PALOMAR COLLEGE, SAN MARCOS, CALIF. MONDAY DEC. 7, 2009 VOL. 63, NO. 11
the-telescope.com
INSIDE OPINION
Christmas overload: Too much festivity? PAGE 6
FOCUS
Staying sane this holiday season PAGE 11
SPORTS
Palomar golfer tops conference PAGE 16
ANONYMOUS DANGER
Explicit postcards sent to professors
JEREMY LEAL THE TELESCOPE
Three Palomar College faculty members have received anonymous postcards containing threatening and sexually violent images during the past 18 months, seemingly from the same person. Palomar police, the Sheriffs’ Department and U.S. postal inspectors have all been contacted. “Anytime that there is a perceived threat, we take it very seriously. We are spending the time and resources necessary to do what we can to stop it,” President Robert Deegan said. Steve McDonald, head of the English department, is collecting the postcards and working with the three faculty members and Campus Police.The faculty members’ names have been kept confidential. “There is a random quality to them (the postcards). Mixed in with that is unsettling, threatening, violent and sexual imagery,” McDonald said. Despite the content on the postcards, no direct threat has been made to the faculty members, according to Palomar Interim Police Chief Anthony Cruz. McDonald said one faculty member brought the postcards to the county District Attorney’s Office for further assistance in the investigation. Little progress has been made in finding the creator of the postcards, said McDonald and Deegan. McDonald said it is difficult to trace anything that comes through the postal system because everything goes through one central location in San Diego, no matter TURN TO
Vaguely threatening and sexually explicit postcards have been sent anonymously to three faculty members over the past 18 months. Each side of one of the postcards is shown above.
POSTCARDS PAGE 3
Students trytheir hand at card combat CHRISTINA PARKER THE TELESCOPE
You’ve probably seen them a lot, off to the side of the Student Union comfortably immersed in their battles of sorcery and enchantment, summoning legions of mystical creatures to fight horrific battles. Palomar students passing the Student Union will encounter players of a trading card
game called “Magic: The Gathering,” as their collections clash together on the table in a flurry of enchantment and excitement. “It’s a world-wide game; it’s played everywhere,” said Palomar student Ian Musson, who has been playing the game for
about 11 years. Palomar student Collin Wade has been playing since he was 9. “My dad was playing it,” Wade said. “He taught me when I was little.” Musson introduced the game to another Palomar student, Caitlin Geckeler, a couple months ago. TURN TO
MAGIC PAGE 3
An invisible struggle Homeless students offered minimal assistance when attempting to make changes STEPHANIE DAO THE TELESCOPE
Like any other college student, 49-year-old Darryl Harris gets up in the mornings, drives himself to school five days a week, and goes to his job for three. Sundays are his only days off. What sets Harris apart from other students is his idea of home. For the last six years, Harris has slept under the roof of Brother Benno’s Foundation in Oceanside, a homeless shelter. When it comes to homeless students at Palomar, there are no
programs that address the problem directly. However, Palomar does offer the Pantry program. The Pantry program is a program ran by the EOPS, an organization which helps assist students both academically and financially. The Pantry program offers food, toiletries and diapers to any student in need. Since it is donation-based, students are limited to only two bags a year, said Michelle Tucker, receptionist in the EOPS program. Anyone who would like to donate items to the Pantry program can go into the TCA-1 or can call 760-744-1150 ext. 2449. Out of the 3 million people who experience homelessness each year, student homelessness is left undetected on campuses because students often resort to spending late nights in libraries, sleeping in friends’ dorm rooms and cars, and TURN TO
HOMELESS PAGE 3