Former Senator and Inter-Club Council chairperson Jennifer Gonzalez beat Delegate Reza Nemovi 57 to 42 votes for the presidency, with a total of 99 students participating in the presidential election. Genesis Gilroy ran unopposed and received a total of 91 votes while both Carlos Araujo (76 votes) and Katelyn Morikawa (69 votes) automatically won due to a lack of senator candidates.

A total of 109 Palomar College students out of over 30,000 voted in the elections, showing one of the lowest voter turnouts in Palomar College history.

The votes were cast on Palomar’s website and counted through an automated on-campus system. Results were given to the ASG May 10, according to Chris Norcross, head of Academic Technology at Palomar College.

Students were able to vote starting May 6 and ending May 9, just two weeks before finals week.

Results were made available to the public by May 13. Specific numbers were not made available to the public until May 20.

According to outgoing ASG president Johnathan Farmer, the ASG spent no money this semester promoting the election. The only advertising that was present on campus were the banners and signs that have already been placed in the quad.

photo courtesy of Pete Ordille

“This is a defining moment in my career as a teacher,” Ordille said.

Ordille has been with Palomar College since the EME program began in the late ’80s. He began his career as a firefighter/paramedic with the City of Escondido, he was also a flight medic with Life-Flight, a helicopter program that began in 1976.

It was during his career as a paramedic and firefighter that Ordille discovered his passion for teaching. Ordille began by teaching classes for his peers at the fire department. When he heard about Palomar’s EME program, he thought it sounded like fun.

More than 20 years later, Ordille still thinks it is fun.

“I have a real passion for what I am doing,” Ordille said. “I really enjoy my students, and I love the subject I teach.”

Ordille started out teaching specific skills as a part-time professor. He has since retired from the Escondido Fire Department and now teaches full time for Palomar.

“My students are like my family,” Ordille said. “At the beginning of the program, I let them know that we are all in it together. There are ups and downs, but just like a family, we stick it out and help each other get through it.”

Ordille said that in his 20 years as a Palomar professor, the biggest problem he sees his students facing is their own negative thinking.

“Don’t be afraid to go for your goals,” Ordille said. “Even if you think you are not quite ready, don’t be afraid to take risks when it is something you really love.”

“Professor Ordille is a very committed teacher,” said Mary Reed, the EME Academic Department assistant. “In 14 years of working together, I have seen him consistently go above and beyond to make sure his students succeed.”

It’s surreal. I’ve been on the newspaper for five semesters. It’s consumed my life and become a part of me. I don’t know how I’m going to handle it being over.

Over the last two years I’ve grown and learned more than can be explained. I’ve worked with the most amazing staff and had the most incredible opportunities. I feel like I’ve come so far in such a short amount of time.

I’ll never forget that first visit to the newsroom during my senior year of high school. I went to what was a supposed to be an open house during a production night, but what ended up being two people awkwardly watching other people work – and with none of the promised food in sight.

But soon enough, the adviser, Erin Hiro, put me to work copy editing pages, and I loved it. I distinctly remember catching a ton of errors, picking up the paper the next week and already loving my ability to participate. And eventually the promised food showed up, so it was a good night.

Being on the newspaper has allowed me to make an impact on this campus. Too many students come on campus for class and then leave. They don’t get involved. For me, the newspaper became my reason to love Palomar. I loved having a reason to stick around and work hard and make a difference on this campus by putting out 12 (or so) pages of content every week. Newspapers may be dying, but there’s nothing like picking up that piece of paper and saying ‘wow, we did that.’

I’ve been blessed to have the opportunity to participate in almost every aspect of the newspaper – I was the assistant sports editor, the sports editor, the copy editor, the managing editor, a page designer, a photographer (kind of) and finally the editor-in-chief. There were pros and cons to all of them, but I absolutely loved being the sports editor and designing pages.

The best part about being on The Telescope was the people. My fellow Telescope members are what made my newspaper experience the best. We didn’t always like each other, and we had many more rough times than need to be brought up. But I’ll never forget the camaraderie, the late nights, the food runs, the jokes, the newsroom pranks and our victories together. So many inside jokes and laughter. It’s been a blast. I’ve gained lifetime friends here and that’s something special.

