On The Record

E-mails reveal COCC battle

Sat, 18 Dec 2010 15:48:38 -0500

“Below is an article written by The Bulletin in Bend Oregon. The article pertains to emails that were requested by The Bulletin and The Broadside, the college paper I was editor of. The Broadside’s coverage of the emails will go much more into depth with what exactly ASCOCC has done unethically.”

College officials considered shutting down the student government

By Sheila G. Miller / The Bulletin

Published: November 30. 2010 4:00AM PST

E-mail correspondence between Central Oregon Community College administrators show school officials were concerned about the Associated Students of COCC - and even weighed the option of disbanding the group - in the month before the student government retained a lawyer to clarify its role at the college and its ability to administer student fees.

ASCOCC faces a recall effort, an ongoing battle with the student newspaper over public records and allegations that student government misused student fees, and is currently in discussions with college administrators about its role at the college. The e-mails between Sept. 1 and Oct. 16 and obtained by The Bulletin through a public records request indicate college administrators had been working behind the scenes to figure out the issues since at least the start of the 2010-11 school year.

Some of the problems student government has faced this year come from COCC’s lack of a formal policy detailing ASCOCC’s roles and responsibilities. While the college has had a student government since at least the 1950s and a student fee that ASCOCC oversees since 1993, no formal policy was ever put in place.

College Relations Director Ron Paradis said the issue came to the college’s attention when student government members approached college officials, curious about the board’s ratification of its student fee policy.

“In doing research, we discovered we hadn’t ratified those things, and then in doing our research we realized those were things that should have been taken care of and hadn’t been,” Paradis said. “The relationship has always been very broad as far as what decisions those in student government have been allowed to make.”

College officials believed that relationship should be better defined.

The student government on Oct. 13 hired Miller Nash LLP attorney Greg Lynch as an advocate, and has also employed India Simmons, a local public relations specialist. ASCOCC member Brenda Pierce said Lynch is paid $295 per hour out of student fee funds, and that Simmons will also be paid with student fee money.

ASCOCC members declined to comment without seeing the e-mails, and Lynch did not return calls for comment.

But nearly a month before Lynch was hired by ASCOCC, the e-mails were already flying about how to handle a potential conflict with the student government.

On Sept. 14, COCC President Jim Middleton e-mailed with board president Charley Miller about ASCOCC’s interactions with Simmons.

Simmons had contacted Miller about ASCOCC’s desire to define the boundaries of its relationship with the college; Miller forwarded the e-mail to Middleton, who told Miller to be careful about getting involved.

“As a PR person, India is certainly aware how things could blow up in (the students’) faces if they head down a path where there is reality or appearance of legal, ethical or stewardship problems,” Middleton wrote.

2 recommendations

On Sept. 24, Dean of Student and Enrollment Services Alicia Moore sent a draft recommendation of possible next steps the college could take in dealing with ASCOCC, based on conversations with an attorney.

The recommendation included two options: bring ASCOCC into compliance with the college’s expectations or stop recognizing ASCOCC as a college organization.

“The intent is to offer student government an opportunity to clean up their current situation and begin a more productive, less combative relationship with the college,” Moore wrote. “If they do not want to comply with these minimum requirements, we will then move to Option B.”

Under the first option, Moore said ASCOCC and COCC would have to rewrite the constitution, begin operating under current bylaws, update all job descriptions, write a fiscal policy, comply with open records law, and work with Moore to develop a resolution where the board ratified student fees and the ASCOCC constitution.

“In addition to the above, ASCOCC will no longer have a college credit card, their checking accounts will be reduced to $1,000, and petty cash will be maintained under current College policies and practices,” she wrote.

The other option, Moore wrote, would include putting together a campuswide task force to create a new student government and constitution while still running the programs ASCOCC operates; ASCOCC students would be encouraged to apply. A temporary student fee committee would review requests for funds and a severance for current ASCOCC members would be considered.

“That’s not something we are considering at this point,” Paradis said. “The purpose of these meetings is to get to a point that both ASCOCC and the college is comfortable with their relationship. And we believe we’re both going to get there.”

Some of the e-mails concern how to deal with the student newspaper The Broadside, which had requested a series of financial documents from ASCOCC and felt the public records requests were being ignored.

‘ASCOCC is not happy’

On Oct. 8, as administrators and student government members grappled with who should release those records, Student Activities Coordinator Taran Underdal told college officials ASCOCC was not likely to comply with the requests.

“ASCOCC is not happy about (the) possibility of COCC releasing their financial information. They have scheduled a meeting with an attorney and plan to file an injunction preventing this,” Underdal wrote to Moore.

That never happened; ASCOCC turned over records to both The Broadside and The Bulletin. But college officials now knew the student government was working with a lawyer, and that seems to have ramped up their concerns.

The day after ASCOCC hired Lynch, the college put a stop payment on three outstanding ASCOCC checks pre-signed by their previous adviser so that any checks would have to be approved by Underdal, ASCOCC’s current adviser.

Executive session

According to an e-mail exchange between Middleton and Moore, the board then met in an executive session to discuss the ASCOCC issue. Executive sessions are not open to the public; members of the media can attend but cannot report on what happens in them unless the information is brought up outside of the session.

