sponsored by Pomona for Environmental Activism and Responsibility (PEAR)

Tuesday, September 14, 2010 at 5:30 p.m. - Garrison Theater

Laura Gabbert and Justin Schein's film provides an intriguing inside look into the experiment that became a national fascination and media sensation, while examining the familial strains and strengthened bonds that result from one man’s decision to completely eliminate his personal impact on the environment for one year and his wife’s struggle with their radical lifestyle change.

UPCOMING AT THE ATH

M.M.C. Athenaeum
385 E. 8th St.
Claremont, CA 91711-6420
(909) 621-8244
Fax: (909) 621-8579
athenaeum@claremontmckenna.edu

Claremont McKenna College's Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum begins its Fall speaker series Thursday with writer David Oliver Relin.

Below we've posted the speakers for September. The programs start at 6:45pm, except where noted.

Thursday, September 9	David Oliver Relin, journalist; co-author, Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time (2007); "Three Cups of Tea and See How They Shine"
Tuesday, September 14	Haley Scott DeMaria, author, What Though the Odds- Haley Scott's Journey of Faith and Triumph (2008); "Swimming Back from Paralysis"
Wednesday, September 15	Robert Thies, piano; gold medal winner (1995), Second International Sergei Prokofiev Competition, St. Petersburg, Russia; artist on album Live in Recital (2006); Gary Bovyer, clarinet; music faculty, Cal Poly Pomona; Roger Lebow, cello; music faculty, Chapman University, Pomona College, Claremont Graduate University; "Brahms in His Final Years"
Thursday, September 16	Michael Eisner, former CEO, The Walt Disney Company (1984-2005); founder, The Tornante Company; co-author, Working Together: Why Great Partnerships Succeed (2010) and Work in Progress: Risking Failures, Surviving Success (1999); "An Evening with Michael Eisner"
Friday, September 17	James Fuller, professor emeritus of art, Scripps College; "Art Opening and Reception" (3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.)
Monday, September 20	Ken Mehlman, partner and head of Global Public Affairs, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company (KKR); "Why Would A Global Industry-Leading Leveraged Buyout Firm Suddenly Go Green?"
Tuesday, September 21	Jeffrey Bergner, president and managing financial partner, Bergner Bockorny, Inc.; former staff director, Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs (2005-2008); author, The New Superpower: Germany, Japan and the United States in the New World Order (1991) and co-editor, The Taiwan Relations Act: A Decade of Implimentation (1989); "The Rhetoric and Reality of the Obama Administration"
Wednesday, September 22	Angelika Niemz, Arnold and Mabel Beckman Professor, director of research, Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences; co-author, Specific versus Nonspecific Isothermal DNA Amplification through Thermophilic Polymerase and Nicking Enzyme Activities (2008) and Isothermal DNA Amplification with Gold Nanosphere-based Visual Colorimetric Readout for Herpes Simplex Virus Detection (2007); Nina Karnovsky, associate professor of biology, Pomona College; co-author, The Impact and Importance of Production in Polynyas to Top-trophic Predators: Three Case Histories (2007) and Foraging Behavior of Little Auks in a Heterogeneous Environment (2003); Jean Doble, research director, Amgen, Inc.; Stephanie Cropper, M.D.; obstetrician and gynecologist; "Women in Science and Medicine: Can You Achieve Work/Family Satisfaction?" (panel 12:15 p.m.)
Wednesday, September 22	Stephan Haggard, Lawrence and Sallye Krause professor of Korea-Pacific studies, U.C. San Diego Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies; co-author, Development, Democracy, and Welfare States: Latin America, East Asia, and Eastern Europe (2008) and Famine in North Korea: Markets, Aid, and Reform (2007); "Whither North Korea?"
Thursday, September 23	Kirby Daley, senior strategist, Newedge Prime Brokerage, Newedge Group (Hong Kong); "The Economic Outlook for Asia in the "New" Global Economic Environment" (12:00 p.m.)
Thursday, September 23	Claudia McKay '99, microfinance specialist, Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP); Mike McKay '99, former country director, Baobab Health Malawi, "From the Ath to Africa: Two CMCers Share Their Decade of Experiences Abroad"
Monday, September 27	Matthew Crawford, research fellow, Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture, University of Virginia; contributing editor, The New Atlantic; author, Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work (2009)
Tuesday, September 28	William Beezley, professor of history, University of Arizona; co-author, Mexicans in Revolution, 1910-1946: An Introduction (2009) and author, Mexican National Identity: Memory, Innuendo, and Popular Culture (2008); "Mexican Revolutionary Culture: Indians, Anthropologists, Intellectuals, and Calendar Girls"
Wednesday, September 29	Maria Contreras-Sweet, founding chairwoman, Promerica Bank (2006); former California Secretary of Business, Transportation, and Housing (1999-2003)

