GCCCD Grapevine
Volume 6, Number 2 July, 1996
CUYAMACA COLLEGE SELF-SUFFICIENCY AIM OF NEW DISTRICT PLAN
Noting Cuyamaca College's dependency on Grossmont College for the past 18
years, the GCCCD Board has adopted a plan to bring Cuyamaca to self-sufficiency by
the year 2000.
The plan, which will be funded by an allocation of $600,000 to Cuyamaca for
1996-97, then by a possible $300,000 for each of the next three years, seeks to make
that college comprehensive, by adding new full-time instructors and more classes,
for a start.
Cuyamaca has been largely dependent since its founding on the economic good
health of Grossmont, and board members think their plan can bring that dependency to
an end.
Board President Victor Calderon put the board's position this way: "It is
clearly stated and understood that resources going to Cuyamaca over the last 18
years have hurt Grossmont. That being the case, we should not allow another year to
go by. Any postponement on implementing our policy is a decision to continue the
drain. We intend to resolve this problem, and to work with both colleges so each can
be the best it can be for the good of all the students and our entire community."
Two thirds of Cuyamaca's faculty have been made up of adjunct-part-
time-instructors, and the district plan has been given strong support by Cuyamaca
personnel. Cuyamaca's continued growth seems sure; spring enrollment was up 20
percent from a year ago, and summer session classes are filled for the second
successive year.
Opposition to the plan, when it was first disclosed, was widespread,
particularly on the Grossmont campus. Two reactions often heard were: -If it's been
this way for 18 years, why spend money to change it now?- and -This hurts
Grossmont.-
The GC Faculty Senate opposed the plan originally asking whether the board had
acted unilaterally, rather than under the -Shared Governance- concept espoused
officially. The senate also expressed concern about a possible negative effect on
Grossmont as Cuyamaca becomes a -comprehensive college.-
Subsequently the GC Senate announced that it supported self-sufficiency for
Cuyamaca, but at the same time asked several provisions by the board in implementing
the plan-complete and accurate budget figures for 1996-97; a process for
reconsidering the district budget model; agreed-on criteria by which the self-
sufficiency plan will be assessed, and a contingency plan to be used if the self-
sufficiency plan is not successful.
SAFE GC LIBRARY GETTING NEW FLOORING, NEW SEARCH TOOL FOR FALL SEMESTER
The Grossmont Learning Resource Center, including the library and such other
facilities as word processing, instructional media acquisition and graphics, are
spending the summer in temporary quarters.
The reason is that the LRC building's carpeting and asbestos tiles are being
pulled up for replacement. So, library services have been substantially curtailed
during the renovation.
The few services still available, such as a reference desk and a small ready
reference collection are located in the Griffin Gate, normally a dining room for
faculty and staff.
In addition to new tile and carpeting, the library also will have a new
automation system, the SIRSI Unicorn, called a true state-of-the-art system, which
will provide keyword searching, full bibliographic descriptions, and much more.
According to Charles Seymour, Campus Risk Manager, the asbestos tiles
themselves contain no asbestos; the asbestos is in the glue which was used to put
them down when the LRC was built. That glue was generally in use then, but glues
used now have no asbestos. There is no hazard when asbestos tiles are down-the only
need for caution comes when the tiles are being pulled up. The tiles now going down
in the library will be fastened with non-asbestos glue.
Last year's worry about possible danger from electromagnetic fields in the LRC
was first voiced by David Wing, GC photography instructor. His concern drew
immediate attention from district and college officials, including Chancellor
Atherton, Vice Chancellor McMahan, GC President Sanchez, and Seymour. The result was
that an expert in evaluating EMF hazards and eliminating them came to GC and did the
necessary work to ensure safety in the LRC and across the campus.
CAMPUS BOOKSTORES GO PRIVATE IN HISTORIC CHANGE
In an historic change, an outside corporation, Barnes and Noble, has been hired
to manage the Cuyamaca and Grossmont College bookstores.
Until board approval of the Barnes and Noble contract in April, the bookstores
had been run by district employees. But the question of management had been a matter
of controversy over the past couple of years and the Board decided to shift to
outside governance. Barnes & Noble won the business. The book company's proposal
will give the colleges $3.5 million over 10 years. Under the former system, the
revenue over a 10-year period was $502,000 to Grossmont and $30,000 to Cuyamaca.
The new Grossmont bookstore manager is Natalia R. Rinker, who was bookstore
manager at California State, Bakersfield. She was one of two potential managers
recommended by Barnes & Noble, and a campus committee chose Ms. Rinker for the job.
Cuyamaca's new manager is Mike Gilchrist who comes from Penn State University.
