Vol. XXX No. 8
“Cfac
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Wednesday, November 13,1996
Clackamas Community College
Measure 47 + Measure 5
Laney Fouse
Editor-in-Chief
If John Keyser and the college
administrators have their choice,
cutbacks will not be the readily
available answer to the effects
ballot Measure 47 will have on
Clackamas.
The double-edged sword of
the initiative was felt in last
week’s general election when Or
egonians voted to amend the
state’s constitution to limit prop
erty taxes. Measure 47 will cut
taxes on every property in the state
in 1997-98. It will also limit prop
erty tax growth to three-percent
per year, with some exceptions.
Ironically, this measure passed
by a fifty-two to forty-percent
margin — the same margin as Mea
sure 5. It carries both good news
and bad news. Property owners
breathed a sigh of relief at the
good news since their property
taxes will be declining. The bad
news for educational institutions
and city and county services is
revenue from these taxes will be
virtually lost.
An informational session was
held on Tuesday in Gregory Fo
rum as a follow-up to a meeting
of the President’s Council. Col
lege President John Keyser felt it
was necessary to discuss some of
the principles and criteria to be
used.
“It is a very uncertain period
and will probably continue to be
uncertain until after the legislative
body adjourns, which may not be
until June [1997],” said Keyser.
He observed this may be the
toughest Session they have had in
some time since the legislative
body can keep extending their
time of convention.
Measure 47 is seen as “mi
cro- management at its worst”
and creates significant problems
for a variety of groups when it
comes down to dollars. Accord
ing to Keyser, Governor John
Kitzhaber has made “strong
statements about back filling for
education.” This includes com
9
munity colleges.
One of the guiding assump
tions is, “We [the college] have a
problem.” Some correction will
occur, although no major action
will take place during 1996-97.
Keyser stressed that no major cuts
in programs or staff are planned;
administrators will wait to see
what happens at the state level
before making any decisions.
“I would guess that twenty-
five to fifty-percent of the prob
lem we know we have is the re
sult of Measure 47. We projected
next year we have about a $2 mil
lion problem,” said Keyser.
This figure is the result of tak
ing the college’s strategic finan
cial plan and putting in the new
parameters of Measure 47. This
is the projected amount beginning
in July 1997.
“The year after that, if we just
take those parameters with no cor
rections or anything, it’s more than
that. It’s about a $2.5-million
problem,” noted Keyser.
The problem is not subjective
to just public education but also
to state and local-level public
agencies.
On a more positive note, the
uncertainty surrounding this issue
buys the time to develop budget
guidelines. The administration
plans to maintain as positive a
momentum as possible. The main
areas of focus will be continuing
enrollment efforts, building the
See Measure 47 on page 2
takes off
Erin Bennett
Business/Ad Manager
The Clackamas campus shuttle
has been in use for 22 days now and
the statistics look dismal.
The shuttle, which loops
around the campus, was born out
of students expressing their de
sire to have transportation from
the main part of the campus to
Clairmont Hall. It leaves the
Community Center at 8:45 a.m.,
9:45, 10:45, 11:45, 12:45 p.m.,
1:45 and 2:45.
The shuttle begins at the
Community Center near the
bus stop, goes on to Barlow and
stops near the parts department,
continues to Clairmont and
waits for about five minutes.
From there, it goes to the Art
Center, stopping at the ELC
parking lot. It continues on to
the FRC and then finishes at
the Community Center. The
total travel time is 20 minutes.
Currently, the Student Activi
ties fund is paying the costs for the
gas and the two drivers hired to
drive the shuttle. However, at the
end of the term, some decisions
about funding will be made.
For the month of October,
day totals ranged from 4 to 14
people using the shuttle. Rainy
days were more popular than oth
ers, yet even on those days, the
totals were not very high.
John Keyser moderated the discussion yesterday on the effects of Measure 47.
Foundation gives child care $25,000
Christina Mueller
Staff Writer
The need for child care is
growing rapidly and has become
so strong that the Oregon Com
munity Foundation has given
Clackamas a $25,000 grant to
coordinate child-care training
classes in the metropolitan area.
Three grants were given state
wide in order to create and expand
child care training programs
across Oregon.
Patricia Rust, work and fam
ily instructor, is one of five in
structors who will administer the
training to students.
The First By Five program con
sists of four training modules:
Learning and Development, Group
Care, Social-Emotional Develop
ment and Family/Provider Rela
tionships. Each module is 12-hours
long and is worth one ECE175
community college credit.
The
modules can be taken in any order.
“We try to take the training to
student, making it as accessible as
possible,” says Rust.
The classes are held at Clacka
mas, Portland Community Col
lege and a one-time weekend re
treat in Tillamook.
For each module there is a
$10 fee in addition to the re
quired $30 textbook, Infants,
Toddlers, and Care Givers, by
Eyer and Gonzales-Menza.
“There is a set of curriculum that
goes with each module;” Rust says.
The curriculum is provided by
Far West Laboratories, which is
based in California. All material
is research based.
“We are very pleased with the
Far West curriculum,” Rust
shares.
“Reading body language that
tells me this is what the infant
needs,” Rust begins, is something
students will learn from the First
By Five program. “They them
selves [infants] are the best pre
dictors of what they need.”
Another key part of the pro
gram is to bring care givers up to
date information. It teaches
what needs to be present in a
child’s environment for learning
to take place.
“Parenting and care giving has
definitely changed,” Rust says.
The First By Five goal is
to recruit and train 2,000 care
givers by 1998. The class in
structors based this goal on
“how many classes could we
feasibly teach and how many
people would be interested,”
says Rust.
“As care givers become more
educated, they can pass on what
they’ve learned to parents,” Rust
explains.
She says it is beneficial to have
a strong parent/care giver relation
ship.
Rust is confident this program
will work and First By Five will
meet its goal.
“Care givers are very eager for
information; they want to be good
providers,” she says. “The pro
gram also provides a nice place for
them to come and talk to other
care givers.”
Rust thinks highly of the stu
dents currently enrolled in the pro
gram.
“This is probably the most
delightful group of people I’ve
worked with,” she says.
For more information on the
First by Five program, contact
Patricia Rust in the Family/Human
Services Department at ext. 2525.
Preschoolers in the Child Care center on campus will benefit from a $25,000 grant.