GCCCD Grapevine

The latest budget projections indicate that GCCCD will need to cut 2.4 million dollars in expenses before July 1992. The Budget Planning Committee is looking at a range of options which include reductions in hourly help, possible elimination of summer session, hiring freeze, pay cuts for all employees, elimination of sabbatical leaves, elimination of travel, freeze fringe benefit payments, halt equipment purchases, cuts in release time and large class bonuses, shutting down Theatre East (ECPAC), elimination of some programs, supply cuts, streamlining administration, early retirement incentives and more. These are all only suggestions at this stage of the budget reform. The difficult work of deciding which expenses to cut, and how much can be cut from each area, still lies ahead. Many of the items being considered would have to be negotiated.

This crisis follows an already difficult year in which there has been no pay raise. The impact of this crisis on retirees is likely to be in part-time employment. There should be no impact on fringe benefits for those of you who are still eligible to receive them (under age 65).

Ours is a young district but 214 people have already retired and 195 of these are still living. These graphs show age groups and other characteristics of interest. The oldest retiree is 83, the youngest only 52. The number of certificated and classified are nearly equal, as are the number of males and female retirees. The great majority is still residing in San Diego County (including San Diego) but some live as far away as Hawaii. Arizona and Then Washington and Oregon are the most popular states outside California. None are living on the East Coast.

A small group of certificated retirees have been meeting the past several months in order to implement the formation of a Certificated Retirees’ Organization (CRO). Members of this group are Erv Metzgar, Dean Parks, Bob Rump, Tom Scanlan and Don Scouller. Their efforts have focused on drafting a Mission Statement and a list of purposes. This draft will be presented to a meeting of all district emeriti, the district chancellor, and the two college presidents on December 6, for comments and suggestions. The draft suggests that this organization would work with the district and the community to achieve the goals of GCCCD, and it would also serve as a social and support group for its retiree members. It’s anticipated that there will be some discussion of this topic at the retirees’ breakfast in January,

Up to now, there has been no official (i.e., Board approved) retiree organization of any type with the exception of the Emeritus Club, a fledgling organization which has only met once, at a luncheon this past May. The number of district retirees and the age of the college district are now such that it’s time to consider seriously the formation of retiree organizations if there is sufficient retiree interest.

All of us are in that age group whose lives were profoundly altered by what happened on December 7, 1941. This 50^th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor is the most important anniversary because few participants will be alive for the 75^th, and by the 100^th anniversary it will be "ancient history."

Some of you joined up. Others had their families torn apart when a parent or spouse or sibling left home. Some suffered the maiming or loss of a family member before the war ended.

My own memories of that time are vivid. That summer my mother and sister and I left San Juan, Puerto Rico, on a sugar freighter bound for New Orleans. There were life-boat drills and rumors of German U-boats (the rumors were true; their submarines routinely patrolled those waters). I was an impressionalbe eight-year-old and to me that two-week crossing was an exciting adventure.

We had been living in San Juan because my dad was stationed at the Naval station there. The transition from a parochial, urban school in the tropics to a one-room school in a pear orchard in Rhode Island was a big adjustment. That winter was one of the coldest I remember. On Sunday, December 7^th, the scary stories about our getting into the war came true. It would be nearly four years before my father returned home to us. That was a bigger adjustment.

My adjustment was made easier by things he used to send me from his carrier in the Pacific. A hand-held cardboard "blinker" like ships used to signal each other (to avoid giving away their position by radio). I learned Morse code that winter. He also sent me flash-cards with silhouettes of German and Japanese warplanes. Soon I cold spot a Heinkel from a B-17. Best of all were those delicate, thin V-mail letters which we read and re-read. Thank you, Dad.

An aircraft carrier is a favorite target and his ship was attacked on numerous occasions, but when the war ended, he came home O.K.

A decade after that war ended, during the Korean "conflict," I joined the Marines. I didn’t see combat; by the time I finished boot camp and radio school, a cease fire had finally taken hold. But I’ll never forget Parris Island or the friends I made during those three years. Those times, more than any other, prepared me for the years ahead. And the Korean G.I. Bill helped put me through college.

For better or worse, wars change our lives. We were either a part of that history, or were shaped by it.