The Grossmont student government received two percent of the bookstore's gross
sales under the old management, and the ASGC has been assured that it will receive
no less under the new system.
EDITOR'S COMMENTS
by Pat Higgins
Ah, the summer days! It's July, and I don't feel up to assessing the Board's
plan for Cuyamaca, or the change in the bookstores' status or even the decision to
retain the District's present name. Next time, perhaps, but not now.
I've been entertaining summer memories. Not purposely-they seem to come
unbidden on a day like this, and I'm not zealous enough to chase them away. The next
best thing, I've decided, is to share a memory with you, hoping that one or more of
you will reciprocate with some memory we can publish in the Grapevine.
I worked two summers for the Washington State Highway Department, between my
junior and senior years of high school, and the next summer, before I started
college. I think this memory is from the second summer.
I worked with a highway construction crew-flagging to slow or stop traffic, or
driving the pilot pickup truck to lead traffic down an open lane, while the
construction crew worked with oil and gravel in the other lane.
In those days the road we were working on was U.S. Highway 10; it's now U.S.
90. It was two lanes then, but plenty wide enough to handle all the traffic that
came.
It was a couple of hours past noon on a July day just like this one, though
probably hotter than here. We were about 60 miles west of Spokane, my home and our
base. I was driving the pilot truck that afternoon. I remember that I took a line of
cars east, toward Spokane, then started west, guiding a line of cars which stretched
probably a half-mile behind me. That's all I remember until I woke, moving through
an unfenced pasture beside the road. Fortunately, there was practically no ditch
along the road's shoulder; the terrain was about as flat at the proverbial billiard
table.
Luck and quick thinking saved me from great embarrassment. Realizing where I
was, I casually-with no sign of alarm-turned my wheels to make a semi-circle back to
the road, making plain by my demeanor that I was avoiding some obstacle in the road.
I got back on the road, with the first car following exactly in my path. Down the
road, as we neared the end of my guidance chore, I checked the situation in the
outside rear mirror. Sure enough, every car was turning off the highway into the
field and back.
Whatever else the conversation, I'm sure their unintended and unexplained turn
off the road was a topic of discussion for all those families in all those cars that
day. But apparently everybody with whom I worked had been occupied when we made the
detour. Nobody ever mentioned it to me, and for the rest of the summer I went
straight as an arrow down that lane where responsibility lay.
TEACHING AWARD HONORS JEANNE RIDDELL
Sparked by the memory of her interest in adjunct faculty members at Grossmont
College, friends and family of the late Jeanne Riddell have established an award in
her name for outstanding adjunct faculty. Gifts from the Riddell family and
sociology professor Gregg Robinson of GC have already started the award fund.
Contributions in memory of Jeanne Riddell and for the benefit of GC adjunct
instructors are being sought. Checks should be made out to -Grossmont College:
Jeanne Riddell Award.- On campus, checks may be left in Gregg Robinson's mailbox or
they may be mailed to Gregg Robinson, Grossmont College.
BIBLIO-FILES
by Tom Scanlan
I just returned a few weeks ago from my 45th high school reunion back in
Greenbelt, Maryland, the first reunion I-d attended since I graduated from that
tiny high school (94 seniors). Quite an experience, but that is another story.
Anyway, it seemed appropriate to re-read one of the books that impressed me in that
long-ago era, so I took along a copy of Francoise Sagan's Bonjour
Tristesse. I
read it on my return flight, not a difficult task because it-s more of a novella
than a novel, only 128 pages long.
It-s a remarkable first novel, especially so for an eighteen year old, and it
was quite the rage when it hit the bookstores in 1955 (some of you may remember the
fim version, starring Jean Seberg in one of her best roles) . The title means,
approximately, Hello Sorrow, which refers to a loss of innocence on several levels.
Cecile, a young student who-s just flunked her first year exams at the Sorbonne
(as had the author) is vacationing at a villa on the beach with her widower father,
a shameless womanizer. When Anne, an older woman and long-time family friend who
truly loves her father pays them a visit, Cecile perceives a threat to the close
friendship she has with her father and their casual, if wanton lifestyle. She
orchestrates an elaborate scheme to foil their marriage plans with the aid of a
young man she-s just met that summer (her first lover) and her father-s most recent
mistress, an alluring woman not much older than herself.
The story, while light reading, ends...as it must...somewhat tragically. My
reaction to the ending when I re-read this story, however, was that it was not
nearly as tragic as it had seemed to me when I first read it some four decades ago.
There-s a classic -coming of age- aspect to this story and a certain nostalgia that
very much justified a second reading.
