Volume 7,  Number 1                                                                                     April, 1997

Where Have All the Young Years Gone?

These original GC faculty members already had 20 years in when this anniversary
photo was taken in 1981, and they seemed happy with their lot. Front row, l-r: Trudy
Hill (Bratten), Dorothy Arnold, Shirley Acheson, Tom Hepp, Mickey Shelley, Shirley
Collamer, Bob Danielson, Lee Engelhorn; second row, Charlene Lamons, Don Anderson,
Bob Holden, Brad Palmer, Lee Roper; third row, Walt Yuhl, Ruth Coover, George
Washington, Martin Gerrish, Bill Carden, Ray Resler, John Burdick, Ray Reynolds,
Larry Coons. For older group, see page 3.

(Photo by John Dixon
Courtesy of Bob Danielson)

Spring Fair at GC to Mark 35 Years

Grossmont College will mark 35 years of academic excellence with a Spring Fair
Thursday, April 24, on the quad between the LRC and administration building on the
campus.

Retirees will be particularly welcome at the Fair, which will be GC's official
observance of its 35th birthday, complementing last fall's Homecoming football game,
which drew former students and staff to the campus.

The Fair, from noon to 6 p.m., will highlight college class offerings and will
feature student demonstrations in such areas as computer-assisted math, pottery,
painting and poetry. Photos of current GC personnel will be on display, plus
old photos detailing the college through the years. A "memory board" will be likely
to evoke nostalgia and prompt reminiscences among retirees. Those attending will
have opportunity to voice their "most memorable" Grossmont experience on a video
tape which will be made to commemorate the occasion. Also available will be copies
of the new photographic Gallery of GC personnel.

Naturally, there will be a 35th birthday cake. It will be cut and shared during
the afternoon.  The Fair is being sponsored by the GC Foundation, with Alma Smith as chair.

Cuyamaca Springfest Offers Variety of Presentations

Cuyamaca's celebration of spring will be a week-long Springfest, starting April
14.  The week will begin with a Health Fair on Monday, which will offer medical
screening, talks by community professionals and fitness trends.

On Wednesday, April 16, focus will be on a Career Fair, where those attending
will learn employment trends and requisites. Cuyamaca personnel and representatives
of area employers will give information and advice.  Also on Wednesday, Michael Hall, head of the college's Environmental Technology program, will head an environmental conference, which will include Cuyamaca participants and outside speakers examining environmental challenges. Friday, April 18, single parents will hear about developments which may affect them, including
welfare reform regulations which may bring changes for some single parents. Sandi
Phoenix is chair for the Health Fair, Laurie Brown for the Career Fair, and Sandy
Lyon for the Single parents conference.
All programs are free and open to the public.

Editor's Comments         
by Pat Higgins

Whatever your thoughts about the California lottery, you'll probably be happy
to know that GCCCD is getting a substantial sum from the lottery this year. The
amount, according to GC President Richard Sanchez, is about $1.6 million. A few
years ago, I remember Ivan Jones, then GC president, listing the yearly take at
about $1 million. If the amount through the years has been around that amount, the
lottery unquestionably has been of considerable help to the district, and has made
it more difficult to oppose it on principle. Or has it?
# # # # #
The legality of the lottery was assured, at least temporarily when keno was
eliminated last year. Now the continuing fight is over gambling at American Indian
casinos, with slot machines as the principal objects of disagreement. Not all slot
machines, though; only those on which the house pays a portion of players' winnings,
called Class 3 machines. Their operation is similar to parimutuel, where if you pick
a winning horse at Del Mar, you get a portion of the amount bet that day. None of
your winning comes from track funds. But apparently the disputed slot machines are a
source of great profit; one tribal leader has said they account for two-thirds of
his casino's profits. I don't know whyþperhaps the payoffs can be larger with the
Class 3 machines, thereby drawing more play than those not funded by the house.
In San Diego County, the Barona, Sycuan and Viejas casinos are still operating
Class 3 slot machines under a temporary 1994 agreement with U.S. Attorney Alan
Bersin. The agreement will remain in effect until courts rule on the use of the
machines. One case pits an Indian plaintiff against Gov. Pete Wilson, and it may
reach the U.S. supreme Court; a decision by that body would settle the question
definitely. Under the temporary agreement, the three casinos are keeping but not
expanding the Class 3 operation. Currently also, the state is negotiating with the
Pala Indians for a compact, which is stronger and more permanent than an agreement.
If a compact is reached, it may become a model for the whole state, and the San
Diego tribes might agree to a similar settlement. For now, the tribes may be getting
revenge for Manhattan Island.
# # #
A lighter topic now. Lee Roper thinks we retirees don't get together often
enough as a group. He thinks we should have some gatherings in addition to the
annual Retirees' breakfast and the Chancellor's Luncheon. Is his sentiment typical
of those of retirees living within coffee/breakfast/luncheon/dinner distance of the
GCCCD area? If they're your sentiments, let the Grapevine know, by a note to that
effect by June 15, prior to publication of our next issue in early July. Or call Lee
at 287-3799, and he'll pass the word on. If there's enough sentiment, we'll ask
somebody to arrange something. It would be a pay-your-own-way affair; we probably
wouldn't ask for any sponsors.

