THE HIGHLANDER
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, RIVERSIDE
est. 1954
FOR THE WEEK OF TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2019
VOL. 67, ISSUE 14
ASUCR discusses textbook accessibility, votes to place referenda on ballot
Riverside-area legislator aims to double attendance at UC Riverside School of Medicine
MARK BERTUMEN Senior Staff Writer
COURTESY OF UCR NEWS
MARK BERTUMEN Senior Staff Writer
On Wednesday, Jan. 9, State Senator for the 31st District Richard Roth announced Senate Bill 56, which requests $80 million for “the construction of a new University of California, Riverside School of Medicine facility” and $25 million for “ongoing operational support for the expansion of the University of California, Riverside School of Medicine.” This additional funding is aimed at doubling the current enrollment of
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medical students at the school from 250 to 500. The bill’s fact sheet, citing the California HealthCare Foundation (CHCF), states that “the Inland Empire has the greatest shortage of both primary care and specialist physicians of any region in California.” It was also cited that in “primary care, the Inland Region has 35 physicians for every 100,000 people,” which falls below the CHCF’s recommendation of 60 to 80 physicians. The Bill aims to counter this shortage, naming the school “a key partner
in addressing this crisis.” Roth authored the bill and commented on it via email to the Highlander. “Due to budgetary constraints at the time it was established, (the) UCR School of Medicine was forced to occupy an existing facility located on UCR’s campus,” Roth wrote, “which has limited its total enrollment to 250 students per academic year and state funding to support the medical school to $15,000,000 per fiscal year.”
ASUCR held its second meeting of the quarter last Wednesday, Jan. 16 at 6:33 p.m. The meeting opened up with UCR Director of Campus Business Services Michael Clemmons and UCR Bookstore Manager Tabitha Rosser, who wanted to put a “focus on access and affordability” of textbooks by students, namely textbook adoptions. Textbook adoptions are “orders submitted by faculty and departments for the courses they are offering” according to Clemmons, who was contacted by the Highlander via email for further discussion of the topic. As specified by Clemons, about 2,400 courses were offered in Fall 2018, with almost 2,000 book adoptions received. However only 91 adoptions, less than 5 percent of those orders, were received by the due date by UCR, and there were “355 courses in which the textbook order was not submitted to bookstore (sic),” Clemons wrote, “causing a potential inability for the bookstore to have these books available to students.”
► SEE MEDICINE PAGE 5
RADAR: “Pokemon: What Past Trends Can Reveal About the Future” P. 14 FEATURES: “Prominent sociologist Eduardo Bonilla-Silva discusses racialized emotions in UCR Chancellor’s Distinguished Lecture” P.11 f
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NEWS 4
OPINIONS 8
► SEE ASUCR PAGE 4
FEATURES 11
RADAR 12
SPORTS 16
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