The other novel I'd like to recommend is T. Coroghessan Boyle's Tortilla
Curtain. Published last year and now available in paperback, it deals with the
issue of illegal immigrants in southern California. The story is told from two
viewpoints, that of a young Mexican peasant laborer and his even younger, and
pregnant common law wife; and from the point of view of a liberal, yuppie couple who
have moved to a new and expensive neighborhood in the outer suburbs of LA to escape
the problems associated with living in that sprawling city. An auto accident
entangles their lives and greatly complicates the existence of both couples. Boyle
masterfully describes the frustrating struggle to just survive (and the terrors many
illegal immigrants face) while seeking a higher standard of living on the part of
the young Mexican couple, and the difficult struggle of the yuppie couple to
maintain their liberal ideals in the face of the increasing problems posed by
illegal immigrants in their neighborhood. Neither struggle produced victors, but
the problems each couple had to cope with engendered a practical wisdom which comes
from confronting problems too large for any one individual or family to solve.
Boyle generally avoided taking sides in this issue, but he has succeeded in showing
the reader both sides.
G.C.'S FIRST 'MUSIC MAN' SUCCUMBS TO CANCER
Carroll Reed
Carroll M. Reed, who started the Grossmont College Music Department, died of
cancer last month in his La Mesa home. He was 74.
Carroll came to Grossmont in 1962 from France where he had taught children of
American military personnel at Poitiers High School.
He was for a time the only music instructor at Grossmont, and as his future
colleague, David Glissman notes, he gradually added personnel until the department
became one of the best in the state.
-Carroll taught about eight subjects when he started,- said Glissman, who
himself taught choral and vocal music for 20 years. -He was renowned for his work in
a class called Introduction to Music, which was required of all education majors.-
His class in Music Appreciation also was a highlight among department offerings.
Carroll began his career in 1947 as a high school music teacher in Rodeo, then
went to Coalinga Community College. There he met his future wife, Nancy, a fellow
teacher who subsequently joined him in teaching in France.
Born in Hagerstown, Maryland, he graduated from Lebanon Valley College and was
a Navy officer during World War Two. During the Normandy invasion in 1944, he was
among a handful of men who survived the sinking of their tank landing ship. He was
awarded a Purple Heart.
After the war he attended Columbia University and received a master of arts
degree in 1947.
He retired from Grossmont in 1982.
He is survived by his wife, a daughter, a son and
three grandchildren.
OPAL THOMPSON DIES; STARTED NURSE PROGRAM Opal Thompson
Opal G. Thompson, who started the Grossmont College nursing program, and
subsequently sent many students into nursing careers, died at her home in La Mesa in
May. She was 81.
Ms. Thompson joined the GC faculty in 1966, and a year later welcomed the first
nursing students. She served as director of nursing for several years, then
continued to teach nursing classes until she retired in 1979. She is remembered by a
colleague as hard working and committed to excellence of the department, expecting
excellence in her colleagues and students.
After her retirement, she painted in water colors, was an expert quilter, and
was fond of animals, adopting four dogs from the Humane Society over the years.
Born in Prattville, Michigan, she enlisted in the Army during the war for
training as a nurse. After the war, she attended nursing school in Chicago. She
lived in Modesto, earning a teaching credential there before moving south to
Grossmont.
HEART ATTACK TAKES TELECOM STAR
Don
Settle
Donald E. Settle, GC associate professor of telecommunications, died of a heart
attack in April, while sleeping in his Spring Valley home. He was 62. He had a
history of heart problems, but his death was a shock because he'd shown no sign of
illness and had missed none of his classes.
When he came to Grossmont as a part-time instructor in 1977, he was an
announcer-coordinator at Channel 10 television, leaving that station when he became
a full-time instructor in the early '80s. The television work and earlier stints at
San Diego area radio stations had given him a wealth of experience and countless
anecdotes which he brought with him, and he never had a problem keeping students'
attention in class.
In addition to his expertise in teaching broadcasting, Don was a man of many
other parts and thus particularly interesting to his students and colleagues. He was
a biker, occasionally riding his big two-wheeler to work, carrying with him tales of
the road. He was a lover of barber shop harmony, and a walking salute to turquoise
jewelry. Some said he must own a turquoise mine, but that surmise was never
confirmed. He was an auctioneer, with a certificate and patter to prove it. He also
was an authority on local history and geography, having been exposed to them in his
youth, when he was employed as a driver by the late Col. Ed Fletcher, legendary San
Diego County developer.
He had a temper, which occasionally flared mightily, but basically he was a
latter-day Will Rogers, never meeting a man he didn't like.
On a Saturday soon after Don's death, Room 225 on the Grossmont campus was
filled to standing room for a celebration of Don's life. Humor and laughter reigned
without interruption for more than two hours as students, colleagues and former
colleagues recalled their experiences with Don; it was a memorable celebration.
