AMPAGE Volume CXXV Issue 1
FREE
September 4, 2013
The Student-Run Newspaper of Fresno City College
Budget outlook improves for FCC BY KAITLIN REGAN
Editor-in-Chief kregan@therampageonline.com
The Fresno City College budget which was severely limited for the past six years because of budget cuts is going through what Tony Cantu, the college president, calls a “restoration.” The passage of Proposition 30 has opened new doors, translating into no cuts in course offerings or layoffs of faculty; the budget now shows room for growth, Cantu said. The vice president of administrative services said that there is a key difference between the 2013-2014 and the 2012-2013 budgets for FCC. “It is enormously better. It really is,” Cheryl Sullivan said. “We were really looking at cutting over 40 sections.” The numbers illustrate the difference. The FCC budget shows a $826,481 increase between 2012-2013 and 2013-2014. The amount in reserves for FCC this year is $2,988,000. Last year’s reserve is not available due to the fact that the 2012-2013 audit has not yet been completed. While the outlook on the budget is optimistic, it is not where it needs to be. Sullivan said that there is still a deficit from last year that resulted from the deferral system that the state has set up in order to slowly pay colleges the funding that they are owed. “The state does two things . . . One is called the deferral. So, in January they typically don’t have enough money to pay us, and so they start short paying us in January through June,” Sullivan said. The second issue that the college deals is related to Proposition 98 which mandates the state treasury to make K-12 “whole,” meaning that their funding is set and cannot be deferred, Sullivan explained. Unfortunately, the state has no such obligation to California colleges. “They can promise us $1 million and short pay us what they don’t have,” said Sullivan. Another crucial aspect of the budget was the role that redevelopment agencies played in the funding of the college. Assembly Bills 26 and 27 were responsible for the end of these redevelopment agencies starting in 2011. Assembly Bill 26 ended agencies altogether but AB 27 gave those agencies a way out by promising to devote a large portion of their property tax revenue to California schools. The college revenues, on the other hand, can be defined as somewhat mysterious. Sullivan said that the amount of funding the college receives depends on who is asked about l SEE BUDGET ON PAGE 2
FLOOD FORCES CLASSROOM CLOSURES Leaks in the top floor cause damage all the way down to the bottom floor.
Hazardous material precautions, such as the Negative Air Machine (Left), are a part of the cleanup process taking place in the Math and Science Building that flooded on Saturday, Aug. 10, 2013. (Photo/Karen West) BY TROY POPE
Editor-in-Chief tpope@therampageonline.com
It wouldn’t be the start of a new school year without a few hiccups. This year is no exception at Fresno City College. At least six classrooms were affected by a f lood caused by leaks in the pipes of the Math and Science
Building. A leak in one of the classrooms on the top floor caused damage from top to bottom. The bottom floor has some more severe damage and even a closed-off hazard area. “ We’re very fortunate that there was an instructor here on that
Saturday, and the dean was here ... Cheryl [Sullivan], the vice president of instruction were incredible in terms of coming in and dealing with the issue,” said Tony Cantu, president of the college. “ They were here Saturday, l SEE FLOOD ON PAGE 7
Indian Ambassador and Representative Jim Costa speak in OAB BY KEVYNN GOMEZ
Opinion Editor kgomez@therampageonline.com
The Indian ambassador to the United States spoke at a sit-down conversational event hosted by congressional Representative Jim Costa in Fresno City College’s Old Administration Building on Thursday. Ambassador Nirupama Rao discussed the shared interests of the United States and India along with historical similarities and future goals, while also making time to answer audience questions after her speech. In attendance were Deborah Blue, chancellor of the State Center Community College District, Tony Cantu, president of FCC and Eric Payne
and Dorothy “Dottie” Smith, members of the SCCCD Board of Trustees, a small audience of faculty, staff and students, and a handful of guests from the community. A key point of the conversation between Costa and Ambassador Rao was the democratic parallels between two seemingly disparate nations. The “world’s oldest democracy,” according to Rep. Costa, is found in the United States, and the world’s most populous is found in India, which merges a population of more than 1.2 billion people into one large and diverse country. “India is not just a nation-state; it is a civilization-state,” Ambassador Rao stated about the cultural and ethnic diversity found in the Southeast
Asian nation. Other similarities, according to Rep. Costa, include a burgeoning technology and import trade industry and mutual desires for peace. “We share the desire to have a peaceful land,” Costa said, underscoring the growth of this interest directly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the continuing threats of violence from terrorist organizations. Ambassador Rao began her work in international diplomacy in 1973 when she joined the Indian Foreign Service. She has also served as ambassador to China, Peru, Sri Lanka and l SEE AMBASSADOR ON PAGE 7