The Fresno City College Campus and Community Colloquium series will continue today in the Old Administration Building with the second panel discussion of the year. This time the forum will focus on the role of the president in the U.S. economy.
The panel speakers will be Rick Whitsell, president of Fresno First Bank; FCC history instructor Paul Gilmore and economics instructor Aaron Pankratz.
“Since the election is coming up soon, we figured we would have something that would deal with politics and the economy since that seems to be the major issue over the last four years,” said Gilmore. “The goal is to shed light on the President’s role in the economy.”
Gilmore encourages citizens and especially students to attend the forum. “Especially if you’re in history, political science or economy, this will fit right in with your class. Citizens also are part of the country and they should be aware,” said Gilmore.
But the awareness of citizens today is one thing that concerns Gilmore. He believes the forum will play an important role in addressing that concern.
“People know when they’re having troubles. They have a good idea most of the time. But when it comes down to the details, folks are not very aware. A forum like this can help people clarify their own ideas,” said Gilmore. “It can help them become part of a conversation about what is happening. Hopefully each of us will be able to tell people what they have never heard of or thought of before.”
Gilmore hopes to see citizens attend the forum and develop a political interest. He refers to a quote from Russian revolutionary and theorist: “You might not believe in war but war believes in you.”
In other words, Gilmore says you might not believe in politics but politics believe in you. “It might not be something that some folks are interested in but it directly affects your life. You should participate in some ways. This is one of the ways to know what has been done in the past and what might be done in the future,” said Gilmore.
After a disappointing turn-out at the first forum of the year, the organizers hope to see better results this time around. Gilmore hopes to see an increase in the number of students and faculty who attend.
“Part of the problem is that if professors don’t tell their students or give them extra credit, we might get a lower turn out,” said Gilmore. “I’ve been disappointed at the number of faculty who show up and the number of other folks in the college who are employed here. But I understand that too. You’re here all day. You wanna go home, have dinner and watch TV. That said though I wish more faculty would show up.”
Advertising the event is not one of the fun parts for the organizers. What they enjoy more is choosing the topics that will be discussed and contacting the right people to speak at the forum. This time the organizers are excited to have Rick Whitsell, a speaker who’s not from campus.
“The point is to get somebody off campus. We want to make that connection. It’s a community college,” said Gilmore.
The idea for the colloquium started three years ago when philosophy instructor Wendell Stephenson and Anthropology instructor Allen Beck decided to conduct research at FCC much like universities. They then provided a forum for faculty to present their research. A year later, they were joined by Gilmore.
With the turn-out low however, they switched to a panel discussion that discussed timely issues. They used the expertise of researchers at FCC and soon the community and students were invited to join the discussion.
