DECEMBER 2004

LRCFT Union News • Vol. XXXIV, No. 2

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IN THIS ISSUE

GUN ISSUES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 1

PRESIDENT’S REPORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 2

DENNIS AND ME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 4

As most of you know by now, at its regularmeeting on November 3, the Los RiosBoard of Trustees considered the issue ofarming District POST certified police offi-cers, who are represented by the ServiceEmployees International Union. Since theissue was subject to collective bargaining,their discussion took place in closed ses-sion. The Board decided to arm the mem-bers of the District Police Department,effective January 1, 2006, contingent oncertain criteria being met.

The news of this decision generated mixedreactions among faculty throughout theDistrict. During October, the issue hadbeen the subject of campus forums (billed as“debates” but lacking any official voicesopposing guns for campus police). Thoseresponsible for organizing the forumsmaintained that efforts were made toinclude all points of view and that no sup-porter of the status quo, i.e., anti-guns,could be found who was willing to partici-pate. In addition, certain administrators didnot even want to call the forums “debates”for fear that the forums would then be seenas adversarial (incorrectly, as it happened)and divisive. This represents a stereotypicalview of a debate and was but one indicationthat the District did not initially embrace theidea of publicly discussing the issue. As KCBoylan, Professor of CommunicationStudies at FLC, writes, “Debates allow forthe open and honest exchange of reasonedpositions, by promoting accountability toevidence and logical reasoning. They createa context for dialogue that promotes reason-ing rather than subjective reaction becauseadvocates are held accountable by opposingadvocates for the quality of their arguments.By requiring advocates to openly share the

evidence used as the basis for their posi-tions, we as a ‘society’ have the ability todevelop ‘convinced awareness.’”

To underscore the dissatisfaction with theforums on the part of some faculty mem-bers, Charles Van Patten, Professor ofPhilosophy at CRC, sent an e-mail to allDistrict employees with a compilation ofarguments (four pages worth) against arm-ing the police. (He had solicited these fromhis colleagues at CRC.) What follows is asampling of faculty opinion on the decisionto arm the campus police.

Kimberlee Beyrer, the Coordinator ofStudent Leadership and Development atSCC, writes about the efforts of theAssociated Student Government membersto give voice to student points of view,efforts that the District did not seem to wel-come, according to Beyrer:

“I am proud of the student leaders at SCC.They gathered information, considered itcritically, shared it with their constituents,made informed choices, and acted withintegrity. Despite their [the ASG’s] unwel-comed comments and unpopular views, theystood strong in an effort to represent and givethe students of SCC a voice. Our studentshave learned a great deal from the LRCCDcommunity, but in this case, the lessonsbelong to us. May we all, and especially thosewho criticized the students, learn from thema greater sense of courage and integrity.”

Not all faculty are against the arming ofCollege Police. Phil Cypret, a Professor ofAeronautics, writes, in part:“…after attending the campus forums andreviewing the heavy email traffic that blew

SOME FACULTY THOUGHTS ON THE GUN ISSUEBY ROBERT PERRONE

SCC ARC CRC FLC

up around this subject, it appears that themajority of folks are in favor of an armedpolice force. It also seems that was reflectedin the board [Board of Trustees] vote. I’malso speaking as a faculty member who hashad to disarm a suicidal student…who wasarmed with a .38 caliber pistol in my classsome time ago. It seems the AcademicSenate should represent the majority offaculty on such issues.”

