Saturday, August 06, 2011

Alice and The California University at Irvine (UCI) in ObamaLand




Posted By CotoBlogzz



Rancho Santa Margarita, CA - You may recall the infamous encounter between Alice and the Cat in Wonderland:

"Cheshire-Puss, would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"

"That depends a great deal on where you want to get to"  said the Cat

"I don't much care where -," said Alice.

 "Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the Cat.

Sounds eerily familiar to what is going on in ObamaLand

Even worse, the California University System seems to be doing an excellent Alice impersonation:  With a downgraded national credit rating, joblessness rate at an all time high and prospects of a double-dip recession, the California University at Irvine (UCI), using a grant from Be Smart About Safety (BSAS) to cordially invite you to learn Spanish.   The BSAS a program is designed to increase awareness of employee safety and provide a  funding mechanism that allows the campus and medical centers to invest in loss  prevention programs and efforts in order to reduce the number of employee injuries was initiated   through the University of California Office of the President, Risk Services (OPRS) in July 1,  2006. 

 Apparently the UCI Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity figures that if English-Speaking employees learn to communicate in Spanish with non-English speaking employees, the work environment will be much safer.  And while learning to speak Spanish, why not make it fun?  For example, the SURVIVAL SPANISH I  is a 12-week class and in addition to sessions on language, the program will offer supplemental sessions on Latino culture.  The cultural component introduces etiquette, foods, music, and information about community  events.

Now, the SURVIVAL SPANISH II class  builds on skills acquired at  the beginning level.  This course is conducted entirely in Spanish,  and focuses upon small-group interaction and real-life scenarios. The instructor is Bill Harvey, a dynamic coach with a theater  background, who will have participants speaking Spanish within the  first three minutes of class.  His adult participants describe him as very interactive, energetic and fabulous.  Bill has  published several books and audio materials teaching Spanish to  adults.

All of this for free!

Well not really.  The cost is courtesy of  Joe the taxpayer,  does not take into account the Law of Unintended  Consequences, and does not provide any insight into the cost of the infrastructure required to support initiatives such as this.   In other words, it is government waste at its best, and why we continue to posit that Liberal Arts Education should be privatized and public universities should strictly focus on Math and Sciences research.

Having English speakers communicate with non-English speakers in Spanish provides a disincentive to assimilate.  Not unlike the extension of unemployment insurance that can act as a disincentive to find a job, for instance.  Then there is the cost develop the trainers – an entry level translator’s salary is around $75.000 – do the math.

So, how about increasing the national debt limit again, so that Congress can pass yet another useless stimulus package and have the national credit rating be classified as junk?


The actual invite below, for reference
 
Subject: Survival Spanish I and II
Date:    Wed, 03 Aug 2011 18:00:52 -0700
From:    Kirsten K. Quanbeck, Asst. Executive Vice Chancellor, Director, OEOD
To: UCI Campus Community, All Medical Center Staff Employees:


The Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity, with the generous support of a Be Smart About Safety grant, is proud to offer SURVIVAL SPANISH I and SURVIVAL SPANISH II at the Irvine Campus. 

SURVIVAL SPANISH I
In this 12-week class participants will learn to speak functional Spanish that is job-related and/or relevant to their professional  needs.  In addition to sessions on language, the program will offer supplemental sessions on Latino culture.  The cultural component  introduces etiquette, foods, music, and information about community  events.

SURVIVAL SPANISH II
In this 12-week class, participants will build on skills acquired at  the beginning level.  This course is conducted entirely in Spanish,  and focuses upon small-group interaction and real-life scenarios.

Course content includes advanced vocabulary and grammar, along with  conversational expressions, interview questions, and business-related  commands.  As always, culture tips are provided and all instruction is  tailored to meet the needs of the class.  

Prerequisite for Survival Spanish II:  Employees may participate in  Survival Spanish II without graduating from Survival Spanish I.   Survival Spanish II is designed for any employee who is already using  some Spanish at the workplace, but would like to reach the next level
of language proficiency. 

The instructor is Bill Harvey, a dynamic coach with a theater  background, who will have participants speaking Spanish within the  first three minutes of class.  His adult participants describe him as  very interactive, energetic and fabulous.  Bill has  published several books and audio materials teaching Spanish to  adults.

The SURVIVAL SPANISH I class will begin Tuesday, September 13th from  10 a.m. to Noon.  The SURVIVAL SPANISH II class will begin Wednesday,  October 26th from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. To ensure a quality experience, the  class will be limited to 30 participants with preference for employees  who have a work-related reason to learn Spanish.

To express your interest in participating, please contact Gecole  Harley at gharley@uci.edu.

(If you are interested in classes at the medical center, please  contact Vanessa Francis at vfrancis@uci.edu for more information.)

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