ELESCOPE . :.:.:·
Friday, October 23, 1992
Palomar Community College, 1140 West Mission Road, San Marcos CA 92069-1487
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Volume 46, Number 7
Governing oard eak candidates By Mike LaJoie
Campus Beat Editor
Michael Ba&StadiPitotograpJry Editor
Governing Board candidates participate in a public forum at the Howard Brubeck Theater on Oct. 20.
Afternumerous requests, students were given the opportunity to ask questions to the 12 candidates running for the Palomar Governing Board at a fonun held Tuesday in the Howard Brubeck Theatre. Every candidate agreed new programs are needed for students who are single parentsandmorelobbying for better school funding is needed. Three of the five seats on the Governing Board are currently up. Each term lasts four years; three expire in the election year, two seats expire two years after. A stu-
dent trustee is present at Governing Board meetings to represent the student voice, but is not allowed a vote on Board decisions. The only incumbent in the race is Barbara Hughes, who is now fmishing her second term. The other two incumbents are Ben Echeverria and Harvey Williamson who did not file for re-election due to business demands on their time. The 12 candidates are: Henrietta Bilhorn, Arlene Cawthorne and Rita White of Rancho Bernardo; Rosalia Harper, Barbara Hughes, Donald McArthur and Robert Roseen of Escondido; Granger Haugh of Fallbrook; Ralph Jensen see BOARD, page 5 I
Faculty divided over proposed unionization By Joey Christensen
Staff Writer After several years of campaigning and sometimes rancorous debate, teachers on both sides of the push to unionize Palomar faculty face a landmark election Oct. 26. The outcome could change the college's holdout status as one of the few community colleges in the state without union representation for faculty. The Palomar College Faculty
Association (PCFA), a local affiliate of the Community College Association (CCA), California Teachers Association(CTA) and the National Education association (NEA) have for over two years attempted to bring collective bargaining to Palomar. The idea of adopting union representation has sparked controversy among faculty members and has left them virtually divided on the issue. Mario Mendez, president of the
Enrollment trends reflect community By Scott Gojkovich
Staff Writer "Diversity should be an asset, not a liability," according to Bob Barr, director of institutional research planning. Reflecting changing population · trends, minority enrollment is on the increase at Palomar. In response to the demand, Palomar has added teachers from a variety of minority groups to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse ethnic population. Native Americans were among the first minority groups to attend Palomar, accounting for approximately 1.2 percent of Palomar students in 1980. The percentage has remained the same, but today Palo-
mar has an American Indian Studies program and more than a dozen course offerings. Latino enrollment has also seen some dramatic changes says Herman Lee, director of admissions, records and veterans' services. The group's enrollment has climbed from roughly 10 percent in 1985 to approximately 14 percent in 1991. H the trend continues, Latino enrollment could reach approximately 35 percent by the year 20 10, he said. Barr feels there is a need to promote various cultural activities to understand the ethnic groups not only attending Palomar, but all groups residing in California. The ethnicity of a campus should "reflect the district," he said.
PCFA and associate professor of Physical Education, continues his efforts supporting the collective bargaining plan. In a recent memo to faculty, Mendez wrote,"As a faculty member at Palomar College, you must realize that our time has come. The Superintendent/President and Assistant Superintendent/Vice Presidents bargain their own contracts. The classified staff bargain their wages, benefits and working conditions. It is now time for us to
bargain for ourselves, just as every other campus group does." Mendez disputes the notion that dissatisfaction with the current administration provoked the drive to unionize. In a recent interview Mendez noted "the collective bargaining law gives faculty protection in a lot of areas." Though Mendez is sold on the idea of unionization, much of the faculty has yet to be convinced according to one opponent of the
agreement. Faculty against collective bargaining claim that Mendez and the other PCFA leadership have behaved poorly and successfully misled full-time faculty members while soliciting authorization cards during a poll in the 1991 spring semester. Mendez explained that upon the decision to investigate possible unionization of Palomar faculty, they(PCFA)hadtodemonstrateto the Public Employee Relations
see UNioN, page 3
Percent of enrollment
Afro-Amer.
Asian/PI
Native Amer.
· Other
Hispanic
White
Statistics by the office of Institutional Planning and Research for 1980, 1990 and estimated 2000. G
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