College Problems Begin at the Top

I was deeply surprised to see you use the words you did in referring to the Ventura College administration (“When Going Gets Tough, Ventura College Gives Up,” Nov. 9).

In your first paragraph, you call President Calderon and his subordinates responsible for “deceit if not outright lies. Bending the rules if not clearly breaking them. Finger-pointing. Excuse-making. Whining.” Later you add, “What has been missing all along is any talk of such concepts as education, honor, character building and doing the right thing.”

What you are just beginning to see is what the faculty of the three campuses in the Ventura County Community College District have been saying for many years, especially during the contract negotiations.

The points you have presented in your editorial are symptomatic of the type of thinking that originates at the district office and with the board of trustees. The subordinates, many hired in the last few years, are just following the directives and philosophies of the people at the top.

The faculty has called for the same things you have requested: “pride of honest success,” opportunity to develop “better students, career builders . . . and citizens” and “a team built on pride and character.”

As the faculty has found and you are finding out, the management of this district talks of concern for the students but the bottom line is just that: the bottom line. How do we spend the least and make management the most?

Your headline says the “tattered program must learn how to champion character.” Unfortunately, you are addressing management who lack the one thing you are requesting: character.

ALAN T. HAYASHI

Oxnard