Palomar College
Volume 41 No. 18
A Publication for the Associated Students
By Kevin Adams
By Tom Fitzpatrick
Student government officials may no longer be bound by state open meeting laws, according to attorney Tim Garfield, a development that could force students out of meetings previously open to the public. A 1974 law designating community college student governments as state agencies was repealed in 1984. Without this specific designation, contends Garfield, Palomar's Associated Student Government is no longer obligated to act under strict State Agency Act open meeting rules.
The Ralph M. Brown Act is similar to the State Agency Act, but regulates local agencies. The law formerly classifying community college student governments as state agencies also covered California State University organizations. It was repealed to prevent conflict with stricter meeting rules established for the CSU system in the education code. Apparently community colleges were forgotten in the pro~ess. Garfield was contacted, according to President/Superintendent George Boggs, after students approached him and inquired about laws requiring business to be conducted in public. "There were a couple of students who asked me a question about it on the sidewalk one day as I was going by," said Boggs in a March 29 interview. "I guess it's because our office handles the board meetings, the Governing Board meetings, and there are very strict rules about how they can operate. So we have to pay very close attention to the open meeting act," he said. Concerns were raised in spirited discussion at an earlier student government meeting over the legality of holding a closed session. Student senators wished to hold a closed session to work out personal differences. Neither the State Agency Act nor the Brown Act permits closing such meetings to the public. "My general feeling is to try to keep everything as open as possible," said Boggs. "I don't know the exact circumstances with the student government. "I can see how they would want closed sessions to settle some extreme personality differences that they have, rather than fighting in public. I think that's always uncomfortable," Boggs said.
ERRATUM In last week's issue of Tlw Telescope, a picture caption listed Beda Farrell as the director of the Palomar Development Foundation. She is actually the assistant to the director. Esther M. La Porta is the executive director. Also in last week's paper Marilynn Young, staff photographer, was given credit for sport photo she did not take and was not given proper credit for another on the sports page. Tlw Telescope regrets these errors.
Marcos, CA
Gamblers gather for casino night
ASG could hold closed meetings
"Technically, I don't see that the Brown Act applies," said Garfield in a telephone interview. "To me, that leaves a vacuum."
Friday. April 22. 1988
Rosencrantz (center) performed by Steve Goveia looks on as Guildenstem Richard Metz, has a confrontation with "The Player,"John Douglas in the production of Tom Shepard's humorous "Rosencrantz and Gulldenstem are Dead." The play ftnishes its two week run tonight and tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. in the Palomar College Community Theatre.
Planetarium shows draw public interest By Gregg Lawton
"It's been very successful." Earth Sciences instructor James Pesavento smiled as he described the attendance at the first three shows held this semester inside the planetarium on campus. Shows are being held the first Wednesday of each month, with May 4 and June 1 remaining this semester. Two identical shows are presented each evening at 7:20 and 8:30 p.m. in ES-1 and admission is free. The public is also welcome. Following each show will be the use of the telescope observatories by the public, weather permitting, to observe such things as nebulae, planets, double stars, and star clusters. Otherwise, the showing of a special film on a particular topic will be presented. The subject of the May 4 show will focus on the possible existence of extraterrestrial life forms in our galaxy and the attempts we have made to contact them. The likelihood that there are "others" out there, yet no other life forms other than those on Earth have been detected, will also be discussed, along with the particular conditions necessary for their existance. The creation of the universe, known as the "Big Bang" theory, will be the topic of the final show on June 1. Understanding the atom and how the universe was formed some ten to 15 billion years ago will be discussed. Topics earlier this semester have included the mystery of Stonehenge and its use of predicting celestial events by early man, the development of the telescope through the ages, and the insights we have gained by sending out probes into our solar system. Pesavento stresses the fact that there are two shows each night. But the result so far have been overcrowding to the point of standing room only during the first show and usually only a half-filled room for the second, if even that much. "One of the problems is the first show is very crowded," said Pesavento, noting that the planetarium seats up to 80 people. "We've been trying to put 125 people in the first show. Very few people are aware that there's a second show." One unit of credit may be earned on a credit/ no credit basis by students who wish to enroll in Astronomy 7. To obtain credit students must attend
all five planetarium shows during the semester, and a field trip - a tour of the 200-inch Hale Telescope at the Palomar Observatory. Students will automatically have a seat reserved for them at each show. "It's a very rare opportunity to get an inside tour," said Mr. Pesavento about the field trip. Inside the planetarium, the only one in North County, are many slide and movie projectors, five of which are used in the show. They display how the Earth looks from space, black holes, constellations, the location of planets and supernovas, and other formations. It is also equipped with an excellent sound system. The Earth Sciences Deprtment is also looking to replace much of the equipment in the planetarium today. "One of my main projects is to replace the main projector," explained Mr. Pesavento. Installed in 1963, it is the oldest one in California, and will cost approximately $250,000 to replace. "Things are starting to break down on it," he added. Recently, the Palomar Development Foundation donated money for the mixer in one of the new tape decks used to control the sound. Eventually, Mr. Pesavento is hoping to modernize the equipmennt for a good quality program by computerizing all of the controls inside the planetarium within the next five years. "We have the facilities. We just need to improve them," he said. This program, which was reintroduced in the fall, was forced to close down after Proposition 13 in 1978 and the school is just starting it up again. "We're trying new ideas," said Mr. Pesavento, adding that they are now thinking about accepting donations to support the program. "We're con. stantly looking for new ways of funding. We don't like to charge anyone," he acknowledged. Seating reservations are now being accepted for the shows this semester and can be made by contacting the Earth Sciences Department at Ext. 2512 or 2514. If there is no answer, students may reserve seats by leaving their name, phone number and the number of seats needed. Doors open at 7 p.m. for those with reservations, 7:15p.m. for those without. "It's better than TV. It's free, too!" Mr. Pesavento pointed out.
