Palomar College, San Marcos, Calif.
Palomar’s own ‘Little Dancer’ page
monday nov. 15, 2010 Vol. 64, No. 9
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the-telescope.com
A pi e
e i c e of t h e p
Palomar programs give back to the students
Student support program renews federal grant mark saunders the telescope
TRiO Student Support Services has renewed a fiveyear federal grant to ensure the continuation of services that promote student retention and transfer rates. TRiO is a national student support program designed for first generation college students who demonstrate financial need and are enrolled in at least 12 units. The program focuses on students who aspire to transfer to a four-year university. The grant is awarded to TRiO programs across the nation by the Department of Education. Each TRiO program that applies is judged on student retention and transfer success. TRiO at Palomar will now take the awarded grant and distribute it across the next five years until they are able to apply for the next grant in 2015, according to TRiO Outreach Coordinator
Claudia Carter. “It’s so competitive out there,” Carter said. “The Department of Education is funding less so there’s less money out there for everyone.” Despite the competition, TRiO Program Assistant Renzo Lara said they have seen good retention rates among members and are actively seek to recruit incoming students. “(I) know how hard it is to go through college not knowing about services and support offered by campuses,” Lara said. “(We) want to do anything to get students to know about the program.” The last grant TRiO received funded the organization for five years, from 2005 to 2010. When they recieved the grant, TRiO set smaller objectives to meet grant requirements. TRiO Director Calvin One Deer Gavin set larger objectives for the latest grant. “We have a strategic plan,
Group hopes to increase student accountability
yvonne lanot annually evaluated and upthe telescope dated, to ensure we continually improve our programs Goal, Responsibility, Atand services,” Gavin said. titude, and Determination. Students accepted to the These four words, which TRiO program also enjoy together make priority registhe acronym tration, a prifor the program vate computer Check out GRAD, can be lab and other found inside the classroom serthe-telescope.com one of the pages vices designed for an online of the Palomar to aid them in exclusive article on Spring 2011 transferring Class Schedules Palomar’s biggest to a university. booklet. Grant money scholarship In the last acais a big help fundraiser, the demic year, Paloin funding mar’s Strategic 19th annual Black these services, Planning Council according to Tie Gala, which developed a way Carter. was on Nov. 13. to help student’s “(TRiO) is a success in their good program education in a if you are new plan called the to the college Strategic Plan of 2013. In realm,” program member this plan, the SPC assigned Nelson Blas said. one of the goal’s objective “It’s nice not to have to to the Faculty Senate. fight for a class,” said SamPresident of the Facuel Martinez, a member of ulty Senate Monika Brannick has taken lead of this turn to trio page 6
program. Brannick did not answer any phone calls to comment about the GRAD campaign at the moment. But for now, the GRAD campaign has started and is just in its beginning stages, said President of Associated Student Government Channing Shattuck, who is working alongside the Faculty Senate on this program. “We’re just working on the budget,” he said. “But we’re also working on whether to just do advertising for the project, like banners, or have a more interactive approach to it, like having discussion boards or having study groups.” While the ASG and the Faculty Senate are the main groups working on the project, they are also being assisted by the Hispanic Serving Institution and the Inter-Club Council. “We are also trying to branch out to anyone that wants to get involved in the GRAD program,” Shattuck
said. The program first was developed in the spring of 2007 and was originally called The Culture of Success Team (COST). Their main goal was to define the student’s responsibility for their own education. The group’s new objective is to advertise the GRAD campaign so it will reach out to the entire student body. “The main goal of the GRAD campaign is to get students to realize that the teachers aren’t just giving away the A (grade), but that they are the ones who are actually earning the A,” Shattuck said. Palomar student Stephanie Holley, 18, said she thinks the program will be a good idea. “It’ll drive students more,” Holley said. “I think it’ll motivate them to succeed more on their own.” turn to grad page
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News to Know Raving Revival
Economy boost
Raves at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum will now resume. Over the summer, there was a suspension of electro-house music events because a 15 year-old girl died from an ecstasy overdose after attending the Electric Daisy Carnival in June, according to an article from nctimes.com dated Nov. 4. “I’ve got a lot of friends that go to that (event),” student Brian Vann. “It would suck if the whole thing got suspended because of one person.” The Coliseum Commission overturned the moratorium because security was tighter, and the 18 year-old age limit and the 2 a.m. curfew would be strictly enforced.
An abandoned gas station in Escondido has been torn down and will be turned into a dentist office along with other retail shops, according to a Nov. 8 article from nctimes.com. The gas station, which was on the corner of Felicita Avenue and Center City Parkway, was bought in 2008, but construction only recently started. The retail space is expected to help the city’s economy improve. “I think it’s cool,” student Tom Webb said. “It brings in new money and helps the community.” As of print date, the only confirmed tenant to the building will be a second location of the dental office, called Bright Now. The other spaces may be leased by a retail company.
sean lara | for the telescope
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