Thank you all for showing up and appearing before the Board. You showed we are unhappy with being offered less than the cost of living and less than any other community college in New Jersey. Pete asked me if I wanted to use the microphone and I said, “It does not matter what I say – This is body language”. After the show of strength, a reporter from The Press and a reporter from the Herald interviewed me. They asked no hard questions and I spoke in generalities. I am interested in reading what kind of stories appear.

One question was, “How many members are here?” I never counted. I could have told him that we ran out of pizza. That is eight slices from fifteen boxes or one hundred twenty slices and then we had ten more pizzas delivered. People showed up from Tuckerton, from Williamstown, and from Hammonton, and perhaps from farther away than that. Without all of you being there we would not have been effective.

After the demonstration, I went upstairs to teach my human anatomy and physiology class. I left a little after 10 o’clock. Usually the only people around at that time are security and custodians. Last night I walked out with two Board members. The fact that they were there so long indicates they were engaged in serious discussions. I hope those discussions lead to new contracts that everyone can live with. We will find out next Tuesday when the faculty contract is up for discussion. Faculty has only money issues left. Meanwhile the Emergency Action Council will meet Thursday to agree on future actions. Will Parsons, Unity Negotiating Team Coordinator