GCCCD Grapevine

Chancellor to Retire******GC President Will Stay

 Dr. Jeanne Atherton                                   Dr. Richard Sanchez                     

 One of the most bitter battles in the history  
of the GCCCD retire, an announcement by Carolyn Griffin that she will resign
her seat on the District Board, and GC President Richard Sanchez secure in
his office through the full term of his contract.

The battle began when Chancellor Atherton recommended to the Board that
Sanchez' contract be terminated June 30, 1998, a year earlier than June 30,
1999, its designated date. The Board accepted the Chancellor's 
recommendation, and on August 5, the members voted 3-2 to shorten the 
contract, Board President Rebecca Clark, with Trustees Rick Alexander and 
Ron Kraft also voting for the termination. Trustees Carolyn Griffin
and Timothy Caruthers voted against the recommendation.

But the Board's action drew widespread reaction, much of it adverse. 
Individuals and groups, including the Grossmont College Faculty Senate,
called for the Board to undo its action, and on September 16, the Board
voted to rescind its termination action, thus assuring Sanchez
of his tenure continuing until at least June 30, 1999. In mid-October,
the Chancellor announced that she will retire, but not immediately.
She set the date for June 30, 1998.

She said her decision to retire was not new, and that she had made
the decision earlier. She had intended to withhold announcing it until
next spring, but campus events, with their accompanying focus on her,
had persuaded her to announce the retirement earlier.

Her complaints about Sanchez included an evaluation score by him lower
than she thought adequate,failing to support her decisions and neglecting
ong-term planning.

Historically, the Chancellor has had a rough row to hoe, particularly
with the Grossmont faculty, which last year voted no-confidence
in her. However, she has said about criticism that she was carrying
out Board directions in her actions. 

Carolyn Griffin, who voted against the Atherton move to terminate Sanchez,
has been the subject of controversy at times during her time as a Board
member. Earlier this year she privately contacted an accounting firm to 
check the Board's earlier audit by another firm. The second audit was
made at her behest, with no major errors discovered. 

The Board will have to select a replacement for the remainder of her term,
or conduct a special election to elect a successor. Of his situation,
Sanchez says he's happy, and the recent events have not lessened
his enthusiasm and that his contact with the Chancellor will be
as professional and collegial as possible.

Roper's Roundup

October retirees' get-together brought more than 20 to Coco's
restaurant for eating, drinking, and talking, mostly talking.

New Logos!

Committees at Grossmont, Cuyamaca, and District have approved
these new logos for their future use.

Editor's Comments

 by Pat Higgins 

Lee Roper probably didn't think about it with the long run in mind, 
but he may have started a GCCCD tradition built on coffee. So far, his 
suggestion that retirees meet informally for coffee on the first Tuesday
of each month has been met with growing acceptance. 

The first gathering on September 2 at McDonald's, on Lake Murray, 
numbered about a dozen retirees. The second group, who met at Coco's at
Navajo and Fanita, numbered more than 20. This issue will be in
production when the third meeting is held, so I can't give you
the attendance figure for November, but I'd take a bet now that
the attendance will have increased again. 

If you haven't madeany of the meetings, I think you'll have missed some
pleasant times chatting idly-or with serious purpose if you want-with
former colleagues whom you've seen too seldom since you left Cuyamaca
or Grossmont. 

Coco's is a good place for meeting; long tables
accommodate most of the group, but there also are booths which
can handle the overflow from the tables. You can order only coffee,
or you can have breakfast. 

Three or four spouses were in attendance
at the October meeting; it would be nice to have a few more, so
bring your husband or wife for a pleasant hour or so, and to keep
the Roper tradition going. 
                          * * * 
Last issue, in pointing to the excellence of the Grapevine staff,
I said that when I wanted out as editor I'd say so. Now is that time.
I've been editor for three years-astounding as that seems in retrospect-and
I want to spend the Grapevine time on some other things.

