Volume 137, Issue 8
News
SUPER LOTTO: SUPER LOSS Education gets shortchanged in the legislative shell game, say education officials
BY
DAN POWELL
Staff Writer
PHOTOS BY DAN ELDRIDGE / GUARDSMAN
For every dollar spent on Lotto tickets in California, one-twentieth of a cent goes to City College, with enough tickets selling for the school to expect $4.8 million in state lottery funds this year. However, some politicians and administrators say this gift is not really a gift at all.
Close to $80 million has poured into the college’s coffers since voters approved Proposition 37, the California Lottery Act, in 1984. The act established a statewide lottery that gives 34 cents of every dollar to public schools, with over $15 billion paid out since 1985.
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The money is meant to be supplemental, or “icing on the cake.” But there are complaints that the cake is bone dry. “It’s not on top of the education money we normally get,” said Tina Jung, an information officer with the California Department of Education. “It replaces money that would normally go to education, so we end up pretty much with the same amount of money.”
Peter Goldstein, City College’s vice chancellor of finance and administration, said that the state legislature, which makes funding decisions for education, factor in the lottery money. “If you include the lottery as part of what is going to education, then your conclusion is that you don’t need to add that much more money,” he said.
“It wouldn’t surprise me to see legislators trying to pull a shell game kind of budget,” said Armando Viramontes, a legislative aide to Assemblywoman Loni Hancock. “Reliance and dependency on gambling is not good fiscal policy for the state.”
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And if the sale of lottery tickets were to drop off sharply, schools would have no way of recovering the lost revenue. This happened in 1991, when lottery sales reached an all-time low, providing just 1.5 percent of education funding that year.
“If lottery revenues were gone, it would put us in a very difficult situation, obviously,” said James Kendrix, chief financial officer at City College. “It could mean classes not being offered or the loss of a teaching job. It’s an integral part of our revenue each year.”
The loss of revenue could also affect the college’s ability to admit new and transfer students. “We use a lot of our lottery money to help us with our up-front processes like matriculation and orientation,” Chancellor Philip R. Day, Jr. said.
Vice Chancellor Peter Goldstein disagrees with those who say the lottery is ineffective or harmful to the schools. “I think the lottery’s fine the way it is,” he said.
Goldstein sees the real solutions to California’s budget crisis as unpopular but pragmatic. “People in our state need to pay higher taxes unless they’re willing to see the public sector, including education, dismantled. See if you can get a politician to say that.”
“The California Lottery was created to generate supplemental funding for our public schools in 1984.”
“These funds, which augment, rather than replace, funds already allocated for public education, are to be spent exclusively for instructional purposes, and may not be spent for acquisition of real property, construction of facilities, financing of research, or other non-instructional purposes.”
California State Lottery Commission website
e-mail: dpowell@theguardsman.com
DEAN HONORED: Smith is first at community college level to win prestigious award
BY
ADAM BRODY
Editor
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Governmental Relations dean Leslie Smith became the first community college faculty member to receive the Edwin Craw-ford Award for Innovation in De-cember 2004.
The award recognizes outstanding performance by a newcomer to the state government re-lations profession, and until two years ago, had been reserved primarily for four-year universities.
Smith was delighted to win the prestigious award. “It’s really significant because the organization did not include community colleges until two years ago. At first it was only for four-year colleges,” she said.
After receiving a Master’s in Business Administration from U.C. Berkeley, Smith began her career at City College in 1982 as a teacher in the English as a Second Language department. She was appointed to the Board of Governors of the Faculty Association of California Com-munity Colleges in 1993, before accepting her current position in 1999.
Smith also serves as a legislative analyst for the Association of Community and Continuing Education. She has done extensive research into the movement of students between credit and non-credit programs and was recognized for her superior leadership in state relations and institutional advocacy.
An advocate of City College’s open-access policy, Smith considers the award a well-earned victory for the school. “It shows we are equal partners in the fight for quality education that is ac-cessible for everyone in the nation,” she said.
Smith played a major role in setting up a statewide automatic voter registration project for community college students, and was a key player in organizing the first “March in March” to protest the Governor’s proposed educational budget cuts.
