latimes--2020-10-12--High-stakes college recruitment goes virtual, and it's no fun thanks to Zoom fatigue

In a normal year , Northern California high school senior Alain Kanadjian would be touring college campuses , attending college fairs in gyms or convention centers and meeting with college recruiters at his campus .
All in person .
But this is not a normal year for Kanadjian and hundreds of thousands of other California students getting ready to apply for college admission .
During the pandemic , those face-to-face options to help them decide which schools best fit their interests , aptitudes and wallets have all evaporated .
Instead , the college application and recruiting process — like classes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has switched to virtual connections .
Enormous college fairs are being held online .
Campus tours are virtual .
And college representatives are visiting groups of high school students via Zoom .
Whether the virtual options work will help determine whether colleges and universities get the enrollment and tuition revenues they need next fall .
Students , too , face high stakes in selecting a favorite college , or — if they are turned off by the possibility of virtual classes — deciding to delay college .
Despite helping some students , online @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fatigued , and attendance is much reduced at some virtual events at high schools compared with last year ’ s in-person sessions .
Kanadjian recently participated in a virtual college fair sponsored by the Coalition for College , a group of 150 campuses that is dedicated to improving access to higher education .
Hoping to study computer engineering or biomedical engineering , he was able to join presentations and chat sessions with , among other schools , Rice University and Georgia Tech .
Separately , he joined in the session when a UC @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from his school , Carlmont High School in Belmont , in San Mateo County .
Overall , Kanadjian came away with mixed feelings about the virtual experiences .
“ It ’ s better than nothing , ” he said .
He appreciated the information and time the college representative provided , but felt that “ online doesn ’ t compare ” to in-person interviews and visits to campuses .
The many virtual events are getting a mixed reception from students , colleges and high school counselors .
Some officials note that the online @ @ @ @ @ @ @ families who , with financial or transportation problems , might not otherwise have been able to visit campuses or meet with the college recruiters .
Those experts anticipate that some virtual recruiting will continue even after the health emergency ends .
As many as 6,000 students nationwide participated in each of the five Coalition for College fairs held since the spring .
( Another is scheduled for Oct. 21 and 22 ) .
Stacey Kostell , the organization ’ s chief executive officer , said fairs are designed to expose students to as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be more focused and attentive online than during the traditional walking from table to table in big gymnasiums or convention centers where prior fairs were held , she said .
But it is “ hard to predict ” how this and other pandemic-related changes to education will affect college applications and attendance , Kostell added .
Similarly , the National Assn .
for College Admission Counseling ( NACAC ) held a large online fair Sept. 13 , with about 607 colleges participating .
Another NACAC fair is scheduled for Monday and two more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Alexis Hartman , a senior at Troy High School in Fullerton in Orange County , said the recent NACAC fair helped her find schools offering the classes and major to pursue a career in speech-language pathology .
The pandemic and shutdown of in-person classes have made the college application process “ a lot harder , a lot scarier , ” said Hartman .
“ It makes me even more unsure of where I ’ m going to wind up , what the future holds for me.
” She was glad to join the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so helpful.
” With traditional fairs and meet-ups at high schools banned this year , Omar Zazueta , director of admission at Claremont McKenna College , said his school is participating in several online fairs along with virtually visiting many individual high schools .
Attendance at high school events is lower than last year but the level of personal interaction can be deeper since “ a student does not get lost in the noise ” and is able to make private follow-up appointments .
The biggest loss , Zazueta said , is in-person @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recorded and live online tours .
UC Merced ’ s director of admissions Dustin Noji said the downside of virtual fairs is that “ you don ’ t benefit from the pedestrian traffic of students walking an auditorium or events center , looking up and recognizing your campus name , and stopping by your table.
” The switch has required colleges to produce high-quality video presentations and to be more tech savvy on a large scale to ensure students have access to higher education .
Palos Verdes High School , near Los Angeles @ @ @ @ @ @ @ year and instead encouraged students to explore college websites and other online resources .
But colleges were eager to still come virtually .
Student participation in virtual meetings with recruiters , however , “ is crazily down , ” said Joanne Lewis , director of the high school ’ s College and Career Center .
“ I personally think these kids are Zoomed out , ” Lewis said .
“ They are in front of computer screens throughout the day.
” For example , a Dartmouth University recruiter normally attracted 100 or so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ only six the other day .
The usually popular University of California campuses are getting a third of their previous 150 or so .
As a result , students who do attend can find strong opportunities to connect with campus representatives , she added .
Larry Gordon is a staff writer at EdSource , a nonprofit , nonpartisan journalism organization reporting on education in California .

Feb. 2020 photo of students on the campus of UCLA. College recruitment has gone virtual for prospective students.
In a normal year, Northern California high school senior Alain Kanadjian would be touring college campuses, attending college fairs in gyms or convention centers and meeting with college recruiters at his campus. All in person.
But this is not a normal year for Kanadjian and hundreds of thousands of other California students getting ready to apply for college admission. During the pandemic, those face-to-face options to help them decide which schools best fit their interests, aptitudes and wallets have all evaporated.
Instead, the college application and recruiting process — like classes at most high schools and universities — has switched to virtual connections. Enormous college fairs are being held online. Campus tours are virtual. And college representatives are visiting groups of high school students via Zoom.
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Whether the virtual options work will help determine whether colleges and universities get the enrollment and tuition revenues they need next fall.
Students, too, face high stakes in selecting a favorite college, or — if they are turned off by the possibility of virtual classes — deciding to delay college. Despite helping some students, online recruiting is discouraging others who are Zoom fatigued, and attendance is much reduced at some virtual events at high schools compared with last year’s in-person sessions.
Kanadjian recently participated in a virtual college fair sponsored by the Coalition for College, a group of 150 campuses that is dedicated to improving access to higher education. Hoping to study computer engineering or biomedical engineering, he was able to join presentations and chat sessions with, among other schools, Rice University and Georgia Tech. Separately, he joined in the session when a UC Davis representative virtually visited with interested students from his school, Carlmont High School in Belmont, in San Mateo County.
Overall, Kanadjian came away with mixed feelings about the virtual experiences.
“It’s better than nothing,” he said. He appreciated the information and time the college representative provided, but felt that “online doesn’t compare” to in-person interviews and visits to campuses.
The many virtual events are getting a mixed reception from students, colleges and high school counselors. Some officials note that the online events are widening access to students and families who, with financial or transportation problems, might not otherwise have been able to visit campuses or meet with the college recruiters. Those experts anticipate that some virtual recruiting will continue even after the health emergency ends.
As many as 6,000 students nationwide participated in each of the five Coalition for College fairs held since the spring. (Another is scheduled for Oct. 21 and 22).
Stacey Kostell, the organization’s chief executive officer, said fairs are designed to expose students to as many schools as possible. Students can be more focused and attentive online than during the traditional walking from table to table in big gymnasiums or convention centers where prior fairs were held, she said.
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But it is “hard to predict” how this and other pandemic-related changes to education will affect college applications and attendance, Kostell added.
Similarly, the National Assn. for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) held a large online fair Sept. 13, with about 607 colleges participating. Another NACAC fair is scheduled for Monday and two more will be held in coming weeks.
Alexis Hartman, a senior at Troy High School in Fullerton in Orange County, said the recent NACAC fair helped her find schools offering the classes and major to pursue a career in speech-language pathology.
The pandemic and shutdown of in-person classes have made the college application process “a lot harder, a lot scarier,” said Hartman. “It makes me even more unsure of where I’m going to wind up, what the future holds for me.” She was glad to join the fair. “I thought it was so helpful.”
With traditional fairs and meet-ups at high schools banned this year, Omar Zazueta, director of admission at Claremont McKenna College, said his school is participating in several online fairs along with virtually visiting many individual high schools.
Attendance at high school events is lower than last year but the level of personal interaction can be deeper since “a student does not get lost in the noise” and is able to make private follow-up appointments. The biggest loss, Zazueta said, is in-person campus tours, even if schools provide recorded and live online tours.
UC Merced’s director of admissions Dustin Noji said the downside of virtual fairs is that “you don’t benefit from the pedestrian traffic of students walking an auditorium or events center, looking up and recognizing your campus name, and stopping by your table.”
The switch has required colleges to produce high-quality video presentations and to be more tech savvy on a large scale to ensure students have access to higher education.
Palos Verdes High School, near Los Angeles, considered dropping college visits altogether this year and instead encouraged students to explore college websites and other online resources. But colleges were eager to still come virtually.