It Tolls for Thee - UPDATED

A TAXING SITUATION

The LA Times coverage of municipal salaries in the city of Bell has focused a lot of attention on what had previously been an area examined mainly by gadflies. Local newspapers haven't seemed to care much about such arcana and that lack of scrutiny has allowed city governments, including Claremont's, to dismiss citizen's concerns about such things as city employee and city council compensation.

The excesses in Bell, however, have turned up the heat on city councils everywhere, including our little burg. At Tuesday's meeting of the Claremont City Council, mayor Linda Elderkin felt compelled to point out that Claremont's council members only receive a $400-per-month stipend. Elderkin neglected to mention, however, what she and other council members receive for attending meetings of the Claremont Redevelopment Agency or various regional boards the council members serve on, which is where Bell's council members made the bulk of their nearly $100,000 per year. Still, in Claremont, the total compensation is a fraction of what was seen in Bell, and readers can rest assured that Claremont City Manager Jeff Parker doesn't earn anywhere near the $787,000 former Bell City Manager Robert (not to be confused with Ratso "I'm walkin' heeyuh") Rizzo received.

In any case, local cities are now taking steps to distance themselves from Bell, hence Mayor Elderkin's characteristically blissful lack of self-reflection when she declaimed Tuesday night, "We are not in the realm of the Bell councils." As usual, the obtuse Elderkin missed the point entirely. It's not that Claremont's level of veniality can begin to approach that of Bell's. What ever corruption we have here isn't at all of the same sort as Bell. We're not paying exorbitant salaries and benefits for corrupt officials. Rather, here we pay a premium, a stupidity tax, for want of a better term. It's why we four years ago Claremont's ruling class, the Claremont 400, tried to institute a $45 million assessment district to pay for a $12 million parcel of open space.

Our city's mistakes may not be criminal in nature, but they can be costly. Casual observers of our town see what a wonderful place it appears to be, but they don't understand that the same sense of wonder could have been achieved for a fraction of the costs - costs that include untenable employee pension obligations and unneeded or extravagant city services.


ADVICE OF COUNSEL

We also noticed that Bell's city attorney, Robert Lee, didn't escape criticism. The LA Times reported in today's edition that the city of Downey, which also employs Lee, is ending its contract with him and his firm, Best, Best & Krieger, simply because they don't want to risk being associated with the Bell scandal.

As the Times article noted, city attorneys have a tough balancing act. They have to represent the interests of the citizens of the municipalities they work for but only so far as those interests are represented by officials elected by those same citizens - that is, the city council members. So, what happens when a council acts illegally, unethically, or irresponsibly? Should a city attorney speak up publicly, should they resign, or should they be supportive of the council?

The idea that a city attorney doesn't represent citizens directly but rather represents the council majority is one that informs our own city attorney Sonia Carvalho's legal philosophy. Coincidentally, Carvalho also works for Best, Best & Krieger and has also once worked for a city, Colton in her case, that had council members who were subjects of a federal corruption probe about 10 years ago.

Carvalho's legal advice isn't always reserved for the controlling majority of the city council. It sometimes extends to free legal opinions for the Claremont 400, as it did in 2007 when Mayor Elderkin was first running for council. At that time, one of the big issues was the possibility that Vulcan Materials Co. might begin gravel mining operations on land in northeast Claremont. Elderkin had a potential conflict of interest in any city business with Vulcan because her husband Rick is a Pomona College mathematics professor. Pomona College had a small ownership interest in the land Vulcan was interested in.

When that potential conflict became an issue in the 2007 campaign, Elderkin sought and received an opinion from Carvalho that Elderkin faced no conflict of interest. Carvalho, who didn't provide legal consultations to any other 2007 council candidates, did give Elderkin a freebie. Carvalho's legal opinion should at least have been reported as an in-kind campaign contribution, but Elderkin couldn't even be troubled to do that much.