Smith was also behind the Missing Student Project, which led to the creation of dozens of artful effigies symbolizing the many students who may have had to forfeit their education due to tuition hikes.
Chancellor Philip R. Day, Jr. strongly supported Smith’s nomination. “I was ecstatic and felt it was a very strong endorsement and affirmation of Leslie’s leadership efforts,” he said.
Robert Turnage, vice chancellor for fiscal policy, said of Smith’s work with the Missing Students Project, “It was a wonderful, and by no means isolated, example of Leslie’s creative work on behalf of the colleges. I believe she very much deserves the Crawford Award.”
e-mail: metronews@theguardsman.com
A FAREWELL TO ARMS: School reconsiders allowing recruiters on campus
BY ANGELA HART
Staff Writer
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CHARLES CASELA / GUARDSMANUnited States Military re-cruiters may be banned from City College in the future, depending on a court case brought by more than a dozen law schools against recruiters for alleged discrimination and violation of the First Amendment.
A case in the third district United States Circuit Court of Appeals is now reconsidering whether federal funds should be withheld from colleges that refuse to allow military recruiters on campus. The law schools argue that the discrimination against openly gay men and women is a violation of the First Amendment.
Historically, San Francisco was one of the first cities to ban military recruiters from college campuses due to discrimination based on sexual orientation. However, the 1996 Solomon Act determined that any college that banned military recruiters from campus would have their federal funds terminated.
To comply with the Solomon Act, schools must assist military recruiters on campus in the same manner they assist any other recruiters.
“The military presence is dangerous on campus because the recruiters offer money to students who can be easily persuaded,” City College student Jesse Garcia said.
Several administrators at City College are very concerned about the issue. “Equality is a fundamental tenet of our democracy that needs to be reflected in every policy at City College,” said Leslie Smith, dean of Governmental Relations.
“The Solomon Amendment clearly states that if in fact [the school] refuses military recruitment, federal funding could be
withdrawn from the college,” said Skip Fotch, associate dean of student activities.
The Committee on Education and the Workforce supported the Solomon Act, calling it an important piece of legislation serving to enhance America’s military and make our homeland safer and more secure.
e-mail: ahart@theguardsman.com
BY DAN POWELL
Staff Writer
The Board of Trustees voted unanimously on Feb. 24 to adopt a controversial Project Labor Agreement in order to better facilitate $240 million of construction projects, including the new Chinatown/North Beach campus, a new Health and Wellness Center and the new Mission campus.
The goal of the agreement is to reduce construction costs by ensuring work is completed efficiently and without interruption, while maintaining a harmonious work environment between labor and management.
The agreement itself, however, was a source of contention. Members of local trade unions and City College faculty members praised what they saw as a proven track record for such agreements, while independent building contractors warned of increased costs due to a lack of competition, and threatened to boycott all City College construction projects if the agreement passed.
Supporters of the plan pointed to clauses in the contract that encourage the hiring of apprentices currently enrolled in City College building trades courses, and highlighted examples of past successes with project labor agreements.
“This thing about ‘it raises costs’ … there’s just no basis for that. There’s no anecdotal evidence to prove it,” said Charles Ramsey, an official with the West Contra Costa School Board.
Opponents, mainly independent contractors represented by the Asian American Contractors Association, argued that non-union, minority contractors had been unfairly excluded from participating in negotiations.
“We feel that all these issues have been driven by the union for the benefit of the union at the expense of City College and the community,” said Sherman Chiu, president of the Contractors Association.
Before putting the issue to a vote, members of the board acknowledged that the plan was far from perfect. Board Presi-dent Rodel Rodis commented on his attempts to work out a plan that would please everyone. “Apparently we have not been successful because we haven’t been able to get everyone to get on board with it,” he said.
