EL CAMINO COLLEGE
Union T h e
eccunion.com
September 19, 2013
Men’s water polo team falls to Fullerton. Page 7.
Warriors tie against Santa Monica College. Page 7. Torrance, California
Assembly bill would more than quadruple unit costs If passed, a new assembly bill would create a two-tiered system for community colleges. Marquis Parker Staff Writer
Assembly Bill 955, if passed by the Senate, would create a two-tiered system for community college education, according to the bill. “This bill’s text would give colleges the right to offer high-demand courses at non-resident prices,” LBCC Student Trustee Andrea Donado said. According to change.org, AB955 “is an extension program that will be implemented for summer and winter sessions at community colleges statewide in California.” “The full tuition is $295 per unit ($46 state en-
rollment fee = $230 for Non-Resident Tuition + $19 capital outlay fee),” according to change.org. This isn’t including the cost of books and other fees. If students qualify for financial aid, it will not be covered, but it would slightly lower the cost to just $200 per unit, according to change.org. The six colleges that would be affected by the bill at first are College of the Canyons, Crafton Hills College, Long Beach City College, Oxnard College, Pasadena City College, and Solano Community College, according to the bill. According to the bill, the intent is “at least one participating campus should begin implementation of the pilot program by January 2014, and that an
additional five campuses should implement the pilot program by July 1, 2014.” Students at Long Beach City College protested against this bill September 3. Tom Fallo, president of El Camino, said this is a limited bill in which the California government is evaluating to see if the bill can be implemented into all community colleges statewide. “What does this say for the long-run for students?” Fallo said. This new system “will give students an opportunity to take the courses they are not able to enroll in during the state-supported regular session to accelerate the completion of their goals, whether transfer,
degree, or certificate,” according to the bill. “It puts major responsibility on students who have children or have full or part-time jobs,” Fallo said. “I’m a bit worried about certain students not being able to graduate on time.” Assemblyman Das Williams of Santa Barbara introduced this bill and said if the bill is signed, students near graduation or obtaining their certificates will have an opportunity to finish their programs on time. According to the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, the bill will increase the total revenue for schools and allows them to add more teachers, more students, and more classes.
Prop. 30 results get approval More students are enrolled, more classes are offered, and more teachers have been hired as a result of Proposition 30. Davion Walker Staff Writer
NEWS LINE
Aaron Ussery, #89, tight end, makes a touchdown for El Camino. The Warriors defeated the Hancock College Bulldogs 51-17 Saturday.
By Sam Tedla
Charles Ryder/ Union
After waiting nearly a year since its approval, students and faculty are experiencing added classes and added sections as a direct result of Proposition 30. “We were looking at significant decreases, almost 10 percent decreases in classes, 10 percent in students,” Tom Fallo, president of EC, said. “What we did was we didn’t cut those classes and this year we added those classes so you can look at it as we added 10 percent of those classes that we didn’t know we would have in the spring of last year.” The measure has increased state sales tax and income taxes predominantly for funding of education, which in large part has increased the number of classes along with enrollment statewide. The effects of Prop. 30 are already making a difference. The California Community Colleges system, the nation’s largest, has received $210 million in additional funds last year as well as this year, with another $610 million approved in the 2013-14 state budget. A large portion of the funds is used to fulfill a postponed funding responsibility by the state to colleges, however, the proposition proposed to accommodate an increase of 20,000 additional students in 2012 and 2013. Before the passing of Prop. 30, community colleges across the state were facing another budget cut and students once again were being turned away from receiving a higher education. Now that it has passed, there’s an upsurge of students this year due to its initiation. [See PROP 30, Page 2]
Planetarium Show
CSU Long Beach Workshop
TAG Workshop
Financial Aid Online Application Workshop
Student Improvement Workshop
Come to the Planetarium Show on the roof of the MBA Building to see stars, planets, and the moon. The show is tomorrow at 8 p.m. It’s first come, first serve, so get there as early as you can. For more information, call 310-6603593, ext. 3373.
Students can take the steps to achieve their goal of becoming a 49er by going to the Cal State Long Beach Workshop on Monday in the Distance Education Room. The workshop will be held from 1-2 p.m. For more information, call 310-660-3593, ext. 6137.
For students interested in getting information about guaranteed admission to a university, there will be a Transfer Agreement Guaranteed Workshop in MBA 120 on Tuesday. The workshop will be from 3-5 p.m. For more information, call 310-660-3593, ext. 6137.
There will be a Financial Aid Workshop at the SSC 204-G, on Wednesday from 4-6 p.m. For more information, call 310-6603493.
The Student Resource Center is hosting a Personal Effectiveness Workshop on Sept. 26 from 1:052 p.m. in the decathlon room. For more information, call 310-6603295.