The Mountaineer

Issue date: 6/4/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Jimmy Jimenez President O'Hearn answers questions about school problems at a recent meeting

The Founder's Hall held a President's Open Forum on May 17, allowing students, faculty, and administration to ask Mt. SAC President Christopher O'Hearn questions.

"This is supposed to be informal, like a chat," O'Hearn said. "And if I don't like the question, I'll just direct you to my VPs."

The audience, consisting of several faculty members, administrators, and two students laughed. The issue regarding campus-recycling efforts was brought up.

Vice President of Administrative Services Michael Gregoryk responded.

"We really do want to start greening the whole campus," Gregoryk said. "We didn't want to say 'yes' and not do anything. We want to bring in someone to control the whole aspect of greening Mt. SAC. It would be wonderful to create a culture of environmentalism."

Questions regarding the effectiveness of California's revised budget were asked.

The Cost of Living Assistance (COLA) went up, Gregoryk said.

"There is a one percent potential salary increase, it's only one-time money," he said. "There is also $2.5 million for scholarships, but that has to be divided between 109 colleges. It's really not a lot."

A representative from the Developmental Education Team (DE Team) asked for support to start a database with electronic faculty profiles.

"It would be like ratemyprofessor.com but more credible, because it's coming from the source," the representative said.

Mt. SAC is also "exploring the idea" making a new logo O'Hearn said.

Questions about the unattractive pipes in the adjacent room were also asked.

"What's going on with this wall?" one administrator asked in reference to a bare, grey wall with wooden sticks popping out.

A mural with 15 canvas paintings from an artist will soon be place there, O'Hearn said. "They will be coming in soon and at some point we'll host an open house of the hall," he said.

The room went silent for a while. O'Hearn began to bite his nails, examine his fingers, and drink water.

The forum lasted for one hour and audience members were free to leave whenever they needed.

According to the online campus newsletter, the forum is open to the public and no formal agenda is planned.

The next open forum took place Wednesday, May 30 at 2 p.m. at the Founder's Hall.

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