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Clarion Citrus
Students debate the pros and cons of medical marijuana. See pg. 14
College
“Holidance” celebrates the spirit of the season. See pgs. 8 & 9
www.theclariononline.com
Wednesday, December 9, 2009 Volume LXIII Issue 8
A First Amendment newspaper
Class cuts inevitable through 2014 school year Kristin Lacuesta
Clarion Staff Writer The state budget crisis is likely to get worse before it can get better. When the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) released its fiveyear fiscal forecast for California in late November, it was anything but good news. The LAO projects that the governor faces a $21 billion deficit. With reduction in revenues, required repayments to local governments and workload increases the hope that California will recover without any additional cuts or increased taxes has been destroyed. For continuing and new students at Citrus College, the state budget crisis means fewer classes offered with less chance of actually being able to register for those courses available. According to the section comparison provided by Samuel Lee, dean of language arts and enrollment management, winter session 2010 has seen a 34 percent reduction in classes offered compared to winter session 2009. During the spring 2009 semester, Citrus offered 1,090 class sections. Due to the budget crisis, 175 sections have been cut for spring 2010, meaning a 16 percent reduction in classes. “I think the cuts to class offerings makes registration even more stressful for students than it should be because of the fact that there is less space available,” said administrative justice major Mariana Gonzalez, 18. “I was definitely stressing out before my registration date.” It’s not only students who are being affected by the cuts, but part-time faculty are also bearing the brunt of budget woes. According to Lee, winter 2010 session courses are assigned to mostly full-time faculty. Most of the sections cut for spring 2010 were typically taught by part-time faculty in the past years. Administrators at Citrus project shrinking funding through
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2014 and have had to change their strategy on building semester schedules. They plan to build the schedule on an annual basis rather than on a term-by-term basis, as they have done in previous years. Planning and posting course schedules earlier will allow students to plan farther ahead. They will develop three schedules throughout the year based on certain scenarios. All scenarios are going to be based on the number of full-time equivalent students (FTES), which is currently at 11,500. Lee said they plan to build with students primarily in mind rather than faculty and who can teach what. To build the three schedules based on those scenarios, administrators will look at previous enrollment patterns and transfer needs. “We’re painfully aware that there are not enough classes being offered,” Lee said. “We want to avoid cutting more programs because we know it hurts the student’s ability to finish his/her plan on time. Unfortunately the cuts already have.” Lee said students can expect further class cuts for summer 2010 and fall 2010, but not at the level of previous cuts. As there are fewer class offerings, new students have a greater chance of not being able to register for the classes they want or need. There are some ways to minimize the impact of this course crunch. One tip is to know the roll-out dates for the winter and spring semesters because if a student is unable to pay for their classes, a new student can take their seat. Another tip that Lee suggested for new students is to take any class at any time just to be in the system. More importantly, do not drop the class and make sure to pay for it on time.
Kristin Lacuesta can be reached at ccclarion@hotmail.com
Andrew Vasquez Citrus College Clarion Santa Claus (Josh Pecjak) and Mama Claus (Katie Ransom) gleefully entertain guests who have decided to sit on their laps during the finale of the “Christmas Is...” dress rehearsal in the Haugh Performing Arts Center at Citrus College on Dec.3. For full story, see pages 8 and 9.
Registrations for winter, spring semesters leave few available courses for students Robert Lucero
Clarion Staff Writer With the fall 2009 semester coming to a finish, attention has moved to the up-and-coming winter and spring 2010 semesters. For winter 2010, only 112 sections will be offered, with 84.9 percent of those seats already filled. In the winter 2009 session, 186 sections were offered. The headcount for winter 2009 was 2,733, as opposed to winter 2010, which is currently 2,582. Meanwhile for spring 2010, only 915 sections will be offered, with 54.3 percent of those seats already filled. Last spring had 1,090 sections offered. The head count for spring 2009 was 3,468, but for spring 2010, enrollment has increased by 1,648 with a head count of 5,116. “Winter is smaller,” said Irene Malmgren, vice president of instruction. “It is 82.6 percent full.”
Fewer classes means less opportunity for students to fulfill their requirements. “[Winter 2010 session] has filled up more quickly than previous terms,” said Samuel Lee, dean of language arts. Some classes, such as biology 105, are filling up in as quickly as two days. English 103 is another heavily sought-after subject that has also filled up rapidly. Even with classes reaching full capacity soon, some students are still able to grab the classes they need. Robby Pardorla, 20, is a third year Citrus student. Pardorla was able to register all of his class choices for both winter and spring 2010 “except English 104.” Marcella Chow, 21, is in her fourth year at Citrus. “I got all the classes I need except English 104,” she said Other students, such as Vanessa Morales, had a tough time registering for classes. Morales won’t be able
to attend the winter 2010 semester because it was “too full.” “I couldn’t get any classes,” she said. Besides the economy, the fact that “students are more alert now” is another reason classes are filling up so quickly, Malmgren said. “We didn’t see students enrolling this much earlier in fall,” she said. Students have until the Saturday of the week when they register to pay. If students fail to pay for their classes, then they get dropped and every Sunday at 12:01 a.m. students have the opportunity to add those classes dropped by other students. “Take any class at any time just to be in the system and don’t drop it,” Lee advised. “If you’re on the computer at 12:01 a.m. during a roll-out date, you can take that seat.”
Robert Lucero can be reached at ccclarion@hotmail.com
Life pg. 5 Sports pg. 10 A&E pg. 12 Opinions pg. 14 Editorials pg. 15 cmyk