ROUND OUNDUP theroundupnews.com
Woodland Hills, California
A FIRST AMENDMENT PUBLICATION
Volume 115 - Issue 8
November 16, 2011
One copy free, each additional copy 50¢
File Photo
President: Febe Ruiz is the new ASO president at Pierce College.
New ASO leader
New president appointed after resignation Calvin Alagot calagot.roundupnews@gmail.com Febe Ruiz is the new Pierce College Associated Students Organization (ASO) president after former president Gabriel Mellibosky resigned due to personal reasons, according the ASO club advisor. Ruiz, formerly the ASO vice president, assumed the presidency last week, according Saenz. The ASO has not had a president serve a full term for the past three years, according to Saenz. As vice president her work is primarily focused on dealing with students and campus life, such as facilitating the weekly ASO Senate meetings. In addition to being one of the ASO clerks, Ruiz’s duties now include attending multiple weekly and monthly meetings, such as the Student Affairs Committee (SAC) meetings in Los Angeles and the Academic Senate meetings on campus. “It’s exciting because I’ve had the opportunity to experience being vice president and now president,” said Ruiz. “It’s more work, but I’m excited, I’m looking forward to learn.” With Ruiz now busy representing Pierce students on the district level, ASO senators nominated Shane Mooney, current ASO senator, as vice president during a special election at yesterday’s ASO Senate meeting. “He’s one of our most active senators, I completely believe in Shane,” said Ruiz. “He’s definitely here for the students and here to do work, he’s proven that.” Mooney, who was the only person nominated for vice president, had to step resign from his positions as president of the French club, vice president of the political science club, and chair of the environmental/public welfare committee in order to become ASO vice president. “I had to step down because there’s a conflict of interests,” said Mooney. “I’m enthusiastic about the possibility of making a big difference on campus,” said Mooney.
Jose Romero
Financial Aid: Pierce student, Paula Salvador, 22, poses for a photo illustration.
Banking on financial aid LACCD colleges give record amounts of aid Eduardo Razo
erazo.roundupnews@gmail.com The recent economic downturn has forced an increasingly large number of college students to apply for financial aid to pay for tuition, school-books, and other expenses. During the last five years the amount of applications has nearly doubled from 11,408 during the 2007/2008 school year, to 22,510 for the 2010/2011 school year, according to report released in October by Financial Aid Director Anafe Robinson. The total dollars administrated has also doubled; from $14,019,988 to $38,416,352, according to Robinson. “One of the reasons that student applications have gone up is the economy is pretty bad,” said Robinson. “So they look to financial aid for assistance.” The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the primary method students use to acquire financial aid funds from the government.
Wed. Nov. 16: Sunny; High 74, Low 43
Fri. Nov. 18: Partly cloudy, chance of rain; High 60, Low 46
Thu. Nov. 17: Partly cloudy; High 70, Low 47
Sat. Nov. 19: Cloudy, chance of rain; High 59, Low 41
Sun. Nov. 20: Cloudy, 40 percent chance of rain; High 61, Low 40 Mon., Nov. 21: Sunny; High 62 Low 45
In order to receive district priority when filling out the (FAFSA) application students must submit it by May 1. However, some students miss their deadline and still expect their money during the first week of school. “It ain’t happening,” said Robinson. As a result of the high demand for financial aid this semester, Robinson and her staff have closed the Financial Aid Office during Fridays so they can work on the large number of student files. “We had a lot of applications and what students don’t understand is that the review of the files is manual,” said Robinson. Pierce is not the only college in the district dealing with a large number of financial aid applications. The number of financial applications at Los Angeles Mission College has also doubled; going from 5,145 in 20072008 to 10,728 for 2010-2011, according to Financial Aid Director Dennis Schroeder. With the increase of applications comes the increase of total dollars administrated, which has more than doubled over the last five years; going from $7,829,320 in 2007-2008 to $18,167,250 for 2010-2011. “I Applied for Financial Aid in June 2011 and [I’m] getting $300 this semester for 5 units,” said Maria Sanchez, 20,
Tue. Nov. 22: Sunny; High 67, Low 45
accounting major and Pierce student. “The process for my situation was good because I didn’t have to spend my money that I don’t have on my books” Similarly, East Los Angeles College has also seen a growth in student applications, from 13,926 for the 2007/2008 school year to 29,633 for the 2010/2011 school year. Students at Pierce are also eligible to receive the Cal Grant and Pell Grant, which have also increased over the last five years. See Financial Aid, Page 3
Opinion, page 2: Make the Art Hill compliant News, page 3: Congressman visits campus Features, page 4: Profile on a dept. chair A and E, page 5: Noon concert continues More news, page 6: Interview with president Sports, page 7: Football wins home game
Sports Scores Soccer vs. Citrus won - 4-0 Football vs. Valley won - 47-17
Volleyball vs. West LA won - 3 sets to 0 Basketball vs. El Camino lost - 2 games