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About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (March 7, 1990)
Non-Profit Org. U.S. POSTAGE A i D n City, Ore. Birds of prey Page 5 lit No. 17 Clackamas $rint . ' -Qi.'!..;? Vol. XXIII No. 18 Clackamas Community College March 7,1990 Oregon City, Oregon CCC asks for new operating levy on ballot by Brianc Q Dotson Contributing Writer Clackamas Community Col lege will ask 'voters to pass a new three-year operating levy on a mail- in ballot which goes out to the public on Friday, March 9. Voters have until March 27 to decide on a tax levy for CCC that would raise the current tax levy from $132 per $1,000 assessed to $1.42 per $1,000, for three years at an increase of 7.6 percent. The passing of this operating levy would produce $9.8 million for 1990-91 school year, $10.1 million the next, and $10.4 mil lion the final year of the levy. CCCs current levy will run out June 30. Clackamas is not covered by the safety net and has no tax base. More than half of CCCs funding would come from this operating levy. “Our (CCCS) measure is aimed at keeping the doors open for the next three years,” said college president Dr. John Key ser. XC Tax Rate 1982-90 How CCC Is Funded: Last March voters passed a $9.5 million bond levy to fund the construction of new buildings at the main campus in Oregon City and at the Wilsonville site. The money raised by the passing of the operating levy on the March bal lot will exclusively go towards maintenance and operation of the campus. CCC is currently third lowest in the state of Oregon among community college tax rates. Five cents of the total tax dollar in Clackamas County funds CCC For example, if the measure passes, a $60,000 home will contribute $6 more to the levy than last year under the levy. The state average tax rate for commu nity colleges is $1.92 per $1,000; Clackamas, at $1.37, is .55 lower. Only two other colleges out of the state’s 13 have lower tax rates. Treasure Valley Community Col lege is the highest at over $5 per thousand assessed. The major reason for the proposed increased tax levy is because of the increased expenses of operating the college. In the last five years, enrollment at CCC has grown 30 percent but the fac ulty has grown by only four per cent. “I feel that the tax levy has a fair chance of passing,” said Key ser. “However, any time a tax measure is on the ballot it is met by skepticism by a percentage of the voters. Most people realize the importance the ballot has for the college.” Community college representation lacking... Hatfield, AuCoin push for Dept, of Education seat by Ma rk A. Borrelli Editor-in-Chief and Roseann Wentworth News Editor Oregon Senator Mark O. Hatfield is making a strong push to gain community and junior college representation in the Department of Education. Despite having higher enroll ment than any other segment of higher education, community colleges provided training for 10 millionstudents thisyear. Enroll ment at Oregon’s colleges, which include the state’s 13 community colleges, has increased more than 14 percent over the past two years, with their current rosters listing almost 300,000 students. The only place that commu nity colleges are lacking in num bers is within the Department of Education, as they virtually have no representation within. - The American Association of Community and Junior Colleges, and the Association of Commu nity College Trustees are trying to do something about this. The groups unanimously passed a reso lution last fall calling for the crea- tion of a high-level position within the Department of Education responsible for serving the inter est of community, technical, and junior colleges. Last week, Hatfield, with the help of Oregon State Represen tative Les AuCoin, introduced to the Senate a bill that would boost the status of community colleges nationally within the Department of Education by officially giving them a voice within the depart ment. The Hatfield-AuCoin man date is designed to initiate, for the first time, an Office of Vocational and Adult Education and Com munity Colleges within the De partment of Education. Accord ing to AuCoin’s office, the OVAECC would give “technical assistance and leadership” to the 1,200 community colleges through out the U.S. The new office would also correlate federal activities at community colleges, as well as create and address the vocational education, adult technical educa tion, and basic education programs. The issues of rural education would also be served, tion, and basic edu cation programs. Dale Parnell, president of the AAJCC says, “The community college network is helping Amer ica to regain the competitive edge.” “The role of community col leges in educating our young people and workforce is absolutely criti cal,” Hatfield stated in the recent legislative meeting. “It’s no longer acceptable that community col lege professionals are absent from the Department of Education’s bargaining table.” Ingram selected as ASG VP; by Margy Lynch News Editor Ken Ingram, former ASG Assistant to the President, has recently been selected as ASG Vice President Ingram’s position will be made official tomorrow during the ASG meeting. Ingram’s selection has opened up the third position of ASG this term. The position of Assistant to the President will be filled using the same process that was used in selecting the other ASG officers. Applications will be accepted and interviews will follow. The process is tentatively scheduled to start next week and extend into the first week of next term. Ingram is in charge of filling the position. Debbie Baker, Director of Student Activities and Commu nity Services, commented that ASG is adjusting well to the changes. Baker said that besides the expected transition period, from big changes like the ones taking place in ASG, ASG has been doing very well. She did mention, however, that there has been some infor mal discussion on changing the process ASG now uses to fill positions, “There are other issues they [ASG] would rather spend time on than filling positions when someone decides to leave for cer tain reasons,” Baker said. Baker mentioned one possi bility might be a waiting list for people that want to be on ASG. Nothing is confirmed though, as they are “still in the talking stages.” The concern came from “some people feeling academically pres sured,” according to Baker. “People may be feeling under the gun,” Baker said, “like they can’t do it It’s time to take an other look at it” SN: P0013 Ken Ingram Is the new vice president for ASG. He was formerly ASG's Assistant to the President.