Philip Van Allen and Art Commotion

For our third web design project in Zeny Baduel's ET 14 Web Design class at Santa Monica College, we had to take certain assets and build a web page utilizing tables in Dreamweaver. Here's the Adobe PDF file of the design of the assignment. You can view my final project HERE. For our midterm project, we're going to design a record company site.

Here's a little interesting Academy of Entertainment and Technology (AET) history. First, the logo at the top of the project was the one used in the original AET website. Since Professor James Reilly was the person who designed the original website, presumably when he was a student at AET, it would be safe to assume that he designed the AET logo for the site.

Secondly, notice that the right index features a logo from "Art Commotion." You can view their website HERE. According to the website:

ArtCommotion is a web magazine and resource exposing contemporary visual and literary art. It focuses on the Los Angeles area and features commissioned art, interviews, weekly news columns, reviews, and classifieds. ArtCommotion is committed to expanding the audience for contemporary art.

At the bottom of this website, notice that it states that Art Commotion is published by Commotion New Media, Inc. So, who owns these two companies? A register.com whois search reveals that Art Commotion is owned by former AET Interactive Media professor Philip Van Allen, acting for Commotion New Media, Inc. You can view Commotion New Media's website HERE. A whois search reveals that this site is also owned by Van Allen. Of course, like many AET professors, Van Allen has moved on to teach at Art Center College of Design. His Commotion about page confirms this fact. It's nice to know that AET is still promoting its former professor through a web design project in our class. I guess we now know where AET's loyalties truly lie.

For more information on Philip Van Allen, please refer to the following SAVE SMC blog articles:

A Brief History of the Academy of Entertainment & Technology

The Decline of AET's Entertainment Technology Courses

SMC AET Deceptive Advertising Practices

AET's Degrees of Deception

Academy of Entertainment and Technology Faculty

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

(c) 2006: Phoenix Genesis/MBS LP

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

Technorati Tags: Santa Monica College, Academy of Entertainment and Technology, public schools, vocational schools, web design, Zeny Baduel, Dreamweaver, tables, Art Commotion, Commotion New Media, News and politics, Art Center College of Design, interactive media

SMC's Ongoing Violation of Student Rights and Negligence

Here's the email I just sent Robert Sammis, Santa Monica College Vice-President of Planning and Development in response to the email he sent me the other day. As is clear from Mr. Sammis' email, the District is taking little action to either defend our civil rights or to address the serious issues that demand immediate attention. SMC continues to stonewall us pertaining to its required disclosure of public records and is passing the buck regarding the need to take responsibility for Professor Jim Keeshen's hate speech, threats and retaliatory acts against his students. Is anyone truly in charge at SMC?

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

(c) 2006: Phoenix Genesis/MBS LP

-------------------------MY EMAIL TO ROBERT SAMMIS-------------------

[Editor's Note: Minor typos have been corrected.]

ATTENTION: ROBERT SAMMIS, SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

RE: OUTSTANDING PUBLIC RECORDS, DISCLOSURE OF STUDENT RECORDS IN FULL, AND ONGOING THREATS AND RETALIATION BY PROFESSOR JIM KEESHEN

MARCH 21, 2006

Dear Mr. Sammis,

Thank you for your prompt response. I will briefly address each of the issues outstanding. As to the public records issue, as I indicated to you, I have been trying to locate you unsuccessfully since you moved from your office in AET. In fact this was the second email I sent to you before I heard back. As far as I was informed, my attorneys had been communicating with your attorneys regarding the obtainment of the long outstanding public records. In any event, as the District stands by its position, we stand by ours. These public records belonging to SMC are long overdue and the District waived any objections by failing to respond in a timely manner. As such, all such records should be produced forthwith. So, having made my position clear, please indicate when I can begin to view these public records and other vital records of the District as well as when I can receive copies of the same.

Now, as to the issue of my student records, there are two points I wish to address in response. First, you indicated that I have received "a copy of all material that is currently included in a disciplinary file concerning you that is maintained by Dean Penchansky." I don't know who informed you of this, but you have been misinformed. According to Marilyn Goodrich, Ms. Penchansky's assistant, SMC through Penchansky's Office is maintaining a "very large file" on me. I received only two documents from them recently, both of which were the fabricated informal accusations by Professor Jim Keeshen, stamped received on March 7, 2006. Again, I am asking for the complete file that Ms. Penchansky is allegedly maintaining in her office pertaining to me. I ask that this file be released forthwith to me and that I can pick it up from Ms. Goodrich. Please indicate when I can pick this file up. I have requested this file as far back as August 2005. As such, it should have been disclosed and failure to disclose it is a violation of my rights.

Now, as to your assertion that I should contact Ms. Kiersten Elliot, Assistant Dean of Enrollment Services, to view my student records. I had already attempted that in writing and orally again back in July and August 2005. To date, I have not received my student records. In fact, when I met with Ms. Elliot on or about August 16, 2005, she indicated to me at this time that she had been instructed by Dean Katharine Muller not to respond to me "because Katharine Muller and a couple of other people are trying to figure things out on their end," or words to that effect. Since we're now in March 2006, it is obvious that Dean Muller and SMC hasn't "figured things out" and that the wrongful gag order stands for Ms. Elliot. To date, the deleted student records on my smconline.org homepage have not been restored and my SMC online transcripts have not been corrected since the date I discovered they had been tampered with, both issues which I addressed to Ms. Elliot in addition to the request to view my student records.

Finally, you wrote me the following: "I will respond to your other issues set forth in the email through counsel at a later date." I am curious to which counsel you are referring to? According to a letter by Attorney Joshua Morrison, dated March 8, 2006, he indicated to Attorney Edward Y. Lee to "please direct communications on matters not directly related to this litigation to Robert Sammis." Now, it appears that all these matters are interrelated as the retaliation, the harassment, the stonewalling of public records, and the wrongful disciplinary hold are all directly related to the instant litigation in this matter. If you would take the time to make a simple timeline of events, you would clearly see that each instance of retaliation, abuse of the judicial process, use of police force, false allegations and threats by Professor Jim Keeshen, and general harassment and denial of rights by the District have been triggered by our persistence to obtain these long overdue public records.

My last email of March 16, 2006 addresses many important issues pertaining to the violation of my civil rights and my student rights, as well as the violation of all student rights in general. These matters demand immediate attention and should not be swept under the rug for a "later date." For example, the issue of Professor Keeshen's hate speech against the disabled and his threats to his students in his ET 18 Storyboarding class on or about March 1, 2006, demand immediate attention by the District. Given the fact that he subsequently made good on at least several of these threats after this speech, the District is either intentionally or negligently condoning such wrongful acts and threats by Professor Keeshen and, in doing so, placing the lives of its students (and my life) at serious risk.