In those e-mails, Moore asked Middleton whether it would make sense to limit ASCOCC’s access to funds because of “recent poor/inappropriate fiscal decisions.” She also noted the board had discussed in executive session whether attorney expenses could be paid for with student fees.

Moore wrote that University of Oregon students had tried to use student fee money to pay for attorney fees, and the attorney general had ruled they could not.

Middleton, who at the time was on vacation, told Moore to wait on taking action.

“These events have helped define where clearer policy frameworks are needed. We should focus attention on creating that policy framework,” he wrote. “There should be a clear separation between actions which are ‘clamping down’ and those that are putting action in line with law or policy. I am willing to have some flexibility until policy is clarified and ensure (that) our actions are in no way a response to what feels like bad behavior on their part.”

For now, the negotiations between ASCOCC and COCC are in limbo as students prepare for finals. But Paradis said the college is hopeful the issue will be wrapped up by the middle of winter term.

Sheila G. Miller can be reached at 541-617-7831 or at smiller@bendbulletin.com

Move Afoot to Cut COCC Paper's Funding Some Students Complain Fees Go to 'Biased' Reporting

Tue, 14 Dec 2010 14:31:00 -0500

Move Afoot to Cut COCC Paper's Funding Some Students Complain Fees Go to 'Biased' Reporting:

This one is priceless. After the meeting with the student council, we were asked if we had any questions. We asked one question, which was why a council member recused himself from a vote on funding for a club. It turns out Terry Link is dating the same woman in this video that want’s her student fees to not go to the paper. This is a fucked up situation.

College Newspaper Hits Stands, And A Nerve - News Story - KTVZ Bend

Tue, 14 Dec 2010 14:26:00 -0500

College Newspaper Hits Stands, And A Nerve - News Story - KTVZ Bend:

Here’s another video from those kooky local new people. Click the link above to be directed to KTVZ the local news station in Bend Oregon.

Student-Funded Videos Spark COCC Debate - News Story - KTVZ Bend

Tue, 14 Dec 2010 14:25:00 -0500

Student-Funded Videos Spark COCC Debate - News Story - KTVZ Bend:

This was a story about Robert Walker. The other local news station, KOHD didn’t cover the story because Rob Walker currently works, or used to work for KOHD.

COCC Newspaper Article Making Waves - News Story - KTVZ Bend

Tue, 14 Dec 2010 14:19:00 -0500

COCC Newspaper Article Making Waves - News Story - KTVZ Bend:

Oh the local news channels. How does it feel to not have a soul, and be constantly laughed at all at the same time?

It really pays to love ASCOCC. (Editorial)

Wed, 03 Nov 2010 00:00:00 -0400

Eric Ercanbrack

Last year the former editor in chief of The Broadside, Don Iler, wrote an editorial titled, “It Pays to love ASCOCC.” Iler, who was later accused of defamation for the editorial, was cleared of all charges. The problem that Iler’s editorial was attempting to uncover was lost in the political mess, until now.

“Rob Walker, who is living with ASCOCC council member Brenda Pierce, was hired last term to make videos for ASCOCC… his contract came up for review and if approved, he will be paid $3000 spring term…$3000 per term is quite a bit for ASCOCC to be paying” wrote Iler in his editorial.

The $3000 contract wasn’t approved. Instead Walker was given an hourly rate at $15 per hour. This ended up netting Walker a higher income than the initial $3000 per term. For spring term 2010, Walker was paid $5,504.50.

On top of Walker’s $15 an hour honorary member pay, he was also paid for outside contracts. For the 2009 to 2010 school year, Walker was paid $19,357 with student fee money. Walker began honorary and outside contract work in February of 2010. If Walker had worked a full school year he would have been paid a much higher annual earning. It is concerning to know that this was approved by our student government.

ASCOCC should be more accountable for student fee money. The Broadside has attempted to find the minutes (outlines) for the public meeting where ASCOCC members agreed to contract and pay an hourly rate to Walker. If these minutes aren’t posted that would mean ASCOCC is breaking Oregon law.

The ethical boundary is pushed when student government members hire boyfriends and pay them over $19,000 dollars a year. When you include a $295 per hour lawyer, $18,000 trips to Washington, and a public relations consultant, current members could potentially bankrupt the student government.

Has a student government gone bankrupt? I have found none that have, but I have also found no other student government that has hired a lawyer in order to avoid being dissolved, and to ‘define’ themselves in relation to the college that houses and supports them. Student government members seem to not have a proper system in place for maintaining financially responsibility.

Walker was just paid $1366.50 for September of this year. This is more than any student government member is paid per month.
Who is in control of this situation?

Last year Walker was also the president of the Brew Club, a club where all equipment was stored in Pierce’s and Walkers garage. The Brew Club was funded by student fee money. Are there no ethical boundaries, or moral based second guessing within the student government? ASCOCC is not being accountable of student fee money. Student government members are not making ethically sound choices.

The student government is learning experience. There are wonderful things the student government has done for our campus and the students at COCC. However, being an honorary, general council and executive council member is not a sustainable job. These positions are not financially supporting careers, and that is how these positions are being treated.

It seems members have become too comfortable, and it seems that level of comfort has hindered their ability to make ethical judgements about how student fee money is spent.

Can student government justify actions like paying a boyfriend over $19,000 in student fees? If there is corruption in student government, this may be a keen example of it.