Dyan Pease, Professor of Business, was inagreement with Cypret. She wrote, “I am

Continued on page 4

December 20042

President: Dennis Smith 448-2452 smithd13@aol.com

Secretary/Treas: Donna Nacey 568-3100 x2754 nacey@sbcglobal.net

ARC CP: Dean Murakami 484-8497 murakad@arc.losrios.edu

College Rep: Dolores Delgado Campbell 484-8279 delgadd@arc.losrios.edu

College Rep: Diana Hicks 484-8210 hicksdl@arc.losrios.edu

College Rep: John Gamber484-8459 gamberj@arc.losrios.edu

Adjunct Rep: Tamir Sukkarysukkarte@arc.losrios.edu

CRC CP: Chuck Van Patten 691-7229 vanpatc@crc.losrios.edu

College Rep: Lanny Hertzberg 691-7472 hertzbl@crc.losrios.edu

College Rep: Reona James 691-7254 jamesr@crc.losrios.edu

College Rep: Norv Wellsfry691-7269 wellsfn@crc.losrios.edu

FLC CP: KC Boylan608-6628 boylank@flc.losrios.edu

College Rep: Talver Germany 642-5663 germant@flc.losrios.edu

College Rep: Ted Foster 642-5610 fostert@flc.losrios.edu

SCC CP: Annette Barfield 650-2579 barfiea@scc.losrios.edu

College Rep: Phil Cypret650-2721 cypretp@scc.losrios.edu

College Rep: Tonie Hilligoss 558-2602 hilligoss@oro.net

College Rep: Robyn Waxman 558-2280 waxmanr@scc.losrios.edu

Adjunct Rep: Donna Nacey568-3100 x2754 nacey@sbcglobal.net

PAFC Chair: Tamir Sukkary sukkarte@arc.losrios.edu

Exec. Director: Robert Perrone 448-2452 x117 perrone@lrcft.org

Admin. Asst: Reina Mayorga 448-2452x118 myhija@aol.com

GETTING EVEN WITH SOME PEOPLE

“The people to get even with are the peoplewho have helped you.” This advice was givento me at an IBA training session and I thinkI will use my last column as your LRCFTpresident to get even with some people.There are many people on my list but Iwould especially like to get even with MarcHall, Steve Ruis, Michael Crowley, LindaStroh, Robert Perrone, Reona James, andeach of the four LRCFT College Presidents.I know why I want to get even with these peo-ple and I will continue to try. For the pur-poses of this column, however, all I can do isto thank them publicly for all that they havedone for me and for all of us in Los Rios.

I think everyone in Los Rios should try to geteven with Marc Hall and Steve Ruis. MarcHall, CPA and former CRC President firstconceived of the now evolved and widely imi-tated LRCCD revenue sharing contract agree-ments known as the “salary bucket system.”Steve Ruis, ARC Chemistry Professor andformer LRCFT Chief Negotiator was the firstto lead the union team in an interest basedapproach to collective bargaining. Seeing thevalue, Steve and others have since tirelessly ledthe effort to embed the principles of an inter-est-based approach to dialog and decisionmaking into the organizational cultures of theLRCCD. The financial stability, the retrochecks, the policy of no layoffs, and therespectful labor/management and governancerelations in Los Rios are the envy of many inCalifornia. Thank you Marc and Steve.

All faculty should also want to join me try-ing to get even with Michael Crowley andLinda Stroh. Michael Crowley is a CRCProfessor Emeritus who helped to build theLRCFT. He was the union president when Ijoined Los Rios twenty years ago and duringthe first week of school he personally askedme to join the union and contribute to thepolitical action fund. Over the years,Michael successfully repeated that “ask” athousand times I’m sure. Likewise, weshould try to get even with Linda Stroh,now President of the SCC Academic Senate.With great integrity, Linda has served thefaculty of Los Rios for more than a decade.Both before and during my time she was theLRCFT’s Dispute Resolution Officer, SCC

Vice President, and Secretary Treasurer.Thank you Michael for building this unionand Linda for many years of faculty serviceand leadership by example.

Many faculty might want to join me in gettingeven with Robert Perrone, Reona James,Annette Barfield, Dean Murakami, ChuckVan Patten, and KC Boylan. They carry thestress of conflict resolution for the unionwhen its members are in dispute with admin-istration. In their respective roles as LRCFTExecutive Director, Dispute ResolutionOfficer, and LRCFT College Presidents theyare on the job for the faculty and the unionofficials (especially the President) on a24/7/365 basis. Thank you all.

Though I’m willingly giving up the job aspresident of our union, I’m not giving upunion work. Just as Michael Crowley, LindaStroh, and others stayed to help me once Ibecame president, I plan to stick around awhile to be a resource for LRCFT presidentDean Murakami and the other union offi-cials. We have some very interesting work todo and I’m excited to continue to be a partof it.

THE STATE OF OUR UNION

In each of my two previous terms as yourpresident, I have shared my perspective of

PRESIDENT’S REPORTBY DENNIS SMITH

“The people to get

even with are

the people who

have helped you.”

Continued on next page

the state of our union. Using a SWOT(strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, andthreats) analysis format, I will leave you withthese opinions.

