Student Lounge Revamped
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The Pride http://www.csusm.edu/pride California State University, San Marcos Vol VIII No. 5/ Tuesday, September 26,2000 Faculty Files Grievance By: Jayne Braman istration and faculty. University's Convocation, Pride Staff The "faculty workload issue" President Gonzalez stated, "We revolves around a grievance filed are a CSU campus and we do have Students have many factors by the San Marcos chapter of to follow system-wide guidelines to consider when deciding on the faculty union, the California and operate within our funding which college to attend. Many Faculty Association (CFA), which formula which is predicated on CSUSM students credit the small is pending arbitration scheduled 15 units per Full Time Equivalent classes, the writing requirement, for October 28. Although the Student (FTES) and 12 Direct and the availability of professors details of the arbitration are not Weighted Teaching Units (WTU) as factors that ultimately add made public, the outcome of this for faculty." value to their education as well hearing will set a precedent that "The faculty argues that fund- as to their degrees. Students have will determine the future direc- ing increases depend strictly on also noted that the reputation tion of faculty workload. FTES, not on faculty teaching 12, of the institution will continue CSUSM President Alexander units," according to Dr. George to influence the value of their Gonzalez explains, "Faculty is Diehr, local union CFA President degrees long after they leave this contracted to work twelve (12) and Professor of Management campus. credit hours per semester." Science. "In fact," Diehr con- The window of opportunity Gonzalez continues, "This labor tends, "there is no mention any- is still wide open for CSUSM contract is part of a collective- where of faculty being required to to decide its future direction. bargaining agreement, which cov- teach 12 units. That was a require- However, what many students ers the entire CSU system, and ment of pre-1995 contracts." may be unaware of are long-term clearly states a standard of direct debates over workload issues and instruction per semester." contract disputes between admin- During his address at the » Article Continues on Page 2 Constructidn near lot "C" Photo By: Brian Fisher CSUSM Student Discovers Expansion of Central Mysterious Algae By: Nathan Fields ing low tide. Unable to identify ered in J\me 2000. Palenscar con- Pride Staff Writer the plant, he unearthed it and took tacted and provided the biologists Plant Underway * it home to grow in his own aquar- with information, which caused Since the year 1984, a genet- ium, photographing and dating them to re-date the estimated By: Brian Fisher ings with hot or cool air. The ically-altered micro algae, mys- the specimen. length of time the seaweed has Pride Staff Writer water is then pumped back into teriously introduced into the The invasion and rapid been growing in the lagoon. the tanks where it is re-heated Mediterranean Sea, has been growth of the algae has led to a The marine biologists "esti- A $2.4 million dollar project or cooled. invading many connected ecosys- drastic impoverishment of algal mated that the algae had only to expand the Central Plant oh The $1.8 million dollar expan- tems, particularly on the French and sea grass communities. A been growing in the lagoon for the south side of campus is cur- sion will extend the length of the and Italian Riviera. However, Kai vast decline in bio- and eco- two years," said Palenscar, "but rently underway. The plant hous- plant north approximately 25ft. Palenscar, a 21 year-old biology diversity has been noted as the after confirming that what I found es two large tanks, a boiler and The two-story expansion will student, is the first-known dis- marine pest grows over the sea- was the same species, they knew a cooler. house an additional boiler and coverer of the only US growth bed, choking off light and nutri- it had been growing there for Dave Dennis of John Carey cooler ($600,000 dollars worth of the algae, Cualerpa taxifolia, ents from other organisms. at least four years." This infor- Construction explains that water of equipment), enough to service in Carlsbad's Agua Hedionda While looking through pho- mation was undoubtedly helpful from the tanks is pumped into future buildings such as the new Lagoon. tos, Palenscar recognized the in generating more accurate fig- campus buildings where fans library, Arts and Sciences build- Palenscar, who frequents the much larger patches of seaweed ures, such as growth rate. blow air over the top of the water. ing, and futurfe Business build- lagoon to fish, found a small (one described as the size of a This acts as both a heater and an ing. growth of the green plant in June volleyball court) that local biolo- » Continued on pg 2 air conditioner, providing build- 1996 while