This graphic, by Zak Remer, depicts the earning of actual ASCOCC...

Wed, 03 Nov 2010 00:00:00 -0400

This graphic, by Zak Remer, depicts the earning of actual ASCOCC members compared to the honorary member Rob Walker, who is dating a ASCOCC board member. This covers the entire 2009-9010 fiscal year earnings.

This story was reported on by the local news station. You can find the coverage at www.ktvz.com by searching ‘Rob Walker’.

ASCOCC executive member’s boyfriend paid over $19,000 in student fee money

Wed, 03 Nov 2010 00:00:00 -0400

Eric Ercanbrack
Kirsteen Wolf
Tobey Veenstra

The highest paid member of Associated Students of Central Oregon Community College last school year was honorary member Rob Walker according to public documents.

Walker, who it appears primarily made videos for ASCOCC’s Facebook page, made nearly $20,000 in student fees. He is the boyfriend of ASCOCC member Brenda Pierce.

Walker’s wages included four payments totaling $8,350 for outside contracted services from July 2009 to November 2009, and a salary totaling $11,007 from February 2010 to June 2010.

Walker’s salary as an honorary member exceeded the $9,500 salaries executive members Pierce and Terry Link, and the $8,962.50 salary of executive member Matt Coito.

ASCOCC is currently attempting to define its role in relation to the college. At issue, in part, is whether ASCOCC must follow college policies with regards to financial responsibility and fiscal oversight.

Members of ASCOCC declined comment and referred questions to their student fee-funded lawyer, Greg Lynch.

“I am choosing not to do an interview with you,” said Pierce to a Broadside reporter. “And no student government member will either.”

Lynch did not immediately return calls for comment.
Honorary members and outside services

Honorary members have no voting power on the student government. They often help out with events and typically get paid $10 per hour. Walker is the exception; he gets paid $15 per hour.

Walker, who was hired initially to create videos for student government, has created 16 videos that can be found on ASCOCC’s Facebook webpage.

“To my understanding, he was their videographer and would upload onto Facebook,” said Gordon Price, advisor to ASCOCC for the 2009-2010 school year.

The videos include two Thanksgiving food drive videos, two bowling night videos, and an ASCOCC Facebook video. The majority of these clips are under two minutes long.

Walker’s job was the same throughout the year but the way he was paid changed, said Price. He was paid as an outside contractor from July to November and he was paid as an honorary member from February to June of last school year.

Kevin Raichl, president of Visual Thinking Northwest, a local video production company, viewed Walker’s video promoting ASCOCC’s publication “The Voice.”

“If I assume you wanted me to estimate the cost of producing a promo similar to that one, I would say about $200,” he said.

Using Raichl’s estimate, Walker’s 16 videos would cost $3,200 to produce.
Payroll

COCC, through student fees, allots money to ASCOCC—$278,536 in the 2009-2010 school year—and ASCOCC in turn funds programs and clubs, and puts on events throughout the year. With those fees they also pay their executive council, general council and honorary members.

The total payroll costs of ASCOCC for the last fiscal year—July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010—was $78,485.50, according to public documents. This is a $35,725.60 increase from the previous school year and about 50 percent more than the organization budgeted.

There are 43 individuals listed on ASCOCC’s payroll for the last fiscal year. Walker’s pay as an honorary member is 14 percent of the payroll.

This percentage does not reflect money Walker made as an outside contractor, which totaled $8,350.
ASCOCC’s legal questions

COCC’s student government has been trying to clarify their role at the college through legal negotiations between attorneys. ASCOCC hired Greg Lynch, a lawyer who typically charges $295 per hour, and India Simmons, a public relations consultant. Documents have been requested as to the amount paid to both Lynch and Simmons, but currently ASCOCC has no public documentation on the requests.

Legal negotiation topics include the student government’s autonomy, its relation to the college, whether it falls under college policy, and whether or not it can be dissolved, according to an ASCOCC memorandum.

Price encourages students to get involved if there are issues regarding the use of funds and potential fiscal wrongdoing.

“Students can stop it by saying, ‘I demand a change,’” said Price. “Students have always had that power.”

You may contact Eric Ercanbrack at eercanbrack@cocc.edu, Kirsteen Wolf at kwolf@cocc.edu, and Tobey Veenstra at tveenstra@cocc.edu

Quick facts

Walker has been paid $4,180 in salary so far this school year, since June 2010, according to ASCOCC’s payroll documents.

Pierce’s salary for this period $9,500. Their combined salaries are $28,857 which is ten percent of the total revenue for the 2009/2010 year.Pierce is in her fourth year of serving as a member of ASCOCC.

According to the ASCOCC constitution, students can serve on the student government while taking as little as one credit

All council members and honorary members are eligible for a cell phone stipend. The current college policy on cell phone stipend is $60. Cell phone stipends appear in payroll according to Taran Underdal, ASCOCC advisor. Some members of ASCOCC’s payroll went from $750 to $810.

The Broadside will remain Professional even in Unprofessional circumstances (Editorial)

Thu, 28 Oct 2010 00:00:00 -0400

Eric Ercanbrack

I have heard two or three comments recently from students who are asking why The Broadside hates the Associated Students of Central Oregon Community College.

This hate is nonexistent.

