Intro:
To my fellow students, the students that endlessly study, work, and balance your hard-earned savings to attend classes at this wonderful institution. To the students that sacrifice, job hunt, apply for loans, and juggle family responsibilities in hopes of receiving a quality education; I have something I’d like to share with you.
It is difficult to imagine that the money you and I use to provide for ourselves and our families, could be sought after with such a covetous intent by so few. How money alone can persistently propel an individual or set of individuals to act with such malicious desires, as to slander and threaten a fellow student on our campus. Desires of self-interest and personal agendas whose purposes for action are to benefit not you the average student, but rather themselves. Exclusive groups of students, students who’s so-called “clubs” are actually funded programs or special interest organizations, for which most of us will never join. It is these, the faceless few, who feel that THEY have a “right” to YOUR student fees.
Budgeting 101:
TOTAL EXPENDATURES OF THE BROADSIDE FROM 2005-2008 : $84,000 1, 2 !!! OF YOUR MONEY!
06-07 BUDGET: $27,000 07-08 BUDGET: $30,000 08-09 PROPOSED BUDGET: $36,000
Several weeks ago, The Broadside “Newspaper” (and I use the term newspaper very lightly), requested an ADDITIONAL $6000.00 for the remainder of this year alone. When (we) ASCOCC decided not to approve the additional amount, here’s what Erin Marlowe, Samantha Miller and the rest of the Broadside decided to do.
Broadside vs. ASCOCC
1. student reporter for the Broadside calls me, and threatens me, literally, about writing and I quote “a smear campaign” on me “for free” 3
2. stormed our budget hearing with their entire staff 4 , reading us legal rights and tape recording our every word…I left the room it was so grotesque. 5
3. sending document after document of legal responsibilities to both us and our advisor 6
4. requested to read our every email, and challenged our every action, including meeting minutes and the voting process 7
5. attacked us with misquotes and iniquitous slander in “their newspaper” 8
6. threatened you and I, the associated student with legal action 9
7. sent reporter after reporter to “dig up” near counterfactual and fraudulent “information” 10
What they never do: report actual news! Since when is candy a front page story? Or how about black Santa or some lame ass cartoon that makes fun of our students on this campus?
Why didn’t they: ever interview Dr. Middleton (COCC President)? Why didn’t they interview a member of the board of Directors? How about interviewing several Deans? Why didn’t they attend Academic Affairs Committee, Institutional Support Committee, Diversity Committee, Curriculum Committee, College Affairs Committee, Chairmoot (Dept Chairs), College Concerns Committee, Board of Directors, Campus Safety Committee? These committee make major decisions that our students should know about like: new parking lots, air-conditioning for buildings, changes in the alcohol policy, whether or not to accept D’s as a passing grade, scheduling Finals, new Student Center project, changing degree requirements, instructors pay, etc…..I guess it’s not as important as some candy machines that aren’t even new.
CLUB FUNDS & WHY THEIR MAD
Total Expenditures
05-06: $73,630.20 06-07: $81,916.32 07-08: $92,100.00 PROPOSED 08-09: $128,860.00!!!!
Anyone notice a trend here? Sure, there are more clubs, but enough to increase THAT dramatically?
WHAT THEY SPEND THEIR MONEY ON: Here are a few examples…..
Conferences: Seattle, Portland, San Francisco (Broadside), Salem, and various other locations in places like Nevada, Idaho, and CA…….did YOU get go? Cause they go EVERY YEAR!
ASCOCC: We chose not to attend a conference for “educational” purposes, we can understand the need, but hey, we can’t all take trips.
Other expenditures: ALL CONSUMABLES, THINGS THEY WILL REREQUEST MONEY FOR, EVERY SINGLE YEAR! Food and t-shirts…..funny thing is, people like Cathy McCabe 11 actually threatened us for her t-shirts, stating how “vital” they are to her club. Next thing we know, students that aren’t even in the CJ Club are getting t-shirts (actually pullover sweaters) and guess what she wants to spend YOUR money on next year? Try nearly half a grand on t-shirts, oh, and she doesn’t even think YOUR worth the time of her club, they don’t feel that they should abide by club policies nor should they have to table and recruit at our campus. 06-07 CJ Club received $5,600.00, they requested thousands EVERY year.
CJ Club Response: petition to remove me from office for asking them to participate in the Information Fair 12. Apparently asking them to attend this was and I quote “blackmailing” Cathy, who then sent classes of her future police officer students after me with a petition 13. This is a faculty member, a professor, and advisor; this is a person whose relentless pursuit of funding has pit student against student. This is a person who has gone on the offensive to see my name smeared and me removed from office. I can hardly believe that these actions can be justified or that this type of behavior is acceptable by a Professor. Oh and did I mention the nasty and disrespectful email I received…..thanks Cathy! But, no, I wasn’t supposed to get mad, wasn’t supposed to be passionate about YOUR money….she had another thing coming, and yeah, I was going to get nasty. Students, don’t allow yourselves to be disrespected or bullied by anyone, certainly not a COCC employee.