If you think twice-a-year is enough, or more than enough, don't bother to tell
us. No news will be "no" news.

Poet's View

Self-Promotion

A rose is a rose is a rose.
Scholars often have said,
Except at Grossmont College
Where titles are being spread.

Professors Emeritus, Emeriti,
Titles which come with hardly a try,
Be they pretentious and divisive,
And even downright sleazy.

We'll call ourselves a university
A notch above Harvard and Yale.
And the matter of integrity,
Take up at your local yard sale.

So now doesn't the Ph.D.
Have a much too common ring?
Let's order a gross of tiaras
And all crown ourselves as king.

Lee Roper, GC Poet Laureate
(Self-appointed, of course)

Ed. Note:  Anybody want to react to the poet laureate? Applaud him, quarrel with him?
Let the Grapevine know; we'll print your views.

Biblio-Files
by Tom Scanlan

My first selection this time, Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson (pub.
1995, paperback), was influenced in part by my recent visit to Seattle. I enjoyed
the Christmas holidays there with my oldest daughter, Karen, and her husband, Mark.
This was their first Christmas in their own house (they'd been students living in
rented homes or apartments since their marriage over five years ago). As most of you
know, Seattle had their worst snow storm in seventy years beginning the day after
Christmas, so Rosemarie and I were snowed in there an extra four days longer than
we'd planned. We saw lots of 'snow falling on cedars.

There's another reason that Seattle influenced my choice. Guterson's novel,
published in 1995, is set mostly on San Piedro, an isolated island north of Puget
Sound, only hours away from Seattle by boat. He describes life in this small village
of gill-net fisherman as only a native could. It's a novel that informs as it
entertains.

This is Guterson's first novel, yet it won the prestigious 1995 Pen/Faulkner
award. It's a wonderful story of how people's ties to the land and their national
origins affect their loves, hates and prejudices'profoundly affecting their own
lives and the lives of those they touch. In an interview, Guterson summarizes his
writing of the novel with, 'My work comes from inner disturbances, from seeing
injustices and accidents and how they affect peoples' lives in a tragic way.

Much of the story involves the mid-1950's trial of Kabuo Miyamato, a Japanese-
American fisherman. He's accused of murdering a local fisherman because of a dispute
involving family property that was confiscated years ago at the outbreak of World
War II when Kabuo was interned at Manzanar, along with thousands of other Japanese-
Americans. There's an intriguing mystery as to the true nature of the crime, and how
Kabuo's warrior skills and resentment might have driven him to murder.
The story moves back to just before the war, to a high-school love affair
between Hatsue, now Kabuo's wife, and another islander, Ishmael Chambers. Their
budding relationship was shattered by the outbreak of the war and her family's
forced evacuation to the internment camp.

Guterson describes her family's life in the internment camp and the profound
effect this has on their futures, especially Hatsue's. Here she meets Kabuo, and
they are hurriedly married just before he joins the Army in order to prove his
loyalty to America. The story then returns to the trial, where it now develops that
Ishmael Chambers, still bitter and despondent over his failed romance with Hatsue,
may hold the key to determining her husband's innocence or guilt. There's lots of
conflict and suspense, but it is empathy for Ishmael, Hatsue and Kabuo that will
keep you turning the pages of this very touching and exceptional novel.