And so, we remember Pearl Harbor.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In my September editorial, I neglected to thank Grossmont College printer, Roz Scott, whose skillful efforts help make this newsletter possible.

Sharon in Personnel has a listing of HMO’s (Health Management Organizations) in various parts of the United States. If you are interested in identifying those, give her a call at 589-0900.

The last time I outlined the various formats in the camcorder video market. Now I’d like to take a closer look at these cameras.

Sony developed the first consumer video cameras, the Beta series. JVC System (VHS) which was more adroitly marketed and outsold Beta by more than eight-to-one in this country. JVC also miniatured the T-120 (120-minute cassette) into the compact or C-VHS (20 minute).

Sony no longer sells Beta camcorders in this country but was wiser with their next innovation, the 8mm format. The Japanese government forced all the Japanese manufacturers to agree on the specifications. The rest of the world joined in and the 8mm and HI-band format was fixed. Initially limited to 60-minute cassettes, this format is now available in 30, 60, 90 and 120-minute units.

In my opinion, the 8mm/HI-8 cameras are the best value. This is based on both technical and utilitarian reasons. Color is recorded in a different and superior way than VHS or C/VHS cameras. There is also marginally better resolution, which is especially apparent when your editing results in several generations of copying. Also, all 8mm cameras have superior sound recording. The top models are stereo and approach digital sound quality. They all have "flying erase-heads," a feature that permits clean edits with no color banding.

A more important advantage of the 8mm cameras may be their smallness. The newer mini-cameras weigh less than two pounds with battery and tape and are only the size of a paperback book. When I packed my camera case for the travel videos I’ve made in the past, I carried about 18-22 pounds of camera, recorder and batteries. On a recent cruise around Cape Horn, I took a Cannon A-1 Hi-8 camcorder. It weighed only 3.5 pounds. The quality of my fourth generation prints was superior to first generation prints from standard VHS.

The 8mm appears to be the best choice, right? Well, maybe. These cameras are so small that their batteries are unable to operate for long all of the built in bells and whistles. You’ll need two batteries, minimum, one in use and one recharging. Or you can buy an eight-pound external battery pack which slings over your shoulder or can be worn as a belt. Another problem associated with smallness is that these tiny cameras are held up to your eye like a small still camera and cannot be held steady enough when you are using telephoto. They record every tremor and when you play back the scene, it will make you seasick. The larger BHS cameras sit snugly on your shoulder and are much easier to control. In order to use the 8mm at full telephoto, you’ll need a tripod, a cumbersome shoulder brace or a Steady-cam Jr. ($600!!!).

So, which camera should you choose? Maybe the best thing would be to rent both formats and see what you like best.

For most of us, taking informal pictures of people is what we do most with our camera. We freeze-in-time the faces and shapes of our families, friends, sweethearts and occasionally people we don’t even know. This is a very important informal record, for our scrapbooks or to give away. Here are just a few hints on how to get better people pictures and how to get the most for your film and processing money.

Selection of the camera, lens and film. This depends a lot on what you intend to do. Most of you have a 35mm single-lens-reflex (SLR) camera. These cameras usually come with a 50mm standard lens which is intended for general usage. Unfortunately, 50mm is not a good people lens in most shooting situations. You want a lens that is between 75mm and 200mm in focal length for the best perspective of people faces. A "long" lens or a "zoom" lens makes you back away which takes the self-conscious pressure off your subject while giving the pictures normal proportions. Film choice for color negative film can differ, based on the subject and the lighting you desire. You should not buy films faster than the situation calls for. In most cases 100 to 200 ISO speed film works best.

Composing and lighting your picture. The most often committed error is being too far away from your subject. Try to fill your frame in your viewfinder with what you are trying to show. Emphasize head and shoulder shots. Be sure to try shooting vertical subjects (one or a few standing people) holding the camera on its side (known as vertical composition). If you have a group of people, or your subject is doing something that has a horizontal interest (like playing ping pong), shoot your picture with the camera held horizontally. You might want to frame your shot with a natural object, such as a branch from a tree arched across the top of the photo. The key to most good people pictures is how well the faces show in the final print. Most professional photographers use flash to fill in shadows on faces, even in bright sunlight. Indoor pictures with the "person" sitting by an open window with the sunlight coming in makes a fine natural light (no flash) situation.