VOLUME 13
ISSUE 8
MAY 2008
tips for coffee consumers See page 6
SERVING THE STUDENTS OF PIERCE COLLEGE PUYALLUP
S P e C i A l
f e A t u r e
Honoring SlAM poets, artists See page 10
Jonathan Jones
ASPCP says faculty won’t be paying fairly
The Health Education Center, set to open this summer, could have some unexpected
Sharon Coward Editor
Students will not be the only ones using the Health Education Center when it opens this summer. Pierce College faculty and staff will also utilize the new fitness center, and like students they will be required to pay for usage. There is, however, a discrepancy in the amount of money students and employees will pay to use the HEC, and Pierce Puyallup student leaders have expressed concern over this difference. Students need only pay a $15 fee for access to the HEC ($45 for Running Start and International Students). But if students take a class at the HEC, they will be required to pay full tuition costs for a one-, two- or three-credit class, in addition to building costs and a consumable fee. Faculty and staff, however, are not required to pay full tuition costs. The college has decided that in order for employees to use the HEC, they must be enrolled in one of the PE and education classes that will be offered at
the Center. This means they will only pay $5 for one class, plus the $15 consumable fee. Puyallup student government expressed concern because the HEC is almost entirely funded by students, and it seems unjust to ask students to continue paying high costs to use a building they funded while employees, who contributed nothing, will receive reduced rates. Since 2002, students have contributed nearly $600,000 from the Services and Activities fund and another $400,000 from the technology fund for a total of more than one million dollars in funds. These fees are part of the tuition costs that students pay every quarter, and they have paid for equipment, furnishing and construction costs. After the HEC opens, students will continue paying $4.25 per one credit in construction fees and there will also be the $15 consumable fee that goes toward towels and other necessary items in the HEC. Faculty and staff have a different fee rate. They will be required to pay the $15 consumable
To the Executive Councils of the Washington Public Employees Association and the Pierce College Federation of Teachers: We, the Associated Students of Pierce College Puyallup wish to express our feelings of concern regarding the decision that was made regarding the usage of the Health Education Center at Pierce College Puyallup by staff and faculty. It disheartens us to learn that the executive councils of the Washington Public Employees Association and the Pierce College Federation of Teachers fought so hard to avoid paying a membership fee to use this student funded building. The students of Pierce College Puyallup have been dedicated to the construction and use of this building since 2002. There are many alumni to Pierce College Puyallup who paid for the construction with their tuition who will probably never see the finished building, let alone be able to use it. Students have also paid in other ways since 2002. They have paid over $600,000 from the Services and Activities contingency fund—which includes a lump sum of $500,000 that last year’s ASPCP Council dedicated specifically to the construction of the building—and over $400,000 from the Technology Fee process to total over one million dollars contributed by students. The students of Pierce College Puyallup have pioneered the evolution of the Health Education Center since 2002, including campuswide votes, planning committees, and vision trips. We had hoped that in good faith the unions would have recognized the efforts of the students and agreed to pay a membership fee. We recognize that the decision has been made and there is not much that the Associated Students can do to reverse this decision, but we wish to express our disappointment at the lack of commitment to students shown by the WPEA and PCFT. Thank You, ASPCP Council Andrew Monson – President Amy Olson – Vice President of Activities Nathaniel Anderson – Vice President for Government Concerns Jeremy DeLaney – Representative I Sydney Boyle – Representative II Jessica Byrd – Secretary & Treasurer
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Campus lacks places to recycle cans, plastics Alexander S. Duran For The Puyallup Post
Recycling and the environment are major concerns for most students these days. “I know for a fact that recycling is an important issue among students,” says student Sydney Boyle, chair of the environmental committee at Pierce College Puyallup. “Whenever I meet with the environmental committee or talk with students
one-on-one, that is one topic that comes up most frequently.” What’s also important to many students is the lack of a recycling program on the Puyallup campus. Although the campus once recycled glass, aluminum and plastic, it no longer can recycle glass. Boyle explained that students had once took it upon themselves to pick up glass around the college and take it to a recycling
facility. The college can’t recycle glass because it is inside the city of Puyallup and city officials haven’t allocated money to pay for recycling glass. The company that currently recycles paper and cardboard, DM Disposal Co., is not equipped to recycle glass, aluminum and plastic from Pierce. As the chair of the environmental committee, Boyle said that she has worked tire-
lessly to bring recycling back to Pierce. The college’s administrators also have been trying to deal with the city’s recycling program. The problem between administration and the city is unknown. It seems that Boyle and other students don’t know much about the dialogue between city officials and administrators. “There is only so much that myself and Continued on page 4