Pictures!!

   Kristy had her digital camera at hand this weekend, so once again there is photographic documentation of our adventures!! First up, the chickens, as seen above, and in three other pictures.

   Secondly, well secondly Matt "Papa Smurf" Wilkerson, Raoul Haeck and Desiree Covey joined Kristy & I for dinner on Friday at BJs and it was excellent. I really liked their "Tatonka Stout."

   Thirdly, Kristy & I went to the Phi Alpha Delta (of UCSD!) Formal at Sea World.

As you can see, I am now so elderly it looks like I'm going bald!!!
(six more pictures from formal)

   In addition to us, there was a contingent from UCLA there. The location and food was extremely excellent. Also, an open bar for an hour -- all this for just $30 / person!
   Incidentally, all the UCI Φ A Δ chapter is not having a formal of their own, but rather going to the Formal hosted by Cal State Northridge. I think some other chapters may be as well, making it a kind of uber Φ A Δ event. At $55 / person and in Burbank, however, Kristy & I decided to opt for the convenient and highly cost effective San Diego one instead.


   And now for our feature presentation, the Coronado Islands!

   Kristy got tickets for the two of us for a nature cruise to the Coronado Islands for my birthday. The Coronado Islands are four rocky islands off Tijuana in Mexican waters. They have only one place of human habitation, plus a lighthouse or two, but large populations of harbour seals, sea lions, elephant seals, and various birds.
   Notable history of the islands includes the use of the one cove in the islands by a pirate during the gold rush, who plundered ships passing to and from the California gold fields. More recently, in 1943, apparently, a Lieutenant L Ron Hubbard, commanding a US Navy patrol boat, bombarded one of the Coronado Islands as an impromptu "target practice." Due to the fact that he was supposed to have returned to port already, he was not authorized to anchor in Mexican territory or undertake any target practice, much less onto Mexican territory, Lt Hubbard was relieved of command. This genius would of course go on to found Scientology. (Maybe he had discovered the Coronado Islands were a secret lair of Xenu)

( Photo Essay: Journey to Coronado! )

Or, of course, you can view these pictures plus more on flickr.

Plagiarism, Embezzlement, Sex & Conspiracies in the Basement!

   I've been trying to resist blogging about this particular scandal for days, but as it continues to erupt I can no longer resist.

   Recently, the UC Davis Campus Media Board¹ appointed the new California Aggie Editor-in-Chief for the 2007-2008 year: Sports Writer Eddie Lee.
   Current Editor-in-Chief Peter Hamilton shortly fired sports writer Eddie Lee. The charge was plagerism. Presently, despite currently fired status, Lee is still lined up to become the next Editor-in-Chief.
   Today a letter surfaced signed by 31 staff members of the California Aggie. It alleges that current E-in-C Hamilton fired Lee because he wanted Campus Editor / Features Editor Talia Kennedy (whom he is having a thinly disguised secret relationship with) to become the next E-in-C.
   Additionally, in the letter, the staff demanded an explanation for over a thousand dollars that are unaccounted for from Peter & Talia's trip to the California College Media Association awards banquet, calling it "tantamount to embezzlement."
   In response, Hamilton has asked for the resignation of all 31 signees of the letter.


   Talia Kennedy is also noted as, while the Aggie reporter assigned to cover ASUCD, having allegedly mated with ASUCD Senator Darnell Holloway. ASUCD history repeats itself.


   Incidently, the E-in-C previous to this, Matty Jojola, is the only one in known memory to have not been involved in a major shame filled scandal. Gold star for you Matty.
   The unfortunate history of Aggie Editor-in-Chiefs is recounted by the illustrious former Chief Justice Fricke in the Case 29 Opinion:

"Currently the Aggie Editor-in-Chief poses a more significant threat to the Aggie than the ASUCD government does -- As highlighted by the recent resignation of Editor-in-Chief Stone over allegations of abuse of power, the near mutiny of editors against last year’s Editor-in-Chief Fuller, the loss of lawsuits by the previous year’s Editor-in-Chief Vo, etc etc." Laabs vs California Aggie ASUCD Supreme Court, Case 29, 02/21/06 (p8)

   In the opinion, the ASUCD Supreme Court noted that the current set-up in effect resulted in ASUCD passing the buck of authority unto the Media Board, who thereupon passed the buck to the Editor-in-Chief, leaving the E-in-C essentially unchecked and free to make the basement a kingdom unto himself (/herself).

   While it wasn't the Courts place to recommend a solution to that problem, it did seem to be that a good solution would be to make the Editor-in-Chief share authority with the two most senior other editors. This way they would be prevented from firing people on a whim, getting into bad contracts that no one besides themselves think are a good idea, and the numerous other hijinks Editor-in-Chiefs have gotten themselves into lately. On any account if the Media Board had bothered to read the Court opinion I'd like to think it might have occured to them that the system needed some kind of fix.


¹ The Media Board is a board of miscellenious persons from University Administration or student media organizations, to which the ASUCD government has delegated governing authority for the ASUCD-run media units (KDVS & the Aggie) in order to provide some separation between the sordid politics of ASUCD, and the sordid politics of campus media.


See Also
The "Budget Hearing Scandal" - What began with mere accusations of people attending budget hearings while high eventually expanded to exposing intricate plots involving dirty secrets and sex.