Tuesday

April 28, 1998

Melissa Jones/State Hornet Harman grilled in speech to students By JEFF HARRELSON HORNET NEWS EDITOR Democratic candidate for governor Jane Harman was showered with boos and hisses Sunday as she attempted to leave a speech on higher education without answering questions from students. The Torrance congresswoman responded to the disapproval of students attending the California Higher Education Student Summit by holding an impromptu press conference in which she attempted to answer questions ranging from technology in higher education to Proposition 209. A crowd stood outside the Sacramento Convention Center press room chanting "power to the students" while summit officials tried to call for order. "You need to know what you're talking about. You come to speak to college students, but you don't even know the issues," shouted one angry student. Alison Miller, a representative from CSU, Hayward described the student's reaction as "rude." "It was just inappropriate. Perhaps a bit hasty," Miller said. "I think if we want Jane Harman to respect us, we need to give her respect also." Sacramento Mayor and CSUS government professor Joe Serna Jr. later agreed students may have over-reacted. "That was petulance, that's what that was," Serna said. "If anyone is to blame, I think it was poor advance work on the part of her campaign staff. She should have been better briefed." Serna noted that of the three major democratic candidates for governor, Harman was the only one to take the time to address the students. Serna addressed the crowd of students before Harman took the microphone to explain that they were both scheduled to address a Latino festival being held in Old Sacramento. He also took the opportunity to publicly give his endorsement to Harman's bid for the governorship. "I think Jane Harman is going to be the next governor of California."

Harman outlines state higher education platform

Congresswoman Jane Harman was the only one of the "big three" democratic candidates to address students at the California Higher Education Students Summit held Saturday through Monday in the Sacramento Convention Center.

Harman spoke Sunday before an estimated 100 students -- mostly representatives of the 23 CSU campuses -- on issues of both higher education and grades K-12.

Harman took the opportunity to take a stab at fellow candidate Al Checchi for his recent statement that if elected governor, he would not send his children to public schools.

"The governor must demonstrate unqualified personal commitment to our public school system," she said.

Harman contended that if elected governor, her children would attend public school in California.

Elana Stern, press secretary for Al Checchi, responded to Harman's attack by pointing out Harman's children currently attend private school in Washington D.C. and re-emphasizing his focus on education.

"Al Checchi has been very fortunate in his life. That does not diminish in anyway his commitment to the public school system," Stern said.

Harman's speech focused mostly on lower education, but included a proposal to establish a loan forgiveness program for graduates who teach the children in most need.

At the same time, Harman's declaration that she opposed a bill to extend a five-percent fee reduction for undergraduates to professional and graduate students drew a mixed reaction from the crowd.

Harman said she would rather see more funds allocated to financial aid.

"I want to keep fees as low as possible, but I believe it is a higher priority to ensure that everyone who is qualified to attend one of our public institutions is able to do it," she said.

Harman also declared her dissatisfaction with Proposition 209, the initiative to end affirmative action in California.

"We must make Prop. 209 irrelevant," she said.

Harman said she was interested in a proposal by UC administrators to guarantee admission to UC for the top four percent of graduates from each high school in California.

State Senator John Vasconcellos (D-Santa Clara) also spoke to students during the summit which was sponsored by the California State Student Association, a lobbying organization funded mainly by CSU student governments.

Vasconcellos stressed the upcoming election as one of the most important in several decades.

"I think students are the key to California and I want to challenge them to be smart," he said.

CSU part-time faculty numbers on the rise

California State University students pay double the tuition they paid in 1991, while their classes are increasingly taught by lower-paid, part-time instructors.

By 1997, the percentage of part-time faculty at CSUS had risen to nearly 23 percent, up from 13.8 percent 1991, according to Faculty and Staff Affairs. The increase has been constant and mirrors a statewide trend. Many faculty members claim the increase in part-timers is undermining tenure and the educational objectives of the university.

Many students complain part-timers don't have adequate office hours and aren't involved with campus life.

"It takes away from the university," said Brian Cooley, ASI's vice president of university affairs. "The system as a whole isn't investing in full-time, tenured faculty. It's very disheartening for students."

Jeff Lustig, government professor and co-president of the California Faculty Association at CSUS, said most part-time professors are highly educated and work hard.

"But they're insecure, overloaded and normally ignorant of the particular university they're in," Lustig said.

Part-time government professor Drew Froelinger agreed. He teaches at UC Davis and CSUS, and also instructs an adult education class.

