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the clackamas print An independent, student-run newspaper since 1966 Clackamas Community College, Oregon City, OR
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Volume 43, Issue 15
Clackamas debates tuition raise for summer
Shop for a new job at the Town Center
By Joshua Baird The Clackamas Print
By John Simmons The Clackamas Print
There is good news and bad news. The bad news is that tuition is possibly going to increase in the next year. The good news is that it won’t be by much. Clackamas Community College is debating a $2 increase in tuition and an additional $1 fee increase for the 2010-11 year. This will come to a maximum increase of $30 extra per term for students taking 15 to 18 credits. Since 1999-00 school year, the cost of tuition has literally doubled after several small increases, and two large increases of 24.39 percent in 2003-04 and 16 percent in 2009-10. The big thing that Clackamas’ administrators have to keep in mind is how they receive the funding that they do. According to the Recap of Funding Formula/ Revenue diagram provided by Courtney Wilton, vice president of college services, which compares 2007-08 to the 2009-10 school years, the state support and property taxes that provide the largest chunk of the school’s funding has dropped by 10 percent. What this means to the students is that the college has to make up for its lost financial backing, which gives some context for increasing tuition from $57 a credit hour to $72 since 2007. “We are trying to be sensitive to students. ‘I’m at the end of my rope, and I can’t afford anything more,’ and I think they are being absolutely honest about that. At the same time, we have to keep our budget and balance with the funding from the state basically being flat over that time period you are actually getting a reduction because of cost of living and enrollment and so it puts you in a bind,” Wilton said. “What the College Board does is try to balance things and try to be fair with students and also at the same time, try to keep these programs available. If you’re not going to increase your revenue at all essentially, what you’re going to do is cut your programs and that has an impact on students too in terms of the number of sections that are available, the class sizes and things like that,” said Wilton.
Few things are as important to students as finding a job. With a job comes money, and with money comes new gadgets, new clothes and a chance at moving out. However, in the current economy, jobs are hard to come by, and many students are unable to find employment. Few places are hiring, and those that are want only the best employees they can get. For those on the hunt for a job, the most logical place to start is near home. Unfortunately for many students, the jobs near home are the ones that fill up the fastest, so unless they turn in their application as soon as possible and a bit of luck flies their way, most are forced to look elsewhere. Such was the case for Taylor Reed, who lives near Estacada. She had applied in the local shops and stores but most were not hiring, and she was forced to look farther from home. After four months of serious searching, she finally got a call from Things Remembered in the Clackamas Town Center and has been working there for about three months. “I really didn’t think I would get this job when I applied, but here I am,” said Reed. Clackamas Town Center is the next logical place to look for many students, but most stores are not hiring. Of the more than 200 stores in the mall, only five had job listings on the mall Web site. Of those five, only two are hiring for entry-level positions; the other three all need people with management experience or a year or two in a similar position. The Children’s Place currently has a position open for a sales manager who must be at least 18 and have management experience. Becca Bahns, a sales associate there, said that they are looking for someone who is a good people person, is good at customer service and has lots of energy and dedication to their job.
Please see TUITION, Page 3
John Shufelt Clackamas Print
The 10 p.m. to 2 a.m welding class tought by John Phelps is very popular with students. Here Nick Keser practices welding two quarter inch pieces of metal together.
Metal workers up late By Erik Andersen Associate News Editor Sparks fly lighting up the midnight sky and molten metal drops to the floor and sometimes on the leather safety clothes of the dedicated students of the Clackamas Community College midnight welding class. If you have ever taken a late class at CCC, typically from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., looking around the campus when leaving and seeing the empty walkways and locked doors, it may be hard to believe that there are students on their way to the school to start a class. This midnight welding class that goes from
10 p.m. till 2 a.m. four days a week has about 30 students. When asked why there is such a class, John Phelps, the instructor, said, “It started about a year ago because we were trying to meet enrollment needs, and the facility can only accommodate for so many people, so instead of turning people away, we decided to open up another section.” All of the students that go have an assortment of reasons for being at this late four-hour class, but the grounds in which they all share is that it’s more convenient for them to obtain the certificate and skills for the trade. Please see WELDING, Page 6
Please see JOB, Page 8