After discussing the plan’s apparent faults, he concluded that the agreement really was in the best interests of all involved, saying, “There comes a point when we have to move forward despite whatever reservations we have.”
e-mail: dpowell@theguardsman.com
City College at Large
Call or e-mail Adam Brody with campus wide news at
(415) 239-3446 or associatenews@theguardsman.com
Downtown Campus
The Southeast Asia Business and International Education Center, along with Dean Glick of the Downtown campus, is promoting a student intern-ship program to be held this summer in Vietnam. Students receive a stipend for airfare, food and lodging. The deadline to apply is March 14 by 4:30 p.m. Applications can be picked up at the Downtown campus lobby or at www.ccsf.edu/vietnam. The internship program is the result of a grant from the United States Department of Education. “The program has been tailored to meet governmental requirements and is designed to give the successful applicant a real-life international business experience,” Glick said.
Southeast Campus
The Southeast campus held a “Promoting Healthy Relationships with Project SURVIVE” workshop today, from 11 a.m.-noon in the Alex Pitcher Community Room, in celebration of Women’s History Month.
Castro / Valencia Campus
The Castro / Valencia campus will be showing “Coming Out Under Fire,” a film about lesbians in World War II. It can be viewed tonight, March 9, from 7-8:30 p.m. in Room 1A. A slide show and reading, titled “Wei Lin Discovers America,” will give a graphic memoir of a Chinese woman in the United States and will be held Monday, March 21 from 7-8 p.m. in Room 236. The events are in commemoration of Women’s History Month.
Evans Campus
The Evans campus held “Veggie Vroom,” a biodiesel workshop, on Feb. 25. The seven-hour class presented the basics about biodiesel and showed how to produce the fuel in the home. Hope Smith of BioFuel Oasis in Berkeley and biofuel advocate Girl Mark conducted the workshop.
Short Cuts
Upcoming Deadline Fpr ASC Candidates
Applications are now available for students wishing to run for Associated Student Council. Workshops for interested students will be held on March 10 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., March 14 from noon until 1 p.m. and March 16 from 1 to 2 p.m. in room 208 of the Student Union. The deadline to apply is Friday, March 18 by 3 p.m.
College Expands Teaching Methods
City College is planning to design more effective means of teaching mathematics and literacy at the pre-collegiate level. Ten other California community colleges are working with the school to create models that other colleges may emulate.
Ford Motor Vehicles is now offering a $500 cash bonus for all full-time college students towards the purchase or lease of a new 2004-2005 Ford Division vehicle. Ford is the only auto manufacturer to offer the in-centive to all full-time college students including those en-rolled in trade and graduate schools regardless of class standing and to recent graduates.
Ice Found on Mars
Scientists have found a sea of ice near the equator of Mars, which may indicate the possibility of microscopic life on the planet. Photographs were taken last year by the European Space Agency’s Mars Express probe, which is currently orbiting the red planet. According to The Associated Press, the ice is somewhat recent, although it is underneath a layer of dust.
Sealf-healing Workshop
City College faculty and students are holding a Self-Healing Workshop for Female Survivors of Sexual Violence and Trauma on Sat-urday, March 12 in the Student Union from 12:30 to 5 p.m. The workshop uses meditation and other techniques to ease the healing process. This event is open to the community and is free.
February 15, 6:30 p.m. Ocean Campus
A report of vandalism to a classroom on the second floor of Cloud Hall prompted responding officers. A total of 16 one-inch holes had been punched into the northwestern wall.
February 15, 5:50 p.m. Ocean Campus
A janitor reported multiple people occupying a restroom stall on the second floor of Cloud Hall. Responding officers escorted one individual off the campus.
February 14, 1:45 p.m. Ocean Campus
Employee reported that someone had stolen items from his desk in his office on the 3rd floor of the Science Building. Other items had been reported stolen last semester from the same area.
February 10, 6:20 p.m. Ocean Campus
Two students yelling profanities at personnel in the Rosenberg Library were asked to leave and refused. The incident was referred to the dean of students.
February 10, 2:48 p.m. Ocean Campus
Officers were dispatched to Creative Arts on a call of a disruptive student. When asked to leave by staff the student started yelling louder. The incident was referred to the dean of students.
February 10, 11:43 a.m. Ocean Campus
An officer on patrol recognized a person who was a known sex offender in the area of Conlan Hall. A search of the area did not turn up the suspect.