ASO approves funds for MakerSpace Club

MakerSpace recieves funding for their club that will go towards workshops

DONNA ROBLES Reporter drobles.roundupnews@gmail.com

The Associated Students Organization approved $1,743 worth of funding for the MakerSpace Club during the senate meeting on March 15, at the Great Hall.

After coming twice to the ASO Senate Meetings last year for funding, the MakerSpace club’s petition for funding has been approved by the all of the student senators who were present during the meeting.

MakerSpace is a place located at the Architecture and Engineering department. The club started last year and were able to attract 150 students to join, according to Club President Paul Macander.

“It’s basically a space or laboratory for students across all disciplines to come and use,” Macander said.

The funding that the club requested will go toward

[Chicano Studies pg. 1]

“Why should they have to travel to another campus when this is their school,” Rovero said. “A lot of students feel that way, but they feel they have their hands tied.” Nataly Venegas said she wastes time and gas driving to Los Angeles Valley College and East Los Angeles College when the classes could be offered at Pierce.

“They don’t want to give us the opportunity to learn about our own heritage,” Venegas said. “There is no need for students that come to Pierce to go somewhere else just to get the classes that could be offered here, simple as that, but president [Kathleen Burke] just keeps saying no to us and keeps giving us other obstacles to go through just to get classes.”

Pierce College is hiring 50 new faculty members in 2016. Kathy Oborn, department chair of Social Science, said she put in a request for a full-time Chicano Studies professor and the Faculty Position Priority Committee ranked it 15 workshops that the club will organize. The workshops will be open for everyone who is interested regardless of their major.

“Basically, our strategy is to have a MakerSpace week on campus and to host a marathon of workshops that would be throughout the entire week and they’ll be open to all students,” Macander said.

“I feel like they deserve it more than anyone .” - out of 53 in terms of priority but Burke decided to skip over the position.

“They will be basic elementary workshops. The students might be interested, but they’re overwhelmed and intimidated by the process of the idea or they don’t understand, so we’ll just be showing them it’s not as complicated,” Macander said.

Roxanne Keramati, Economics major and ASO treasurer, introduced the action item for the MakerSpace Workshop.

“The president didn’t recognize the same importance that the committee did,” Oborn said. “I was upset. The students were upset. Angelita [Rovero] was upset. Tony [Fernandez] was upset. We really couldn't understand why and then we learned that the only measure that she used was full time to part time ratio.”

The largest benefit of hiring a full time Chicano Studies professor is that it would guarantee five Chicano Studies sections each semester, according to Oborn. The primary problem is that sections were cut across numerous departments years ago due to a drop in enrollment.

“I have been screaming for the longest time that we need to get those sections back that we got slashed and burned prior to 2008,” Oborn said. “That’s the first thing, because the experiment didn’t work. It didn’t increase success.”

The problem Oborn faces is that she is only allocated so many

“Maker’s Space actually came twice to the senate, but the very first time they came they gave a presentation, but their item wasn’t to be voted on,” Keramati said during the meeting.

Sanam Tehrani, Psychology major and one of the ASO senators, thinks that MakerSpace is deserving of the funding that they requested.

“I saw them out there during Club Rush," Tehrani said. “They are very interactive with everyone. I feel like they deserve it more sections for her departments. She said if she gives another section to Chicano Studies it means she will have to take one away from Political Science, Economics or Criminal Justice, which are programs that offer degrees.

“ They don’t want to give us the opportunity to learn about our own heritage .”

“The important thing is that we do not have enough sections,” Oborn said. “That is what the whole story is here.”

Near the end of February, 2016, enrollment numbers were down five percent this semester compared to the spring of 2015, according to the Vice President of Academic Affairs Sheri Berger.

With continued construction and Pierce College expecting new hires, another use for the building was introduced at Tuesday's meeting. The idea that the building would be offices for incoming staff, since there is not enough space due to ongoing construction.

Sheri Berger, vice president of Academic Affairs, told the FAC that she was representing the user group at the meeting. Berger said that the user group had stated at Friday's meeting that, “something would be better than nothing.” than anyone.”

Zakaria Razeg, undecided and treasurer of MakerSpace, is pleased about the decision of the senate to approve the funding for the club.

“I think with the funding provided, we’re going to attract more students to return and come back,” Razeg said. “It’s great.”

The ASO Treasurer said that the club is active on and off the campus, and that MakerSpace is deserving of the funding that the senate provided for the club.

Oburn said this is related to a decline in incoming students from the high schools who make up eight to 12 percent of the students at Pierce.

Fernandez brought Chicano Studies to Pierce College in 2006 and does not understand why they are not adapting to the changing demographics of the school. He said that based on the stats he is aware of the school was 24 percent Latino in 2006 and today that number has risen to 43 percent.

“Community college is meant to serve the community obviously, and the demographics of the community have changed, but Pierce College has not changed, and the machine, the administration has not changed,” Fernandez said.

Rovero, Hernandez and Oborn all believe that Chicano Studies is a way for the rising Latino population to become interested in taking college courses and attending classes at Pierce College.

“We have many many Chicano students out there, and many of occur. For example, the current space is too narrow and cannot accommodate for large paintings to be properly displayed nor can large artwork be viewed by large crowds.

