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Covering the San Diego City College community since 1945
Volume 65, Number 2
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September 16, 2010
District dips into reserves State legislature has yet to allocate budget for 2010-11 school year By Ernesto Lopez City Times
A car drives out of the new parking structure on 17th and C Street. The garage has been faced with allegations that its ceilings don’t meet construction guidelines. Carlos Maia, City Times
Low ceilings?
Construction manager says new parking structure ceilings are not too low, students disagree and fear emergency vehicles won’t fit through
By Ricky Soltero City Times Many students have said the ceilings of the new parking structure on 17th and C Street “are too low,” but administration said it meets construction guidelines. Once inside the parking levels, the clearance height is 6 feet 8 inches; while the average height of a sport utility vehicle is approximately 6 feet 3 inches. Several students voiced
their concern over the ceilings because they could be easily reached with little or no effort. Other students said they are afraid emergency vehicles will not be able to access the higher levels of structure if needed. “Honestly, I wouldn’t think (an ambulance or fire truck) would be able to gain entry to the parking garage,” student Jonathan Bustos said. Student Jen Wheeler also said, “the ceilings are
really low,” and does not believe most vehicles will fit through the structure. Similar n More responses parking were given available by other stu- on campus dents. Page 3 Campus Project Manager Tom Fine said the parking meets all state laws and designs were approved before the beginning of construction. “The parking garage was designed to comply with all building codes and
standards that regulate the industry,” Fine said. “The state reviewed every (drawing) and each detail of these documents. The design was approved for construction.” When responding to allegations that the construction company was asked to rebuild the structure, Fine said there was never a request to do so. College Police Sgt. Jordan Mirakian said it would not be standard See Ceilings, page 2
The San Diego Community College District has been forced to borrow money from its reserves in order to survive the beginning of this 2010-11 school year. Despite the lack of money to fun educational services, the district managed to add close to 1,500 class sections. In a forum on Sept. 8 held at City College, District Chancellor Constance Carroll said the district has been forced to borrow from their savings since state legislature has yet to allocate budgets to community colleges and all local sectors. “There is no bad news,” Carroll said. “We have the reserves and that will sustain us while we’re not getting paid. We are operating on our own devices.” Terry Davis, vice chancellor of business services, told forum attendees that the state is $34 million behind in payment. In order to stay afloat, he said the district has been meeting payroll and other operational costs by borrowing $18 million in the cash flow reserves and using $17 million in the beginning balance. The district has three other budget reserves. As
of Aug. 18, the insurance reserve had about $11 million, the retiree health benefits reserve had $11.5 million and the capitol projects reserve had $5 million. Carroll credits the stability and large reserves to the districts financial team. “We have strong financial
San Diego Community College District Chancellor Constance Carroll. CT management that has kept us safe,” she said. “Terry eats, lives and breathes the budget.” Davis explained that the cash flow reserve increased by 6.8 percent and the beginning balance reserve is up $3.2 million from last school year because of the districtwide hiring freeze. “By recognizing the affects of budget cuts early and putting up a hiring freeze we were able to save and add to our reserves,” Davis said. Carroll added that the district has advanced about $10 million to students See District, page 2
Campus construction met with frustration By Mark Rivera City Times City College has been under construction for the last two years and it will continue until 2014, according to campus project manager Tom Fine. Most construction taking place is being funded by Proposition S and N that were passed in 2002 and 2006, which has given the San Diego Community College District more than $1 billion in voter-approved bonds. The Learning Resource Center, L and V buildings, and the new parking structure on campus are all a result that funding. “This summer and fall begins what will be a monumen-
tal effort to construct four new buildings and several infrastructure projects,” Fine said. The Central Plant project started earlier this summer. The Business Technology project and the Arts & Humanities Project have started. The Math & Social Sciences project is ready to start in the middle of Oct. The Science Building will begin later this fall or early in 2011. However, most the construction being done on campus has been met with frustration from City College students and faculty, especially those that have classes in the C and L buildings. Student Gaydela Lamkin said she has a piano class located in the C building and
has found the jack hammering outside to be a distraction. “It’s kind of hard to hear the teacher with all the construction going on…it’s just very, very loud,” Lamkin said. While Music Professor Wendy Green has found that her teaching style has gone through certain adjustments because of the construction noise, she also finds it difficult to navigate through the campus lately. “It’s like the school is a fortress,” Green said. “Just getting up to the music building (seems like) we have to go through a labyrinth.” Both Lamkin and Green were unaware of the construction that was set to take place this semester.
Construction crew works at Gorton Quad, Sept. 8, while students travel to classes. Carlos Maia, City Times