Monday, September 11, 2000 -
Palomar College -
Volume 54, Number 2
Hall Of Fame
Capital punishment Gadgets galore
Athletic Director John Woods is inducted into the Hall Of Fame.
Is the death penalty a responsible way of dealing with criminals or a moral dilemma?
Sports, page 1.1.
Opinion, page 5
Students blast Gyde, Bishop at governing board Laura Mitchell The Telescope
A group of angry students blasted Associated Student Government President Shannon Gyde and Student Activities Director Bruce Bishop at Palomar College's governing board meeting August 22. The students, ASG officers Anastasia Benzel, Jennifer Jennings and Rachel Farr, announced their resignations effective 3pm the following day. In addition to hearing the student statements, the governing board started the semester with a full course load as they outlawed roller devices and, in a controversial decision, rescinded an employment offer to music professor Servio Marin. "The ASG is commonly known to students as a joke," Jennings said. Jennings announced her resignation as the ASG Vice President of State Affairs. Jennings also read a statement from Farr, who could not attend the meeting due to illness, and announced Farr's intention to resign as ASG Vice President and Inter Club Council Chairperson. The students were upset over the disqualification of Bridget Roncone as ASG president in the election last spring. Roncone won the majority of votes but was disqualified because she lives in Rancho Santa Fe, which
is outside the community college district boundaries. Benzel had the harshest words for Gyde questioning her level of dedication and accu ing Gyde of missing several meeting. "Shape up or ship out," said Benzel to Gyde. Benzel followed by vaguely accusing Bishop of threatening and lying to students, saying that she had heard other students voice these complaints. Benzel then announced her resignation as Executive Vice President of ASG. Gyde and Bishop were caught by surprise by the students' appearance at the governing board meeting and had no immediate comment. Later, Gyde said that she only missed one ASG meeting because of a one-time work conflict and didn't know what other meetings Benzel was referring to. The governing board revisited an item from its last regular meeting on its academic employment offer to Marin. The board approved an offer of employment to Marin for a position as assistant professor of music on June 27. On July 25, the board divided over the decision to rescind its offer. According to Marin, the day after the offer was made, he requested a written offer letter from the governing board so he see Governing, page 7
Early child development center welcomes new coordinator Heidi Clites The Telescope
On July 31, the Child Development Center on campus hired a new coordinator. Laura Brown filled the opening that not only required having a bachelor's degree in child development, but also at least two years experience in the field. "Everyone has been very warm and welcoming to my arrival. I am still learning the ropes around the center," Brown said. Brown grew up in Carmel, California. She left home to receive her bachelor's in Early Child Development at Humbolt State University in Arcata, Calif. Ten years of experience and her B.A. helped Laura become the
Palomar Child Center coordinator. "Working with young children is very rewarding. I encourage anyone interested in child development to stop by the facility and visit," she said. The Palomar Early Child Development Center is not a babysitting facility. It is an environment for children to learn through exploration. Children attending the facility range in age from 18 months to 5 years old. Along with high qualifications, a teacher is required to have at least two years of job experience. "It is very important to keep our standards high. The children's future is basically in our hands," Brown said.
A review of all the new technology to surviving as a student. Focus, page 7
The air down there
Karin Braun I The TeleS<.¡ope A helicopter scheduled to hoist a large air conditioning unit from the ground to the top of the ST building broke down August 26 and was forced to make an emergency landing at North County Fair mall and caused the rescheduling of the flight.
Fall enrollment climbs Parish Rahbar The Telescope
The enrollment numbers are in and Palomar College can breathe a sigh of relief. Last semester, there was a substantial decrease in the number of students enrolled at Palomar. The decline in the enrollment, directly affecting the amount of funds that the State of California issues to colleges, cost the school a considerable amount of money. It was reported last March that Palomar lost $2.3 million in additional funds for not reaching its growth potential. This semester, the head count is reportedly up 12 percent from last fall, according to Herman Lee, director of enrollment. However, the number the state looks at for reimbursing the college in terms of funds is the total number of students enrolled in credit courses, and not just the total number of students taking a class at Palomar, said Joseph Madrigal, assistant superintendent and vice president of student services. The number is now up by 1.9 percent from last fall. The cause of the decrease was due to a number of inconveniences the school experienced last semester, Madrigal said. "The infrastructure remodeling project tore the school apart ... the campus looked like a war zone." Not only was the campus aesthetically hindered but the open trenches made it difficult for the students to navigate around campus. Now that the project is complete, students are able to find their classes with a lot less effort than before.
Norma Bean, director of marketing, feels the marketing department can't really take credit for the increase in student enrollment this semester. The efforts have been "similar to what we've done in the past," according to Bean. But Bean and other college administrators are in agreement that modifications to PeopleSoft greatly helped enrollment at Palomar. In the previous semester the software may have played a big role as a deterrent for students, administrators admit. When registering last semester, students ran into many problems getting the classes they needed on account of the many bugs that were in the new system. This semester, however, the problems with PAR were fixed and students were able to sign up for their courses. Fewer students had to come in and stand in line to register, which made the whole process a lot easier. Mike Norton, Palomar spokesman, said, "We shouldn't think in terms of percentage, but in terms of numbers." At a school with more than 25,000 students a ten percent increase in enrollment would
mean an extra 2,500 students registering, whereas other smaller colleges that number could be substantially lower but still the same percentagewise. This increase in enrollment means more than just an increase in funds for the school. Madrigal feels that with higher enrollment more focus needs to be directed toward the students and meeting their academic needs. Madrigal notes that for certain courses such as math and english the demand is higher than the number of classes being offered, so students who can't get in go on the waiting list, but end up dropping out. A total of 1,117 students have dropped out of all their classes since the beginning of this semester and are no longer enrolled at Palomar. "If we want to continue to grow, we need to address the issue of students that get on the waiting list looking for classes they can't get into." Madigal said. The college also has to figure out ways to increase course offerings, he added.
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