Incident Report

March. 14 - March. 21

3/14 - Ill Student

“They’ve attended a lot of trainings and they’re really willing to reach out to the student population in general,” Keramati said. “Not only people who knows for a fact that they want to major in architecture or something related to their labs and the things that they conduct.” those students are not going to college, so if we have a Chicano tudies program and Chicano Studies students can say “You know I want to study Chicano Studies,” Oborn said.

“I’ve noticed that they’re very involved and I think that they’re deserving of the funds that we’ve provided them with,” Keramati said.

Rovero’s said Chicano Studies is what sparked her academic career and put her life back on track.

“I was a student here. I was on academic probation. I was one of those students who couldn’t find my way,” Rovero said. “For people like me, for a lot of them, it changed my life. I see a lot of these kids that are interested in their history.” handling and preparation techniques, according to Del Bosque.

Fernandez said that on the first day of class he always asks his Chicano Studies students to raise their hands if they had a parent who attended college and only 10 to 15 percent will put their arm in the air.

“So we have 85 percent first time college students that have no role models, no parents to help them with their homework, no support,” Fernandez said.

Del Bosque has resorted to taking her students off-campus to art museums in a process she calls, “guerrilla exhibition handling and prep” to learn how to properly store and care for art that is going to be in an exhibition.

The Digital Arts and Media Building project is currently in planning at a budget of $32,950,719 and is set to be completed in 2020, according to data from Nov. 2015, on “Buildlaccd.org."

Put a sock in a box

Peer 2 Peer is encouraging students to donate socks for those in need

TANYA CASTANEDA Reporter tcastaneda.roundupnews@gmail.com

Sock donations for the homeless are being accepted by the student-run mentoring group, Peer 2 Peer, in the Associated Students Organization building through March 31.

The socks will be donated to the Midnight Mission in Downtown Los Angeles. The Service Committee was told by the Mission that socks are the most needed necessity, according to Volunteer Committee Lead Jessica Campbell.

The Service Committee is a sub-group of Peer 2 Peer, whose objective is to find ways to give back to the community.

Raising money would be easier but the paperwork involved with cash makes it more challenging and the process would have to begin in December. However, there is no paperwork required for sock donations, according to volunteer committee member, Joe Hernandez.

Socks are an easy and effective way for everybody to donate and help, according to Hernandez.

“When you buy socks, they come in pairs of six. You can give one up so someone can have a pair of socks,” Hernandez said.

Part of the goal of the Peer 2 Peer donation program is to get students at Pierce involved and make them aware the struggle homeless face, such as not having a single pair of decent socks, according to multiple volunteers.

The Student Engagement Center is located underneath the library, where you can also find peer mentors and tutoring along with other programs that fulfill students' needs.

Donation boxes have been set up in the ASO lounge as an attempt to get more exposure and encourage students to donate.

According to the College Project Director Ed Cadena, the modification of an existing building is problematic. The location of the former library is near a retaining wall at the base of the Art Hill. Cadena said that when a retaining wall is included in a project it costs millions of dollars.

According to the FAC charter sheet that outlines the committee's responsibilities, “The FAC reviews all developments and implementation of the college's overall bond program planning efforts. The FAC reviews all proposed bond-funded projects to ensure that they meet the requirements of the college's Educational Master Plan and the long-term goals of the Facilities Master Plan.”

McDonald also said that Media Arts at Pierce College has never had a permanent location on campus.

Monika Del Bosque. associate professor of Art and director of the Art Gallery, said she tries to make the best of the limited space she has to teach students, and to showcase art to the community.

Del Bosque said that the current gallery space is very small and limits the types of shows that can

Another issue is the pantry space where Del Bosque stores, prepares and teaches her students about exhibition techniques. The pantry houses a kitchenette, a janitor's closet and wall to wall, floor-to-ceiling storage racks filled with supplies and art work. This already small space becomes cramped each semester when art students gather around to learn about proper exhibition

A female student had a seizure at dance studio located in North Gym. Paramedic transported the student to the hospital on Monday March 14, at 5:55 p.m.

3/15 - Arrest

A male non-student was arrested for all crime classification. Attempt to remove peace officer's weapon and had to use force to get the suspect in cusody at the Farm Area on Tuesday March 15, at 5:05 p.m.

3/16 - Car accident

A car flipped over after colliding with a van on De Soto Avenue and El Rancho drive near the farm entrance to Pierce College on Wednesday, March 16 around 12:30 p.m. no major injuries were reported.

[For the full story visit theroundupnews.com]

Pierce College Sheriff’s Station

General Information: Emergency: (818) 710 - 4311

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UC Santa Cruz

Bonds are the main source of funding for campus projects district-wide. Essentially, a bond is proposed by the district to local registered voters who may or may not agree to pay more taxes in order for school campuses to be improved.

When a bond is favored by voters and receives enough votes to pass, the district's jurisdiction receives the funding over the course of 30 or more years.

Student Ambassador Presentation from UC Santa Cruz at the Transfer Center on March 24, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

National College Tour

Transfer center will be having a college fair field trip on Monday April 28, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sign up at the transfer center.