Furthermore, prior to Professor Keeshen's March 1, 2006 hate speech, he has either orally or in writing made numerous references to death and other implied threats of bodily harm or injury to me. For example, he has asked me to "just disappear" rather than seek public records. He has indicated that he doesn't want to be "putting flowers where ever they bury you” and “I don't need your death on my conscience.” He has indicated that he wanted me “alive, not dead.” Regarding my request for public records, he indicated that I didn't "understand consequences" and "you’ve dug my own grave for me.” He has also stated: “You will bury me or I will bury you,” or words to that effect. Furthermore, in his alleged July 5, 2005 letter to Penchansky, which I received in August 2005, he wrongfully alleged that I had a gun and wished to kill two staff members at AET. He had indicated that he was blackmailed to write this on fear of job loss. He has recently written that he is on the "ragged edge." As part of his threats to originally write this blackmailed statement, he indicated that he wanted me "alive, not dead."

Taken in its totality, I am informed and believe and thereon allege that Professor Jim Keeshen is a serious potential liability for the school and that he has the very real potential of causing physical bodily harm or death to either myself or one or more of the students at SMC. Given the fact that he has recently abused police force against us, has published "You are an AH" (asshole) and "Gotcha!" in his ET 2 eCompanion course module, and has told his students that he would come after them, get them, have them kicked out of school, and that they would suffer other "consequences," he is obviously not being reprimanded by the District or the SMC administration or you and that he is in fact being encouraged to continue in this destructive vindictive path.

Add to this that the school has allegedly received complaints from students that Professor Keeshen was violent toward women, abusive, and "out of control" and that the District has had this knowledge and has failed to act on it, places additional liability and responsibility on the District to now act to stop Professor Keeshen from harming himself, me, or anyone else. By copy of this email, please advise me as soon as possible what the District intends to do to protect both me and its student body from potential harm or death at the hands of Professor Jim Keeshen and what the District intends to do to reprimand Professor Keeshen as well as to prevent this ongoing abuse from happening in the future.

Thank you for your prompt attention to the foregoing.

Very Truly Yours,
Des Manttari

------------------------ROBERT SAMMIS' EMAIL TO ME --------------------


To: "Phoenix Genesis"
Subject : RE: Violation of My Civil Rights by Santa Monica College
Date: March 20, 2006

Dear Des:

I have reviewed the below email from you. In response to your comments concerning your request for public records, in my letter of January 9, 2006, I summarized the District’s position as to each and every request you have made for public documents. I also invited you to contact me to further discuss your requests and to arrange for an inspection of files as delineated in the text of the letter. Until the email I received from you on March 16, 2006, I have had no contact from you concerning your request for public records. If you want to arrange for an inspection of the files as indicated in the January 9, 2006 letter, please contact me so we can arrange for a mutually agreeable date and time for such inspection. As to your request to inspect your student record, please contact Ms. Kirsten Elliott, Assistant Dean-Enrollment Services, to arrange for a date and time for such an inspection. I am aware that you have been provided a copy of all material that is currently included in a disciplinary file concerning you that is maintained by Dean Penchansky.

I will respond to your other issues set forth in the email through counsel at a later date.

Take Care,

Robert Sammis
Vice President, Planning&Development
Santa Monica Community College District
310.434.4206

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

Technorati Tags: Santa Monica College, Academy of Entertainment and Technology, public schools, Robert Sammis, Jim Keeshen, Judith Penchansky, Kiersten Elliot, death threats, violation of civil rights, retaliation, News and politics, hate crimes, California Public Records Act

Violation of My Civil Rights by Santa Monica College

Here's another email to Robert Sammis. At the bottom of the email is a list of all the relevant individuals and state and federal regulatory agencies that received a copy. Two Santa Monica College Board of Trustees also received a copy. To date, SMC has remained silent to the recent events as has Academy of Entertainment and Technology Professor Jim Keeshen.

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

(c) 2006: Phoenix Genesis/MBS LP

------------------------- MY EMAIL TO ROBERT SAMMIS-------------------

ATTENTION: ROBERT SAMMIS, VICE-PRESIDENT OF PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT
SANTA MONICA COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT, SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

FROM: DES MANTTARI, STUDENT, SMC'S ACADEMY OF ENTERTAINMENT & TECHNOLOGY

RE: VIOLATION OF MY CIVIL RIGHTS AND STUDENT RIGHTS BY SANTA MONICA COLLEGE, RETALIATION, DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION, AND HARASSMENT, FAILURE TO PROVIDE MY SMC RECORDS, FALSE CLAIMS TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, DECEPTIVE ADVERTISING PRACTICES

DATE: MARCH 16, 2005

Dear Mr. Sammis,

I have not heard back from you since your January 9, 2006 email to me. I additionally sent you a copy of the email I sent Professor Jim Keeshen on or about March 7, 2006 and I have not received a response. All my efforts to discover your whereabouts since your departure from your office over at the Academy of Entertainment and Technology have been unsuccessful. I am now emailing you again to formally resolve several issues that I feel demand your prompt attention. Furthermore, by copy of this email, I am exhausting any and all administrative remedies for the respective violation of my civil rights and student rights to free speech, free press, the redress of grievances, and for the obtainment of public records and the resulting harassment and retaliation and discrimination I have received for the very same exercise of those rights.

1. OUTSTANDING PUBLIC RECORDS PURSUANT TO THE CPRA

As you are well aware, I have been waiting patiently as far back as July 2005 for SMC's disclosure of public records belonging to the school district and in its possession, custody, and control. Despite the district's failure to file timely objections and its promises to produce copies and to allow inspection, I have not received the numerous public records that still should be disclosed. I have been more than generous in my extension of time. I incorporate all my previous and voluminous correspondence to you in this matter and make them a part herein as reference. Furthermore, I hold to my position regarding why each vital public record that has yet to be disclosed should be disclosed and ask specifically when I shall be allowed inspection of these files and copies.

2. WRITTEN DEMAND FOR MY SMC STUDENT RECORDS IN FULL

As you are well aware, back in August 2005, I requested my student records orally from Kiersten Elliot who is in charge of Admissions at SMC. I further requested them both orally and in writing in August 2005 from Dean of Judicial Affairs Judith Penchansky. I again requested them on several occasions in the last two weeks from Marilyn Goodrich, the administrative assistant to Penchansky. Ms. Goodrich informed me that it is you who must be authorized to release them. By copy of this email, I now request that any and all student records, including any alleged disciplinary file with all records contained therein, be released to me promptly. Not only have SMC and Penchansky, respectively, failed to release these records to me, they have failed to release them to at least two other SMC students who have requested them in writing. By SMC's willful failure to disclose student records, including disciplinary records, the District is in violation of the provisions as set forth in FERPA and in its own Board Policies governing the disclosure of student records and a student's ability to correct inaccurate information. Please be aware that such a ongoing violation of the FERPA laws may be grounds for SMC to lose its federal funding. Please indicate where and when I can pick up these files from SMC. I should be able to receive them promptly, without excuse or delay, as I have waited since August 2005 to receive them.

