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Volume 8 Issue 258
Santa Monica Daily Press WATER RELIEF SEE PAGE 3
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THE AND WE’RE OFF ISSUE
Historical museum gets big gift from ‘The Baron’ BY DAILY PRESS STAFF
across the country. Schools in Indiana are seeing about 27.8 percent more students in the fall semester while colleges in Kentucky have welcomed about 11.2 percent more. Tidewater Community College in Virginia has reported a 25 percent increase and New River Community College in West Virginia has seen 35 percent more students, according to the National Association of Community Colleges. The surge is typical of a economic downturn, George R. Boggs, the president and CEO of the association said. “This time it was more dramatic than ever,” he said. “The colleges are doing the best they can to handle it given the public
DOWNTOWN The widow of professional wrestling pioneer Baron Michele Leone, an ardent fan of the city and one of its most popular residents and flamboyant personalities, donated $100,000 to the Santa Monica Historical Society Museum, it was announced this week. Billie Leone presented the check to the museum in her husband’s memory to help support construction of the museum’s new home. Presently located at 1539 Euclid St., the museum will soon be relocating to a permanent facility in the Santa Monica Public Library complex at Seventh Street and Santa Monica Boulevard. “My husband moved to Santa Monica in 1949, and that began his lifelong love affair with Santa Monica,” Billie Leone said. “He loved everything about the city, from the people to its many scenic attractions like the [Santa Monica] Pier, but he especially loved the sun, the beach and the ocean,” she added. “He was very active and physically fit, and he would go to the beach every day when he was not out of town wrestling.” The two married in 1955. Michele Leone, better known as The Baron, was considered a master showman, sporting long hair and a colorful cape into the ring for his matches. Thanks to the invention of television, The Baron become one of pro-wrestling’s most famous personalities, becoming better known than Gorgeous George. “Baron Leone was extremely popular in Southern California during his career as a professional wrestler, and many Hollywood starlets and actors would attend his matches,” Billie Leone said. “He was liked by men, women and children alike — everyone he would meet. He also enjoyed greeting his fans and would always tell them to eat healthy foods and exercise.”
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Brandon Wise brandonw@smdp.com
SCHOOL IS IN SESSION: Santa Monica College students walk down the main campus quad on their way to class Wednesday morning. Enrollment is up 8 percent, the increase partially caused by a cap on enrollment at state-run universities.
SMC forced to do more with less BY MELODY HANATANI Daily Press Staff Writer
SMC As students return to campus for the first week of school, they might notice their classes are in what feels like tighter quarters. That’s because enrollment has risen at Santa Monica College this semester by 8 percent, drawing in students turned away from the tapped out University of California and California State University systems and the recently unemployed looking to add on some extra credentials, all while cutting course sections. “We’re taking in as many as we can but we’re basically full,” Dr. Chui Tsang, the president and superintendent of SMC, said. SMC began its fall semester this week
with approximately 200 — or 6 percent — fewer course sections, the result of about $6.6 million in funding cuts because of the state fiscal crisis. Another 6 percent in cuts is expected for the spring semester and the winter session is slated to be reduced by about half. For students, that means more competition for courses and larger class sizes. “I think this is as much as we can take,” Tsang said. West Los Angeles College, which also recently began its fall semester, saw enrollment go up by 14 percent. Rebecca Tillberg, the dean of research and planning for West L.A., said she expects the figure will drop slightly after the first few weeks. The increased enrollment is a trend that community colleges are experiencing
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