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About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 24, 2007)
First copy FREE; additional copies 1 Q [Clackamas Print I _________________________________________________________________________ A In i n d e p e n d e n t, student - run newspaper JClIckamas Community College, Oregon City, OR ----------- Volume 41, Issue 3 Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2007 Part-timers in quagmire over pay BA new Part-Time Faculty Agreement is ibejng negotiated by Clackamas’ adminis tration and part-time faculty association. ■Currently, the new contract is delayed since both sides are seeking mediation through Oregon’s Employment Relations Board. ■Bargaining teams have come to an limpasse over a few key subjects. ■“There are a number of articles that haven’t been agreed upon,” 'said Courtney Wilton, vice presi- dent of college services. “The compensa tion is a large portion of that.” In a September Board of Education meeting, Part-Time Faculty Association President Rosemary Teetor gave a presen tation outlining the desires of the part-time faculty in their new contract. According to Teetor’s presentation, the part-time faculty are requesting “equal pay for equal work, health care benefits for those working at least half-time and an end to marginalization of part-timers as tem porary, expendable, interchange able cogs in the higher education machinery. V EQUALWORK § E qual P ay Photo Illustration by Lydia E. Bashaw Clackamas Print The previous part-time contract expired June 30, and any new contract agreed upon will be retroactive to July 1. The pay disparity between part-time faculty and full-time faculty is at the fore front of discussion. “There is a lot more money going to full-time faculty, percentage-wise from longevity, and we don’t begrudge them a penny of it,” said Teetor. “They earn it; we simply think we earn it, too.” Wilton agreed on • this point, say ing, “There is a disparity between the two - there just is. I think it’s not just [Clackamas]; I think it’s virtually every college in the nation.” The difference between full-time annual pay and an equivalent workload for a part- time instructor is significant. A part-time instructor teaching 15 cred its a semester will earn $27,932 a year at the highest pay rate, which is acquired after working 1,530 hours. The lowest pay rate for full-time faculty is $45,821, which then scales up to $72,339 after spending a number of years, often 15, employed here at the college. “The whole premise behind having part- timers set up the way we are now is that we’re so flexible that we end up being the budget balancers. What we’re asking for is equal pay for equal work,” said Teetor. Competitive pay scaling between full- time and part-time faculty is a large focus in the new contract bargaining. “Overall, the package proposal is very, very comparable between foe classified and full-time and what we’re proposing for foe part-timers,” said Vice President of Instructional Services Baldwin van der Bijl. Part-time faculty suggested a 5-4-3 per cent raise over foe next three years; five foe first year, four foe second and three for foe third. The administration counter offered with 3-1-1. The administration’s offer, according to Teetor, would actually increase foe disparity in pay between full- time and part-time instructors. “The total over three years for our [pro posal] would be about $22.5 million. The total from theirs would be $26 million, and the difference between foe two is $3.5 mil lion,” said Wilton. “[We] have a little flex ibility, but it’s not like [Van der Bijl] and I can just decide to do what we want to do; we work for the president, and she reports to the board.” Any contract agreed upon by both sides must be verified by foe part-time associa tion, Wilton, van der Bijl, President Joanne Truesdell and foe Board of Education. Also, the part-time faculty are seeking a health care plan; currently they have none. In response, the administration offered an annual trust fund of $12,000. “Well, I think it’s a start,” said Wilton of foe trust fund. Other local colleges have instituted sim ilar trust funds or even offered health care to part-time instructors who qualify. Part-time instructors who must travel between schools - also known as “road scholars” — are a large portion of the part- time faculty here at the college. Often, they have foe option of medical coverage at another institution. Part-time faculty believe that this will lower foe cost of health care since many will not need full coverage. The administration sees this as a sign that a plan is unnecessary and foe trust fund will suffice. “We’d love to pay as much as we could to everyone, but we also have budget reali ties,” said Wilton. Mediation between foe two sides will take place Nov. 1 and 2. “The decision to go to mediation was mutual,” said Counselor Tim Pantages, who is foe head of foe part-time bargain ing team. The mediation provided by foe state will focus on reaching common ground for both sides and has no authority to force either side to settle. “I think foe attitude of both sides is good. We want to get this resolved, and foe mediator is going to come in and help us do that,” said Van der Bijl. Though mediation was requested by both sides, outlooks are positive. “We like part-time faculty. They do a really good job; they are good instructors and are really important to foe college,” said Wilton. “Ultimately, we’ll try to be responsive to what they want, and if they have one thing that’s more of a priority than others, then we can move things around and focus dollars in one area.” Alexandria Vallelunga ■7ie Clackamas Print It’s not a bird. It’s not a plane. It’s not even a superhero. ■It’s the Democratic Club trying to sate Mary Jane. < - Clackamas’ Democratic Club is /Sponsoring an on-campus forum on foe legalization of marijuana Nov 14. ■“We’re just trying to create activism amongst foe people who already want it I legalized, and information is foe beginning of that,” said Democratic Club President Brett Bemhoft. “The apdents are going to receive so much information on legalizing, facts about marijuana and what to do - how can I get active?” | The co-coordinator of the event, I James Bissonette, said, “It is foe ste- I reotype; it’s hard to get a stoner to do w anything, let alone get active for his own drug.” The forum will address questions such as whether there is harm in hav ing increased THC levels. Students will be able to participate, as there will be a question-and-answer segment. A variety of issues will be dis cussed, including why marijuana is illegal, why it is legal in Amsterdam, taxation on marijuana, regulation, responsibility, advertising and simi larities between marijuana, tobacco and alcohol. “We are holding an event with sophisticated representatives from organizations on foe legalization of an illicit substance, so we’re expecting a lot of resistance,” Bemhoft said. Bissonette said, “Everyone is invit ed to foe forum, including foe commu nity, parents and students. We invite people on both sides of foe issue to show up; in fact, we encourage it.” Representatives from foe National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), Mothers Against Misuse and Abuse (MAMA) and Voter Power will attend. According to Bissonette, NORML is foe biggest movement for foe legal ization of marijuana on foe West Coast. It has financed foe building of more medical marijuana dispensaries than any other organization. “NORML’s public image is medi cal marijuana, but they’re pushing for more than just medical use,” he said. “They want complete decrimi nalization of responsible private use of marijuana.” NORML’s mission statement, which was adopted by foe NORML Board of Directors on Feb. 27,1999, is “to move public opinion sufficiently to achieve foe repeal of marijuana prohi NEWS ARTS & CULTURE Harmony Campus construction continues toward the 2008 deadline Scientists in Hiroshima breed transparent amphibian bition so that foe responsible use of cannabis by adults is no longer subject to penal ty-” “MAMA is an organiza tion that believes that all drugs - pharmaceutical and illicit - should be treated under foe same circumstantial evidence ... mean ing, if it kills, why is it legal?” Bemhoft said. Voter Power is a non profit organization from Salem. As stated on Voter Power’s Web site, foe group “advocates for reasonable, fair and Illustration by Kyle Steele Clackamas Print Democratic Club has high hopes for marijuana forum Please see POT, Page 2 Who will come out on top? NBA season preview inside Ü
