Christina Chavez, a community activist following in the footsteps of her grandfather, Mexican American labor activist Cesar Chavez, was the guest speaker at Tuesday’s AS meeting.
Chavez was present to promote and endorse a measure, proposing to the legislature to lower community college costs down to $15 per unit as opposed to the already lowered $20 per unit effective in winter 2007. Her goal is to get at least 12,000 signatures from GCC for the petitions by December. One million signatures are needed from all the community colleges for the project to qualify.
“I’m trying to visit all 109 community colleges to make this goal possible,” said Chavez.
AS president David Arakelyan, believes that the measure will also improve GCC’s financial situation when it comes to low enrollment.
A press conference was held in the library regarding the passing of Senate Bill (SB) 361, which reduces tuition fees from $26 per unit to $20 per unit. Senator Jack Scott and the chancellor of community college education, Mark Drummond, were present at the conference.
In addition to the presentation by Chavez, the student government reviewed the desire for longer library hours; the board of trustees vacancy; student worker pay; and up-coming campus activities.
Five-year Student Activities Coordinator and AS Advisor, Alen Robert Andriassian resigned from his position to become the new Program Manager for the Student Outreach and Assessment programs. He is replacing Kim Bryant who is living in Japan during her husband’s assignment with the U.S. Navy.
“I’m only a phone call away,” said Andriassian to the students after Arakelyan announced his withdrawal.
A special Board of Trustees meeting was held last Friday due to the retirement of board president Kathleen Burke-Kelly.
Applications are now being taken for the open position and the deadline is on Friday, followed by an interview with the candidates on Oct. 24 and the final decision on Oct. 31.
Audre Levy, the new superintendent/president, is holding lunches with AS members on Wednesdays at noon at the Los Robles building (Culinary Arts).
“The purpose of the lunches is for students, faculty, and the classifieds to interact,” said Levy. “It’s an opportunity for both students and teachers to hear each other out.”
Some encouraging news for student workers is that they will be receiving an 11% raise from the minimum wage salaries that they are paid. This raise only applies to those that are getting paid minimum wage only.
The campus library wants to extend its hours of operation, to better accommodate students’ schedules. They are planning to take surveys to get an idea of what hours are best.
The library is also creating a resource tool called E-College. This program is similar to WebCT and is made to be more user friendly for both staff and students.
With Club Rush Week passing with a good turn out, having 39 registered clubs on campus and all the tables filled, more upcoming activities are planned for students.
Radio station Power 106 showed up on campus Tuesday at noon. Local bands Avionic, the Mercenaries, and Jump Start are some of the upcoming performances on campus.