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JOSE MANCILLA
/
THE COURIER
A mariachi performance was one of the events held for "Que La Viva La Raza Month." Blues
Experiment will perform today in the Quad. MEChA is sponsoring the month's celebrations.
Americorp Reaches Campus
Budget Released
Early This Year
Community
College
Funds
Vetoed
■ Governor Wilson
cut several items
regarding two-year
colleges out of this
year's budget.
By JULIET LEYBA
Courier Staff Writer
The California State budget,
signed in August by Gov. Pete Wil¬
son, contained several community
college items including new faculty
needs, equalization and low income
health service assistance.
The governor vetoed a total of
$23.8 million from on-going funds,
$2.5 million from capitol outlay and
$200,000 from non-Proposition 98
funds. Wilson indicated that certain
funds could be restored, such as
money for equalization and part-
time faculty office hours if the legis¬
lature passes his version of manda¬
tory pupil testing for grades 2-11.
Included in the budget was $1.9
million for capital outlay projects for
Glendale College, San Jose and
Sonoma colleges as well as $607,000
for nearby Mount San Antonio Col¬
lege.
Although some colleges were hurt
by cuts in the budget, Dr. Rod
Fleeman vice president of adminis¬
trative services said that it has been
a fair year.
“It has been a veiy good year for
community colleges because we have
received funding for cost of living
growth and student growth. There
was also strong funding for instruc¬
tional equipment,” Fleeman said.
He added, “It has been very pro¬
ductive working with the governor
and legislature.”
Revenues for community col¬
leges are estimated at $4.5 billion
from all funding sources in 1997-98
which is $232.7 million more (5.4
percent) than the estimate for 1996-
97.
The education omnibus trailer bill
(AB 1578) was also passed which
includes funds for community col¬
leges.
The bill includes $98.5 million
for one-time expenditures including
high priority instructional equipment,
library replacement materials, tech¬
nology infrastructure and scheduled
maintenance.
With enrollment at an all-time
high, the state had to compensate
with increased funding.
■ Several PCC
students are a part of
the organization
created by President
Clinton.
By TIM CAMARILLO
PCC student Charles Esquivel
quietly browsed at the tables that
had been set up for the volunteer
fair. As he headed for class, some¬
thing caught his eye. He saw the
familiar gray T-Shirts with the
big A on the left shoulder. He had
worn this same T-Shirt as an
Americorps member for Building
Up Los Angeles-Northeast.
“My first year in Americorps
was working with a consumer
advocacy project for the L.A.
Center for Law and Justice in East
Los Angeles and I received spe¬
cialized training in conflict reso¬
lution from Loyola Law School,”
said Esquivel, “In my second year
of service I set up an after school
tutoring program for Loredo El¬
ementary School in Highland
Park. I set up the program to help
kids get off the street and to create
a safe and quiet environment for
learning.”
Esquivel recommended, “that
the Americorps program is for
people who are willing to be dedi¬
cated to the community. People
who are deeply committed to what
they do and are willing to learn
how to make a change in the
community.”
Esquivel served two full-time
terms as an Americorps member and
earned two education awards. This
fall semester, he used his education
award for the first time to pay for
tuition, books and supplies at PCC.
“Many of the people I know at
PCC have never heard about the
Americorps program. In fact, I did
not know about it until a friend of
mine told me,” said Esquivel
“Now I have an opportunity to
use my education award to become
an early childhood education
teacher,” he added.
At the end of their service full
time Americorps members receive
an education award of $4,725 and
part time members receive an award
of $2362 that can be applied toward
repayment of student loans or it can
be used for tuition, books and sup¬
plies at any university, college or
trade school. The only downside is
that the education award is taxable
when used and must be used within
seven years from completion of ser¬
vice.
Americorps members serve a
minimum of 1700 hours or roughly
one year in a service project full time
or they can serve part time for a
minimum of 900 hours. Service
projects are community based and
results-oriented and focus on educa¬
tion, public safety, human needs and
the environment. In return volun¬
teers receive minimum wage and
health care for their term of service.
The Americorps program was
launched by President Bill Clinton at
a White House ceremony in Sep¬
tember 1994 as a community based
national service project. It was a
year after President Clinton had
signed into law the National Com¬
munity Service Trust Act.
“If I could do it again. I would,”
said Carmen Jimenez as she talked
fondly of her experience in
Americorps. As an Americorps
VISTA for the Los Angeles
County Department of Health's
Health andFaith Project, Jimenez
was among five other Americorps
members that participated in the
volunteer recruitment fair that was
held on the PCC campus on last
week.
Of the 1 1 volunteer organiza¬
tions that participated in the fair,
two of the tables were occupied
by Americorps members repre¬
senting various nonprofit organi¬
zations. Union Station, The Health
and Faith Project and the I Have a
Dream Foundation were repre¬
sented by Americorps.
