3 minute read
$15 isn’t much to support students
By Union Editorial Board
Editors
Advertisement
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
MANAGING EDITOR
NEWS EDITOR
ARTS & FEATURES EDITOR
SPORTS EDITOR
COPY EDITOR
SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR
MULTIMEDIA EDITOR
Khoury Williams eccunion@gmail.com
Ethan Cohen managing.eccunion@gmail.com
Ethan Cohen news.eccunion@gmail.com
Brittany Parris af.eccunion@gmail.com
Greg Fontanilla sports.eccunion@gmail.com
Anthony Lipari eccunion@gmail.com
Delfino Camacho SM.eccunion@gmail.com
Nindiya Maheswari MM.eccunion@gmail.com
OPINION EDITOR Igor Colonno opinion.eccunion@gmail.com
PHOTO EDITORS
Ethan Cohen Greg Fontanilla photo.eccunion@gmail.com
T he mission of all colleges is to foster academic success. But besides academia, college is a place where many people explore life by meeting new people, joining clubs, participating in sports and taking part in the college community in a capacity besides the ever-important coursework.
At El Camino, many of these activities, including most clubs, are managed and funded by the Associated Students Organization (ASO).
The Union’s Editorial Board believes our college population can do more to support the organization’s financial needs, in order to support popular programs including athletics, the Transfer Center, speech and debate and a variety of other clubs and services.
The entire budget the ASO depends on to keep popular student services and clubs operational comes from the $15 Benefits Pass students have a chance to opt out of when registering for classes.
Recently, due to poor projections and an increase of students opting out of the fee, the ASO is in a deficit and the future of many groups, services and clubs are murky.
Interim Director of the Student Development Office Ricky Gonzalez said due to guidelines set forth by the California Community College Chancellor’s Office, there is a policy that limits a district’s power in matters of auxiliary funding. State policy prohibits a student body organization from forcing a student activity fee. Local college policy such as Board Policy 5420 states the ASO is responsible for all auxiliary fee funds and not the district or president. While Gonzalez said administration is helping, there is only so much they can do.
Gonzalez added the college is looking into updating the online opt-out page to list the benefits of the fee, but the current infrastructure does not support it.
In the past, major decisions such as originally giving the full fee responsibility to the ASO and increasing the cost to $15 were responses to the root issue; simply put not enough El Camino students are paying for the fee.
Current projections have the student opt-in/opt-out ration for the fee at around 50/50; not enough to support all the extracurricular activities we students have grown to expect.
According to research originally conducted by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and later republished by Liberty University, 62.4% of college students participate in some form of extracurricular activity.
At El Camino the struggling ASO Benefits Pass funds the Inter-Club Council, which in turn pays for every student-led club, but the funding also pays for services such as the Warrior Pantry and transfer counseling, spaces like the Art Gallery and student-led programs like the award-winning forensics and journalism teams.
The fee also provides students with discounts to off-campus locations, including McDonald’s and local amusement parks.
In this dire time for our college, the Editorial Board believes it is time we students do our part and begin increasing our participation in the benefits fee.
According to Gonzalez, a 5 to 10% increase in student participation would yield an estimated $40,000 to $85,000 in additional funds.
For students who are athletes, debaters, journalists or club members, the stakes are clear. If you can afford it, The Union believes the $15 fee is a good investment as it helps fund the very things we care most about at El Camino.
But even students who don’t consider themselves plugged-in to college-life benefit from the services the fee helps make a reality.
If you’ve ever enjoyed an art exhibit, watched a ball game or taken advantage of the free events, workshops and food that is made available throughout campus, think about the importance of having a thriving and funded college.
The Union Editorial Board suggests students don’t opt-out of the ASO Benefit Pass and instead opt-in to exploring the community within your college.
Senior Staff Writer
Senior Staff Writer
Senior Staff Writer
Senior Staff Writer
Senior Staff Writer Staff Writer Staff Writer Staff Writer
Senior Photographer Photographer Photographer Photographer Photographer Illustrator Illustrator House Designer Intern Intern
STAFF ADVISORS
Eddy Cermeno
Jesus “Jesse” Chan
Khallid Muhsin
Samantha Quinonez
Kim McGill
Matheus Trefilio
Brianna Vaca
Raphael Richardson
Alexis Ponce
Renzo Arnazzi
Taylor Sharp
Reina Quevedo
Bryan Sanchez
Zamira Recinos
Kae Takazawa
Jenny Hoang
Ari Martinez
Erica Lee
STUDENT MEDIA ADVISER Stefanie Frith sfrith@elcamino.edu
STUDENT MEDIA ADVISOR Kate McLaughlin kmclaughlin@elcamino.edu
PHOTO ADVISER Nguyet Thomas nthomas@elcamino.edu
ADVERTISING MANAGER Jack Mulkey elcounionads000@yahoo.com
CORRECTION POLICY: The Union takes corrections and clarifications very seriously. If a correction is needed, email The Union at eccunion@gmail.com for all corrections and inquiries pertaining to a story.
EDITORIALS: Editorials represent the views of the The Union’s editorial board. Columns represent the views of the writer. Neither are representations of what the newspaper staff, other students, our advisers, faculty or the administration think.
LETTERS AND GUEST COLUMN POLICY: No more than two guest columns from the same person will be considered for publication or online use in the same semester, and 60 days must elapse before a second column is published. Guest columns should generally run 300-450 words. Letters to the editor should generally run no longer than 200 words. All columns and letters are subject to editing for length, grammar and style. They must be free of libel and in good taste. Publication or rejection of any column is at the sole discretion of the editorial board.
