INSIDE
CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY Martin Luther King Jr day of service PAGE 2 Students talk New Year’s resolutions PAGE 4 Vulcan movie and new music reviews PAGE 7
Cal baseball wins preseason awards PAGE 11
January 29, 2010
Profs get axed
california university of Pennsylvania
vol. XXIX, No. 2
Seven English adjuncts among those terminated
By Alex Vucelich For the Cal Times
The dismal tide of these times has fallen hard across our nation and California University of Pennsylvania is not immune. At the end of last semester, seven adjunct professors in the English department were released due to university wide cutbacks. Adjuncts are instructors who are hired on a semester-bysemester basis to teach classes. Often, those classes are at the introductory level. The release of these professors at Cal U has led to a change in the class offerings and the size of the number of students in classes. These cutbacks have stirred some emotions among faculty across campus, especially in the English department. Dean of the College of Liberal Arts Michael Hummel said one factor behind the cuts to adjunct faculty is for the university to meet productivity targets. “I hate to see them go,” Hummel said. “We had to meet our productivity targets, and it wasn’t because of what they
were teaching, it was because of where they were at.” The English department had to make cuts to meet their productivity targets wherever possible and instead of releasing full-time, or tenured professors, they didn’t renew the adjunct faculty contracts, who taught Composition I and II almost exclusively. “We just didn’t cut in English,” Hummel said. “In my own department, Justice Studies, we cut. We have to pay our bills and be productive and sometimes the only way to be productive is to cut some classes and tighten up other classes.” The Cal U English department received a large share of the employment ax because it employed a majority of the adjunct faculty on campus. English department chairperson Madeline Smith said the English department at one time had around 50 professors, but is now down to under 20. This is partially due to the fact
See ADJUNCT Continued On Page 10
Photos courtesy of: calvulcans.com Men’s basketball players (left to right) Kelsey Williams, Joe Berenato and Ryne Niemec have been absent the past two games. The Vulcans have dropped those two games in an 0-5 PSAC West start.
Sitting out By Alix Kunkle
Sports Editor The California Vulcans have been missing a handful of basketball players from the bench over the past week and reasons for the absences are still unclear. For the Jan. 23 game against Edinboro only nine of the 12 rostered team members were on the bench for the contest. When asked why only nine players were dressed, Sports Information Director Matthew Kifer told the Cal Times an undisclosed number of basketball players were suspended due to a “violation of team policy.” Sports information would not directly release the names of the players who have been
Three players absent from men’s basketball games
suspended. “We can only say that it was a violation of team policy,” Kifer said. “The suspensions are being handed out by the school.” However, sophomore forward Kelsey Williams, junior guard Joe Berenato, and freshman guard Ryne Niemiec were the three players not on the bench for the game against Edinboro. The suspensions were handed out between the Jan. 20 game against Clarion and the Jan. 23 game against Edinboro. The suspensions apparently continued as the Vulcans visited IUP Jan. 27. Williams, Berenato and Niemiec didn’t make the trip to Indiana for the game, leaving only nine players yet
Cal students rock out for Haiti relief
again on the bench. Cal lost to IUP 71-59. It is unclear whether or not the three will return to the line up for the Jan. 30 game versus Mercyherst. It is also undetermined if there are more suspensions still forthcoming from the athletic department. California basketball head coach Bill Brown did not respond to requests for comment on the suspensions. The NCAA has no information about the suspensions. At press time the Vulcans are 0-5 in PSAC West play. For continuing coverage go caltimes.org for the latest information on the suspensions.
Details on page 4
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