Bacon's Rebellion

  • Amid Arrests on Other Campuses, Tensions Mount at UVA

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    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    As a wave of pro-Palestinian demonstrations and encampments rolled across Virginia college campuses yesterday, university presidents held firm in enforcing rules governing the orderly conduct of protests. The day after Virginia Tech shut down an unpermitted “liberation zone” Sunday, arresting 82, Virginia Commonwealth University closed an encampment last night, arresting 13. At the University of Virginia, pro-Palestinian groups were ordered to take down their tents, erected before the main event today called for by protest organizers, but were allowed to continue their vigil.

    Media reports indicated, however, that protests spread yesterday to Mary Washington University, where they had died down from a previous eruption, and to Christopher Newport University.

    The Virginia protests were overshadowed in national media Tuesday night by resolution of the standoff at Columbia University, where New York police broke up a liberation zone and evicted students who had barricaded themselves inside a building.

    If university presidents in the Old Dominion needed any stiffening of resolve, they got it from Governor Glenn Youngkin who, appearing on CNN Sunday, said, “We’re not going to have encampments and tents put up and yes, we will protect the ability to peacefully express yourself, but we’re not going to have the kind of hate speech and intimidation we’re seeing across the country in Virginia.”

    After the knock-down of the encampment at VCU Tuesday, the main action in Virginia shifted to UVA. (more…)

  • Beach College Weekend Was a Dud: The Good News & The Bad.

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    Bob Rayner

    by Kerry Dougherty 

    Talk about spinning until you’re dizzy, get a load of the local coverage of last weekend’s taxpayer-subsidized Audacity Oceanfront Concerts:

    Describing the anemic “crowds” as “smaller-than-expected” The Virginian-Pilot added “That’s not to say those who attended didn’t have a good time.”

    Oh please.

    We, the taxpayers, gave the organizers of this dud $750,000 to bring the show to the oceanfront, plus an untold number of “in-kind-city services” in return for an advertising campaign showcasing Virginia Beach.

    Judging from the virtually empty resort area last weekend even that p.r. offensive fell flat.

    The organizers blamed the weather for the poor turnout, but there wasn’t a drop of rain, just chilly late April temperatures.

    What happened was actually good news: it appears that Beach College Weekend, an annual headache for the Resort City, may have moved on. (more…)

  • A Creative New Way to Use Children as Human Shields

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    James A. Bacon

    Stu Smith, producer of StuStuStudios, captured this video yesterday from the Virginia Tech encampment. University police were threatening to shut down the event for violating various university rules and protocols, and the pro-Palestinian demonstrators trotted out this precocious young militant to lead the mindless chanting.

    “I’m not leaving,” sing-sang the tyke into a loudspeaker.

    “We’re not leaving!” responded the crowd.

    Undeterred by the pint-sized protester, Virginia Tech police shut down the event anyway, arresting 82 in the process, according to numbers released by the university. Fifty-three were students, according to the statement. It’s not clear if any were faculty. But it is a reasonable supposition that the vast majority of the 29 others were outside agitators.

    Which raises warning flags for Virginia Commonwealth University, where protesters have set up a “liberation zone” and issued demands to the administration, and the University of Virginia, where pro-Palestinians have announced their intention to set up a liberation zone Wednesday, the day before exams. President Rao and President Ryan: how many outside agitators are heading for your campus? (more…)

  • Give Me this Kind of Accountability

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    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Frequently, some commenters on this blog complain about politicians not being accountable and hold up the private sector as a model for accountability.  (For purposes of this discussion, we will ignore the fact that politicians have to go before the voters periodically and get reelected.)

    Here is a recent example of accountability in the private sector, as reported in The New York Times. Over the last year the stock of Paramount has fallen 48 percent. The CEO did not pursue a possible deal that would have been lucrative for Paramount. The owner of a controlling share of the company is reported to feel that the CEO has not moved with enough urgency to get Paramount on firmer footing. She was unhappy with a long-range plan he had prepared and gave approval to three other senior executives to address the board of directors and express their misgivings about the direction of the company.

    Today, Paramount announced that the CEO was stepping down effective immediately. In other words, he was fired.

    But there is no need to shed any tears for him. He won’t need to file for unemployment benefits. Reportedly, “he is entitled to a severance package of $50.6 million, with $31 million of that in the form of cash for the two years after his employment is terminated.” Yep, that is some accountability.

  • Virginia Tech Cleans up Encampment. UVA Faces Similar Test.

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    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    Virginia Tech arrested two dozen or more students Sunday night while dispersing an “encampment” similar to other anti-Israeli protests spreading around the country, according to media reports.

    The gathering of several hundred people on the lawn of the Graduate Life Center was “not a registered event consistent with university policy,” Tech officials stated in explaining its actions.

