Students for California's Future: News - December 16, 2008

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Student Senate for California Community Colleges: Fax to Fight midyear cuts to Community Colleges - Students around California will prevent midyear budget cuts by participating in a "Fax Day" on Wednesday, December 17, 2008 where we will communicate our opposition to cuts and fee increases by keeping fax machines in Legislators capitol and district offices busy all day long. - Facebook Event

A Piece of the Stimulus Pie - With U.S. government planning massive infusion of funds to spur economy, college groups offer ideas, common and conflicting, for how higher ed can help the country (and vice versa). - Inside Higher Education

Junior College Squeeze - Eighteen-year-old Jenna Tibbitts has a near-perfect GPA, and her parents can afford to send her to the four-year university of her choice. But the New Jersey senior is opting instead to attend nearby Atlantic Cape Community College on a scholarship for two years before transferring to a four-year school so that she can reduce the overall cost of her education. "It just makes more sense," Tibbitts says. - Newsweek

GOP budget plan: Slash $10 billion from schools -- Republican state lawmakers unveiled their answer Monday to the state's budget crisis - a $22 billion plan that would avoid raising taxes, cut deeply into education spending and dip into voter-approved funds intended to pay for mental health services and children's health care. Matthew Yi in the San Francisco Chronicle Jim Sanders in the Sacramento Bee James P. Sweeney in the San Diego Union-Trib Mike Zapler in the Contra Costa Times -- 12/16/08

Students for California's Future: News - December 13-15, 2008

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College officials fear too-deep cuts - California's top higher-education officials bemoaned the deepening cuts in college funding yesterday, saying they will have consequences beyond the classroom. - San Diego Union-Tribune

Preparing local colleges - The implosion of our economy means in at least two big ways that there will be more students vying for places on the two-year campuses than ever before. - Pasadena Star-News

Invest in universities – University of California President Mark Yudof called it a "revolution" and one of the "smartest investments" in American history. He wants the United States to "do it again." Yudof was referring to President Abraham Lincoln's signing of the Morrill Act in 1862 -- during wartime, during difficult economic times. That act gave every state 30,000 acres of federal land to use or sell to build universities. Merced Sun-Star article

More colleges cater to transfers - That's starting to change. With more students opting to start their higher education at affordable community colleges and the stagnant economy sending even more late-blooming learners back to school, campus administrators find that catering to transfers and other nontraditional students makes sense. - USA Today

Career Education Finds Powerful Results in High Schools and Beyond - This is the major premise behind two powerful new models for secondary and higher education: career-oriented colleges and career academies in high school. Advocates of both movements see career-oriented education as the wave of the future -- a way to save both students and employers time and money. - Imperial Valley News

Teens prove adversity doesn't have to impede education -- At USC on Saturday, 170 at-risk teens -- young mothers, juvenile camp inmates, troubled students -- are awarded their high school diplomas and congratulated by keynote speaker Magic Johnson. Seema Mehta in the Los Angeles Times -- 12/14/08

Economy taking its toll on students around East Bay -- During lunch on a brisk December day, Edna Hill Middle School Principal Kirsten Jobb noticed a student wearing only shorts and a T-shirt. Kimberly S. Wetzel in the Contra Costa Times -- 12/14/08

UC Davis students graduate, look warily at their job prospects -- Lee, like many of his peers, is anxious about entering the job market as the economy sours and unemployment rates soar. Robert Faturechi in the Sacramento Bee -- 12/14/08

Yunker honored for college work - Helen Yunker was honored by the Council for Resource Development in Washington, D.C., recently when she received the 2008 Benefactor of the Year Award for Region IX, which includes California. - Ventura County Star

Rules tightened for SBA's Community Express loan - In the South Bay, the popularity of the loan has grown in recent months among clients at El Camino College's small-business development center, said Sharon Peterson, the senior business counselor who handles the nonprofit's loan packaging. At the same time, Community Express lenders are tightening credit rules, in part to help them stay under their caps, she said. - LA Times

Economy threatens med school plans -- The road is flanked by half-built suburban homes that would seem ideal for a faculty family or a young doctor putting down roots in Merced. Just a minute up the road is the youngest campus of the University of California and the future headquarters of a potential medical school that could radically improve health care throughout the San Joaquin Valley. Deborah Schoch and Danielle Gaines in the Modesto Bee -- 12/13/08

Valley's rising library use a good read on bad economy – The bleak economy means big business for public libraries. With less money to spend on books, videos and home computers, people have dug out their library cards -- or got one for the first time -- and headed to their local branch. Library use is up throughout the central San Joaquin Valley, with surges of 14% at Fresno County libraries and 11% at Madera County branches and longer waiting lists for books and DVDs. In Kings County, computer use at the library is up 17%. Fresno Bee article

