Academic Senate

Deirdre Newman Derrill Bodley has every reason to hate -- to hate Islamic terrorists, to hate the injustice of the world, to hate that his daughter was aboard Flight 93 when it crashed in a Pennsylvania field during the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. But instead, Bodley professes peace. On Thursday, the music professor from Sacramento City College joined Chapman University political science professor Donald Will in an Orange Coast College forum to discuss ways to deal with Iraq besides going to war. OCC's Academic Senate sponsored the discussion.

OCC teachers must continue classroom debate Regarding Orange Coast College instructor Ken Hearlson's discriminatory remarks against his Muslim students in class Sept. 18, Joseph Bell (The Bell Curve -- "A lost chance to debate academic freedom," Dec. 27) gets close to the main issue when he says that for a college instructor, "the line between provocation and bullying is amorphous." However, Bell falls short when he says it is "the ultimate responsibility of the teacher to decide if he is crossing that line."

UC Irvine Chancellor Michael Drake and Erwin Chemerinsky — the law professor he had hired, rejected and then re-hired in a week’s time — were reunited at a news conference to announce his re-hiring Monday but both refused to elaborate on why Drake dumped Chemerinsky as UCI’s first law school dean in the first place. Whether Drake’s change of heart will appease some members of the faculty who have been angered by the decision remains to be seen. “We still don’t know what happened or what was said with the people he met and gave him advice,” said political science professor Russell Dalton.

Ready by SJLooking to expand your intellectual horizons -- or simply entertain new ideas -- in the new year? Then don't miss the array of public talks offered by UC Irvine that bring internationally recognized scholars, thinkers and innovators to campus. The university's schools and departments regularly invite experts with interesting backgrounds to talk to the faculty, students and community, giving nearby residents easy access to events that educate and inspire. The public can also attend many enlightening presentations by UCI's own leading researchers.

Send AROUND TOWN items to the Daily Pilot, 330 W. Bay St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627; by e-mail to luis.pena@latimes.com; by fax to (949) 646-4170; or by calling (949) 574-4298. Include the time, date and location of the event, as well as a contact phone number. TODAY Persian Festival/Mehregan 2003 will be held at the Orange County Fair & Exposition Center, from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. in Building No. 8 and the festival grounds. Information: http:www.nipoc.

Terry L. Timmins, an Orange Coast College professor of sociology and anthropology for the past 35 years, has been named the college's Faculty Member of the Year for 2006-07 by a vote of the faculty and staff. The award is being given for the 16th year. Timmins, 63, is an OCC graduate. He joined the faculty in 1971. Timmins will be recognized on March 21, 2007 during a presentation in OCC's Student Center lounge. He'll deliver a 30-minute lecture that focuses on his philosophy of teaching.

Eight full-time faculty members, 15 classified staffers and eight part-time instructors have been nominated for Orange Coast College's 16th annual Outstanding Coast Colleagues of the Year Awards. The 2005-06 recognition program is sponsored jointly by the academic senate and the staff development office. Students and staffers nominated faculty and staff members in three categories. An election is being held on campus today and tomorrow. Faculty and staff are voting. Full-time faculty nominees include Dan Adelmann, professor of allied health and respiratory care; Bill Barber, associate professor of culinary arts; Steve Gilbert, associate professor of computer science; Ken Hearlson, assistant professor of political science; Robin O'Connor, instructor of physical education and athletics; Leon Skeie, professor of physical education and athletics; Terry Timmins, professor of sociology and anthropology; and Donna Westerman, professor of art. Part-time faculty nominees include Chauncey Bayes, photography instructor; Franca Hamber, Italian instructor; Bill Holder, geography instructor; Emily Hung, piano instructor; Mary Ann McCarthy, counselor; Pat Sparkuhl, art instructor; Sandra Stanich, business and computing instructor; and Frank Visco, biology instructor.

He ranks as one of the finest teachers ever to ply his trade in Orange County — or the universe, for that matter! Scholarly, dynamic and witty — as well as a showman and adrenaline junkie — he’s given far more large lecture hall presentations than, say, the legendary Kingsfield (John Houseman in the 1973 film, “The Paper Chase”) or just about any other college professor you could name. A lecture hall warhorse, he’s Tom Garrison, OCC’s marine science professor who’s putting the finishing touches on his 40th year at the college.

Deirdre Newman Like a profligate charge card holder who has exceeded a credit limit, Orange Coast College is trying to rein in overspending by taking a scalpel to its spring schedule. The financial retrenchment is forcing the college to trim about $500,000 in classroom instruction from its budget, said Bob Dees, vice president of instruction. Individual departments will be whittling away sections and part-time faculty at their own discretion, Dees said.

The Orange Coast College student government voted Monday to put the Pledge of Allegiance back on its biweekly agendas, but added that the board of trustees could alter the practice after hearing feedback from students. At an intense two-and-a-half-hour meeting in the faculty lounge, the student trustees listened to — and often expressed — passionate opinions both for and against making the pledge an official item. In the end, by a 3-2 vote, the board opted to reinstate the pledge as an "opportunity" for any attendees who wish to recite it and promised to hold a forum or take an opinion poll in the near future to determine students' feelings on the matter.