Feeling powerless? Watch "High Noon" with Gary Cooper

High Noon at the Sacramento State Faculty Senate
Originally uploaded by Brite light photos.

3 March 2005

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The big news around Sacramento today (well, the University anyway) is whether to change the name of the University from California State University, Sacramento, to Sacramento State University, a name that a university 'branding committee' (Yee-Haw!) came up with after several months of surveys, discussions and thumb sucking.
But like so many college efforts, there are lots of folks who weren't paying any attention (or who maybe didn't think it was such a big deal) until we got to the cusp of decision.

And now, NOW, it is to be the cause celeb of the campus, with a big debate in the Faculty Senate, a show-down vote, and probably the sound of the theme from 'High Noon' playing in the background. (Ah! The explanation for the photo with the blog!)

'High Noon' is one of my favorite movies, and not just because Gary Cooper runs away with Grace Kelly at the end, or because he pounds nicely on Lloyd Bridges in one scene, or because he throws his badge down in the dust, a nod to my own dislike of unearned authority. No, it's a favorite movie because the Coop has to stand up to someone/something he's terribly frightened of and, with precious little help, wins against long odds. It's such an American dream story. I play the movie whenever I know I'm going in to face a tough foe. Just the music ('Oh don't forsake me oh my darling') can get my blood up for battle.

The victories around the University are usually much less dramatic, mostly the kind of bureaucratic compromise that is so deadly dull it will put you to sleep - even as you read a blog like this! But the issue of the name of the University has become a big deal because the University faculty and students and staff feel so powerless. The school budget is cut, the governor proposes sinking the faculty retirement plan, reports say the whole of higher education is going down the toilet in a swoosh of 'special interests,' as our body builder-movie star-turned-politician labels anyone who doesn't agree with him.

So the faculty students and staff choose to fight this battle, this tiny sliver because it's the one battle where they actually can get a lick or two in before going down to what they know will be a defeat.

That's kind of an American dream story, too.

American statesman John C. Calhoun once said, 'I would rather be right than be president.' One of his opponents - a quicker wit than Calhoun - said it was unlikely he would achieve either.

On to a viewing of 'High Noon' before the Faculty Senate debate.

mjf

The biggest of waves, the best of the surfers

Maverick competition, originally uploaded by Brite light photos.

2 March 2005

HALF MOON BAY, Calif. - The surfers are out in force challenging the waves and generally having a ball along the California coast.
This is an AP photo shot today of the competition. Full coverage and lots of photos of the event are available at www.sfgate.com.

When the waves are big, you are at Maverick

Surfing at Maverick, originally uploaded by Brite light photos.

2 March 2005

CALIFORNIA COAST, South of San Francisco - The Pacific Ocean has been stirred up big time for the past few days, generating wild waves that would have even given Hunter S. Thompson pause to think about.

This photo, borrowed from a Bay Area newspaper, is a file shot because no photographer has the brass to be on there on the water right now. The waves are too damned big. The spot is called Maverick and people come from all over the world to risk their skinny necks dodging rocks - and sharks - to surf there.

In the meantime, the ugliest of political waves are being made in Sacramento. Our governor is launching initiatives to destroy the pension system and make sure that anyone thinking about going into the teaching profession finds another state to work in.

He's the terminator all right - but he's going to terminate the state before he's done.

I never thought Nevada would look like a good place to live.

mjf

The most looney of Californians

A threat to the ecology
Originally uploaded by Brite light photos.

1 March 2005

LAKE DAVIS, Calif. - The Calif. Department of Fish and Game is about to poison this lake, again, after having tried to rid it of a fish they fear more than the budget cuts of Arnold Schwarzenegger - the Northern Pike.

In the photo with this blog, you see a female swelled with eggs, caught by the anglers of the DFG. Since they started a program to get rid of the fish in the late 1990s, they have drained the lake, poisoned it, spent $15 million (much of it on lawsuits) and killed about 50,000 pike.

The problem is the pike are pretty hardy and if fact there are now more than 100,000 of the buggers swimming happily around waiting for springtime and mating season. And the problem for the DFG is that the pike like to eat trout fingerlings. Every spring the DFG seeds the lake with thousands of trout to boost the fishery and pull in trout fisherman. But, well, the pike are waiting and have a wonderful spring feed right after the tiny trout are dropped in the water.

The DFG apparently isn't smart enough to figure out that promoting fishing for the Northern Pike - considered a great game fish everywhere else in the country but California - might get rid of them more quickly than dynamite or poison.

The DFG has managed to demonize the fish to the point where the public thinks it's a good idea to poison their own water supply.

Californians pride themselves on their dedication to the environment. But in this case, they need to eradicate the Department of Fish and Game and let the damned Northern Pike go its own way.

The full story, published in the Sacramento Bee, can be read at:

http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/12491132p-13346899c.html

mjf