Former Alta High Vice-Principal Mark Montague Settles Grievance With Canyons School District, But Still Resigns From District

On January 24th, 2012, what hopefully is the final chapter in the anti-racist witch hunt against Alta High School was played out when the school's former vice-principal, Mark Montague, reached a confidentiality agreement with the Canyons School District to settle a grievance filed against them. However, Montague still resigned from the district altogether, walking away from the vice-principal's job at Butler Middle School where he was placed after Superintendent David Doty's purge of the top leadership at Alta High.

For background, all previous posts on the Alta High incident are available HERE, with the most recent post displaying first. KSL news video embedded below:

Alta High VP reaches settlement with Canyons district over racism row | ksl.com

Montague was smeared and defamed by the district after the so-called "Klan hood incident" which took place in March 2011 at Alta High. A reprimand letter had been placed in Montague’s file which also mentioned other incidents, including a football player taunting a black player in 2009 with a noose fashioned from duct tape, and a fight between a white student and black student that occurred off campus. Montague wanted the letter removed from his file. In addition, Montague specified in his grievance letter that the offending students were suspended and the incidents handled with the involvement of several administrators and officials. It also noted that Montague had been officially gagged by Superintendent Doty, prohibiting him from discussing the incident and defending his conduct, while the district imposed no such gag upon itself. Much of the community realized that Doty was not looking to solve problems, but to find scapegoats.

Although the terms of the settlement are confidential, the letter and all related documents containing false, misleading and defamatory information were removed from his file. This means the incident will not serve as a major barrier to employment by another public school district or a private school. However, the district has refused to issue a public formal apology for the manner in which they treated Montague.

Nevertheless, Montague seems satisfied with the outcome. "It was gratifying to have it acknowledged that there was absolutely no finding of racism or condoning of racism on my part. Throughout this ordeal, I’ve heard from former students who told me that they believed in me and let me know I made a difference in their lives”, said Montague. Read the complete statement from Montague's attorney HERE. Overwhelming support for Montague continues to be expressed in the comments section of the Salt Lake Tribune story.

The Canyons School District further embarrassed itself and became an object of national derision when they announced their rejection of the nickname "Cougars" for the new Corner Canyon High School in Draper on January 19th because the term "cougar" is associated with older women who sexually prey on younger men, although a second reason was to distinguish itself from Brigham Young University. Media all over the country picked up the story and poked fun at the district -- and Utah -- for political correctness and puritanism; even the United Kingdom's Daily Mail reported on it.

Under the leadership of David Doty, the Canyons School District has become a laughing stock -- and a cancer upon the body politic of public education in Utah. But local taxpayers are not without recourse; so long as Doty remains superintendent, they can vote to reject any future school bonds floated by the district. Perhaps if taxpayers hit the district in their wallet enough times, the district will get the message that it's supposed to do what the people want.

Political Correctness In Utah: Corner Canyon High School's Nickname Will Be Chargers Because Cougars Is Considered Derogatory To Women

Another storm of political correctness has broken over the Canyons School District in the Salt Lake Valley, albeit not quite as destructive as the anti-racist witch hunt at Alta High School in 2011. The Canyons School District announced on January 19th, 2012 that they had rejected the nickname Cougars and accepted the nickname Chargers for the new Corner Canyon High School in Draper. The reason: "Cougars" is considered derogatory to women, because it has become a cultural term describing older women who seek intimate companionship with younger men.

On December 6th, 2011, the Canyons Board of Education selected Corner Canyon High School as the name of the new high school in Draper, and solicited public input for the new school's nickname and colors. They decided to distribute ballots with the names Mountain Lions, Cougars, Diamondbacks, Falcons, Raptors, Broncos, Bears, Cavaliers and Chargers to 4,300 prospective student body members currently in grades K-8 at various feeder schools which will supply students to the new high school.

When the ballots were counted, they showed 273 students wanted Cougars, 180 wanted Diamondbacks, 171 wanted Falcons and 141 wanted Raptors. However, some parents and patrons complained to board members, saying they were uncomfortable with the idea that their daughters on the drill team and cheerleading squad would be called Cougars, while other parents and students said they did not want to share a mascot with BYU, since the two schools colors would already be similar. So on January 17th, the board decided to ignore the students' choice and selected Chargers as the school's nickname. The summary of the board meeting indicates the vote was unanimous. The District did make it clear at the outset that the students' vote would only be an advisory vote, and that the Board would make the final decision.

The official board agenda for the January 17th meeting provides some useful background and additional research the board took into consideration before making the decision.

