La Voz News '67
Volume 64, Issue 1
The voice of De Anza since 1967
Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026
lavozdeanza.com
DASG finance tightens up $1.93M budget Chair says student government not responsible for funding 'essential' college services, prioritizes programs that don't get 'institutional' backing
31,000 Kaiser workers remain on strike
PHOTO BY ANN PEÑALOSA
A protester holds a sign with the Kaiser Permanente logo, reading, "Thrive? Under these conditions?" in front of the Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Medical Center on Feb. 2.
Union demands 25% pay increase over four years, safer working conditions; Thousands of nurses, pharmacists, rehabilitation therapists and other specialty professionals working at Kaiser Permanente in the Bay Area joined the 31,000 on strike across California and Hawaii on Jan. 26. According to the Associated Press, workers demanded a 25% wage increase, an offer Kaiser Permanente countered with a 21.5% raise and claimed would cost patients. Hospitals have had to recruit outside nurses to make up for the strikers, which leads to some patients having appointments online and rescheduling certain surgeries. "I've been waiting to reschedule an
appointment I had for my shoulder. Since the practitioners are on strike, I'm not sure when that will be,” Ryan Santillan, 21, nursing major said. “I'm willing to wait this out until they get what they deserve.” Kaiser Permanente wrote that it commits to reach agreements while providing “high-quality” and “affordable” care on its website. Natalie Mares, 39, a registered nurse at Kaiser Permanente said that while she agrees nurses need better conditions, she sympathizes with patients whose care is delayed. “I will always side with the nurses. I also acknowledge though as a nurse, it is my responsibility to care for my patients,” Mares said. “I don't agree exactly
with the striking because ultimately the patients are the ones being affected.” The United Nurses Alliance of California/United Health Care Professionals union said healthcare workers strike over “unfair labor practices and bad-faith bargaining,” while Kaiser executives said it is strictly about wages. The union said it will stay on strike until it reaches a fair agreement for wages and staffing. “My Kaiser isn’t on strike because our staff turnup is very good,” said Sonya Virrueta, 27, registered nurse at Kaiser Permanente who sees patients from Gilroy and Morgan Hill. “The other Kaiser in San Jose is on strike because they don’t have the staffing that we have; for that, I stand with them and their choice to protest.” It's unclear when Kaiser Permanente and the union will reach an agreement to end the strike. “At the end of the day I feel like it's a government issue,” Mares said. “It really sucks because nurses are just one division that are being affected by this and the patients are the ones getting the end of the stick.”
LESS PLASTIC, MORE GREEN OPINIONS — 3
DASG INTERNAL 'ELECTIONS' EDITORIAL — 4
PROTESTS SWEEP BAY AREA PHOTO ESSAY — 6
ADS ARE IN THEIR SLOP ERA FEATURES — 8
FOOTHILL JOINS SWIM TEAM SPORTS — 10
BASKETBALL TAKES MORE L'S SPORTS — 11
LA VOZ STAFF
De Anza Student Government started going over its $1.93 million budget at its general senate meeting in the Student Council Chambers on Wednesday, Feb. 5. The budget, made up of an over $80,000 limited fund, Fund 46, and an over $1.85 million general fund, Fund 41, supports programs on campus, academic divisions and DASG's own projects, including its bike program and subsidized movie tickets. Chair of Finance Alan Ma, 19, electrical engineering and computer science major, said that while past student governments funded college services, that wasn't its responsibility. "The purpose of DASG funding is for ancillary services, not things that are central to the college's function," Ma said. "We used to fund referees, but we broke off from that." The finance committee recommended that DASG hold $431,000 in "special allocations," meaning next year's senate would hold on to the money and either allocate it throughout the year or roll it over. Budget Analyst Thin Thida Soe, 18, business administration and management major, said that while the budget grew, "most of the requested amounts didn't." "The special allocation budget is significantly larger than the previous year because we had a total of $1.8 million to allocate this year (in Fund 41)," Soe said. "Some programs asked for way more than they requested in previous years. Those programs are mostly the ones that are institutional." Soe said programs that received "institutional support" are the administration's responsibility to keep afloat, not student government's. "In this context, it (institutional) means that it (the program) is essential and necessary to the operations of the college. Therefore, the specific program is supposed to be funded by the college, not DASG," Soe said. "If the program isn't a mandatory service, that program can be funded by DASG." For example, while the athletics department requested $45,000 for conferences and travel, the finance committee recommended $0. Budget Analyst Jacob Kao, 26, data science major, said that DASG can only realistically use half of Fund 46 because it has to send the other half of its revenue to the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office. "Fund 46 is a smaller fund we use for very specific reasons, like student rights and advocacy," Kao said. Kao said the committee wants to pull the majority of DASG's conference funds from the general fund because items eligible for the limited
fund can pull from the general fund. "We don't have the capacity; $40,000 is already more than we can allocate (from Fund 46) in total," Kao said. "That is why we only put $7,200 here (in this fund)." The Student Senate for California Community Colleges, which meets at Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport from March 27-29 this year, passed resolution S25.14.02 last year to raise the Student Representation Fee (the optional fee Fund 46 draws from) from $2 to $6. Budget Analyst Kyle Krawez, 19, business administration major, said he didn't account for the increase because California didn't raise the fee yet. "We wouldn't budget that out until that got passed (at the state level)," Krawez said. The California state legislature introduced the fee in 1998, standardizing the $2 fee for all community colleges in the state in 2013. Any changes, including this fee hike, would need to go through the state legislature again, as it would change the Education Code. "That amount would still be in Fund 46," DASG Secretary and 202223 DASG President Amy Huang said. "In the case that (the fee increase) does pass, it would stay the same, just a difference in dollar amount." The remainder of DASG's conference funds would come from the general fund. The finance committee recommended that DASG pull $12,000 of its conference fund from the general fund, giving it $19,200 total rather than the initial $40,000 request. The senate pointed out the Office of Equity and Guided Pathways, which asked for $84,406 and $96,545 each. The finance committee recommended only giving the programs $5,600 and $25,905 respectively. "This coming year, the school will be able to hire one full-time staff for it (Guided Pathways)," Kao said. "They (the Office of Equity) are also supported by the college and have funds outside of DASG they could potentially use on these (food and professional services)." Ma said he hoped some senators pay more attention in the following meetings, where the senate will vote to finalize its budget, and that tuning out budget analysts gave "zero respect." "I understand we all have homework, but you might want to look up at the senators here from time to time," Ma said. "These things affect the wider De Anza community. It's not our money to do what we want with, it's our constituents' money." The senate will hold its first of two budget meetings tomorrow, on Feb. 11. This meeting starts at 4 p.m. and will give each program up to two minutes to plead its case.