Silicon Valley libraries: a haven during tough economic times -- To cut family expenses, Marcos and Stacy Gutierrez stopped buying books for themselves and their three young children two months ago. They halted home subscriptions to Netflix, cable television and high-speed Internet. The working San Jose parents, both in school part-time studying for advanced degrees, saved $300 a month, but they haven't stopped reading or watching movies. Now they go to the library for all their book and movie needs. And they don't spend a dime. Jessie Mangaliman in the San Jose Mercury -- 12/15/08

UC Santa Cruz tree-sitters end protest -- Three tree-sitters who had been protesting development at UC Santa Cruz for more than a year left their nests without incident Saturday morning, police said. A fourth protester left his tree about an hour after the others, and was taken into custody by UC Santa Cruz police on suspicion of trespassing. The other three tree-sitters had left before police arrived. Erin Allday in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 12/15/08

State GOP hangs tight on taxes as red ink grows – California is bleeding Republican red as the state's minority party tries to squeeze a spending cap and pro-business policies from fiscal chaos. Badly outnumbered and often ignored by the Democratic-dominated Legislature, the GOP is not getting sand kicked in its face these days. California is hurtling toward a financial abyss, projecting a $40 billion shortfall by July 2010, and no deal can be struck without at least three Republican votes in both the Assembly and Senate. Sacramento Bee article; San Francisco Chronicle article

Steinberg, Bass take another shot at rooting out wasted state dollars – Five years after Arnold Schwarzenegger rode into the governor's office vowing to root out waste in state spending to help balance the budget, legislative leaders are taking another crack at the elusive target. Sen. President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, and Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, are crafting more measured bipartisan approaches than the Republican governor, who famously promised to "blow up the boxes" of bureaucratic inefficiency. Sacramento Bee article

California lawmakers get plenty of suggestions for closing budget gap -- If there's one thing legislators don't have to worry about in their never-ending struggle with the state budget – and there may be only one thing – it's suffering from a lack of advice. Sacramento Bee article

Dan Walters: Constitutional convention is no easy fix for California – Moreover, even if legislators, by some miracle, were to agree on operational details of such a convention, and voters were to give it their blessing, delegates would still reflect the essential conflicts that already beset the Capitol, stemming from California's infinitely cultural, economic and geographic complexity. Thus, they could find themselves in the same political gridlock as the Legislature. A constitutional convention may be California's best hope for civic salvation, but it doesn't come with a guarantee. Walters column in Sacramento Bee

Analysis: Has California become the state no one can govern? – As the state faces fiscal crisis and partisan gridlock, some wonder if this nation-state is so oversized, Balkanized and polarized that it is destined for dysfunction no matter who is in charge. LA Times article

Students for California's Future: News - December 12, 2008

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Student Senate for California Community Colleges: Fax to Fight midyear cuts to Community Colleges - Students around California will prevent midyear budget cuts by participating in a "Fax Day" on Wednesday, December 17, 2008 where we will communicate our opposition to cuts and fee increases by keeping fax machines in Legislators capitol and district offices busy all day long. - Facebook Event

Public Missions, Private Dollars and Ordinary People - You can tell a lot about institutions – and societies – by how they invest their money. This is why many public college and university leaders, myself included, are so concerned by the shameful spiral of disinvestment in public higher education in America. - Inside Higher Education

Schwarzenegger Declares Fiscal Emergency - Community colleges throughout California will suffer a budget cut of $332.2 million and The Los Angeles Community District alone, will suffer an estimated $29.9 million cut. - Los Angeles Valley College, Valley Star

Budget meeting blows up – Senate Republican Leader Dave Cogdill declared legislative negotiations with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger essentially dead after an apparently hostile meeting Thursday in the governor's office. The Republican governor and legislative leaders publicly blamed one another this week for their failure to resolve a $14.8 billion gap in the current $100 billion state general fund budget. Cogdill, of Modesto, said leaks from "Big 5" meetings between four legislative leaders and the governor have undermined future talks. Sacramento Bee article

Bass to consider Christmas lockdown for Assembly -- Note to Santa: It's no joke -- Legislators may, indeed, spend Christmas week at the Capitol. Assembly Speaker Karen Bass said Thursday that she is considering imposing an around-the-clock Christmas week lockdown of the Assembly until a budget deal is struck. Capitol Alert

Analyst recommends gas tax revenue bonds – California would gain more in economic stimulus by rehabilitating highways around the state using revenue bonds than by pursuing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to accelerate 11 major state highway projects, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office said Thursday. The Republican governor in November proposed using Proposition 1B bond funds for $822 million in state transportation projects, as well as $800 million for local transit and $700 million for local road improvements. Capitol Alert

