Advocate ALONE. You’re Not
The Independent Student Voice of Mt. Hood Community College
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www.advocate-online.net January 31, 2014
Volume 49 Issue 15
Guest article w
Y u’re Yo re re Not
ALONE
by Darlyn chester Public Safety Intern
AvOiDinG sexuAl HArAssmenT
Graphic by Heather Golan - The Advocate
You hear rumors going around campus – hushed whispers between friends – but you never think it could happen to you: sexual assault. As unreal and unlikely it seems that sexual assault could directly strike you, it is more common than you may think. Women are most often raped between 16 and 24 years of age, more specifically, between the ages of 16 and 19, which includes most college freshman and sophomore students (http://www.nmcsap.org/statistics. html#a). Although women are the primary victims of sexual assault, about 10 percent of victims are male. Of those males who are victimized, 71 percent are assaulted before age 18, while 16.6 percent are assaulted between the ages of 18-24 years of age (http://www. rainn.org/get-information/types-of-sexual-assault/male-sexualassault). In short, this means the vast majority of people on college campuses are in the epicenter of the age groups that most experience sexual assault. College freshman and sophomores are found to be at greater risk than upperclassmen. This can be associated with older students living in campus dormitories, sorority/fraternity houses and, especially, alcohol use (90 percent of acquaintance-rape incidents involve alcohol, possibly due either to overconsumption or having a “date rape” drug slipped into your drink) (http://svpe.uoregon. edu/GetEducated/SexualAssaultMyths/TheRoleofAlcohol.aspx).
Assault
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Faculty reaches contract settlement
Arab Heritage Celebration
After nearly a year of negotiations, full-time contract is prepared for a vote by Katelyn Hilsenbeck The Advocate After months of on-and-off negotiations, a new labor contract agreement with Mt. Hood’s full-time faculty union has been reached. Administration and faculty bargaining teams reached a tentative settlement a week ago, on Jan. 24. Faculty members will vote on the proposed contract beginning on Monday, with final results expected on Friday. If the contract earns faculty approval, the MHCC District board will likely ratify the agreement on Feb. 17, during a board retreat. The contract will take effect when ratified, and would run through August 2017. “We are confident it will be ratified... and we’ll be good to go!” said Tambi Boyle, full-time faculty association chair. “So far we’ve had really good feedback from the membership.” Mt. Hood President Debbie Derr expressed relief at the apparent breakthrough. “I am thrilled that a final agreement is close at hand,” Derr said in a written news release issued jointly by the two sides. “I appreciate the perseverance and professionalism from all involved in this process to reach a resolution.” There was discussion of whether the contract terms would be retroactive (dating back to September 2013), but Boyle said the two sides agreed to focus instead on other aspects of the contract. The clock for negotiations started in early February 2013 — almost one year ago. However, portions of the bargaining teams had met for pre-meetings, starting three months earlier. Boyle, who has helped to negotiate three prior con-
Photo by Carole Riggs - The Advocate
The Arab Heritage celebration on Tuesday included authentic food, prizes and henna. itan Altamirano has henna done by A la Henna’s sam Bones while AsG president laura Aguon looks on.
Spring Term schedule is now available at my.mhcc.edu
tracts at MHCC (two full-time, and one part-time, faculty contracts), said this particular cycle has been one of the longest she has experienced. “Bargaining is not easy. It’s a very pressure filled job,” she said. “You want to make sure you do the job correctly and mistakes can sometimes be made if you rush things. “It would have been nice to rush it a little bit, but it’s important that you take the time to make sure the right decisions are made.” Boyle praised the outside mediator who helped bring the marathon talks to a close. “We were very happy with the mediator we had. Janet Gillman was great,” she said. “The fact that she was willing to stay for our 1 a.m., 2 a.m. 4:34 a.m. sessions… it was just amazing that she was willing to stick with us through that process.” During the previous bargaining cycle, Mt. Hood full-time faculty members, on average, took a “huge hit,” Boyle said – roughly $10,000 in annual pay. Those instructors easily recall the previous pay scale, while, due to organizational turnover, most of the current MHCC administrative bargaining team lacked that institutional memory, she explained. “We have the benefit of having all of that history,” she said. Some new measures were added to help compensate for the prior loss in faculty salary. Those include adding a “step zero” on the pay scale, which will benefit approximately two-thirds of the faculty, and a zero-to-1 percent cost of living adjustment for summer coursework and extra teaching.
contract
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Registration begins on Feb. 19 for those who have applied for spring or summer graduation. Open registration begins March 3.
2013 FirsT plAce
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