"You're not involved in the life of the department and the life of the university," Froelinger said.

According to Tom Krabacher, CSUS Faculty Senate chair, part-time instructors are easily exploited and are seen as "cheap labor" to administrators pressured to tighten budgets. Most part-timers -- who depend on being re-hired each semester -- do not receive benefits and are paid less than their full-time peers.

Though university officials insist part-time instructors are not replacing full-time professors, the percentage of full-timers continues to decrease.

"What happens all across the system is when full-time professors retire, they are being replaced with part-timers," said journalism professor Michael Fitzgerald. He represents the CSUS faculty at the statewide Academic Senate.

At CSUS, the School of Education shows the highest percentage of units taught by part-time faculty: more than 37 percent. The School of Business Administration has the lowest percentage at 9.33 percent.

Vice President of Academic Affairs Jolene Koester said the university is trying to bring down the percentage of courses taught by part-time instructors.

Part-time faculty are used for several reasons, Koester said. Using part-timers allows departments to match changing student interests.

"You want some flexibility," Koester said. "They also offer programs like business, social work, and even education expertise that the university could not have full-time faculty for."

ASI President-elect Gary Davis agreed with this assessment.

"In certain majors, I think it's important to provide real-world experience," Davis said.

Koester said that the rise in the percentage of part-time faculty can be attributed to a rise in faculty retirements earlier in the decade. The Faculty Early Retirement Program is part of that, she said.

Under FERP, full-time faculty can retire five years early and teach a half-load (six units) year-round, or a full-load (12 units) one semester. Depending on a department's situation, hiring a full-time replacement can be difficult, she said.

"We had bad budget circumstances as well," Koester said. Krabacher said one of his concerns is that university administrations are using part-time instructors to save money.

"They see part-time faculty as a way of saving money and being responsive to market pressures," he said. "In the short term, there are gains for the institution, but in the long term, there could be negative impacts from this."

Part-time faculty are represented on the Faculty Senate at CSUS, Krabacher said.

He said he doubted that the use of part-timers would have much immediate effect on students, in terms of quality.

According to the Office of Faculty and Staff Affairs, CSUS is above average in tenure-track faculty who hold a doctorate, with approximately 25 percent.

Individual departments suffer more because full-time professors do more than teach in the classroom, Lustig said.

Krabacher said: "Part-time faculty traditionally do not sit on committees, because they're not paid for committee work. To expect them to do so would be to expect them to work for free."

Because part-time faculty members do not serve on committees, more work falls on the shoulders of full-time faculty, said Lustig.

"There's a ton of committees on campus," he said. "Then you wind up with a workload overload for regular faculty."

According to Lustig, the trend of hiring more part-time professors is seen by many as a way to "dismantle tenure." For years, he said, faculty members thought the practice of tenure would be threatened by legal action from administrators.

The subtle way is to increasingly not hire full-time, tenure-track professors," he said. "You start with 30 percent, then 45 percent, and somewhere down the road, 65 percent part-time and save the tenure for some elite professors who will attract students to the campus."

Disqualified candidates await verdict

Two disqualified Associated Students Inc. candidates left the room quietly and a third voiced his disappointment after a hearing before the elections complaint committee yesterday.

"I don't feel the chairman was too receptive to my semantic argument about my failure to submit my campaign spending report," said Sean South, who was disqualified from running for ASI president the week before elections for violating the election code.

Adele Gray, candidate for director for undeclared students, and Stephanie King, candidate for Arts and Letters, were also disqualified for not turning in interim spending reports by the April 13 deadline. Because they had been running uncontested, the women contended they had no campaign expenses, and therefore felt the report was unnecessary.

"Technically there are no complaints from either of you," committee chair Tim Hodson told the women. "You're not alleging the code was violated. You were aware of the deadline and there is nothing in the election codes exempting those without expenses."

South lodged a multitude of complaints toward the election code, including that his submission, though two days late, should have been accepted and was not grounds for disqualification. He also said it was illegal of ASI to shift the due date of the reports from April 10 to April 13 and it should have been the election complaint committee that chose to disqualify him rather than ASI's executive director, Carol Ackerson.

Hodson countered that Section 5, part C of the election code states "Failure to submit any of these forms will result in disqualification." He said Ackerson carried a ministerial duty to disqualify the candidates and it was not required that they be referred to a hearing.

