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Feature, page 8
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Monday, Feb. 28, 2000
Palomar College -
Construction nears end Jason Sherrill Staff Writer
T.he Palomar College Facilities Department said the construction on campus is ahead of schedule. "Right now they are probably 90 to 95 percent complete with the project," said Mike Ellis, director of facilities. They expected to finish at the end of January, but they hit some rock during the digging that set them back five weeks. Still the crews were able to overcome the delay to stay ahead of schedule. They do not see it as a major problem. They came across less rock than expected. Ellis said all underground utilities have been placed and are operational. Construction crews are currently working on three lateral lines (pipes leading from the main line to the buildings); one in front of the facilities building and another at staff parking lot 10, along with an irrigation lateral in lot 9. Ellis said they are scheduled to be eompleted by March 15. With that completed, all that remains is the restoration process. This puts the project ahead by nearly a month of the original date of April 4, 2000. Not having any surprises during the construction has helped with being ahead. Ellis said that some brickwork and sidewalks between buildings P and F have been put off due to rain, but has not caused any major problems. As well as being ahead of schedule, some minor changes were made during the process of the project. They have been able to add to the project. "We have made some changes to our benefit, some additional sidewalks some wider, but all of those have been minor changes," Ellis said.
Campus Bear Edi10r
Palomar's registration system will soon get a minor upgrade that wiU allow Internet access, said Herman Lee, director of enrollment. "We're hoping students will be able to apply, register, add, drop and look up closed and open classes (on the Internet)," said Lee. He added that faculty will also be able to get their rosters online. Palomar, which registers students for their classes exclusively by phone, currently uses Peoplesoft version 7.5 and will begin testing version 7.6 at the end of this month.
Douglas LeClair Staff Writer
Last tnonth Palomar board member trustees voted to continue with the second phase of a study to determine the cause of the air quality problems in the college's library. The air quality study, conducted by Applied Toxicology of Vista, will cost $15,000, while the initial phase ran $5,000. Palomar's Manager of Facility Planning and Environmental Health and Safety, Kelley HudsonMaclsaac, said the project has been broken up into phases as a "best
After being opposed by Palomar officials, the College Republicans have received approval to invite a political candidate to campus to speak - but the approval came one day too late. "I got a letter the day after it was supposed to happen," said Bridgette Roncone, president of the College Republicans. "It said we could have our event, but it was dated Feb. 4 and the event was supposed to be on the 3rd." Roncone said her club wouldn't be able to reschedule the room, or get the candidate to campu because of his busy schedule approaching the primary on March 7. "By effectively canceling him for Feb. 3, the college has basically eliminated any time for him on campus," she said. "What's the point of having a political club on campus if we can't have candidates come and speak? The whole point is to try and wipe out voter apathy and get people involved in what's going on in our district."
see PEOPLESOFT, page 3
Chuvi~
see Ll BRARY, page 3
I The Telescope
"What's the point of having a political club on campus if we can't have candidates come and speak? The whole point is to try and wipe out voter apathy and get people involved in what's going on in our district." - Bridgette Roncone President of the College Republicans
The 90 members of the Palomar College Republicans were hoping to hear from Mason Weaver, Republican candidate for the 74th assembly district, on Feb. 3 at 1 p.m., but the event was canceled after college officials told Roncone she would have to invite all the candidates to the event. "I told her [ was under the impression Palomar College had a policy restricting anybody from coming on campus as a single candidate to talk about a single issue or their candidacy," said Bruce Bishop, interim director of Student Activities. Bishop said he called the district's attorney, who also said the College Republi~ans would have to invite all the candidates because the California Education Code prohibits communi-
way for control of costs." George Mozes, director of the library, learning resources and educational television, said, "I really don't know the real outcome yet, as I don't think they came out with a definite answer." Mozes said, "Applied Toxicology assumes that [air-born spores and mold] could be a problem, and need to do more readings to verify it." Applied Toxicology's initial phase included interviewing occupants, looking over records, and inspection of the building. Initial
Palomar considers $1 70 million bond
College opposes, then approves, visit to ·campus candidate's "'
Editor in Cilief
According to Stan Malley, director of information systems, the college will get version 8.0 in January 2001. Malley said it should be functioning by the third or fourth quarter, provided it is installed in time. Palomar bought new administrative software from Peoplesoft Inc., in December 1998 for $4.6 million. It was a three-fold package: student records software, fiscal services software, and human relations software, which included a payroll package. Although Peoplesoft had installed the fiscal services and human rela-
Library air quality study continues
Rohert
Tom Chambers
PeopleSoft slated for upgrades Nancy Seuschek
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Approval comes one day after ·event date
Volume 53, Number 14
San Marcos, Calif.
ty colleges from using its resources to endorse a candidate for office. "I advised the student that she could have the event, but only if she invited other candidatesall the other candidates for the same office," Bishop said. "Otherwise, it would appear that Palomar College was endorsing the candidacy of one person over another, and we're not allowed to that." "The following week we were having a forum with all the candidates," Roncone said. "So it was kind of pointless. We wanted one of the candidates to come speak, one of the frontrunners." The college gave approval for the event after Dr. George Boggs, superintendentlpresident, see CANDIDATE, page 3
Kevan K. Wynn Staff Writer
The fate of a proposed multimillion-dollar bond to make improvements to Palomar College is still uncertain. Citing a need for an alternative source of funds, the Palomar College Governing Board decided late last year to investigate the feasibility of putting a bond on the November 2000 ballot. Last November, the college paid $17,500 to a Santa Monica consulting firm, Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin & Associates, to conduct a telephone survey of likely voters. After ht?aring positive arguments
about the bond measure, the six hundred respondents were asked their opinions of the college, whether they would support the bond measure, and how they thought the funds should be used. ''The survey was a good starting point," said Dale Wallenius, executive vice president of the Palomar College Foundation. "It showed us that people think highly of the college." While opinion of the college and reaction to the proposed bond were favorable among those polled, Palomar officials are still cautious. "There'll be another poll before see BOND, page 3
Support for Palomar bond A poll was taken of likely voters in the Palomar Community College District last November. Those polled were were asked question about a $170 million bond measure.
Should Palomar place a $170 million bond measure on the November 2000 ballot?
Source: Fairbank, Maslin, Maul/in & Associates