FO
,Music and the Internet combine as we approach the next millennium. Arts &
Entertainment, page 4
Monday, Sept. 13, 1999
The National Champion Comets come back to defend the title.
Palomar College -
Sports,
page 8
Volume 53, Number 2
San Marcos, CA
Bishop chosen for student activities head Speech instructor to be interim director through Spring 2000 Tom Chambers Ediror in Cl1iej
Follett to take over Bookstore Dustin Schwindt Fearurc Ldirrn
After review ing several lease proposals the Board of Governors has decided that operations of the Palomar Collegq Bookstore will be turned over to Follett. a private book retailer. Ac;c;ording to Vic;e-President of Administrative Services Jerry Patton the hoard approved going ahead with negotiations but an offic ial agreyment has not yet been reached. "We are making sure that everything in the request for proposal is met," Patton said. During the spring semester a task force wa~ formed consisting of faculty, studcnb and bookstore employees responsible for drafting a request for proposal (RFPJ that would be responded to by private book retailers wanting to lease the bookstore.
Pholos hy Mikacl Wiley I Tile Telescope
The Palomar Bookstore will receive a facelift and remodeling job when Follett Books takes over. According to Patton, because the committee spent so much time on the RFP. they are being extra careful before ~igning an agreement. "We're going through the proposal line by
Transfer guarantee 1 0ffered for SDSU Amy Bolaski Cov,·t:diwr
Beginning this month. students will be able to guarantee their 1admission to San Diego State Univer~ity for the fall of2000 using a transfer agreement guarantee (TAG). Due to an inllu:X of applic;ations to a campus that's already over-crowd€d. SDSU has provided the opportunity for all Region I 0 (San Diego and Imperial County) community colleges to offer students guaranteed admission. The TAG is designed to give priority to transfer students who attend '>Choob that fall into Region I 0. which includes Palomar. SDSU was declared an impacted campus in the spring of 1999. and raised the minimum GPA required
to transfer from 2.0 to 2.6. The school has the highest enrollment of all schools in the California State University system and raised the GPA in order to limit enrollment. In an effort to provide its area community colleges with priority transfer, SDSU initiated the TAG program. Palomar already maintains a simi Jar contract with the University of California at San Diego, (UCSD) which is also called TAG. Director o f the Transfer Center Tim Hernandez says, "This is a great move on behalf of Sa11 Diego State in terms of public relations, but it is abo great for students to know the rules of the game ahead of time." The program will enable students who wish to attend SDSU to
see TRANSFER, page 5
line comparing what we expect with what they interpret,"' Patton said. Some of the things already agreed upon by the board and Follett deal with the level of service that will be
provided and the pricing of books. As far as service is concerned, Patton stated the board expects Follett to have the books students need on the shelves when the rush to buy books begins at the beginning of the semester. "Follett already agreed to supplying the education centers," Patton said. Follett also has agreed to putting $278,000 into remodeling the bookstore and is offering a web-based service that will allow students to order the hooks they need. Students can either have the books sent to their home or to the bookstore where they will be ready for students to come pick them up when the semester starts. As far as pricing, the bookstore under its present management is oper-
Palomar speech instructor Bruce Bishop will be the interim Direc;tor of Student Activities through next spring, a hiring committee decided last week. The committee was fo rmed over the summer to choose a replacement for Jim Bowen, who retired in July. Bishop has taught at Palomar si nee 1977. and has chaired the Speech Communic;ations department since 1995. Associated Student Government President Buddy Rabaya, who was on the committee, said it was Bishop 's exper ience and knowledge of Palomar that made him the likely candidate. Bruce Bishop "He has real New Interim Student been Activities Director active with the
"I have celebrated and embraced the diversity of the community college environment fior more than 20 years. "
faculty. . " Rabaya said, "he'll also be good with the students." Bishop is currently in his second term as President of the Faculty and served as President and Vice President of the faculty Senate in the past. "As a classroom instructor and member of the Palomar College staff," Bi shop wrote in a letter to the hiring committee, "I have celebrated and embraced the diversity of the community college environment for more than 20 years.·· The hiring committee looked at three candidates for the position that will expire at the end of the academic year, when a permanent replacement will be hired. Vice President of Student Services Joe Madrigal said Bi shop will bring a lot of energy to the student activities office. "His enthusiasm is contagious," Madrigal said. Rabaya looks forward to working with Bishop. '· A lot more doors will be opened for us (the students)," he said, "He'll bring a sense of humor instead of downness." The Governing Board will finalize the decision in the Sept. 14 meeting, and Bishop will start Sept. 15 .
see BOOKSTORE, page 3
PIC card used for debit in campus labs Shigehiro Kondo Sraff Wrirer
Mikael Wiley I Tile Te/e\·cape
Palomar student Jason Gray ads money to his new PIC debit card in the library.
This fall Palomar 's student identification card, or PIC card, can be used as a debit card in computer labs and copy mac;hines on campus. With this new feature, students deposit money onto their cards and printing fees are deducted from that amount. So far, debit devices have been installed in the library computer lab, the English lab. and the Career Center. For promotional purposes, $2 has already been credited to each newly purchased PIC card. When the $2 credit is exhausted, students can deposit money on their cards at dispensers located on the first floor of the library and in the Counseling Center. However, it is not mandatory for students to purchase a PIC card, which costs $5. Students without cards can still use the debit service when printing documents. Instead of buying a PIC card, stu-
dents can purchase a 50 cent card for use in the labs . Chris Nguyen, coordinator of the PIC Center. is expecting the new debit feature to provide students <.tnd staff with more convenience. '"It (a new P[C card) would save a lot of time for students and the departments because we can use an ID card more like a credit card." he said. Nguyen also emphasized the advantage of a PIC card over a 50 cent card, saying that an lD feature will make life easier on campu~. He said the procedure of checking out resources from the library will be done more quickly by using a PIC card. Shay Phillips, a lab technician at the library, said that although there ~eems to be some confusion among students about how to use their cards, he likes the new system. Instead of manually handling printing fee s, as he used to. the computer now handles it all. Before the new system was installed
see PIC CARDS, page 5