    “Given these actions by protesters, the university recognized that the situation had the increasing potential to become unsafe,” the university statement said. First, protesters were asked to disperse voluntarily. Then university police approached those who did not comply, warned them that they would be charged with trespassing, and asked them again to leave. At 10:15 p.m., police gave protesters five minutes to disperse. Those who remained were subject to arrest.

    Tech President Timothy Sands deserves kudos for handling a difficult situation in a firm but restrained manner.

    University of Virginia President Jim Ryan likely will face a similar test. Left-wing groups at UVA have announced a May Day event Tuesday (April 30, the day before May Day) on the Lawn to show commitment to “Palestinian Liberation.” (more…)

  • Souped Up on the Mountain

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    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    En route from visiting my grandson in college in Kentucky, I stopped at Breaks Interstate Park.   I will save a discussion of the park for another post, but, in the meantime, this vehicle was parked at one of the overlooks.  I immediately thought that WayneS, one of the active BR participants, would appreciate it.

  • Whoops.

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    James A. Bacon

    I accidentally published a working draft of a profile I’m writing about John Reid, host of the WRVA radio talk show. It was far from ready for publication. I have taken it offline until I can finish. My apologies. — JAB

  • Jeanine’s Memes

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    James A. Bacon

    From The Bull Elephant

  • Bacon Meme of the Week

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    James A. Bacon

  • A Rejoinder on the TJ “Fall”

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    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Before folks got carried away with sarcasm and “I told you so,” it would have been best to examine a few facts regarding the ranking by U.S. News and World Report of the Thomas Jefferson School for Science and Technology (TJ):

    • The ranking fell to fifth last year. The data for that ranking pre-dated the change in the admission process for TJ;
    • The changes in the admissions process were adopted in 2020 and were first effective for the class entering in the fall of 2021. Those students would be juniors this year.

    Next, it is worthwhile to examine the criteria used by U.S. News:

    • College readiness (30 percent)– proportion of a school’s 12th graders who took and earned a qualifying score on Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) exams in the 2021-2022 academic year;
    • College curriculum breadth (10 percent)—percentage of a school’s 2021-2022 12th graders who took, and the percentage who earned qualifying scores on, multiple AP or IB exams;
    • State assessment proficiency (20 percent)–standardized tests measuring student proficiency in subjects related to mathematics, reading and science. Data was “based on 2021-2022 state assessment data” (Emphasis added);
    • State assessment performance (20 percent)—This score is calculated based on the total assessment scores compared with what U.S. News predicted for a school with its demographic characteristics in its state. As the magazine explains, “In all 50 states, there is a very significant statistical relationship between the proportion of a student body that is Black, Hispanic and/or from a low-income household – defined as being eligible for free or subsidized school lunch – and a school’s results on state assessments. Schools performing best on this ranking indicator are those whose assessment scores far exceeded U.S. News’ modeled expectations.”  This year’s score is based on 2021-2022 data;
    • Underserved student performance (10 percent)—“This is a measure assessing learning outcomes only among Black, Hispanic and low-income students.” As with the others, it is based on 201-2022 data;
    • Graduation rate (10 percent)—Percentage of students who entered in the 2018-2019 school year who graduated in 2022.

    (more…)

  • Greedy Cities and Speeding Ticket Chicanery

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    by

    Bob Rayner

    by Kerry Dougherty 

    Hire more traffic cops. At the very least hire Virginia companies to fleece Virginia drivers.

    That’s the advice I have for Chesapeake and Suffolk, where instead of sending cops with radar guns out to catch speeders, they’ve hired out-of-state vendors with cameras.

    Worse, according to attorney and former Del. Tim Anderson, who’s filed suit to stop the practice, the cities allow the vendors – did I mention they were out-of-state? – to impersonate cities when collecting fines.

    Anderson says the cameras are cropping up all over the commonwealth. He’s handling two local cases pro bono and is seeking reimbursement for all drivers who were ticketed illegally by the vendors pretending to be city officials. If these cases are successful – and it seems clear the cities are violating the state law – he plans to sue in other jurisdictions to halt the process. (more…)

  • TJ High School Falls From 1st to 14th Place

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    James A. Bacon

    Score a big victory for “equity.” The Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, ranked the top high school in the country by U.S. News & World Report two years ago, has fallen to 14th place, tweets the Coalition for TJ.

    TJ had been the center of an admissions controversy after progressives, who found it scandalous that 70% of the school’s students were of Asian ethnic origin, rejiggered its admissions criteria to make it more demographically diverse. The revised policy, which did succeed in increasing the admission of Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics, survived legal challenges that went as far as the U.S. Supreme Court.

