GCCCD Grapevine
Volume 6, Number 1 April, 1996
Stop at the Top
Grossmont College's front entrance no longer is just the front entrance. It's
been expanded and upgraded to be the Grossmont College Transportation Facility, part
of the county's plan for a regional network of multi-model transportation centers.
Also called "The Stop at the Top," it's serving bus patrons, bicyclists and
dial-a-
ride passengers, and will also serve transfer patrons from the Grossmont and Santee
Trolley centers. The expanded facility, funded by the county, went into service in
January.
Board OKs Arms for District Officers
Firearms will be carried by District Public Safety officers, probably in the
fall, following an affirmative vote by the District Governing Board on April 2.
The question of arming campus security personnel had been discussed for months
before the Board approved the move. Only POST-Police Officer Standards and
Training-certified personnel will be hired as District Public Safety officers, the
Board said. Already some of the present campus police force are POST certified;
others will come from other police and law enforcement agencies. The total number of
officers to begin with, will be five. POST certification of individuals makes the
District a POST agency.
The annual cost to the District of POST certification will be about $33,000. In
addition, the District will require and fund ongoing progressive training"beyond
POST"such as quarterly firearms training, or any training which will minimize the
potential need for the use of firearms.
One policy mandated by the Board is that District administrative procedures for
the use of firearms must be at least as restrictive as relevant sections of The San
Diego County Sheriff's Department, the City of San Diego Police Department, and
surrounding municipal police department procedures.
In addition to the five officers, there will be two supervisors; Chief Joel
Javines will be one. The 18 brown-uniformed community service officers, now on the
rolls will be retained according to Jim Austin, District Vice Chancellor for
Business. They will continue to handle such chores as monitoring campus parking.
When the new plan is in effect, at least one Public Safety officer will be on
each campus while classes are in session, Austin said. During nonclass times, at
least one officer will be on duty to cover both campuses. The officers will operate
out of the District Public Safety Office, and will not be split formally between
Grossmont and Cuyamaca.
Grapevine Now On-line
by Tom Scanlan
Our newsletter went on-line as an interactive publication this February 26.
It's located at the GCCCD website (http://www.gcccd.cc.ca.us/) under Grossmont
College, Publications. Denis Angleton, a SDSU graduate student serving as GCCCD's
web author, working with materials provided by Sirkka Huovila (Grapevine Desktop
Production and Layout), helped Grossmont College become the first community college
in California to have their retiree newsletter on-line.
How do I know that we're the first? I searched an on-line listing of all
California community colleges. Of the 107 community colleges in this state, only
33 were listed as having websites. I paid a quick visit to each. Many were still
primitive and "under construction", only a few had faculty pages, and very few
had a
publications section. Of those showing publications (Palomar College has a snazzy
campus newsletter with an archive of previous editions), only Grossmont College has
a retirement newsletter. I'd say that Grossmont College has one of the more
extensive and sophisticated websites of all the California community colleges, and
one that surpasses some of the four-year college and university websites.
Among other internet developments, the number of faculty with home-pages at
GCCCD's website has increased since last October from 20 to 50, including 13 new
home-pages at Cuyamaca College. 72 faculty and staff now also have campus e-mail
addresses, all listed on the GCCCD website under Faculty on the Grossmont page,
where you'll also find a complete telephone directory for all college faculty and
staff. In addition, the college is looking for a dial-up provider that can provide
low cost internet access to our students. The college is also searching for a new
webmaster. Denis Angleton was hired away from us shortly after he completed our
newsletter site.
Editor's Comments
by Pat Higgins
I can't remember-if I ever knew-who said the only constant in life is change,
but I think he or she hit it right on the nose.
As I write this, the Governing Board and District officials are deciding
whether to change the District name. Perhaps by the time you read this we may be
getting used to a new name.
If it occurs, the name change will be the second for the District; the first
came when Cuyamaca College was started and became part of the name. The current
change, if it's made, may be the last; institutions much older than the district
have existed without ever changing their names. But nobody knows what future factors
will prompt consideration of another name change.
More interesting are personnel changes, and the question of what effect they
have on the colleges. Since I retired six years ago, almost all occupants of the top
District administration and college jobs have changed.
What started me thinking about change was the realization that two dozen
certificated and classified staff members will have given up full-time chores in
1995 and the first half of 1996.
All the departures have, I think, been voluntary, some eagerly taken. So, we're
not talking about shaken morale, such as must have been the case among AT&T
employees who were not listed among the 40,000 slated for a pink slip.
More directly, how has the departure of administrative, support, and teaching
staff members affected the work of the colleges?