(By the way, state attorney general's office, tell us again why you didn't look into that?)

We believed then, as we do now, that Claremont and every other city in California would be best served finding city attorneys whose philosophies of governance incorporate a greater concern for the actual town citizens, not just the controlling majority of the five elected city officials and the people who in turn control those council members.


BEEN THERE, DONE THAT

One other Bell-related item on the LA Times' LA Now blog was a report that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger called for cities to post the salaries of top officials online.

On this issue, the Insider was way ahead of the curve. Almost three years ago, we obtained and shared the city of Claremont's payroll information from the city's online document archive. The information was posted in the form of pay stub information.

Our advice to Governor Schwarzenegger on this one: tread lightly. For our having posted that very public information, City Attorney Carvalho contacted Google, which hosts our blog, and threatened to take them to court if they did not remove the pay stub information immediately. Carvalho falsely accused the Insider of having stolen the information. Then, after the theft accusations were shown to be false, she claimed the pay stubs could not be posted because they were protected by copyright laws (also a false legal theory).

The Daily Bulletin ended up posting an image of one of the pay stubs themselves, after redacting all the personal information. The Bulletin, unlike the Insider, did not receive any nasty-grams from Carvalho, who did have a heapin' portion of crow to chew on in the aftermath of Paystubgate.

The Claremont pay stub information, incidentally, showed that our city employees were compensated quite well, especially after one includes things like bonuses and benefits - information that the city has never been willing to release and information that is supposed to be public, according to California law.


UPDATED, 2:15PM:

A reader contacted us and noted that yesterday's weekly report from City Manager Jeff Parker had the news that Claremont had started posting the salaries of top city officials, including Parker and the city council, on the City's website. Here's what Parker's report said:

CLAREMONT ADMINISTRATIVE AND COUNCIL SALARY INFORMATION AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC

As the media reports on the City of Bell's salaries for council and administrative staff, residents across the country are discussing the compensation of their own City officials. In accordance with the City of Claremont's open communication philosophy, the City of Claremont makes this information readily available to the public.

Each member of the City Council receives $400 per month compensation and an additional $30 per Redevelopment Agency meeting. The City Council does not receive retirement benefits and during the 2010-12 budget process, medical benefits were eliminated from council's budget. City commissioners are appointed by the City Council and receive no compensation.

As detailed in the budget, the City Manager's annual salary is $211,000 and the Assistant City Manager's annual salary is $165,000. The Police Chief's annual salary is $174,000. These salaries are based on surveys of comparable cities with similar services and populations to Claremont's 37,000 residents. Cities surveyed include Upland, Brea, La Verne, Glendora, Arcadia, Azusa, Covina, Rialto, Montclair, Monrovia, and Chino.

A complete list of salary ranges for each City position is available upon request through the City Clerk's office. For additional information, please call the City Manager's Office at 909-399-5441

Parker fails to inform the public that transparency only goes so far. We still don't get any information on bonuses and benefits, which together constitute a good chunk of total employee compensation.

According to another LA Times article on Bell, the idea of posting the salary information was supposed to be discussed in Sacramento yesterday at a meeting of city managers hosted the League of California Cities. The public disclosure is one action the League thinks will mute the public's ire over the Bell situation. It also shows that the League is more concerned with the plight of city employees than with the concerns of actual citizens.

The Times described the purpose of the meeting as "damage control," which implies the League wants to put its spin on the story rather than considering whether Bell is an extreme example of a wider malaise. The League is an interest group like any other, and its interests lie in preserving as much of the status quo as possible, to the greater detriment of the people who have to actually pay municipal bills.

Farewells

The obituary section of today's Los Angeles Times mentioned the passings of two noteworthy Claremonters.

The first was former Pomona College president David Alexander, who died on Sunday. Alexander ran the college from 1969 to 1991 and is generally credited with taking Pomona to the top ranks of the nations liberal arts colleges. Pomona College's website has a news release on Alexander's death. It quotes current Pomona president David Oxtoby:

According to David Oxtoby, current president of Pomona College, “David Alexander was a passionate supporter of the liberal arts college in America and served Pomona College with distinction, creativity and compassion. During his tenure as president, Pomona solidified its reputation as one of the nation’s premier liberal arts colleges. In finance, admissions, and national rankings, Pomona grew in excellence during David Alexander’s 22 years of leadership. His dedication, his high aspirations, and his moral integrity were at the core of his extraordinary contribution to making Pomona College what it is today.