The Broadside does not hate, and we are not attacking any individual of the student government or the student government itself. We are an unbiased independent newspaper that strives for the utmost accuracy and professionalism. A predominant purpose of The Broadside is to publish a professional paper every week, and to only print facts in the News. We do this while balancing classes, homework, jobs and our personal lives. We believe strongly in the value of the press to gather, publish and air news and commentary for our campus community backed by the dedication to student First Amendment rights and for open government on campus.

Before the school year began, I sat at a meeting with student government members and expressed to them that I would like to work on The Broadside and ASCOCC’s relationship throughout the year. I have every intent on continuing to fulfilling that promise. However, in that same meeting I also expressed to them that we, as a news organization, will still investigate and be skeptical of how ASCOCC spends and has spent student fee money. The Broadside has followed up on this promise as well, and we will continue to.

The Broadside recently reported on a conference ASCOCC members attended. This article produced a lot of comments on our Facebook page and our website, thebroadsideonline.com.

Some of these comments are in support of our pursuit of the facts while others say that we are inaccurate. We received a letter from ASCOCC making calls for retractions, this letter will be addressed. We also reserve the right to not print hate speech like a letter comparing The Broadside with the KKK.

If misleading and aggressive tactics are used or encouraged by ASCOCC members, they need to stop. I understand how messy politics can get, however that does not mean professionalism should be lost.

The Broadside staff are fact checkers, and that is all we print, the facts, but we are not above corrections. We are unbiased and accurate in our reporting. It is up to students to draw their own conclusions from what The Broadside prints.

This graphic made it on the local news. Apparently, many find...

Wed, 27 Oct 2010 01:00:00 -0400

This graphic made it on the local news. Apparently, many find this graphic offensive. I don’t agree with them, but opinion is a right afforded to everyone in this country. So is freedom of the press. This graphic was on the front cover. You can find the news story on www.ktvz.com,

Students and Faculty come together to Fight Hate.

Wed, 27 Oct 2010 00:00:00 -0400

Eric Ercanbrack

The Broadside

The ‘Not on our Campus’ event was held at Central Oregon Community College on Oct. 20. The event, where students were encouraged to wear purple, focused on gay bullying. Gay teens ranging from age 10 to 20 years old have committed suicide over the last two months.

The Associated Students of Central Oregon Community, Multicultural Activities, the Gay Straight Alliance club, Juniper Hall and the Human Dignity Coalition came together in support of an anti bullying effort taking place across the nation. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation has promoted ‘Spirit Day’ where people are encouraged to wear purple to promote anti bullying. John MacAulay, ASCOCC’s event’s coordinator was one of they key figures behind the purple shirts hanging on windows around campus.

“It’s a national movement to stop teen suicides across the nation,” said Karen Roth, director of multicultural activities at COCC.

The ‘Not on Our Campus’ event hosted speakers, who talked about their personal experiences with bullying not only within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, and questioning community, but also addressed the overall issue of bullying. The event also hosted campus and community resources and the film “Bullied,” which was recently released.

“It [Not on Our Campus] got spurred because this is an important issue,” said Roth.

One of the recent suicides to bring about the event was an eighteen year old student at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Tyler Clementi jumped from a bridge over the Hudson River. His roommates had posted a secretly taped video online of Clementi and another man. Over 10 gay youth have been reported committing suicide in the last two months across the nation.

“You feel weak. You feel like you do not have the power to change your situation,” said Roth about individuals who face bullying.

According to the Gay Lesbian Education Network, in 2009 84.6% of LGBT students reported being verbally harassed, 40.1% reported being physically harassed and 18.8% reported being physically assaulted at school in the past year because of their sexual orientation

“I have gone through this, and it sucks,” said a COCC student who spoke at the event. The student spoke about personal experiences with bullying.

A recent case of gay bullying occurred on COCC and OSU Cascades campus. A Juniper Hall Residence student found ‘die fag’ written on their white board outside of their dorm room.

“There is help and there is assistance… if there is harassment or physical violence or even slurs,” said Rob Mcdilda, director of campus services. “Myself, my staff are committed to this,” explained Mcdilda who offered students the option to stop by the Boyle building room 142 if individuals are feeling threatened.

“It’s all about support,” voiced Gordon Price, COCC director of student life. “This is a great start here on campus.”

Roth also acknowledged the help out there to victims of bullying like the Cap Cent at COCC which offers counseling to students.

“We have to stand up and stop this,” said Mcdilda to a full room of community members.

Administrator “flabbergasted” by ASCOCC’s actions at Conference

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 00:00:00 -0400

Administrator “flabbergasted” by ASCOCC’s actions at Conference

Eric Ercanbrack, Tobey Veenstra, Kirsteen Wolf

The Broadside

At a three day Oregon Community College Student Associations retreat, some student government members drank alcohol, skipped sessions from the conference and questionably spent allocated student fee money.

All six members in attendance used student fee money to pay for at least one meal and five rented individual hotel rooms at the Vernonia Inn, despite food and lodging being included in the $120 per person registration fee. Two of the hotel rooms offered Jacuzzis.

Some left the conference to go to the Oregon Coast, twice.

“I was absolutely flabbergasted by their behavior,” said Jenni Jackson, the advisor to

the Associated Student Government of Rogue Community College. “Their performance wasn’t the best… they weren’t at the trainings, most of them just left.”

