Students to March for Their Education
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Hot shots in Beaumont Today’s Weather Long Beach State Daily men’s golf team takes 2nd place at A n Braveheart Classic. High Low t h n i v e 64 50 0 r s r y Tomorrow’s Forecast 6 a Page 8 49er High 64 Low 45 Vol. LIX, Issue 211 www.daily49er.com Wednesday, March 3, 2010 Students to march for their education There will be events on campus, at Wilson High School and other colleges students and the future of California,” Ramirez Y NNI AASTAMOINEN B A S said. “Public education is an essential social ser- Assistant News Editor vice that everyone should be entitled to, regard- less of economic situations.” Of all the rallies and protests held throughout According to the CFA press release, the protest the year, the March 4 protest promises to be dif- will be a unified effort of education supporters ferent: It will be the first time in recent California from all segments of public education in Califor- history that members from all segments of the nia. Protest organizers will host rallies, demon- public education system will simultaneously pro- strations and other types of events on all 23 CSU test cuts to education. campuses and at other locations across the state. According to a California Faculty Association Although Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has press release, budget cuts have already sliced the proposed in his 2010-11 budget a restoration California State University budget by more than of $305 million to the CSU system, the money $1 billion and have eliminated more than 2,000 will not be enough to fill the hole the budget cuts employees. At the same time, student fees have have made. CSUs are being forced to turn away increased more than 30 percent. thousands of new eligible students, while cur- The March 4 protest will give a chance to all rent students suffer because of an increase in those who are upset to express their disappointment. student fees and the inability to enroll in neces- Claudia Ramirez, student organizer of Stu- sary classes. MICHAEL CHAN YEE / DAILY 49ER dents for Quality Education, said in an e-mail The rally at Cal State Long Beach will begin at Victoria Rodriguez, a graduate school counseling major, walks past two “Deliver 100” that the purpose of the protest is to make noise so the upper quad at 11:30 a.m. There will be danc- boxes Monday afternoon outside the Beach Hut. The boxes are part of the upcoming that the campus and Long Beach community are ing, music, entertainment and various groups March 4 rally and protests. Ten boxes were placed in the parking structures, dorms and aware of how students have been affected by the with political action tables. The protestors will budget cuts. also march across the campus. University Student Union. Baktaash Sorkhabi and Spenser Garden, both junior graphic “We believe that the budget cuts, fee increases design majors, designed the boxes. The slogan “Deliver 100” stands for the state’s promise and furloughs are a direct injustice to the lives of See BUDGET, Page 2 to fund 100 percent of education before it had cut it by 20 percent, Sorkhabi said. Student aid act ‘once-in-a-lifetime opportunity’ Currently in the U.S. Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility in the Senate. The act will also increase Pell Cleo Gordon, a junior journalism Senate, the legislation Act (SAFRA) in a Web chat Tuesday. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime oppor- Grants and federal Perkins loans by major, said she likes the proposed leg- would make changes President Barack Obama initiated tunity,” Duncan said. “It is simply the providing funds to help them grow islation. She has student loans that will the bill in hopes that the U.S. will have right thing to do [for students].” faster than the rate of inflation per eventually need to be paid off. to student loans and the highest college graduation rate in SAFRA will help financial aid can- year, which will drive interest rates “Anything that allows people to get provide resources for the world by 2020 by making higher didates by lowering interest rates on down further. a higher education is a good thing,” education more affordable. subsidized loans and make financial aid SAFRA will invest $10 billion into Gordon said, “especially with the low- elementary and high The act is designed to increase applications less confusing and more the community college system in order er interest rates because I know people schools college affordability and accessibil- simple by removing questions that have to jumpstart college careers. who shy away from college opportuni- ity without using taxpayers’ money. little or no impact on loan eligibility. “Community colleges have never ties because of the cost.” It aims to change the operation of The lowering of interest rates will be been so important to higher