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Volume 111 - Issue 05
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A FIRST AMENDMENT PUBLICATION
October 14, 2009
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Wait lists to stay? Senate votes, but decision rests with interim president Jeff Sandstoe / Roundup
Louie Heredia / Roundup
DECISIONS— Tom Rosdahl, president of the Academic Senate, counts votes Monday as committee members decide on wait list and smoking policy issues.
A smoke-free campus by 2010 Unanimous vote to limit smoking to designated parking lots Elliot Golan / Roundup
T
he Academic Senate voted unanimously Monday in favor of making Pierce College a smoke-free campus, effective no later than Fall 2010. Under this policy, smoking would be relegated to certain parking lots on the edge of campus. Bob Martinez, vice president of academic affairs and member of the Work Environment Committee (WEC), was very pleased
with the decision. “It speaks that we value the health of all students,” Martinez said. “It probably is ultimately up to me,” said Interim Pierce President Dr. Joy McCaslin, PhD, who was not at the meeting at the time of the announcement. “I concur with this idea of removing smoking and moving it to the parking lots,” she said. Though many parties will contribute to the planning of the guidelines for smoking, Martinez said, “The (Pierce) president will make
the ultimate decision (abou which lots smoking will be allowed in).” Senators cited the lack of adherence to the current policy as their motivation. Several members even claimed students had been rude in the past when attempting to enforce the current policy. “They don’t care about me. Why should I care about them?” said Sharon Levick, vice president of curriculum/accreditation coordinator. The ability of students to kick their addiction was a cause of concern among members.
Beth Benne, director of the Student Health Center, spoke about a program on campus designed to help students quit. The program has 15 students currently enrolled and includes 8 to 10 counseling sessions. Senate President Tom Rosdahl, whose younger brother died at the age of 46 due to mouth cancer, was very aware of the health risks smoking can cause. “For one year I watched him degenerate and die,” Rosdahl said. “I’d give nicotine patches to all
smokers and flush all their cigarettes down the toilet,” he continued. There are currently 12 smokefree campuses in the state and 16 more that restrict smoking to parking lots, including nearby Moorpark College. According to McCaslin, Pierce will become a smoke free campus by fall 2010.
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The Academic Senate voted 20 – 3 to keep the current dual wait list policy during a meeting on Monday. The meeting started with interim college president Dr. Joy McCaslin addressing the senate and presenting the administration’s side of the wait list policy. “I’m not sure people understand the wait list issue entirely,” McCaslin said. “Our wait list system does not work well.” The way the current system works, students who apply for filled classes are added to the wait list. If a registered student drops the class, the wait listed student is not notified and remains on the wait list instead of being added to the class. McCaslin said the admissions office is bombarded with more than 7,000 add slips each semester. “We are getting a new system,” McCaslin said, “but it will be a couple of years.” This new system would automatically move a student from the wait list into the current class roster whenever a registered student drops the class. McCaslin also mentioned how East Los Angeles College has removed its wait list policy, noting their students had more time to move on and find a different class if they did not get into their first choice. “It’s better for students to know what they’ve got, than to have to manage this whole crazy system,” McCaslin said. One positive aspect to the current system, McCaslin explained, is that registration dates are given out to students based on their seniority, with priority dates assigned to students with the highest number of completed units.
SEE WAIT LIST PAGE 4
Student Services Building opening Oct. 21 Opening ceremony will include speakers, tours of new facility Melissa Meek / Roundup
Petrina J. Roudebush / Roundup
DELAYED— Through complications and postponement, the Student Services building will open Wednesday, a month after its original scheduled opening date.
The opening of the new Student Services building near Parking Lot 1 is scheduled for Wednesday at 11 a.m. Speakers will include Dr. Tyree Wieder, interim chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD), Dr. Joy McCaslin, interim Pierce College president and Shani Simms, Associated Students Organization president. “I am really excited about the grand opening,” McCaslin said in an e-mail. She had hoped the building’s ceremony would have been in the late afternoon, but it was moved to the morning to avoid conflicting with the LACCD meeting. She confirmed three past Pierce presidents — Bob Garber, Tom Oliver and Rocky Young — have been invited. She believes they are planning to attend. McCaslin said the actual move-in will occur Oct. 29, so as to not interfere with the ceremony and leave the building “pristine.” “We just recently decided not to move in before the grand opening because the move-in itself will be pretty messy,” she said. The purpose of the new building is to keep all student services together instead of spread across the campus, as they currently are. “The building is designed to serve students in a cohesive manner, with all the services grouped together in one building,” McCaslin said in an e-mail. Some of the offices will be closing today to begin packing, although most will begin tomorrow.
“We are encouraging students to come in prior to the move if possible and (we) apologize for any inconvenience as we move into the new facility,” said David Follosco, interim vice president. Movers will be transporting all the packed materials to the new building Thursday and Friday. Staff will be unpacking when they return Monday.
Follosco said most offices should be re-opening Tuesday. Refreshments will be served directly after the ceremony and tours will be given by the staff.
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Petrina J. Roudebush / Roundup
NEARING COMPLETION— The Student Services building began construction more than a year ago and will open next week.