A much lighter but delightful little novel is Peter Mayle's, Hotel Pastis,
published in 1993 (paperback). It is also a first novel, and, as in Guterson's
novel, the setting is masterfully rendered and plays a major role. Mayle had
previously written A Year in Provence, a best-selling travelogue based on his own
experience living in this part of France.

He uses this locale for his novel, wherein an Englishman, Simon Shaw, recently
divorced and frustrated by his job as an advertising executive, vacations to this
part of France and is thoroughly charmed by a small village and its people. With
prompting from his new-found French sweetheart, Nicole, he decides to convert the
village's abandoned police station into a boutique hotel and get out of the rat-race
of advertising altogether. He convinces his loyal friend, chauffeur and 'man
servant,' Ernest, to help him set up and run the hotel, because Ernest is expert at
decorating, a connoisseur of food and wine, and works wonderfully well with people.
The town's various inhabitants, eager to help with and profit from this
project, add local color and comedy to the novel. The story is enhanced by a sub-
plot involving some aging local thugs and their convoluted scheme to rob the bank in
a nearby town. They end up kidnapping the son of one of Simon Shaw's wealthy
clients, which further complicates his task of establishing his new hotel. In this
type of novel, you know that 'all will end well' but getting to the ending is lots
of fun.

My third and final review, O Come Ye Back to Ireland, by Niall Williams and
Christine Breen (pub. 1987, paperback) is also a book about 'place' but is non-
fiction, even though it reads very much like a novel. Niall, from Dublin, and
Christine, from New York, met each other as graduate students in Literature at
University College Dublin and were married two years later in New York, where they
each found jobs with publishing houses. Uncomfortable with their yuppie existence in
Manhattan, they decided to return to Ireland and to take up farming at Kiltumper, a
fifty acre farm in western Clare where Chris's grandfather was born. The book is an
account of their first year on the farm, where they had to deal with harsh weather,
isolation, a primitive cottage, and their lack of knowledge about farming and
country living. They battle rain and mud and cold while trying to grow their own
vegetables, raise their own chickens and cut their own peat for their cottage's
solitary stove and heater. In spite of many hardships, they discover themselves and,
through their neighbors, the soul of Ireland that first year, and reward the reader
with a story that appeals to those universal yearnings to go back to the land, back
to one's roots. You'll be taken enough with their story to send you back to the
bookstore for their later books, When Summer's in the Meadow and The Luck of the
Irish: Our Life in County Clare, in which they describe their life at Kiltumper
following that first difficult year.

Doris Alexander Recommends: Another retiree who weathered Seattle's worst snow
storm in seventy years, Doris Alexander, wrote me a letter while the snow was still
falling outside her window, in which she recommended a number of books, most of
which I've not read yet. Of those I have read, I'd certainly recommend Tim
O'Brien's, The Things They Carried, a very personal account of one foot-soldier's
perceptions of the war in Vietnam. She also recommends The English Patient, and
since I enjoyed the film and I've been told the book is even better (we hear that a
lot, don't we?), I'd certainly agree with her recommendation.
Other titles she recommends in that letter are: Corelli's Mandolin, by Louis de
Bernieres; Regeneration, by Pat Barker; Dancing at the Rascal Fair, by Ivan Doig;
The Good Rain, by Timothy Egan; and A Debt to Pleasure, by John Lanchester. She also
suggested that I try something by William Trevor, whom she considers one of the
finest writers in English of this century.

Note: Judy Barkley informed me that the English Department will not produce The Cowles Mountain Journal this year (1996-97) but may do so next yearþin case any of you were planning to submit something for publication.   
Thank you Doris. Now, where will I find the time?

16 Head for Leisure

Seven veteran members of the GC teaching staff will leave active duty in June,
joining GCCCD teachers and classified staffers who retired at or near the end of
1996.

The 1996 retirees were Ed Daner, GC sociology instructor; Julie Kuhl, District
programmer analyst; Robert Akers, Cuyamaca Education Development and Service;
Roberta Eddins, Grossmont Admissions and Records; Judith Hodgson, Grossmont
Bookstore; Joan Mayuiers, Cuyamaca President's Office; Curtis Nichols, Grossmont
Maintenance; Frank DeGraff, Grossmont Grounds; and James Hinkley, Grossmont history
instructor.