3. PROFESSOR JIM KEESHEN'S FALSE WRITTEN ALLEGATIONS AGAINST ME

As clearly outlined in my March 15, 2006 email to Professor Keeshen, a copy of which I recently sent to you, I have been the victim of retaliation, derogatory and defamatory written and oral statements, harassment, and discrimination. I ask that this type of behavior, now sanctioned by the school, cease and desist forthwith. Furthermore, as I stated in my email to Mr. Keeshen, if he is going to stand by his false and factually inaccurate March statements to Judith Penchansky, that these statements by placed on official school letterhead, addressed formally in his official capacity of a professor at SMC, be dated, and signed under penalty of perjury. If he is now so vindictive against me, and so willing to lie to accomplish his harassment and retaliation against me, let him do so under the penalty of perjury. If he is not so adamant, then he should have the opportunity to retract these written false statements. As these two written statements (received by Judith Penchansky on or about March 7, 2006) stand, they are nothing more than informal letters to her of a personal nature and are inappropriate to be sent as such. Let me know what will transpire in this matter.

4. PROFESSOR JIM KEESHEN'S FALSE ARREST ATTEMPT

I incorporate my previous paragraph to you as well as the two emails sent to Mr. Keeshen, dated March 3, 2006 and March 15, 2006, as reference and incorporate them both herein. As I have stated previously, you have received both emails as copies for your review.

As you are well aware, on or about February 27, 2006, Mr. Keeshen attempted under the color of official authority, to have SMC campus police falsely arrest me. This was done in retaliation and with malice and was an improper use of both his position as a District employee and the campus police force. On this same date, he incited fighting words against me in at least one other SMC student. He made false allegations against me to the police in an attempt to discredit my reputation and to cause me potential false arrest and unwanted detainment by the police. Please advise me what you intend to do in this matter. At this time, Mr. Keeshen further allegedly attempted to prevent at least one student from providing witness testimony to the police, shouting repeatedly for her to "stay out of this." At all relevant times, Mr. Keeshen did these acts to retaliate for our written request for equal access to disabled students into his ET 18 Storyboarding course and for my my written request to have infringing material removed from his ET 2 Storytelling eCompanion course module. Please advise what you intend to do about this.

5. PROFESSOR JIM KEESHEN'S HATE CRIMES AND HATE SPEECH

I again incorporate my statements above and my two emails to Professor Keeshen as reference. On or about March 1, 2006, Mr. Keeshen, acting in his official capacity as a District employee, made a hate speech that was derogatory and threatening to his ET 18 Storyboarding students under the guise of an official announcement. At this time, he made this announcement to approximately 20 students who were present in his course. He stated that "autism" is a "mental disease" that makes a student "destructive" and a "problem."

At the time he made this announcement, he knew it was derogatory, false, in violation of student rights to confidentiality, and in violation of SMC's written policies and statements concerning equal educational access and inclusion to public education funded with state, district, and federal money. He knew, or should have known, that SMC has a written policy specifically prohibiting the disclosure of personal student information and the specific identification of a student's disability. At the time he made this statement, he knew, or should have known, that he was violating the provisions as set forth in FERPA and for which SMC is mandated to comply and admits such in writing.

At the time Mr. Keeshen made this announcement, at least one student in his course has high functioning autism and found this statement offensive. Furthermore, at the time Mr. Keeshen made this announcement, at least one student in his course who heard it is registered with the SMC Disability Services Office on campus and found this statement offensive. At the time he made this statement, at least one student identified this statement as pertaining to me and clearly identified it with me. At all relevant times, Mr. Keeshen knew in writing I had auditory processing problems and knew that I had never stated to him that I was had "autism." In fact, Mr. Keeshen was well aware that prior to coming to SMC, I was a therapist for autistic children and by virtue of his statement, he knew I found find it offensive against the disabled. Furthermore, Mr. Keeshen knew in writing, on or about December 6, 2005, that I wished no further harassment, false arrest, or retaliation, nor did I want malicious rumors spread about me. He also knew in writing that I never received any type of SSI benefits and that I wished not to be associated as someone with a "mental disorder." Mr. Keeshen further knew, or should have known, that I do not suffer from any mental illness whatsoever.

Furthermore, on March 1, 2006, at the time Mr. Keeshen made his formal "announcement" to his class, he accused his ET 18 and ET 2 students of being "spies." As such, he threatened them that if they were to quote anything he said, including his derogatory comments about me or the disabled, that he would come after them, have them kicked out of school, get them to the "letter of the law," and that they would suffer any and all other "consequences." At the time Mr. Keeshen made this threatening statement, he indicated to his students that this was "school policy." If this is in fact the District's policy against its student body and the disabled, which I highly doubt it is, then please provide me this policy in writing. I contend that this is not only against school policy, but violates the provisions of FERPA, and constitutes hate crimes and hate speech as set forth in both the California Penal Code and Senate Bills to protect the disabled and others from such abuse.

Furthermore, at the time Mr. Keeshen made his entire "announcement," he did not open it up to intellectual debate or questions, but responded "Got it?" At the time he made his announcement and threats, at least one student felt threatened and that his or her rights were violated. At the time Mr. Keeshen made his announcement, it allegedly sounded threatening, well rehearsed, and derogatory. I met with Judith Schwartz, the SMC Disability Coordinator, and Sandi Burnett, the ADA Compliance officer on or about March 8, 2006 and reported Professor Keeshen's hate speech to them. At the time, they indicated that Professor Keeshen has in fact violated school policy by his comments that "autism" is a "mental disease" and other statements pertaining to student confidentiality. Please advise me in writing what the District intends to do about this serious matter. Furthermore, by copy of this email, please advise me if the District intends to apologize in writing to its disabled students and what measures it will take to protect its students from further retaliation and discrimination by Professor Keeshen.

As indicated, on or about March 3, 2006, I emailed Mr. Keeshen about his hate speech. At this time, I requested a formal apology to his students and me. I also again requested in writing, that he remove my name from his ET 2 Storytelling eCollege eCompanion course module where he had placed it. I indicated that I was a stockholder of eCollege. I also requested that he cease and desist from his retaliation. Despite my written request at an informal resolution in this matter, Mr. Keeshen did not concede to my wishes, but further retaliated later that day by publishing the comment "You are an AH" where my name had been on eCompanion. AH is the universally accepted term for "asshole." At the time he published this comment, he did so with malice and to cause damage to my reputation. At the time he published this comment, at least one student read and understood it to refer to me. Furthermore, there were approximately 84 students enrolled in his ET 2 course that potentially read this defamatory statement.

