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Covering the San Diego City College community since 1945
Volume 65, Number 12
Thousands to be denied
Take Note.......................... 2 Life................................... 6 Arts.................................. 9 Voice............................... 11 Sports............................. 16
April 5, 2011
UCSD tightens transfer rules TAG program to raise GPA minimum to 3.5 By Gabriel Spatuzzi City Times
City College students march across campus on March 31 in protest of cuts to higher education. Troy Bryant Orem, City Times
Students step out in protest of cuts
District leader delivers bad news
By Ernesto Lopez City Times
By Ernesto Lopez City Times In the battle for education, students continue to face huge setbacks statewide as legistators delivered another blow to school budgets. San Diego Community College District Chancellor Constance Carroll shared the statistics at a budget meeting on campus March 29. “The California Community College system faces a loss of $400 million in funding with a chance of doubling,” Carroll explained. “If the legislature does not agree to place a tax extension proposal on the June ballot, the district may lose close to $17 million.” At that same meeting, Carroll also announced
Chancellor Constance Carroll discusses budget issues on March 29. Troy Bryant Orem, City Times that the cost per unit is set to increase to $36 from $26 starting the fall semester. She alluded that the extra charge would partially help in the grand scheme of things. On March 30, the day after the budget meeting, state legislators chose not to approve the tax extension proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown to reduce cuts to education in California. In reaction to the legislators’ decision, Carroll held a conference call with
reporters. She announced that the district — which also includes Mesa College and Miramar College — is planning to drop 2,000 classes out of about 14,000 offered this year, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. She added that the district will be forced to turn away at least 27,000 students, up from 20,000 during the current academic year. See District, page 14
“We’re not going to take this sh** anymore. If you care about your future, we gotta unite. Together we’ll take over this motherf***ing system.” These words, shouted into a microphone by Karim Assaf, a member of Education for All, carried throughout the crowd gathered at Gorton Quad on March 31. Minutes n More before, at 11:30 Walk out a.m., hundreds photos of students Page 5 walked out of their classes to join Assaf, faculty, staff and other supporters. United, they showed their disapproval and anger at the recent announcement that thousands of classes will be cut next school year and that summer school could be cut completely. City College Public Information Officer Heidi Bunkowske, who was at the
“The college is with the students. We don’t want to cut classes.” -Heidi Bunkowske, City College PR officer protest, said cuts to education are a “frustrating experience because of state legislators’ misplaced priorities.” She added that students need to understand that cutting classes is not the district’s decision; every action is in reaction to the budget allocated by the state. “The college is with the students,” Bunkowske said. “We don’t want to cut classes. Administration is trying to do everything possible to hold on to as much as possible.” Sociology professor See Protest, page 14
The Transfer Acceptance Guarantee program, better known as TAG, has long been the only way for a community college student to be guaranteed admission into the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). But in the face of shrinking budgets and a growing pool of applicants, UCSD has raised its requirements for TAG candidates. Starting fall 2012, UCSD is raising the minimum GPA required to qualify for TAG from 3.0 to 3.5. At a meeting of the City College Academic Senate, Peter White, vice president of student services, insisted that UCSD’s decision was “completely driven by enrollment management needs” and not designed to boost the school’s rankings in any way. Some students think that the new GPA requirement is unrealistic. “If the TAG agreement had been 3.5 when I signed up, it would’ve been discouraging,” said Freddy Lopez, who was recently accepted to UCSD through the TAG program with a GPA around 3.2. Lopez said his grades suffered in his first year at community college as he was still figuring out what he wanted to do. No matter how well he performed from then on, his earlier grades had set him back too far to attain a 3.5 GPA. “When I moved to San Diego and started to really focus on school, I had to almost get straight A’s just to bring my GPA up to 3.2,” Lopez explained. Questions were also raised about the fate of students who fall just below the 3.5 mark and those who may have signed up for TAG before finding out about the new GPA requirement. “It’s not a solid line,” Academic Senate Treasurer Cathi Lopez said. “UCSD has made it very clear that they will be willing to work with us, though I can’t say what that See UCSD, page 14