I don’t know if the apples are sweeter because of the ‘anticipation’… or, if it was because of the unusually sharp cold snap earlier this year? Fortunately for family unity , the crop looks magnificent and the perennial battle between making apple sauce and apple pies is muted under the avalanche of apples!
So after a couple of huge batches of apple sauce sitting in one of our three freezers, Laura has graciously consented to stand back while I make, strudels, apple flaps, cobblers and… yes… apple pies!
PS. a little drama is over, after several months of looking , Laura found my favorite pair of prescription glasses in the lost & found drawer at HOME DEPOT. They’re fairly unusual in type and prescription… so, Laura is my hero. 🙂
I think it is only right to expect transparency from our public institutions. The fact that so many appear to be fighting disclosure only causes me to wonder what they don’t want us to see. At the forefront of concerns appears to be the many and varied ‘foundations’ associated with the California State University system that seem to have very little external control and virtually no public disclosure of their activities.
Here are two relevant articles that question how well our administrators are using the funds derived from the backs of students, parents, faculty and staff :
At a time of state budget cuts, student tuition hikes, canceled classes, faculty hiring freezes and layoffs, CSU’s lobbyists have been paid to defeat bills designed to shed more light on CSU executive salaries and perks as well as public records. In 2006, The Chronicle reported that millions of dollars in extra compensation was quietly handed out to campus presidents and other top executives as they left their posts.
Trent Hager, chief of staff for Assemblyman Anthony Portantino, D-La Cañada Flintridge (Los Angeles County), said CSU paid the two lobbying firms in 2007 to derail his boss’ bill aimed at full disclosure of CSU salaries. “They got it sidetracked and killed,” he said.
But nearly $400,000 of those funds were paid to the two lobbying firms during months of the year when the firms performed no services for the CSU system regarding administrative or legislative actions, state records show.
A shocking betrayal of the public trust was revealed today by The Santa Rosa Press Democrat in an investigative report about the Sonoma State University Academic Foundation using donated funds to provide huge personal loans to cronies of foundation board members, some of which may never be recovered.
And what about Cal Poly?
Although the ‘giant black hole’ known as the Cal Poly Foundation has no observable event horizon, it is only one of four foundations on campus:
Associated Students, Incorporated of California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo
California Polytechnic State University Foundation
Cal Poly Corporation
Cal Poly Housing Corporation
The question I have is a simple one: should public institutions be lobbying to PREVENT full disclosure of how they do business? Should scarce educational resources in the hundreds of thousands and in the millions pass through the system to benefit a few without full disclosure?
A little known subject for study is the threat of social media on the very fabric of western civilization…. or so they tell us. This goes along with the supposed threat of video games turning our children into ninja assassins and the supposed wonders of bike helmets saving our lives when we run into a semi tractor trailer hitting us at 45 mph. There have always been folks who like to ruin what most of us call ‘fun’ … including making us wear stupid bike helmets which may help you if you run into something no larger than a bee.
Social media has been a wonderful way to communicate with others as well as following the activities of those who wish to share what they do. As a fan of sports and communication, it has been fun to follow the ‘tweets’ of SC football coach Pete Carroll or Twitter’s “Ev”… although these two energized folks make coffee nervous. The truth is that you better like what folks say if you follow them… because they might send you 13 tweets in one day! Besides, like all things …you learn to manage your world.
On a personal note, it is really nice to communicate with family and view their lives ( as they communicate with others and post photos) discretely.
So my advice to fellow Boomers, get on Facebook and slowly — in a phenomenological way — expand your universe to include that which otherwise you might miss in your busy lives. It’s worth the effort.
Let the kid in you never grow up.
Roger Freberg
PS. remember on this diet, you can have all the ‘tweets’ you want!
Well, I am planning to have a great fourth of July… especially when it comes to food. Laura has asked me to fix something very exotic…. American Hamburgers! Oh yeah! Now, science has shown us that this interesting cuisine goes down especially well with Greek Beer so I will have plenty on-hand ( I have some left overs from my corned beef curing process).
Thanks to the men and women who make this celebration possible.
