Learn how to make your dragon
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Corsets and fishnets for charity
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Men’s basketball scores a win
Sonoma State Star
SINCE 1979
VOLUME 72 // ISSUE 7
SONOMASTATESTAR.COM
MARCH 4 - MARCH 10, 2014
Enrollment target impacts class availability Administration seeks alternative funding options after dismissal of academic success fee
Claudia Jambor Staff Writer
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rovost Andrew Rogerson said continued increases to Sonoma State University’s enrollment target by the California State University system may eliminate the need for a success fee in the future.
“If we continue to have our target increased we get more base funding which takes away the need for a fee. Or if at that point, if there were a fee it would be for more faculty and other things, it could be a much smaller fee,” Rogerson said. The provost said that Governor Jerry Brown’s commitment to begin funding the CSU system further is a sign of progress for the campus. “[The governor] is forecasting that he’ll be
giving [the CSU system] $142 million. It’s a slow growth period and it looks like it’s going to continue. So it’s quite optimistic,” Rogerson said. Chancellor of the CSU Timothy P. White allocates the enrollment target to all 23 campuses. The target for each campus is mainly dependent on the amount of state funding provided to the CSU system. “[The enrollment target] isn’t based on the
More than 500 Greeks serve Sonoma Get the full story on page 8
number of students you have [at the campus],” said the Associate Vice President for Academic Programs Elaine Sundberg. “It’s based on what they call the FTE, the full time equivalent, and that’s done at 15 units per student. Our target is 7,540, but we have more students than that but that’s still our target so what we have to do is See ENROLLMENT Pg. 4
Sonoma State launches first Student Parent Survey Halia Daugherty Staff Writer
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COURTESY // Sam Mraz Greek organizations banned together on Sunday to give back to the community through a day of service.
Student farmers offered Growers Grant Finn Maloney Staff Writer
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onoma County is famous for producing high quality organic products in some of the richest soil in the world, and now Sonoma State students are now able to contribute to this reputation. In September 2013 the Associated Students passed a resolution that allocated $1,500 in student fees to create five $300 grants that go towards paying for mandatory liability insurance required for the Associated Students Growers Grant Program. The program was spearheaded by Associated Students President Mac Hart, who also sold produce to Dining Services before becoming president of Associated Students and has been heavily involved with farming both on and off campus. The program was created as a method to increase student involvement with sustainability. “This program acts to address both community issues and sustainability issues, while at the same time creating opportunities for student development and leader-
ship,” wrote Hart in a press release about the grant. The resolution was written in response to financial and legal struggles faced by student farmers. In order to sell produce they must purchase a food liability insurance policy, and while it offers a valued $2 million worth of protection, the insurance costs $299 to purchase, which is a difficulty for many young farmers. The resolution was initially aimed to help the students that are currently selling their goods to Dining Services in order to increase care and production. The grants program is now open to all students that wish to apply on the Associated Students website. Five students will be chosen after a screening process and they will be awarded $300 in order to cover their liability insurance starting in the fall. Although how the students will get farmland and create a relationship with the school is not outlined in the resolution, the hope is that a large amount of students will show interest in the program. Prior to the resolution, all of the students who received
grant money had been farming in their own plots off campus. “It has given me the opportunity to play on my passion without having to take on the burden of such a big financial expense needed to start a business,” said current grant recipient Jamal Edwards. The resolution was also passed with the hope that it would create a sense of community amongst students and the community as a whole, as well as encourage leadership skills and increase sustainability. The products grown in the farms off campus, mostly lettuce for now, are then sold back to the school and served in various forms at Dining Services. Brandon Sanders, a leader of the Sonoma Student Growers Cooperative, lobbied for the grant during Associated Student meetings. He offered the opinion that if the community starts to see us a hardworking farmers, rising early to tend to crops instead of passing out on their lawns, that we might start to see more respect from See FARMERS Pg. 5
he National Student Parent Survey, recently begun at Sonoma State University and launched by Sociology Professor Sheila Katz and Human Development major Holly Phillips, is the first of its kind in the nation. This survey is a project conducted by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. The survey is geared towards current Sonoma State students who are either pregnant or have a child, recent alumni who have had kids, or students who became pregnant while attending Sonoma State. The survey asks questions about their educational background, parental status, employment, future goals, and college experience. “[The survey’s purpose is] to understand the challenges and experiences of students who have children,” said Katz. She has been working with the Institute for Women’s Research for 15 years. She began working on this survey in December 2011 and Phillips joined her in September 2012. Phillips is a McNair Scholar and is working on this project for the McNair Scholarship program. Phillips is also a student-parent who transferred to Sonoma State from the Santa Rosa Junior College. When she transferred to Sonoma State, Phillips wanted to feel like a part of the community as she did at the Santa Rosa Junior College. She gathered information from the campus resource book she was given at orientation and researched some areas of interests which led her to engaging in the McNair program. “The student-parent survey represents creating a clearer path for other student-parents, and the children affected by their success or failure both here at SSU and across the Nation,” said Phillips. “It’s important that studentparents have particular resources on campus that allow them to feel as though their children are taken care of while they
are pursuing higher education. Light needs to be shed on these students as they are full-time students and full-time parents,” said Katz. The Children’s School on campus is a resource that provides early childhood education for children of student-parents, staff and faculty. Parents with children ages 1 to 5 years old are eligible to apply for program. Eligible children are subject to be wait-listed for a long period of time because there are limited spaces. “I know that other students haven’t been able to receive the same amount of support, specifically in other departments. Parents who aren’t able to get their children into the center or have kids older or younger than those they serve are at a huge disadvantage,” said Sonoma State student-parent Beatriz Alcazar. Alcazar is a transfer student from Santa Rosa Junior College. She became pregnant her first semester at the Santa Rosa Junior College and faced many challenges as a parent and student. She took leave from pursuing education during her pregnancy and still managed to complete school in timely manner. “There are many stereotypes and misconceptions about student parents that I think influence the support and funding of programs that would help us out. The truth is that we are motivated, dedicated and eager to pursue education just as much as our peers,” said Alcazar. The survey has already received 65 responses and Katz and Phillips are looking to publicize this survey further to receive as much feedback as possible from students. They are working with the Financial Aid office to send direct emails to students who claim a dependent on their FAFSA forms. They are actively recruiting people and hosted a student-parent pizza party at Lobo’s on Monday that gave students more information about the survey. The survey can be found at: http://surveys.questionpro.com/a/t/AKhEMZQvvD.
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Reverend Jarrett Maupin speaks about diversity
Student Spotlight: Ashlee Floren
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Read her story on page 11