Louis M. Cruz, Former LBCC Construction Manager, Convicted, Served Time in Texas for Felony Conspiracy to Commit Bribery

The Los Angeles Times reports on my college, "Former building projects manager at Long Beach City College served time for job-related bribery in Texas."

Officials at Long Beach City College say they do not screen employees of private contractors, such as Cordoba and Gateway.

"We don't want to get into the business of trying to intervene in their hiring decisions," said college president Eloy Oakley. He added, however, that the college's lawyers were looking into whether contractors could be required to conduct background checks on employees assigned to the school.

Oakley said he had no indication that Cruz engaged in any misconduct at the campus. Officials of the L.A. college district said there were no problems with Cruz's performance at Mission College.

Pretty interesting. And note this:

At Long Beach City College, Cruz oversaw construction of a new fitness center, an academic building and other projects.

That "academic building" would be the South Quad Complex:

College Budget Update

From Ann-Marie Gabel, LBCC Vice President for Administrative Services:

And at Los Angeles Times, "With budget talks stuck, blame game begins," and "Gov. Brown warns of initiative war if bipartisan talks breakdown."

Also at Sacramento Bee, "Republicans now want election, but won't extend taxes on own." And San Jose Mercury News, "Questions abound over what's next at Capitol."

'Every Baby Is a Little Miracle'

ICYMI, be sure to read my end-of-semester report. This message came through in class meetings, without prompting. With rare exception, abortion was just not cool. And the ones who were down with it were Soros-types poisoned by left-wing blogs and NPR:

Via LaShawn Barber and Legal Insurrection.

End of Spring 2011 at Long Beach City College

Folks following the flame wars with the ASFL progressives will have noticed that variations of the "shitty community college" slur is routinely deployed as if that's some kind of an epic put-down. The only people who ever say such things are leftists. But of course the two-year colleges serve the constituencies progressives purportedly claim to champion, so the attacks once more show the monumental hypocrisy of the Democrat-Socialist ASFLs.

That's LBCC President Eloy Oakley at the clip. And I got a tickle out of a card a student gave me during the last week of classes, where she writes:

I had a great time in class. I was always tired from work but your personality made the class fun, and refreshing ...

She's a very nice young woman, a legal immigrant from Mexico who supports strict border enforcement. I don't think she'd approve of students dropping f-bombs, or their professors who award them for it.

A lot more happened this semester, including a student who ended her pregnancy at the beginning of classes and was miserable for the remainder of the term. During discussions we talk a lot about the right to privacy and questions of choice, when covering civil liberties, etc., so that must have been rough. And it turned out that another one of my students had just had a baby, so her child was just a couple of month old when school started. She talked about her son all the time. And she was so happy. It was enriching and invigorating. I worked with both students very closely. The range of life satisfaction was like day and night, or, well, life and death, unfortunately.

More later ...

Rabbits at Long Beach City College

My college was in the news, on Easter:

Panel on Egypt's 'Facebook Revolution' at Long Beach City College

I'm posting the video as promised. An outstanding event. Folks were quite pleased all around, and I'm proud of my colleagues for putting this together. My talk begins after 49 minutes:

And a write-up at LBCC's Viking newspaper, "Social Confrontation."

Facebook Revolution: The Democratization of Egypt and Changes in the Middle East

A panel discussion at my college today:

The college may upload the talk to YouTube, and if so I'll post it here.

Community Colleges Make Sharp Cuts in Enrollment

My college is discussed, at LAT, "California community colleges to slash enrollment, classes":

Facing a state funding cut of up to 10%, California's community colleges will enroll 400,000 fewer students next fall and slash thousands of classes to contend with budget shortfalls that threaten to reshape their mission, officials said Wednesday.

The dire prognosis was in response to the breakdown in budget talks in Sacramento and the likelihood that the state's 112 community colleges will be asked to absorb an $800-million funding reduction for the coming school year — double the amount suggested in Gov. Jerry Brown's current budget proposal.

As it now stands, the budget plan would raise community college student fees from $26 to $36 per unit. The fees may go even higher if a budget compromise is not reached.

Keep reading at the link above. LBCC President Eloy Oakley is interviewed. And below is Ann-Marie Gabel, Vice President of Administrative Services:

Long Beach City College Announces Cuts, Layoffs

Below is Ann-Marie Gabel, Vice President for Administrative Services, speaking on the fiscal situation last month. Turns out the college administration is making haste on those reductions she's talking about. Budget chopping begins right now. At Long Beach Press-Telegram, "LBCC to Cut 222 Courses Next Fall":

LONG BEACH - About 1,000 fewer students will be able to attend Long Beach City College this fall due to a string of budget cuts that include the elimination of 222 course sections, college officials announced Friday.

The cuts for new academic year also include layoffs, furloughs, salary reductions and the suspension of the golf and tennis programs.

Like schools across the state, LBCC is experiencing one of its toughest financial years in its history. Governor Jerry Brown's proposed budget calls for a minimum of $290 million in reductions to community colleges and $1 billion in cuts to the University of California and California State University systems.

LBCC, which serves more than 30,000 students between its two campuses, is facing a $7 million shortfall in its roughly $110 million general fund.