Student participation in virtual meetings with recruiters, however, “is crazily down,” said Joanne Lewis, director of the high school’s College and Career Center.
“I personally think these kids are Zoomed out,” Lewis said. “They are in front of computer screens throughout the day.”
For example, a Dartmouth University recruiter normally attracted 100 or so students from the two schools but drew only six the other day. The usually popular University of California campuses are getting a third of their previous 150 or so. As a result, students who do attend can find strong opportunities to connect with campus representatives, she added.
Larry Gordon is a staff writer at EdSource, a nonprofit, nonpartisan journalism organization reporting on education in California.


latimes--2020-10-12--Exide may be allowed to abandon toxic battery recycling plant and massive cleanup bill

For decades , families across a swath of southeast Los Angeles County have lived in an environmental disaster zone , their kids playing in yards polluted with brain-damaging lead while they wait on a state agency to remove contaminated soil from thousands of homes .
Now , the cleanup faces even greater uncertainty .
A bankruptcy plan by Exide Technologies , which operated the now-closed lead-acid battery smelter in Vernon that is blamed for the pollution , would allow the site to be abandoned with the remediation unfinished .
The Trump administration , through the U.S. Department of Justice and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not to oppose Exide ’ s plan , meaning that state taxpayers would be left with the bill for California ’ s largest environmental cleanup , which already stands at more than $ 270 million .
The proposal has sparked outrage among state regulators , elected officials and community groups in the largely working-class Latino neighborhoods around the plant .
They are demanding the plan be scrapped before a court hearing scheduled for Thursday .
In a letter to U.S. Atty .
Gen. William Barr , seven state lawmakers representing the affected neighborhoods @ @ @ @ @ @ @ causing “ immeasurable damage ” to surrounding communities .
“ Unfortunately for our residents , unlike Exide , there is no legal process that allows them simply to erase the lead pollution from their bodies.
” Msgr .
John Moretta of Resurrection Catholic Church in Boyle Heights implored the Department of Justice to “ not abandon this community to the trash that Exide left here.
” The Department of Justice and the EPA did not answer questions from The Times but announced they will hold a virtual public meeting at 4 p.m. Tuesday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s concerns.
” “ We are evaluating public comment received , as called for in that proposal , ” the two agencies said in nearly identical statements .
“ Because the Exide matter remains in active litigation and before the Bankruptcy Court , other statements about the proposed settlement will be made in that forum.
” Exide did not respond to a request for comment .
In the past , the company has argued that it is not responsible for lead contamination beyond the boundaries of the Vernon facility , which it took @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other sources for the residential contamination , including neighboring industrial facilities and lead-based paint .
And in court filings , the company has argued that it has fulfilled its cleanup obligations and accused the state of seeking to improperly impose hundreds of millions of dollars in liability for “ alleged off-site residential contamination.
” A 2015 deal struck between the U.S. attorney ’ s office for the Central District of California and Georgia-based Exide was supposed to prevent such an outcome .
In it , the company admitted to years of environmental crimes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ permanently closing the Vernon facility , demolishing it and cleaning up the pollution .
At the time , the U.S. attorney ’ s office defended its non-prosecution agreement as a way to ensure a timely cleanup without leaving taxpayers with the bill .
If the company failed to comply with the cleanup agreements at any point in the following 10 years , officials argued , it would face the “ hammer ” of criminal prosecution for those crimes .
That hasn ’ t happened , despite the state ’ s determination last year @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the agreement .
Activists , who have long questioned the company ’ s deal with federal authorities , said the outcome was foreseeable .
“ I ’ m not surprised that Exide has continued to find ways to avoid paying for the cleanup , ” said Idalmis Vaquero , a member of the group Communities for a Better Environment who lives in a Boyle Heights public housing complex within the cleanup zone that has not yet been treated for lead contamination .
“ I ’ m also really frustrated by the incompetence , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ power that [ the Department of Toxic Substances Control ] is willing to exercise.
” California regulators blame the plant , about five miles from downtown L.A. , for spreading lead dust over half a dozen communities up to 1.7 miles away where more than 100,000 people lived .
But the state let the facility operate without a full permit for more than three decades .
It also did not require the company to set aside adequate funds to clean up its pollution , even as it repeatedly ran afoul of environmental rules @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of lead and other toxic pollutants into the air .
People in surrounding neighborhoods pushed for years for the plant ’ s closure only to wage more battles with state bureaucrats to get their property cleaned of the lead contamination left behind .
Lead is a potent neurotoxin that can cause learning disabilities , lower IQs and other permanent developmental and behavioral problems in children , even in tiny amounts .
“ Lead exposures in communities around Exide remain widespread , ” said Jill Johnston , a professor of preventive medicine at USC @ @ @ @ @ @ @ large source of lead will continue to pose a threat to the health of surrounding communities.
” The state Department of Toxic Substances Control has removed lead-tainted soil from about 2,000 residential properties since 2014 .
But thousands more properties with lead contamination above state health limits have yet to be cleaned , and the project has long been plagued by delays and accusations of mismanagement .
Allison Wescott , a Toxic Substances Control spokeswoman , blamed the predicament on the company , saying that “ ever since the contamination was discovered , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ responsibility to Californians.
” “ And now it is attempting to use the bankruptcy process to abandon the Vernon facility completely , ” she said .
Exide filed for bankruptcy protection in May with plans to liquidate its assets across several states .
After negotiations earlier this year , California was presented with a settlement proposal last month that asked the state to accept $ 2.5 million in exchange for releasing the company from all liability , state officials said .
California refused to sign on , but the company moved forward with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ remove liability and allow for abandonment of the site .
The proposal was released publicly on Sept. 25 , providing only eight business days for community members to submit comments .
Residents in the neighborhoods surrounding the plant were aghast .
“ They admitted to criminal activity , and still they ’ re walking away , ” said Joe Gonzalez , a retired Boyle Heights postal worker who fought for years to shut down the plant and is now battling the state to rid his yard of lead contamination .
“ It ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we need officials to stand up for our communities and the harm that we ’ re suffering.
” The state filed an objection on Wednesday , pleading with the Bankruptcy Court to deny a plan that “ effectively foists all of the risk and costs of the Vernon plant onto the shoulders of Californians and would allow the parties most responsible to walk away from an imminent and substantial public health risk.
” The facility , at 2700 S. Indiana St. in the heavily industrial city of Vernon , has not operated since @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an ongoing daily risk , ” according to the state ’ s court filing .
The main part of the facility is protected by an enclosure made of scaffolding , trusses and plastic sheeting that is not meant to be permanent and “ requires daily operation , maintenance , inspections , and monitoring to ensure hazardous materials do not escape ... and further contaminate the surrounding communities.
” Cleaning the closed facility itself will cost between $ 70 million and $ 100 million , according to the state .
California officials have for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ case to recoup cleanup costs from the company and any other responsible parties .
But it ’ s unclear what recourse the state will have if Exide ’ s bankruptcy plan is approved .
Toxic Substances Control “ continues its work with the attorney general ’ s office to hold accountable all parties responsible for contamination from operations of the Exide facility , ” Wescott said .
She conceded that Exide ’ s bankruptcy threatens California ’ s ability to recoup costs , but said the agency “ has the steadfast support of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this cleanup through.
” State Assemblyman Miguel Santiago ( D-Los Angeles ) criticized the Department of Toxic Substances Control for its “ dysfunction and an inability to move quickly.
” “ If DTSC had taken swifter legal action against Exide , they would have been in a stronger position in the bankruptcy , ” Santiago said .
“ All California communities are in danger of becoming the next Exide disaster if we don ’ t have an agency that moves at lightning speed as an aggressive bulldog against polluters.
” California Secretary for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s actions , saying , “ We ’ ve tried at every turn ” to hold Exide accountable .
The situation is complicated by the immense scope of the contamination and the fact that the company is liquidating , which all but eliminates the prospects of generating future cleanup funds , said Sean Hecht , an environmental law professor at UCLA Law School .
But one thing the bankruptcy process can not absolve the company of is criminal liability , he said .
“ Theoretically the Department of Justice could come after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s already admitted , ” he said .
“ But what would that accomplish in terms of actually getting funding for the cleanup ?
Ultimately the money isn ’ t there , and that ’ s what the problem is now .
”

Portions of the former Exide lead-acid battery recycling plant in Vernon are now wrapped in scaffolding and white plastic sheeting.
