The QC, Vol. 84, No. 24 • April 23, 1998

              WHITTIER
COLLEGE
April 23,1998
ampus
The Voice Of The Campus Since 1914
C  O   L  L  E (
■ Poetic Justice
Two Chinese poets
find America—
and Garrett
House—a safe
place to express
their voices.
OPINION    TOPIC
Maintenance Requests.
Students and administration share
their ongoing concerns about the
new campus maintenance
company, Marriott.
SPORTS
■ Trojan War
The Women's
lacrosse team
wrapped up their
season with a close
loss to U.S.C. on
Saturday, April 18.
CAMP  U.S
to
M Earthly
Desires
The campus celebrates Earth Week
with many events.
Ash Announces 5% Tuition Raise
TUITION
by Adam Pava
QC Editor-in-Chief
President James L. Ash, Jr.
announced a 5% increase in tuition
for the 1998-99 school year in a
letter to students on April 2, bringing it to $19,250. Room and board
rates will also increase by 5%.
Ash said that the tuition raise
is due in part to the decision to
admit a smaller freshman class as
a means to lessen faculty work
loads. "One ofthe things we're
trying to^io is not put so much
pressure on the faculty by having
as large of a freshman class as last
year,' he said. "Student body size
has a direct correlation to tuition."
Ash added, "What we are trying to accomplish within the next
few years is to discipline ourselves
to hold tuition increases to a minimum. Our goal is to make sure
[the cost of tuition] is at a point
needed to support the College and
keep the educational level at what
we need it to be."
He stressed that the raise in
Whittier's tuition is comparable
to that of most colleges the same
size. "That's not to say we make
decisions like this based on other
PAST TUITION
Year
Increase
Tuition
1980-1
11.80%
$4,250
1981-2
16.50%
$4,950
1982-3
15.15%
$5,700
1983-4
17.11%
$6,675
1984-5
9.36%
$7,300
1985-6
9.59%
$8,000
1986-7
8.13%
$8,650
1987-8
8.09%
$9,350
1988-9
12.30%
$10,500
1989-0
8.10%
$11,350
1990-1
13.66%
$12,900
1991-2
9.84%
$14,170
1992-3
5.01%
$14,880
1993-4
5.00%
$15,624
1994-5
3.99%
$16,248
1995-6
4.00%
$16,898
1996-7
5.34%
$17,800
1997-8
3.00%
$18,334
1998-9
5.00%
$19,250
Information courtesy of Jo Ann Kankin.
schools, but you don't want to be
out of step with the competitive
environment. That would hurt us
in the long run."
According to Vice President of
Finance and Administration Jo Ann
Hankin, the tuition money goes directly into general operations, which
includes payment of faculty and
staff, as well as improvements in
the College's infrastructure. She
cited improvements in Stauffer Hall
made during Spring Break and last
summer, and work done last summer in Ball and Johnson halls.
"Some of the improvements
in facilities has been funded
through gifts, and some through
operations," Hankin said.
The general operations budget also funds the Student Support
Services and all other legally required services.
The tuition cost is just one
component to the College's budget, which is not yet complete. It
will be presented for approval to
the Financial Committee May 7,
and then to the Board of Trustees
on May 21.
According to Ash, the tuition
has to be determined before the
rest of the budget "because we
have to get things like financial
aid out toespecially freshman long
before the final budget is approved," he said.
The yearly tuition raise is determined as part of the budget by
the Budget and Priorities Committee, chaired by Hankin. The
budget is then recommended to
Ash, who in turn gives it to the
Financial Committee and ultimately the Board of Trustees.
Ash believes that American
colleges and universities have
become much more restrained in
tuition raises overthe last 15 years.
[See graph, inset] "That's good
news for students," Ash said.