I've decided with some qualifiers, that the effect on the institutions isn't
great. The first qualifier is that the departing personnel are replaced, instead of
leaving the post vacant, with work spread over the remaining personnel in a
department. The other qualifier is that a college cannot already be at a low point
because of incompetent and/or ineffective personnel among those retiring. So far as
I know that hasn't been the situation at our colleges.
I think there must be momentary, minor tremors when a sizable number leave over
a relatively short period. But they wouldn't register very high on an academic
Richter scale. The colleges very quickly regain their equilibrium. The departed are
missed, but not for very long, and their passing has little, if any, effect on the
long term excellence of Cuyamaca and Grossmont Colleges.
I've never heard it said seriously that the colleges are going down the drain
because they've lost retiring personnel, and I'm convinced that's not the case.
Some of us, though, have had the never-so-good-as-when-I-was-there syndrome,
and when things seem to be going very well at the colleges, much pride goeth before
many falls.
Everybody, or almost everybody, learns that he or she can be replaced, and that
learning isn't always easy. But for the well-being of the institutions to which we
devoted our years, we really should be glad it's so.
Six More Retire
At the end of 1995, and in early 1996, six more members of the GCCCD family
moved from active to retired status. In addition to those listed in the November
1995 Grapevine, retirees include Mike Valverde, District Purchasing
Supervisor, who
stepped out December 31, 1995; Mary Moreau, Administrative Secretary at
Cuyamaca and
Paul Rodriguez, senior Grounds Maintenance Worker at Grossmont, who both
retired in
January. Retiring in March were Drafton Dunlap, Grounds Maintenance
Supervisor at
Grossmont, and Gene Murray, Director of Accounting for the District. Chris
Bona, who
handled employee benefits for the District, retired April 1.
Biblio-Files
by Tom Scanlan
The two novels reviewed in this issue each focus on something we can all relate
to . . . familial relationships and how young people from very different cultures
and economic backgrounds deal with coming of age, going off to college and the
prospect of marriage.
My oldest daughter, Karen, put me on to one of them, Vikram Seth's A
Suitable
Boy, published in 1993. It's been on my list of favorite books ever since. It's a
huge novel of 1350 pages which I'd have been totally intimidated by if I'd seen it
while browsing in a library or bookstore. Don't be. By the time you finish it,
you'll wish the book were longer.
The story takes place in India, shortly after World War II. India had finally
gained its independence from Great Britain. Amidst this turbulence, the efforts of a
mother to find her daughter a suitable husband are complicated by the daughter's
coming of age among college students who no longer agree with many of the
traditional Indian customs. There are further complications because of caste and
religious differences among her various friends and suitors. You'll learn a great
deal about India, its history, its politics and its people while enjoying this
novel. I found myself totally immersed in the sights, sounds and smells of this
country while becoming acquainted with the fascinating members of the several inter-
related families whose college-age children are the focus of this novel. If you love
a good story written extraordinarily well, don't miss this one. It's classic.
The other novel, set in contemporary Ireland, is Maeve Binchy's Circle
of
Friends, published in 1991. Some of you may have seen the movie of the same title
which made the rounds last year. The book is even better (heard that before?).
Although beautifully filmed in Ireland, the movie leaves out a lot. The main
character, Benny, is the daughter of a small merchant in the village of Knockglen,
near Dublin. She and her childhood friend, Eve, an orphan raised by the nuns at a
convent nearby, go off together to University College in Dublin. Eve, attractive and
outgoing compared to the plain and introverted Benny, draws them into a "circle of
friends" at the college, where their relationship to each other is complicated by a
glamorous new friend and by various student romances and personal backgrounds that
are not what they first seem. The characters are richly portrayed, and the unveiling
of their backgrounds drive a complex plot that will keep you interested to the last
page.
Finally, just a reminder that I welcome mail (snail or e) or phone calls if
you'd like to comment on books recommended in this column or if there's a book or
two you'd like your fellow retirees to know about. I'm listed in the retiree
directory and my e-mail is
tscanlan@mail.gcccd.cc.ca.us
Send Us Your E-Mail Address
A listing of all known GCCCD retiree e-mail addresses will be published in the
next issue of Grapevine and in subsequent Retiree Directories. If you would like
your e-mail address included in these lists, please e-mail your e-mail address to:
tscanlan@mail.gcccd.cc.ca.us
Enter the word RETIREE as the subject. Also, if any of you have your own home-pages
on the web and would like other retirees to "stop by", send your URL (Uniform
Resource Locator, i.e., your web address) along, as well.
