Mayhem in Compton

I’ve been reading topics on this forum, JUCOFootball.org. It’s this site that has information about the latest things going on with the junior colleges. There’s this story about nine El Camino football players being expelled from the school for fake transcripts from some trade school from hell. (Ewwww.) There’s the story about a 57-year old football coach from Cerritos who was arrested on felony charges of obtaining more than $150,000 in federal grants for 13 players who were ineligible for financial aid and could end up in prison for 11 years. (Ouch. And he’s 57…he could be killed at that prison.) And at San Diego State, 4 JUCO players would not make the team: one tested positive for a banned substance (oh god, I thought doping was for baseball and endurance and speed sports…but in football?), one retuned to his college to pursue a major that SDSU didn’t have, and the other two didn’t make the grade.

But nothing disturbed me more than seeing Compton College get stripped of its accreditation. Being accredited means that you are worthy to provide students the best education possible. Compton could be the first California Community College in history to lose its accreditation, and a lot of the 7,000-ish students will flock to LBCC to salvage their education. And I thought the rift between the Administration, Student Life, and Cabinet members was prick enough. Compare that to the hell in Compton, and I think we’re doing okay.

Before I rant about Compton, I went to the ASB Cabinet meeting today, and their president resigned from his position. Unfortunately, he and one of his friends may end up getting expelled because of an honor code that was violated according to a friend of mine, who was on last year’s Cabinet as me. In this case, it was a forgery of college documents and records, combined with unauthorized entry of the college facilities. He says it was a serious offense, and the bad part is, the administration is not even looking at this. I think it will all pan out, and appropriate action will happen. I know those two people. They’re very good students, and friends of mine. But what happened last semester could come back to haunt them if the punishment is very harsh. This is punishable by civil and criminal law, so you don’t want to cross this line, that’s for sure.

Back to Compton. I heard from my mom that the classes at Compton are easy. The teachers are very lenient. I would suppose there aren’t any pricks there. The problem is the caliber of education there is not comparable to ours, which is superior. That’s saying a lot, because I had some instructors who were quite challenging. I suppose due to this leniency, there’s been a lot of shady things going on at Compton. For example, one of the ex-trustees at the college was arrested at his Paramount home with his wife for defrauding more than $1,000,000 to divert the funds to himself and family members. And he did this in a community of low-income families. And a lot of the money was used to purchase a house in Guadalajara. (Chivas country! All the more reason to hate those goats. See, I’m a Galaxy fan, so you know where I come from.)

Murph, a user from the JUCOFootball.org, said “It’s getting ugly in SoCal.” I’m glad for two things: 1. Long Beach City College has not been slapped yet (though sooner or later, they will fall, too) and 2. I’m finished with junior colleges. I’m already a university guy, so all I can do is frown at the fact that the California Community College system is suffering, and should the day come that Compton College no longer exists, a gray cloud will hover over the whole state of California.

Combine that with the agony of a mother about to lose her son in court as she talked over her cell on the bus, and I am so glad to still be in school, without stress. Until classes begin.