But it's the district's explanation after the fact that's a bit nauseating. District spokeswoman Jennifer Toomer-Cook said, "The board said this is a brand new school and we want to unite the community. And if there's something out there that could divide it, let's not go there". But if their intent was to avoid dividing the community, they achieved precisely the opposite effect, as the comments sections to KSL Channel 5, KSTU Channel 13, and the Deseret News show universal disapproval of the decision. One person posted this particularly cogent comment on the Deseret News:

John Charity Spring | 7:20 p.m. Jan. 19, 2012 Back Home In Davis County, UT:
This decision is proof positive that left wing extremism has infiltrated the education system to an alarming degree. Indeed, this is political correctness at its worst.

This left wing doctrine teaches that everything dealing with education must be reduced to the blandest possible level so that no possible offense could be taken by any possible person. Thus, a mascot name that merely represents a powerful creature of nature is suddenly transformed into a symbol of unrestrained sexual deviance. There is something wrong with an administrator who would react to a students suggestion of this mascot with thoughts of sexual activity between lustful older women and impressionable young men.

It is time for parents to stand up to this doctrine of political correctness that turns even the most benign of activities into artificially controversial subjects. Let this school have this honorable mascot.

Two school board members were particularly enthused about choosing the Charger nickname. Dr. Paul McCarty said "the Charger — a war horse — is entirely appropriate. The horse has been a prominent animal in Draper.” And Kevin Cromar said “I like the alliteration; I like the appeal. It’s something that will unify the community.” Contact information for all school board members is available HERE; since the board's vote was unanimous, it might be useful to compose one e-mail directed to the board president, Tracy Cowdell, and send info copies to the other board members.

There are two other ways to get even. First consider running for a board seat during the next election. Second, consider hitting them in the wallet by voting No the next time the district floats a bond.

"Ringing The Dinner Bell In Mexico": Salt Lake Tribune Names Salt Lake Police Chief Chris Burbank Utahn Of The Year For 2011

"Ringing the dinner bell in Mexico" is how one reader responded when the Salt Lake Tribune announced on December 24th, 2011 that they named Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank "Utahn Of The Year" for 2011, even though he only finished fifth in the Tribune's online poll with seven votes. Readers overwhelmingly preferred former BYU basketball player Jimmer Freddette with 199 of the 294 total votes cast.

The Tribune seems quite impressed with Burbank's public relations skills. Burbank and his officers handled a couple of public demonstrations with tact and efficiency, including the arrest of 26 activists who protested the guilty verdict against environmentalist Tim DeChristopher in July 2011, as well as the eviction of the Occupy Salt Lake protesters from Pioneer Park after one of them was found dead.

On the flip side, the Tribune chose to disregard Burbank's kid gloves approach towards illegal immigrants. Eli Cawley, president of the Utah Minuteman Project, which opposes illegal immigration, calls Burbank “a stooge of the Mexican smuggling cartels” and calls him "Sanctuary Burbank", although he acknowledges that Burbank can be charming and well-spoken.

Chief Burbank hasn't merely criticized Utah's illegal immigration laws; he publicly vowed not to enforce one of them. When SB81 took effect in 2009, Burbank said SLCPD would opt out of enforcing it, which makes one wonder what other laws Burbank would not have them enforce. Chief Burbank has had a particularly contentious relationship with some Utah state lawmakers, not only Rep. Mike Noel, who drafted SB81, but also Rep. Chris Herrod, who openly accused Burbank of lying about illegal immigration and minimizing crime by illegals in an e-mail posted to the Utah Senate Site in July 2009. Furthermore, Burbank himself poured more gasoline on the fire during a hearing before the U.S. House Judiciary Civil Rights Subcommittee in June 2010 when he criticized the state legislators who passed SB81 by describing their efforts as "an obviously xenophobic agenda" using "racist rhetoric."

Of course, it should be no surprise that Burbank played the race card during that hearing. After all, it was the progressive extremist mayor of Salt Lake, Rocky Anderson, who appointed Burbank as chief back in 2006. This is the same Rocky Anderson who showed his "respect" for the office of President of the United States by leading an antiwar demonstration in Salt Lake on the same day George W. Bush paid an official visit to Utah. Anderson wasn't about to appoint an American patriot to office.

