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NEWS
Thursday,February 23, 2012
thechabotspectator.com
Initiative 1522 Giving back to the schools By Bernard Miranda CAMPUS EDITOR
JAIMÉ HERNANDEZ/STAFF PHOTO
A petitioner signs Initiative 1522.
With the numerous amounts of issues that we may face this Nov., whether or not Initiative 1522 even gets on the ballot will highly impact students. For those who don’t know, Initiative 1522 is a proposed 15 percent severance tax on oil and natural gas extracted from the state of California. The revenue raised from the tax, $3.5 billion in total, would go towards our public education system. Eleven percent would go to the UC system, 14 percent to CSUs, 38 percent to community colleges, and 37 percent to K-12 education. “A severance tax is a tax that is imposed on resources that belong to the earth,” said Begoña Cirera, East Bay Coordinator for Initiative 1522 and Professor of Health at Chabot, “So if they belong to the earth they belong to you and me. We are talking about resources that belong to all Californians.” Alaska and Texas, the top two oil producing states, both have severance taxes on oil in place. The former has a 25 percent tax and the latter a 12.5 percent tax. California currently has no tax. California is not legally allowed to charge tuition to students, but instead charge various “fees” that act in place of tuition.
Election 2012: Can he do it again?
By Jessica Caballero EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Before you decide if President Obama deserves a second term against competitors Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum (profiled in our last issue) take a look at his first four years. President Obama not only ended the Iraq war, but also our military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. His administration killed Osama Bin Laden and has also improved our foreign image. The BBC World Service held a poll in 2009 asking nearly 30,000 people across 28 countries to rate countries based on their positive impact on the world. For the first time since 2005, America was given more positive than negative votes, having the favor of 46 percent of respondents, a sharp contrast from previous years. The Obama administration passed the Hate Crimes bill, and also stopped support of the Defense of Marriage Act in court. In 2009, he instituted the Lilly Leadbetter Fair Pay Act, which mandated equal pay for
women in the workplace. Obama has also been championed for his Presidential Memorandum, which protects the decision making rights of gays and lesbians, as well as extends benefits to same-sex couples of federal employees. In health care, Obama has passed legislation to regulate drug manufacturers and reform Medicare to eliminate gaps and cut prescription costs. The President also established HealthCare.gov, a web portal for determining and comparing all consumer health insurance and health care options and made health care more available with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Barack Obama is also the first president to create a detailed vision for America’s future clean energy economy, beginning with the establishment of the Energy Partnership in America and a new climate service. Yet, among all the good things he has done in these past four years, President Obama has made some promises he has yet to bring to fruition. Politifact for the Tampa Bay Times has been keeping track of the Obama administration.
Here are some of President Obama’s broken promises: - Has not required automatic enrollment for 401(k) or IRA plans, and has failed to sign the Employee Free Choice Act, a bipartisan effort to make unionization easier while increasing penalties on companies that violate employee rights. - Has not eliminated taxes for seniors making under $50,000 - Has yet to repeal the Bush tax cuts for higher incomes, increase capital gains and dividends, or phase out tax deductions and exemptions for higher earners - Did not double cancer research funding, and shot down the legal import of prescription drugs - Has yet to fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or create a national commission to improve programs for the disabled. Make your own ruling by checking out Obama’s first four years at http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/ obameter and get more information on all of Obama’s accomplishments at http://www.obamaachievements.org/list.
Those charges have been increasing over time and is creating a situation were eventually students who come from poor families will not be able to afford to send their kids to college. According to the Master Plan for Higher Education of 1960, the Survey Team believes that the traditional policy of nearly a century of tuition-free higher education is in the best interests of the state and should be continued. In recent years, the fees for attending any college in California have increased. Without the help of financial aid, most students find college out of their price range. Our classrooms are becoming more crowded and students are not able to get the classes they need in order to graduate or transfer. The United States has always been known as the “Land of Opportunity” and the only way to advance is through education. If education is not affordable then we will continually have low income and have an uneducated underclass that has no hope for their futures. With Initiative 1522 still fighting to be on the ballot, it is important for the proposal to receive as many signatures as possible so the measure is in place to receive votes. For more information, check out the website http://www.rescueeducationcalifornia.org/ or contact Professor Cirera at bcirera@chabotcollege.edu
Newsline Black History Month Planetarium Movie Night – February 23 Explores the tragic ways in which the American public education system is failing our nation’s children, and explores the roles that charter schools and education reformers could play in offering hope for the future. Watch “ Sing Your Song ” in the Planetarium, building 1900 from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Black History Month Workshops – February 23 The ASCC, BSU, Striving Black Brothers, DARAJA, EAAD, and the Ebony Sisters invites you to “Achieving Dreams” Learn how to accomplish goals, overcome failures, and the importance of etiquette. This event takes place in the board room, building 200 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. CORRECTION: In the Jan. 19 issue of The Spectator, an article was written on the future of priority numbers. The article stated that the board had discussed streamlining the priority number system. At press time, discussions had taken place within a campus committee, but had not yet been presented to the board.
PHOTO COURTESY OF MODEPROJECT.COM