GCCCD Grapevine

Chancellor Don Walker and college presidents Dick Sanchez and Sam Ciccati met with 32 retirees at the Carlton Oaks Country Club on January 23. A continental-style breakfast allowed plenty of opportunity for table-hopping and socializing. This was followed with brief talks by the chancellor and the two presidents on the district-t financial situation and updates on activities and plans at the two colleges. There was a short meeting of certificated retirees after the breakfast for those interested in forming a Certificated Retirees' Organization.

Attending retirees, listed alphabetically were: Don Anderson, Dorothy Arnold, Jack Borgos, Alan Campbell, Ruth Coover, Bob Danielson, Jenny DeNecochea, Lee Engelhorn, Art Fitzer, Dave Glismann, Lee Hoffman, Jack Holleran, Mildred Hotchkiss, Shirley Jones, Warren Keller, Margaret Kuhn, Fay Kurtz, Eve Lill, Lita Martinez, Joe McMenamin, Erv Metzgar, Vern Norman, Ray Reynolds, Dean Parks, Bill and Jo Renne, Bob Rump, Tom Scanlan, Don Scouller, Lee Shadell, Joan Smith, Barbara Strand, and John Stubbs.

During the breakfast, Lee Hoffman, Grapevine photography columnist, practiced what he preaches and provided a nice visual supplement for this story. If some of the retirees look a bit hungry, remember that the "continentals" haven't discovered the buffet-style breakfast. (On second thought, isn't buffet from the French?)

Standing l to r: Don Scouller, Lee Hoffman, Bob Rump and
Dean Parks.  Seated l to r: Tom Scanlan, Erv Metzgar, Don
Walker, Sam Ciccati and Dick Sanchez.
                  
        l to r: Eve Lill, Shirley Jones, Mildred Hotchkiss, Jenny DeNecoshea,
         Margaret Kuhn, Joan Smith, Barbara Strand and Lita Martinez.
                                       
                                 Standing l to r: Jack Holleran, Alan Campbell, Van Vanderpoll.
                                 Seated, l to r: Bob Danielson, Lee Engelhorn, Art Fitzner, Joe
                                  McMenamin, John Stubbs, Vern Norman and Lee Shadell.

A steering committee of certificated retirees met January 31 in the Board Room to continue discussing and planning the formation of a certificated retirees' organization. Erv Metzgar, who chairs this planning group, presented a proposed mission statement which the group discussed and accepted with minor modifications. The organization will focus on service to the district and on support and socialization of members. It was determined that the next task would be to study other retiree organizations and to come up with a model and set of by-laws for our organization. Bob Danielson volunteered to chair a subcommittee to do this.

Others attending the meeting were: Alan Campbell, Ruth Coover, Lee Hoffman, Jack Holleran, Dean Parks, and Tom Scanlan. Steering committee members unable to attend were Eve Lill, Bob Rump and Don Scouller. This group plans to meet regularly in the Board Room at Grossmont College from 1:30 to 3:30 on the last Friday of each month.

Tough economic times continue and our district is no exception. Count your blessings, retirees. District employees are facing job cuts and caps or freezes on salary and benefits. The GCCCD Board has begun the year's bargaining with a proposal to the faculty that includes no salary increase for 1992-93, freeze on annual step increases in salary, no sabbatical leaves, 50% reduction in release time, cuts in large class bonuses and T.A.'s, and a cap on fringe benefits which could mean some payroll deductions for employees with dependents who are not enrolled in an HMO such as Kaiser or Health Net.

The Board has also asked for several plans which would reduce and streamline both district and college operations. Some of the proposals coming from a joint budget committee would eliminate or downgrade certain positions such as the vice chancellor of operations, the risk manager, the director of grants and contract education, director of public relations, director of personnel, associate director of information systems, a dean at Grossmont College, and others. This would also include the elimination of secretarial and electrical positions associated with these functions. There would be some transfer of personnel and some positions might be upgraded to handle responsibilities of eliminated positions.The cost savings of these changes are estimated as high as $800,000 per year.

In addition, the United Faculty is negotiating for a STRS Golden Handshake (a two-year service credit, funded by the district, to encourage early retirement effective this June which could save the district additional funds. There are approximately 40 faculty who are 60 years of age or older who could benefit from this (as well as the district).