The student leadership retreat happened before the legal struggle with the college regarding fiscal accountability and issues surrounding the Associated Students of Central Oregon Community College’s autonomy from the college.

Brenda Pirece and Terry Link from the executive council of Associated Students of Central Oregon Community College attended the conference as well as Dustin Moore and Travis Peden from the general council. Two honorary members of ASCOCC also attended: Carl Rockwell and Chris March. The advisor to ASCOCC, Taran Underdal also went to the conference. John MacAulay and Matt Coito did not attend.

Alcohol

Some members of student government drank hard alcohol at the campground in view of middle school students. They were approached by Lane Community College’s associate dean of student affairs Barbara Delansky in regards to their alcohol use.

“The purpose of the event was not to stand behind your pickup truck and drink,” recounted Delansky who attended the conference with students. “Their actions could have repercussions,” she said in regards to children in the vicinity.

Neither Travis Peden , community and college relations coordinator, Dustin Moore ,budget coordinator nor Taran Underdal, ASCOCC advisor, were drinking with the others.

While there are no legal issues surrounding the choice to bring hard alcohol to a leadership retreat, there is the question of judgement.

“I really feel like it was their own personal party,” said Jackson.

Bringing alcohol to an event that is paid for by students seemed wrong she explained.

“For this particular conference, there was no policy against alcohol,” said Brenda Piece ASCOCC’s marketing and advertising coordinator who declined to say whether or not she brought alcohol to the event.She did state that if there was drinking going on that it was “no where near children.”

The campground was shared with the Larry Steele Basketball Camp for middle school children.

“It was the wrong place, wrong time,” said Tracy Weimer, the communications director for the Associated Students of Lane Community College.

Seaside

ASCOCC members skipped sessions at the conference and instead took two trips to Seaside, an Oregon coast town 36 miles away from the conference site.

OCCSA retreat is a three day, five session conference for student government members from 17 community colleges across Oregon. The retreat focuses on community work, leadership skills and team building. This year it was held in at Cedar Ridge Conference Center at Vernonia Oregon on Aug. 31 to Sept. 2 .

The conference explored numerous issues during their workshops/sessions ranging from recreation,sustainability, lobbying, traveling on a budget and power and privilege.

Mileage and per diem expenses were paid through student government accounts.

“They left and went to Seaside when the whole thing was just starting,” said Moore.

Members missed the first session and a forum which took place while the group was on the coast. Other sessions were missed as well.

Food and Lodging included

Food and lodging was included as part of the package for the retreat. It cost $120 for each of the six members to attend the conference. Five of the six members in attendance also chose not to stay at the conference lodging for a second night and instead rented five hotel rooms, two with jacuzzis, nearby.

“Some people went into town because of the sleeping conditions… they didn’t keep juice and coffee and tea out all day,” said Kim Nosenzo, student senator for the Associated Student Government of Columbia Gorge Community College. “It was hard to sleep.”

According to Pierce the accommodations were horrible: beds covered in plastic,one working toilet in the women’s restroom,bunk beds packed in close together. Pierce likened the accommodations to a “sixth grade outdoor school.”

Photos of the cabin can be found on the cedar ridge conference center at http://www.visitcedarridge.com.

Due to the density of fellow students in the rooms and the noise, it was difficult to sleep.

“I didn’t sleep the first night at all,” Pierce said.

“This was the kind of conditions that I could put up with back when I was 12,13,14 because that’s what I would be expecting, but now as an adult I expect to be treated like an adult especially when I am going to be working for an organization,” said Carl Rockwell, honorary ASCOCC member.

Vernonia Inn

Peden and Taren Underdal, the advisor to ASCOCC stayed behind. All other members stayed in their own hotel rooms for the second night.

The cost of five rooms was quoted by the Vernonia Inn at $419.75 in addition to the $840.00 that was spent on the cost of the retreat. Student fees also paid for the additional hotel rooms.

“They got their own hotels even though lodging was provided,” said Jackson.

Members also used the ASCOCC credit card to buy food at a restaurant instead of having their meals at the conference. There were more meals eaten outside of the conference but until records show otherwise, only one was confirmed to be paid for with student fees. The Broadside has requested the documents related to the Vernonia trip.

ASCOCC have no other trips scheduled according to Underdal.

________________

Conference Details

• Four members of the ASCOCC council, two honorary members and the ASCOCC advisor attended the conference.

• Student government members brought alcohol, and were drinking alcohol near middle-school children who were attending a basketball camp.

• Student government members were confronted about the alcohol.

• Some ASCOCC members left the retreat to go to Seaside on the Oregon Coast and went back to the coast for a second time.

• The $120 dollar per person conference registration fee included lodging and meals.

• Five ASCOCC members rented five hotel rooms, two of the rooms had Jacuzzis. A hotel representative quoted the cost of similar rooms at $79.95 per night for no jacuzzi and $89.95 per night for a room with a jacuzzi. ASCOCC students likely received a discount on those rates.

• Members left the campgrounds to use ASCOCC accounts—funded by student fee money— to buy at least one meal.