    But not to worry. By selecting only the highest-achieving kids, TJ had been perpetuating gross inequality with other high schools. Insofar as its standards have been modified and its rankings have tumbled, the inequality gap with peer schools has diminished. Some observers expect TJ’s rankings will fall and the gap to shrink even further as older students admitted under the ancien regime graduate and are replaced by students admitted under the new, more equitable standards. (more…)

  • Freebees Aren’t Free

    Posted on

    by

    Bob Rayner

    by Kerry Dougherty

    I can’t be the only Virginia Beach taxpayer sick of watching my real estate taxes climb every year while the city council wastes money on pricey gimmicks like “free” Tesla rides for residents and visitors to the city.

    For two years we’ve picked up the tab for a small fleet of Teslas to be summoned to haul swells and drunks around the oceanfront.

    The first year, the misnamed “Freebee” program cost taxpayers $500,000. Last year the project cost $1.3 million. According to city officials, 52% of riders who were too cheap to call a cab or Uber were visitors, while 48% were locals suffering from the same freeloading mentality.

    Notice a pattern?

    Thankfully, City Manager Patrick Duhaney left this free-market-tampering boondoggle out of this year’s proposed city budget, although some of the Beach’s tax-and-spend knuckleheads are lobbying to put it back. (more…)

  • Extensive Plagiarism Alleged for UVA PhD Dissertation

    Posted on

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    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    Natalie J. Perry, who now leads a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion program at UCLA, plagiarized long passages in her PhD dissertation at UVA, allege Luke Rosiak and Christopher F. Rufo in The Daily Wire.

    In describing the plagiarism in Perry’s dissertation, “Faculty Perceptions of Diversity at a Highly Selective Research-Intensive University,” Rosiak and Rufo write:

    An analysis of the paper found it ridden with the worst sort of plagiarism, reproducing large swaths of text directly from several other authors, without citations. The scale of the plagiarism suggests that Perry lacks both ethics and competence and raises questions about academic programs that push DEI.

    Perry’s dissertation lifted passages from ten other papers. In key portions of her text, she copied almost every paragraph from other sources without attribution. She fails even to mention at least four of the ten plagiarized papers anywhere in her dissertation.

    The article says Perry earned her PhD in 2014. Her official biography states that she holds a degree in “higher education” from UVA. The School of Education and Human Development website indicates that the school offers a PhD in Higher Education.

    “A legitimate academic field never would have found this dissertation plausible,” Rosiak and Rufo write. Speaking of UVA, Harvard, and UCLA Medical School, they add, “These institutions have dramatically lowered expectations for favored groups and pushed a cohort of ‘scholars’ through the system without enforcing basic standards of academic integrity.” (more…)

  • Some Rural Localities Hit With Big Jump in Local Composite Index

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    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Credit: Cardinal News

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    For all those readers who complain that Northern Virginia gets screwed by state funding formulas, Dwight Yancey of Cardinal News has provided an eye-opening rejoinder. Many rural counties have been hit disproportionately hard by the new calculations for the local composite index used to determine the local share of the costs of basic aid for schools.

    The main driver in these increases has been significant increases in the total value of real estate in those counties. Many of them have become havens for folks leaving urban areas for the rural countryside, either for their primary or secondary homes. In Franklin County, burgeoning property values around Smith Mountain Lake have driven up the county’s total real property values 39 percent over the past two years, although almost half the students live in poverty. In Nelson County, the situation is much the same with properties in Wintergreen and spillover from Albemarle County driving up the county’s total property values. In Charles City County, where 64 percent of the students live in official poverty, folks buying up riverfront property have driven up the total property values by 24 percent.

    The result of these changes is that the state now considers Charles City County as having a greater ability to pay for its schools that Northern Virginia localities, including Loudoun County, the wealthiest locality in the state and one of the wealthiest in the nation. In fact, 22 localities are rated as having a greater ability to pay than Loudoun and most of them are rural.

    Yancey provides nice maps to illustrate his analysis.

    At some point, the state—governor and legislature—will have to quit delaying and tackle the hard job of revising how the state funds local schools.

Now Available

Book cover of 'Dust Mites: A Second American Revolution' by James A. Bacon, featuring astronauts planting a flag with a blue and white emblem on a lunar landscape, with Earth visible in the background.
For sale on Amazon.com

The year: 2075. The American colonies on the Moon are getting restless under Washington’s tyrannical rule….

This second edition of “Dust Mites” has a snazzy new cover, includes helpful lunar maps, and is 5,000 words tighter than the original. The sequel, “Trogs,” is scheduled for publication this summer.

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Bacon’s Rebellion is Virginia’s leading politically non-aligned portal for news, opinions and analysis about state, regional and local public policy. Read more about us here.

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