For decades, families across a swath of southeast Los Angeles County have lived in an environmental disaster zone, their kids playing in yards polluted with brain-damaging lead while they wait on a state agency to remove contaminated soil from thousands of homes.
Now, the cleanup faces even greater uncertainty. A bankruptcy plan by Exide Technologies, which operated the now-closed lead-acid battery smelter in Vernon that is blamed for the pollution, would allow the site to be abandoned with the remediation unfinished.
The Trump administration, through the U.S. Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency, has agreed not to oppose Exide’s plan, meaning that state taxpayers would be left with the bill for California’s largest environmental cleanup, which already stands at more than $270 million.
Joe Gonzalez, 64, shows the many patient wrist bands he has accrued during his cancer treatment as he speaks in front of his Boyle Heights home, which lies within the residential cleanup zone surrounding the former Exide battery recycling plant in Vernon. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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The proposal has sparked outrage among state regulators, elected officials and community groups in the largely working-class Latino neighborhoods around the plant. They are demanding the plan be scrapped before a court hearing scheduled for Thursday.
In a letter to U.S. Atty. Gen. William Barr, seven state lawmakers representing the affected neighborhoods said Exide must be held accountable for causing “immeasurable damage” to surrounding communities. “Unfortunately for our residents, unlike Exide, there is no legal process that allows them simply to erase the lead pollution from their bodies.”
Msgr. John Moretta of Resurrection Catholic Church in Boyle Heights implored the Department of Justice to “not abandon this community to the trash that Exide left here.”
The Department of Justice and the EPA did not answer questions from The Times but announced they will hold a virtual public meeting at 4 p.m. Tuesday “to listen to the community’s concerns.”
“We are evaluating public comment received, as called for in that proposal,” the two agencies said in nearly identical statements. “Because the Exide matter remains in active litigation and before the Bankruptcy Court, other statements about the proposed settlement will be made in that forum.”
Msgr. John Moretta of Resurrection Catholic Church in Boyle Heights speaks during a news conferencee to express opposition to the Exide bankruptcy plan. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
Exide did not respond to a request for comment. In the past, the company has argued that it is not responsible for lead contamination beyond the boundaries of the Vernon facility, which it took over in 2000. It has blamed other sources for the residential contamination, including neighboring industrial facilities and lead-based paint.
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And in court filings, the company has argued that it has fulfilled its cleanup obligations and accused the state of seeking to improperly impose hundreds of millions of dollars in liability for “alleged off-site residential contamination.”
A 2015 deal struck between the U.S. attorney’s office for the Central District of California and Georgia-based Exide was supposed to prevent such an outcome. In it, the company admitted to years of environmental crimes, escaping criminal charges in exchange for permanently closing the Vernon facility, demolishing it and cleaning up the pollution.
At the time, the U.S. attorney’s office defended its non-prosecution agreement as a way to ensure a timely cleanup without leaving taxpayers with the bill. If the company failed to comply with the cleanup agreements at any point in the following 10 years, officials argued, it would face the “hammer” of criminal prosecution for those crimes.
That hasn’t happened, despite the state’s determination last year that the company was in violation of the agreement.
Activists, who have long questioned the company’s deal with federal authorities, said the outcome was foreseeable.
“I’m not surprised that Exide has continued to find ways to avoid paying for the cleanup,” said Idalmis Vaquero, a member of the group Communities for a Better Environment who lives in a Boyle Heights public housing complex within the cleanup zone that has not yet been treated for lead contamination. “I’m also really frustrated by the incompetence, slow cleanup and the lack of legal power that [the Department of Toxic Substances Control] is willing to exercise.”
Map of the cleanup zone around Exide Technologies’ lead battery recycling plant. (Los Angeles Times)
California regulators blame the plant, about five miles from downtown L.A., for spreading lead dust over half a dozen communities up to 1.7 miles away where more than 100,000 people lived. But the state let the facility operate without a full permit for more than three decades. It also did not require the company to set aside adequate funds to clean up its pollution, even as it repeatedly ran afoul of environmental rules on hazardous waste and released illegal amounts of lead and other toxic pollutants into the air.
People in surrounding neighborhoods pushed for years for the plant’s closure only to wage more battles with state bureaucrats to get their property cleaned of the lead contamination left behind. Lead is a potent neurotoxin that can cause learning disabilities, lower IQs and other permanent developmental and behavioral problems in children, even in tiny amounts.
“Lead exposures in communities around Exide remain widespread,” said Jill Johnston, a professor of preventive medicine at USC. “Without active remediation, this large source of lead will continue to pose a threat to the health of surrounding communities.”
Much of the closed Exide lead-acid battery recycling plant, located in Vernon, is wrapped in white plastic sheeting. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
The state Department of Toxic Substances Control has removed lead-tainted soil from about 2,000 residential properties since 2014. But thousands more properties with lead contamination above state health limits have yet to be cleaned, and the project has long been plagued by delays and accusations of mismanagement.
Allison Wescott, a Toxic Substances Control spokeswoman, blamed the predicament on the company, saying that “ever since the contamination was discovered, Exide has worked to evade its full responsibility to Californians.”
“And now it is attempting to use the bankruptcy process to abandon the Vernon facility completely,” she said.
Exide filed for bankruptcy protection in May with plans to liquidate its assets across several states.
After negotiations earlier this year, California was presented with a settlement proposal last month that asked the state to accept $2.5 million in exchange for releasing the company from all liability, state officials said. California refused to sign on, but the company moved forward with a “nonconsensual” plan that would remove liability and allow for abandonment of the site.
The proposal was released publicly on Sept. 25, providing only eight business days for community members to submit comments.
Residents in the neighborhoods surrounding the plant were aghast.
“They admitted to criminal activity, and still they’re walking away,” said Joe Gonzalez, a retired Boyle Heights postal worker who fought for years to shut down the plant and is now battling the state to rid his yard of lead contamination. “It’s just a long-haul nightmare. And we need officials to stand up for our communities and the harm that we’re suffering.”
× Unsettled: Exide | Video by Bethany Mollenkof and Spencer Bakalar
The state filed an objection on Wednesday, pleading with the Bankruptcy Court to deny a plan that “effectively foists all of the risk and costs of the Vernon plant onto the shoulders of Californians and would allow the parties most responsible to walk away from an imminent and substantial public health risk.”
The facility, at 2700 S. Indiana St. in the heavily industrial city of Vernon, has not operated since 2014 but “remains highly contaminated and an ongoing daily risk,” according to the state’s court filing. The main part of the facility is protected by an enclosure made of scaffolding, trusses and plastic sheeting that is not meant to be permanent and “requires daily operation, maintenance, inspections, and monitoring to ensure hazardous materials do not escape ... and further contaminate the surrounding communities.”
Cleaning the closed facility itself will cost between $70 million and $100 million, according to the state.
California officials have for years said they are building a legal case to recoup cleanup costs from the company and any other responsible parties. But it’s unclear what recourse the state will have if Exide’s bankruptcy plan is approved.
Toxic Substances Control “continues its work with the attorney general’s office to hold accountable all parties responsible for contamination from operations of the Exide facility,” Wescott said. She conceded that Exide’s bankruptcy threatens California’s ability to recoup costs, but said the agency “has the steadfast support of state and local leadership necessary to see this cleanup through.”
Assemblyman Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles) records Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood) speaking Tuesday at a news conference in Boyle Heights where they expressed their opposition to Exide’s proposed bankruptcy settlement. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
State Assemblyman Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles) criticized the Department of Toxic Substances Control for its “dysfunction and an inability to move quickly.”
“If DTSC had taken swifter legal action against Exide, they would have been in a stronger position in the bankruptcy,” Santiago said. “All California communities are in danger of becoming the next Exide disaster if we don’t have an agency that moves at lightning speed as an aggressive bulldog against polluters.”
California Secretary for Environmental Protection Jared Blumenfeld defended the state’s actions, saying, “We’ve tried at every turn” to hold Exide accountable.
The situation is complicated by the immense scope of the contamination and the fact that the company is liquidating, which all but eliminates the prospects of generating future cleanup funds, said Sean Hecht, an environmental law professor at UCLA Law School. But one thing the bankruptcy process cannot absolve the company of is criminal liability, he said.
“Theoretically the Department of Justice could come after Exide for the felonies that it’s already admitted,” he said. “But what would that accomplish in terms of actually getting funding for the cleanup? Ultimately the money isn’t there, and that’s what the problem is now.”