Student Government Hires Lawyer

Wed, 13 Oct 2010 01:00:00 -0400

Eric Ercanbrack

The Broadside

__________________

According to ASCOCC’s memorandum,
“The ASCOCC Executive and General council has taken action on appropriating funds today to hire Bend Attorney Greg Lynch, Miller Nash to advocate for ASCOCC in determining the following:

Clarify ASCOCC’s autonomy
Solidify ASCOCC’s authority to allocate student fees within the structure of ASCOCC’s constitution and bylaws.
Work in good faith with the College Administration in this effort (establish working parameters)
Ensure that COCC cannot dissolve or alter ASCOCC as this definitive process progresses
Create a clearly defined relationship with the college
Other related issues

The ASCOCC Executive and General Council has also agreed to hire a consultant for Public Relations Training.”

_________________

At a meeting yesterday afternoon, members of Associated Students of Central Oregon Community College unanimously voted to hire Gregory Lynch, a lawyer who “regularly charges $295 an hour,” said Jay Abbott, a secretary at Miller Nash LLP, the law firm in which Lynch works.

“I have not heard of this happening at any other college; I have been doing this for 20 years,” said Mike Hiestand, a staff attorney for the Student Press Law Center. Heistand explained that this isn’t a normality in a community college.

A few of the reasons for hiring a lawyer include; solidifying authority to allocate student fees, to make sure ASCOCC cannot be dissolved, to understand their relationship with Central Oregon Community College.

A lawyer might also help prevent the turning over of documents that show how student government spends student fee money.

No public comment, or questions were allowed at the meeting. All questions were directed to Brenda Pierce, marketing and advertising coordinator, who will respond at a later time.

When asked about the total potential costs of the lawyer, ASCOCC members refused to comment directly. The amount ASCOCC is willing to spend, is on an “as needed basis,” said Terry Link, legislative coordinator of ASCOCC.

“Who is going to pay for this lawyer?” questioned Hiestand, “Are they using student fee money ?”

Apathy. (Editorial)

Wed, 06 Oct 2010 00:00:00 -0400

Eric Ercanbrack

You’re asleep, dreaming about being a super-hero, a detective or a millionaire. Your sheets entangle your feet and your heavy head digs deeply into the fluffy cavern your pillow forms as it caresses you.

Then you hear it. You know, the noise. The noise that will end it all.beep…beep…beepIt’s your alarm clock.You know reality is going to be uncomfortable to get used to at first, and that is something you accept.It’s time to wake up.Some people, however, never wake up from their slumber.I stood outside the Boyle building and asked students what they thought of the supposed Qur’an burning that was plastered all over the headlines last month. Only one out of 10 students knew what the Qur’an is. This is a problem, and its name is apathy. Instructors stress in nearly every class that students should be reading some sort of news. But people are more often changing the channel from news to reality shows, or sitting in front of their computers watching YouTube videos of cats flushing toilets.When questioned about apathy, “Why should I care?” is a response I often hear. What happened to the passion that college student once embodied?Have we become so desensitized and repressed that we cannot even conjure up emotion for others and a voice for ourselves? College is supposed to be your time to find or rediscover a voice, and find meaning in what matters to you as a person.Earlier this year Hugo Alfredo Tale-Yax was stabbed after helping a women from being mugged. He died in the streets outside of New York City even though 25 people had walked by through the hour before someone finally made a call.Most people might think that they would never walk by a dying person, “I wouldn’t do that,” you might say to yourself. The truth is, students probably would walk right past a dying man. Many students don’t vote, don’t watch the news, do not volunteer or help others and they just don’t care.Why should you care?“Because we are good at thinking, we can learn to override our initial emotional reactions and behave as detached, scientific observers in certain circumstances. But this requires an effort, even if we don’t recognize it as such.We care about other people because we can’t help it. When we cease to care altogether, we cease to function as humans. The important question, then, is how we live with caring about other people, given how painful and demanding that is,” wrote Eleanor Toye, of Intel Research Cambridge.Do something, anything. Read a newspaper, find out what your passionate about, get an opinion or just simply start to care.beep…beep…beepIt’s time to wake up.

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly- Student Gov. (Editorial)

Sun, 03 Oct 2010 00:00:00 -0400

Eric Ercanbrack

I am learning that there is a lot of anger toward the student government here at Central Oregon Community College. Students are frustrated. The frustration, a derivative of where student fee money is going. Where is the money being spent?

Clubs and Programs
Here’s the good:

Clubs and Programs are funded by student fee money, and many students make use of this.
Clubs and Programs are a great learning experience for students, especially if it’s related to the career they are pursuing.

Here’s the bad:

What if student government members are apart of a club or program. They may be able to rescind themselves from a vote on the amount of money spent on the club or program, but what if government members are friends? Wouldn’t that sway the decision being made by council members? I wonder what would have happened to Cascades Adventures if multiple council member were involved?

Events; free bowling, Barbecues
Here’s the good:

These are great events for students to get to know each other and to make connections.
Events like this create a sense of community at the college.

Here’s the bad:

What about students who just don’t have the time to go to free bowling night? The average age of a COCC student is 28. That doesn’t really mean there are a lot of 28 year old students, it probably means there is a polarized group of older and younger students. The bowling is great for the younger student, but what is student government doing for the older students who pay students fees as well? How about childcare subsidies, or healthcare?

The Voice, ASCOCC’s monthly magazine
Here’s the good:

The information provided in the Voice is very useful to students and staff.
It’s great that the student government can learn about putting a monthly newsletter together.