Editing the Grapevine has been a pleasant chore for me, and I think it 
will be for whoever succeeds me. We have excellent regular staffers, 
Sirkka Huovila for production and John Dixon for photography. 
Tom Scanlan does his column, Biblio-Files
for each issue and occasionally, as in this issue, he contributes
a story. Occasionally, also, we have contributions from somebody
in the retiree ranks, as Leon Hoffman this issue. So, as editor,
you wouldn't be alone in producing the publication. 

Nobody in authority in the GCCCD has ever told me what could or could not
run in the Grapevine, so up to now censorship never has been a
problem, and I think that happy situation will continue. There
is pay for the job-not as much as I think the time involved
is worth-but enough so that you don't feel you're doing it for
free. To ease you into the editor position, I'd take the responsibility
for the next issue, April 1998, with you as assistant editor.
After that you'd be on your own-except, of course, for Sirkka,
John, and Tom. If you prefer, I'll be assistant editor for the
first issue, or you can do it alone. I wouldn't be unhappy with
that plan. 

Feedback over the years has indicated you've enjoyed
getting and reading the Grapevine. We don't want it to fall by
the wayside. We need a good editor, and certainly there are some
among you who are capable of being that editor. Let us know, so
we can put the Grapevine into good hands with the knowledge that
it will continue to be a publication worth reading. 

For answers to questions, or to bid to be editor, please contact 
Tom Scanlan or me by phone or by letter. Tom's phone number is 
(619) 447-3934. His address is 1654 View Way, El Cajon, CA 92020. 
My phone numberis (619) 461-8856, and my address is 6618 Sunny Brae Drive,
San Diego, CA 92119. Speak Up! This is your chance.

EMF Hazards Banished

The task of mitigating electromagnetic fields on the Grossmont
College campus, begun two years ago, is complete or nearing completion
at Grapevine publication time. Two professional contractors, Tim
Brindley of Brindley Electrical Services, and Karl Riley of ELF
Magnetic Surveys, are the contractors who have been working to
finish the campus ELF mitigation, according to Charles Seymour,
Risk Management Director. 

The project began in the spring of 1995,
after concern was voiced by David Wing, GC photography instructor,
about high EMF readings in the GC Library he had detected on a
walkthrough using a gaussmeter measuring device. Subsequently,
the Chancellor's Cabinet voted to engage independent contractors
to inspect the campus buildings and to remedy any spots which
might be dangerous. Worry about campus EMF output as hazardous
should now be gone.

Biblio-files

 by Tom Scanlan 

The weather was perfect on Long Island when we visited relatives in the small
New York community of Dix Hills this October. Almost no rain,
plenty of gold and red in the oak and maple forests, and air that
was cool enough to drink and yet not so cold that we needed gloves
on a morning walk. Crows and jays woke us each morning, and sometimes
we'd hear a distant honking and look up to see a flock of geese
flapping overhead in that loose V-formation they prefer. 

The faint pungent smell of burning leaves confirmed that we were indeed
experiencing a genuine east coast autumn. And autumn, with its
longer evenings, is when many of us start resolving seriously
to go through that stack of unread books, some gathering dust
since last Christmas (and now we know why they call those paper
covers 'dust jackets'). But as much as I love this time of year
back East, I always come home to San Diego knowing that the West
is really where I want to live year-round. 

The four books I'm recommending this issue are all stories with western
settings, and that western setting is as much a part of the story as the
characters who dramatize it. 

For those of you who always wanted to read Larry McMurtry's Pulitzer Prize
winning Lonesome Dove but were intimidated by its size, he wrote a little 
gem of a novel way back in 1962 called Leaving Cheyenne which is just
as memorable and only one-third as long. This novel, like others
of McMurtry's novels (e.g., The Last Picture Show), deals with
the impact of new ways on the old ways of life. 