latimes--2020-10-09--Tech companies step up to bring free Wi-Fi to L.A. public housing residents

Nearly 9,000 residents of public housing in Los Angeles will receive free broadband internet access for the rest of the 2020-21 school year as part of a new partnership between the city , Microsoft and the start-up internet service provider Starry .
Starting in early November , residents of the Jordan Downs , Nickerson Gardens and Imperial Courts housing projects in Watts and the Pueblo del Rio complex in Central Alameda will be able to sign up for the service .
They join residents of Mar Vista Gardens , who have had access since August .
The new partnership comes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of remote learning and parents and public policy makers alike worry that lower-income students will be left even further behind as they struggle to keep up at home .
“ COVID-19 has reinforced what was already a clear and unmistakable fact : Internet connectivity is not a luxury in our time , ” Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a statement .
“ It ’ s an absolute necessity for parents trying to work , students looking to learn , and families and friends seeking to communicate.
” Low-income Angelenos , and particularly residents @ @ @ @ @ @ @ struggled with internet access for years .
Telecom companies have proved reluctant to build out infrastructure to housing developments where residents can ’ t afford high-cost internet and cable packages .
The cinderblock construction of Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles properties such as Nickerson Gardens makes new wiring even more expensive , and if residents pay for wireless hot spots to get online , the cinderblock construction often blocks the signal .
If broadband internet is even an option , the paperwork is another hurdle to overcome .
Many internet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ qualify for low-income programs , some require credit checks before leasing out equipment , and if a company sees any history of nonpayment — whether it ’ s for a landline phone bill in the 1990s or a cable bill last week — they often can ban residents from their services .
But the biggest obstacle is often price .
The city has been working with telecom companies to reduce costs for residents , who can find resources for internet access at the city ’ s Get Connected Los Angeles website or by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the price problem entirely ( at least until the end of the school year ) .
María Peñaloza , a resident of Mar Vista Gardens since 2003 , said that when the pandemic hit and her husband lost his job , their nearly $ 80 internet bill was one of the first expenses to get cut .
That made things difficult for them and their three daughters living at home — one in grade school , another in middle school , and the third in college — and made it more difficult to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had moved out .
“ It was really difficult , not being able to connect , ” Peñaloza said .
So far , the Starry service has proved more reliable than the wired internet she paid for in the past .
Starry is part of a new wave of wireless internet service providers , or WISPs .
Traditional ISPs run copper or fiber-optic lines into each housing unit from a trunk line , which customers then connect to a modem and wireless router to get Wi-Fi in their homes .
WISPs , on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wireless transmitter to the trunk line and then attach a small receiver unit to each building , without having to run cables between the two .
That receiver unit hooks up to a building ’ s existing wiring system , whether that ’ s coaxial cables or old-school phone lines , which connect to Wi-Fi routers in each customer ’ s home .
Chet Kanojia , Starry ’ s chief executive , said the company was founded on the principle that fast internet should be available to everyone in society — and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ WISP model make partnerships like this possible .
“ We have a very low-cost network , ” Kanojia said , “ and broadband tends to be a very profitable business as well , so we can make our contribution.
” The company first rolled out a broadband network for HACLA residents at Mar Vista Gardens earlier this summer as part of its Starry Connect product line , which is available to public and affordable housing residents across the country , provides 30-megabit upload and download speed connections for $ 15 a month , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
But once the reality of a remote-learning school year kicked in in August , the company reached an agreement with HACLA to provide the service for free to all residents .
Kanojia said Starry ’ s program is distinct from other ISPs ’ low-income offerings for two reasons .
First , it actually falls under the federal definition of broadband internet access , which requires download speeds of more than 25 megabits .
Second , many programs require customers to prove their low-income status — HACLA residents only need to provide their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spot .
“ If you ’ ve ever needed anything in your life , having to articulate that need and prove it to someone can be demeaning , ” Kanojia said .
“ We want our customers to feel like they ’ re not being separated out or treated separately because they ’ re part of this program.
” The program ’ s expansion to four more HACLA properties came about with financial and logistical support from Microsoft .
The company provided Starry with a grant to build out the infrastructure in HACLA @ @ @ @ @ @ @ support to help residents get free and affordable devices and training .
The tech giant has been working on building out rural broadband access with its Airband program since 2017 , and announced this summer that it would start addressing the digital divide in urban communities as well as part of its commitment to racial justice .
It chose L.A. for a pilot program .
Vickie Robinson , general manager of the Airband program for Microsoft , said that she hopes the HACLA program will provide a template for quickly closing the digital @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the coming years .
“ Unlike in rural communities , where there ’ s often no option ” for internet access already in place , Robinson said , urban communities frequently have internet infrastructure nearby but are underserved or simply can ’ t afford it .
“ This is America .
We should be able to do this.
” The need is acute .
The FCC ’ s official numbers show that broadband internet is available throughout Los Angeles County — but Microsoft ’ s own research has found that only 64.5 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at broadband speeds .
In the low-income areas of Los Angeles surrounding the newly connected HACLA developments , 25 % of families with school-age children have no home internet access at all or rely on mobile phones to access schoolwork , according to a survey published in September by researchers from USC and the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools .
The survey focused on areas served by the partnership , which manages 19 L.A. Unified schools in South L.A. , Boyle Heights and Watts that enroll 14,200 children .
It also found that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ income or experienced food insecurity during the pandemic , approximately a third had still spent hundreds of dollars to activate internet services or buy devices to enable their children to sign in to school remotely .
Any program that can reduce that burden and increase access is a net good , said Stephen Aguilar , an assistant professor at the USC Rossier School of Education who helped compile the report .
“ One of the things we ’ ve found is that live instruction matters a lot , ” Aguilar said .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or more stable live instruction , that helps with engagement and with parent perceptions of how their kids are doing.
” But Aguilar worries that stopgap measures don ’ t go far enough .
“ Initiatives like this are great .
Everyone ’ s putting up these temporary structures , ” Aguilar said .
“ But like all temporary structures , you need to replace it eventually with something stable.
” Providing free high-speed internet access through the school year will help keep some students from lagging too far behind , but Aguilar @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t stop then .
“ In the long run , remote learning is going to be worse for communities that are suffering because they don ’ t have access to other resources , ” Aguilar said .
“ The time to catch up , or try to catch up , would be the summer , but that ’ s when the internet is going to be cut off .
”

Nearly 9,000 residents of public housing in Los Angeles will receive free broadband internet access for the rest of the 2020-21 school year as part of a new partnership between the city, Microsoft and the start-up internet service provider Starry.
Nearly 9,000 residents of public housing in Los Angeles will receive free broadband internet access for the rest of the 2020-21 school year as part of a new partnership between the city, Microsoft and the start-up internet service provider Starry.
Starting in early November, residents of the Jordan Downs, Nickerson Gardens and Imperial Courts housing projects in Watts and the Pueblo del Rio complex in Central Alameda will be able to sign up for the service. They join residents of Mar Vista Gardens, who have had access since August.
The new partnership comes as L.A. schoolchildren settle into another month of remote learning and parents and public policy makers alike worry that lower-income students will be left even further behind as they struggle to keep up at home.
“COVID-19 has reinforced what was already a clear and unmistakable fact: Internet connectivity is not a luxury in our time,” Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a statement. “It’s an absolute necessity for parents trying to work, students looking to learn, and families and friends seeking to communicate.”
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Low-income Angelenos, and particularly residents of L.A.’s public housing, have struggled with internet access for years. Telecom companies have proved reluctant to build out infrastructure to housing developments where residents can’t afford high-cost internet and cable packages. The cinderblock construction of Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles properties such as Nickerson Gardens makes new wiring even more expensive, and if residents pay for wireless hot spots to get online, the cinderblock construction often blocks the signal.
If broadband internet is even an option, the paperwork is another hurdle to overcome. Many internet service providers require proof of income to qualify for low-income programs, some require credit checks before leasing out equipment, and if a company sees any history of nonpayment — whether it’s for a landline phone bill in the 1990s or a cable bill last week — they often can ban residents from their services.
But the biggest obstacle is often price. The city has been working with telecom companies to reduce costs for residents, who can find resources for internet access at the city’s Get Connected Los Angeles website or by calling 311. This new partnership erases the price problem entirely (at least until the end of the school year).