On or about March 6, 2006, I reported Mr. Keeshen's hate speech and hate crime to SMC campus police officer Mark Kessler. On this same date, I also wrote about this on my SAVE SMC blog. In further retaliation, Mr. Keeshen caused a wrongful disciplinary hold to be placed on my school records by Judith Penchansky in her capacity as a District employee and to cause her to write a letter to me stating that the hold was placed due to Mr. Keeshen's actions. In further retaliation, Professor Keeshen went back into the ET 2 eCollege eCompanion course module and now published "Gotcha!" By virtue of this statement, he was misusing school property and eCollege property with malice for his own personal vendetta against me. To further retaliate, he caused to be issues two false statements against me to Judith Penchansky. By copy of this email, please advise me in writing what the District intends to do about this matter. Specifically, please further advise me what the District intends to do about Mr. Keeshen's misuse of the eCompanion course module. Based on Mr. Keeshen's recent ongoing retaliation, I wrote him an email on or about March 15, 2006, again asking that he cease and desist such wrongful behavior.

6. PROFESSOR JIM KEESHEN'S FERPA VIOLATIONS RE: STUDENT CONFIDENTIALITY

Furthermore, Mr. Keeshen has allegedly violated, on at least two occasions in his ET 2 Storytelling classroom (March 6, 2006 and March 13, 2006), the provisions as set forth in FERPA by allowing other students access to confidential student information. He has allowed students to view other students graded schoolwork and to look at other students personal and confidential information pertaining to a form that he insisted they fill out to obtain money for the school. Please advise me what the District intends to do in this matter.

7. PROFESSOR JIM KEESHEN'S FAILURE TO COMPLETE HIS SABBATICAL

As you stated to me in writing and orally, Mr. Keeshen failed to file the mandated sabbatical report for the sabbatical he undertook with Klasky-Csupo on or about Fall Semester 2003. By SMC's own written policies, he had 60 days to file this report upon his return to work. It is now two years later and no report has been filed. This sabbatical was allegedly supposed to adhere to the missions and goals of the school. Absent a mandated sabbatical report, Mr. Keeshen did not fulfill the District's requirements despite receiving District funds for this purpose. Additionally, this sabbatical was undertaken to provide job opportunities to the students, which it did not. By virtue of his failure to complete his sabbatical, any and all payment from the District to him should be repaid to the District, including any increase in salary as a result of the sabbatical. Please advise me in writing what the District intends to do on this matter.

8. PROFESSOR JIM KEESHEN'S FALSE CLAIMS TO SMC AND TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

Additionally, Mr. Keeshen allegedly obtained under false pretenses, federal grant money by and through the District under their false claims to the U.S. Department of Education pursuant to funds they received under a Title VI-A grant. SMC has failed to produce all the public records, including at least one consultant contract with Mr. Keeshen. Despite the fact that SMC made clear in writing that Mr. Keeshen's role in producing animated language modules was in his capacity as a district employee and professor, SMC allowed him to enter into several consultant contracts in which he signed that he was not an employee of the District. To make matters worse, he entered into these contracts under two assumed names, Animatics and Studio Animatics, knowing that these companies were not registered companies with the State of California or as a dba in Norwalk. Despite the fact that these fictitious companies were not legitimately registered, he used a California tax identification number that he allegedly associated with them for the purpose of obtained public funds.

Additionally, he may have violated District copyrights when he received and cashed payment for this project and placed his "Studio Animatics" copyrights on the project. On its face, the language module CD-ROM he produced in conjunction with the District and its third party consultant, Joan Abrahamson, does not have a single copyright notice pertaining to Santa Monica College or the District in general. Furthermore, on at least one consultant contract, Mr. Keeshen's signature is allegedly forged in violation of California Penal Code section 470. The District knew, by virtue of the well researched written information I provided to the public online and to SMC, of Professor Keeshen's involvement and questionable ethics pertaining to these Title VI-A grants.

9. WRONGFUL DISCIPLINARY HOLD PLACED ON MY STUDENT RECORDS

I incorporate all my previous statements to you and make them a part herein. As a result of Mr. Keeshen's malice, harassment, retaliation, and factually inaccurate written statements, a wrongful disciplinary hold has been placed once again on my SMC records by Judith Penchansky. As you are fully aware, Ms. Penchansky is a defendant in our California Public Records Act lawsuit. Additionally, she has persistently violated my student rights and Constitutional rights and, as such, I wish to have no dealings with her whatsoever. In fact, it is well documented that she has blackmailed Mr. Keeshen in the past to write untrue statements against me in an attempt to wrongfully accuse me of crimes I did not commit and to justify her abuse of the disciplinary process. Ms. Penchansky allegedly has a history of this kind of abuse against disabled students at SMC. In fact, Ms. Penchansky has threatened students with police force and has failed to disclose their student records. As such, I again do not wish to either speak with her or communicate with her via writing. By copy of this email, I am formally requesting that the wrongful disciplinary hold be removed forthwith and that Ms. Penchansky further refrain from her harassment of me.

I find it disturbing that SMC uses the fame that Dustin Hoffman has obtained, in part, from the Academy Award for best actor in "Rain Man" for his portrayal as someone with autism and that Ms. Penchansky, as his cousin, would condone such blatant and derogatory comments by a faculty member such as Professor Jim Keeshen against those with autism. As you are well aware, Ms. Penchansky was a former "Stewart Street" administrator at the time that Dustin Hoffman helped the District to secure $24.8 million in its capital campaign fund. Mr. Hoffman helped to secure funding to pay for equipment in the very room at the Academy of Entertainment and Technology where Professor Keeshen teaches his ET 2 Storytelling course. While the District is more than eager to take this money, they are also not serving the needs of either their disabled students or those in their vocational program at AET.

In fact, by condoning Professor Keeshen's alleged misuse of public funds for his alleged sabbatical and the Title VI-A federal grants, his retaliation, his use of police force, and his discrimination against the disabled, the District is going against the grain of the Academic Senate's Statement of Professional Ethics. It appears that the District is more than willing to enforce its Student Code of Conduct, yet it does little or nothing to enforce its Professional Ethics for faculty, its general policy against Academic Dishonesty, its Conflict of Interest Codes, its ADA Compliance Laws, its FERPA regulations, or its goals and mission statements pertaining to a community of mutual respect and goodwill. Is it any wonder SMC received such a poor accreditation report in 2004 or that the former President of the school, Piedad Robertson, received a vote of no confidence?

I additionally find it disturbing that the District continues to retain a negligent employee such as Professor Jim Keeshen and to allow him to cause harm to his students that ultimately would cause liability to the school and to damage it reputation. The District is well aware of Professor Keeshen's use of faculty, students, facilities, and equipment for his own personal financial interests in violation of SMC's conflict of interest codes. In fact, the District is well aware that Mr. Keeshen stated: "Right now I'm just using them so that I can to finish my film" or words to that effect pertaining to his use of SMC's facilities, equipment, and individuals to complete his animated "Day of the Dead" film and that the school has known this since at least September of last year. Additionally, SMC knew that Mr. Keeshen made the statement "Lying is better than not lying" to his ET 18 students in his class regarding their failure to meet requirements for enrollment in his class.