OSPIRG
A leftist corporation whose primary goals are tied with lobbyist and political agendas that most of us, won’t see eye to eye with. One college after another has expelled OSPIRG from their campus due to their politics, extreme liberal views, and severe operational costs. True, this non-prof does do some wonderful things and has a long list of accomplishments, but is their political agenda YOURS as well?
Costs:
05-06: $25,000.00 06-07: $23,500.00 07-08: $28,000 Proposed 08-09: $28,000 reduced from 30k
Total funds from 05-09 to this POLITICAL CORPORATION: $104,500
OSPIRG VS. Mike
Ashley Culliton and I have had a rocky inter-office relationship since day one. She could rebut things that she feels I did to her, but I’ll stand by my position….OSPIRG IS VERY COSTLY AND POLITICAL, are YOU in OSPIRG? Did you know that they still go door to door asking for money? Did you know that they can charge schools (us students) up to $100,000 and MORE, PER YEAR!!! See the increase in requests? Yes, I feel that this is costly and something worth discussing, and that’s why she’s mad. She’ll tell you she was disrespected, or treated unfairly, or something of that nature; reality: SHE WANTS YOUR MONEY FOR AN ORGANIZATION THAT SHE WON’T EVEN WORK FOR NEXT YEAR! LIBRAL POLITICAL CORPORATION!
*Other political organizations founded by YOUR money: ZERO, hope you’re not a conservative or moderate!
*Number of other community colleges in Oregon that fund OSPIRG: One – Lane…..they pay $75,000 per year!!!! It’s only a matter of time before our bill climbs that high, I guess politics is costly!
BROADSIDE QUOTES: Samantha Miller and Erin Marlowe have an agenda: get rid of those STACKS of papers that VERY FEW people read. How do they know how many students support Broadside? If YOU pick up a newspaper, apparently YOU’RE a supporter. Who are they quoting? Advisors like Rebecca Walker-Sands, who two organizations on this campus have requested an estimated total of $6000 for this year, while a proposed $3420 for OLI (associated with Margie Gregory who is also requesting an additional $3000 for the Latino Club, which is nearly all the same students as OLI) and another $3564.00 for the Anime Club, of which nearly $3000 will be spend on an Anime conference in Seattle….are YOU going? It’s not that conferences aren’t educational or beneficial to students, at one point, heck, I even encouraged people to go….but I didn’t realize that they would want EVERYTHING paid for! TOTAL COSTS of these clubs: nearly $10,000!
ASCOCC & Clubs: I encourage all clubs to be active, fostering growth on our campus. I created new boxes in lower Grandview for the clubs, as well as creating the actual fliers that adorn most of them. I developed the Student Life Committee (one rep from every club) to better assist and serve the needs of each club. They were asked for input, allowed to work in groups and communicate with one another and were surveyed for their opinions on what ASCOCC guidelines would be fair. ASCOCC has spent two terms researching the policies and guidelines for funding as it relates to clubs at every other community college in the state of Oregon. We sponsored events such as the Information Fair and free Bowling Nights, encouraging them to stimulate new student interest. We teamed up with several of them for activities such as Earth Day, and BAT Pass giveaway. We also removed the $500 cap that was to limit new clubs on expenditures that would have prevented clubs such as the Anime Club from being as active as they were. Clubs were also permitted to seek additional funding if needed, and aloud to use our resources such as the Campus Copy Center and office supplies. I also made all room and event requests for clubs, so that they may be provided with good meeting facilities and Hitchcock in the event that they wanted to host movies. While I was clubs coordinator, I vowed to increase the amount of clubs on this campus, and did, doubling them! I also discussed the possibilities of offering clubs a reward system towards the end of the year, providing an additional $500 for the club that was the most active. Wow, how unprofessional of me!
TO MY CRITICS: So you have an opinion on how I was “unprofessional” in an email. I probably was, and aren’t very proud of it either. I suppose that you have a few lines ya wanna say, so here, I’ll even help…..you’ll need some great words for your attack: unprofessional, disrespectful, aggressive, hostile work environment, bully, blackmailing, history, good of the students, demeaning, representation, relationship, attitude, funding, innocent, together, justification, emails, undeserving….is this enough for your arsenal, oh and don’t forget “lies”. I guess when you’re threatened or receive some pretty harsh emails, as a student who is still learning, I’m supposed to be “professional”. I’m sorry, but I don’t respond well to threats or disrespect. Treat others as you wish to be treated and don’t kill the messenger because my colleagues and I made a decision you didn’t like and I had to deliver the message. Yes I’m a student, yes I can get mad, yes I can say regretful things, yes I’m still learning, yes I won’t always make the right decision, yes I can talk without thinking, yes I’m not perfect. But who is? I’m not an overly religious man, but I like this quote; “let he who is without sin, cast the first stone”.
