Posted on 06/14/2005 12:31:15 PM PDT by RonDog
Backers, Foes Await Governor at Local College
Schwarzenegger, who attended Santa Monica College from 1971-74, is expected to speak for 10-15 minutes to about 600 graduates and a capacity crowd of about 5,000 at Corsair Field, according to Bruce Smith, the school's public information officer.
An aide to Schwarzenegger declined to reveal the topic of the speech.
His appearance in Santa Monica comes one day after Schwarzenegger called a Nov. 8 special election to decide the fate of initiatives he backs that would limit state spending, take reapportionment out of the hands of the Legislature and increase from two years to five the time needed for a teacher to receive tenure.
Today's speech comes eight days after about 35 people, including staff members and students, asked the college's Board of Trustees to rescind its invitation to Schwarzenegger.
They would have preferred a "champion of community colleges" to speak instead of the governor, according to history professor Kenneth Mason. Policies backed by Schwarzenegger have made community college education "much less accessible," Mason said.
The plea to rescind the invitation to the governor was merely symbolic because the matter wasn't on the meeting's agenda. Under state law, trustees couldn't vote on matters not on the agenda.
The group, which includes the college's faculty association, various Democratic Party, labor and self-described progressive organizations, plans a march from St. Anne's Church to the school and hold a rally at a campus parking lot at the corner of Pico Boulevard and 20th Street.
A second protest, organized by the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition-Los Angeles, is planned for the corner of Pico and 17th.
The Santa Monica College Republicans plan a rally at Pico and 16th "to show that the ceremony should not be politicized," said club president Ben Eisenberg, who called Schwarzenegger "a positive role model, an example of just how far someone can go with an SMC education."
Club members also plan on handing out buttons and to be at the graduation, for which tickets are required, "trying to cheer the governor on and support him," Eisenberg said.
"Some of the students and faculty members here have tired to make it seem as though there is unanimous opposition to Arnold speaking at graduation. That's just not the case," Eisenberg said. "It's really only a very small minority that has these objections, but they're determined to ruin graduation for everyone."
Santa Monica College interim President Tom Donner said the college is honored to have Schwarzenegger as the commencement speaker.
"He is the governor of the state of California, he is an alumnus of Santa Monica College and he has been very supportive of community colleges. His budgets reflect that support," Donner said in a statement issued before last week's meeting.
Figures from state officials contradict Mason's claim that Schwarzenegger's budgets have made community college less accessible.
H.D. Palmer, deputy director of the state Department of Finance, said Schwarzenegger's proposed 2005-06 budget provides $436 million more for community colleges than the current year. Student fees won't increase, and they remain among the lowest in the nation, Palmer said.
The proposed budget also calls for an additional $10 million for community colleges for the current fiscal year, Palmer said.
Enrollment at the state's community colleges has gone from the equivalent of 1,092,622 full-time students in the 2003-2004 academic year to an estimated 1,134,360 in the 2004-2005, according to Ron Owens, the public information officer of the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office.
Enrollment for 2005-2006 is projected at 1,168,391, Owens said.
The 2004-2005 budget signed by Schwarzenegger provided for a 3.65 percent enrollment growth, while the proposed 2005-2006 budget provides for 3 percent enrollment growth, Owens said.
"Our analysis indicated that this will fully meet access needs for the colleges," Owens said.
Last Updated: Jun 14, 2005
Schwarzenegger at Santa Monica College Commencement, June 14th.
NEED BODIES!
SMC Republicans | Tom Oster
Posted on 05/26/2005 12:04:26 PM PDT by CalGOPTom
Greetings all! My name is Tom Oster and I am the president of Santa Monica College Republicans. This year, we have been fortunate enough to get Governor Schwarzenegger to come to speak at our graduation commencement on June 14th.
At the moment, however, Gov. Schwarzenegger is, as most of you probably know, being relentlessly pursued and hounded throughout the state by far-left groups, unions and other assorted characters. Faculty and staff on our campus, leftist on-campus groups and outside organizations are coordinating to protest and disrupt our graduation.
We mean to oppose them and stand in support of our own graduation. SMC Republicans, formed in 2003, exists to oppose exactly these sort of on-campus antics. Right now, we are looking for supporters and allies to come to the commencement to support us and the Governor and stand against the crazies.