The greatest strength of our union is alwaysits people and the most important is you. Inaddition to the necessary financial support,members of the LRCFT freely give theirtime, intellect, and creativity whenever theyare asked to help in a union effort. Anothermajor strength of our union at this partic-ular time is the incredible depth andbreadth of experience of the LRCFTDistrict and College level leadership.Making the union work are LRCFT’Sextremely competent professional staff,Reina Mayorga, Administrative Assistantand Robert Perrone, Executive Director.You, the members, your elected leadership,and your professional staff make up theLRCFT’s pyramid of people power.

The LRCFT is also strong because of its veryeffective relationships with other groups bothin and outside of Los Rios. We enjoy a uniqueand powerful partner relationship with theLRCCD Academic Senate through ourliaisons and the Senate Union Joint IssuesCommittee. We are also in what I would char-acterize as a partner relationship with Districtlevel financial and executive administration,we benefit from an interest -based approachto contract negotiations, and we have a mutu-ally respectful relationship with LRCCDBoard of Trustees. Finally, LRCFT partici-pates in the committees and councils and hasaffiliate relationships with the SacramentoCentral Labor Council, the CaliforniaFederation of Teachers, the California LaborFederation, and the American Federation ofTeachers. We are not alone.

We certainly have strengths as a union but wealso have a few weaknesses. Though we havemade progress, I believe that the LRCFTexhibits marginal political effectiveness ineducational public policy development. Theinterests of community colleges and facultyin Los Angeles, San Diego, San Franciscoare articulated much more clearly than ours.Additionally, I believe that the LRCFT has amarginally effective relationship with theSacramento Central Labor Council. Again,we have evolved in that we have participatedin some joint activities but based on collab-orations between AFT community college

unions and county labor councils in SanJose, Los Angeles, and other locations, wecould do so much more.

From assessed weakness always come oppor-tunities. We clearly have the opportunity tobuild more effective relationships with gov-ernmental and legislative contacts and alsowith the Sacramento Central LaborCouncil. We have other opportunities clos-er to the workplace. First, we have the chanceto improve the working conditions for allLRCCD faculty via our upcoming contractnegotiations. Second, through union spon-sored workshops and events, we have theopportunity to provide professional devel-opment for faculty activists and leaders.

There are some threats out there. Changesto our salary formulas, outcome-basedfunding, fewer tenured faculty, and dimin-ished Los Rios relationships are chief amongthem. Every year, there are proposedchanges in the California CommunityCollege System’s budget line items thataffect LRCCD contractual salary formulas.Last year, there were recommendationsmade by the California Legislature and bythe Governor in the Master Plan and in theCalifornia Performance Review that eitherdid not reflect or were in direct conflict withthe faculty values. A more insidious andlong-term threat to the membership of theLRCFT is the attack on tenure that seems tobe gaining momentum. The financialstresses of California’s political budget hascaused the Community College SystemBoard of Governors to reduce, waive,and/or defer the hiring of full time faculty asrequired by the “full time hiring obligation”regulations called for by Assembly Bill 1725.

Finally, and this is just a concern, the unionand it members could be threatened by anydeterioration in LRCFT/LRCCD opera-tional relationships. Contract implementa-tion, resolution of workplace issues, andforward progress for this union and thisdistrict will always be better if employeesand management pay particular and per-petual attention to our relationships. Thus,I conclude six years as your president.Thank you for the privilege and the honor.

President’s Column, Continued from page 2

LRCFT Union News • Vol. XXXIV, No. 2 3

*

completely supportive of the decision [toarm campus police with guns]. Our officersare trained to handle weapons and theyshould be able to defend the campus andthose of us working here.”

Eileen Sarasohn, Professor of History,addressed what appeared to many faculty asa narrow view of the issue as a strictly “col-lective bargaining” matter. Like other fac-ulty, she involved her students in a discus-sion on the topic. She wrote, “A concern ofmany of my students and colleagues is thatthe Board labeled this issue a ‘collectivebargaining’ issue. It is far more than that.This is an issue that affects both the learn-ing and work environment. It was a decisionthat ignored the most important data avail-able: That violent crime is not a prominentfactor on our campuses.”