“It’s hard to think of David without acknowledging his wife Catharine’s contributions to Pomona,” added Oxtoby. “Theirs was a true partnership, and the College has benefited enormously from her warm, wise and ever-gracious presence.”

During Alexander’s tenure, Pomona’s endowment increased from $24 million to $296 million; faculty grew from 130 to 156; and new construction added 15 major buildings to campus. The geographic and ethnic diversity of the student body increased dramatically as the college made the transition from a primarily regional institution to a national liberal arts college with the majority of its students from outside California. The year after his retirement and in recognition of his leadership and commitment to the campus community, Pomona College named its new administration building the David Alexander Hall of Administration in 1992.

* * * * *

The LA Times also reported that Claremont ceramicist Rupert Deese died July 12. Deese was a graduate of Pomona College and later received an MFA from Claremont Graduate School. The Times noted that Deese at one time shared a studio in Padua Hills with fellow Claremont ceramicist Harrison Macintosh and was part of a circle of local artists that included the late woodworker Sam Maloof, and painters James Hueter and Karl Benjamin:

Deese created such functional yet decorative pieces as ashtrays and martini pitchers as well as bowls, vases and other stoneware for the home. The fired clay forms were usually finished with a soft matte glaze in natural colors. One of his cocktail pitchers with a deep blue sheen is in the permanent collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

"He made elegant vessel ceramics in functional forms that were very well suited to the modern California home," Bobbye Tigerman, assistant curator of decorative arts and design at the museum, said. "They fulfilled contemporary needs.... He was very much in touch with how Californians lived."

Deese's pieces also are in the collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, the Mingei International Folk Art Museum in San Diego and many other museums, and have been exhibited at the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas.

Sunday in the Quad with Janet

Official DHS portrait

If you were anywhere around downtown Claremont Sunday morning, you may have seen the parade of several hundred protesters waving banners and signs to protest U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano (photo, right) , who gave the college's commencement address.

As Pomona's graduation ceremony was about to begin on the Marston Quadrangle in front of Bridges Auditorium, the protesters wended their way through the Claremont Village beating drums and shouting protest calls (¡Obama, eschucha! ¡Estamos en la lucha! and ¡Si, se puede!).

The marchers gathered on the steps of the Carnegie Building on College Ave. across the street from Marston and continued their protest as Napolitano gave her speech. The protesters waved banners and signs and a few American flags. They railed against the new Arizona law empowering local police and sheriffs to arrest illegal immigrants and also criticized Pomona College's treatment of its food service workers, who have been trying without success to unionize.

A much smaller group of counter-protesting Minutemen and Minutewomen faced the main protest from the east side of College Ave. and waved their own signs and American flags. A contingent of Claremont police stood in the middle of the street keeping the peace, and there seemed to be plenty of additional private security all around the quadrangle.

We saw a news van from Corona-based Telemundo affiliate KVEA-52 parked near the counter-protest. A reporter stood on a platform with a hand-held mike, describing the hullabaloo for her viewers.

The events made the Los Angeles Times, whose Ruben Vives wrote:

Demonstrators said Napolitano has continued to expand immigration programs that they say were precursors to Arizona's law, which requires police officers to check the immigration status of anybody they stop and suspect may be here illegally.

And LA Newspaper Group reporter Liset Marquez gave a more detailed account of the protest:

The group was calling for an end to what they claim are discriminatory immigration enforcement policies in her department.

"Wherever (Napolitano) and others who continue to support shameful immigration policies go, we're going to be there demanding change," [Pomona grad Nick] Gerber told the marchers just before leaving for his graduation Sunday morning.

After Napolitano concluded her speech, the protest moved on to Claremont's Shelton Park. Some more speechifying ensued, mostly in Spanish, which prompted one sympathetic bystander to remark that the protesters might alienate the general public by not speaking in Spanish and could actually encourage calls for crackdowns on illegal immigration as happened in 2006 after images of large-scale pro-immigrant protesters waving Mexican flags made the news.

We'd have to concur with the bystander. While we can certainly understand immigrants, legal or not, being proud of their heritage, it's also been important historically for these same groups to show that they've assimilated, and language (English) is a part of demonstrating that assimilation. For better or worse, that's just a fact of life here.