The District is additionally aware that Mr. Keeshen has willfully violated my copyrights to my work even after the District's attorney, Joshua Morrison, agreed in writing that the District would not use this material. Furthermore, the District knew that Mr. Keeshen admitted to infringing on my copyrights and that he was reprimanded for this alleged academic dishonesty by not being allowed to teach the ET 61 History of Animation course. Despite this fact, the District was well aware that Mr. Keeshen attempted to extort both orally and in writing to me a release of my rights to my copyrighted material. The District is aware that I refused to give into this extortion and that, in part, as a result of Mr. Keeshen's failed extortion attempt, he has caused his further retaliation against me.

The District further knew, or should have known, that Mr. Keeshen has a history of utilizing students to work for him for little or no pay, that he has repeated taken credit for their work, and that he has attempted on more than one occasion to sell this work for his own financial benefit. Additionally, the District knew that when Mr. Keeshen first infringed on my copyrights, and that I wrote a cease and desist letter to both the District and him, that Mr. Keeshen personally deleted vital student records on my SMC online homepage and inside the eCompanion course modules for his respective courses. In any event, the District knew that Professor Keeshen was a liability for the school, had no credibility whatsoever, had been repeatedly dishonest to its administration, its faculty, it students, and to the federal government, and was allowed to continue such dishonesty and to retaliate against any victims who attempted to blow the whistle. At all relevant times, the District and Mr. Keeshen knew, respectively that I have been a whistleblower to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and that by virtue of this status, I am afforded protection against retaliation under the statutes and laws that protect whistleblowers.

The District knew, or should have known, that it made false claims to the California Postsecondary Education Commission (CPEC) pertaining to enrollment numbers and job potential for vocational students in order to obtain public funds and educational center status for the District's Academy of Entertainment and Technology vocational satellite campus. To date, despite our written requests, the District has failed to produce any documentation to and from the CPEC, any enrollment records or numbers, and continues to fail to meet its 500 full time student minimum requirement, failed to provided labor market statistics as set for the California Education Code, and has failed to adequately provided employment and internships for its students. The District falsely promised the CPEC back in 1997 that there were "tens of thousands" of jobs for it students.

The District has further practiced deliberate and deceptive advertising of its AET vocational program and curriculum by falsely offering occupational and career certificates that the school has either not sought approval for by the California Community College Chancellor's Office (CCCCO) or has failed to follow through in offering. For example, I and several other disabled students are enrolled in a Game Development Career Certificate by and through the Academy of Entertainment and Technology that SMC has advertised on more than one occasion in its course catalogue exists when in fact it is not even pending for approval by the CCCCO. By making such statements, by offering deceptive advertising in AET's printed materials to potential students, the District has deliberately and deceitfully violated the guidelines for Vocational Schools as set forth by Federal Trade Commission.

The District further knew, or should have known, that Mr. Keeshen has repeated padded enrollment in his courses, that he has informed me that this was a practice at the school for the AET program, that this was done to inflate low enrollment figures to secure federal funding, and that he explained his enrollment padding scheme to me and that I documented it in writing and reported it. The District knew, or should have known, that shortly thereafter, I have received retaliation by both the District, its employees and agents, and Mr. Keeshen. The District knew, or should have known, that Mr. Keeshen has provided me additional information and documentation pertaining to alleged public corruption and misuse of public funds at SMC's Academy of Entertainment and Technology and that he did this to help me to expose these false claims to the various governmental agencies in charge of investigating this matter and, at all relevant times, Mr. Keeshen supported my efforts and encouraged them in his role as a District employee.

I am perhaps once of the most vocal students at SMC pertaining to the enforcement of student rights. I am definitely the most well published student pertaining to such SAVE SMC Blog and Website. I am perhaps one of the most knowledgeable about the inner workings of the school and the understanding of the laws that both protect us and that the District is under both moral and contractual obligation to abide by. If the District wishes to not only ignore my rights, but to deliberately violate them, I can easily conceive that the rights of other students are easily in jeopardy who have less education, less knowledge, less experience with dealing with its administrators, and less voice and courage to stand up for what is morally right. I sincerely hope that SMC will now have a much needed change of attitude toward it students and that it will implement much needed changes to stop this kind of abuse and to prevent it from occurring in the future. Regardless, I eagerly await the District's and your prompt response pertaining to all matters contained herein.

Very Truly Yours,

Des Manttari

Incorporated web reference to support claims herein:
http://www.vtutorials.com/clients/des/savesmc/aet.html

cc: U.S. Department of Education, Office For Civil Rights

U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE)

California Department of Education
Jack O'Connell, State Superintendent

California Student Aid Commission
Diana Fuentes Michel, Executive Director

Department of Rehabilitation (California)
Dr. Catherine Campisi

California Postsecondary Education Commission
Murray J. Haberman, Executive Director

Federal Bureau of Investigation

SMC Board of Trustee, Nancy Greenstein

SMC Board of Trustee, Susan Aminoff

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

Technorati Tags: Santa Monica College, Academy of Entertainment and Technology, public schools, vocational schools, civil rights, Jim Keeshen, Robert Sammis, Judith Penchansky, FERPA violations, whistleblower, News and politics, FBI, California Public Records Act, harassment, retaliation, discrimination, false arrest, Constitutional rights, public corruption, copyright infringement, false advertising, extortion, disability discrimination, blackmail, financial aid fraud

My Email to Jim Keeshen Re: Ongoing Retaliation

Here's the recent email I just sent Jim Keeshen. I referenced my March 3, 2006 email to him, which you can read in my blog article HERE. We shall see if Jim Keeshen has the moral courage to retract his false statements to the SMC campus police and Judith Penchansky and to apologize for his hate speech or if he will continue his retaliation and harassment of me. I pray that God gives him the courage to admit his wrongs and to remove the hatred in his heart against me, someone who he formally admired, loved, respected, and promised to protect from harm. Is Jim Keeshen truly to blame or is it the SMC administration that first turned him against me with their blackmail threats almost a year ago?

I close with a quote from Jim Keeshen pertaining to his father: "He had a real strong sense of ethics, between right and wrong. He really loved his country, and fought for and put his life on the line for it." Jim Keeshen informed me on more than one occasion that I shared his father's strong sense of morality. I now hope he, too, finds the strength to follow in his father's footsteps.

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

(c) 2006: Phoenix Genesis/MBS LP


----------------------MY RECENT EMAIL TO JIM KEESHEN-------------------------------

ATTENTION: JIM KEESHEN, AET PROFESSOR,
SANTA MONICA COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT
FROM: DES MANTTARI, AET STUDENT, SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

RE: ONGOING RETALIATION, HATE SPEECH, DISCRIMINATION, AND FERPA VIOLATIONS

MARCH 15, 2006

Dear Jim,

By copy of this email, I am formally addressing several crucial issues that have been brought to my attention. I am writing to you in a good faith attempt to informally resolve this situation and to clear my good name and reputation.

On or about February 15, 2006, you allegedly denied me equal educational access to your ET 18 Storyboarding class. Although I had enrolled in this course with you, you switched sections and claimed that the course was full. I am informed and believe and thereon allege that at the time you denied me access, the course was not filled to capacity.