Those retiring in June, all from Grossmont, are Glenda Richter, English
instructor; Felix Rogers, physical education/athletics; Don Shannon, history; Jean
Sprunt, physical education; Eleanor Tucker, speech; Elaine Wolfe, math; and Wayne
Harmon, geography.

GC Bargaining Now More Calm

Relations between the district and the Grossmont College faculty seem
considerably more calm than when the November Grapevine was published.
Negotiations on the matter of shared governance continue between the district and
the faculty senates of Cuyamaca and Grossmont College, but apparently without the
rancor, or with less of it, than characterized last fall's meetings. Even then, the
Cuyamaca delegation led by Faculty President Tony Zambelli indicated that shared
governance was working well at that college, even though bitterness was widespread
at Grossmont.

Recently, Chancellor Jean Atherton has met with the faculty representatives on
the shared governance question, and though a number of issues remained to be settled
at the time of Grapevine publication, the fact of the meetings seemed to presage
better days.

On the basic contract for pay and working conditions, the Grossmont United
Faculty and the district are at the point of exchanging specific money proposals and
trying to negotiate their differences. One of the union's unfair labor charges
against the district has been dismissed by a member of the Public Employees
Relations Board, but the union says it can be revived for a full board hearing. The
other unfair charges are still before PERB.

'Doctors' Check Costs District $3,750

One of the most unusual deals in GCCCD history apparently will result in the
district paying $3,750 to find that an outside audit contains only minor errors.
The affair began when Trustee Carolyn Griffin decided that an audit conducted
by Vavrinek, Trinen, Day & Co., one of the state's largest accounting firms, ought
to be rechecked for accuracy. So, apparently telling nobody, she contacted a firm
named Accounting Doctors, and asked about having the audit reviewed.

At the March 4 board meeting, to the surprise of those present, Griffin
revealed her plan and moved that the board hire Accounting Doctors for $3,750. She
insisted, however, that she should handle all arrangements, and said she had
instructed Accounting Doctors to that effect. At the meeting she was unable to
answer such questions about whether the firm had any certified public accountants,
and where the company is located. It was later learned that its home is Ventura.
Trustee Rick Alexander questioned the proposal, "I mean, is this responsible
government?......We might as well take a guy off the street, for all we know."
Griffin said such comments were much ado about nothing. "I don't know what all
the uproar is."

Voting on Griffin's proposal to hire Accounting Doctors, Board President
Rebecca Clark and newly-elected board member Timothy Caruthers voted affirmatively.
Alexander and Ron Kraft voted against it.
So, whatever the feelings of district officials, Business Vice Chancellor James
Austin was obligated by the board vote to sign a contract for the Accounting
Doctors' services.

Subsequent procedural steps required that the contract, signed by both the
district and Accounting Doctors, be ratified, then for the Ventura firm to report
its findings about the audit and collect its pay.
All that was scheduled for the April 1 board meeting, but at meeting time no signed
contract had been received from Ventura. In addition, Clark and Kraft were absent at
the start of the meeting. So, it appeared there'd be no ratification, presentation
or payments.

Meanwhile, former long-time district board member Barbara Collis took the board
and Accounting Doctors to task for lack of ethics in the affair, citing work on the
review taking place while no contract had been signed.
Others who spoke included Lisa DeJesus, Grossmont student representative, who
said GC students were opposed. She also said the Doctors' references included no
declaration that anybody on the firm's staff had previously dealt with a state-
allocated budget.

Earlier in a March 18 letter to the district, Andy Rutizer, president of
Accounting Doctors, noted only his BA in English from Temple University.
In the letter he also said that so far as the audit examination had gone, the
Doctors had found no major mistakes in the Vavrinek audit.
At the April 1 meeting, Griffin said double checks of earlier work are common
practice and that her proposal was not made out of distrust for the Vavrinek firm,
but to educate the board. She then suggested that the item should be set aside until
all trustees were present.

That's how it stood at Grapevine deadline time. The ratification, presentation
and payment may come at the May 6 meeting. Part of the uncertainty about time was
due to board schedules the rest of April, and to a report that Rutizer might not
sign the contract before going to Tahiti on vacation.

But the signed contract arrived from Accounting Doctors the morning of April 2.
So, courtesy of the trustees, Rutizer may recover his vacation costs as soon as he
get home.