"It was within Ackerson's pervue to do it," said Hodson, who is the executive director of the Center for California Studies and a faculty member at CSUS.

The election complaint committee, which includes three students and a representative from Student Affairs, will return a verdict on South's case by the end of the week.

Pile driver, loss of parking irritating campus staff

The sound of ramp supports being plunged more than 20 feet into the ground reverberated through the air at CSUS like thunder.

The noise last week could be traced to an 80-foot pile driver ramming supports for a ramp leading from the Guy West Bridge -- adding to a list of complaints on everything from parking displaced to dust stirred up by the Perimeter Road Safety Project.

"We're sick and tired of it, and we're deaf," said Loni Aguilar Doyle, the office manager for the College Assistance Migrant Program.

Doyle and several coworkers in Temporary Building HH complained that the noise makes it diffucult to hear telephones ring, let alone carry on a conversation.

Doyle said she has come to expect the sound of heavy machinery and dropping pipes.

"The noise just starts, without warning," said Doyle, who is concerned that her office is given no notice when loud construction is scheduled to occur. "I really feel we're in the Barrio."

According to Associate Vice President of Facilities Management, Howard Harris, the pile driver was scheduled for use while class was out of session.

"Our intent was to have it done over the spring break, but there were things that interfered with that," said Harris.

In spite of delays, Harris said April 24 marked the last day of pile driving.

But noise levels are not the only thing students, faculty and staff are complaining about. Over the past five months, an approximate 250 parking spaces have been displaced.

Harris estimates 200 spaces were displaced in Lot 4 -- located near the temporary buildings -- and 50 in Lot 7 -- located near Public Services.

"They're taking spaces without thinking about how to replace them," said Lourdes Mendoza, a CAMP outreach counselor.

"We didn't see any kind of alternative parking spaces," said Doyle, who often has trouble finding a parking space after running errands for CAMP.

"I just can't tell you how frustrating it is," she said.

However, according to Harris, Lot 4 was not completely closed until February. He added all displaced spaces will be replaced by next fall near State University Drive.

"Whatever we're losing we're gaining back," Harris said.

He also added that all spaces will be reopened by next fall.

In the meantime, all Doyle and her coworkers are asking for is a little notice.

"It's just common courtesy," said Doyle.

Experts address world population concerns at seminar

While CSUS students might express their concerns of overpopulation in terms of parking and class availability, James Cramer of the UC Davis sociology department believes most people express the problem of overpopulation in terms of quality of life and maintaining resources.

Cramer was one of six experts in the field of social sciences who discussed complex issues concerning the rapid expanding world population at the seminar "Population: The Global Impact" held Saturday at CSUS.

Audience members experienced overpopulation first hand as Room 1015 of the Engineering Building was filled to capacity, with over a 100 people attending and several organizations such as World Overpopulation Awareness represented.

Population concerns of India, the Middle East, United States and Latin America discussed by four different scholars, who each took time to answer questions from the audience.

Alice Clark, president of Clark Research Association, addressed the situation surrounding India's growing population problem. India's dilemma stems from daughter disfavor or son preference, the inequality of the caste system, the high rate of poverty among women and children as well as the high illiteracy rate, she said.

CSUS Professor Ayad Al-Qazzaz discussed the views of Islam on family planning and Muslim practices in his presentation.

"I am pessimistic because family planning is very slow," Al-Qazzaz said. "But on the other hand I am optimistic because family planning has started and is taking root in Muslim countries."

Cramer's discussion focused on dispelling some common myths around the US's increasing population such as teen-age pregnancies, divorce and single parenthood and immigration and environmental depletion.

Cramer's challenge was in the form of an open-ended question: "Does the United States Have a Population Problem?"

Dr. David Kyle of UC Davis emphasized the diversity in Latin America dealing with three unique features of differences between urban and rural life, with rapid urbanization, a young population with few elderly and a wide divergence in growth.

The solution to the world population problems was not only discussed in terms of decreasing the birth rate in overpopulated third world countries but in decreasing personal consumption of resources as well.

"It is tremendously important to deal with the issues in a much more complex way. That's what education is all about," said Joseph Sheley, dean of Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary Studies.

The seminar was organized by the Visiting Scholars Committee, School of Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary Studies, Sociology Department and Middle East Cultural Club.

The seminar was videotaped and will be broadcast on the local access channel 73. For further information contact Al-Qazzaz at 278-6267.

Correction