On or about February 22, 2006, you allegedly denied disabled student Dustin Curran equal educational access to your ET 18 course. At the time, you allegedly informed him that the class was full. I am informed and believe and thereon allege that the course was not filled to maximum capacity. Despite denying both Mr. Curran and myself, who were both enrolled to take the course with you, you allowed at least one other student access to your course. You allegedly provided an instructor authorization for at least one student to add your course.

On this same date, you allegedly asked students to raise their hands if they have not taken, or are not concurrently enrolled in, ET 2 Storytelling, a course also taught by you at AET. As you are well aware, ET 2 is a co-requisite for being legitimately enrolled in ET 18. Although several students raised their hands, admitting they did not meet this requirement to be enrolled in your course, you did not ask them to leave. Instead, I am informed and believe and thereon allege that you told them: "Lying is better than not lying" or words to that effect.

On or about February 24, 2006, my attorney Edward Y. Lee faxed a letter to Joshua Morrison, the attorney for Santa Monica Community College District. In this letter, Mr. Lee asked detailed your denial of educational access into your ET 18 course. He requested that you, and SMC, allow both Mr. Curran and myself into your course.

On or about February 24, 2006, Attorney Edward Y. Lee wrote a letter via fax to Attorney Joshua Morrison regarding SMC’s and your unauthorized use of my name and work in his ET 2 Storytelling course’s online eCompanion supplement for Spring Semester 2006. In this letter, Attorney Lee requested that you cease and desist from using my name and my work and that all references to such be removed forthwith. Additionally, you had allegedly created a folder entitled “Des Manttari” that held no legitimate purpose. At the time you posted this material, he knew or should have known that I was a stockholder of eCollege, the third party vendor that provided online course modules and distance education learning materials to SMC.

On or about February 27, 2006, in retaliation and to further harass me for redressing my grievances pertaining to the denial of equal access, you flew into an unprovoked rage and wrongfully called the SMC campus police on me, including police officer Mark Kessler. During the interim period between your verbal attack and the arrival of the police, you caused your friend, Ruth Beckmann, to fighting words against me. At this time, you caused her, either through your words or actions, to make false accusations against me in front of my fellow students and the guest speaker.

On this same date, you allegedly threatened one of your students who was asked to testify for the police. At this time, you allegedly made false representations to at least one SMC campus police officer in an attempt to maliciously have me arrested. At the time you spoke with campus police, you knew your statements would cause a false police report to be filed against me. At the time you spoke with campus police, you knew that you were not stating the truth and that you were falsely accusing me of harassing and stalking you. At the time you made these statements, you knew that they would lead to interference in my education at SMC and would cause me harm to my reputation, humiliation, and emotional distress.

On the afternoon of March 1, 2006, two days after the false arrest attempt, you allegedly made a hate speech against me, and disabled students in general, as a formal announcement to approximately 20 students in your ET 18 Storyboarding course at AET. At the time you did this, you were acting in your official capacity as a representative of Santa Monica Community College. You further accused students in your class and in your ET 2 class of being spies. You further threatened your students that if anyone reported this, that you would come after them, get them, have them kicked out of school, or any other consequences, all of which would be supported by the school under the guise of school policy.

At the time you made this announcement to your class, you knew it was derogatory, discriminatory, hateful, malicious, and patently false. You knew, or should have known, that your announcement was in violation of both FERPA guidelines pertaining to student confidentiality and it was a violation of SMC's policy of confidentiality toward disabled students. At the time you made your threats to your students, you knew that they were retaliatory, in violation of SMC's Academic Senate Statement of Professional Ethics, and would cause your students fear. I am informed and believe and thereon allege that your announcement to your class sounded official, well rehearsed, and threatening. I am informed and believe and thereon allege that you did not open your announcement up to intellectual debate, but made it as a mandate.

On or about March 3, 2006, I emailed you about your March 1, 2006 hate speech. I incorporate my March 3, 2006 email to you as reference and make the same a part herein. In this email, I asked that you cease and desist your harassment against me and I requested an apology.

I am informed and believe and thereon allege that later that day, on March 3, 2006, in retaliation and to further defame me, you went into the ET 2 eCompanion course module and published the statement "You are an AH" where my name "Des Manttari" had been. At the time you published this hateful and libelous comment, you knew it was in retaliation for a student reporting your hate speech to me and for my email requesting an apology. Furthermore, at the time you published this statement, you knew "AH" was the universally known term for "asshole." You knew, or should have known, that approximately 84 students would read this statement and that it would cause me embarrassment and damage to my reputation at SMC as a result.

On March 6, 2006, my attorney Edward Y. Lee issued SMC’s attorney Joshua Morrison, via fax and U.S. mail, a cease and desist harassment notice on behalf of his client, Santa Monica Community College District, pertaining to your recent defamation against me. The March 3, 2006 email I sent you regarding your March 1, 2006 hate speech in your ET 18 Storyboarding was referenced therein.

On or about March 6, 2006, based on your retaliatory actions against me, Dean Judith Penchansky wrote and mailed a letter to me in which she placed a wrongful disciplinary hold on my student records and wrongly accused me of allegedly violating the student code of conduct. Later that day, to celebrate your successful retaliation against me, I am informed and believe and thereon allege that you published in your ET 2 eCompanion the following comment: "Gotcha!" At the time you published this comment, you knew that potentially 84 students enrolled in your course would read this comment. Furthermore, at the time you published this comment, you knew, or should have known, that I was a stockholder of eCollege.com, Inc., the third party distance education vendor that provides eCompanion for use in your SMC ET 2 course.

Furthermore, at the time you made your hate speech and published these comments to defame and harass me, you knew that approximately 10 students were concurrently enrolled in your ET 2 and ET 18 course and understood that all your retaliation, harassment, threats, and discrimination were directed at me. At the time you made this hate speech, you knew, or should have known, that your speech was in violation of SMC's mission statement governing an educational environment of goodwill and mutual respect. At the time you made this hate speech, you knew, or should have known, that this was a violation of SMC's written policies pertaining to hate crimes and hate speech.

On the evening of March 6, 2006, I once again attended the Mary Pickford Speaker Series, held in your ET 2 Storytelling classroom. At this time, you allegedly violated FERPA guidelines pertaining to student confidentiality. During your class, you allegedly handed your students an accordion file filled with graded student quizzes and homework. Although it was divided by alphabetical sections, students were allegedly allowed to rummage through it to find their graded work. You allegedly stated that students are not often up to this task, implying that students pull out other students' work by mistake.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student educational records. According to the law: “It is also a FERPA violation to leave graded student work where others can view it or to return a student’s graded work by having another student pick it up. This means, for example, that faculty cannot have students search through a stack of other students’ papers to find their own, and that they cannot have students claim papers from a box in a hallway or departmental office.”