Memo to Sunday's protesters: your marketing message may need a little more fine-tuning to resonate with a wider, non-college audience.

Claremont Colleges 2010 Commencement Calendar

The academic year has wound down, and next weekend we say goodbye to another group of graduates from the Claremont Colleges. May they recall their bright college days in Claremont with fondness.




Here's the slate of speakers for next week's commencement ceremonies:


Friday, May 14th

• Baccalaureate Ceremony
  The Claremont Colleges
  3:30pm - 4:30pm
  Bridges Hall of Music, Pomona College
  150 East Fourth Street, Pomona College
  Please contact the Office of the Chaplains for questions regarding this event.
  
  Speaker:
  Jacqueline Powers Doud, Ph.D., President, Mount St. Mary's College, Los Angeles
  Alumna, Claremont Graduate University
  
  

Saturday, May 15th

• Claremont Graduate University Commencement
  9:00am
  Mudd Quadrangle
  Harvey Mudd College
  E. 10th St. and Dartmouth Ave.
  (909) 607-3305
  
  Commencement speaker:
  Heidi Hartmann, president and founder of the Institute for Women's Policy Research and research professor at George Washington University.
  
  
  
• Pitzer College's 46th Annual Commencement
  10:00am
  Commencement Pavilion
  Pitzer College
  1050 North Mills Avenue
  (909) 607-2690
  
  Commencement speaker: The Honorable Cory A. Booker, mayor of Newark, New Jersey.
  
  
  
• Keck Graduate Institute Commencement
  11:00am
  East lawn
  Keck Graduate Institute
  535 Watson Dr.
  (909) 607-0389
  
  Commencement speaker:
  David R. Walt, Robinson professor of chemistry and professor of biomedical engineering at Tufts University.
  
  
  
• Claremont McKenna College
  2:00pm
  Pritzlaff Field
  Claremont McKenna College
  South of 9th St. and Claremont Blvd.
  (909) 621-8117
  
  Commencement Speaker:
  Henry Kravis '67; founding partner of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and CMC Trustee.

Sunday, May 16th

• Pomona College Commencement
  10:00am
  Marston Quad
  Pomona College
  College Ave., between 4th and 6th Streets
  (909) 621-8131
  
  Commencement speaker:
  Janet Napolitano, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, former Arizona governor, former Arizona Attorney General
  
  
  
• Scripps College
  10:00am
  Elm Tree Lawn
  Scripps College
  345 E. 9th St.
  (909) 607-1870
  
  Commencement Speaker:
  Speakers: Sue Monk Kidd, New York Times best-selling author, The Secret Life of Bees,; and her daughter Ann Kidd Taylor, co-author, Traveling With Pomegranates.
  
  
  
• Harvey Mudd College Commencement
  1:30pm
  Harvey S. Mudd Quadrangle
  Claremont University Consortium
  East Tenth Street and Dartmouth Avenue
  Claremont, 91711
  (909) 621-8125
  
  Speaker: Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, longtime president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) and advocate for promoting education within underrepresented groups.

Tuesday, May 18

• Claremont School of Theology Commencement
  8:30am
  Kresge Chapel Green
  Claremont School of Theology
  1325 N. College Avenue
  (909) 447-2552
  
  Service presided by President Jerry Campbell.

Justice O'Connor to Speak at Bridges

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor swings into town tomorrow to deliver Pomona College's 2010 Distinguished Speakers Series lecture tomorrow, March 30, at 4:15pm. The event takes place in Bridges Auditorium on the Pomona College campus.

If you're interested in attending the event, you need to call Bridges at (909) 621-8032. The tickets are free, but they may all be gone at this late date. There is also a two-ticket per person limit.

If It's a Second Tuesday It Must Be Council Night

4PM STUDY SESSION

The Claremont City Council meets tonight, minus the Claremont Unified School District board. The council will meet for a special meeting at 4pm in City Hall's Citrus Room (upstairs from the Council Chambers).

The special meeting will be a study session on "Institutional Zone Parking," meaning the Claremont Colleges, public schools, and retirement communities. Each institution is supposed to provide sufficient parking for the number of people staying or visiting their respective locations. The City has a formula for figuring the number of parking spaces needed.