And that's the best-case scenario.

More at the link.

The college faculty union reached agreement with the administration in January.

Gunman Kills Clerk at Long Beach Liquor Store

This is just three blocks from my college's downtown campus.

And at Long Beach Post, "VIDEO: Long Beach Police Release Chilling Footage Of Deadly Gunpoint Robbery."

Long Beach Police have released chilling photos and surveillance video of the two male suspects who robbed, shot and killed the clerk of a convenience store at 4th and Cherry on Saturday evening.

The images show two Hispanic males in their late 20's or early 30's using a chrome revolver and holding 53-year old Sor Phouam at gunpoint. Only a small portion of the incident is available in the video, but authorities are calling for the community's help in identifying and finding both suspects.

One bystander attempted to leave the store when he saw the robbery but was stopped by the armed suspect. Detectives are asking the bystander to come forward because he may have information about the murder suspects.

The suspects fled east on Cherry Avenue after killing Phouam.

Updates at the link, as well as LBPD tip line contact info.

I'm wondering what Phouam could have done differently. He continues to serve the bystander, and his waving hand motions don't reflect the response of someone taking the gunman's threat very seriously.

Boeing Long Beach

As promised, a follow-up to my piece from the other day, "The End is Near for Southern California's Conventional Aircraft Manufacturing."



Here's the old Boeing 717 plant at Lakewood and Carson in Long Beach:

A wistful view from across Faculty Avenue. Notice the jetliner taking off above Long Beach Airport. And also the flag atop the Boeing corporate offfice, which I looked out at everyday from the old M Building classrooms at the Liberal Arts Campus at my college:

What also astounded me was the massive size of this facility. It's probably close to an eighth of a mile long:

When I started at Long Beach City College in 2000, the plant was humming with activity. Now it's idle, almost like a ghost town.

Here's the view of the corporate offices looking north from Lakewood Boulevard:

Unless global demand picks up, I doubt there'll be much change at the commercial facility here. That said, Democrat Representative Linda Sánchez is working to keep operations running at the Boeing C-17 plant on the other side of the airport:

Long Beach. Rep. Linda Sánchez, D-Lakewood, recently spoke with Dennis Muilenburg, CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security, about how to reverse the proposed 900 Boeing layoffs in Long Beach.



The downsizing, announced late Wednesday, is the latest in a series of reductions to Long Beach's once-mighty aerospace industry, where employment has dropped from more than 20,000 in the 1990s to less than 7,000 today.



Boeing said the cuts are needed to prepare for a reduced C-17 production schedule, which is 14 annually, to 10 beginning this summer.



Sánchez - a member of the President's Export Council along with Boeing President and CEO W. James McNerney - offered her assistance in working with Congress and asked about several options that might help the plant remain operative, such as reforms to export controls and overseas promotion of the C-17.



She also stressed the importance of these jobs to her constituents and the impact the job losses will have on the region.

More later ...

The End is Near for Southern California's Conventional Aircraft Manufacturing

At LAT, "Boeing cutting 900 Jobs at Long Beach C-17 Plant":

Time is running out at Southern California's last major conventional aircraft factory.

Citing declining orders for its C-17 cargo planes, Boeing Co. said it was cutting 900 of the 3,700 jobs at its sprawling Long Beach plant. Barring congressional intervention or a spate of foreign orders — which analysts say is unlikely — the factory is expected to shut down completely by the end of next year.

"There's just not that much of a market for this aircraft," said Scott Hamilton, an aviation industry consultant in Issaquah, Wash.

The layoffs, which the company announced late Wednesday, continue the decline in local aerospace jobs. The industry, which employed more than 160,000 people in Southern California in 1990, had an estimated workforce of about 47,650 last year.

The C-17 Globemaster III, a massive, four-engine jet that hauls 60-ton tanks, troops and medical gear across continents and yet lands on short runways, has been in production since the early 1990s. The plant, next to Long Beach Airport, is a symbol of a bygone era in Southern California when factories ran around the clock building colossal aircraft.

"Our rich history of aerospace manufacturing makes this an emotional day for Long Beach, as the C-17 plant is the last of what was previously a robust aerospace manufacturing industry in California," Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster said.

Boeing once built the 717 jetliner in Long Beach. It was also where McDonnell Douglas manufactured the MD-80 commercial jet. Farther north, Lockheed Corp. produced the Constellation and Electra in Burbank. Now, those facilities have been shuttered.

In recent years, the industry has transformed from blue-collar manufacturing work to more white-collar engineering, concentrating on high-tech systems such as spy satellites, precision missiles and robotic planes. But this work doesn't need nearly as many people.

Newly laid-off workers will also face a tough hiring environment. Unemployment in California stands at 12.4%. In Los Angeles County, it is 12.9%. Workers were told about the layoffs Wednesday, and termination notices will begin to be issued Friday, the company said.

"There are a lot of people upset about it," said Ray Luciani, 60, a maintenance mechanic at the plant. "I'm just hoping to last three more years to get my pension."

My college is right next to the old 717 plant. It's a ghost town around the facility, and it's weird.

More on this later.