Don is survived by his wife Joyce, two daughters, two stepdaughters, a son, his
father, nine grandchildren and one great grandchild.
DEATH CLAIMS VETERAN TECHNICIAN
Steve Ouellet
Stephen Ouellet, technician for the GC Physics/Astronomy Department for 17
years, died May 1 after a two-month battle with cancer.
In a farewell message to his colleagues at the college, Ouellet noted that he'd
had a month of discomfort in his shoulder, and on March 11 doctors told him he had
cancer. From that time, the cancer quickly took control.
Notifying the faculty and staff of Ouellet's death, GC President Richard
Sanchez said this, "Steve was a significant member of the college and served the
institution for 17 years. He will be best remembered for his fierce pride in his
department, keeping that area of our campus a show place, his personal generosity
and sense of humor and his famous model rocket shows. I am certain his many
contributions will be remembered."
NEW NAMES DON'T IMPRESS
The District Board has turned thumbs down on a new district name.
The action followed a negative recommendation of the District Name Change
Committee, which studied more than 50 names submitted as replacements for the
present name. The committee told the Board that it could find no compelling reason
for change.
The study was initiated after speculation by some board members that the
present name might be too long, and that there might be confusion between this
District and the Grossmont Union High School District. Neither concern proved strong
enough to effect change, so the District is, and will continue to be, the Grossmont-
Cuyamaca Community College District.
ANOTHER HONOR--RUMP IN HALL OF FAME Bob
Rump
Grossmont's Bob Rump, a legend in California tennis circles, has been picked
for the national Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame.
He was notified in April and will be inducted at UCLA in ceremonies during the
NCAA championships there next May. For Rump, the selection is particularly
significant because the Hall of Fame membership is chosen from all levels of
coaching, including four-year schools.
Bob coached full-time at Grossmont from 1962 until 1986, then coached part-time
through 1993. Overall, including both men's and women's teams, he had a record of
624 wins and 117 losses. His men's teams won 13 conference titles, four Southern
California championships, one state championship and four Ojai tournament
championships. Women's teams won six conference championships, four Southern
California championships, four state titles and two Ojai championships.
Officially retired from coaching, Bob teaches part-time. Guess who's listed in
the GC Class Schedule for teaching beginning and intermediate tennis these summer
evenings?
FOUNDATION BOARD NEAR FULL MEMBERSHIP
The Cuyamaca College Foundation expects to complete its 18-member Board of
Directors in September, then will turn its attention to increasing overall
membership.
Cuyamaca President Sherrill Amador said the foundation, established in 1994,
has concentrated on selecting strong board members, with efforts to gain general
members taking a secondary place until the board membership is complete. As of July
1, 11 members were on the board.
President Amador said it's hoped that plans for a membership drive will be in
place, so it can begin soon after board completion. A special event aimed at getting
members and funds will be scheduled, but its nature and date are yet to be decided.
The purpose of the foundation is to advance Cuyamaca's mission to assist in
scholarships for Cuyamaca students and to provide for campus needs not normally
routinely funded.
BLAYLOCK LEAVES
Bev
Blaylock
Bev Blaylock, who helped usher in the computer age at Grossmont College as
Director of Instructional Computing, has taken a new job as Director of Technology
for the Santee School District. Her main focus as Grossmont was seeing that the
Instructional Program had sufficient support to adequately serve the students. She
may have been the most knowledgeable person in computer technology on the Grossmont
campus. But she attained her knowledge almost by accident. She took her first course
in computers because a friend was taking it. The friend then dropped out, but Bev
stayed with the course, and the rest, as they say, is history.
NEW TECHNICIAN
Lisa Scott is the new Risk/Benefit technician in the Personnel Department. She
succeeds Chris Bona who has retired. Such items as notices of medical insurance
premiums due will be coming to you from Lisa. Ask her the questions you have.
LET YOUR FINGERS . . .
Registration for fall semester classes may be easier now than ever, but getting
ready for registration may be about as time-consuming as the old standing-in-line
process used to be.
Now, by telephone, an applicant can register for attendance, enroll in whatever
classes desired, up to 18 units maximum, drop a class before starting, if he or she
changes plans, drop during the semester until the drop deadline, pay fees by credit
card, or by promising to mail payment within three days. One can also phone to
obtain the preceding semester's grades.
The process takes some concentration, however. The 1996 fall semester class
schedule for Grossmont has seven pages of information and instruction for phone
registration and related processes. Was life more simple in the old days?
LET'S TRY AGAIN!
WE GOOFED!
Last issue in noting these guests at the Chancellor's luncheon, we failed to identify the
handsome man on the right in the last row. Our apologies to Lee Engelhorn.