According to the city staff report on the parking situation at the colleges, Claremont Graduate University, Pitzer College, and Harvey Mudd College have a parking deficit. Pomona College and Scripps College, and the 5C's as a whole have surpluses:

From Pg. 18 of the study session report on institutional parking
(Click to Enlarge)

REGULAR MEETING

Tonight's regular meeting has a number of interesting items listed:

• City Manager Jeff Parker seeks council approval to spend $112,962 for Mobile Data Computers to be installed inside police vehicles, as well as $76,690 to purchase in-car digital video systems for CPD's vehicles.
  
  The City would contract with CDCE Incorporated in Yorba Linda for the mobile computing hardware and with Insight Video Net for the digital camera systems.
  
  
• Staff is asking the council to approve a General Plan amendment and a zoning change that would change the land-use designations for three Caltrans properties along the 210 Freeway from Park/Resource Conservation (open space) to single-family residential use.
  
  The three Caltrans parcels were originally zoned for residential use and were changed to open space in 2005 when the City completed it's General Plan update. Caltrans then sued the City for inverse condemnation because the rezoning took away a potential revenue-generating use for its land.
  
  The parcels are located at:
  
  
  1. Live Oak and Base Line Rd., north of the 210 Freeway.
  2. The east side of Sumner, north of the 210 Freeway (between Webb Canyon and Towne Ave.).
  3. The southwest corner of Monte Vista Ave. and Base Line Rd., north of the 210 Freeway.
     
  
  The City and Caltrans reached a settlement agreement this past January, and rezoning the parcels for residential use was apparently part of that agreement.
  
  On April 21, the Planning Commission denied the considered a recommendation for the changes and denied the request on a 4-3 vote, so the matter goes back to the council. Four of the five councilmembers must approve the amendment.
  
  
• The council will be asked to consider an amendment to the already approved special event permit for the Wednesday night Family Festivals in the Claremont Village Expansion. The amendment would extend the closure on Oberlin Ave. north to Bonita Ave. It would also add one hour to the festival, going from 5pm to 9pm, instead of ending at 8pm. And the street closures would run from 3pm to 10pm, adding an hour at each end.
  
  The city staff report, by Director of Community Development Tony Witt - or T. Witt, as he is affectionately known - also asks the city to approve the use of small, "quiet generators." You've gotta love the way Tony slips in a modifier, as if that really means anything. It's just an old Madison Avenue advertising trick ("New and Improved!") that's meant to assuage the concerns of people in the Village who might voice objections to the generators.
  
  And, as usual, Tony withholds the key information. He doesn't specify what exactly the generators would be used for. Whenever Tony employs this sort of obliqueness in a report, beware! You're sure to be in for big surprise.
  
  This one was fast-tracked by the City and Tony to avoid generating any controversy. It will set a record for time from idea to implementation.
  
  As we wrote last week, this Family Festival expansion seems to mix up the cart and the horse. Witt has based his decision on one data point -the initial April 29 festival night. If you went to the second one, last Wednesday, you would have noticed a marked drop off in attendance, so staff's expansion of the event may be premature.
  
  It's not unlike the Claremont Trolley - magical thinking in search of a staff report to justify it. It's sooooo Claremont! You just have to love it.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• The council is also considering approval of an exclusive negotiating agreement with Jamboree Housing Corp. to develop 75 units of affordable housing on the old Claremont Courier site at 111 S. College Ave.
  
  The proposed development would be a mix of senior and family housing units. 59 of the units would be reserved for very low-income residents, and 19 units would be for low-income tenants.
  
  The landlord would be obliged by the agreement to give preference to families with at least one household member who works in Claremont. One should remember that this preference is only good for the initial leases. When the units turn over, there is no preference. With residency length in our area averaging around seven years, according to Councilmember Peter Yao, after that time we can expect the local preference to have been thrown out the window.
  
  
• Lastly, the council will discuss the Metropolitan Water District's model water conservation ordinance. With the state entering its third year of drought, MWD is restricting the amount of water available for purchase by agencies like Three Valleys Municipal Water District.
  
  MWD has asked local government and water agencies to adopt water conservation ordinances to help reduce water consumption. The City is looking to vote on an ordinance by June 9, and implementing the ordinance will require the cooperation of Three Valleys and our local water company, Golden State Water.
  
  We've heard through the jungle drums that one of the proposals may included spying on your neighbors. Thank you, Tim Worley, for that one!
  

Claremont City Council
Study Session - 4pm
City Hall, Citrus Room
207 Harvard Ave.

