ROUNDUP UP therounduponline.net
Woodland Hills, California
A FIRST AMENDMENT PUBLICATION
Volume 114 - Issue 4
One copy free, each additional copy 50¢
March 23, 2011
Budget crisis remains Sydney Grossman/ Roundup Coburn Palmer/ Roundup
T
he California Community College (CCC) system is facing a major budget crisis for the 2011-12 school year. California is facing a $26 billion budget shortfall. Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed extending the tax on vehicle sales, sales tax and income tax. The tax extension would add an estimated $11 billon to the budget. In order to extend the tax increase, Gov. Brown is attempting to put the issue before the public during a special election. Needing a quorum of two-thirds, Gov. Brown is currently short five Republican votes. Current budget plans call for a $400 million cut to the CCC budget and a $10 fee increase, according to the CCC Chancellor’s Office. This is assuming voters approve the governor’s ballot measure, which is by no means certain and remains unknown for at least one more week. According to Joy McCaslin, Pierce College’s interim president, this scenario is favorable. “We are planning for the best situation,” McCaslin said. “We want the class offerings to stay the same. Instead, we have been cutting back on supplies.” If the proposal does not reach the voters because of Republican holdouts, or if the electorate does not approve the tax extension, the outcome will result in severe budget cuts for the CCC. In that case $685 million will need to be cut from the CCC budget. This amounts to a displacement of approximately 400,000 students from the CCC system. “Each department will have to contribute,” said Fernando Oleas, chair of the modern languages department. Pierce is currently planning for both contingencies, but both McCaslin and Kathleen Burke-Kelley, president, have more of a focus on creating a guideline for the best situation. “We’re cutting back on other expenses and not cutting classes,” said McCaslin. “Kathleen and I speak on the phone and plan out what to do next.” Under the worst case scenario a 15 percent reduction in Pierce’s budget could result in the displacement of 6000 students and would force the admissions office to reassess all the registered students. “We have a unique budget situation and we just don’t have answers and can’t move forward yet,” McCaslin said. “We want students to have classes and Pierce has a good reputation for maintaining what we offer.” Unfortunately, there seems to be a slim chance of new hires for the fall semester. Full time faculty will be given full classes and adjunct professors, since not permanent, can be let go. “We don’t want to let them go,” McCaslin said. “We are trying not to replace anyone.” There are several options the chancellors office is considering, including a 90-unit cap on each students subsidized credits, a fee increase to $66 per unit, eliminating funding for athletics, repetition of PE and fine arts classes. “Every community college is in a giant struggle,” said McCaslin.
sgrossman.roundupnews@gmail.com cpalmer.roundupnews@gmail.com
John Gutierrez / Roundup
GRAZING: Cows graze on the green, sunlit grass on the hills of the Ranch behind the Pierce College Farm Center with the Warner Center in the back ground.
Spring has sprung
A
Coburn Palmer/ Roundup male calf born Mar. 3 at the Pierce Farm, broke his leg last week and was put in a cast, according to Dr. Leland Shapiro, department chair of agriculture and natural resources. The calf was injured when his mother stepped on his leg in the days following his
birth, according to Alice Christensen, a 21-year-old pre-veterinarian major. The heifer and calf are being kept separate from the rest of the herd in a barn while the baby recovers. Injured calves have a low survival rate as a result of difficulty in eating. The injured calf was born as a set of twins and the other calf has not been effected by the injury. Though injuries can be fatal to baby animals, the new calf is healing better than expected and looks to be healthy soon, according to Sahpiro.
Jose Ramero/ Roundup
OUCH: A newborn calf stands by iits mother after breaking a leg and having it put in a cast on March 17.
Alleged prank results in student confusion Kat Mabry/ Roundup According to KTLA-Channel 5 Sunday evening newscast, Pierce College would be closed due to weather and rain causing floods and unsafe classrooms the following day. Not quite. With close to a record-high inch count totaling approximately 5.5 inches in Woodland Hills, some classrooms were affected but Pierce College as a whole was open for classes Monday. Precipitation totaled at a record-breaking 6.57 inches Nov. 29, 1970. Though the campus was open Monday, select classrooms
were closed due to flooding. Three classrooms in the Behavioral Science building and one Village trailer were temporarily unavailable to students Monday morning. “There is too much rain damage,” said Dr. Nicolas Habib, adjunct professor of philosophy. “Class will resume on Wednesday, but it’s just too dangerous now.” The three classrooms in the Behavioral Science building: 1309 -1311 were cleaned up and reopened by 11 a.m., according to Paul Nieman of Plant Facilities. As a result of the misinformation provided by KTLA, the Pierce College Sheriff’s Department received more calls than normal Sunday and half a dozen calls Monday before the first
classes of the day. Facebook exploded with comments from students attempting to confirm the news they had heard from what they knew to be a reliable source. It wasn’t until the automated message came from Admissions that confirmed the falsehood surrounding the KTLA briefing. According to emails between Pierce College Public Relations and KTLA management, the source who shared the information was never checked for clarification.
kmabry.roundupnews@gmail.com
Weather forecast
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
56 ° / 38 °
58 ° / 43 °
61 ° / 43 °
61 ° / 43 °
70% chance of rain
40% chance of rain
30% chance of rain
30% chance of rain