ROUND OUNDUP UP www.theroundupnews.com
Woodland Hills, California
Volume 132 - Issue 1
A FIRST AMENDMENT PUBLICATION
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Voting centers at all nine
Class Crisis, Confidence Shaken
Department chairs & senate members voice conern over proposed cuts; Pierce Union President alleges "breakdown in trust between faculty and district officials." BY ARIELLE ZOLEZZI
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ierce College President Alexis Montevirgen announced Thursday that departments could restore their original fall allocations, reversing course on a proposal to cut 3-5 percent of classes due to an annual budget deficit that one estimate puts at $3 million. The change came after rumblings that the Faculty Guild Executive Board on campus, led by Pierce College Chapter President Brian Walsh, and the department chairs of Pierce College were going to protest. After the Departmental Council meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 11, when the deficit and cuts were being discussed, Vice President of Academic Affairs Sheri Berger sent out an email to the department chairs explaining two different potential plans. Plan A explained what a straight
across the board 4.9% cut would look like for each department down to the allocated hours and schedule reductions. Plan B was a mildly softer alternative of a 3.2% cut, a total of 174 hours from the schedule compared to 272.8 hours in Plan A. The department chairs were not pleased with either of the plans presented. Walsh cited the college as projecting a $3.8 million deficit, but he said that the district is projecting the deficit is a much higher number than that, somewhere around $5.6 million. “For one, I do not believe these numbers. I think this premise is a fallacy,” Walsh said. “I am saying this because this seems to be very cyclical, meaning every six years or so it seems to be another college’s turn at the bottom of the barrel.” Prior to the current deficit Pierce College is facing, the campus ran a surplus every year from 2006 until
2019. Walsh said he believes the district is sitting on $147 million and that there is a 20% reserve that they are not giving to the colleges in need. “As much as the district likes to talk a good game, they do not back it up at all,” Walsh said. “The
"This is unacceptable" —Maria Perser
Psychology/Statistics Chair
public pays for this school, and if the public found out that the money was just being sat on, they would be outraged. People don’t pay taxes for it to just be held on to. I mean what are they doing at the district, rolling around in it?” Walsh believes that Pierce, along with its sister colleges, need to avoid dividing any further and that is why the Union is perfect to take the lead on challenging the
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Pierce to host four days of polling for primaries BY PETER VILLAFANE
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Photo illustration by Paola Castillo
district to take action in helping out their college proactively. “We have been fighting this battle for years now, and in fact the union fought for a change in the debt relief plan at the district budget committee which is being mysteriously held up,” said Walsh. “The break-down of trust between faculty and district officials is incredible ... we never get a straight answer.” Along with the Union, department chairs were also in outrage over the news of the deficit affecting fall allocations. P s yc h ol o g y/ S t a t i s t i c s Chair Maria Perser recalled the last major budget cut that Pierce underwent in 2008 during the Great Recession, and how they “decimated” the schedule of classes. “We had 15-to-20 students per class that were trying to add a class, and it was just so heartbreaking. It took us so many years to recover from that, so it is scary to think about,” Perser said.
“What is interesting when you look at these particular sheets that they gave us for the expenses, there is no detail.” Perser said Pierce is supposed to now be funded by the new Student Success Funding Formula, and that state has already dispersed that money to the district and that is a part of this pot of money that the district is holding on to. “This is unacceptable. The district needs to give the colleges the money that they are owed because they are not supposed to just hold on to money. They are not in the business of making money, and it is going to take all of us to stand up and say this is not okay,” Perser said. Communications Chair Yeprem Davoodian said it’s not easy trying to change the schedule now. “As a department chair, I look at these situations from a departmental standpoint, a student success standpoint and an access
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PROPOSITION 13 Potential $2 billion funding for community colleges on the ballot BY KATYA CASTILLO
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Emmanuel Luissi/ Roundup ASO Club Council President, Kosar Afsari, serves pizza for a student at the Pierce College Tailgate on Saturday,
New Interim Athletic Director This deck will either be for the tennis cut story or the scholarship story BY FELIPE GAMINO
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fter an unsuccessful search last semester, a new era began in the Athletics department last month when Kinesiology Chair Susan Armenta was appointed interim director of athletics. The decision came in December when Pierce College President Alexis Montevirgen met with several faculty members of the Kinesiology department. Armenta started her tenure in January and said she is grateful for the opportunity. “It is very humbling for me to be here. They have been very welcoming when I started on my first day and what I want to accomplish is establishing a connection with everyone in the department,” Armenta said.