Here’s the bad:

The Voice is budgeted for $15,000 this year. Why doesn’t student government send out The Voice newsletter in an email format like the college does? If ASCOCC needs to cut back on funding, The Voice should be the first thing to have its budget cut.

Student Council Trips to Washington D.C.
Here’s the good:

This is a great learning experience for ASCOCC members.
I feel more confident in my student government if they have undergone training.

Here’s the bad:

There is a very similar conference that happens in Los Angeles. The cost of plane tickets to this event would cost much less than flying our student government to D.C. Spending an extra three days in D.C. to meet representatives that live in Oregon seems a bit strange. Why not make a trip to see representatives here in Oregon? We, as students, should also only pay for the actual council members to attend these conferences, and not honorary members who do not make decisions about your money.

Student government should give second thoughts about how they’re spending your money. There should be alternatives taken into consideration in order to save money and spend it where it’s really needed. Student government should know who the students are, what ages they are, and what needs they have.

ASCOCC, know who you’re representing and use our money for the benefit of the students who pay to have you represent us.

Identity Crisis: ASCOCC Attempts to Understand their Relationship to the College

Wed, 22 Sep 2010 01:00:00 -0400

Eric Ercanbrack

The Broadside

The Associated Students of Central Oregon Community College are currently in a gray area as they attempt to figure out how they fit into the college.

Central Oregon Community College is in a state of change. COCC is expanding and defining it’s role in Central Oregon’s communities. There is another role being defined within the college. ASCOCC, the student government at COCC isn’t clear if they are independent of the college and what it means if they do not have to follow COCC’s policies.

“We’re not looking for a separation from the college, we’re looking for a more defined definition of what ASCOCC is, how ASCOCC pertains to the college,” said Brenda Pierce, ASCOCC’s marketing coordinator. “A lot of times we’re getting into funding issues.”

ASCOCC members have consulted with the college board, community members, and, throughout the last year, consulted with attorneys in order to better understand their role in relation to the college.

The student government was ambiguous as to whether they spoke to a lawyer about ASCOCC’s role in the college.

“We haven’t paid anything for a lawyer,” said Pierce. “You can call any lawyer and get 15 minutes worth of time.”

Gordon Price, the former Advisor to ASCOCC and current director of student life explained that “we’re all trying” to figure out ASCOCC’s role on the campus.

“Finally it’s reached a point where it needs to be clarified, solidified, so everybody knows what the situation is and we can move on from there,” said Price, “Nobody has clarification on it.”
The Funds, how are they dealt with?

ASCOCC’s constitution states that, “A student fee of $1.50 per credit hour up to and including 12 credit hours will be assessed during Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer terms. The student fee shall be disbursed by the ASCOCC council.”

“It was originally set up to help support the health center and other student purposes,” said Price, “Through those years it’s kind of evolved … other purposes have come up that can use that $1.50 fee for educational advances and educational missions.”

The funds ASCOCC acquires through student fee money are allocated to payroll and The Voice, student government’s monthly publication, as well as clubs, programs, and other projects.

Clubs and programs that are funded by ASCOCC must submit a financial request to the student government to be approved.

According to Pierce, ASCOCC is questioning whether Clubs’ and Programs’ budgets fall under the regulations of COCC since the funding is provided by ASCOCC.

“If they [clubs and programs] go out and pay and expect a reimbursement and the college sends it back to us and says, ‘no, we can’t pay that,’ … we don’t want to start the year with situations like that coming up,” said Pierce. “We shouldn’t be getting things back from the college saying, ‘well according to this college procedure we can only pay x amount of dollars for mileage or hotel.”
Clubs/Organizations, a separate entity?

According to the National Student Government Association, the purpose of a student government is to represent students as well as providing a number of services to students.

A student government also serves as a learning experience for aspiring individuals seeking a career in politics or government, and usually allocates funds from the student body.

ASCOCC defines itself as a student government but according to Terry Link, ASCOCC’s legislative coordinator, ASCOCC currently does not adhere to the college’s policies and procedures.

“ASCOCC is a separate entity.” said Link. “Are we or are we not subject to college policies and procedures, the college being a government entity… it says specifically that ASCOCC has elected to have student fees withheld from the students thereby those fees are not part of the college fund and are not subject to the college’s policies and procedures.”

Fiscal services, a service paid for by COCC, currently handles ASCOCC’s budget which is approved by Taran Underdal, ASCOCC’s new advisor, who is employed by the college.

Price explained that the college and ASCOCC work together even though roles have not been defined.

“Right now we kinda work together … on managing the money, providing that fiscal process for them,” said Price.

Price also explained that the services provided to ASCOCC might have to be reevaluated by the college and whether Clubs and Programs have to abide by COCC’s policies if ASCOCC is a separate entity.

“If they are a complete, separate entity that would be one of the things we’d have to take a look at. That would be in the best interest of the college and the student government to look at.”
OSU Cascades, how do they do it?

COCC has a symbiotic neighbor, Oregon State University – Cascades Campus. OSU Cascades provides degrees beyond the associates degree that COCC provides. It also houses a student government, the Associated Student of Cascade Campus.

College student governments generally work differently with their policies and their relation to the college. ASCC doesn’t deal with money at all, according to Andrew Davis, coordinator of student life at OSU Cascades. The money is managed by a fee committee, which is separate from the student government.

