CALIFORNIA STATE POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY, POMONA www.thepolypost.com TUESDAY, MAY 17, 2011
VOL. LXVI NO. 27
ASI Senate cuts $8k from BEAT Student leaders decide BEAT is still able to operate with less funding CHRIS BASHAW
News Editor The Associated Students, Inc. Senate budget deliberations ended Thursday with an $8,000 cut from ASI Bronco Events and Activities Team that was redistributed to the Children’s Center. The Senate originally cut $10,500 from BEAT in a previous session, but Thursday’s 9-2 vote favored a restoration of $2,500 back to BEAT. The remaining $8,000 was reallocated to the Children’s Center with a unanimous vote. With budget deliberations concluded, BEAT’s funding from stu-
dent government next year was reduced 9 percent to $88,500. The funding for the Children’s Center was subsequently increased by 4 percent to $224,293. “The Senate saw that the Children’s Center faces a huge potential shortfall,” said Johnathan Jianu, ASI vice president. “I guess they saw the potential for the Children’s Center and decided to continue funding for it.” The Senate majority expressed that BEAT was still able to provide events and activities despite working on a tight budget; this was compared to the Children’s Center, which faces a shortfall of approximately $45,000 that could increase if it is not awarded a grant it is applying for. The Children’s Center has been working toward becoming a self-
sufficient organization on campus that, in the future, will not require ASI funds to keep afloat. Where that threshold lays and when the Children’s Center will completely wean off of ASI funding is unforeseeable. Jianu said a self-sufficient Children’s Center independent of ASI funds would be “the most ideal situation,” but iterated that – at this point – it is difficult to determine when that self sufficiency could be attained. “We shouldn’t focus on what the Children’s Center will become, but what it can provide students,” said Jianu. “The Children’s Center has the potential to become an academic program and not an ASI program. Until the time comes when the Children’s Center is not reliant on ASI funding, we still have that need to
serve those students who have to choose between working or [going] to school.” The Children’s Center could potentially provide volunteer and academic opportunities for psychology students, who could use the facility to observe how children acquire language and interact with each other. Yvonne Bailey, director of the Children’s Center, was unavailable for comment. BEAT’s projected $10,000 carryover of unused funds into its budget next year also contributed to the Senate’s decision to reallocate it to the Children’s Center. Alejandro Pinel, Education Interest Council senator-at-large, was in favor of restoring $2,500 back to BEAT. See SENATE/Pg. 5
Correspondent
Trevor Wills / The Poly Post
Alicia Vajid, elected as next year’s MultiCultural Council senator-at-large, is brought to tears when she heard she won the election.
Attendance was low, but emotions ran high on Thursday night in the dark, cold University Plaza as ASI election results were announced. The anticipation for the results had candidates pacing back and forth, cheering and hugging as they found out who would be next year’s student representatives. Alicia Vajid was full of joy after hearing that students voted for her to keep her current position as Senator-atLarge for the MultiCultural Council. “I was really, really happy because I really love MCC, which is why I ran for the position again,” said Vajid. “So when I found out, I started crying. It was probably one of the happiest moments of my life.” Vajid stood with fellow Broncos United candidates who were similarly excited to hear the results. Broncos United won 10 of the 14 positions in the Associated Students Inc. elections
‘All-cuts budget’ threatens to skyrocket yearly costs of attending CSU campuses KATHY NGUYEN
Staff Writer
on Thursday night, following four weeks of campaigning and three days of voting. Running uncontested, the Broncos United presidential ticket – which consisted of Johnathan Jianu and Matthew Stafford for president and vice president, respectively – received 1,592 votes. A total of 2,062 students voted this year, about 300 more than last year. Although it was just a fraction of the approximate 20,000 students on campus, Stafford said the voter turnout was better than he expected. “I’m actually really happy about the number of people we got to vote,” said Stafford. “I thought that because our competition did drop out at the last minute that interest had gone down but if anything the amount of people that voted shows contrary to that.” The Senator-at-Large for Educational Interest Council, College of Education and Integrative Studies Senator,
Cal Poly Pomona students could face a 32 percent tuition increase next year. The California State University system is already the victim of a $500 million cut, resulting in a 10 percent tuition fee increase this fall and 10,000 fewer students system-wide. This cut could potentially be a $1 billion budget cut if Governor Jerry Brown’s tax extensions are not approved. CSU Chancellor Charles Reed met with trustees – including Cal Poly Pomona University President Michael Ortiz – on Tuesday, when a budget contingency plan was laid out. In the worst case - an all-cuts budget scenario - a full-time Cal Poly Pomona undergraduate student would pay $6,450 in tuition per year, said Ortiz in an email. “The campus really does not have all the solutions at its disposal,” said Darwin Labordo, Cal Poly Pomona associate chief financial officer. “For example, tuition fee increases – that has to come from the system. There’s no way one campus can do that or solve that issue.” Students are not the only ones who would suffer the effects of the potential cut.
See ASI/Pg. 4
See TUITION/Pg. 5
Students elect next year’s ASI leaders ERIN O’BRIEN
Tuition could increase 32 percent
2,062 students vote in ASI elections ANDRE KARIMLOO
Staff Writer Although slightly higher than last year’s turnout, only 2,062 votes were cast from a school population of more than 20,000 students. Three days of voting took place last week in which students determined the new Associated Students, Inc. leaders for next year. The low voter turnout is not easy to explain. “Maybe it’s the same as the country right now,” said Antonia Sims, poll sitter at the parking structure station. “People are asking: Why should I vote? How will this affect me?” Four polling areas – at the Bronco Student Center, the University Quad, the parking structure and the
third-year electrical engineering student and Engineering Senator Candidate for the CPP ONE title. This straightforward approach to campaigning has helped some students realize the effort candidates put into their campaigns. “They’re very handson in trying to get people involved,” said Ashley Smith, a first-year business accounting student. “So they’re out there trying to inform them on what’s going on, but it all depends on the person and if they’re going to listen, or care.” Some students have had experiences in the past of running or being in office during high school. They choose to vote because they know what the candidates were going through. “I know how it feels to
Cowboy Corner – were set up with the hope of attracting students passing by to stop and cast a ballot. The polling booth at the parking structure was the least busy of the four: Only about 45 people had voted nearing the end of the first day and around 120 by the end of the second. The booth in the University Quad was the busiest, totaling nearly 800 votes halfway through the last day. ASI Candidates were seen doing last-minute campaigning in designated areas near each polling station. “Most of the people that have walked by grab a flyer and tell me why they are voting, then I tell them what I plan to do for the Engineering Department,” said Olaleye Olayinka, a
be trying to get everyone to participate, so it makes me feel their pain and makes me want to help them out,” said Jessica Arechiga, a second-year psychology student. Arechiga also said some students felt overwhelmed by other extra-curricular activities and put the ASI into elections in the back of their minds. “But at the same time I kind of feel how everyone else does where they just don’t care as much,” said Arechiga. “It’s tiring trying to be a part of everything, so people stop caring and you see it, you feel it.” Some students thought information regarding ASI elections and other campus issues should have been made clearly visible. See VOTING/Pg. 5
Farheen Dayala / The Poly Post
Sachin Bhela, a third-year chemistry student, voted on Thursday during the ASI elections.
IN THIS
ISSUE
Pg.2
NEWS: CPP wins ‘Out for Blood’
Pg.8
LIFESTYLE: ‘Oedipus el Rey’
Pg. 10
OPINIONS: Social
media and politics
Pg.11
SPORTS: Baseball team earns bid