Thursday, March 30, 1978
ornas' return
II in doubt
ji> Thacker
tint
ugh the Board of Educa-
srsed an earlier decision
Ute the employment of
¡¿Thomas, there is still
ibt as to whether he will
¡College next year,
teen January, when I was
is being terminated, and
ch, when I received a
meting me to disregard
[¡nation notice, I was
snployment elsewhere,"
mas, chairperson of law
wt, fire science and gra-
rl received a couple of
jd haven't made a deci-
:hem yet.”
nas' termination was re­
ed due to pressure from,
ii enforcement agencies
idents enrolled in his
according to several board
mas had lots of support
e public and students,"
¡hGroener, board memb-
is sheriff's department
lice chiefs in the area
tifhe'd gone, they would
lithdrawn their support
«program which means
mid have been no police
program.”
anginal reason for Thd-
imination was decline .in
ent in the police science
at of approximately 50
if that in 1976-77.
Wing to Lyle Reese, di-
¡hairman of business edu-
m public service and
s'immediate supervisor.
Id not seem to be a need
instructors in the police
¡science departments and,
tanas did not have se­
em Earl Zinck, the oth-
wtor, Thomas' employ-
B terminated.
imajor changes recently
id to the board and admi-
: nave made it possible
was to remain in his pre-
lition if he wishes to.
¡first is a promise by lo-
enforcement agencies to
I«necessary enrollment
flrequiring their people
Workshops designed for
forking in the law en-
tae received requests
al police chiefs to pro-
¡mmore services that they
asthree-day workshops
tad officer training,"
w Kaiser, dean of in-
at the College.
workshops would be
tad of ongoing classes
¡currently scheduled, ac-
to board member Apne
"Durwood would have to
pc that these classes are
¡those al ready employed,"
flier change is a transfer
kto another area of in-
kwill probably go into
ta Work Experience,"
said Reese. "He's had experience
in that field in the past and it is
understaffed now."
Zinck had mentioned his de­
sire to transfer in the past but no
action was taken until he sent in
a written request, Reese said.
The written request was re­
ceived and approved by Reese,
Kaiser and John Hakanson, col­
lege president, on the day the
board met (March 8), according
to Reese, and created a vacancy
in the police and fire science de­
partment.
This development left the
board open to rescind its earlier
decision and returned Thomas to
his original contract status.
Now the only question that
remains is whether or not Thom­
as will accept a new contract
and return next year.
"We assume he will be stay­
ing," Reese said. "There are no
reasons that I know of for him
not to. However, it is his decision
and as far as this institution is
concerned, we can't force any­
one to stay."
"If he does decide to go on,
the position will be opened to ap­
plicants and if the local law en­
forcementagencies withdraw their
support, I suppose the program
will suffer.
"One thing for certain, though,
if he does go, Zinck will not be
transferred back into that area.
His transfer is permanent."
Although the question of lo­
cal support of the law enforce­
ment program will have an effect
on Thomas' decision, according
to him, the ultimate decisions
have to be his career and family.
"I feel pleased with the rein­
statement and wish to thank the
law enforcement and fire commu­
nity who were concerned and
made their feelings known and
also the concerned students. I
feel this concern and feeling must
be earned by both words and
actions."
Photo by Lorraine Stratton
Loose tiles illustrate rotting floor conditions
in outmoded science buildings. Passage of bud­
get levy on April 4 will provide funds for new
badly needed facilities. For more information
about past, present and future building con­
ditions see the special section on pages 5 to 8.
Football finished; board refuses to reconsider
Community members who
hoped that the College's foot­
ball rpogram would be reinstated
were dissapointed at the Board
of Education's March decision
not to reconsider its earlier de­
cision to abolish the program.
Last December in response to
community feeling against the
high number of out-of-district
players on the team and the high
incidence of football players not
finishing the academic year once
the football season was over,
the board voted to abolish the
program.
At that time there was also
speculation that the move was
purely political and that football
had been abolished because vo­
ters who were against the pro­
gram were active in defeating
budget elections.
"The decision was partly a
political move," said Gary Cor­
nelius, a board member. "We
felt that people were voting
against the College because they
didn't like football so we got rid
of football."
This opinion seemed confirm­
ed by the board's decision not
to reconsider its December de­
cision.
centimeters
Colors by Munsell Color Services Lab
After listening to a proposal
by Chuck Hudson, athletic dir­
ector, and Len Monroe, dean of
student services, that would have
called for more in-district recruit­
ment and keeping a closer watch
on athletes' academic progress,
the board voted four to three
not to reconsider.
"There was no overwhelming
evidence by the community that
they needed football."said board
member Anne Nickel, "and since
we'd already addressed it once,
I didn't feel that we needed to
address it again."
According to Cornelius, the
board felt that the question had
been studied enough and they
needed to stick by their previous
decision.
There was some speculation
that a reconsideration of this
issue would be damaging to the
credibility of the board and that
pressure groups would feel that
any decision of the board's was
open for reconsideration.
Not all the board members
were happy with either the orig­
inal decision or the decision not
to look into the matter again.
"I did dislike the way the
(continued on page 2)