Regular Session - 6:30pm
Council Chambers
225 W. 2nd St.

Call (909) 399-5460 for information.

Coming Soon: Commencement Weekend

Another academic year has come and gone, and in a couple weeks Claremont's education mills will be shipping off the 2009 product models into the job market with much attendant fanfare.

We're still very much a company town or, more precisely, a consortium town, so the pace of life in the Claremont Village will slow perceptibly with summer's approach and the departure of the colleges' students.

In the meantime, here is a list of this year's commencement events:

Friday, May 15th

• Baccalaureate Ceremony
  The Claremont Colleges
  3:30pm - 4:30pm
  Garrison Theater
  Scripps College
  231 E. 10th St.
  (909) 621-8685
  
  Speaker: Scripps Alumna Karen Tse,
  
  
  
• Baccalaureate Ceremony
  Claremont School of Theology
  4:30pm
  Kresge Chapel
  Claremont School of Theology
  1325 N. College Ave.
  (909) 447-2552

Saturday, May 16th

• Claremont School of Theology Commencement
  8:30am
  Claremont School of Theology
  Quad
  1325 N. College Avenue
  (909) 447-2552



• Claremont Graduate University Commencement
  10:00am
  Mudd Quadrangle
  Harvey Mudd College
  E. 10th St. and Dartmouth Ave.
  (909) 607-3305
  
  Commencement speaker:
  James P. Carroll, acclaimed author on religion and politics whose writings and novels include four New York Times bestsellers, two New York Times' Notable Books of the Year.
  
  
  
• Pitzer College's 45th Commencement
  10:00am
  Brant Clock Tower Lawn
  Pitzer College
  1050 North Mills Avenue
  (909) 607-2690
  
  Commencement speaker:
  David Feldman, Emmy award winning comedy writer and performer. He has written for ABC's Roseanne, HBO's Dennis Miller Live, HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher and Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He currently writes for Talk Show With Spike Feresten on Fox. David also appears frequently on NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien.
  
  
  
• Keck Graduate Institute Commencement
  11:00am
  KGI campus lawn
  Keck Graduate Institute
  535 Watson Dr.
  (909) 607-0135
  
  Commencement speaker:
  Myrtle Potter, President and CEO, Myrtle Potter and Company and Former President and COO of Genentech, Inc.
  



• Claremont McKenna College Commencement
  2:00pm
  Pritzlaff Field
  Claremont McKenna College
  South of 9th St. and Claremont Blvd.
  (909) 621-8117
  
  Commencement Speaker:
  Surin Pitsuwan ’72, Secretary-General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Sunday, May 17th

• Pomona College Commencement
  10:00am
  Marston Quad
  Pomona College
  College Ave., between 4th and 6th Streets
  (909) 621-8131
  
  Commencement speakers:
  Bob Herbert, New York Times, Op-Ed columnist, playwright Luis Valdez and Chicago Tribune columnist Mary Schmich '75.
  

• Scripps College Commencement
  10:00am
  Elm Tree Lawn
  Scripps College
  345 E. 9th Street
  On campus lawn - two rows of elm trees
  just north of the Malott Common
  (909) 607-1870
  
  Commencement speaker:
  Gabrielle Giffords, U.S. Representative (D-AZ) and
  Scripps College graduate, class of '93.
  

• Harvey Mudd College Commencement
  1:30pm
  Mudd Quadrangle
  Harvey Mudd College
  E. 10th St. and Dartmouth Ave.
  (909) 607-7924
  
  Commencement speaker:
  Dean Kamen, founder of FIRST, entrepreneur, inventor, physicist, advocate for science and technology.
  

Courier-TSL Faceoff

Left to Right (literally, not politically):
Pepperdine School of Law Dean Kenneth Starr
and UC Irvine School of Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky.

We'd meant to write up something about the March 5th mock debate at Pomona College between Pepperdine Law School dean Kenneth Starr and Erwin Chemerinsky, the dean of the new UC Irvine School of Law. The debate's subject was the Presidental War Powers Act.

Starr came to the debate the same day he argued before the California State Supreme Court on behalf of Prop. 8 proponents who sought to have 18,000 gay and lesbian marriages voided under the new state law.

