STUDENT ART SHOW
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Volume 76, Issue 19 | www.elaccampusnews.com | Wednesday, April 17, 2019 | Single copy free - additional copies 50 cents
Concerns rise over student homelessness assembly bill BY LUIS CASTILLO Staff Writer
CN/STEVEN ADAMO
Library offers laptop rentals BY ANDREW AYALA Staff Writer The Helen Miller Bailey Library at East Los Angeles College has began offering three-hour Chromebook rentals to ELAC students this semester. Antonio Ng, a professor of library science and a librarian on the main campus said that the program has been going on for about two weeks now. The Chromebook students can check out is an HP Chromebook x360. The laptop has no programs installed, but students can connect to the Wifi on campus without logging in and use programs such as Google Docs or Office 365 to take notes or type papers up.
The Chromebook can be used as a laptop, folded to be a tablet or even connected to the televisions in the study rooms in the library to project what is displayed on the small screen. This can be a tool for students to use when practicing presentations or working on a group project. “We try as much as possible to provide the technology for students. We try to stay up to standards, I guess, as far as providing state-ofthe-art technology,” Ng said. The library has about 50 Chromebooks available for rent, but at the moment they are doing 10 at a time. So far only a couple a week have been rented out due to the lack of awareness of the program. “Every so often we conduct a library survey. We are running one
“We do take comments very seriously, as far as how we can improve our services and this was one of them.”
ANTONIO NG
Library Science Professor and main campus librarian
as we speak until May 3. So far we have received 3,000 responses already. We do take comments very seriously, as far as how we can improve our services and this was
one of them,” Ng said. In order to rent one of these, students must have a valid student ID and fill out a Chromebook borrower agreement which states the terms and conditions that the students must abide by. “Students would check them out and return them to the tech help desk…They can only be checked out when our IT person is on duty,” Ng said. “He is the expert and he is the one that will make sure that everything is working and functional before it gets lent out to the student. We don’t want to get into any problems between the library and the patron.” The Chromebooks have a tracking software which will prevent them from being stolen or lost. There is a replacement fee which starts at $500. The laptops are not
allowed outside of campus but are not restricted to library use only. “I think it is easier and a better update to the computers that we have here. The Chromebooks and these computers offer the same services they just add more accessibility, like when finals come up,” said Cristian Perez, a student aid at the library. The program was funded through lottery funds and is still in the pilot stage, which is why there are so few being rented out at once. Ng said he has bigger plans to expand the technology in the library by hopefully adding updated scanners and printers which would have the ability to actually scan textbook pages and convert them into downloadable PDFs. The Chromebooks are available all semester and only on the main campus.
Assembly Bill 302, which would allow homeless students to sleep in their cars on campus parking lots, is gaining momentum. The East Los Angeles College Budget Committee discussed, on Monday, how it would fund AB 302. President Marvin Martinez said his main concern with the bill was that it was not as simple as just opening the parking lot to students. There are questions about how additional security and sanitation for the lots would be funded. The committee said that if AB 302 were to pass, the campus would also need to keep bathrooms open at night for students. Liability issues were also a concern the Budget Committee discussed. If a student were to get injured while in a campus parking lot, the the college may have to deal with a lawsuit. The committee said that AB 302 shouldn’t be mandatory, because if the bill were to become a law, ELAC would be forced to comply. It also said that the people pushing the bill aren’t taking into consideration the costs they would have on colleges. If AB 302 were to pass, ELAC and other California community colleges would have to pay for expenses themselves. President Martinez said he wanted the Budget Committee to be prepared in case AB 302 passes. “It’s gaining momentum,” President Martinez said. “There are a lot of things we’re not anticipating and we have to be ready for them.” The Budget Committee also discussed ELAC’s budgeting plan, the Student Success and Support Program (SSSP) and it’s progress since its implementation in 2012. The committee said the plan is coming to an end on June 30. Dean of Student Services Paulina Palomino said the new budgeting plan, called the Student Equality and Achievement Program will include all the funding of the old plan along with additional funds. She said that under SSSP, ELAC had the funds to hire more counselors which resulted in more students transferring and graduating. The committee said their goal with the new plan was to continue where SSSP left off.