WHY FUND: Here are some projects that we have done or are currently working on, for the benefit of all students. But, perhaps you would rather fund a political organization, or have a new Broadside “newspaper” every week in color. 14
*Campus Organics Garden *Increase Childcare funding *Campus/College Radio Station
*Free Bat Passes *Reviving the Performing Arts Program *Juniper Hall Improvements
*Thanksgiving dinners for needy students * Free BAT Passes *Free bowling nights
*new equipment and uniforms for our teams *New Mazama gym equipment
*New picnic tables and gazebos on campus *extra copies of class texts for the library
*Free graphing calculators in the library for every student who can’t afford one
*blankets for students who live out of their cars in the Winter
*Campus Shuttle for students who commute from Madras, Prineville, or La Pine
**Providing free equipment for every student to check out: skies, snowboards, snowshoes, mountain bikes, rafts, x country skies, Frisbees, tennis racquets, golf clubs, etc
THANK YOU’S: Thank you to every Juniper student for putting up with the utter disrespect by the Broadside, I’ll ALWAYS have your back, no one is perfect! Thank you to the people that made my year special: Bruce Emerson, Gene Zinkgraf, Sarah Wilson, Julie Mosier, all of campus services, the entire IT dept, Ryan Stock and his entire crew, Robert McDilda, Dave Bernhard, Eugene Helmbrecht, Lowell Lamberton, John Bouknight, Michael Fisher, Bill Douglass, John Miller, Dave Hagenbach, and all of my professors and anyone else I didn’t mention. Additionally and most importantly, I’d like to thank Dean Alicia Moore for her support. For listening, helping, and encouraging us; you meant so much to our success. To Terri Botts for a list of assistance that’s a mile long and a smile to go with it. To Gordon Price, especially to Gordon Price; a man who will drop anything he’s doing to listen to you. A man who will stand by your side, a man who won’t judge you on your mistakes, a man who’s character reflects the true meaning of love and respect. A man I admire and look up to, a man, I shall never forget. And lastly, to my colleagues; Kaleb Olson, Jon Golden, Leah Valentine, TJ Becker, Phil Tranchida, Jeff Tengs and most especially Victoria Newlin, Garrett Galvan, and Brenda Pierce. Together we have fought through adversity, together we have changed this campus to improve the college experience for each and every student. To all of you, I am greatful.
To you the student I don’t know: Some people don’t like me, but I’m not in this for a popularity contest. I’m here to do a job, a job that I have great passion for, a job that has consumed every ounce of me. Every DECISION I make, I truly and utmost honestly believe is in the best interest of each and every student. (no critics, that doesn’t mean my hasty “unprofessional” emails). I will continue to work as hard as I can, and I will remain dedicated to serving you, each and everyone of you.
Due to factual inaccuracies in this letter to the editor, The Broadside has numbered each error and put the facts below with the corresponding number. If there are factual errors beyond those we found, please let us know at mailto:broadsidemail@cocc.edu.
1. Total budget of, according to Pohyar, of $84,000, if approved by ASCOCC will include Broadside’s budget from 2005-2009
2. The three years worth of budget allocation adds up to $93,000
3. The phone call referred to here was a reporter’s individual response to a letter to the editor sent to The Broadside by Michael Pohyar during winter term, before The Broadside’s emergency funds were denied in April.
4. The entire staff did not attend the budget hearing.
5. We recorded the budget hearing so that there would be a record of it. Because we recorded the meeting you can hear that Pohyar’s reasons for leaving the meeting, as he told them to us, was because of the phone call referred to in correction 2.
6. The Broadside sent public requests to Pohyar and Gordon Price for Pohyar’s e-mails to verify accounts told to us by sources. This may also be referring to The Broadside’s requests of meeting minutes, and agendas, which ASCOCC is required by law to keep.
7. Refer to correction 6
8. The Broadside is student newspaper, which means that we are learning as we go. We have misquoted Brenda Pierce, as well as ran a wrong number referring to how much was budgeted for childcare.
9. At the budget hearing we informed ASCOCC that, according to state laws, to determine our funding based on content is illegal and if that was the reason they cut The Broadside’s funding we would take action.
10. No reporters were sent from The Broadside to dig up anything. If we got a lead, or an idea for a story, we followed up on it, reporting the most factual and accurate information we had.
11. Name is spelt Kathy McCabe
12. The petition does not reference the activities fair..
13. According to McCabe, the petition was not her idea, but her students’.
14. The Broadside prints only 4-8 pages in color every two weeks.