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
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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