The race is on. Format for this year's Casino Night, April 22, pits club against club. Already club executives plan their sales strategies. Sell on the quad. Sell over the phone. Sell to your friends and loved ones. Casino Night has become a tradition at Palomar. A way to bring a little of Vegas to the campus once a year. The glitzy event is organized by several student clubs and put on by a professional party catering business. The event itself shouldn't be any different this year from last, but how people get their tickets is a whole new ballgame. The capitalistic ethic, those who sell more, make more, has taken effect in 1988. MEChA, Circle K, Dance, and Alpha Gamma Sigma clubs are putting on the high stakes affair this year. Each club has been given 120 tickets to sell at $10 each. According to Student Activities Secretary, Marilyn Lunde, the amount of money each club earns from their efforts at Casino Night depends mostly on the percentage of those tickets sold. If the club sells them all, then they get their full 25 percent share of the "take." So don't be surprised if you're approached by some students wearing toothy grins and brandishing a handful of slender grey tickets. They're relatively harmless. "All you need is five people, three on the phone and two runners," said one Circle K club member at a recent meeting. He proposed telemarketing as the way to get the tickets sold in a hurry. The scheme is simple enough. Have three sellers on the phones calling local businesses in the same area. Two runners are on the stre~t, collecting the money, delivering tickets, and phoning in every hour for more names and addresses. "Last year we sold 40 tickets in one day that way," he added. Casino Night has a four year history at Palomar. The honor society at Palomar, Alpha Gamma Sigma, carried the entire event in '85 and '86. But in those years, according to
Lunde, the club had a much bigger membership. It was a lot of work putting on the show, but there were enough bodies to share the load. "Still," added Lunde, "Alpha Gamma Sigma shows the most interest in Casino Night this year. They'll probably carry most of the load." Each of the four clubs involved have clean-up and other duties before, after and during the event. Some of the club members involved will be trying their hand at dealing on the blackjack tables (of course, under the close supervision of the hired "pit bosses" from the professional party catering firm). They won't be complete novices though, since all will get some brief instruction on dealing prior to the big night. Dealing, blackjack, roulette? Isn't that illegal in the state of California? Well, that problem has been avoided as well. As you enter Student Union, you'll trade in your ticket for "$100 worth of chips". Additional $100 worth of chips will cost $5 in real money. After you're finished gambling for the night, you'll trade in your chips for the equivalent value in raffle tickets. Then, at the end of the night's festivities, prizes obtained from local sponsors, will be raffled off. There's no guarantee of winning, so legally there's no gambling going on. Still, it should seem pretty real. The gamblers may feel they JUSt entered a James Bond movie when they arrive at Student Union for Casino Night. Thirty blackjack tables, two crap tables, and one roulette wheel will fill the hall. Of course, it will be lacking the smoke-filled atmosphere and hardly-dressed hostesses. It will also be lacking alcoholic refreshments. That guideline will be diligently enforced, because of warnings from the local police department about letting these parties get a little too close to the real thing. But if that still doesn't scare you, tickets for Casino Night can be bought through members of any of the four clubs mentioned above, or at the door. The fun will start at 7 p.m.
Annual art workshop explores ancient culture Palomar's annual art workshop, will include an exploration of the Acropolis in Athens, the Oracle of Delph~ the Vatican in Rome, the feudal city of Siena, the Duomo of Renaissance Florence and the Aegean Islands. The three-week European art tour, which includes a four-day Aegean cruise and an in-tour flight fron Athens to Rome, departs from San Diego June 23 and returns July 13. "Our basic theme this year offers an exciting challange," said Harry Bliss, the tour leader, a painter and Palomar art instructor. "We are presenting our group with an overview of the origins and development of Western Civilization arts and culture, from the age of Crete, Mycanae and the Greek and the ¡ Roman societies up through the Christian, Medieval and Renaissance Eras. The program offers a shorter, twoweek option and also the possibility of extending beyond the three-week itenerary. Interested participants may earn three units of college art credit for completing a detailed journal of their activities during the tour. "I call it a 'traveling art feast' because you can partake in as much as you wish," Bliss stated.
Fees for the tour, which total $3145, include round-trip airfare from San Diego to Athens; one-way airfare from Athens to Rome; a four-day cruise to the Greek Islands with all meals; superior tourist class hotels with private facilities; and continental breakfast each day. Also included are four dinners; private motorcoach; half-day sightseeing tours in Athens, Pompeii, Herculaneum, full-day tours to Florence and Delph~ all transfers; all taxes and service charges; an art historian guide and the art instuctor's art and photography instruction.
Library exhibits bears Old and new Teddy Bears belonging to Palomar staff members will be on display through April29 at the library. Some of the over fifteen bears are 35 years and older. Other Teddy Bears were made by their owners. According to Alexis Ciurczak, Librarian, there are international Teddy Bears from such places as Australia, Mexico and Germany. Photos of staff members when they were young, and their bears are also on display.