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WOMENS SOCCER
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FLASH MOBS & SOCIAL MEDIA
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FUZJKO HEMMING
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HEALTHY BRAINS
WEDNESDAY SEPT 7TH, 2011 VOLUME D ISSUE 1
Santa Monica College dodges proposed budget cuts By Janae’ Franklin Staff Writer
2008:Q1 2008:Q4
State budget cuts to higher education have been largely avoided at Santa Monica College, due to a surplus of $2.1 million. Back in January 2011, California’s newly appointed governor Jerry Brown proposed three scenarios of budget cuts for California community colleges: Scenarios A, B, and D. Scenario A consisted of a $5.57 million cut to the community college system for the 2011-2012 fiscal year. Additionally, Scenario B would have been a 9 percent cut, and Scenario D at 15 percent. Despite last semester’s grim outlook, SMC is doing well compared to other local community colleges because of a surplus of $2.1 million, money that has largely accumulated from a variety of revenuesaving initiatives at Santa Monica College. According to a recent Board of Trustees’ meeting agenda, “The District closed the year with a 2.100,851 operating surplus based on a comparison of ongoing revenues and expenditures.” “Although SMC received a 6.2
percent budget cut, which feels in between Scenario A and B, our school during the 2010-2011 school year was able to tighten up its belt and save this nowsurplus money,” said Robert Isomoto, Vice President of Business and Administration at SMC. ESL Professor Janet Harclerode, the current Academic Senate President gave examples of the kind of revenue savings ideas implemented on campus: “SMC was able to raise its nonresident fees, which is something that we have wanted to do for a while. Our sustainability practices on campus, such as automatic lights in offices saved energy which then saved money. The school also decided to cut some of its advertising methods from the past.” Because of these money saving practices, many special programs on campus, which are utilized by many students, were able to continue serving those in need. The Black Collegians Program, which assists students of African descent in succeeding at SMC, was in jeopardy of losing some
COMMUNITY COLLEGES CSU SCHOOLS 2009:Q3
UC SCHOOLS
2010:Q2
2011:Q1 2011:Q4
2012:Q3
[See Budget, page 3]
Reynal Guillen Corsair
New chairs of excellence New changes at SMC
By Regan Dyl Staff Writer
On August 25, the Santa Monica College Foundation awarded four professors as the Chairs of Excellence winners of 2011. Each professor will receive a $15,000 grant to be used for special projects in business, earth science, healthcare, and music. The Chair of Excellence Grant created by the SMC Foundation is an opportunity for faculty to “try new, innovative avenues.” Endowments of this type are most commonly found at major research universities. “SMC is proud to offer these Chair of Excellence awards to outstanding professors who have developed projects that will enhance their teaching and enrich the academic experience for our students,” said SMC President and Superintendent Dr. Chui L. Tsang in a campus press release. This year’s winners will receive the grants in increments of $5,000 a year over the next three years to forward their proposed projects. Chair of Earth Science winner, Professor
By Tarrin Andrews Vicki Drake, will further her research on Staff Writer
the impact of chaparral vegetation on soil and landslide potential in fire areas using satellite imagery. Students will also be able to analyze geospatial data and have the opportunity to come on as paid research assistants. Professor Yulia Kozlova, the Chair of Music winner, is creating a lecture and concert series that will make classical music more accessible to students with the aid of “visual arts, poetry, and literature.” The focus will be on bringing the music of well established Russian and Lithuanian composers to her students, and give them the benefit of experiencing current, living composers. Chair of Business winner Professor Sal Veas’ project will create a social media marketing class. His plan will also incorporate student internships, guest speakers, and conferences, in the hope of guiding students from “simply being consumers of social media, to becoming producers within a marketing communications program.” Professor Eva Adler of the nursing program is the winner St. John’s Health
This semester is seeing a number of changes at Santa Monica College. One of the most notable changes is the new SMC website (www.smc.edu). The goal of the new website is to be more aesthetically pleasing and easier to use. Rolled out by SectorPoint, a web design and development company, the website uses a “recycled” layout, a marked improvement over the “1990s Internet Explorer style” of the previous one. Another notable change is the swipe system on the back of SMC student ID cards. The swipe system’s primary function is for the Big Blue Bus, which SMC students are entitled to ride for free. The swipe system was incorporated to ease certain administrative activities on campus and for the Big Blue Bus to have more accurate readings of SMC ridership. With the swipe cards, the Big Blue Bus will be able to determine exact numbers on how many students are riding, their particular routes, and what time they’re riding. This information will be used in the hope
Michael Yanow Corsair Corsairs captains Karl Buchanan, Alexandru Ceachir, Bilal Muhammad and Hushun Smith of the Santa Monica College Corsairs preparing for coin toss.
Cristina Maxwell Corsair Erika Udagawa is an international student from Japan is one of many Santa Monica College students who has to commute to school using the metro system in Santa Monica, California and her SMC id to get a free ride.
rideshare program called Zimride has been recently implemented as well. Spearheaded by the new Associated Students President
[See Changes, page 3]
[See Chair Winners, page 3] PAGE
of optimizing the bus schedule in Santa Monica. For students who do not frequent the public transportation system, a new
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FOOTBALL TEAM
PHOTOSTORY:
OFF TO A
TWILIGHT
STRONG START
DANCE SERIES
THECORSAIRONLINE.COM
Chris Alves Corsair Caleb Savage (Bass) & Dehaven Carrington (Drums),two-thirds th of Olio at the 27 Annual Twlight Dance Series at the pier.