Set in west Texas, it's a love triangle involving a serious-minded rancher, 
Gideon Fry; his rambunctious cowboy friend, Johnny McCloud; and the 
impressionable but independent woman they both love, Molly Taylor. The story
is told from the point of view of
each of these three characters and encompasses a period of forty
years, during which time Molly bears each of them a child. It
is a story where friendship and love are so closely entwined that
you're never quite sure how the story will end, or even how you'd
want it to end. 

Moving further west, Barbara Kingsolver's best-selling
first novel, The Bean Trees (1988), unfolds in Tucson,
Arizona. A gutsy and outspoken young woman, Taylor Greer, has
left her native Kentucky to strike out on her own rather than
succumb to the dreary fate of her peers, where getting pregnant
young and marrying the wrong man seems to be the norm. 

While sputtering west in a relic VW, she becomes the unwilling 'mother' 
of a Native American infant, whom she names Turtle. Out of money and with
two flat tires, the two of them start a new life together in Tucson
by moving in with a woman whose 'almost husband' has just left
her (with baby, of course). They also meet some people who are
helping refugees from the death squads in Guatemala, and begin
to realize that their own problems are minor compared to those
of so many others. 

Although the characters in this novel face
unusual hardships, they are determined to maintain their sense
of independence and humor. You can't help but like these individuals
and admire their spirit. And Kingsolver's use of language is almost
poetic. 

This book is an easy and enjoyable way to restore your
faith in the power of friendships. If you like Bean Trees,
then you might want to also read Kingsolver's Pigs in Heaven
(1993), and follow the adventures of Taylor and Turtle (now six
years old) when they eventually return to their roots in Kentucky
and Oklahoma. 

A young Cherokee lawyer has questioned the validity
of Turtle's 'adoption' because of laws requiring sanctioning by
the Cherokee tribe. Now Taylor and her adopted child must confront
the complications of how Turtle came to be part of Taylor's family
and the meaning of what it is to be a Native American in the late
twentieth century. 

Finally, we come all the way to the west
coast with Anne Lamott's new novel, Crooked Little Heart
(1997), the story of a thirteen year old California girl, Rosie,
a junior tennis champ who actually believes that she's a loser
in life. Her best friend, Simone, is more mature and attractive
to boys and has a more natural talent for tennis. Determined not
to be a loser, Rosie begins to cheat against her tennis opponents.

It's a classic 'coming of age' novel, where Rosie must face the
changes that come with the developing sexuality and changing interests
of her friends and herself. It is complicated by a home situation
where the stepfather and mother have their own problems, and by
a shadowy figure, Luther, who seems to be stalking Rosie at her
various tennis tournaments. This story line may not turn you on,
but you will positively enjoy Lamott's writing. She can be very
funny and seems to have really gotten inside Rosie's head. It
might just have something to do with the fact that Anne Lamott
was herself a teenage tournament tennis player in California.
                            ***
I received another charming letter from Doris Alexander in which
she mildly chastises me for not calling her and Alex the last
time I was in Seattle (where does the time go?!) and then goes
on to suggests additional titles for my reading pleasure. They
include Felicia's Journey by William Trevor, a brilliantly
written tale of Irish misery and sex; A Lesson Before Dying
by Ernest Gaines, a heartbreaker about a black youth who was in
the wrong place at the wrong time and faces his wrong condemnation
with dignity; Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor (a master
of dark humor and the deep South) about a woman who founds 'the
Church Without Christ' but discovers otherwise; and Angela's
Ashes by Frank McCourt, a book about growing up poor in Dublin¾which
I've been dying to read but not until I get through that stack
of books that sit on my reading table making me feel guilty each
time I read a magazine instead. 

Thank goodness for the return of autumn's longer evenings!

Cuyamaca to Host New Senior Sessions

by Leon Hoffman

Upon my retirement, my wife told me, "Lee, I
married you for better or for worse, but not for lunch. You've
always been busy, so keep doing something to keep yourself busy."