Although Deborah Russell, an AdjunctProfessor of English, is “adamantly opposedto handguns of any kind” and “think[s] theyshould be outlawed,” she also adds,“However, I am a realist, and it doesn’t looklike we’re going to be successful getting rid ofthem [guns] any time soon. That said, if everyTom, Dick, and Harry running in the streetsseems to have one, how on earth can we logi-cally argue that our law enforcement officersneed NOT have them? [Emphasis hers] Theirjob is to protect us and, of course, themselves.In the event of a Columbine-type situation,do we really want our campus officers to standby helpless while an insane person shoots stu-dents and staff at will?…I wish I didn’t have tosay this, but yes, arm them!”

Julie Hawthorne, Professor of English andCommunication, articulates the concernsof many when she writes:

“I have two problems with this decision.First, I believe that arming of police officerswill contribute to an atmosphere of fear. Ialso believe that there is a greater likelihoodthat there will be gun violence on campus. Ican’t back this up with statistics, but I per-sonally am very frightened at the prospect ofarmed officers.”

However, Hawthorne’s main problem had todo with the time necessary to dispatch anofficer to a trouble spot. “Unless this issue isaddressed, it will not matter whether policeofficers are armed,” she writes. She support-ed this with personal anecdotes of policegoing to the wrong place, even “when I havebeen very clear as to where I am;” of no oneanswering the phone at the dispatch center;of the connection being lost; or “the officersarrive so late that if there had been a trueemergency, there might have been a loss oflife.” “Given the problems of dispatch,”Hawthorne says, “the issue of having gunsavailable is moot.” She adds that, “There areoptions other than arming all campus police.For example, the District could decide thatonly the police chief and sergeant would bearmed. I think we should urge the Districtand SEIU to consider options other thanhaving all college police officers armed.”

Hawthorne also sent her remarks to RickJones, the recently hired Los Rios Chief of

Police. Jones responded to Hawthorne’sremarks that same day, via email. Here areexcerpts from his response:

“I want to assure you that only officers whopass very stringent guidelines will be per-mitted to carry a firearm. I did not make therequest nor did I make the decision aboutfirearms, but like many of us I will do as Iam directed. My primary concern as alwaysis the safety of the campus students, staffand visitors…Since I have been here I rec-ognized problems and have been addressingthem. Many of these problems have beenpresent for years so it will take a few monthsto sort them out. In the meantime we haveaddressed the dispatch issues. We haveincreased their training and the number ofdispatchers. We now have dispatchers onduty seven days a week and twenty-fourhours a day…I would advise and request thatif you have been treated unfairly or you arenot satisfied with the service provided pleasecontact me or one of my supervisors to filean Internal Affairs complaint. Thank you.”

Hawthorne was impressed with the prob-lem-solving approach Jones offered.

“Given that the decision has been made toarm our District police officers, we shouldcontinue the dialogue to help us betterunderstand the various points of view. Thereis much we can do to make our colleges insti-tutions which actively promote non-violence.The arming of officers shouldn’t be viewed asthe sole problem, nor the sole solution.”

Gun Issues, continued from page 1

** * * *On another page of this issue you will read

the last comments of Dennis Smith as thepresident of the Union. As someone whohas worked closely with Dennis for the lastten years, during which he served first as theUnion’s treasurer for four years and then aspresident for six, I believe I am qualified tooffer these observations.

At the beginning of his service, one wouldhave to have concluded that no two peoplecould be more unalike than Dennis and me.Dennis, the straight-laced accounting pro-fessor who wears a shirt and tie virtuallyevery working minute; me, the casuallydressed, union rep whose educational back-

ground is in the social sciences and workhistory in the factories of Los Angeles.Fortunately, neither one of us tends tojudge people by surface appearances, jobtitles or background. In the ten years I haveworked with Dennis I have seen him devel-op from a reluctant participant and border-line cynic vis a vis union activities, to a full-blown trade unionist who willingly andunselfishly gives of his time and energy tothe cause of improving the lot of not justfaculty, but working people in general. Hisopen minded approach to issues hasenabled him to change and grow, both as anindividual and as a union officer. As a fac-ulty leader, as soon as he is convinced of the

importance of an issue, he becomes a prin-cipled advocate for change.

On a more personal level, I could not haveasked for a more loyal colleague. I know thatat times that loyalty was tested to its limits. Iwill miss our conversations, some moreprofound than others, in this office thattouched on a broad array of issues, not allof them strictly work-related. Thank you,my friend, for occupying that chair behindme for all those years.

*Don’t say it—I know that isn’t grammatical-ly correct

DENNIS AND ME*BY ROBERT PERRONE