The Fresno Bee reports on an oddity in California Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante's resume. If this was on the record of President Bush, it would fuel charges that he was a fraudulent dunce and a beneficiary of favoritism.
Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante got credit but did not have to attend a basic speech class at Fresno State in the late 1990s because a professor decided in 15 minutes or less that the Fresno Democrat would have earned at least a C based on his public utterances.Posted by Alan at September 29, 2003 01:48 PMBustamante left Fresno State in the late 1970s without earning a bachelor's degree but returned 20 years later to complete it, which he did this spring. He needed to take approximately eight classes, and the speech class satisfied a general-education requirement.
"In my judgment at the time, he had certainly demonstrated minimal proficiency, and I emphasize minimal proficiency ... in the fundamental skills mandated by the course," Robert Powell, former chairman of the communication department, said last week. He interjected: "I'm not going to make any judgment about the eloquence or anything else" of Bustamante's speeches.
Powell, who still teaches at the university, gave Bustamante credit for the class based on "the plethora of presentations" the lieutenant governor has given during his career and also from hearing him speak publicly. Powell could not remember exactly when or where he heard Bustamante speak, though he did recall it was more than once.
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