Alumnus named top D.J. Page 5
New club raises global awarene Page 3
Should albums be censored? Pro& Con/Page 4
ASG president calls for instructor evaluations
Aiming high
By Mark Hopkins Editor-in-Chief
(Photo by Alison Lake)
Dave Delaney, Palomar's top scorer, rockets up for a basket against Southwestern in recent play. The Comets scalped the Apaches 63-61. Palomar will begin playoffs tommorrow. See story page 7.
Associated Student Government President, John Weber, proposed a plan to the Governing Board on Feb. 13 which calls for student evaluations of faculty job performance. Concerns over appropriateness were raised by a Governing Board member, and of legality by faculty representatives. Dr. Robert Dougherty, Governing Board secretary, took issue with the ASG's proposal, "There are things that students are in a position to evaluate, but they are not in the position to state the accuracy of what was taught." "I don't think the proposal is far-fetched, some sort of evaluation would be helpful to the faculty ," said Weber. He said the results could b~ used to help teachers improve their "human factors," such as the way they present course material. Weber faces an up-hiii battle in his own camp, according to ASG senator Norm Plotkin. Plotkin said of Weber's announcement, "John was a little premature." Plotkin said that the intent of the proposal is to provide students with information such as what professors expect from their students, and not "to make them look bad." Plotkin said that some of the instructors misunderstand the student government's proposal as being vindictive. "That to them is dangerous. All of these people's fears are unfounded. I don't want to raise the hair on the back of any instructor," said Plotkin. President of the Faculty Senate, Patrick Schwerdtfeger, asked Weber if the ASG has considered both the legal and sociological ramifications of the proposition. He suggested that the ASG check the legality of
students evaluating faculty job performance and told Weber that, "It would not be necessarily popular with the faculty." Partly as a result of the negative feedback, ASG senator Mina Monfared will be meeting with the members of the faculty senate on Feb. 26. Monfared is not very hopeful that the student evaluations will take place, saying, "It will not happen." When asked where money and staff to run the project will come from, Monfared said that funding sources and staffing have yet to be determined. Vice president of Instruction, Dr. Jan Moser, commented at the meeting that student evaluations of professors occur departmentally, but that the system is not campuswide. When asked later if she or administration has any public position, Moser declined comment pending the outcome of the faculty senate meeting. One of the departments that uses student assessments of professors is earth sciences. Chairman of Earth Sciences, David Totten, said that one of the reasons why his department uses student evaluations is because his department "values student input." "I don't know why teachers should feel threatened, we are here for the students," said Totten, "We should value what students think." Schwerdtfeger added that students may be asked to participate in professor evaluations as a result of AB 1725, the landmark community college reform bill passed in 1988, but added, "I don't know if this will be a good thing." He said after the meeting that he is not opposed to letting the ASG conduct the evaluation. Schwerdtfeger said also that the campus used to publish campus-wide student assessments of faculty members.
ENROLLMENT REACHES NEW HIGH
Women top men in figures By Nick Sherr StaffWriter For the last 10 years white women between 18-and 20-years old have led the trend in Palomar's exploding student population. According to Robert Barr, director of research and statistics, females consistently out-numbered males in the last eight years by at least 1,000 each semester. Director of Admissions and Records Herman Lee says he believes that the reason for the trend is, "that women are seeing education as a means of achieving career goals, educational objectives, and training as they move up into managerial positions." Racial and ethnic demographics
show that in the student body as a whole, whites had the highest enrollment, with Hispanics a far second in number and Asians not far behind in third. Yet, Lee said continued growth is anticipated in some major groups. "There has been a rise in the Hispanic enrollment especially in the last couple years due to the amnesty program," said Lee. "We will see a rise in Asians and Hispanics over the next 10 years because of our proximity and our business transactions with those countries." Young students, both male and female, have dominated the age categories for the last decade. Eighteen and 20-year-olds consistently ranked highest in the number
of students enrolled in Palomar. The 21-24 age group followed in second while the rest of the age categories steadily declined with a bump up in the 45-54 age group, and once again in the 65 and over group "A lot of the children who were born in the 60s and 70s, the 'Baby Boomers' ofWorldWarll,arenow moving through our school system and coming into college," Lee said. He thinks the college can handle the growth. "We tend to fill the volume we are given," he added. "If we are impacted on this particular campus in terms of classrooms and buildings, we will go off-campus and offer classes in educational
Growth
Sex
Comparison between past 5 five years
Gender breakdown at Palomar for 1989
Females have outnumbered males each semester since 1980 by at least 1,000.
¡as of Feb. 5. 1990
(see ENROLLMENT- page 2) SOURCE: Admissions And Records
(Graphic by Jooalhan Young)