The Telescope 66.4

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the telescope Palomar College’s Independent Newspaper

ELECTION

ASG to host voter registration event

CONNER JONES THE TELESCOPE

Come get yourself registered to participate in this year’s election season, at an upcoming Voter Registration Event on campus. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 9 and from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Oct. 10, the Associated Student Government (ASG) will be hosting a voter registration event to get students to vote Nov. 6. There will be food, drinks, a DJ and cheerleaders at the event to encourage

students to register. The event will be open to all students, regardless if they have a student ID or not. The event will be hosted in the main quad, where the ASG will have booths set up where students can register

themselves to vote and take part in change not only for this state but the country as a whole. The ASG wants to educate students on the true importance of voting, and taking advantage of the opportunity to make a change.

TURN TO VOTE, PAGE 7 Illustration by Jassamyn Payne/Telescope

VETERANS

Vol. 66, No. 4 • Monday, Oct. 8, 2012 1140 W. Mission Rd, San Marcos, Calif. VETERAN’S AFFAIRS

ABOVE: The retired USS Midway, located in downtown San Diego. • Jebb Harris/Orange County Register/MCT Campus LEFT: Palomar College Board of Governors trustee Paul McNamara talks to a crowd while (left to right) Dr. Cindy L. Miles, Dr. Constance Carroll, and Justin Dile listen in on Oct. 2 aboard the USS Midway in downtown San Diego. • Ian Hanner/Telescope

Certifying Official for GI benefits, Ryan Williams, poses on Sept. 27 in the Veteran Services area of the SSC building. • Jassamyn Payne/Telescope

NEW VETERAN’S BILL TO HELP STUDENTS JONATHAN STROUD THE TELESCOPE

The US Department of Veterans Affairs has implemented a new program geared toward helping older veterans reach their educational goals, but it doesn’t come without its problems. Last year, President Obama signed into law the Veteran’s Opportunity to Work (VOW) to Hire Heroes Act, which included a new Veterans Retraining Assistance Program (VRAP). The program offers unemployed veterans, who have already exhausted their Montgomery GI Bill benefits, up to an additional 12 months of training assistance. Veterans must meet a list of specific requirements that include being between the ages of 35-60, received an other than dishonorable discharge from service and currently unemployed. “I think it’s a great program to help older veterans gain new skills to help them get back into the work force,” said Ryan Williams, certifying official for Palomar Veterans’ Services. This is the latest attempt by US government officials to help cut down the number of unemployed and homeless veterans.

The new Veteran’s Retraining Assistance Program (VRAP) offers unemployed veterans an additional 12 months of training assistance to those who have already exhausted their GI Bill benefits.

Palomar currently has 20 veterans enrolled who are using the vrap. turn to biLL, page 7

WHAT’S INSIDE

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VETERANS’ VOICES

COMMUNITY COLLEGE LEADERS MEET ON USS MIDWAY TO DISCUSS VETERANS IAN HANNER THE TELESCOPE

SAN DIEGO - Community college offIcials spoke on the importance of veteran enrollment from the flight deck of the USS Midway as the backdrop on Oct. 2. Floating atop San Diego Bay, officials from major community colleges including Palomar held a press conference to publicly reaffirm their commitment to veteran students. The schools were part of the San Diego and Imperial Counties Community College Association (SDICCCA). Outlining further dwindling finances, the purpose of the press conference was to assure the public that SDICCCA schools still prioritize veteran students in the enrollment process. “The [SDICCCA] is one of the leading forces in the area for providing services to active-duty military and to veterans,” said Dr. Constance Carroll, chancellor of the San Diego Community College District. “One of the things that many people do not realize in terms of our commitment to our veterans is that they have the first right of registration. So if you’re a veteran in the San Diego area and you need to register for classes in any one

SUCCESS RATE OF STUDENTS OPINION / Is community college the best way to the path to four-year schools or does it cause a road block?

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If you’re a veteran in the San Diego area and you need to register for classes...you come first. CONSTANCE CARROLL • DISTRICT CHANCELLOR

of our institutions, you come first.” The event, which was held on the flight deck of USS Midway at the offer of Adm. Mac McLaughlin, president and CEO of the USS Midway Museum, was attended by both administrators and students from across the SDICCCA counties. One of the speakers was Justin Dile, 26, a veteran of the Iraq War who attended Grossmont College following his discharge from the Army Reserves. Dile had been on a 15-month deployment in Iraq when he was struck by an improvised explosive device that he said left him with a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. After recovering, he decided to

BOEHM GALLERY EXHIBIT LIFE / Recent exhibit “Peep” featured interactive displays that need to be studied to be appreciated.

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attend school to transition back into civilian life. “It was a difficult process to wrap my head around school and the opportunities I had, but Grossmont was a college that understands that. They’re a college that understands what we need as veterans; what services are unique to us,” Dile said. According to Dile, one of the greatest services that region community colleges offer is priority enrollment for veterans. “It starts at the very basic level of priority registration, which all the colleges in the area do. This relieves a huge burden of stress on our lives,” Dile said. “We know we can get the classes we need to be able to get the benefits that we rely on for our money and everything like that.” Dile isn’t the only student who feels veterans deserve this perk. Ryan Williams, 29, is the Certifying Official for GI Bill Benefits at Palomar. He’s a Palomar alumnus, currently attending SDSU while working full-time at Palomar. “I like to make the service that someone has done in the military personal,” Williams said.

turn to MIDWAY, page 7

COACH OF THE YEAR

SPORTS / Swim coach Jem McAdams was named conference men’s Coach of the Year for 2011-12.


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