SMC's "Final Solution" Against One Jew

My Santa Monica College enrollment for the Winter and Spring 2006 semesters was at 6 pm today. I just went to add my classes and saw the following:

Your enrollment is currently on "Disciplinary" hold.

After the initial shock wore off, I looked up disciplinary holds on SMC's website. SMC's Administrative Regulations governing student services states the following:

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ARTICLE 4400 STUDENT CONDUCT, ACTIVITIES AND PROGRAMS
AR 4410 Rules for Student Conduct

2. Disciplinary Sanctions to Enforce Adequate Standards of Student Conduct [Cal. Ed. Code Sections 76030, 76031, 76032]

Disciplinary sanctions include, but are not limited to, verbal or written reprimand, disciplinary probation, removal from class, ineligibility to participate in extracurricular activities, temporary disciplinary holds, suspension, and expulsion. Repeated and/or multiple infractions may lead to a greater disciplinary sanction. [emphasis added]

When the term "College Disciplinarian" is used, it shall refer to the Superintendent/ President or designee.

D. Temporary Disciplinary holds
A disciplinary hold prevents a student from conducting any transactions with the college, such as enrollment and fee payment, use of library privileges or any other college business. [emphasis added]

The College Disciplinarian may place a temporary disciplinary hold on a student’s college record to:

(1) enforce a suspension or expulsion after the appeal process has been exhausted and the suspension or expulsion becomes final. The College Disciplinarian may remove a temporary disciplinary hold after a student has served a suspension provided that the Student Conduct Appeals Committee reviews and approves the student’s petition to be readmitted.

(2) enable the College Disciplinarian to conduct a thorough investigation of an alleged violation of the Student Conduct Code. In such cases, the College Disciplinarian shall remove the temporary disciplinary hold

a. as soon as the investigation is complete and the student in question is exonerated, or

b. when the student enters the appeal process. In such cases the College Disciplinarian may opt to lift temporarily the disciplinary hold to enable the student to conduct a specific transaction with the college, while the appeal process is underway.

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Well, isn't it interesting that Judith Penchansky is one of the named defendants in our verified petition and complaint under the California Records Act and she also happens to be the College Disciplinarian in charge of placing such "disciplinary" holds on my student records.

Well, according to the terms of the disciplinary hold, I have never been suspended or expelled from school, have never entered any sort of appeals process, nor was I aware that any investigation was pending. In fact, I thought I was exonerated of any fabricated allegations against me given the overwhelming evidence in my favor and Dean Penchansky's own admissions as alleged in our verified CPRA complaint. I finished the Fall 2005 Semester with an A in my Game Development course at the Academy of Entertainment & Technology.

So, has this hold been placed on my enrollment in violation of my rights both as a student at SMC and under the California Constitution? Am I being punished for persisting in my lawsuit to obtain and inspect SMC's public records? Or, am I being retaliated against as a protected whistleblower? Or, are my First Amendment Rights to free speech and free press by and through my SAVE SMC website and two SAVE SMC blogs now being stripped away from me under the guise of alleged misconduct? Regardless of which flavor of justification SMC wishes to serve, my rights are clearly being violated and this violation is done in retaliation and with malice and willful disregard.

Furthermore, I see this as racial discrimination as the first wave of attack against me by AET Dean Katharine Muller and Dean Judith Penchansky occured on May 6, 2005 when I was dragged into a mock disciplinary hearing and wrongfully terminated from my job as teaching assistant to Professor Jim Keeshen, and denied my rights to use the AET computer lab to finish my game design project on the Holocaust entitled "The Roar of the Beast." Being Jewish, this was a moral outrage that I should be vilified on Yom Hashoah, also known as Holocaust Remembrance Day, and denied my rights as a Jew to work on such an important educational project dealing with Holocaust awareness and rememberance.

Interestingly enough, SMC made several statements in writing and held activities on campus promoting Holocaust awareness during this same period of time, so Dean Penchansky was aware that this was a deeply religious date for me. In fact, Judith Penchansky was a contributor to The Shefa Fund which promotes Jewish Social Responsibility during the fiscal year 2002-2003.

Although the scenario and characters are new, the story remains the same as far as racial discrimination of Jews in the educational system. Here's a quick summary of Jewish Persecution in Nazi Germany:

German Jews were prevented from attending public theaters and film shows in 1939: places were denied to them at universities and other places of learning; special taxes were imposed upon them and crude anti-Jewish propaganda was taught and encouraged at lower school level amongst school children. Finally, in November 1938, Jews were barred from attending German schools.



The Nazi's scrutinize the Jews, associating them with the alleged evils of Capitalism and Communism, in this propaganda poster.

Another website devoted to the plight of Jews in Nazi Germany writes:

Children at schools were taught specifically anti-Semitic ideas. Jewish school children were openly ridiculed by teachers and the bullying of Jews in the playground by other pupils went unpunished. If the Jewish children responded by not wanting to go to school, then that served a purpose in itself and it also gave the Nazi propagandists a reason to peddle the lie that Jewish children were inherently lazy and could not be bothered to go to school.

One Jewish boy responded poignantly during a Nazi ideology session at his German school when all were asked to raise their hand, signifying their love for their Fuehrer, Adolf Hitler. The boy, refusing to raise his hand, responded, "Because he doesn't love me."

I guess Santa Monica College does not love me either.

-- Des Manttari, Editor-in-Chief, Phoenix Genesis

(c) 2005: Phoenix Genesis/MBS LP

Feel free to link or print this; just include the SAVE SMC URL: http://savesmc.blogspot.com/

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