Our commencement will be on Tuesday, June 14th, starting at 5 pm. It will be at Santa Monica College, 1900 Pico Blvd, Santa Monica, CA. Right now, we are organizing when and where we can have supporters meet and be placed.
We can be contacted at smcrepublicans@yahoo.com.
Thanks again, Tom Oster President, SMC Republicans
CLICK HERE for the rest of that thread
Thanks, Ron Dog. Do we have an exact meeting place yet? I am bringing flags.
Media Alert:
Rally for Governor Schwarzenegger at Santa Monica College
. . . ..pdf file:. . . . print this:
. . . . e-mail this:
Tuesday, 14 June 2005
Rally for Governor Schwarzenegger at Santa Monica College--Press Conference and InterviewsSANTA MONICA, CA, (NAMC) - Santa Monica College Republicans plan to hold a rally in support of the Governor during his speech at the Santa Monica College Commencement ceremony on June 14, 5 p.m. Press conference at 4:40 p.m.
Rally for Governor Schwarzenegger at Santa Monica College at 16th and Pico Blvd. at 4 p.m.
SMC College Republicans at 4:30 p.m., on 16th St., midway between Pearl St. and Pico Blvd., by main entrance ticket gate.
The Santa Monica College Republicans welcome Governor Schwarzenegger back to the SMC campus. We pleased to announce our success in getting the governor to speak at commencement in spite of the politically biased efforts to ban him from the ceremony.
We are holding a rally to showcase the enormous level of support the governor enjoys among students and faculty at SMC.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, as an alumnus of Santa Monica College, exemplifies the high levels of personal success and public service to which a Santa Monica College education can lead. His being here honors all the students, faculty, administration, and employees of Santa Monica College, and our state's community colleges in general.
We thank the Governor for allowing the voters of California to decide the critical issues of the November Special Election, and reminding us all that an educated populace is essential for a successful democracy.
Ben Eisenberg
818-312-7447
New Age Media ConceptsNAMC Newswire
Schwarzenegger in Santa Monica (6/14) A.N.S.W.E.R./unions self-destructing,
Arnold to visit FReepers
update: TUESDAY (6/14) Defend SANTA MONICA COLLEGE Grads (& Arnold) from DISRUPTION by A.N.S.W.E.R. ^ | June 12, 2005 | RonDog [and FRiends]
Posted on 06/12/2005 10:53:06 AM PDT by RonDog
WONDERFUL NEWS!
The forces of Darkness which had threatened to DISRUPT the graduation ceremonies
and PREVENT Governor Schwarzenegger from delivering the commencement address at
SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
next Tuesday (6/14)
and prevent the People of California from voting in a Special Election this November
have FAILED, and their rally plans are now self-destructing. :o)
Meanwhile, the "GOOD Guys" (that would be US!)
are getting STRONGER every day!
Please JOIN US at 4 pm, near at 16th and Pico,
and help promote our POSITIVE message:
"SUPPORT ARNOLD:
LET THE PEOPLE VOTE!"CLICK HERE for the rest of that thread
Thanks, Ron Dog.We currently plan to meet at:Do we have an exact meeting place yet?
I am bringing flags.
16th and Pico - at 4 pm.Things may change RAPIDLY, though -- so I am heading over there NOW. :o)
Faculty of Santa Monica College urged to disrupt Arnold
Posted by annajones
On News/Activism 06/13/2005 11:56:18 AM PDT · 39 replies · 742+ views
private email | Westside Republicans-- snip --
And HERE is the "academic" version of throwing a childish tantrum, from an e-mail circulated to all the SMC faculty:
Sent: Wed 6/8/2005 10:02 AM
To: FACULTY_ALL
Subject: Schwarzenegger and Commencement
Greetings Colleagues. I apologize in advance to those faculty members who prefer not to be contacted regarding Schwarzenegger's visit. Unfortunately, the only distribution list we have is FACULTY_ALL. (Note to POSTMASTER: Perhaps you could consider a "CRITICAL_THINKING_FACULTY_ALL" distribution list to satisfy those opposed to the critical exchange of ideas.)
It seems to me that as faculty members we have a particular obligation to our profession, our institution, our community, our students, and to ourselves to not bow down nor remain silent in the face of such an enormous contradiction to our educational mission as Mr. Schwarzenegger's appearance represents.
In fact, I firmly believe it to be an extremely egregious act of disrespect to our graduating students and their families, to passively accept Mr. Schwarzenegger's visit, his policies, and his actions.