I was invited to a workshop at Cuyamaca College given by Dr. Diana
Kelly, District Associate Dean of Continuing Education, who's
based at Cuyamaca. Erv Metzgar also attended the workshop. We
both found the subject very interesting and challenging, and we
both decided to follow through to help Dr. Kelly develop her ideas
into a worthwhile program for our community. 

Erv and I brought in four top-notch leaders in our local senior 
community to form an ad hoc committee to work out the details based
on input from the 35 people who had attended the original workshop. 
Our group consists of Dr. Kelly; Metzgar, President Emeritus of Grossmont
College and active in many civic organizations; Phoebe Burnham,
wife of Bob Burnham, late District Superintendent, and a strong
community leader in her own right; Lois French, active community
leader in many organizations; Diane Beene, Mt. Miguel Covenant
Village Management Team; Genie Thompson, assistant editor of Senior
World News Magazine and an expert on senior educational programs;
and me. I'm Professor Emeritus, Grossmont College, and in charge
of Senior Ministries, Trinity Presbyterian Church, Spring Valley.

Actually, we have begun work on two separate projects. The first
is a series of six non-credit, no-fee senior-oriented courses
of various lengths to begin in the spring, 1998 semester.They're titled, 
"Intergenerational Dialogue"; "An Introduction
to Theater"; "The Writing Workshop"; "New
Frontiers in Medicine"; "Outwitting Con Artists and
Muggers"; and "Enrich Your Environment." We are
currently developing course descriptions and outlines for these
six courses and enlisting the help of some qualified instructors
to teach them. 

The second project ties in with the national Elderhostel
program. It is a variation on the popular model established by
Elderhostel Inc., directed to the local community of seniors.
In this way, we won't have to provide the housing and meals, which
will allow us to greatly reduce the costs to each participant.
This program is called "The Institute for Learning in Retirement."
So far we haven't come up with the course subjects, but we are
working on the task. 

Hopefully, this program will be ongoing,
and Erv and I will stay involved. It's expected that most sessions
will be at Cuyamaca. It's is our feeling that our district has
invested a lot in us over the years, as well as providing our
livelihood. We are simply giving back a little, while keeping
our minds active and having a lot of fun. There are a lot of volunteer
opportunities available if you are interested. If you are, call
Erv, Dr. Kelly at 660-4355, or me.Editor's Note: Leon Hoffman
taught 27 years in the Administration of Justice program at Grossmont

Governor Wilson Signs Important STRS Bill
by Tom Scanlan 

Governor Wilson signed SB 1026 (Shiff-D) STRS Purchasing Power into law on October
12. This bill increases the purchasing power protection
for STRS long-retired teachers from the current 68.2 percent to
75 percent. It will be funded partially from the recent sale of
the Elk Hills Petroleum Reserve. Existing law requires revenues
from school lands at Elk Hills Naval Petroleum Reserve to be deposited
in the School Land Bank Fund and interest earnings to be transmitted
to the Teachers' Retirement Fund for distribution by the Supplemental
Benefit Maintenance Account. 

The new law provides that the proceeds
of the Supplemental Benefit Maintenance Account shall be distributed
annually in quarterly supplemental payments to retired members,
disabled members, and beneficiaries to restore purchasing power
up to 75% of the purchasing power of their initial monthly
allowances. 

Because the STRS annual adjustment is a simple
(uncompounded) 2 percent, purchasing power begins to erode the
day we retire, even at current low rates of inflation. Here's
an example of how this works. The average annual inflation rate
over the past several decades has been about 5 percent, compounded.

Suppose that your STRS retirement benefit is $30,000 the year
you retire, and that is exactly what it costs you to live (your
'cost of living'). At 5 percent compounded, your cost of
living would increase to $48,867 in ten years. Your STRS income
would only increase to $36,000 during that same time period (2%
of 30,000 each year = $600 x 10 = $6000 increase). 
If you compare $36,000 to $48,867 (divide), you'll find that your 
retirement benefit in ten years is only 73.7 % of your 'cost of living.'

