An urge for cheaper transportation

Units required being reduced from 12 to 8 in 2016 for universal pass pilot program

MONICA VILLACORTA Reporter @MVillacorta48

Traffic, fluctuating gas prices and the parking space issue on campus are enough to discourage students from driving, however efforts from the ASO might solve the problem with a discount on metro bus passes.

Pierce College is working to implement the Universal College Student Transit Pass (U-Pass) Pilot Program by the spring semester.

According to Metro, the program would offer students unlimited rides on Metro bus lines for a reduced fee each semester.

The program has already been implemented in other colleges, universities and trade schools in the region. The main goal is to help reduce the bus fees for students and encourage more students to utilize the Metro as a method of transportation.

According to ASO president Barbara Lombrano, the regular pass available to students can take up to six weeks to obtain. CSUN, Santa Monica College and other campuses in the district have already signed on to this program, according to Lombrano.

“They’re estimating right now that if there’s no subsidy from the college or ASO, it would run about $190 for the semester,” Lombrano said. “I am trying to find out what the campus would do to subsidize the cost and then ASO may [also] decide to help subsidize the cost.”

The Director of Metro Commute Services Communications, Devon Deming, met with Pierce College to discuss the Universal Pass Pilot Program. Methods of pricing and

RICHARD ESPINOZA Reporter @Richard65157819 requirements for eligibility of the pass were discussed.

There is a price cap and Pierce would only be billed for what is used the first year, even if it falls under the cap, according to Lombrano. However, if Pierce goes over the cap, they will not be charged for that excess amount.

Deming was unavailable for comments.

As of now, students are eligible for

The Assembly Bill 288 authorizes California community college districts to enter a formal partnership agreement with local high school districts. This will establish college career access pathways, which will act to expand access to concurrent enrollment opportunities for high school students.

While some members of the Academic Senate support AB 288, they raised concerns on how to establish the bill during Monday’s Academic Senate meeting in the the U-Pass if they have eight or more units per semester. This also includes units from classes attended at other colleges. Pierce College is working to make the requirement six units for its part-time students. “I know that the Metro board is going to be meeting Dec. 1 and they are going to talk about possibly getting it down to the six units,” Lombrano said.

According to Lombrano, each

Great Hall.

Vice President of Student Services Dixon Peters spoke about the assembly bill at the Academic Senate meeting. “There are concerns by teachers on how to make this work. We are currently offering college courses at high school sites and have for years; that is the current enrollment,” Peters said. “The difference is that AB 288 allows us to focus more on a pathway course to college. This allows high schools in districts such as LAUSD, for campus is responsible for setting their own criteria of student requirements for the pass. These would include the enrollment state, GPA, and mandatory fees. There are options for schools to pass or subsidize the cost of transportation such as having all students pay the mandatory transportation fees.

“What Rio Hondo College has been doing for several years is they charge a flat fee to all the students, like $9 a semester. Their full-time students get that Metro pass at no cost to them and students that are part-time pay a little,” Lombrano said. “For us to do that, we would have to make an amendment to our constitution and the entire student campus would have to vote on that.” mvillacorta.roundupnews@gmail.com example, to offer college courses at the high school sites.”

Pierce College student Ruby Saucedo takes the Metro to get to school, but also uses it to commute to other daily activities.

“I usually pay for a day pass, which is $7, but when I used to be a full-time student, I would buy the college bus pass, which is like $46. That covered the month, which is only for 30 days,” Saucedo said. Saucedo generally takes the bus because she doesn’t have another option and she thinks it’s cheaper than taking a taxi or Uber.

“A good price would be like $120. That would be good for a semester because that’s like paying thirty per month, which is like a dollar per day,” Saucedo said.

Pierce College wants to have the program set up as early as next spring if possible, according to Lombrano. The delay is figuring out the cost and how Pierce could help subsidize it for students now and in long run.

“I’m just really hoping that we can get this going for our students because I think it would be a huge benefit for them, which is what ASO should be doing, advocating on behalf of our students,” Lombrano said.

According to Dean of Student Services William Marmolejo, if high school students take classes that Pierce College is offering, those classes may count as credits towards their academic planning guide (APG) requirements for high school.

“So a student can get full credit for college, as well as credit for their graduation, but classes must be approved by the high school for that purpose and if it is, we will

[From Foundation, pg. 1]

Borzenkova said that although she loved working with the Foundation and learned to appreciate all that it stands for, she ultimately left because she felt powerless to do anything without support from the college administration.

“It was stress every day and nobody worked with us,” Borzenkova said. “The board was so obedient in trying to accomplish everything the college asked of them, but somehow there was nothing in return. To me that was unfair.”

A big question is why it seemed that the college administration was so hesitant to help the Foundation and its board, Robb said.

“I really don’t know why that is. It’s like a bunch of people who want to raise money for the school and I can’t imagine why [the college] wouldn’t be delighted by that,” Robb said. “I’d love it if someone said to me ‘I’d like to devote my life to raising money for you.’ Oh, please! Thank you!”

When Borzenkova stepped down in August, she was replaced for a brief five-week period by Judy Cantu. Since she had previously worked for ONEgeneration for 14 years and for the National Health Foundation for about two years, Cantu arrived at the Foundation with many years of nonprofit experience under her belt. Cantu said she realized shortly after getting hired and starting her new job that the Foundation’s finances weren’t in good enough order to support a full-time, permanent executive director. They didn’t have the fiscal support needed to sustain that position.

[For the full story visit theroundupnews.com] snakash.roundupnews@gmail.com offer that class,” Marmolejo said. As far as the concerns of working college course work into a high school curriculum, Marmolejo said that what he would do is sit down with the instructor and find out what the issue is with the class.

[For the full story visit theroundupnews.com] respinoza.roundupnews@gmail.com