'Our Town'
eoun Local valley matches grapes with world-famous vineyards.
Palomar's production captures the simpler times. Arts &
Palomar College -
Monday,. Oct. 4,. 1999
Group pushes organ donation Aaron Krause College Press
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -After losing her best friend to cystic fibrosis last year, Indiana 1 University student Rachel Karess established an organization dedicated to promoting education and awareness about organ donation affiQng college and high school students. l(aress founded Life Goes On, which, in the year since its cre'ation, already has produced 10 student chapters, including groups on the campuses of Ball State and Depaw universities. "I would love to increase the number of college and high school students who want to be organ donors so that less people (die while waiting for an organ transplant," she said. "I think one of the best ways to look at this is: 'What if it were you (who needed a transplant)."' Karess is often perturbed when people tell her about their fears of waking up in an ice-filled tub with a few organs missing. To help clear up myths about organ donation, she and 36 members of IU's chapter of Life Goes On distributed 11,000 donor cards during Indiana's Sept. 18 game against the University of , Kentucky. ' Each volunteer urged students to seriously consider becoming an organ donor and to inform family members about the decision. "Sharing your decision to be an organ and tissue donor is as important as making the decision itself," says a Web site for the Children's "' Organ Transplant Association, a Bloomington-based organization where Karess also works. "At the time of your death, your family will be asked about the donation. Sharing your decision with your family now will prevent confusion or uncertainty about ,Jyour w1s h es 1ater. " Karess said the work she does is in memory of her friend, 20-yearold Brett Weinstein, who died while waiting nearly two years for a double-lung transplant. Weinstein attended the • University of Florida and the ·u niversity of Miami before dropping out of school just before final exams in his freshman year to check into a hospital. He died short! y after. "There are many myths out there that keep people from donating, which I find extremely sad," said Makisha Litten, a Life Goes On volunteer. "Organ donation is very crucial to many lives, and if one person is saved by me giving up one afternoon to pass out flyers, than I would, and will continue to, give up my time to this cause." For more information about Life , Goes On, contact: Life Goes On c/o COTA, 2501 COTA Drive, Bloomington, Ind. 47403, or call 1-800-366-2682. The organization's e-mail address is LifeGoesOn @cota.org.
Entertainrnent, page 6
Feature, page 8
Volume 53, Number S
San Marcos,. CA
Dance dropped from Homecoming Michael Paisner News Edtlor
While most Associated Student Government members are disappointed there won't be a homecoming dance this year. Stories varied as to why it won' t take place. "They had three weeks to plan it, then dropped the matter when the student adviser said no," said Johnny Rabago, a member of the Programming and Publicity Committee, the group that plans the dance. "Then Tambia (Jones-Johnson, chair of the Social Events Committee) came in and said ' now there's not enough time.' Well of course there's not enough time now, but there was.
Mr. (Bruce) Bishop (student adviser to the ASG) pretty much put a stop to it - he put up a roadblock." Not so, according to Bishop. "I had serious reservations about having a dance this year. I had several objections. I told them if they could overcome my objections I would be happy to reconsider my position." Bishop said he had a list of five to seven objections, his biggest being the limited amount of time to effectively plan, promote, and execute a dance. Anot)ler was a lack of attendance figures. Bishop said that he never got a response to his inquiries regarding attendance receipts or what expenses were
incurred in putting on the dance. "A couple of people came to talk to me very informally and asked me what I thought about the dance. I indicated to them also informally that I wasn't convinced that it was a good idea. Then within a couple of hours I had six or seven students in my office very upset because they really wanted to have this dance. I said 'Well, the decision is not final."' Bishop then laid out his objections and asked the students to give arguments to counter them. "That group never came back," he said. Other ASG members, however, attributed the cancellation to different reasons. "Everything we had planned for the week
was budgeted for, and we just didn't have enough funds for the dance," said Shalina Mahendra, member of the Budget and Finance Committee. "There was $1500 available, same as last year, but that's to spend on the entire Comet Week. This year, we have food, we have DJ's, we have a band," said Mahendra. Jones-Johnson also agreed with this explanation. "We're having more things during the week and we're thinking about the night students, too. We're having food, a DJ, and hopefully KKSM at night for the night students. So (having activities) day and nightsee DANCE, page 7
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Still number one
Palomar cuts
$1.5 million with empty positions Tom Chambers Editor-in-Chief
0
The Telesccpe
All-American Comet quarterback Greg Cicero, throws a pass at the Sept. 25 game at Mt. Sac College. The Comets won the game, 28·14.
Rabaya ready to rock.boat Tom Chambers Ediror-in-Chief
He is not your average community college student. In fact, he already has a degree from UCLA. He used to work in banking, and now he is president of the Associated Student Government. Buddy Rabaya came to Palomar in summer 1998 when he was encouraged to get involved with student government.
"I was walking my dog through the campus and I wanted to take a golf class," Rabaya said, "and I couldn't sign up - the door was locked." He went to then Student Activities Director Jim Bowen to complain. "He told me there were positions open (on student government) and to run for office," he said. Rabaya ran for senator that September and won. In November he became exec-
utive vice president after the current one resigned. Last spring Rabaya ran un-opposed for president and has been 1n office since May. The president also serves as the student trustee on Palomar's Governing Board. Rabaya says the year has been good so far. see RABAYA, page 3
Palomar College reduced its expenses by $1.5 million for fiscal year 1998-99 to avoid future deficits. The cuts were made mainly in salaries and benefits, said Jerry Patton, vice president of finance and administrative services. The college plans to continue cutting expenses in the 1999-2000 fiscal year as revenues go down. Last spring Patton reported that if the college didn't increase enrollment it could be facing deficits in excess of $17 million over the next five years. Salaries and benefits make up 86 percent of the college's $61 million budget. Being the main expense, Patton said the college looks to cut there first. As full-time positions become vacant, the college is filling many spots with part-time employees to save money. "We did not fill several jobs throughout the year," Patton said. Employees have not been layed off, but as people retire and resign the college doesn't fill the position. Last year Palomar had 12 full-time faculty retire. The State requires community colleges to increase the number of full-time faculty positions at the same rate the student population increases. When student population decreases, the required number of full-time faculty goes down as well. "We don't have a large turnover," Patton said. "But we have enough turnover that allows us to not fill positions and without having to let anyone go." Community colleges are funded at $3,400 per full time equivalent student (FTES). The state adds all the units taken at Palomar and divides that number by 15the number of units considered to be a full time load. That becomes the number of FfES. As the number of units taken at the college drops, so does its funding from the state. Palomar's enrollment has been flat in the past two years, dropping 1.6 percent this fall. Patton's report last spring stated that if the number of FTES does not increase, the college could run a deficit of $17 million in the next five years. If the number grew moderately, there would still be a deficit of $12.5 million. Palomar ended the 1997-98 fiscal year with $7.7 million. AL the end of 1998-99 the college's balance was $6.2 million- a $1.5 million drop. Patton projects that next year the balance will drop to about $3.8 million. Patton is not concerned that Palomar's ending balance keeps dropping, but he said it is something that needs to be watched. "If you go back several years, we've always been around $3.2 to $4 million," he said. "The reason our ending fund balance has appeared so high the last couple of years, is because we did capture some growth money back in 1996 and 1997 that we held in reserve because of trends we saw in declining enrollment." Patton said he expects ending balances to stop dropping or the college will take more aggressive measures to cut expenses.