María Peñaloza, a resident of Mar Vista Gardens since 2003, said that when the pandemic hit and her husband lost his job, their nearly $80 internet bill was one of the first expenses to get cut. That made things difficult for them and their three daughters living at home — one in grade school, another in middle school, and the third in college — and made it more difficult to video-chat with their fourth daughter, who had moved out.
“It was really difficult, not being able to connect,” Peñaloza said. So far, the Starry service has proved more reliable than the wired internet she paid for in the past.
Starry is part of a new wave of wireless internet service providers, or WISPs. Traditional ISPs run copper or fiber-optic lines into each housing unit from a trunk line, which customers then connect to a modem and wireless router to get Wi-Fi in their homes. WISPs, on the other hand, connect a powerful wireless transmitter to the trunk line and then attach a small receiver unit to each building, without having to run cables between the two. That receiver unit hooks up to a building’s existing wiring system, whether that’s coaxial cables or old-school phone lines, which connect to Wi-Fi routers in each customer’s home.
Chet Kanojia, Starry’s chief executive, said the company was founded on the principle that fast internet should be available to everyone in society. (Mark Lennihan / Associated Press)
Chet Kanojia, Starry’s chief executive, said the company was founded on the principle that fast internet should be available to everyone in society — and the lower installation costs that come with the WISP model make partnerships like this possible.
“We have a very low-cost network,” Kanojia said, “and broadband tends to be a very profitable business as well, so we can make our contribution.”
The company first rolled out a broadband network for HACLA residents at Mar Vista Gardens earlier this summer as part of its Starry Connect product line, which is available to public and affordable housing residents across the country, provides 30-megabit upload and download speed connections for $15 a month, and includes the first six months free. But once the reality of a remote-learning school year kicked in in August, the company reached an agreement with HACLA to provide the service for free to all residents.
Kanojia said Starry’s program is distinct from other ISPs’ low-income offerings for two reasons. First, it actually falls under the federal definition of broadband internet access, which requires download speeds of more than 25 megabits. Second, many programs require customers to prove their low-income status — HACLA residents only need to provide their address and can sign up on the spot.
“If you’ve ever needed anything in your life, having to articulate that need and prove it to someone can be demeaning,” Kanojia said. “We want our customers to feel like they’re not being separated out or treated separately because they’re part of this program.”
The program’s expansion to four more HACLA properties came about with financial and logistical support from Microsoft. The company provided Starry with a grant to build out the infrastructure in HACLA properties, and will also provide financial support to help residents get free and affordable devices and training.
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The tech giant has been working on building out rural broadband access with its Airband program since 2017, and announced this summer that it would start addressing the digital divide in urban communities as well as part of its commitment to racial justice. It chose L.A. for a pilot program.
Vickie Robinson, general manager of the Airband program for Microsoft, said that she hopes the HACLA program will provide a template for quickly closing the digital divide, especially among Black Americans, in the coming years.
“Unlike in rural communities, where there’s often no option” for internet access already in place, Robinson said, urban communities frequently have internet infrastructure nearby but are underserved or simply can’t afford it. “This is America. We should be able to do this.”
The need is acute. The FCC’s official numbers show that broadband internet is available throughout Los Angeles County — but Microsoft’s own research has found that only 64.5% of Angelenos actually use the internet at broadband speeds.
In the low-income areas of Los Angeles surrounding the newly connected HACLA developments, 25% of families with school-age children have no home internet access at all or rely on mobile phones to access schoolwork, according to a survey published in September by researchers from USC and the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools.
The survey focused on areas served by the partnership, which manages 19 L.A. Unified schools in South L.A., Boyle Heights and Watts that enroll 14,200 children. It also found that although nearly three-quarters of families had lost income or experienced food insecurity during the pandemic, approximately a third had still spent hundreds of dollars to activate internet services or buy devices to enable their children to sign in to school remotely.
Any program that can reduce that burden and increase access is a net good, said Stephen Aguilar, an assistant professor at the USC Rossier School of Education who helped compile the report.
“One of the things we’ve found is that live instruction matters a lot,” Aguilar said. “If high-speed internet enables more live instruction or more stable live instruction, that helps with engagement and with parent perceptions of how their kids are doing.”
But Aguilar worries that stopgap measures don’t go far enough.
“Initiatives like this are great. Everyone’s putting up these temporary structures,” Aguilar said. “But like all temporary structures, you need to replace it eventually with something stable.”
Providing free high-speed internet access through the school year will help keep some students from lagging too far behind, but Aguilar said the need for remote learning won’t stop then.
“In the long run, remote learning is going to be worse for communities that are suffering because they don’t have access to other resources,” Aguilar said. “The time to catch up, or try to catch up, would be the summer, but that’s when the internet is going to be cut off.”


latimes--2020-10-13--When cops abuse social media, the results are explosive: "One post can become a moment"

As a young cop in Richmond in 2008 , Ben Murdoch made a mistake that cost him his career and led some to label him a racist .
At a Halloween party , a Latino friend came dressed in a Ku Klux Klan outfit meant to be a costume of a pop culture character created by comedian Dave Chappelle — Clayton Bigsby , a blind Black man who is also a white supremacist .
Murdoch , dressed as a rock star , and the friend began spoofing the Bigsby skit , he said , including giving a Nazi salute .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ social media .
Local news picked it up , and two days short of finishing his probationary period , Murdoch said he was pressured to resign and has not worked in law enforcement since .
“ At the time you think it ’ s hilarious , and you don ’ t think about what you are doing , ” Murdoch said recently .
“ Think twice with all your decisions.
” Social media was in its infancy when it helped end Murdoch ’ s career .
Now , it is so widely used @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so closely watched by their detractors — that its worst moments are casting a harsh spotlight on the mindset of law enforcement , and serving as proof to some that cops are inherently biased .
Plumas County Sheriff ’ s Deputy Ed Obayashi , who has developed the state ’ s first training course for officers on personal social media and has investigated multiple instances of online misconduct , said offending officers are often surprised by the uproar .
“ When I do these investigations , I get these excuses all the time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not racist , it ’ s funny , ’ ” Obayashi said .
“ There is no excuse .
There is no justification .
What circumstances can you come up with to justify such postings ?
There aren ’ t any , and that ’ s why chiefs and sheriffs are tearing their hair out.
” In recent months in California , one sheriff ’ s deputy was fired and a deputy at a different department disciplined for posting a meme of a Black male porn star with his knee on George Floyd @ @ @ @ @ @ @ union for prison guards has come under fire for an online video where a Black legislator ’ s face was covered by a bullseye ; and a Los Angeles Sheriff ’ s Department captain was reassigned after a Facebook post that said Andres Guardado , a Salvadorian-American teenager killed by a deputy in Gardena , “ chose his fate.
” In San Jose , four officers were implicated in an ongoing investigation for participating in a private Facebook forum that included racist and anti-Muslim content .
At the California Highway Patrol last summer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forwarded post disparaging transgender celebrity Caitlyn Jenner was brought to the department ’ s attention by a reporter .
Amid the George Floyd demonstrations , Los Angeles Police Protective League board member Jamie McBride came under scrutiny for posting Facebook messages supportive of former LAPD Chief Daryl F. Gates , who ran a department plagued by excessive force .
Also under scrutiny is McBride ’ s daughter , Toni McBride , an LAPD officer who in April shot and killed a man carrying a box cutter , provoking community protests .
Multiple stylish @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at targets at a gun range can be found online , including one posted in recent days .
Police officers have free speech rights , and across California and the United States , departments are grappling with how to balance those protections with the potential for commentary that can trigger explosive responses , putting the profession further on the defensive .
The words and images have sometimes included serious misconduct , such as violent threats , misogyny and racism .
Officers have also found themselves facing public scrutiny and department ire for political @ @ @ @ @ @ @ high-profile and contentious cases and vulgar images that offend average sensibilities .
“ It ’ s bigger than insensitivity , ” said Melina Abdullah , co-founder of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles .
“ It ’ s a doubling down on the threat to Black lives , and it is absolutely additional violence.
” Multiple law enforcement leaders across the state said the public nature of social media misconduct makes it one of the most urgent disciplinary matters when it happens , often necessitating action quicker than for other types of misconduct that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ less attention .
“ One post can become a movement , ” said Wally Hebeish , assistant chief of police in Long Beach .
A probationary officer was recently fired in his department for posting a photo of his baton over a bloody sidewalk during protests for police reform .