It never ceased to amaze me how well the newspaper did when put up against other newspapers. As a staff, we go to two community college journalism conferences a year – one for Southern California schools and one for all the schools in the state. Each time we always bring home tons of awards, but one of my proudest moments as Editor-in-Chief was when we won the Pacesetter award just a few weeks ago – only four out of 41 schools in the state got it and we were one of them. The award is a representation of a newspaper that’s going above and beyond an setting an example.

That would be my challenge to future staffers of The Telescope. Be a pacesetter. Do crazy things on the front page that other newspapers wouldn’t even consider. Pursue the tough stories diligently. Get the best photos you can possibly get. Don’t settle for just getting things done – go above and beyond. We’ve proved that we’re on the right track – it’s up to you to keep it going.

So thank you – to Erin, Deb, Lindsey and everyone who has taught me so much. Thank you to Colleen and Matt, who’ve been with me on this journey since the beginning. Thank you to everyone that I’ve worked with – from my first semester to my last, you all are amazing. Thank you to those with whom I interacted for stories. Thank you to the Palomar baseball team for being such an awesome team to cover. Thank you to my fellow journalists at other colleges (AKA the competition). I’m happy to call some of you friends. Thank you to my friends and family who’ve been with me through every step of this crazy journey. I can’t truly convey how grateful I am to have had this amazing opportunity to run a newspaper. It’s been a wonderful ride.

As for my future, I’m planning on transferring to Azusa Pacific University next spring and pursuing a career in sports journalism. But I know that no matter where I go and what I do in life, nothing will compare to The Telescope and the remarkable experiences I’ve had here. These are the days that I’ll never forget.

The resumption of full service comes following the completion of extensive safety testing, the review of replacement parts, and inspections of the overall vehicle and railroad infrastructure by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), according to a press release.

The first four days of service will have a ‘Blue Crew’ at stations to provide assistance and welcome passengers back

It sits by an electrical box. It has a lock around one of its legs, but the lock isn’t attached to anything else.

Next to the chair is a plant with a sign that says “This plant is not affiliated with The Green Chair but apparently does have the right to invade his personal space and to bear arms.”

On a nearby rock, a fake dollar bill with “twenty” written across the back is held down by a smaller rock. Above the chair is a piece of green paper with a new note every day.

On any given day, the messages range from simple to interactive. Today, the message announced the fall of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ season and asked for donations of Dodgers caps to be sent to children in Ecuador.

Director of the Disabled Resources Center Ron Haines said the chair emails him the notes every day. He said the chair appeared on campus at the beginning of this semester, and not many people stop in to ask about it.

“He’s out there every day. He’s very opinionated,” Haines said. “But he doesn’t work on Fridays. He works on a 4/10 (four days a week, 10 hours a day) schedule.”

Some recent statements from the chair included, “Firmly believes that shoes are relevant, while the Kardashians are not, And conspiracy theories just inspire hilarity.” The chair also held a contest called Springsville Poetry Fest in which it provided sticky notes and a pen for the entries.

Haines said other messages from the chair show it is more of an introvert. According to its statements, it feels imposed upon when other things such as plants, or impostor chairs hone in on his audience.

The chair also seems to be a baseball fan, calling the play-by-play on the past Padres versus Cubs game as well as its recent comment on the Dodgers.

Students can rely on the Green Chair to have something to say.
“Neither rain, nor sleet, nor gloom of night, nor animosity, nor indifference, nor the fact that it is Friday will keep GC away from his station right here,” the chair wrote.

Haines said the chair was recently mugged over a weekend. It was kicked over on its side with a threatening note.

According to Haines, the chair also had an associate called Fiscal Cliff the Skunk, who was abducted and later found in the succulent garden nearby. After finding the ransom notes, it was paid in the form of a cold Dr. Pepper to what was thought to be a Palomar student. The skunk has since been returned to its habitat despite its memory loss, and is now named Sequester the Skunk.

Student Gabriel Gault has noticed the chair throughout the semester, noting one day where the chair had asked passerbys to tape unwanted pennies on the wall and another day when there was a Thanksgiving turkey hanging out nearby.

“I think it’s a combination of a spoof and ecofriendly awareness,” Gault said. “But every joke can have its purpose.”

He said he hasn’t heard others discussing the chair.

“The chair is the ignored,” Gault said. “It’s there, but no one pays attention to it.”

Haines said the chair might be back in future semesters, but it has a mind of its own.

“It’s hard to understand chairs. They’re hard to figure out,” Haines said.

The chair itself did not respond to any inquiries.

Photos by Heather Randall Edited by Scott Morton