By Staff Editorial

By Staff Editorial

Imagine how you would feel if your mom returned your Christmas present to buy her new boyfriend a car. It would make you feel left out, shocked, even upset, wouldn’t it?

Well, former chancellor Salvatore Rotella is back.

After a whole three months of living the retired life, we guess Rotella just couldn’t resist an invitation to return to our campus, even if it’s only to keep up appearances.

The district has paid an absurd amount of money to bring Rotella back, so that he could help impress the accreditation team that is on campus this week. Of course, asking someone who no longer has any affiliation to our college to come back on our dime is absurd, regardless of cost.

So here’s a message for the accreditation team: Riverside City College likes to throw money around. RCC obviously doesn’t have faith in our current administration, and spends a ridiculous amount of money to prove it.

Interim President Lacy told Viewpoints that Rotella would bring valuable knowledge and experience to the table. We would only be paying for his airfare, but any dollar amount is an insult to the entire school.

Whoever says we need Rotella back is gravely mistaken. We have a chancellor. Granted, he is an interim chancellor, but I don’t see former President Daniel Castro on a Boeing 747 from Pasadena to fill in for Lacy.

The plot only thickens when the dissenting members of the board come into play.

Board Member Janet Green had a lot to say when we discussed Rotella’s return. To put it kindly… well, kindly’s not our style.

Green agreed that Rotella should not be here, and his presence is “a smack in the face to everyone who worked on the self-study.”

But that’s not all; Rotella was also carried

back for the A. G. Paul Quadrangle dedication. According to Green, it’s because he wanted to.

But we’re all adults, and I think the majority of us have learned that you can’t always have your way.

All of this may be overlooked by the simple fact that Rotella should bring something to the table. He MAY be here for all of the meetings, to act as a guide.

WRONG! Rotella was flown in for a single district meeting Oct. 8, which was closed to the public. Sorry, kids, the exhibit at the museum was here, but it never opened, and now it’s gone. Too bad about those tickets we made you pay for without knowing.

The entire accreditation team should know what disdain we, as well as a majority of the college, felt for Rotella.

While he may look good on paper, he was a difficult, archaic, closed-minded indivdual that this school should pride itself on being rid of, not catering to him after he cuts ties with us.

We’ll admit Rotella needs to be here, and is worth the money, when he offers his talent to RCC’s Dancers for Life production.

We’re waiting. Rotella was our biggest concern until the accreditation actually began. Now there’s a bigger problem on campus: lack of input.

It’s very possible that if enough criticism gets out, it will reflect poorly on the school, and will cause major problems for RCC’s future.

But when did repressing honest beliefs ever do any good? It’s not until someone takes a stand and shines a light on the problems that must be fixed that things progress.

We encourage everyone to think about where they want this school to go and what they think needs to be changed. The accreditation visit is our chance to have a voice strong enough to make things happen.