Thus, precisely because of the respect we have for the hard work put forth by our graduates and their families, we are ethically and professionally mandated to take an active stand.
Now, more practically: The impact of the stand we take will be judged on the basis of numbers and unity. We all know that the greater Los Angeles (in fact, California) community opposed to Mr. Schwarzenegger's policies will be in the area on Tuesday. Thus, it seems we have a couple of options:
Option 1) join the forces outside the ceremony (I would strongly suggest that we dress in our academic regalia) or
Option 2) participate as faculty on stage (dressed in our academic regalia) until Mr. Schwarzenegger takes the podium at which time we all leave the stage and return when he has finished his address. (Option 2 has the appeal of demonstrating our commitment and respect for our students while also demonstrating our unwillingness to share a stage with Mr. Schwarzenegger.)
Ideally, we would have a critical mass doing both actions. However, if we have small numbers (because many faculty have chosen not to participate at all) and we are split among the two actions, the impact is lost.
Which option do you prefer? The larger the numbers, the more impact our stand will have on our graduates and their families (and perhaps even the "outside world" through the media).
Let's make a decision and make it soon. If you have other options/ideas, share them now. We have less than a week.
Sincerely,
name withheld to protect the feeble-minded author
"Current plans are for them to stamp their little feet, hold their breath until their faces turn blue, and then go pout in the corner."Well, sort of.
That was, of course, MY interpretation of their plans. :o)See also THIS thread:
Faculty of Santa Monica College urged to disrupt Arnold
Posted by annajones
On News/Activism 06/13/2005 11:56:18 AM PDT · 39 replies · 742+ views
private email | Westside Republicans
4:00 pmFrom www.smc.edu/campusmap/main_campus_map.htm:
Our "Let Arnold Speak; Let the PEOPLE Vote!" rally begins.
near 16th & Pico
4:30 pm
SMC College Republicans hold press conference, do interviews.
at the ticket gate on 16th, just SOUTH of Pico
Click here to download a higher resolution campus map
with legend in .pdf (Adobe Acrobat) format.
File size is 156k — Revised March 25, 2005
I also like THIS idea for a sign at the rally:
SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
EDUCATING FUTURE
GOVERNORS
SINCE 1971.
From www.sacbee.com:
...Schwarzenegger, an immigrant from Austria, attended Santa Monica College and often credits his community college education as crucial to his success as a bodybuilder, movie star and politician.From www.smccorsair.com:
...What many students don't know is that the governor was enrolled at SMC from 1971-1974, which might be a reason as to why SMC seems to be his preferred community college.From www.smu.edu:
...And we mustn’t forget the current governor of California: shortly after moving to Southern California from his native Austria, Arnold Schwarzenegger earned seventy-two units at SMC before moving on to success in Hollywood and Sacramento.And, from www.glendale.edu:
...While a champion bodybuilder in the 1970s, Schwarzenegger attended Santa Monica College on his way to a business and economics degree he ultimately obtained from the University of Wisconsin-Superior, according to published reports.
We will have SEVEN HUNDRED (700) buttons (each one of which is two-and-a-half-inch wide) -- that say:The Santa Monica College Republicans plan a rally at Pico and 16th "to show that the ceremony should not be politicized," said club president Ben Eisenberg, who called Schwarzenegger "a positive role model, an example of just how far someone can go with an SMC education."
Club members also plan on handing out buttons...
Ron, good luck to you and all other FReepers and patriots!
Go Freepers!
Just made it home...gonna walk the dog & then head on over....
Looking forward to a report when you get back :)
Just got back from the walk...it went very well. The dog got great exercise & I even ran into some friends drinking at the pub.....and I joined them for a beer. Now, to get ready for Arnolds speech!
So far, this is what I found:
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/11894564.htm
The Mercury news quotes Ben.
One of the pro-Schwarzenegger contingent, Ben Eisenberg, said he believed only a small clique of faculty and students on campus objected to the governor's speech. He said he supported the right of Schwarzenegger's opponents to demonstrate, but was disappointed that it was detracting from the college's graduation.
"This should be about the students, this should not be political," the 28-year-old economics major and president of the Santa Monica College Republicans said.
That site doesn't allow linking....Channel 9 news is getting ready to cover the protests too.
This is the same story on abcnews:
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/news/061405_nw_governor_commencment.html
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