educa- Radiation therapy student Alysha BY JEN HOLST student loans, strengthen community done mainly by switching student loans tion,” Duncan said. Wortman had a different view on the Contributing Writer colleges and overall provide more from subsidized to direct loans, which Duncan said that brainstormers for proposal. money and resources to high schools would save $80 billion a year, according SAFRA are also trying to push the no- “It’s about time the government Secretary of Education Arne Dun- and elementary schools nationwide. to Duncan. The U.S. Treasury would tion of reducing the price of textbooks did something,” Wortman said. “Why can and Director of the Domestic Already passed in the House last originate the loans instead of banks, at both the community college and uni- don’t they do us all a favor and make Policy Melody Barnes discussed the September, the act now awaits action making interest rates more affordable. versity levels. education free?” Engineering Conference empowers club builds CSULB Latina students One of the conference’s goals is to prevent outside of US Latina students from dropping out of college Engineering Without Borders BY MARISOL AGUILAR one another,” Moreno said. “The small hopes to travel to Mexico Contributing Writer group activities allow students to see to collect soil samples and that they are not alone; it validates and The 9th annual Latina Connection normalizes their experience.” assess living conditions Conference is seeking to help Cal The conference offers Latina State Long Beach Latina student’s students a sense of empowerment BY MATTHEW GUHIT feel connected and empowered in through long-time relationships Staff Writer their educational endeavors. and mentorship with other Latina In fall 2001, Rosa Moreno-Al- students, faculty and staff. It en- caraz, a psychologist at Counsel- courages persistence and reten- In recent months, countries have faced natural ing and Psychological Services, tion of Latinas by promoting self- disasters that have required help and attention from MICHAEL CHAN YEE / DAILY 49ER and Rosa Carillo, an alumna who awareness through discussion, people all over the world, prompting relief groups worked in Outreach and School challenging students to take per- to pitch in with food, water and other supplies. Strike Relations, established a Latina con- sonal responsibility for their educa- However, many people may not realize that Workers collaborate to restore the campus bowling alley on ference that would not only help tion. It also helps them explore the assistance in building better infrastructures, pro- the first floor of the University Student Union on Tuesday Latinas feel more comfortable and role of culture and family in their viding clean water resources and improving tech- connected with their campus, but academic careers. afternoon. The USU board of trustees approved the renova- nology is also needed. would help prevent them from drop- “Connecting with other Latina Engineers Without Borders (EWB) is a nonprofit tion of the campus bowling lanes in 2009. Associated Stu- ping out of college. women is always very empowering,” dents Inc. plans to open the bowling lanes after spring break, “The purpose of the conference is See ENGINEERING, Page 2 said ASI Communications Coordinator Christina Esparza. for Latina students to connect with See LATINA, Page 2 2 Wednesday, March 3, 2010 www.daily49er.com [email protected] Villalobos added that the chapter BUDGET ENGINEERING would also receive assistance from Continued from Page 1 Continued from Page 1 four to 10 professors. The CSULB chapter is also in the “We are hoping for 3,000 to humanitarian organization whose process of starting new projects in 5,000 people at CSULB. We think goal is to improve the quality of life Mexico and El Salvador, which would there will be 100,000 or more in developing countries. include collecting soil samples and demonstrating around the state A chapter was created at Cal State assessing the living conditions. and across the nation,” said Teri Long Beach this semester and cur- Villalobos said that once the group Yamada, CFA chapter president at rently has about 30 members. has completed the project, members will CSULB, in an e-mail. American Society of Civil Engi- follow up after about a year to a year and Ramirez said, however, that Stu- neers President Eric Villalobos said six months to assess whether further dents for Quality Education is ex- the organization could investigate a implementation is still necessary. pecting about 100 people to protest. country as needed since ASCE and The club is open to all majors. For The Teachers Association of EWB often work together. example, the organization currently Long Beach is also hosting a re- In previous years, other EWB has an economic major in charge of gional rally at the Wilson High chapters have traveled to Africa to the budget and fundraising.