While Hebeish said it was “ a young officer that made a mistake , ” it was not one the department could tolerate both because it hurt internal morale and caused anger in a community that was in the midst of upheaval .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ people to become angry with us , but that ’ s the type of emotion that image can create , ” Hebeish said .
Sekou Millington , chief of police in the San Francisco Bay Area city of Tracy , said the effects of a social media incident are long-lasting , making it imperative that departments respond quickly and in a way that mirrors community sentiment .
A part-time professional standards officer in his department , responsible for administrative investigations , was recently fired for participating in an online forum where a journalist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The incident has sparked an FBI investigation .
“ Now we have to work that much harder to build that trust back , ” Millington said .
“ It ’ s definitely 10 steps back.
” But legally , there is a limit to restrictions law enforcement agencies can place on their employees when it comes to free speech — though a 2018 ruling by a California appellate court involving a LAPD officer clarified that posts causing “ potential disruptiveness ” to an agency ’ s operation could warrant discipline .
Departments know @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prohibit [ officers ] from posting based on the Constitution , ” said Mike Rains , a lawyer who has represented multiple officers in social media cases .
But even law enforcement unions , charged with defending on-duty misconduct for their members , have backed away from supporting those who post offensive material .
In San Jose , a fight has broken out within the police union over the perception that the union head did not defend officers in the recent scandal .
A similar union dust-up is happening in the ranks of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ union condemning the bullseye video from the rank-and-file union .
Art Gonzales , current president of the supervisors ’ organization said in a statement he was “ appalled at the video ” and considered it harassing and threatening a public official .
“ This is inciteful and borders on a racist call-to-action , ” he said .
Faced with the waterfall of bad judgment and no way to stop it , departments have crafted stricter policies for personal use of social media , though much remains as suggestions instead of dictates , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ At the California Highway Patrol , an August memo to management , laying out an update to its 2013 social media policy , warns “ to treat every post as if it will end up on the front page of a major newspaper , because it may.
” But Obayashi said the desire among officers to participate in social media remains strong , and is more than “ just stupidity.
” Though , like Rains , he counsels officers to “ just stay off , ” he has seen the impulse to post @ @ @ @ @ @ @ discourse has turned more vitriolic .
“ I ’ ve even had one officer say , ‘ If Trump can say this , why can ’ t I ?
’ ” Obayashi said .
“ A lot of cops are frustrated , they are very frustrated because of everything that has been transpiring : Black Lives Matter , defund the police , arrest those officers , a perception that leadership and politicians have abandoned them .
So they don ’ t have an outlet .
This is their outlet.
” Rains , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said some officers also feel a need to defend themselves and the profession .
“ You don ’ t let the narrative eat you alive , ” Rains said of how some officers justify social media .
“ When the narrative is something you care strongly about , you shouldn ’ t be quiet .
That is being a coward.
” Some officers said that social media provides a connection in a profession that is often insular and isolating .
Retired San Jose Officer Leroy Pyle was active nearly daily on the Facebook @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of officers in his former department , but said he never saw offensive content .
Instead , he viewed it as “ an everyday thing where people could share news … what was going on in their life , who died , who had babies .
It was a chat room.
” Though he thought the flagged content was “ not acceptable , ” he has moved discussion to a private webpage to keep it alive .
The members-only space , he said , is a refuge .
“ It ’ s not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but if somebody does make a mistake or errors ... the whole world doesn ’ t have to know , ” he said .
Age also plays a part , said Hebeish , Millington and others .
For younger officers , digital natives , “ everything they do is virtual , ” said Millington , making it “ hard to say , ‘ Don ’ t use it.
’ ” Murdoch , the officer caught making the Nazi salute , said twelve years after his resignation , he has reinvented his life and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , settled down , ” who rescues dogs and tortoises .
But the incident still lingers .
“ I actually try to avoid all photos at any time these days , ” he said .
“ I don ’ t want to be seen on anything , anywhere .
”

Long Beach Police Chief Robert Luna, shown in 2014, announced in June that an officer who posted photos on social media amid the George Floyd protests has been “relieved from employment.”
As a young cop in Richmond, Calif., in 2008, Ben Murdoch made a mistake that cost him his career and led some to label him a racist.
At a Halloween party, a Latino friend came dressed in a Ku Klux Klan outfit meant to be a costume of a pop culture character created by comedian Dave Chappelle — Clayton Bigsby, a blind Black man who is also a white supremacist. Murdoch, dressed as a rock star, and the friend began spoofing the Bigsby skit, he said, including giving a Nazi salute.
A picture was taken and posted on social media. Local news picked it up, and two days short of finishing his probationary period, Murdoch said, he was pressured to resign and has not worked in law enforcement since.
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“At the time you think it’s hilarious, and you don’t think about what you are doing,” Murdoch said recently. “Think twice with all your decisions.”
Social media were in their infancy when they helped end Murdoch’s career. Now, they are so widely used by police and retired officers — and so closely watched by their detractors — that their worst moments are casting a harsh spotlight on the mindset of law enforcement, and serving as proof to some that cops are inherently biased.
Plumas County Sheriff’s Deputy Ed Obayashi, who has developed the state’s first training course for officers on personal social media and has investigated multiple instances of online misconduct, said offending officers are often surprised by the uproar.
“When I do these investigations, I get these excuses all the time, ‘No, I’m not racist, it’s funny,’” Obayashi said. “There is no excuse. There is no justification. What circumstances can you come up with to justify such postings? There aren’t any, and that’s why chiefs and sheriffs are tearing their hair out.”
In recent months in California, one sheriff’s deputy was fired and a deputy at a different department disciplined for posting a meme of a Black male porn star with his knee on George Floyd’s neck; a law enforcement union for prison guards has come under fire for an online video where a Black legislator’s face was covered by a bull’s-eye; and a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department captain was reassigned after a Facebook post that said Andres Guardado, a Salvadoran American killed by a deputy in Gardena, “chose his fate.”
A screenshot from CCPOA president Glen Stailey’s Facebook page, depicting part of an online advertisement that targets legislators the organization would like to defeat in the November election. (Courtesy of the office of Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer)
In San Jose, four officers were implicated in an ongoing investigation for participating in a private Facebook forum that included racist and anti-Muslim content. At the California Highway Patrol last summer, a chief was investigated after a forwarded post disparaging transgender celebrity Caitlyn Jenner was brought to the department’s attention by a reporter.
Amid the George Floyd demonstrations, Los Angeles Police Protective League board member Jamie McBride came under scrutiny for posting Facebook messages supportive of former LAPD Chief Daryl F. Gates, who ran a department plagued by excessive force. Also under scrutiny is McBride’s daughter, Toni McBride, an LAPD officer who in April shot and killed a man carrying a box cutter, provoking community protests. Multiple stylish videos and pictures of her blasting away at targets at a gun range can be found online, including one posted in recent days.
Police officers have free speech rights, and across California and the United States, departments are grappling with how to balance those protections with the potential for commentary that can trigger explosive responses, putting the profession further on the defensive.
Advertisement
The words and images have sometimes included serious misconduct, such as violent threats, misogyny and racism. Officers have also found themselves facing public scrutiny and department ire for political messages that crossed lines, comments on high-profile and contentious cases and vulgar images that offend average sensibilities.
“It’s bigger than insensitivity,” said Melina Abdullah, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles. “It’s a doubling down on the threat to Black lives, and it is absolutely additional violence.”
Multiple law enforcement leaders across the state said the public nature of social media misconduct makes it one of the most urgent disciplinary matters when it happens, often necessitating action quicker than for other types of misconduct that may be more serious, but draw less attention.
“One post can become a movement,” said Wally Hebeish, assistant chief of police in Long Beach. A probationary officer was recently fired in his department for posting a photo of his baton over a bloody sidewalk during protests for police reform.
While Hebeish said it was “a young officer that made a mistake,” it was not one the department could tolerate both because it hurt internal morale and caused anger in a community that was in the midst of upheaval.
“We weren’t looking for people to become angry with us, but that’s the type of emotion that image can create,” Hebeish said.
Sekou Millington, chief of police in the San Francisco Bay Area city of Tracy, said the effects of a social media incident are long-lasting, making it imperative that departments respond quickly and in a way that mirrors community sentiment. A part-time professional standards officer in his department, responsible for administrative investigations, was recently fired for participating in an online forum where a journalist’s life was allegedly threatened. The incident has sparked an FBI investigation.