Following is a very partial listing of retirees' e-mail addresses:
Don Anderson
danderso@mail.gcccd.cc.ca.us
Barbara and Lee Roper
b_roper@msn.com
Gay Russell
gmruss@theriver.com
Joan and Don Scouller
DScouller@aol.com
Virginia and Bob Steinbach
robert9510@aol.com
There are probably dozens more of you who are now connected, so help us stay in
touch by sending in that address.
Riddell's Passing a Blow to Her Colleagues
Jeanne Riddell
A blow to Grossmont College people, particularly to her faculty colleagues, was
the death in December of Dr. Jeanne Riddell, professor of psychology for 20 years.
The breast cancer which eventually took her life was diagnosed three years ago,
and radiation and chemotherapy treatments appeared to halt the cancer's progress.
Then last summer, about 2« years later, the cancer reappeared. Treatment this time
was ineffective, and the cancer spread to her liver, ending her life soon after.
Jeanne grew up in Palm Desert, where her mother was bookstore manager at the
College of the Desert. She attended San Diego State University, then headed east to
the University of New Hampshire, where she got her master's and doctoral degrees.
When she returned to the West, she joined the Grossmont College faculty in 1975.
As a teacher, Jeanne was highly regarded by her students, not only for her
classroom competence, but also for the time she spent out of class helping those who
needed individual attention. Her faculty colleagues regarded her highly, not only as
an instructor, but also for her involvement in the Faculty Senate, and as chair of
her department.
One of her friends has described her as a "born traveler," and in the mid-80s
she accepted a Department of Defense job to teach American students in Germany.
During her years in Germany she traveled all over Europe, mostly in Eastern European
countries, though she was particularly fond of the mountains of Bavaria and the
Swiss Alps.
She had taken unpaid leave from Grossmont so she could go to Germany. When GC
indicated it was time for her to return and resume teaching here, she came home.
Despite the cancer, Jeanne never quit on life. Ten days before she died she
invited 20 of her friends to a party they'll never forget. All the guests went
riding in hot-air balloons. So did she.
Foundation Prospers, Wants More Members
Jesse Gates, Pres.
Increased membership, more knowledgeable fund-raising and wider awareness in
the community are among the objectives of the Grossmont College Foundation,
according to Jessie Gates, new president of the organization.
Gates, interim Supervisor of Admissions at GC, was installed at the
Foundation's first recognition dinner in late March. She indicates satisfaction with
progress made since the Foundation succeeded the GC Alumni Association in 1994. From
35 then, the Foundation's membership has risen to nearly 100, but Gates and her
fellow officers and members want to achieve significantly larger numbers in the
coming year.
Also in the organization's plans is the service of a fund-raising consultant to
"help us learn more about fund-raising," according to Gates. Increased
recognition
in the community is also important because it will promote new membership and more
funds, the Foundation believes.
Foundation membership is open to anybody who desires close contact with
Grossmont; it's not necessary to be an alumnus or alumna or a present or former
staffer. Dues range from $20 to $5,000 annually, with lifetime membership at $300.
It's not true, however, that a $5,000 membership gives you ownership of the swimming
pool and weight room.
The Foundation's prime reason for being is to help GC students and staff in
areas not covered by regular budgets. For example, the 18-member board of directors
each month hears requests, and then may provide unrestricted funds for scholarships,
for example, or for art, or for equipment purchases. Expenses of staff development
weeks are picked up by the Foundation, whose grants represent help for aspects of
Grossmont's educational mission which might otherwise go unfunded.
Installed with Gates as new officers were Tom O'Connell, vice president; Alba
Orr, secretary; and Kenneth Batson, treasurer. Richard Venancio was outgoing
president; Felix Rogers was vice president, Gates was secretary and Orr treasurer.
At the dinner, Presidential Awards, the Foundation's top honors, went to Chuck
Buck, Senior, Joe Payson and Jacquelyn Winn for their hard work for the
organization.
5th Annual Chancellor's Emeritus Club Luncheon, January 25, 1996
Good food and good conversation put members of the Chancellor's Emeritus Club in
proper mood for this picture. Attending the annual luncheon, hosted by Chancellor
Jeanne Atherton at the El Cajon Hungry Hunter restaurant, January 25, were front
row, left to right, Marie Reynolds, Eve Lill, Pat Higgins, Ruth Coover, and Muriel
Owen; second row, Don Anderson, Bob Rump, Wally Cohen, GC President Richard Sanchez,
Erv Metzgar, Bob Danielson, and Bill Burns; third row, Bob Steinbach, Sam Ciccati,
Dick Lantz, Bill Hansen, and Lee Hoffman.