Public reaction to Burbank's selection as Utahn of the Year, as expressed in 341 comments to the Tribune, is sharply divided. Here are samples from both sides (after the jump):

Dan Jones Poll Indicates Jim Matheson Leads All Republican Challengers In Utah's Fourth Congressional District Race; Stephen Sandstrom The Strongest Challenger

Because Utah's Fourth Congressional District race is shaping up to be one of the marquee Congressional races in the United States, the pollsters are already sniffing around. And one of them, Dan Jones, took the political pulse of 341 registered voters in the Fourth District from December 19-21. The major findings:

-- If the general election was held today, Democratic incumbent Jim Matheson would defeat any of the four Republican challengers. Stephen Sandstrom would be the toughest opponent. This despite the fact that the new Fourth District, which encompasses southwestern Salt Lake County, western Utah County and all of Juab and Sanpete counties, is heavily Republican.

-- It will take a primary election to determine the Republican nominee, and Carl Wimmer and Stephen Sandstrom are the most likely competitors.

The other Republicans in the race are Mia Love and Jay Cobb; see my December 15th post for a more detailed analysis of all candidates. KSL news video embedded below:

Matheson leads in 4th District race, poll shows | ksl.com

The Deseret News published a much more detailed story with three graphics. The individual findings:

-- Jim Matheson leads Stephen Sandstrom 50 percent to 41 percent (the remainder are Other/Don't Know)
-- Jim Matheson leads Carl Wimmer 52 percent to 41 percent
-- Jim Matheson leads Mia Love 53 percent to 36 percent
-- Jim Matheson leads Jay Cobb 54 percent to 35 percent

It is unlikely that the Republican nominee can be determined by delegates at the state Republican convention on April 21st, 2012; a primary fight between the two top vote-getters on June 26th will be necessary. The poll results explain why:

-- Carl Wimmer: 15 percent
-- Stephen Sandstrom: 15 percent
-- Mia Love: 8 percent
-- Jay Cobb: 3 percent

Nineteen percent want someone else, and 41 percent don't plan to vote in a Republican primary election. The split between Wimmer and Sandstrom is too even, and Love has too much residual strength to permit a final choice at the convention. However, there's a good chance that Sandstrom could get a sympathy bump from some unlikely sources; namely, the Federal government and a host of Latin American nations. Sandstrom wrote the HB497 immigration law, and in November, U.S. Attorney General Eric "Fast and Furious" Holder announced the Department of Justice's intent to sue to block implementation. More recently, attorneys representing Mexico and 13 other Latin American countries filed an amicus brief in U.S. District Court in conjunction with the DOJ lawsuit challenging HB497's constitutionality; they claim the law supposedly threatens Mexican nationals' human and civil rights. Both actions have attracted strong backlash from Utahns and a determination by Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff to vigorously defend the state.

Some voters, simply out of protest against the Feds' high-handed actions, may migrate to Sandstrom just to thumb their nose at the Federal government.

How Ron Paul Should Have Dealt With CNN Analyst Gloria Borger; Remember Jim Everett Vs. Jim Rome In 1994?

By now, nearly everyone is familiar with how egregiously CNN analyst Gloria Borger disrespected Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul on December 21st, 2011. Borger obsessed with Dr. Paul about the old newsletters published under his name; she simply wouldn't let go of the subject. Mediaite summed it up well, writing "Why cover this now? And why so much? You’re not looking at a decades-old story from a different angle, you’re not revealing new information, you’re merely reheating the same embarrassing, racist meal (just…. go with it) you keep serving us every few years. This is becoming, at this point, the McRib of Embarrassing Political Stories. Why?"

If you missed it, the exchange appears first on the video embedded below, with a story provided by CNN Political Ticker. Note that Ron Paul did not "storm" off the set as some outlets hysterically reported; he had his mike removed and quietly left.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zp6A-l-TwE



However, this type of ambush journalism takes place far too frequently to be casually forgiven. This is how I would liked to have seen Ron Paul deal with Gloria Borger:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uczUKTwgqeY



The national media has become too arrogant and uppity. They've forgotten that a journalist's responsibility is to report the news, NOT to become the news. One person posted a comment to the Ron Paul video explaining a possible reason for Gloria Borger's animus towards Paul:

manniman82 December 22nd around 10:50 A.M:
Gloria Borger is married to Lance Morgan who is according to the web site of his employer, Powell Tate,“chief communications strategist at Powell Tate in Washington, D.C. He specializes in developing and executing communications strategies for public policy debates, crisis communications and media training”.

So who might be the clients of Powell Tate, where Borger’s husband is “chief communications strategist and crisis communications” adviser for? The MIC that Paul wants to drastically shrink..