Despite downturn, California adopts tough climate plan – California on Thursday adopted the nation's most sweeping plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions, issuing rules that could transform everything from the way factories operate to the appliances people buy and the fuel they put in their cars. The eight-member Air Resources Board unanimously approved the plan despite warnings it will put costly new burdens on businesses at a time when the economy is in extreme crisis, with California forecasting a staggering budget gap of $41.8 billion through mid-2010. AP article; Sacramento Bee article; LA Times article; A look at the plan

Students for California's Future: News - December 11, 2008

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Governor's proposal sparks class cuts - The cuts stem from a proposal by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to make mid-year reductions in the amount of $322 million to the California Community College General Fund, resulting in a statewide reduction of 5 percent of each district's general apportionment from the state. - Citrus College, The Clarion Online

California's budget cuts hit bare bones - California mid-year budget cuts of $2.6 billion proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in November will deeply affect all three sectors of state-funded higher education systems who must now rethink their own financial plans for the upcoming year. - Saddleback College, The Lariat

College cuts mean fewer choices - College-bound high school seniors have faced a barrage of bad news lately — news that, in many cases, forces them to make drastic changes in their plans. - Tracy Press

In tough times, more students feed on free lunches – The National School Lunch Program fed more than 30 million children in the 2006-07 school year with federal and state funds. According to the School Nutrition Association, which represents workers who provide the meals, almost 80 percent of schools surveyed by the organization are reporting an increase in the number of free lunches served this year. AP article

UCLA forecast: Economy worsening – Nasty. That's the kind of recession we're in, according to the latest economic reading from the quarterly UCLA Anderson Forecast. "The news from the economy is bad," Anderson senior economist David Shulman said. "The recession that we had previously hoped to avoid is now with us in full gale force." Stockton Record article; LA Times article

State Worker: Job cuts make unions rethink hard line – Has California's growing budget mess pushed public employee unions into retreat? Take Service Employees International Union Local 1000, which represents 95,000 state workers in a wide variety of jobs. Last week local President Yvonne Walker told The State Worker, "There are going to have to be cuts. We're going to have to raise taxes" to address the state's cash crunch. State Worker blog in Sacramento Bee

George Skelton: Legislators acting like zombies as fiscal crisis worsens – You remember how the Bill Murray character, the TV weatherman jerk, keeps repeating the same day over and over until he finally reexamines his life and priorities and transforms himself. Our legislators -- mainly Republicans, but Democrats too -- keep replaying the same budget battle, sounding the same bugle calls and going nowhere. In fact, the going keeps getting tougher. Skelton column

Students for California's Future: News - December 10, 2008

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Cabrillo bracing for $9 million in cuts amid enrollment increase - APTOS -- Cabrillo College trustees on Monday night approved a framework for trimming up to $9 million during the next 18 months if midyear state budget cuts are coupled with efforts to trim next year's budget. - San Jose Mercury

California Latinos and blacks still lag in university eligibility – Despite recent improvements, Latino and black students continue to lag behind whites and Asians in becoming academically eligible to enter California's two public university systems, according to a state report released Tuesday. The study by the California Postsecondary Education Commission also showed that female high school seniors still do significantly better than males in taking required classes and earning grades and test scores that could gain them admission to the University of California and California State University systems. LA Times article

Enrollment boom - Community colleges nationwide are bracing for a jump in enrollment as decimated college-savings accounts force parents to seek less-expensive higher-education options and rising unemployment sends laid-off workers back to school for retraining. - Market Watch

Getting California Schools Off The Grid - Today, California's State & Consumer Services Agency (SCSA) announced the release of Grid Neutral: Electrical Independence for California Schools and Community Colleges, a step-by-step guide to help California schools and community colleges cut energy costs through on-site electricity generation. - Market Watch

California Institute of Integral Studies Responds to Cutbacks in State College and University Undergraduate Course Offerings - Current economic factors are forcing California public colleges and universities to reduce the number of courses offered to undergraduates, limiting the options students have to complete their undergraduate degrees on time and without paying additional tuition.  - Market Watch

HSU teaching assistants' union may strike - An estimated 200 student employees at Humboldt State University may choose to join a system-wide strike this morning -- a result of stalled union negotiations. - Eureka Times-Standards

CSU teaching assistants call of Wednesday strike – Teaching assistants at the California State University system are calling off a planned strike over a contract dispute with university administrators. Officials with UAW Local 4123, which represents more than 6,000 academic student employees, say they decided late Tuesday not to go ahead with the strike after California Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg agreed to help resolve the contract dispute. Sacramento Bee article

University of the Pacific report: Recession is severe – California's lingering, mild recession nose-dived this fall into a severe recession, pushing the likelihood of recovery into the third quarter of 2009, according to the latest quarterly economic report from University of the Pacific's Business Forecasting Center. The financial meltdown, starting in September, changed the whole picture, freezing business investments and shocking consumers into holding tighter on spending, center director Jeff Michael said. Stockton Record article