Transfer center to help undocumented students BY JUAN CALVILLO Staff Writer The East Los Angeles College Transfer Center will be holding an undocumented student transfer workshop today from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. in D-7. The workshop is a chance for undocumented students, like those that have AB 540 status, to come in with questions and concerns about their scholastic futures. AB 540 is an assembly bill that allows undocumented students the chance to be charged in-state tuition and fees instead of being charged out-of-state fees when it comes to college coursework. The workshop is similar to the center’s Transfer 101 workshop, but with the addition of information that targets the specific challenges that come with being an undocumented student. Transfer Center Director Kirby Dominguez said that when it comes to transferring, some undocumented students miss opportunities to submit transfer documentation to
News Briefs
private out-of-state institutions. Information on transferring out of state is just one example of information that is available when it comes to the transfer workshops. Dominguez said that students tend to assume that transferring is something to think about when the last semester or two is on their plate. Dominguez stressed that these workshops give students, “an application timeline, as to when they should start considering applying, the process of applying and all the documentation they’ll need.” Being timely is very important in the transferring process. Dominguez said that when transferring, it’s important to keep up in a timely fashion for all students and that the added documentation that is asked of AB 540 students means that these students really need to get on it early. He said that just because the documentation has gone through for ELAC doesn’t necessarily mean there won’t be issues or the need to update documentation for other institutions. “The classification of being AB
540 doesn’t follow them unless they provide that documentation,” Dominguez said. Again, getting all documentation to the schools students want to transfer to in time is extremely important. Dominguez said that the fact that AB 540 allows students to pay in-state fees and even apply for the California Promise, which was previously known as the Board of Governors Fee Waiver, is a huge deal. Not turning in paperwork in time could lead to students paying out-ofstate fees and many of these schools can be very black-and-white when it comes to deadlines. He used Cal State LA, where students would pay more than $6,000 in tuition and madatory fees, as an example. In contrast international or non-resident student would pay more than $16,000 for tuition and mandatory fees. “This is where this assembly bill is incredibly beneficial for our students. “So what ends up happening is
ASU Scholarship Deadline extended
The ASU scholarship deadline was extended to April 25 by 7 p.m. for the main campus and 10 p.m. for the South Gate campus. Applications are available at the Student Activities office and SG at the front desk.
“Undocumented students should always look for nonprofit organizations, they are always offering scholarships, many specifically for undocumented students.” JUDITH ARGUELLO
Dream Resource Center
that sometimes students forget, they’re like ‘Oh I’ve been classified or categorized as AB 540,’” Dominguez said. “When they apply and transfer to, let’s say, a Cal State, if the documents weren’t done upfront and in a timely manner they might start that first semester being charged that $16,000,” Dominguez said. Having qualified for AB 540 also qualifies students for the California
Loving with Consent: A conversation about safer sex and HIV prevention
Dream Act which Dominguez says is similar to the Cal Grant in the amount of money dispensed, which are both state financial aid. Students should also fill out the paperwork for the FAFSA, despite the fact that they won’t get any money federally. Dominguez pointed out that doing so allows the information to be compiled so that they can be awarded the Dream Act and the California Promise Act, and that transferring increases the amount of money dispensed. Other forms of money for continuing education when transferring could come from scholarships. “Undocumented students should always look for nonprofit organizations, they are always offering scholarships, many specifically for undocumented students. The Consejo de Federaciones Mexicanas (COFEM) organization, offers a scholarship every year for undocumented students,” said Judith Arguello from the Dream Resource Center.
The workshop on HIV prevention and safer sex is open to all on Thursday between 12:15 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. in F5-211.
Taco Giveaway
She also mentioned that students should always apply despite maybe not meeting the GPA requirements. She said that many students see that the requirements asked for when applying is something they can’t meet and don’t apply. Arguello said that sometimes so few apply that these organizations end up giving the scholarships to anyone who has applied. Dominguez also said that sometimes students may fear the cost of schooling, but they shouldn’t worry about the cost until they get award letters. This fear often leaves student feeling like they don’t have choices. He said that there are plenty of challenges that are valid when transferring. Taking note of that he also pointed out how hard these same students work when it comes to school and that all the hard work these students have put in needs to be honored. Dominguez said that one of the most important things students need to have is someone, a teacher or a counselor or an ally, to get support from and not do the process alone.
ASU will give away free tacos or quesadillas for the first 420 students today in the E3/E7 quad. This giveaway will take place between noon and 2 p.m. ELAC IDs are required.