Roundup
Interim President Joy McCaslin - Page 4
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Woodland Hills, California
Volume 111 - Issue 01
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A FIRST AMENDMENT PUBLICATION
September 16, 2009
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Twilight of a bright career Dr. Tyree Wieder is holding her final position within LACCD Elliot Golan / Roundup
MASKS— The fear of swine flu is very real to the students of Pierce College.
Photo Illustration / Gerard Walsh / Roundup
Swine flu hits college campuses The Health Center prepares for the H1N1 virus
Sarah Mednick / Roundup
As flu season approaches, more worries arise about the H1N1 virus and how students can protect themselves. The H1N1, or Swine influenza, is a flu virus found in pigs. The virus has changed and can be transferred to humans, and is currently a worldwide pandemic. Beth Benne, director of the Pierce College Student Health Center, said the virus is not as severe as the flu, but she is afraid the numbers will go up once flu season arrives. “It’s hard
to keep track of the students and faculty, and makes it harder to pinpoint any cases,” Benne said. The health center is going to protect students by putting up posters, handing out pamphlets on the virus and giving away free hand sanitizer. David Follosco, interim vice president, said, “Our goal is to get the word out to limit the spread of the flu.” According to an article by WebMD, the American College Health Association reported more than 2,000 cases of the flu among colleges across the country. “We’re hoping that doesn’t emerge as an enormous problem, but we just don’t know,” Joy McCaslin,
Ph.D, interim president, said. “Some (colleges) are being hit hard. We’re worried about that.” Benne said the Los Angeles County is expected to receive the H1N1 virus in mid October. If the county gets the vaccine, the Health Center will be giving it out to students and faculty for free. The one worry she has is how many are they going to get and how many the county will be getting. “If you are having (an) influenza-like illness with all the symptoms, stay at home,” Benne said. “Stay at home for 24 hours after the fever is gone without the usage of Tylenol, Advil or aspirin.” Symptoms include body aches,
muscle aches, coughing, sneezing, fever over 100 degrees and possible abdominal problems. The best ways to prevent contracting the virus are washing your hands and coughing or sneezing into a sleeve instead of your hand.
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The service of Dr. Tyree Wieder, interim chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College District, is coming to an end. Raised in South Los Angeles, Wieder went to local public schools. She attended Compton Community College before transferring to CSUN, where she received a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a master’s degree in educational psychology. She also earned a doctoral degree from UCLA in higher education administration. Wieder has been with the district since 1981, including being the president of Los Angeles Valley College for 14 years, before retiring last summer. She was named interim chancellor in August after former chancellor Marshall Drummond resigned. She also serves as president of the Board of Library Commissioners for the Los Angeles Public Library, where her term ends in 2013. “It’s amazing that after 13 or 14 months away, how easy it was to return,” Wieder said. She added that, due to her experience, it was easier for her to take the interim position and “help assist initially in the transition.” By serving as interim chancellor, Wieder is ineligible for permanent appointment, according to district rules. A search committee will be formed to select a new chancellor by early 2010, according to Wieder. “We haven’t begun the search process,” Wieder said. “Putting a focus on student success is always important.” “When Dr. Wieder indicated an interest in serving as the Interim Chancellor, she committed not to apply for the permanent position,” wrote Deputy Chancellor Dr. Adriana Barrera in an e-mail.
Barrera has announced that she will apply for the permanent position. She is confident in her chances. “I anticipate that my previous experience in this district as a college president (five years at Mission College) and my experience serving as the Deputy Chancellor will have prepared me for the position of Chancellor,” Barrera wrote in an e-mail. Barrera served as acting chancellor this summer before the selection of Wieder. Looking back on her time with the district, Wieder says she is most proud of the Strategic Team for the Advancement and Retention of Students (STARS) initiative at Valley. The program, which began in 2002, is “focused on student success.” After the search for the next chancellor is complete, Wieder intends to return to her retirement and her position within the library system. “When you are working 24/7, as you do as a college president, you do not have time to enjoy L.A.,” Wieder said.
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Students cry out SOS Students react to the cuts on campus Antonio Hernandez / Roundup Normally, a meeting to educate students on a budget doesn’t start with a children’s game. Yet that is exactly what happened Thursday, as the Student Organization For Success (SOS) attempted to break the ice among attendees. The meeting began with students hand-in-hand, spelling out “success” one letter at a time around the circle. Hosted within English room 1202, the classroom seemed the perfect place to educate students on the severity of educational cuts affecting community college campuses across the state. “We need to cut fatter parts of the California budget, things that are not absolutely essential. We need to make the (California) legisla-
ture realize exactly how important education is,” said Emily Harake, 19, an American Federation For Teachers (AFT) intern. The AFT is a union that represents educators across the state. The SOS was created under the guidance of the AFT in hopes of motivating students to speak up about the current budget cuts affecting the Los Angeles Community College District. Other AFT interns, all who took turns pitching ideas on how to organize and educate further students, flanked Harake as she spoke. The union has reached out to other community college campuses as well, creating small groups to organize and educate students. Many of the students at the meeting were stunned to hear of the cuts to the upcoming Winter Session at Pierce. “I need to take biology over the
winter. If that doesn’t happen I won’t be able to transfer on time,” said Ari Cohen, 19, when asked to share how the budget cuts were directly affecting him. “I guess I’ll take it at Santa Monica College,” he added, still a little bewildered by the concept. The LACCD Board of Trustees agreed Aug. 19 that individual colleges could reduce or cut their winter session if needed. Pierce College will offer approximately 50 percent of their original winter classes, mostly consisting of core classes such as math, English and speech. Joseph Catling, also an AFT intern, shared his problems with the budget cuts. “I was planning on transferring out after this fall, but Summer Session B was cancelled and by the time I had found out, Session A was
already full,” he said. Also on the agenda for the SOS was the creation of a town hall event hosted on the Pierce campus. The organization plans to bring the event to the Great Hall in October. Planned speakers would be professors and elected officials, who would be on hand to answer students questions. Despite the planning and discussion, some students still felt unclear about what they could actually do to sway the legislature. Cohen stayed after the meeting had adjourned, watching as other students began shuffling out of the room. “I’m still not quite sure where we would get the money to curb the budget cuts,” he said. “We’ll just see what comes of this.”
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Courtney Coles / Roundup
CONCERNED— Daniel Levin, 31, explains his personal experiences with the budget cuts at Thursday’s Students Organized for Success meeting.