Pursuant to the provisions of FERPA, by handing out an accordion file to your ET 2 class and instructing them to go through a stack of papers to find their name, you allegedly violated the provisions of FERPA pertaining to disclosure. When I was your teaching assistant in both your ET 2 Storytelling and ET 61 History of Animation, I witnessed you do this on many occasions in your classroom. At the time, you never informed me that this was a violation of student confidentiality.

On this same date, you allegedly violated SMC's written disability policies by offering unlimited time to take quizzes and unlimited time to take quizzes in your ET 2 eCompanion course module. SMC's policy states: "Never offer unlimited time on tests as an accommodation. Never offer untimed tests. If extra exam time seems like a necessity for accommodation, offer it as extended time."

On this same date, you allegedly maintained published false information on your ET 2 eCompanion in your online course syllabus. In writing, you stated that you both "produced and directed the pilot for FAMILY GUY." At the time you published this statement, you knew, or should have known, that it was false. At the time this statement was published, you knew, or should have known, that Seth MacFarlane is the only person listed on the credits of the pilot as a director. At the time you published this, you allegedly made these false statements in conscious disregard for the truth and to elevate your credentials to your students. At the time you published this, you knew that this was an alleged violation of faculty ethics pertaining to academic honesty.

On or about March 7, 2006, you allegedly caused to be received two written statements by you pertaining to me to be received by SMC's office of Judicial Affairs and Judith Penchansky. One of these statements pertains to alleged incidents occurring on or about February 27, 2006. The other statement pertains to alleged incidents occurring on or about March 6, 2006. Both these statements are addressed to "Judy" and signed by you. Both these statements are informal, not on official school letterhead, not formally addressed, undated, and not signed under penalty of perjury.

At the time you allegedly wrote and caused these statements to be filed with SMC's Office of Judicial Affairs, you knew that they were factually inaccurate. At the time you wrote these statements, you knew or should have known, that they contained carefully constructed lies that would cause me harm. At the time you wrote these statements, you knew that you were writing them to cause interference with my education at SMC, to harass me, and in retaliation against me for the exercise of my various constitutionally protected rights, including but not limited to, the exercise of free speech, free press, the redress of grievances, and the pursuit of public records belonging to Santa Monica Community College District.

On or about March 13, 2006, in your ET 2 Storytelling class, you once again allegedly violated FERPA guidelines pertaining to student confidentiality. I am informed and believe and thereon allege that on that date, you requested that your ET 2 students fill out a form that requested all their personal information. I am informed and believe and thereon allege that you indicated to your students that this was for money for the school and that the form was being sent to the Chancellor's Office.

I am informed and believe and thereon allege that you instructed your students that the more forms they fill out, the more money the school will receive, and that students were encouraged to fill out duplicate forms. I am informed and believe and thereon allege that you instructed your students to pass them to the end of the row, thus allowing other students to view confidential information of other students in violation of FERPA. You knew, or should have known, by allegedly asking your students to duplicate forms, that you were asking them to participate in academic dishonesty and financial aid fraud.

I am informed and believe and thereon allege that you placed student work in an accordion paper file and that you made your students go to the front of the classroom to retrieve their graded homework and grades quizzes. I am informed and believe and thereon allege that you allowed students to rummage through other students graded schoolwork, thus again violating the provisions of FERPA pertaining to student confidentiality.

At the time you made the alleged FERPA violations on all relevant dates discussed herein, you knew, or should have known, that you were deliberately jeopardizing SMC's federal funding and violating the rights of your students. You knew, or should have known, that FERPA expressly prohibits the funding of an education institution that has a practice of disclosing educational records, or the personally identifiable information contained in those records, to unauthorized individuals without the consent of the student.

By copy of this email, I formally request the following from you: (1) That you cease your defamation, harassment, and retaliation against me; (2) That you cease and desist using unwarranted police force against me; (3) That you cease and desist making false allegations against me, both orally and in writing; (4) That you cease your derogatory comments against me, both orally and in writing; (5) That you cease and desist your violation of my confidentiality and other students confidentiality as set forth in FERPA and in any and all written policies at SMC; (6) That you provide me with a written apology for your alleged derogatory comments, both published and unpublished; (7) That you retract in writing your false statements you made to the campus police; (8) That you retract your two recent written statements you caused to be filed with the Office of Judicial Affairs and Judith Penchansky; (8) That you cease and desist your abuse and misrepresentations of the eCollege eCompanion course modules in any and all of your courses; (9) That you cease and desist your deliberate interference with my education at SMC; (10) That you correct the false information on eCompanion pertaining to your misrepresentation that you directed the Family Guy pilot; (11) That you remove any and all work done by me that you still may have on your ET 2 eCompanion course module; and (12) That I be allowed to enjoy the Mary Pickford Speaker Series in peace now and in the future.

If you wish to stand by your false statements to the campus police and your two false written statements to Judith Penchansky as referenced herein, then I hereby request that you address these statements formally: on official Santa Monica College letterhead, in your capacity as a professor of Santa Monica College, addressed to Judith Penchansky in her official capacity, that you date these statements, and that you sign them under penalty of perjury.

Also, if you stand by your March 1, 2006 "announcement" you made to your ET 18 students and do not wish to retract your statements or offer an explanation or apology to me or your students in writing, that I request you place these statements in writing, on school letterhead, in your official capacity as a professor of Santa Monica College, that you date your statement and sign it under penalty of perjury and mail a copy to me for my records. You can obtain my mailing address from Judith Penchansky.

Absent any sort of written response from you in the near future, I will assume that my allegations are true and correct and that you agree to abide by my requests to cease and desist your unprofessional and unethical behavior. If you have any personal issues with me that are causing you to retaliate with such hostility, the school environment is not the proper venue to address these concerns nor it is the proper vehicle to vent your hatred. Your recent words and actions are only causing ongoing potential and severe liability for the school and damage to me as a student and tarnishing the reputation of the Academy of Entertainment and Technology and Santa Monica Community College.

Thank you for your prompt understanding and attention to the foregoing.

Very Truly Yours, Des


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

Technorati Tags: Santa Monica College, Academy of Entertainment and Technology, false arrest, Jim Keeshen, civil rights, hate speech, Constitutional rights, student rights, retaliation, harassment, News and politics, FERPA violations, Judith Penchansky

SMC Defamation Cease and Desist Legal Notice

Here's another cease and desist letter my attorneys sent Santa Monica Community College District's attorney Joshua Morrison on March 6, 2006. This letter pertains to the hate speech Jim Keeshen gave on March 1, 2006 to his ET 18 Storyboarding class at SMC's Academy of Entertainment and Technology. It references the email I sent Jim Keeshen on March 3, 2006. You can view the Adobe PDF of the cease and desist notice HERE. Please note that Keeshen's name was misspelled on the attorney letter as "Keeshan." For further information, please refer to our blog articles "SMC Professor Jim Keeshen's Hate Speech Against the Disabled" and "Unlawful Retaliatory Discrimination by Jim Keeshen."

