ARTS
SPECIAL
SPORTS
Spring Band Concert honors veterans
VPAM launches three new exhibits
Men’s soccer prepares for upcoming season
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Volume 72, Issue 23
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Wednesday, May 27, 2015
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“I hope to learn how to truly believe in God. I hope to learn how to be grateful. I hope to learn how to be there for others. I hope to learn how to let go. Whatever time is left, I am in a great deal of pain. But I know pain. I am expert in pain.” - Lydia Rudametkin
DSP&S counselor plans to retire
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parents spoke Spanish to each other, but they spoke Russian to my sisters and I,” Rudametkin said. Some of her favorite travel memories are in Russia and Spain, where Staff Writers she earned certificates in Russian studies and in Spanish language and or 37 years Lydia Rudametkin showed passion culture. and dedication through the counseling services In the summer of 2010, Rudametkin was diagnosed with uterine and she provided at East Los Angeles College. cervical cancer. Rudametkin feels grateful for being granted so “When I heard the diagnosis, I told the doctor. I know. I wasn’t many years of good memories and participation surprised. I had very few symptoms, but I intuitively self-knew that I had in the college community, but now she exits her cancer,” Rudametkin said. ELAC career. The following years were a blur of intense medical treatment and Looking back on her ELAC journey, adjusting to the abrupt new reality that she might die soon. Rudametkin held positions in counseling, “I had major surgery in 2011 and six weeks of daily radiation,” teaching, as well as being a Rudametkin said. matriculation coordinator, director of The Women’s She said the cancer occupies her liver, lungs, right Center and a committee member and chair of The kidney, diaphragm and ribs. It had spread over the Conference Tuition Committee. last five years, giving her two to six months to live. In a letter Rudametkin wrote that recent events in “I hope to learn how to truly believe in God. I hope her life have made it necessary for her to bid farewell to learn how to be grateful. I hope to learn how to to those people whom she has known for many years be there for others. I hope to learn how to let go. and others whom she had met recently. Whatever time is left, I am in a great deal of pain. She served as Dean of Student Services and But I know pain. I am expert in pain,” Rudametkin supervised 15 different programs such as Extended said. Opportunity Program and Services, Counseling, According to Rudametkin, her experience with Child Development Center, Financial Aid and violence and abuse at an early age has been far worse Admission office in the late ‘80s to early ‘90s. than her experience with cancer. “She really was an important voice in the whole Rudametkin’s experience has also helped with processes here on campus and just an inspiration her passion for supporting survivors of domestic in terms of her leadership, her service and just her violence and sexual abuse. openness to listening to all sides,” Chicano Studies Chair of the Nursing Department Lurlean Gaines Professor Mary Ramos said. said she recommended students of domestic violence According to Ramos, Rudametkin knew a lot of and sexual abuse to go to Rudametkin if they needed information because she has so much recollection help. If she couldn’t help, she always found someone from committees she’s served on, policies that have who could. been acted on in the past. “ELAC was her main agenda, and she advocated Rudametkin also serves as the representative for strongly for students. She was a real advocate for the Counseling Department on the Academic Senate the faculty,” Gaines said. Lydia Rudametkin since 2000 and was treasurer. In the process of chemotherapy, Rudametkin In 1986, she started and directed the Honors found support from her doctor, Gynecologic Program with UCLA for ELAC students, which Oncologist Laila Muderstach at the University of Southern California prepares them for transfer. Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center. “She is one of the most deeply caring and thoughtful individuals that “My perfect cancer world consists of my indescribable medical I’ve encountered here at ELAC,” history instructor and curriculum chair treatment, my best forever 1960s UCLA Bruin friends and my best Steve Wardinski said. forever ELAC colleagues and friends,” Rudametkin said. Wardinski said Rudametkin was an example of someone who puts the “I have been so touched by my personal friends and my ELAC needs of students first. She has been unparalleled yet has been a strong colleagues for their support and their caring for me.” advocate for the faculty. According to Gaines, she keeps her spirits up by living up to her She is trilingual in Spanish, Russian and English and provided nickname “Chocolate Queen” and made sure everyone has their chocolate. counseling services to many Russian students after the collapse of the Wardinski has started a Friends of Lydia Rudametkin Memorial Fund Soviet Union. with the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center so that others could Rudametkin was born in Mexico. When she was 2, her parents moved receive treatment from the caretakers that she mentioned who took such to the U.S. good care of her. “My parents learned Spanish in Mexico, after leaving Russia. My Rudametkin’s official last day at ELAC is June 30.
BY MARIA ISIDORO, MEGAN G. RAZZETTI AND MARCUS CAMACHO
News Briefs
Symphony Orchestra
The Symphony Orchestra will be performing at the Performing Arts Center at 6 p.m. on May 30. The Wilson High School band will also be performing.
Graduation
ELAC graduation will be held at Weingart Stadium at 6:30 p.m. on June 6. The last date to petition for graduation will be June 5.
Last issue
Governor increases funding for schools BY IVAN CAZARES Staff Writer Governor Jerry Brown released a revised version of his proposed budget for 2015-2016 after a $6.7 billion increase in General Fund Revenues. Brown urges legislators who are calling on him to spend more on safety-net programs and other priorities to be cautious. Most of the additional revenue must go to public schools by law. In the revised budget, $14,687,996 will be set aside for higher education and $50,451,985 for K-12 education. “For the first time in more than a decade, (we will) have a balanced budget and it’s solid,” Brown said. He gave credit to Proposition 30 for this achievement. Proposition 30 increased sales and income tax. Critics of the proposition argued that schools would never see that money. Members of the Judicial Branch have complained about having to close down court houses. As of now, the Judicial Branch is receiving the same amount of money as last year. Brown acknowledged that the Judicial Branch’s costs are going up and that there will be some give and take before the final budget is decided. “All these institutions, courts, universities, hospitals have huge costs and everyone has to get used to managing. We’ve been used to this over commitment on the federal level, at the state level and were trying to now have honest budgeting and careful budgeting,” Brown said. Brown proposed to increase the state’s rainy day fund to $3.5 million as a precaution. California’s economy is getting stronger, however, there is no guarantee that this trend will continue. The governor said that he did not want to make the same mistake past governors have made. In the past, governors have bet on more money coming in than what actually did, resulting in a recessions. The proposed budget includes $148 million for deferred maintenance and instructional equipment for community colleges. It sets aside $626 million for prior mandate obligations. It includes $60 million in one-time funds the Basic and Student Outcomes Transformation Program. These funds are meant to support the progress and success of basic skills students.
REVISE Continued on page 4
This is the last issue of the spring 2015 semester. For more information on the next issue and updates, visit elaccampusnews.com