April 3, 2014
Opinion
El Camino College Union 5
Campus viewpoints By: Lorilynn Lomeli Staff Writer @EccUnionLorilynn
Photos By: John Fordiani @EccunionJohn
Teachers: 5 percent or less?
Christopher Lee Union Columnist @ECCUnionChris
M
Capital Gains
y time here at EC is coming to a close. After this semester, I will transfer to a four-year university to complete my undergraduate education. Not that you care, wink, so far I’ve been accepted to University of California, Santa Barbara and wait to hear from a few other schools. As I look to what I’ve done at EC in retrospect and to what I will do in the future, I want to discuss the status of our current system in all aspects as a sort of dissertation, a conclusion that surveys all of the courses I have taken at EC. While it is the job of the journalist to report the news rather than to speculate and offer solutions, as a bad one, I will support my overall argument by what I feel is the cause of the problem rather than reveal the symptoms and results of, “to journalize,” which to some may be more convincing. As the first in a series in this article, I want to focus on the big picture I’m introducing the thing that we have created since the formation of capitalism and arguably longer. All countries no matter what type of government, have created an unsustainable world by relying on other nations to self sustain each nation. The major flaw of capitalism, the definition of such a reliance, is that it is contingent upon improvement. Take the United States for example. The US is founded upon the talents of individuals who have the foresight to take their dreams and aspirations and turn them into reality. Our nation seeks to raise these individuals in order to create the best products in every sector, in art, fashion, literature, sports, science, news, technology, military, and much more, for the most part regardless of race, sexuality, gender, or class. Ideally, these individuals create new sectors of the economy to make improvement exponential. Through these products and sectors, whether we realize it or not, we seek to improve and appear to have improved our own lives by improving the lives of others, which is the fundamental principle of capitalism. To put this into perspective, someone who produces food improves the life of someone who builds cars, who improves the life of someone who teaches, who improves the life of so on and so forth. The problem with this system is that to sustain it we must continually improve the system, to make it bigger and better, because that is the nature of a capitalistic economy. This is part of the reason why Apple comes out with a new iPhone every year. Throughout the course of time, we have heard from dissenters, who have seen the end of this conundrum, that a system based upon perpetual improvement is impossible to sustain. Enjoying the ride to the end, we have ignored and continued to ignore its warnings. When growth ceases, all order will fall into disorder, and so will this constructed world. Join the conversion online at www. eccunion.com The views expressed in this column are those of the author. They do not represent the views or opinions of the Union, its staff, editorial board or advisers.
Kelly Humphreys, 22, liberal studies
“A compounded 5 percent, that is a lot for a general scale. .I do think that teachers are underpaid. And as I am a liberal studies major and I want to be a teacher I would, of course, love to think that there is going to be better benefits for them. I do think that teachers lay out the foundation for everyone else, so it would be important for them to feel like they are being well taken care of. I think it should really be based on individual growth.”
Illustration by Eugene Chang/ Union
UP FOR DEBATE Should the teachers get a 5 percent increase or less? Show appreciation for our unsung heroes Tom Fallo is a pretty swell guy. Nobody can deny that he’s done a lot of good for EC. He’s helped to get two major construction bonds passed, and on a campus full of busy administrators with scarcely predictable schedules, he’s made the effort to keep his office open to anyone who’d like to speak to him. Thomas Schmit He’s also one of the most highly Copy Editor paid community college presidents @ECCUnionThomas in California. When Fallo renegotiated his contract last year, he was given a $40,000 raise, along with a yearly 5 percent increase to his salary for three years. In contrast, the faculty and classified employees of EC have not received any sort of raise since 2008, and the increases proposed by the board of trustees roughly translates out to a net salary increase of five percent after three years. Now, It’s not that Fallo didn’t deserve a raise, or that EC should be handing out $40,000 to every landscaper, painter, and teacher on campus. However, it’s important to remember that these are the people who ensure the day to day running of EC. They clean our bathrooms, fix our buggy computers, and teach our classes. If you’d like to think about it in sports terms, Fallo is EC’s coach, and giving the coach a nice bonus is perfectly fine. However, without the team’s players, the faculty and classified staff who actually carry out the plays, who sweat and bleed for EC on a daily basis, it’s pretty damn difficult to win the game. When you consider it that way, only forking over the bare minimum mandated by the state feels a little thankless. Now, some might be tempted to argue that by virtue of his position, Fallo was more deserving of a raise than some of the other EC employees. However, take a look around campus and see if you can find anyone with an “easy” job. Picking up trash doesn’t sound difficult until you have to pick up after 22,000 students. Heck, some students have trouble remembering the names of all the other students in even one class, but many of the faculty are responsible for the educational outcome of hundreds of students at once. Yes, there will always be money issues, and EC is right to want to conserve as much of the budget as possible. In this instance though, EC might have to bite the bullet and spend some money in order to ensure that it can actually keep making money.
Think realistically, 5 percent per year is too much In the battle of negotiation, possibilities are endless, although rarely realistic. This isn’t an argument of whether teachers deserve a 5 percent raise, as most would agree that compared to professional athletes and Hollywood stars, teachers are much more essential and influential. But we have already set the Russell Lewis status quo for how much teachers Opinion Editor are paid, and though it is consider@ECCUnionRussell ably lower than a doctor or lawyer, (careers that also require lots of education) the state still doesn’t have enough roles for teachers. A cost of living increase is a totally reasonable proposition, but to increase a teacher’s salary 5 percent annually for 3 years is unlikely to swing. First of all, it’s important to mention that the ECCFT (El Camino College Federation of Teachers) agreed to the current terms that they are under, and they are simply attempting a renegotiation. They are protesting to start a ruckus, but they are unable to go on strike due to the agreement that is already in place. The Board of Trustees is simply offering what was agreed upon by the state. The 5 percent figure, inspired by the EC President Tom Fallo’s personal raise, is basically used as a symbol of respect. I believe most teachers think that 15 percent over three years is unrealistic, and most teachers would be happy with a deal somewhere in the middle. Fallo is paid very handsomely, but he is a single person who received an increase, which isn’t the same as the entire teacher’s board. There isn’t enough money in the budget to currently hire more teachers, let alone pay the lucky ones who have a job already. As a student, I’m not sure how a pay increase for teachers would affect me. Is that 5 percent really going to make my teachers better? It shouldn’t, pay increases should come from excellent performance, not inspire it. It’s difficult to set a merit meter for a professor, as it’s much easier to find negatives than positives. Rateyourprofessor.com, a website where students can rate and review other professors to guide future students, has worked for me at EC, but the Board of Trustees shouldn’t use it since the website can be very biased. I would like to believe that students use the survey given every semester (where we critique the class) intelligently, as those could be used to better distribute the funds. Depending on whose side you are on, either you believe the teachers are under appreciated or they are just arguing because they can. But no matter which side you are on 5 percent is a ridiculous figure.
Tara Henderson, 20, linguistic anthropology “I wouldn’t be where I am today academically without the help of my professors, so I think more than anyone here they definitely deserve an increase in their pay.”
Aiden Berndt, 18, English “The teachers deserve like a good amount of pay regardless, but like 5 percent every year that’s... a bit much, you know. Like 5 percent for like 3 years or so and then reduce it back down to 1.5 or so.”
Anissa Pol, 20, Radiology “I think they should get an increase, because the teachers do a really good job of teaching their subject and helping the students when they need help.they should definitely get a raise.”