ASTRONOMER ACCEPTS SCHOOL DISTRICT'S OFFER.Byline: Karen Maeshiro Daily News Staff Writer An Australian astronomer hired to run the Palmdale School District's planetarium planetarium, optical device used to project a representation of the heavens onto a domed ceiling; the term also designates the building that houses such a device. A modern planetarium consists of as many as 150 motor-driven projectors mounted on an axis. then let go before he started will get the job after all. After the district received a special visa with the help of U.S. Rep (programming) REP - A directive used in IBM object code card decks (and later PTF Tapes) to REPlace fragments of already assembled or compiled object code prior to link edit. . Howard ``Buck'' McKeon's office, the board renewed its offer to John Shobbrook, who accepted Wednesday. ``I wanted to see the visa in our hot, red, little hands. We've been waiting for the visa for forever and a day,'' school board member Helen Acosta said. ``It's just wonderful it finally got here, and we can open the planetarium.'' The board voted unanimously in closed session Tuesday to offer the job to Shobbrook again. After the meeting ended about 2:30 a.m., Superintendent Nancy Smith called Shobbrook in Australia with the offer. The board approved hiring Shobbrook last October, but in a 3-2 vote last month withdrew the job offer and reopened the hiring process because of problems the district had obtaining Shobbrook's work visa. Board members Sheldon Epstein and Larry Logsdon were the dissenters dissenters: see nonconformists. . The discussion over Shobbrook's hiring took on personal and political overtones as Logsdon accused other board members of sabotaging the hiring process, a charge which they denied. In response to Logsdon's charges, the board also voted 4-1 at Tuesday's meeting to direct Smith to ask the District Attorney's Office and the Immigration and Naturalization Service Noun 1. Immigration and Naturalization Service - an agency in the Department of Justice that enforces laws and regulations for the admission of foreign-born persons to the United States INS to investigate the hiring process. Logsdon cast the dissenting dis·sent intr.v. dis·sent·ed, dis·sent·ing, dis·sents 1. To differ in opinion or feeling; disagree. 2. To withhold assent or approval. n. 1. vote because he felt it was not necessary and would be a waste of money. ``I don't see any crime that has been committed,'' Logsdon said. ``As far as finding a legal loophole An omission or Ambiguity in a legal document that allows the intent of the document to be evaded. Loopholes come into being through the passage of statutes, the enactment of regulations, the drafting of contracts or the decisions of courts. to reopen re·o·pen tr. & intr.v. re·o·pened, re·o·pen·ing, re·o·pens 1. To open or be opened again: Officials reopened the airport after the snow was cleared. Schools reopen in September. the position, I think that was wrong. It's just a bad decision. Other board members said they favored the investigation because they said they wanted to clear their names and restore their reputations. ``It's just to make sure the hiring process was not compromised in any way,'' Epstein said. During the public comment session of Tuesday's meeting, about eight people spoke in support of Shobbrook. One person against the hiring of Shobbrook asked why the district did not hire a qualified American, officials said. Shobbrook will be paid $59,347 on a probationary pro·ba·tion n. 1. A process or period in which a person's fitness, as for work or membership in a social group, is tested. 2. a. 12-month contract, Smith said. Smith said it is hoped Shobbrook can arrive in Palmdale in the next two weeks. The $1.2 million planetarium, located on the Cactus School campus, has been unused since its grand opening last October. |
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