The Americorps representa¬
tives come from many different
backgrounds that reflect the di¬
versity of the Americorps pro¬
gram. Leslie Williams, a VISTA
for Union Station volunteered
from Mount Vernon, Illinois to
work in California. She is a gradu¬
ate of Rend Lake College of Illi¬
nois. She said, “The Goal of
AmeriCorps is to help communi¬
ties better serve themselves and
to improve the quality of life for
residents who live there.” Wil¬
liams works in the Union Station
literacy program and hopes to
pursue a career in secondary edu-
Pleasevsee AMERICORP, page 3
■ Inter Club Council
budget includes
funding for 10 new
campus clubs.
By CHRISTINE GOMEZ
Courier Staff Writer
This year’s budget for the Inter
Club Council was announced on
Sept. 13.
The new budget was released
earlier than inprevious years, allow¬
ing the AS funding committee to
distribute funds as evenly as pos¬
sible.
This year, the ICC received
$25,000 from the Associated Stu¬
dents, of which $12,500 was to be
allocated this semester. There were
about 10 new clubs that were acti¬
vated this year, which gives the ICC
nearly 30 clubs total, Vanessa
Schulz, ICC president said.
The funding committee consisted
of Tu Dam vice president for busi¬
ness affairs, Aaron Schaefer, AS
president, Schulz, Peter Whaba of
■ The center held a
luncheon for faculty
and administration to
celebrate its
anniversary.
By SHALON TOLLEY
Courier Staff Writer
Commemorating its first year at
its new location, the Community
Education Center had an in house
luncheon for instructors and admin¬
istrators.
The center’s staff and adminis¬
tration was excited about the festivi¬
ties, said Robert Adanto, assistant to
the dean.
Adanto added, “there was an 18-
year struggle to get a new site.” The
luncheon was held to celebrate the
center’s success.
The $ 18-million project was
funded by the State of California.
Though the new facility took more
than a year to build, it only took six
weeks to make the move from the
old building to the new location.
The CEC’s old equipment was
donated to Pasadena Unified.
the Caduceus club, Natalie
Dankenbring of the marine biology
club, and Ben Escobedo of MEChA.
"Having the budget released ear¬
lier than in previous years is good
because it gives the clubs an oppor¬
tunity to use the funds when they
need them,” said Schulz. She also
said that the ICC only gave funds to
the clubs who were activated and
who turned their paperwork and re¬
quests in on time.
The requests from the clubs ranged
from $200 to $27,000. Schaefer said
there was no way that those who
asked for dollar amounts in the thou¬
sands would receive that much.
“The ICC would only allow funds
to be given to clubs that would use
the money for activities, not for sup¬
plies,” said Schulz.
“There are a lot of great activities
coming up, I would encourage stu¬
dents to participate in them if they ’ re
in a club or not,” she added.
According to the by laws of each
club, they are required to preform
one hour of community service for
every $100 the ICC gives them.
Adanto said, “it’s a rewarding
experience serving the community.”
Not only does CEC offer adult
training courses, it also offers a di¬
ploma program and ESL classes.
The CEC also allows various or¬
ganizations to
hold meetings
and formal gath¬
erings at their lo¬
cation.
The idea was
to create a facil¬
ity that would
meet the needs
of Pasadena resi¬
dents.
It has suc¬
cessfully met
c ommunity
needs and has
earned a reputa¬
tion of achieving
its goals and
objectives.
The center
offers courses to
students primarily interested in vo¬
cational education as opposed to tra¬
ditional college material.
Since its opening, the CEC has
enjoyed good enrolment.
CEC's First Birthday
at Its New Location
“There
was an
18-year
struggle to
get a new
site, ”
Robert
Adanto ,
Assistant
Division
Dean
EOPfilS Serves as a Helping Hand
The program reaches low-income and educationally
disadvantaged students
By FELICIENNE BROWN
Courier Staff Writer
Extended Opportunity Program and Services, or
EOP&S , is a program designed for students who need
some extra assistance.
“The goal of the program is to reach low-income and
educationally disadvantaged students,” said Kathleen
Rodarte, assistant dean of EOP&S.
Students, qualify for the program after meeting one of
four state requirements: not recommended to enroll in a
degree applicable English or Math class, no high school
diploma or GED, high school GPA below 2.5; or previ¬
ous enrollment in a remedial English or math class.
A student would also have to be a California resident,
be enrolled in 12 units, qualify to receive a Board of
Governors Fee Waiver and be educationally disadvan¬
taged.
EOP&S will provide services which include counsel¬
ing, instructional support and financial assistance
The counseling service includes student educational
plan development and assistance with academic and
financial aid petitions. Also, counselors provide refer¬
rals to other student services and community agencies.
Instructional support services provide tutoring and a
book service program.
The financial assistance facet of the program helps
with emergency loans and gives the student direction for
transferring into a CSU or a UC.
The program provides more than just these services.
CARE is another branch of EOP&S.
According to the Care News, a newsletter published
by the program, the goal of CARE is to provide supple¬
mental assistance to EOP&S eligible students so that
they can attend college on a full-time basis and complete
their program of study in a timely manner.
The program's offices are located in the newly reno¬
vated L Building.
GEORMEL ALONZO
/
THE COURIER
The service offers one-on-one counseling to students eligible for the assistance program.
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