She had a great conversation with the president prior to her getting appointed on Friday, Dec. 20. Montevirgen has been impressed with the job Armenta has done. “She has already brought a sense of organization,” Montevirgen said. “Since I came here, there has been a sense of transition and it is good to have some sustainability. As we engage in the search, I have told Susan that I hope this interests her and she looks to apply for the job permanently.” Armenta said she doesn't have a certain style of running things. "I'm pretty straight forward. I like to get things done. One of the things I do is establish a goal or a deadline when I want to get something done," Armenta said. One of the things Armenta wants to address is the attendance for sporting events. She has sent emails to the faculty,
posted flyers across campus and wants to reach out to the community. She will not be teaching any health classes this semester as she solely wants to focus on her new role. "This job is a full-time position so I don't want to overload myself. I want to focus on making an impact in the months I am here," Armenta said. Armenta also wants to make sure the needs of all student athletes are on track for graduation. Armenta was an athlete herself. She participated in several sports one of them being cross country. In addition to being involved with athletics, she also played the role of a racewalker on the hit show Malcolm in the Middle. Armenta said the show reached out cause they were doing an episode of racewalking. [For the full story visit theroundupnews.com]
here’s only one nationwide ballot measure for the 2020 Presidential primary election, and here’s what you should know about it. Voting yes to Proposition 13 would allow California to sell $15 billion in general obligation bonds to pay for school renovations and repairs. $2 billion would go towards community colleges, $4 billion towards UC and CSU campuses and $9 billion towards preschool and K-12 education, according to the Official Voter Information Guide. It would cost taxpayers an additional $11 billion dollars in interest that doesn’t go towards schools, according to the California Legislative Analyst’s Office, costing $740 million/year for 35 years. The ballot measure would also affect the process for schools to get state bond money. Instead of receiving funds on a first-come, first-serve basis, the state would select schools with the most need regarding safety repairs and students with financial hardships. It would also allow school districts to issue more local general obligation bonds. For K-12 school districts, the limit would be raised from 1.25% to 2% of assessed property value. For unified school districts and community college districts, it would be raised from 2.5% to 4%, according to the Official Voter Information Guide. Finally, the measure would
limit school districts wanting to assess developer fees on apartment complexes located within half a mile of a major transit stop. Schools that agree to use project labor agreements would have priority funding for school construction projects. Schools that use project labor agreements would have to pay private contractors the highest labor costs in the area according to the Official Voter Information Guide. More information about the measure can be found on the Official Voter Information Guide. Supporters of Prop 13 include the California Teachers Association, California Democratic Party and Charter School Association. They argue that California’s school buildings are in bad shape and the modernization and reparations financed by Prop 13 are vital. “Well, I agree with it,” McKeeverThe break for those taxes should have never happened and it's not going to affect people for private homeowners it's only going to affect businesses.” They say the accountability measures in the proposition will ensure that funds are fairly distributed to schools that need it most. Opponents argue that the measure will put California in $26 billion of unnecessary debt. Opponents such as Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and the Orange County Register point out that California should spend it’s $21 billion surplus on upgrading
ierce will be opening a Voting Center on campus in the Faculty and Staff Building 600 by the library from Saturday to Tuesday. These centers are in collaboration with the Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters. Voting Centers are Los Angeles County’s answer to the inconvenience of polling centers, according to Voting Solutions for All People. Instead of having only one place they can go to vote, voters can go to any Voting Center and cast their ballots. Parking will be free during this time. All nine community colleges in the Los Angeles district will be hosting Voting Centers. People can also register to vote at the centers. The final deadline to register to vote before Tuesday’s election passed on Feb. 18, but voters can still register and vote because of the Conditional Voter Registration law.
Pierce College Voting Center Dates and Times Sat 2/29 7:00 am – 6:00 pm Sun 3/1 7:00 am – 6:00 pm Mon 3/2 7:00 am – 6:00 pm Tue 3/3 6:00 am – 9:00 pm Location Faculty & Staff Center Building 600 (Near the Library and Parking Lot 7)
Parking is free
Health fee increase Health doubles to $16 BY JOEY FARRIOLA
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fter 22 years of rejection, the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees announced that the Student Health Center can raise its fees from $11 to $19 for the fall/spring semesters and from $8 to $16 for winter/summer intersessions. The increase will help raise the quality of services available to Pierce College students. Student Health Center Director Beth Benne said the belated increase has prevented them from getting more psychological health for the students. “The Board of Psychology says you have to work x number of hours for y number of patients, or clients that your interns are seeing, and if we max, out we can’t see any more. We can barely afford to pay the supervising psychologist Niaz Khani] 20 hours a week,” Benne said.
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