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TINDER APP Seven reasons why using the dating app is a bust • Page 7
KEISHA COX Get to know one of Palomar’s basketball players • Page 12
the telescope Palomar College’s Independent Newspaper • the-telescope.com • Vol. 68, No. 9 • Monday Feb. 2, 2015
DATES YOU SHOULD KNOW
Childhood education center to be completed by Fall KIRK MATTU THE TELESCOPE
The Child Development Center will be seeing a new addition to their program within the next academic year. The Early Childhood Education Lab School that was meant to be housed in a temporary structure over 30 years ago will have a new permanent location completed in Fall 2015, Palomar Spokeswoman Laura Gropen said. The project has been 10 years in the making and is an exciting development, Pam Keinath, coordinator for the lab school said. “It’s going to be a pretty exciting experience and a lot of hard work to get there,” Keinath said. The new lab school will have three, single-story structures. Two of the three buildings will be instructional spaces holding seven classrooms and a nap room. The last building will be primarily for administrative purposes, containing faculty offices, a conference room, kitchen, laundry and an extra classroom. The school will also have an outdoor shade structure, an amphitheater and five play yards. Spanning over 70,000 squarefeet and budgeted at $13.1 million, the new lab school is funded by a 2006 voter-approved construction
Construction continues at the future site of the Early Childhood Education Lab School at the Palomar College San Marcos campus on Jan 27. The project is funded by a district bond passed in November 2006. • Casey Cousins/The Telescope
bond, Prop M, Gropen said. Prop. M is a $694 million bond that has funded current and future buildings on campus such as the Planetarium, Humanities Building and the Teaching and Learning Center.
What sets the lab school apart from other preschools is that the lab school serves as a practicum site for their learning experiences where there are regular observations from students on campus with the opportunity to interact with the children,
Keinath said. The lab school is open to families within the community and has the capacity to enroll 100 children in their educational program.
JUMP TO CONSTRUCTION PAGE 4
District shifts leadership toward diversity CHRISTOPHER BULLOCK THE TELESCOPE
The newly appointed governing board president of Palomar College is the first Latino to hold the position over 20 years. At the last Governing Board meeting of the Fall semester, John J. Halcon, who has served on the board for the last two years, was named Governing Board president. As Governing Board president, Halcon said he hopes to improve diversity among Palomar students and staff, as well as the upper division of faculty. During one board meeting last semester, he, along with Vice President of Instruction, Berta Cuaron, openly campaigned to have a Latino/ Latina as the new School President. “We want to ensure that those who graduate from Palomar have viable skills to succeed outside of school while improving the quality of our education,” Halcon said. Taking on diversity has never been an issue for Halcon, who has based his career on focusing on making sure higher education is available to everyone. “Like the rest of the board members, for the future we want ready access to students as far as them coming in and out of campus; making sure that it’s affordable for students to attend,” Halcon said. Before being elected as a trustee in 2012, Hal-
Newly elected Governing Board President John Halcon • Photo courtesy of Melinda Finn
con started his college career at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. While there, he earned his master’s degree in Inner City Education, after completing his bachelor’s degree in Chicano Studies and Sociology. After Loyola, he attended University of California Santa Barbara, where he earned his doctorate in Programs of Organizations and Policy and Bilingual Education.
Halcon keeps a busy schedule, as he also is a professor at California State University San Marcos. On top of being a teacher, he is currently Secretary of the California Faculty Association, liaison to the California Teachers Association and serves in the Representative Assembly of the National Education Association. In his time as a professor, he has also coauthored a book with his wife, Maria de la Luz Reyes, “The Best for our Children: Critical Perspectives on Literacy for Latino Students.” He has also published articles in the Harvard Educational Review, Bordos, the Journal of Latinos and Education, among many more. Nancy Chadwick, a longtime member of the Governing Board and current trustee, said in an interview that while she has only known Halcon for a couple of years, the experience he brings to the board is impeccable. “He is a person of high education and brings that perspective, which is important,” Chadwick said while adding, “He is also very concerned about maintaining high quality education in the public sector.” Chadwick said she hopes that Halcon, along with the rest of the board, can usher in a new era of diversity to Palomar, not only with the students, but the staff as well. CBULLOCK@THE-TELESCOPE.COM