leisurely walking dur- gists had independently discov- Student Lounge Revamped By: Tiaca Carter Commonly confused with the Pride Staff Writer Pride student newspaper office, because of the signs; the Study Need a place to chill? Tired Lounge is in Study Lounge 2-201, of using The Dome and Library ;'Jpf located next to ASI offices. to get your snooze on? Well, Lounge hours will are worry no longer. The improved es M TV M Coffee Study Ares scheduled to be the "same as A.S.I. Student Lounge is well library hours (Monday-Thursday under way and will reopen to 8:00am-9:00pm, Friday;8:00am- all students the first week of study tables, video arcade games, "We have tried to make the study The new lounge, funded by 4:30pm, Saturday 1:00pm- October in Commons. softer couches for napping, and lounge a place that can accommo- A.S.I., will be available for 5:00pm, and Sunday 1:00pm- So what's §o improved about computers with E-mail and date most students needs while everyone. There are no cover 5:00 pm). the student lounge? The new Internet access (however, not to offering a place to hang out and charge or membership fees, just For more more information lounge is intended to be more be confused with work comput- just relax," (says Raeanna Wertz, remember to bring quarters for about the new student lounge , "student friendly", with more ers found in the computer lab). A.S.I, Vice President. the video games. contact A.S.I, at (760) 750-4990. In llils Issue MH^elove- Sk&andlfcigted Smoking Behind Sports ' Staiy Opinion Pag©: ; 3 14 mm 6 mm glgl s t j J • • • • •• * ' ~ % v>' ^ — The Pride 2 Tuesday, September 26, 2000 administration has its way, fac- administration is aware that not ulty will have to increase their all courses are implementing Faculty workload by as much as 33 per- the writing requirement but Mysterious Algae cent. Diehr explains how "Over accountability does not come Continued from Page 1 the past two years, the addition at the administration level; the Academic Senate Committee Diehr further explains that of 950 FTES provided about oversees faculty course curricu- Discovered in the Weighted Teaching Units $6 million in growth money to lum." (WTUs) are termed as "weight- CSUSM" (based on the univer- ed" because this allows for sity receiving $6,454 each addi- Dr. Gerardo Gonzalez, Carlsbad Lagoon flexibility in allotting credit to tional PTE). Diehr also claims Academic Senate Committee faculty for research and scholar- "Since the campus was funded to Chair, responded to the same ship endeavors as well as other add faculty at the rate of one per question by stating that the Continued from Page 1 demands. At CSUSM, WTU's twenty students, we should have Academic Senate Committee is have been awarded for the writ- added about 47 to FTE faculty. unaware of any specific cases The biologists even offered that which escapes from under ing-across-the-curriculum pro- Yet, we have added less than 19 of the writing requirement not Palenscar a position helping in the tarps will easily evaporate gram aimed at developing the faculty. In light of faculty rising being implemented. the effort to remove the plant. into the air." writing skills of all students in all to the challenge of meeting FTES While CFA union leader Luckily, the local finding Other methods of thwarting fields, supervision of indepen- enrollment," he wonders, "why is George Diehr states that he is was made relatively early and the seaweed growth, such as dent study and student teachers, our administration making such aware that not all courses are is small. After consulting with introducing tropical marine plant- enrollment above standard class a big deal about workload?" fully implementing the writing algae experts, including those eater snails (aplysia depilans), size, and program/course devel- Since the university publicly requirement, the writing require- on the Mediterranean project, immune to the seaweeds's poi- opment. The faculty is expected ment is not a contracted item and Rachel Woodfield from Merkel son, were ruled out because of promotes its small class sizes, to meet enrollment demands the CFA is not accountable for & Associates (San Diego consul- their potential to further endan- availability of professors for stu- while their contract allows them overseeing thi^program. tant firm), along with nine other ger the fragile ecosystem. dents, and its signature writ- the flexibility as to how they Nevertheless, in the discus- agencies and groups, have rushed ing-across-the-curriculum pro- The next step for biologists handle the rising enrollment. sion of workload issues, the prior to remove the plant by tightly will be long-term monitoring of gram, faculty members agree When asked if the adminis- practice of the university in allot- blanketing the growth areas with the waters, including pamphlets that increasing enrollments with- tration has implemented a 12-unit ting three (3) weighted teaching tarps.