LIFE @ PALOMAR PHOTO SPREAD, PG. 6
FOCUSED ON PALOMAR
the telescope Monday, April 4, 2011
Vol. 64, No. 18
JAPANESE DISASTER The island nation of 128 million was hit by a huge earthquake and devastating tsunami last month. This map shows the area that were most damaged, or that still face threats in the aftermath of the quake.
Palomar College, San Marcos, Calif.
PALOMAR STUDENTS PROVIDE RELIEF Through donations, Japanese exchange students hope to help friends and family back home NICK SHUMATE THE TELESCOPE
CITY OF SENDAI The tsunami wave ripped through Sendai, a town of 1 million people, killing nearly 10,000, destroying homes and casting massive boats out to sea.
TOKYO, JAPAN’S CAPITOL CITY City officials are concerned that fallout from a crippled nuclear plant may bring radiation.
NUCLEAR PLANT A partial meltdown at the Fukishima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant is spewing radiation into Japan’s air, ocean and drinking water, terrifying millions.
College invites business visionaries to forum Ben Stein headlines talks on real estate, job market, international economy MARK SAUNDERS THE TELESCOPE
Some of the economy’s greatest financial minds converged at Palomar before spring break, revealing that the future burns bright for America’s economy and students. On March 18, The Palomar Foundation hosted the North County Business and Industry forum in the Student Union. The event included smaller business tutorials for attendees in classrooms across campus as well. The event hosted discussion panels featuring Ed Moss, president and publisher of the San Diego Union-Tribune, Reo Carr, editor-in-chief of the San Diego Business Journal and George Chamberlin, executive editor for the Daily Transcript and money adviser for NBC 7/39 news.
Palomar student Yuka Hazui logged on to Mixi, the Japanese equivalent of Facebook, late at night last month to check in with her friends. That’s when she heard the news. In a few minutes, her and her country became worlds apart. A 9.0 earthquake was leveling Japan. Buildings in Tokyo, a city of 13 million citizens, shook violently for more than five minutes. And Hazui, who came to Palomar less than a year ago, worried about the safety of her family in friends. “When I realized it was a big earthquake I got really worried about my family,” she said. The tsunami that followed the quake, a 13-foot-tall wall of water, wiped out whole cities on Japan’s west coast. The official death toll reached 11,000 at press time, and that number is expected to
increase, the United Nations reported on March 31. Another 16,000 people are still missing. More than 170,000 Japanese are displaced, and many are staying in refugee camps with
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When I realized it was a big earthquake, I got really worried about my family.
Yuka Hazui
JAPANESE EXCHANGE STUDENT
little water or food, and no electricity. And another disaster is brewing. A partial meltdown at the
Fukishima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, located about 150 miles north of Tokyo, was triggered when the tsunami knocked out cooling systems for the plant’s six reactors. Without cooling, the reactors spewed dangerous radiation into the air, forcing the government to evacuate everyone within 20 miles of the plant. Nuclear experts expect the situation at the plant to continue for weeks, and possibly months. Dangerous amounts of radiation were detected in Japanese drinking water, farmed food, oceans and fish after the meltdown. Hazui, one of 105 Japanese exchange students who are attending Palomar, is emotionally split: while she avoided the March 11 earthquake, and escaped the humanitarian crisis it left behind, she carries guilt for not being with her family and friends in a time of great need. turn to JAPAN, PAGE 10
Grim budget outlook may lead to class cuts, less money for programs at Palomar DAVID LEONARD THE TELESCOPE
Television personality and businessman Ben Stein attended the forum. (Brian Tierney/The Telescope) The panel discussed today’s financial market, shared their own thoughts and experiences in business and entertained an array of questions from the crowd about the present and future of the economy. turn to FORUM, PAGE 3
Palomar students can expect fewer open classes and higher fees next year, as Sacramento deals blow after blow to the college’s budget, officials reported at a forum last month. Palomar officials expected deep cuts to the college’s budget in January, after freshly minted Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown announced his plan to slash more than $1 billion from public colleges. But those cuts are likely to grow deeper, as Republicans in the state law house fight the governor’s proposal to extend
Students marched in Sacramento, California, last year to protest against cuts to California public colleges and universities. (Randy Pench/Sacramento Bee/MCT) the current tax rates. Nearly $9 million will be cut from Palomar’s budget if legislators refuse to put the tax extension on the ballot for June’s special elections, said Bonnie Dowd, who is tasked with managing the college’s money.
Best and worst-case scenarios “This is going to impact stu-
dents tremendously,” Dowd told a small crowd of faculty and students packed into the Governing Board meeting room on March 16. Heads shook and sighs floated from the crowd as college officials grimly reported the best and worst-case scenarios for the college’s future. Even if legislators place the tax extension on the June ballot, turn to BUDGET, PAGE 10