Chancellor's Luncheon

At the Chancellor's luncheon in January at the Outback Restaurant, those attending included, first row l.-r.: Pat Higgins, Bob Danielson, Ruth Coover, Marie James, Muriel Owen, Irv Metzgar, Lee Engelhorn; second row: Bill Burns, Bob Steinbach, Sam Ciccati, Lee Hoffman, Don Anderson, Bob Rump, Emilie Duggan-Zouhar, Wally Cohen, Tom Scanlan, Bill Hansen.

More E-mail Addresses

The Grapevine has been on-line at the GCCCD web site
(http://www.gcccd.cc.ca.us) under Grossmont College Publications since February,
1996.
Now, to encourage you to act on those impulses to complain or congratulate,
we're giving you a couple of e-mail addresses where you can get us so quickly you
may just be walking away from your computer when our reply will come flashing in.
For Tom Scanlan: scanlan@mail.gcccd.cc.ca.us
or
scanlan@msn.com
For Pat Higgins: MEJ2HIGG@col.com
Try us.

New Memorial Scholarships

Scholarships have been established at Grossmont College for two faculty members
who died last year.

One is in memory of Carolyn Shushan who died in December. She started and
directed the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program at Grossmont. Contributions may
be made to the Carolyn Panak Shushan Scholarship Fund. Checks should be made payable
to Grossmont College, with a notation at the lower left hand corner that they are
for the Carolyn Shushan Scholarship Fund. Mail your check to Linda Bunney at the GC
Financial Aid Office.

The other scholarship is in memory of Don Settle, long-time telecommunications
instructor, who died last April. Contribution checks should be made payable to GC,
with the notation that they are for the Donald E. Settle Scholarship Fund, and sent
to Linda Bunney, in the Financial Aid Office.

Lantz, Scouller Recuperating

Dick Lantz, retired GC biology instructor, is back to his leisure activities
after suffering a mild heart attack about seven months ago. The attack came while he
was sailing solo in a regatta. He finished the race, then decided he ought to get
checked at a hospital. First indications were that the problem wasn't a heart
attack, but subsequent tests showed that it was. Fortunately, the problem wasn't
severe. Now he has to remember to take pills, but doctors say he can do whatever he
wants in the way of exercise, including daily hiking.

Don Scouller, who wrote "Navel Engagement" for the last issue of the Grapevine,
also is recuperating at home in Tucson. His injury is a broken metatarsal bone.
Scouller says he suffered the break after he became despondent and attempted suicide
by jumping off a sofa. That explanation is what in his days as telecomm instructor
was called a "Scoullerism." His wife, Joan, who is considerably more trustworthy
than he, says he was helping her clean house and stood on the arm of a sofa to reach
a high spot for dusting. He fell, twisting his foot and breaking the bone. He wore a
cast for a couple of days, but now is reasonably unfettered and doing normal
activities, but no dusting.

Welfare Reform Hits GCCCD Students

Some 1,500 Grossmont students and 500 at Cuyamaca have been hit by the first
aspects of welfare reform.

The old AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) program has become
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families with mandatory work by recipients, tighter
rules for food stamps, greater efforts to enforce child support orders and other
features.

According to the Career Chronicle, put out by the staff of the GC Career
Center, the greatest impact on the students will be the requirement for work. Noting
that Gov. Pete Wilson's first priority is getting welfare recipients into jobs, the
Chronicle staffers point to the fact that the low-skilled or entry-level jobs for
which the welfare recipients might qualify, won't pay enough income to support
families. Many welfare recipients don't possess the basic skills to get employment
in San Diego County; that's why they are on welfare.

Some jobs suggested as positions which welfare recipients could fill include
customer service representatives, sales persons, cashiers, receptionists,
information clerks and hotel desk clerks. Starting money ranges from the minimum
wage of $5 an hour to $11.

Those fortunate enough and persistent enough to get a bachelor's degree in
making a career as customer service representatives could achieve annual salaries of
$30,000 to $40,000.

Most important to employers, says the Chronicle, basing its information on a
study by the U.S. Labor Department and the American Association of Counseling and
Development, are ability and desire to learn; basic academic skills in reading,
writing and computation; listening and oral communication. Also creative thinking
and problem solving; self-esteem and goal setting; concentration on personal and
career development; skill in interpersonal/ negotiation and teamwork and
organizational effectiveness and leadership.

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