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the telescope Palomar College’s Independent Newspaper Vol. 66, No. 2 • Monday, Sept. 10, 2012 1140 W. Mission Rd, San Marcos, Calif.
CLASSES
Rude behavior in college classrooms is often a matter of course LISA BLACK
CHICAGO TRIBUNE/MCTCAMPUS.COM
Lee Shumow doesn’t want to text her students, or be their friend on Facebook, but to their chagrin prefers an old-fashioned way to communicate: e-mail. The educational psychology professor at Northern Illinois University appreciates when students take the time to reply. It’s an extra treat when they don’t begin their message with, “Hey, Lee.” She and many of her colleagues believe such informality has seeped into the college classroom environment, citing student behavior that’s best described as rude or oblivious. As students begin a new semester this month, instructors bracing for yet another onslaught blame technology for creating a disengaged generation whose attention is constantly diverted by laptops, phones and iPods. Others point to the unruly classroom as a reflection of an increasingly ill-mannered society. Nearly 70 percent of Americans polled in 2005 said they believe people are more rude than they were 20 to 30 years ago. “I literally cannot imagine having addressed any teacher I had in my career as ‘Hey’ and then their first name,’ “ said Shumow, who has a doctoral degree and has taught 15 years at NIU. “I love them. I won an award for undergraduate teaching in 2005. But man, the world has really changed from when I was a student.” To their credit, most students are respectful and more inquisitive than ever, faculty members say. Yet professors also find they must devote space in the syllabus to ask students to refrain from surfing the Web, texting or answering cell phones during a lecture. Some have to remind students that, when making a presentation, they should remove the backward baseball cap and save the bare midriff for a beach party. Others complain that students randomly leave and enter the classroom during class. For their part, students are irked by others who slurp and chew food, doze off or dominate discussion. Palomar student Clement Edwards, 41, a business administration major said the rudeness depends on the the age and maturity. “Students right out of high school are rude,” he said recently. “After their first year of college students are less rude. Immaturity has a lot to do with if they’re rude to the teachers or not.” But student Jordan Vorabouth, 21, disagreed. “I don’t think so because we look up to them,” he said of professors. “We pay them (teachers) so we expect them to have experience to be role models.” Some blame high schools for lowering the bar on classroom conduct, while others say the problems begin at home, when families fail to instill in children basic skills such as how to say “please” or “thank you.”
TURN TO RUDENESS, PAGE 6
Planetarium assistant and student Shaun Haynie sets up a solar telescope Aug. 31 in the planetarium courtyard. The Meade LX200 is one of two solar telescopes donated to Palomar College by the OPT store in Oceanside. • Andrew Szikla/Telescope
Solar telescopes bring new perspective to planetarium IAN HANNER THE TELESCOPE
Just before sunset on Aug. 31, the Palomar Planetarium debuted their brand new solar telescopes that allow visitors to look at the sun like never before. The Coronado Personal Solar Telescope (PST) was donated by Oceanside Photo and Telescope (OPT) after Palomar hosted the organization’s event in July. The new telescopes al-
lows users to view aspects of the sun that are usually blocked out by different forms of light. “The filters that it uses to make it safe to look at the sun are what’s called an H-Alpha Filter,” said planetarium telescope operator and Palomar student Shaun Haynie. “Basically, that allows only hydrogen emissions from the sun to be visible. It also makes the sun look red when you look through it because when hydrogen glows; it glows a reddish-pink color.”
The PST is worth roughly $700, according to Haynie. In addition to the new PST, planetarium employees set out an eightinch telescope that blocked out all forms of light but the visible light spectrum, said Haynie. It allowed the user to look at the sun without the blinding effects of other forms of radiation, seeing sunspots and other features not normally visible.
TURN TO SOLAR, PAGE 6
ACCIDENTS
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OFF-CAMPUS ACCIDENT INJURES THREE
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THE TELESCOPE
Three drivers collided outside Palomar parking lot 12 Sept. 4 after one car failed to stop at a stoplight, flashing red due to maintenance. During routine electrical work being conducted by city professionals, the stoplight on N. Las Posas Road and Avenida Azul temporarily held the same rules as a stop sign. According to one of the CHP officers on sight, Officer E. Rosas Jr., at least two of the individuals involved appeared to be Palomar students. “Two cars were making a left turn onto southbound Las Posas when the other vehicle was heading northbound in the number two lane on Las Posas,” Rosas said. “After inspecting the vehicle, it appears he had some kind of mechanical FIRSTNAME malfunction and he was unable to stop the LASTNAME vehicle. He came through POSITION the light and hit one car first and then the other car.”
TURN TO ACCIDENT, PAGE 6
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Firefighters review and assess the three-vehicle accident Sept. 4 at the corner of N. Las Posas Rd. and Avenida Azul.• Jassamyn Payne/Telescope