“Now we have to work that much harder to build that trust back,” Millington said. “It’s definitely 10 steps back.”
But legally, there is a limit to restrictions law enforcement agencies can place on their employees when it comes to free speech — though a 2018 ruling by a California appellate court involving a LAPD officer clarified that posts causing “potential disruptiveness” to an agency’s operation could warrant discipline.
Departments know “full well they couldn’t prohibit [officers] from posting based on the Constitution,” said Mike Rains, a lawyer who has represented multiple officers in social media cases.
But even law enforcement unions, charged with defending on-duty misconduct for their members, have backed away from supporting those who post offensive material.
In San Jose, a fight has broken out within the police union over the perception that the union head did not defend officers in the recent scandal. A similar union dust-up is happening in the ranks of state prison guards, with the supervisors’ union condemning the bullseye video from the rank-and-file union.
Art Gonzales, current president of the supervisors’ organization said in a statement he was “appalled at the video” and considered it harassing and threatening a public official.
“This is inciteful and borders on a racist call-to-action,” he said.
Faced with the waterfall of bad judgment and no way to stop it, departments have crafted stricter policies for personal use of social media, though much remains as suggestions instead of dictates, and departments are often playing catch-up. At the California Highway Patrol, an August memo to management, laying out an update to its 2013 social media policy, warns “to treat every post as if it will end up on the front page of a major newspaper, because it may.”
But Obayashi said the desire among officers to participate in social media remains strong, and is more than “just stupidity.” Though, like Rains, he counsels officers to “just stay off,” he has seen the impulse to post grow stronger in recent years as political discourse has turned more vitriolic.
“I’ve even had one officer say, ‘If Trump can say this, why can’t I?’” Obayashi said. “A lot of cops are frustrated, they are very frustrated because of everything that has been transpiring: Black Lives Matter, defund the police, arrest those officers, a perception that leadership and politicians have abandoned them. So they don’t have an outlet. This is their outlet.”
Rains, the lawyer for police officers and unions, said some officers also feel a need to defend themselves and the profession.
“You don’t let the narrative eat you alive,” Rains said of how some officers justify social media. “When the narrative is something you care strongly about, you shouldn’t be quiet. That is being a coward.”
Some officers said that social media provide a connection in a profession that is often insular and isolating. Retired San Jose Officer Leroy Pyle was active nearly daily on the Facebook page that recently led to the investigation of officers in his former department, but said he never saw offensive content. Instead, he viewed it as “an everyday thing where people could share news … what was going on in their life, who died, who had babies. It was a chat room.”
Though he thought the flagged content was “not acceptable,” he has moved discussion to a private webpage to keep it alive. The members-only space, he said, is a refuge.
“It’s not to encourage that kind of stuff, but if somebody does make a mistake or errors ... the whole world doesn’t have to know,” he said.
Age also plays a part, said Hebeish, Millington and others. For younger officers, digital natives, “everything they do is virtual,” said Millington, making it “hard to say, ‘Don’t use it.’”
Murdoch, the officer caught making the Nazi salute, said twelve years after his resignation, he has reinvented his life and is “an old man, married, settled down,” who rescues dogs and tortoises. But the incident still lingers.
“I actually try to avoid all photos at any time these days,” he said. “I don’t want to be seen on anything, anywhere.”


latimes--2020-10-13--Parents are paying up to $100 an hour for tutors, driving up demand and worsening inequities

Malachi Morris-Jackson was struggling with distance learning , falling behind in reading and algebra , when he met high school senior Cooper Silverman .
In weekly sessions figuring out equations and analyzing prose , the volunteer tutor works to uplift Malachi — telling him “ you got this ” and keeping the 11-year-old engaged by pulling off the occasional card trick .
“ He ’ s a stellar kid , ” said Silverman , a tutor with El Nido Family Centers who attends the Oakwood School in North Hollywood .
Malachi is one of the legions of students in California @ @ @ @ @ @ @ virtual learning and are falling behind without the structure of the classroom .
But he is also fortunate to have a high-demand commodity : a tutor , whose one-on-one work offers what experts say is among the top solutions to stem the learning losses of so many students .
“ Far and away , the most effective tool we have to begin fixing this is tutoring , ” said Robert Slavin , director of the Center for Research and Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins University .
“ Nothing else can be put @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a likelihood of working.
” Coronavirus-forced school closures have fueled an unprecedented run on tutors that takes in the gamut of circumstances — including students who need academic help like Malachi and those seeking to maintain their high-achieving status .
But for every parent who can pay for private tutoring , there are others who can ’ t , fueling a surge of start-up volunteer tutoring groups .
The demand is evident at pricey firms — which can charge $ 25 to more than $ 100 an hour .
A+ Tutoring , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seen a 70 % jump in web traffic since March , company owner Roman Slavinsky said .
Yet this tutor-for-hire frenzy highlights concerns about how the pandemic could further widen the education divide .
“ We are going to have an exacerbation of massive inequality , ” said Prudence L. Carter , dean of UC Berkeley ’ s Graduate School of Education .
“ And many children from economically vulnerable backgrounds who need access to tutors will very likely not get that support.
” The Los Angeles Unified School District , where 80 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ low-income families , announced in August that it would attempt to address the need through a pilot tutoring program run by a nonprofit start-up , Step Up .
So far , 500 students in kindergarten through eighth grade in South L.A. , the Huntington Park area and the San Fernando Valley will be paired with volunteer tutors — many of whom are local college students — for twice-weekly sessions .
“ We ’ ve learned a good deal about online education since March and it ’ s clear there is a need for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Supt .
Austin Beutner said in a statement .
Philanthropist Jamie Halper , who co-founded the organization , is funding the pilot for under $ 1 million .
“ Remote learning is very hard on families and teachers , so this just seemed like a good and natural opportunity , ” Halper said .
But given the projected need , it could take up to two years to expand Step Up ’ s pilot program districtwide , co-founder Nati Rodriguez said .
LAUSD also plans to provide one-on-one tutoring mainly outdoors at campuses @ @ @ @ @ @ @ compensated at their hourly rate for sessions that last 50 minutes and are designed to take place outside normal school hours .
All participants must first have a negative coronavirus test .
An agreement was approved last week by the teachers union and district .
“ We want students at every school who need support to be able to have support , ” said Alison Yoshimoto-Towery , LAUSD ’ s chief academic officer .
Kevin Claxton of Mar Vista has been tutoring for 20 years , and he ’ s never been busier @ @ @ @ @ @ @ top of his regular job as a basketball coach .
He ’ s finding that he ’ s no longer supplementing students ’ learning , but instead teaching multiple subjects and trying to keep his mostly elementary school students interested in their work .
“ Now it ’ s more holistic , ” said Claxton , who is also facilitating some backyard learning pods through Tutor Me LA and charges $ 60 to $ 90 an hour .
Almost every child Claxton tutors is behind in at least one subject .
A Harvard @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was especially effective in uplifting the achievement of low-performing students when compared with other efforts to improve education , such as reducing class size and expanding preschool .
With this in mind , educators are advocating for the widespread availability of one-on-one tutoring .
Slavin believes that states and districts should contract with local agencies to hire “ an army of tutors to work individually or in small groups with struggling students , especially in elementary reading and mathematics.
” “ Frankly , this is no longer optional , ” he wrote in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , such projects are already in the works .
In June , Maryland announced it would use $ 100 million in federal relief funds to provide tutoring statewide to students who need it the most .
Legislation proposed by Massachusetts and Maryland senators would dramatically expand AmeriCorps to equip students with tutors and provide jobs to recent college graduates .
Start-ups similar to Step Up and volunteer groups are rushing in to fill the vacuum of tutoring opportunities for low-income students .
One of those is Pandemic Professors , formed in April by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than 200 students — most in the Bay Area — have applied for the nonprofit ’ s tutoring services , which are provided almost entirely by college students or recent graduates .
UCLA recently established the Bruin Tutor Network , a free service made up of more than 500 student volunteers who work online at least one hour a week with K-12 pupils across L.A. County .
The network also provides resources to parents who want to get better at supporting their children while they adjust to e-learning .
The Los Angeles Public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ through Tutor.com , powered by the Princeton Review .
In June , there were 3,400 live tutoring sessions through the program compared with 1,900 during the same month last year .
“ It ’ s been surprising to us how many people don ’ t know about the service despite our efforts to promote it , but this year of course families are hungry for exactly this kind of assistance , ” said Eva Mitnick , director of the library system ’ s Engagement and Learning Division .
