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The
Skyline View
@TheSkylineView
The Voice of Skyline College, San Bruno, California
Volume XXXII - Issue 3
February 28, 2013
www.theskylineview.com
Oil money to possibly fund Skyline College State Senate wants to impose a tariff for California’s natural resources by Michelle Kelly TSV Blog Editor
Will Nacouzi / The Skyline View
Current ASSC president Jose Luis Sanchez Sosa campaigns for last year’s election.
Campaign season is here ASSC releases the applications for the elections by Will Nacouzi TSV Online Editor
Skyline College Associated Students of Skyline College Student Government (ASSC) has just released the application for students interested in running for a place on the ASSC today, Feb. 27. “It has been a fulfilling experience for me. I learnt about my leadership style and how to work with others, and how to set goals to achieve them,” ASSC Vice-President Katelyn Smathers said. “Also…how to pull back a little bit and realize that you’ve bit off more than you can handle. So it’s been a valuable learning experience for me.” However, a recent change from last year elections is that all candidates will be required to take a mandatory test on the ASSC constitution and all the rules which are the bedrock of the student government.
News Updates • Plus/Minus grading Update The student governments at both Skyline and CSM announced their support of the implementation of a plus/minus grading system that has been shown in some cases to increase a student’s GPA by up to 0.02 percent and will help our grading systems fall in line with that of the UC and CSU systems.
The reason is that hopeful candidates will be able to know more about the student government and the laws which govern their actions in carrying out their responsibilities to the students of Skyline College campus. This is especially important because the ASSC is the body that represent students here at Skyline College to the district and the various college governmental bodies. The mandatory test will be held in the student government room 6214 inside building six Friday Mar. 1 at 1:00 p.m., Monday, Mar. 11 at 3:00 p.m., and Tuesday, Mar. 12 at 3:00 p.m. The test will cover the ASSC constitution and bylaws that are necessary to the function of the student government as a body. The deadline for application for students who are interested in running for the seat on the student government is Thursday Mar. 14. Students may pick up applications at the student government office and
drop them off there when filled. The week period from Monday Mar. 18 to Friday Mar. 22 will be allowed for candid,ates to campaign for their desired position. The final deadline for write-in candidates will be Tuesday Mar. 19 4:00 p.m. In addition, the student government will also be holding the Student Trustee election from Mar. 25 to Mar. 27, which is a first for Skyline College. The final results will be announced Friday Mar. 29 and all voting will be d,one online and all students will receive an email to vote at their school email. “I think it’s been really productive, we’ve accomplished a lot and we’ll see how the next president follows up,” Student Government President Jose Luis Sanchez said in an interview earlier this spring.
If this grading policy takes effect, instructors have the option to designate plus/minus modification any grade above “D.”
affecting 8200 children. Contact your representative and senator to express your concerns.
• Across the board budget cuts If a deal is not reached and sequestration takes affect this Friday, California risks losing approximately $87.6 Million in primary and secondary education funding. This will include the elimination of the Head Start program
A severance tax bill has been proposed by the State Senate targeting oil producers in California in order to benefit higher public learning and state parks. The bill explains that there will be a tax of 9.9 percent for the gross cost for every barrel of oil extracted from California soil or coasts. If put into effect, the tax will be enforced beginning Jan. 1, 2014. Introduced on Feb. 12 the bill by State Senators Noreen Evans and Mark Leno, will evenly allocate 93 percent of its revenue to the University of California, California State University, and California Community Colleges. The remaining 7 percent will go to the Department of Parks and Recreation for the maintenance and improvement of state parks. “California is the largest –and only—oil producing state in the nation that does not tax its vast oil resources,” Evans said in a press release. “Those are unrealized revenues we can, and should, use to endow our core services of government by fulfilling our commitment to higher education and similarly, preserve our natural resources in State Parks by funding them.” The press release from State Senator Noreen Evans, from Distric 2, stated that the Board of Equalization approximated $2 billion could be earned from the proposed tax in a year. However when contacted the BOE responded that they had never analyzed the bill and that the $2 billion figure could not be attributed to their agency. Djibril Diop, State Senators Chief of Staff, explained it as a misspelling. he said the words “according to” was meant to be “according
to a previous estimate by.” when asked what previous report he was referring to, he could not remember. A common concern of consumers is the price they have to pay for gas and news of a proposed tax on oil will cause uncertainty. Many will want to know how the royalties collected by the state will affect the price at the pump. “[Oil] is traded on the world market, the majority of the extraction that we have in California is exported anyway,” said Theala Schaff, communications director for State Senator Noreen Evens. “There was a bill that was looked at back in 2010 and the assembly revenue and taxation committee did an analysis on that.” Schaff continued to read from the analysis, “In a 2006 report of Prop 87 which would have proposed a similar type of tax, market research could insure that oil severance tax should not be passed on to consumers because oil refineries have made many options for purchasing crude oil on the global market, California oil producers will still have to maintain competitive prices to retain their share of the market.” The bill is in works of amendment and discussion currently and will be acted upon in the state senate on or after March 15. “I’ve worked on this issue for a long time and honestly higher education, community colleges in particular, have been devastated over the last four or five years,” said Jonathan Lightman, executive director of the Faculty Association of California Community Colleges. “We as a public have a choice, we can sit on our hands and do nothing or we can identify available revenue streams to rebuild our institutions of higher education.”
• March in March Due to clerical issues, Skyline College will not be participating in the annual March in March protest against public education funding cuts. The public demonstration is slated to take place March 4.
Riley Bright / The Skyline View
Community College students rally at last years protest.