I'd like to emphasize that all of these are only proposals at this time, but it's pretty clear that there could be some serious changes effected in our district in the next few months. In my opinion, the district will be better off with some of these changes. It tended to grow too rapidly during "fat" years and now, in leaner times, that extra overhead is squeezing. At any rate, stay tuned.
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Incidentally, if some of you ar being pinched by low interest rates on CD's and Money Markets, and are looking for some good mutual funds, I would strongly recommend taking a look at the September 1991 issue of Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine. It contains an outstanding summary of mutual fund performances and is very easy to read and understand.

Reminder: In late December, retired faculty received a letter form Bruce Barnett, United Faculty (UF) president, informing them that there is now a retiree membership category in the UF for those who wish to maintain their affiliation with their colleagues through this organization. A $25 annual membership fee entitles the member to receive the Sentinel newsletter and invitations to socials (e.g., annual picnic, parties). A few of you have already responded. Because of production and mailing costs, future editions of the Sentinel will only be mailed to retired faculty who become retiree members of the UF, so remember to contact Paula at the UF office, at Grossmont College, 465-1700, ext. 554, if you wish to join. They can use your support and all of us can benefit from staying in touch with each other.

Production Change. This issue and future issues of the Grapevine will be desktop published by Sirkka Huovila, Word Processing Specialist at Grosmsont College using Pagemaker. Your editor greatly appreciates her help and expertise.

Not seventy miles per hour but seventy years of age. One of the district's first retirees, Gordon (Gordie) Shields, is still chalking up bicycling records at the same time he's approaching seventy-five. In his own words, he's doing "pretty darn well for an old guy."

Take last year, for example. In February he won a gold medal and two silver pedals in the Senior Olympics at Phoenix. In May he won three golds at the San Diego Senior Olympics. He then travelled to Syracuse, New York, in June for the U.S. National Senior Olympics where, competing against 35 regional winners from all over the United States, he swept all four events! Just as he had done in 1989.

In July, he entered five events in the U.S. National Masters Championships held here in San Diego and managed to garner a silver and two bronzes. Then in October he went to St. George, Utah, where "I got my clock cleaned by the Canadian national champion so the best I could do was a gold, a silver and two bronzes."

He is still the U.S. national champion in the 70-74 age group for the 20 kilometer time trial, in spite of several attempts by top riders to beat his record. In 1993 he'll head for Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to defend his titles in the 75-80 age category. (I suspect that he'll find fewer competitors in that age group.)

Gordie says, "I really enjoy competing as well as just cycling in general. It is a great way to stay both healthy and shape. There are some excellent riding clubs in San Diego and, regardless of age, ability, or experience, there is a group for you. Just ask me."
                             
                    Gold in the 10 Km Tiime Trial in New York, National Senior Olympics, 1991

Editor's note: AS some of you know, I'm an avid bicyclist myself, though by no means in Gordie's league. I recently purchased a new bike (my ten-speed was going on twenty years) and I'm now enjoying biking even more. The new bike is called a hybrid or "cross-bike," a combination of the best features of a touring bike and a mountain bike. They are fun and practical. If your 3-speed or ten-speed is gathering dust but you "kind of miss" bicycling, try one of these hybrids. You might get hooked on bicycling all over again.

Will (Dell) Dellegar writes from Lillian, Alabama (in response to December Grapevine): "--not really on the East Coast, but we do live on the Gulf of Mexico Coast in lower Alabama and love every minute of it. Plenty of wide open spaces, trees, trees and more trees all around us. We are situated on a large bay, Perdido Bay, that is about twice as big as San Diego Bay, that empties into the Gulf. A bridge across the bay separates us from Pensacola, Florida. As I am a retired Naval officer, I enjoy the clubs, commissary and the Naval hospital. I don't do much fishing but do enjoy sailing, golf, duplicate bridge, bird watching, gardening, and my wife and I publish a local newsletter here for the 2,000 plus residents in our subdivision. We designed our own brick house of 2,000 square feet and had it built on a 1/4 acre lot for just about $38 per square foot.

Driving is a real pleasure and we have to travel ten miles west in Alabama or about eight miles east into Florida before encountering a traffic light."

He goes on to say that speed limits on interstates are 65 mph max. and 40 mph min. and that his property taxes are only $138 per year.

He also mentioned that "--120 of us Pearl Harbor survivors each received a commemorative medal at a recent ceremony held at the Naval Aviation Museum here in Pensacola." He misses all of his friends in California but loves Alabama and their new-found friends.