Vol. 72, No. 4
Tuesday, November 13, 2018
ELECTION RESULTS Candidates
Votes
Norma Miyamoto
24.3 percent
Mark Evilsizer
22.63 percent
Rose Marie Dishman
21.24 percent
Lee Dulgeroff
18.95 percent
Aimee Keith
12.95 percent
54, 399 votes
51, 216 votes
48,085 votes
42, 895 votes
29, 317 votes Anita Maag and Bob Wilson at the grand opening for Anita and Stan Maag Food & Nutrtion Center on Oct. 29 . Linus Smith/The Telescope.
‘Model’ food pantry opens to community
Like father,
like daughter
KRISTA MOORE
Are you telling me as dad or telling me as coach Mikayla Seiler• Volleyball
SEE PAGE 11 FOR THE STORY Mikayla Seiler sets for a spike by a fellow teammate during match three against Mira Costa in the Dome, Oct. 31. Savhanna Vargas/ The Telescope
Telescopenews
STAFF EDITOR
Palomar College expanded its capacity to address the needs of students facing food insecurity, with the opening of the Anita and Stan Maag Food & Nutrition Center on Oct. 29. The Nutrition Center, located behind the cafeteria in the SUQuad, was made possible through a donation from local philanthropist Bob Wilson, who last year, donated $400,000 to the project. During the grand opening ceremony, President Joi Lin Blake recalled her meeting with Mr. Wilson where she, alongside former Phi Theta Kappa President Forrest Ponsot and Office of Student Affairs Director Sherry Titus, outlined the costs required to fund the project. She said that at the time, she believed he would donate at least enough to cover the cost of a commercial refrigerator. However, when they met with Mr. Wilson, Dr. Blake said “we were sitting there, and he’s looking at the list and he says ‘well I was
The_Telescope
prepared to give you X amount of dollars’ and we were like ‘oh okay.’ Then he said ‘but you know this is a well thought out plan for your students, and I will fund the entire project, and I will give you some extra in case you go over budget.” The urgency for the food bank has been made continually evident through studies done by the HOPE lab from Wisconsin University. According to their most recent study, published in April, which looked at 43,000 students on 66 colleges campuses throughout 20 states, they found that 36 percent of students had been food insecure in the last month, 36 percent had been housing insecure in the last year, and nine percent had been homeless. The Palomar food pantry has assisted in addressing food insecurities in the community on and surrounding the campus for 34 years. They have served 12,000 meals reaching 3,000 households in the area. During her speech at the grand opening, Titus referenced a quote from a former Associated Stu-
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dent Government senator, Trevor Wilcox, who said that the hardest thing for students going to college should be taking classes. Dr. Blake echoed this sentiment when she said “we’re committed not only to helping students reach educational goals, but to support the whole student.” One of the main goals Titus aimed for in expanding the food bank was to take away some of the stigma that comes with not having enough resources by beginning an open about food insecurity. Dr. Blake said, “We want our college to be an environment where students’ needs are met with dignity and respect.” Working alongside Dr. Blake and the Student Government, Titus hopes to continue the expansion of the food pantry until it resembles a true farmers market. She plans to keep expanding the center into the SU-Quad area to resemble a farmers market. “This represents all the good about our community,” Titus said. KMOORE@THE-TELESCOPE.COM