When it came to unveiling a new push to create a series of online courses for California college and university students, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg thought it was fitting to deliver the news in a decidedly digital fashion.
Instead of holding a traditional news conference on Wednesday, the Sacramento Democrat said it was "the right thing to do" to log into Google to stage a "Hangout" video conference.
Reporters for several organizations, including The Bee, joined in via video chat as Steinberg and several other backers touted Senate Bill 520 as a way of improving access to higher education.
The bill would create what has been billed as the nation's first statewide offering of online college courses for credit.
The classes would be open to students who needed the credits to advance in their degrees but were unable to enroll in traditional, in-person coursework due to full classes or other limitations.
As for the "hangout," Steinberg's office says 124 viewers tuned in at the most-watched point in the conference.
Aside from the camera shot giving several speakers a hair (and head) cut during the live video feed, the technology performed just fine.
– Torey Van Oot
COURT WATCH
Court papers detail explicit threats a Santa Clara man upset about efforts to tighten gun laws allegedly made against Democratic state Sen. Leland Yee. Everett Fred Basham, arrested last month, has pleaded not guilty. In an email to Yee's office in January, Basham allegedly wrote that he had "39 confirmed kills in afganistan (sic) … . Don't make me get to 40."
– San Jose Mercury News
WORTH REPEATING
"I'm glad (Pope Francis) is a Jesuit. … What the hell do I know? I thought Jesuits were not allowed to consider higher office – at least they weren't in my day."
GOV. JERRY BROWN, a former Jesuit seminarian
<;MXn Call The Bee’s Xxxxx Xxxxxxxx, (916) 321-XXXX.>
<;MXn Call The Bee’s Xxxxx Xxxxxxxx, (916) 321-XXXX.>– San Jose Mercury News
© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "Report Abuse" link to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
• Don't flag other users' comments just because you don't agree with their point of view. Please only flag comments that violate these guidelines.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "Report Abuse" link to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them.
Order Reprint
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "Report Abuse" link below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.