In just under ten years, your purchasing power has dropped below 75%of 
what  it was when you retired, so
now you'd begin to receive quarterly supplements which would maintain
it at the 75% level for the duration of your life (or that of
your surviving beneficiary). 

Completing this example, 75% of $48,867
(your 'cost of living') is $36,650. Based on this amount, you'd
receive four quarterly supplements totalling $650 (the difference
between your actual STRS income of $36,000 and the 75% amount,
$36,650). 

Some of you will benefit immediately from the passage
of this bill. Those of us who retired more recently won't have
to wait long because the current low rates of inflation are an
anomaly. Any way you figure it, this new law is good news for
all STRS retirees.

Prison Years OK for Burke

  It may surprise you to know that Dr. Dale A. Burke, long-time
GCCCD Trustee, has been released from Centinela State Prison after
a 3½-year stint behind the prison's walls. True, but the
whole truth is that the prison stay was served willingly, as Dr.
Burke took care of inmates' teeth as an employee of the State
of California. 

He joined the prison staff in November, 1993, after
he sold his Fletcher Hills dental practice which he'd begun in
La Mesa in 1959. He had decided that he wanted to get away from
the pressure that comes with the business aspects of private practice,
though he recalls with pleasure the fact that he had good patients
through the years. 

He applied for a dental position with the state,
and found himself with one other dentist as the dental staff of
Centinela Prison, which was about as new as he was. "I wondered
what I was getting into," he said recently, particularly
because he had been his own boss for years. But he found that
the new job agreed with him. 

He worked from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30p.m., 
five days a week at first, then went on a four-day week
of 10-hour days. 

His patients were all prisoners, but they appeared
to bear him no animosity, because he was not a guard. There probably
would have been animosity if the dentist had been also a guard.
Still, he had some office security-of a sort. 

Medical-technical assistants and vocational nurses assigned to the office 
were given stars to wear, which made them security personnel. Dr. Burke 
wonders how much security one small woman would have been if some
large prisoner had become unruly while having his teeth fixed.
But that never happened, and the dentists felt little, if any,
tension while they worked. 

At the start, there was a shortage of dental instruments, so the work 
was limited to simple procedures. But the needed instruments came, and 
the range of procedures widened considerably. 

Dr. Burke and his colleague got into a routine in
which examinations and simple procedures were done in the morning,
in the afternoon they did extractions, put in crowns and did other
complex work. They did up to 18 examinations in the morning and
four or five jobs in the afternoon. 

Then Dr. Burke decided to retire entirely from dentistry and he 
left Centinela last May.

Back in his home area, he continues his interest in the GCCCD,
but pretty much as an onlooker, not as a participant, as he was
in his years on the District Board, 1971-1992. He left with the
distinction he still holds, as the longest-serving member in the
history of the District.

Career Week  

  
GC students got the word on dozens of career possibilities
during Career Week. Medical service was one field which brought
experts to the campus; picture on the left. Added attractions
included a fashion show by Macy's, with GC participants Sirkka
Huovila and Barb Guiette on the right.Nancy Davis and Teri Feller
got credit for producing outstanding Career Week.

• News and Production Editor: Pat Higgins
• Desktop Production and Layout: Sirkka Huovila
• Photography: John Dixon
• Biblio-Files Column: Tom Scanlan

  ---

  
  The Grapevine is a free newsletter published for GCCCD retirees.
  The Grapevine is published in November, April and July.
  Deadline for submission is the 10th of the month before publication.
  To submit news items, articles or photographs of interest to GCCCD retirees
  mail them to:

The Grapevine
Grossmont College
8800 Grossmont College Drive
El Cajon, CA 92020

GOVERNINGBOARD MEMBERS: Richard Alexander, Dr. Timothy Caruthers, Rebecca
Clark, Ronald KraftSTUDENT MEMBERS: Tri Marin, David ParsonsCHANCELLOR:
Dr. Jeanne AthertonPRESIDENT: Dr. Richard Sanchez

Updated February 18, 1998 by Tom Scanlan