Nonprofits like El Nido Family @ @ @ @ @ @ @ economically disadvantaged families in L.A. County , have expanded free tutoring services .
El Nido pivoted to online instruction and recruited more volunteer tutors — most of whom are high school and college students — to meet demand .
“ We ask every family when they come in , ‘ What do they need ?
’ So many of them say tutoring for their kids , ” said Cecilia Trujillo , outreach coordinator at El Nido .
Trujillo said many parents voice concerns about their child ’ s grades rapidly dropping .
Often @ @ @ @ @ @ @ log on because of poor internet connection , or not having a quiet , distraction-free space to learn .
“ I had one parent cry , ‘ They ’ re going to penalize my child , ’ ” Trujillo said .
Another student had to go into a closet for his tutoring sessions to insulate himself from the noise in his home .
Carter , the UC Berkeley dean , said the weekly social-emotional support that tutors can provide could be even more important than any academic gains reaped from one-on-one instruction .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ about gaps and loss .
But in my personal opinion , now is not the moment to be reveling in that kind of language , ” Carter said .
“ Now is the time to think about what is the most fundamental and basic support we can provide for kids to sustain some kind of health and well-being.
” Silverman , the high school student , starts every tutoring session by asking Malachi how he ’ s doing ; they usually chat for a few minutes before diving into the academics .
Arlene @ @ @ @ @ @ @ says the sixth-grader looks forward to his time with Silverman every week .
“ His tutor makes him feel like he ’ s important , ” Reed said , “ that he can do it if he just keeps working on it .
”

Malachi Morris-Jackson was struggling with distance learning, falling behind in reading and algebra, when he met high school senior Cooper Silverman. In weekly sessions figuring out equations and analyzing prose, the volunteer tutor works to uplift Malachi — telling him “you got this” and keeping the 11-year-old engaged by pulling off the occasional card trick.
“He’s a stellar kid,” said Silverman, a tutor with El Nido Family Centers who attends the Oakwood School in North Hollywood.
Malachi is one of the legions of students in California who have come up against obstacles with virtual learning and are falling behind without the structure of the classroom. But he is also fortunate to have a high-demand commodity: a tutor, whose one-on-one work offers what experts say is among the top solutions to stem the learning losses of so many students.
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“Far and away, the most effective tool we have to begin fixing this is tutoring,” said Robert Slavin, director of the Center for Research and Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins University. “Nothing else can be put in place as quickly with as high a likelihood of working.”
Malachi Morris-Jackson in a tutoring session with Cooper Silverman. Arlene Reed, Malachi’s aunt, says Cooper “makes him feel like he’s important.” (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
Coronavirus-forced school closures have fueled an unprecedented run on tutors that takes in the gamut of circumstances — including students who need academic help like Malachi and those seeking to maintain their high-achieving status. But for every parent who can pay for private tutoring, there are others who can’t, fueling a surge of start-up volunteer tutoring groups.
The demand is evident at pricey firms — which can charge $25 to more than $100 an hour. A+ Tutoring, a San Fernando Valley-based tutoring company, has seen a 70% jump in web traffic since March, company owner Roman Slavinsky said.
Yet this tutor-for-hire frenzy highlights concerns about how the pandemic could further widen the education divide.
“We are going to have an exacerbation of massive inequality,” said Prudence L. Carter, dean of UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Education. “And many children from economically vulnerable backgrounds who need access to tutors will very likely not get that support.”
The Los Angeles Unified School District, where 80% of the 460,000 students are from low-income families, announced in August that it would attempt to address the need through a pilot tutoring program run by a nonprofit start-up, Step Up. So far, 500 students in kindergarten through eighth grade in South L.A., the Huntington Park area and the San Fernando Valley will be paired with volunteer tutors — many of whom are local college students — for twice-weekly sessions.
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“We’ve learned a good deal about online education since March and it’s clear there is a need for more one-on-one support for students,” Supt. Austin Beutner said in a statement.
Philanthropist Jamie Halper, who co-founded the organization, is funding the pilot for under $1 million. “Remote learning is very hard on families and teachers, so this just seemed like a good and natural opportunity,” Halper said.
But given the projected need, it could take up to two years to expand Step Up’s pilot program districtwide, co-founder Nati Rodriguez said.
LAUSD also plans to provide one-on-one tutoring mainly outdoors at campuses, provided by teachers who will be compensated at their hourly rate for sessions that last 50 minutes and are designed to take place outside normal school hours. All participants must first have a negative coronavirus test. An agreement was approved last week by the teachers union and district.
“We want students at every school who need support to be able to have support,” said Alison Yoshimoto-Towery, LAUSD’s chief academic officer.
Kevin Claxton of Mar Vista has been tutoring for 20 years, and he’s never been busier, clocking 35 hours a week on top of his regular job as a basketball coach. He’s finding that he’s no longer supplementing students’ learning, but instead teaching multiple subjects and trying to keep his mostly elementary school students interested in their work.
“Now it’s more holistic,” said Claxton, who is also facilitating some backyard learning pods through Tutor Me LA and charges $60 to $90 an hour. Almost every child Claxton tutors is behind in at least one subject.
A Harvard study from 2016 found that one-on-one tutoring was especially effective in uplifting the achievement of low-performing students when compared with other efforts to improve education, such as reducing class size and expanding preschool. With this in mind, educators are advocating for the widespread availability of one-on-one tutoring.
Slavin believes that states and districts should contract with local agencies to hire “an army of tutors to work individually or in small groups with struggling students, especially in elementary reading and mathematics.”
“Frankly, this is no longer optional,” he wrote in a blog post.
Throughout the country, such projects are already in the works. In June, Maryland announced it would use $100 million in federal relief funds to provide tutoring statewide to students who need it the most. Legislation proposed by Massachusetts and Maryland senators would dramatically expand AmeriCorps to equip students with tutors and provide jobs to recent college graduates.
Start-ups similar to Step Up and volunteer groups are rushing in to fill the vacuum of tutoring opportunities for low-income students. One of those is Pandemic Professors, formed in April by UC Berkeley graduate Harley Simpson. More than 200 students — most in the Bay Area — have applied for the nonprofit’s tutoring services, which are provided almost entirely by college students or recent graduates.
UCLA recently established the Bruin Tutor Network, a free service made up of more than 500 student volunteers who work online at least one hour a week with K-12 pupils in foster care across L.A. County. The network also provides resources to foster parents and caregivers who want to get better at supporting their children while they adjust to e-learning.
The Los Angeles Public Library grants K-12 students online tutoring services through Tutor.com, powered by the Princeton Review. In June, there were 3,400 live tutoring sessions through the program compared with 1,900 during the same month last year.
“It’s been surprising to us how many people don’t know about the service despite our efforts to promote it, but this year of course families are hungry for exactly this kind of assistance,” said Eva Mitnick, director of the library system’s Engagement and Learning Division.
Nonprofits like El Nido Family Centers, which primarily provides counseling to economically disadvantaged families in L.A. County, have expanded free tutoring services. El Nido pivoted to online instruction and recruited more volunteer tutors — most of whom are high school and college students — to meet demand.
“We ask every family when they come in, ‘What do they need?’ So many of them say tutoring for their kids,” said Cecilia Trujillo, outreach coordinator at El Nido.
Trujillo said many parents voice concerns about their child’s grades rapidly dropping. Often cited issues are not being able to log on because of poor internet connection, or not having a quiet, distraction-free space to learn.
“I had one parent cry, ‘They’re going to penalize my child,’” Trujillo said. Another student had to go into a closet for his tutoring sessions to insulate himself from the noise in his home.
Carter, the UC Berkeley dean, said the weekly social-emotional support that tutors can provide could be even more important than any academic gains reaped from one-on-one instruction.
“There is a lot of angst about gaps and loss. But in my personal opinion, now is not the moment to be reveling in that kind of language,” Carter said. “Now is the time to think about what is the most fundamental and basic support we can provide for kids to sustain some kind of health and well-being.”
Silverman, the high school student, starts every tutoring session by asking Malachi how he’s doing; they usually chat for a few minutes before diving into the academics.
Arlene Reed, Malachi’s aunt, says the sixth-grader looks forward to his time with Silverman every week.
“His tutor makes him feel like he’s important,” Reed said, “that he can do it if he just keeps working on it.”
Times staff writer Howard Blume contributed to this report.