Monthly Highlights
December 2002 Highlights
LUCY SCHAFER KINSMAN passed away December 3. Lucy was a longtime member of the Lane Community College Foundation board and chaired the Schafer Endowment Committee. The committee funds innovations in learning. Lucy was the widow of former Lane President Eldon Schafer.
A SINGLE HEALTH INSURANCE PLAN for all college employees was approved by the Board of Education on December 3. The plan will help the college control the rising cost of premiums. Previously, Lane employees used six different plans for health, dental and vision insurance from two different carriers with annual premium increases of 16 to 25 percent. President Spilde and board members commended employees for uniting in this effort to help offset rising insurance costs, even though many individuals will pay more out of pocket expenses.
PAUL R. HOLMAN of Florence was appointed to the Zone 1 seat on the Lane
Community College Board of Education on December 3. Zone 1 covers the
western part of the college district. Holman will serve through June 30,
2003, and said he will run for election in May. Holman is a longtime member
of the LCC at Florence Advisory Committee and local Florence civic organizations
and is the former publisher of the Siuslaw News. He is a real estate associate
broker and completed real estate training classes at Lane.
MULTICULTURAL HOLIDAY EVENTS sponsored in whole or part by Lane were held
December 6 and 7 including Kwanzaa, sponsored in part by Lane's Black
Student Union and held at Churchill High; the annual Native American Pow-Wow
sponsored by Lane's Native American Student Association on main campus;
the Third Annual Festival of Light and Renewal with the theme, "We
Refuse to Be Enemies," celebrating Islamic Eid el Fitrand and Jewish
Chanukah held on main campus and sponsored in part by Lane's Diversity
Committee and Multicultural Center.
STEVE CARTER, instructor/coordinator in the Adults with Special Needs program, was named December 2002 Teacher of the Month by KVAL-TV. He was nominated by his students. The station’s profile of Carter aired December 9 and focused on workplace literacy -- filling out job applications, and interviewing skills – taught in his program. ASN is part of the Adult Basic and Secondary Education program at Lane.
THE 54TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights was held December 10 at Lane, sponsored in part by Lane’s Diversity Team. The communitywide event included human rights awards and recognition of hometown heroes, many of whom were Lane employees.
PRESIDENT MARY SPILDE showed "the potential to become one of the finest presidents in the history of Lane Community College, if not among community colleges nationwide," concluded the Board of Education in the president's first annual evaluation on December 11. The full-page written evaluation commended Spilde for knowledge and intelligence, open and honest communications, deliberative and inclusive decision-making, commitment, optimism in times of crisis, and for providing “exceptionally strong leadership in a year of fiscal challenge” with “integrity, courage, and compassion.”
MEASURE 28 WAS ENDORSED by formal resolution by the Board of Education on December 11. The resolution noted that the half-percent tax increase is necessary and affordable, that economic development is dependent upon an educated citizenry, that increasing tuition and eliminating classes will adversely impact the economy of Oregon, that failure of the measure will require Lane to eliminate classes and increase tuition, that the deductibility of state income taxes from federal taxes means more taxes stay in state, that previous budget reductions at Lane created greater efficiencies, that the state's latest projections show even greater deficits, that property tax limitations have decreased Lane’s ability to control revenues, and that the college must rely upon state revenues to maintain a comprehensive program
CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY STUDENTS are helping remodel and build an addition to a home for a family including 12 adopted children with disabilities. The project was the top story on the front page of The Register-Guard on December 25. Leonard Keen is lead instructor. The program offers a one-year certificate of completion or a two-year associate of applied science degree.
For more
information, contact Joan Aschim, Marketing and Public Relations 541-463-5591,
aschimj@lanecc.edu.