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

(c) 2006: Phoenix Genesis/MBS LP

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

Technorati Tags: Santa Monica College, Academy of Entertainment and Technology, public schools, vocational schools, legal, Jim Keeshen, cease and desist notice, defamation, hate speech, slander, News and politics, storyboarding, Joshua Morrison

SMC Compliance With Disability Laws and Grants

As usual, a picture speaks a thousand words. Here's a screenshot I recently took from Santa Monica College's Disabled Student Center webpage for Compliance with Disability Laws.



Notice that this screenshot demonstrates that this webpage has been under construction for three long years. Obviously, compliance with disability laws is not a priority at SMC. Compare this screenshot with the one in our blog article "Picture of Professionalism" for SMC's inquiry letter to the U.S. Department of Education. In fact, when I ran a SMC Google search for "Compliance with Disability Laws," I found nothing that would show SMC is committed to complying with these laws. The first search page returned was for the one shown above.

According to SMC's Standard IIA for Instructional Programs:

Most Emeritus students have some type of disability, either apparent or hidden, or have restricted mobility due to age-related factors. The Pathfinders Program, a California State Exemplary Program serves individuals who have suffered a stroke, head injury or brain damage. Specialized speech and exercise classes are offered to these students. In addition, an innovative speech enhancement program is offered in the program’s computer lab, using specialized speech software for aphasics.

Who is the ultimate administrative power behind the Emeritus students? None other than Dean of External Programs, Katharine Muller. According to the SMC Academic Affairs webpage, she is: "responsible for coordinating the operations of the College’s satellite locations and the academic programs and related student services that take place at these sites. Current off-campus areas include the Academy of Entertainment and Technology, Emeritus College, Center for Design, Center for the Humanities and the College of Design, Art, and Architecture." Perhaps that has a lot to explain about the alleged violation of disabled student rights at the Academy of Entertainment and Technology. To date, Katharine Muller has not responded to the email I forwarded her concerning AET Professor Jim Keeshen's hate speech against the disabled.

Although it is apparent from the lack of information pertaining to SMC's Compliance with Disability Laws that SMC is not concerned about its disabled students, it sure likes to reel in those disability grant dollars. Here's the breakdown takes from SMC's Board of Trustee Minutes for September 11, 2000.

CONSENT AGENDA: ACADEMIC AND STUDENT AFFAIRS

RECOMMENDATION NO. 10
CONSULTANT CONTRACTS – DISABLED STUDENTS PROGRAM

It is recommended that the Board of Trustees approve the following consultant contracts for services related to the State Council on Developmental Disabilities Grant to be rendered October 1, 2000 through September 30, 2001.

(1) Olivia Raynor, for a total amount not to exceed $4,000 ($100 per hour for 40 hours)

Comment: This consultant will be a professional evaluator, responsible for all SCDD PDF project evaluation, methods and analysis, throughout the entire 12 months of the grant. She will participate in all evaluation and dissemination activities. She will establish and implement both quantitative and qualitative evaluation methods. Her work will conclude with an end of project report disseminated through State Developmental Disability Council channels and posted on the California DD Netlink, a UCLA UAP website.

(2) Jeanne Gaines in an amount not to exceed $27,500 ($2,291/month for 12 months).

Comment: This consultant will be responsible for identifying and implementing disability-related modifications needed for trainees to perform job-related tasks. In collaboration with the other SCDD Grant team members, she will evaluate applicants' project eligibility and disability-related accommodation issues, assist in the creation of individualized apprenticeship placement plans, assist with job placement, coordinate support services, contribute to the project evaluation, and perform other duties as assigned by the Project Co-directors.

(3) Heidi Dorn in an amount not to exceed $27,500 ($2,291/month for 12 months)

Comment: The consultant will develop apprentice placements and continuing job opportunities for trainees with both public and private employers. She will be responsible for recruiting and evaluating community college graduates who have developmental disabilities, creating individualized placement plans, placing trainees in both apprentice training positions and continuing employment, monitoring trainee progress, contributing to project evaluation and other duties as assigned by Project Co-directors.

Funding Source: State Council on Developmental Disabilities Grant

Here's the SMC Board of Trustees Minutes for May 1, 2000.

Title of Grant: A Model for Job Placement and Training of
Community College Graduates with Developmental Disabilities
Granting Agency: State Center for Developmental Disabilities
Requested Funding: $133,311
Matching Funds: N/A
Performance Period: One year: September 2000 – August 2001

Summary: SMC’s Disabled Student Services (DSS) will develop a model community college program for job placement and pre- and post-employment training for individuals with disabilities.

Here's the SMC Board of Trustees Minutes for June 4, 2001.

Title of Grant: Career/Employment Service Model
Granting Agency: State Center for Developmental Disabilities
Requested Funding: $139,515
Matching Funds N/A
Performance Period: October 1, 2001 – September 30, 2002

Summary: SMC Disabled Student Services (DSS) will develop a training program for Career Center counselors to increase the service and support of students with developmental disabilities. Students with developmental disabilities will also benefit from classroom instruction and individualized assistance in career planning and job search skills.

In a Santa Monica College press release, dated September 11, 2000, by Bruce Smith, entitled "Grant to Help Underemployed Developmentally Disabled Grads," Mr. Smith reveals some shocking information as follows:

This story is all too familiar: a Santa Monica College student with a developmental disability goes on to UCLA, graduates with honors, and ends up working in a gas station in Westwood.

But with the help of a $126,646 grant from the state, SMC is in the process of designing a program to help developmentally disabled graduates get the kinds of jobs they are prepared to do.

"We've seen people graduating with occupational certificates, Associate in Arts degrees, and even B.A.s, ending up in jobs way below what we would expect with their academic preparation," said Sandi Burnett, disabled student services professor.

Developmental disabilities by federal definition include cerebral palsy, autism, seizure disorders, and other physical and mental impairments occurring before the age of 22.

"There are lots of job placement services for people with developmental disabilities, but they are geared toward people with much lower level skills than our graduates," Weil said.

This is the first time the college has received a grant from the California State Council on Developmental Disabilities.

Disabled honor students with cerebral palsy and autism end up working in gas stations in Westwood? And they receive occupational certificates from SMC? The Academy of Entertainment and Technology, under the command of both Dean Katharine Muller and Professor Jim Keeshen offer occupational certificates. They also have many disabled students, both with physical and developmental disabilities. AET also has low job placement and internship figures according to their records. Perhaps Jim Keeshen's hate speech on March 1, 2006 to his ET 18 class at AET that "autism" is a "mental disease" would contribute to SMC's poor job placement for the developmentally disabled combined with the lack of compliance with the law.

As AET students, should we prepare for those lucrative high paying vocational careers that AET promised or should we practice the following words: "Regular? Unleaded? Or Premium?"

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

(c) 2006: Phoenix Genesis/MBS LP

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

Technorati Tags: Santa Monica College, Academy of Entertainment and Technology, public schools, vocational schools, disability laws, ADA compliance, disability grants, Katharine Muller, legal, Jim Keeshen, News and politics, job placement, developmental disabilities