Reminder-Retirement Has Its Perks
Retirement brings some benefits in addition to monthly money. In case you've
forgotten or overlooked any, here are the perks which are yours as a GCCCD retiree.
First, there's a retiree's Gold Card, which you'll need to claim the benefits.
With it, you or your spouse can get a free parking card for staff lots, a library
card and an athletic pass. Also, you can use athletic facilities on either campus,
get discounts for on-campus concerts, lectures, theatre productions, seminars and at
bookstores on both campuses.
If you or your spouse want to take classes at Cuyamaca or Grossmont,
presentation of your Gold Card at registration will produce a waiver of tuition for
regular classes, or a 50 percent discount for Extended College classes. There are a
couple of minor qualifications on the tuition deals. If you already have a BA/BS or
higher degree, you may not register sooner than the last day of registration before
classes begin. Registration of non-baccalaureate degree applicants will be based on
normal district registration priorities. You must show your Gold Card when
registering to get your fees waived.
Certificated retirees who have qualified for the title of professor may get the
title of Professor Emeritus/Emerita if approved by the Academic Senate and the
District Governing Board.
Committee Ponders New District Name
To keep or not to keep-that is the question. Whether it is nobler to keep the
long-known and long district name, or to select another title and perhaps suffer the
slings and arrows of outrageous criticism.
A district committee, headed by Dana Quittner, Director of Intergovernmental
Relations, Economic Development and Public Relations, and including members from
various segments of the district, has been looking at suggestions for months, and
will probably submit its recommendation to the Governing Board in May.
The name question arose when members of the Board and administration began to
speculate on whether the present name"Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College
District"is so long as to be unwieldy. There also were echoes of the days preceding
Cuyamaca College, when there was considerable public confusion of the college
district with the Grossmont Union High School District, a problem which would seem
long gone.
The Board and administration decided to take a look at some suggestions for new
names, and the public was invited to submit proposals. By the time the suggestion
period ended, March 15, nearly 50 names had been submitted.
There was Aguadulce Community College District, and Cuyamaca Valley Community
College District, and Del Lago Community College District, and Del Rio Community
College District and Del Valle Community College District
There was Grosscumaca Community College District, and Grossmaca Community
College District. There was Las Lagunas Community College District, and Las Lomas,
and Las Mesas and Las Montanas. There was Lomas del Este Community College and Los
Cerros and Los Pueblos.
And from somebody who's apparently been a diehard for many years came the
suggestion, Grossmont Community College District. It's unlikely to be chosen, but it
does share the distinction with several other proposals of having the shortest
number of syllables, 10, compared with 14 for the present title.
If the committee recommends a change"it can recommend not changing"and the
Board assents, there will be some cost for renaming places and things now carrying
the GCCCD, brand, but the cost would not be heavy, since only the district name
would change; the colleges would keep their present identities.
By the time this Grapevine is published, the committee and Board may have made
their decisions. That's unlikely, but if so, we'll give you the verdict next issue.
Next, Dana Quittner's title.
More Addresses for Your Directory:
Judy Grobbel
9262 Camino Paz Lane
La Mesa, CA 91941
461-3478
Spouse: Bob
Connie Haltermann
6778 Bluefield Court
San Diego, CA 92120
582-1612
Spouse: Jim
Bob Haywood
7688 Flag Lake
San Diego, CA 92119
463-2303
Larissa Janczyn
6657 Brynwood Way
San Diego, CA 92120
286-6821
Angelita Martinez
1215 Crystal Spring Dr.
Chula Vista, CA 91915
479-5533
Spouse: Nino
Glen L. Meyer
9360 Urban Dr.
La Mesa, CA 91942
697-1820
Spouse: Onnie
GC Mystery Woman No Longer Mystery Teri
Hart Valverde
In a picture taken in the early days of the college, one woman was unidentified
among the group of staff members. Neither the photographer nor members of the
personnel department, where the picture eventually wound up, could say who she was.
The picture was published in the last issue of the Grapevine. Ray Reynolds,
retired journalism and mass communication instructor, said as soon as he saw it,
"That's Chuck Valverde's wife." And so it was.
Teri Hart Valverde, then Teri Hart, came to Grossmont in 1961 from a job at San
Diego State, and shortly thereafter became secretary to John Burdick, Dean of
Student Affairs. She worked for Burdick about a year, then married Charles Valverde,
now owner of Wahrenbrock's Book House, in downtown San Diego. Shortly after her
marriage she left Grossmont and began a career in real estate. Thirty-four years and
three grown children later, she's still married to Valverde and still involved in
the real estate field.
She remembers the days at Grossmont with pleasure, particularly the camaraderie
among those who, with her, helped get the college off to a solid start.