“So we’ve got the money handled by the student fee committee, which is five to seven students that apply and get faculty recommendations to serve on this committee. They just deal with the money,” said Davis. “They make sure that all the student fee money falls within those [OSU Cascade’s] guidelines.”

Andrew Davis explains the student government’s role at OSU saying that ASCC is, “a part of OSU. They’re really the student representation of OSU,” and that he, “very much view[s] ASCC as a component of OSU.”

Lion's Den. (Editorial From Last Year)

Wed, 19 May 2010 00:00:00 -0400

Eric Ercanbrack

If students saunter on down to the college library, and slip between the third isle on the left of the main floor, they will find six large blue canvas covered books. Within the context of these books are important parts of the college’s history. These books contain stories of deception, fraud and even death. The books are issues from 1953 to 2004 of The Broadside Newspaper.

The Broadside paper is an essential part of the Central Oregon Commu¬nity College, being the oldest student organization at a community college in Oregon. The Broadside has seen its fair share of problems. Conflict is integrated into the paper’s past.

The Broadside’s budget is currently controlled by ASCOCC. A recent proposal was made for student fees to be set aside for the paper only. The proposal was an amendment to the recently revised constitution.

The amendment asked for an increase from $32,000 to $73,000 in its budget. Coupled with the increase in the budget was a proposal for oversight of student fees in ASCOCC.

There is currently no oversight of student fees at ASCOCC, only the student government decides where the money goes, and they don’t have to confer with anyone other than mem¬bers of the council.

After the proposal ASCOCC sent an e-mail to all club organizations telling them that The Broadside’s increase will take money from all clubs budgets. What The Broadside was attempting to do was to gain financial independence.

The e-mail was used to create a mob. ASCOCC called an emergency meeting which was to take place the following day.

The Broadside walked into the lion’s den. Clubs and organizations might as well have had pitch forks and burning bundles of hay, while they screamed, “witch!”

Instead of having a constructive debate about the allocation of funds, The Broadside and all its hard work were bashed.

The following day Brenda Pierce, ASCOCC advertising coordinator, of¬fered an alternate proposal to The Broadside.

The student fee will be raised by an additional 25 cents for The Broadside and 25 cents for Club Sports, as long as the proposal for oversight of AS¬COCC’s budget is dropped.

The Broadside was given a half hour to decide. I have to question the tactics used in this process, and so should students with a modicum of concern about student government, and student fee money.

Pierce told all clubs that they will receive an additional $1000 to their budget. An increase of $52,000 will be given to ASCOCC, and there will still be no oversight of student fee money.

It’s not much of a surprise that Brenda Pierce received the most votes in the last election; she did promise these clubs more money.

If a student wonders why those blue canvas books stop in the year 2004, The Broadside hasn’t had the funding to continue to bind The Broadside’s issues for the last six years.

Models are a scary bunch. (Editorial From Last Year)

Wed, 05 May 2010 00:00:00 -0400

Eric Ercanbrack

Models are scary. It is a simple concept to understand. Women models generally freak me out.

Imagine hundreds of thousands of women in stilettos stampeding down a street in New York City, ready to eat your face. I lied about the face eating, but I did fear for my life when models auditioning for America’s Next Top Model decided to herd together and run like a sheep when someone mistakenly yelled, “bomb!”

New York City is an interesting place. Some sort of interesting event happens to you on a daily basis. Some days it is a drunk man falling in the train tracks just as a light from a train appears in the tunnel, or running into Kevin Bacon at your work. I learned nothing can really surprise you in New York City.

I was surprised by the herd of models. The stampede of thousands of life size dolls running and screaming was like a scene from 28 days later, except the zombies were dressed exceptionally well in most cases.

A friend of mine had asked me to be a production assistant for cycle 13 of America’s Next Top Model. This was during the audition process in Manhattan. I arrived at 3 AM and was slated to work until 3 PM the following day.

The production manager tried to put me on ‘wristband cutting’. This means that when the girls didn’t make it I had to cut the band off of their wrists, and they weren’t allowed to even keep the wrist band.

I might as well just cut their wrists off, severing their hand, and then throw them in a ditch. The model’s worlds were shattered when they didn’t make it past the first or second or even third round. Tears would well and fall to the floor as they descended the escalator, questioning themselves about the meaning of their lives and what’s left for them in the world.

But alas, I was not put on wrist cutting. My job was to give hope, not take it away. I got to put the bands on model’s wrists. They smiled when I clasped the band over their frail lotioned twigs.

Before they arrived at my table, they went through security. I watched as security pulled knives, switch blades, daggers, and once a small meat mallet from the model’s purses.

Either it was someone screaming, “bomb” or “fire” I am not sure, but models bolted like horses hearing a shotgun.

They started to push on the doors, so they had to be locked out. I watched from the second story as they scattered about, end of the world like. Something inside of me shuddered.

Mob mentality or not I was scared for my life. The image will never leave me, hauntingly causing nightmares.

Now that I am living in Bend I do not anticipate running into any large groups of meat mallet wielding models.

However, when I do accidentally see America’s Next Top Model on T.V. there is an involuntary twitch in my neck and a skipping of a heart beat.

I am not saying be scared of models, just be wary. And never yell bomb or fire in their presence.