MALDEF President to
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Speak at Graduation
by Carlos Estrada
QCAsst. News Editor
Aatonia Hernandez, president and general counsel of the
Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund
; MALDEF), will be t he featured
speaker ai WWttiet College's
95th commencement ceremonies on Friday, May 21
"We are fortunate to have
found a fabulous speaker who is
very weli known and has ciose
tie: to the College." Whittier
College President James L. Ash.
Jr. said.
Hernandez has been MALDEF s president since her election in 1985. MALDEF is a national organization dedicated to
protecting thecivii rights ofLat-
inos through law, community
education and research. She began her career as an aUomey for
the Los Angeles Center for Law
and Justice in 1974. In 1977,she
became the administrative di-
Antonia Hernandez.
jecior ol a six-attorney staff at
.'.to..'.   '■ ; .   .'...    ,.   ...■
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Angeles. She has also served as
staff counsel to the U.S. Senate
Committee un the Judiciary,
where she drafted bills ami
'■',      ' ■■   .'. TO     to ■■    .
issues of national importance.
"I called her and she was
thrilled todcath." Ash said. The
guest speaker is selected by Ash
from a list compiled by the Faculty Honorary Degree Committee {see related story, page 51.
Students Petition to Keep Visiting Professor Touchstone
■ FACULTY
by Liz Valsamis
QC News Editor
Visiting Assistant Professor
of Business Administration Ellen
Touchstone's students have organized a petition to voice their concern over the fact that Touchstone
Financial aid reminder letters tor the t99fc"99 academic
year will go out to mailboxes
next week. Please submit
missing documentation to the
Office of Student Financing
immediately.
was not rehired. The petition targets Touchstone's dismissal and
also the students' desire to play a
larger part in decision making.
"We decided to start a petition
campaign with two goals in mind,
First of all, we want to express the
general sentiment that Dr. Touchstone should have been rehired,"
junior Business Administration
major Kevin Au said. "Secondly,
we want to take some sort of action to communicate to the administration our desire to take a
more active role in the faculty
selection process. Our position is
that our needs could be better met
if we possess a greater sense of
autonomy on issues which affect
us so directly."
The petition was initiated last
week by Au and sophomore Business Administration Major Jessica Sanchez. Nearly 350 students
have signed it. They hope to
present it to President James L.
Ellen Touchstone.
Photo Courtesy ot wwwjnakteforg
Ash, Jr., Dean of Faculty Richard
Millman and members ofthe Business Department sometime next
week.
"Ideally we would like to get
her rehired," Au said. "We would
also like to let it be known that the
students of Whittier College want
to take a more active role in deciding how the College is run."
Touchstone was hired by the
College to fill the vacancy left by
Professor of Business Administration Jeffrey Decker, who left
the College in August of 1997
[see QC Issue I, Vol 84]. Decker
was given a leave of absence to
allow him the flexibility to return
if he chose to. According to Touchstone, she was informed by the
College that if Decker did not
return, they would begin the search
again looking for a permanent replacement.
In February, the College proceeded with the search placing an
ad in the Chronicle of Higher Education. Two positions were being advertised: a tenure track position and a 3-year nontenured
track position. Touchstone applied
and made it to the short list, which
consisted of her and two others.
"We did not hire any of our final
candidates. We did not think any
of them had the mix of qualifica
tions we were looking for," Pro-
fessorof Business Administration
Mary Finan said.
Touchstone commented,"I
was terribly disappointed. I really
enjoyed my students and the collegiate environment at Whittier
college and I will miss it."
In conjunction to the petition,
fliers were posted concerning the
Touchstone situation.
"I am incredibly touched and,
no matter the situation, I encourage students to express their opinions," Touchstone said.
Junior and Business Administration major Chris Dagnes commented, "She is one of the greatest professors we have here. She
gives a lot of feedback; her ability
to communicate with [students] is
outstanding. She is intelligent and
she knows what she is talking
about. You learn a heck of a lot in
her class and also have a great
time."
ISSUE 24 • VOLUME 84