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BRAZILIAN MARTIAL ARTS MIXED WITH DANCE AND MUSIC CLASS ON CAMPUS A class at Palomar interacts more like a family while learning the art form of Capoeira and Brazilian culture, taught by Elias Fonseca. • Page 4
the telescope Palomar College’s Independent Newspaper
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Vol. 68, No. 2 • Monday, Sept. 22, 2014
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the-telescope.com
MEMORIAL
Early retirement may entice staff SUSAN WHALEY THE TELESCOPE
Palomar International Student Program Coordinator, Yasue O’Neill, comforts a friend of one of the victims, Akari Hasegawa, as she speaks at the Celebration of Life ceremony at Palomar College on Sept. 19, 2014. Please refer to our website for additional memorial photos. • Yoshikazu Yamashita/The Telescope
‘Celebration of life’ after car accident SEAN HORGAN THE TELESCOPE
Friday, Sept. 19 was a solemn day as a memorial service was held for three international Palomar students who died in a car accident during the first week of the Fall semester. The Celebration of Life service was held at Palomar’s San Marcos campus to commemorate the lives lost in a single car accident Aug. 21. Student and Palomar staff spoke while the first names of the three victims were displayed in a booth
where people could write their final farewells to Shinichi, Sayaka and Minoru. Akari Hasegawa, a friend of Shinichi, reminisced about the times she spent with him, and she went on to thank the rest of the victims for all that they had done for her. “Thanks to you guys, I will live the rest of my life doing my best and working hard,” she said. Around 90 people attended the event to express their condolences for the deceased and to the loved ones of the victims.
Friend Rika Kanbashi read a letter from Sayaka’s friend describing how the two would stay up all night talking, and how their teachers would be angry with them because of their lack of sleep. Friend Ena Miyauchi described how Shinichi taught her what friendship was through his view of marriage. “He said that he wanted to marry the woman who could stay with him for two of three hours in the park without talking,” Miyauchi said. “At first, I didn’t know what this meant, but now I understand that this was
what friendship was.” The memorial service concluded with a moment of silence, along with the release of dozens of white doves. The three Palomar students had just arrived from Japan to attend Palomar’s fall classes. The three were killed Aug. 21 on State Route 78 between El Camino Real and College Boulevard. Five others in the Honda Prelude were injured when the car went off the road and crashed into a pole.
Retirement may come early for some faculty and professors at Palomar College. The Governing Board agreed to move forward with an early Supplemental Retirement Program, also known as the “golden handshake,” at its Sept. 9 meeting. Staff will be offered 75 percent of their annual salary for those who want to retire early, according to officials. The window of opportunity is open until next April. Deegan stressed that no one is being pushed to retire early, this is incentive only. Staff, faculty and administration eligible for early retirement will be receiving information packets in the coming weeks. To be eligible for the program, employees have to at least be 55 years old and have worked at Palomar for five years, Deegan said. Palomar is using an outside company PARS to help the process for early retirement. According to the PARS website their objective is “providing superior employee benefits while increasing management effectiveness, reducing operating costs, and relieving staff administration burdens.”
SHORGAN@THE-TELESCOPE.COM
Emergency response is top priority for new, experienced police chief EMILY RODRIGUEZ MIKE ADAMS THE TELESCOPE
Palomar College has a new police chief who said he has great plans for the campus community. Police Chief Mark DiMaggio is a 29-year law enforcement veteran who most recently served as Police Chief at Los Angeles County’s Mt. San Antonio Community College. During his time at the school, DiMaggio collaborated with several law enforcement and first responder agencies to ensure a safe environment for the campus population. Prior to the position at Mt. SAC, Chief DiMaggio spent 24 years with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, serving in various areas
during his tenure and achieving the rank of Captain. Since arriving to Palomar in May, Chief DiMaggio has made it an objective to train his staff of officers to respond to any type of emergency that could occur on campus. “Right now we’re in the process of working on emergency disaster preparedness … We’re looking at different evacuation plans, continuing training in first aid and CPR,” DiMaggio said. DiMaggio said he is looking forward to serving the Palomar community. “This is a wonderful environment here,” he said. “The students, staff and faculty are all great people. Being involved in higher education law enforcement, it’s very important to me to provide a secure environment for
New Palomar College Police Chief Mark DiMaggio • Paul Nelson/The Telescope
the students and faculty.” DiMaggio has also spent the past 18 years teaching Administration of Justice courses at Riverside and Mt. SAC community colleges. In addition, he served four years as the School Resource Liasion for the Riv-
erside Office of Education during his time as a lieutenant with the Riverside Sheriff’s Department. The experience gained from working in various areas during his career will help DiMaggio adapt quickly to his new position at Palomar. “It gives me all that leadership ability to manage not only my staff but to work within the community itself,” he said. Palomar College President Robert Deegan agreed that his background will help DiMaggio in his new role. “(DiMaggio) brings a wealth of experience to the campus,” Deegan said. He is a very energetic, studentcentered police chief who is already doing an outstanding job, he added. He also has command over Palomar’s satellite campuses around the county and has made it a priority to
work with the local law enforcement in the areas. “It’s nice to have that interwoven connectivity with all those parties that are involved in case anything were to occur. Ultimately, we have this mutual respect where we can all work together.” Another key that the new police chief highlighted is establishing a great relationship with the Palomar community. “I have an open door policy so anytime if students want to come talk with me about any of the concerns they have or something they think that can better this entire campus environment … Let’s work together, that’s really my key,” DiMaggio added. ERODRIGUEZ@THE-TELESCOPE.COM MADAMS@THE-TELESCOPE.COM