Tony Krickl covered the event for the Courier, wrote about the goings on in a March 11 article:

Mr. Starr, who serves as the Dean of Pepperdine University’s Law School, was invited to speak by the Pomona Student Union. Along with Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of the new Law School at University of California Irvine, the 2 deans staged a mock debate on constitutional powers of the U.S. President in a hypothetical war situation. Mr. Starr was invited to speak before becoming involved in the Prop. 8 case.

When asked why he would choose to represent a minority like violent death row prisoners rather than “a minority that who just wants to marry the one they love,” Mr. Starr responded, “because you are representing a particular cause doesn’t mean you are necessarily approving of that particular cause.

“[In this case,] I was pleased to represent what I feel is a very important principle,” he added. “That is the sovereign power of the people. However you vote is to protect the sovereign right of the people, until we change that mechanism for amending the constitution.”

After the debate, students gathered in the nearby Smith Campus Center quad to stage mock same sex weddings as a form of protest to Mr. Starr’s visit.

Called “Wedding Under the Starrs,” the light-hearted event featured wedding cake and cider, music from an A cappella group and Mariachi band and several staged same-sex weddings.

Pomona College's student newspaper The Student Life seems to have found Krickl's coverage of the event wanting. The TSL editorial board wrote an opinion piece for their March 13 edition that excoriated the Courier for what TSL thought was a "lack of journalistic ethics," as well as other lapses. The TSL editorial, titled, "Courier Article Shows Unprofessionalism [see page 8]," said this about the Courier article:

The content of the article barely mentions the actual debate, or Ken Starr’s opponent Erwin Cherminsky. Instead, the Courier implied that Starr was on campus solely to field questions about “gay rights and his role in the controversial case being heard before the Supreme Court of California.” We stand on a pedestal of perfect reporting here at TSL; in fact, we are well aware of our own missteps.

We do, however make a conscious effort to cover news items with depth, clarity, and balance. What was published in the Courier on Wednesday was a gross breach of journalistic ethics and reporting etiquette.

TSL felt that the Courier article missed the main point of Starr's visit, which was the mock War Powers Act debate, and that Krickl's coverage wasn't balanced because Starr's comments on the Prop. 8 litigation weren't balanced in Krickl's article by the opposing litigants' views.

Krickl, meanwhile, took exception to the TSL editorial and blogged about TSL on the Courier City Beat in a post titled "Big Talk, Little Content from The Student Life." In the blog post, Krickl defended his coverage:

First and foremost, what TSL editors may not realize is that at many professional newspapers, reporters are limited by page inches or number of words for stories they are assigned to cover. Given these limitations, reporters are forced to focus their articles on the meat of the news while cutting out as much fat as possible.

With the high profile nature of the Prop. 8 case and Starr's role as the lead attorney, clearly the presidential war powers debate was the fat. In showing up for the event, I never intended to cover the debate. I was there to report on any comments Starr might make on the landmark case and the planned protest outside.

And:

The COURIER article did not take any sides on this topic. It never criticized or praised Mr. Starr for his position on Proposition 8 or his role in the case. The article simply laid out Mr. Starr’s positions on the issue, his responses to questions on the topic and provided a description of the student protest.

I'm not so sure I could say the same about the TSL's coverage of the event. In their article (see page 1 and 3), the TSL reporter interviewed or used statements from 4 different people who were directly criticizing Starr, his appearance on campus or Prop. 8 itself.

But TSL's report fails to counter these statements with a single voice of opposition, making the student paper's political leanings on Prop. 8 clear for all to see. Is this the neutral or balanced coverage that TSL editors are demanding?

As Krickl notes, TSL is a student paper, so maybe you have to grant them a little more latitude than you would a commercial publication. Still, TSL has had some notable missteps in the recent past. For instance, TSL's coverage of the Jonathan Petropoulos matter last year, when they ran the wrong painting on the front page, along with some other errors, led to the April 4, 2008, edition being pulled from newsstands.

There have been some other newsworthy things happening at Pomona College, including the banning (and subsequent unbanning) of two Claremont McKenna College students, David Daleiden and Kyle Kinneberg, from Pomona's campus. The ban occurred without much respect for due process and drew a good deal of criticism for the "Ready, Fire, Aim" mentality that Pomona Dean of Student Miriam Feldblum displayed in her mishandling of the situation.

We haven't had much time to explore the banning/unbanning, but we may have post or two on the subject in the coming week. The Claremont Conservative, though, has been all over this issue from the beginning.