S AN MATE AN THE College of San Mateo • www.sanmatean.com Volume 176, Number 1 Feb. 6, 2012 Budget cuts implemented The California Community College budget took a $102 mil- lion hit Jan. 11 and more cuts may be in store for the 2012-2013 year, resulting in fee increases and po- tential program cuts from CSM and the district. The fiscal year triggered two se- ries of cuts to the CCC budget, a tier one $30 million cut and a tier two $72 million cut. CCCs are looking to Governor Jerry Brown’s tax initiative pro- posal to garner funding for the year ahead. “If it doesn’t pass, CCCs would be cut by $290 million over the next two years,” said Paul Steen- KCSM-TV bidders debated The upcoming sale of KCSM- TV is reaching its Feb. 14 bid- ding deadline and the list of pos- sible buyers has some community groups concerned. Bay Area community organi- zations, such as Media Alliance, have voiced discontent with not only the sale of the CSM based television station, but also with who might buy it. Media Alliance is a group cre- ated to support alternative, com- munity and independent media. They follow the sale of commu- nity media outlets, said Executive Director of Media Alliance Tracy Rosenberg. Likely bidders that went to a mandatory meeting on Jan. 10 included representatives from Public Media Center, who bid on KUSF last year, and representa- tives from Christian broadcasting station Daystar Television. KUSF is an example of a higher education media outlet that was put on sale last year and bought out by a media conglomerate. Photo by Vicky Diaz of The San Matean Carl Herlitz, 23, grabs the school by the horns as he rides a mechanical bull in between classes for ASCSM’s Reboot Week. New pay-ahead registration system frustrates students The new pay-ahead policy in- troduced this fall has generated mixed feelings on campus. The pay-ahead plan is a mea- sure that requires students to pay for their classes at their time of registration. Students, who did not pay their fees by Jan. 4 and had outstand- ing balances from the previous semester, were dropped from the classes they had enrolled in. Since its implementation, 7 percent of students were dropped for the fall semester. Payment plans were also avail- able for students to extend their payments until April 5, enabling them to secure a spot in the class- room. The Board of Trustees meet- ing of Jan. 25 answered questions regarding the pay-ahead plan and discussed the changes that result- ed from the pay-ahead plan. This year between Jan. 1-4, the District processed an amount of $1,663,000 in payments. Only $87,000 was received be- tween the same dates last year. The board of trustees said they believed some portion of the non- paying students who registered were uncertain whether they would commit to the courses. The 7 percent of students dropped does not include the stu- Jeffrey Gonzalez The San Matean Yasmine Mahmoud The San Matean Manuel Orbegozo The San Matean hausen, principal fiscal and policy analyst for the Legislative Ana- lyst’s Office. In response to the budget cuts, the CCC system has increased tu- ition by 77 percent in less than a year to $46 per unit. The fee in- crease will go into effect summer 2012. “(The budget reduction) really takes you out of a safe zone,” said student John Kilic. “ Not every- one can get financial aid. It’s scary not knowing if the government has your back.” Kilic works part-time and is considering getting a second job to begin preparing for the fee in- creases. dents that receive financial aid, are enrolled in payment plans or have a third party payer. The number of students on wait lists dropped by 45 percent this semester to 1,700. After Jan. 5th, 1,575 students were dropped, said Kathy Black- wood, Executive Vice Chancellor of the district. The district created a survey for faculty to find out how the new policy has affected students in their classes, she said. The pay-ahead plan would help students manage their schedule better and stimulate the school’s cash flow, Blackwood said. She also added that the District has been in contact with Sally Mae to figure out student payments and a new marketing campaign. They are already working to- wards the Summer and Fall se- mesters and are hoping to have different deadlines prior to drop date for each semester. Meanwhile, students are not content with the new pay-ahead plan and are asking for the district to be more considerate with their financial situations. “Everybody is broke this se- mester, since they spent their money paying for last semester,” said student Miriam Guerrero, 23. “It’s stressful specially if you have to pay out of your own pocket.” “It doesn’t promote a good sense of care for students. They Photo by Greg Marshall of The San Matean Children from the Mary Meta Lazarus Child Development Center on campus celebrate Chinese New Year with traditional dance and Chinese artwork to kick off 2012, the Year of the Dragon. Task Force policies adopted The members of the district Board of Trustees addressed con- cerns with the California Commu- nity College Chancellor’s office’s new SSTF (Student Success Task Force) recommendations at the Jan. 27 district meeting. A resolution was passed and adopted on January 25 by the Board of Trustees, said Barbara Christensen, Director of Commu- nity and Government Relations. Varsha Ranjit The San Matean See “Budget,” on page 2 See “KCSM,” on page 3 Rosenberg said PMC is taking advantage of these higher educa- tion media outlet fire sales. “They’ve described media (out- lets) as beach front property,” said Rosenberg. Representatives from PMC were unavailable for comment. Rosenberg describes Daystar Television as a fast growing tel- evangelist network that is swal- lowing up public media and stan- dardizing content. It has one goal, to “reach souls with the news of The resolution states the concerns must be “considered before im- plementing any of the recommen- dations”, according to the resolu- tion document. All academic senate presidents and administrators attended the board meeting at which the rec- ommendations were discussed, including James Carranza, CSM Academic Senate President. “I am very satisfied with the Board’s and Chancellor’s assess- ment of the SSTF recommenda- tions,” said Carranza. The Student Success Task Force releases recommendations to promote proposals for student achievement. Many of the con- cerns expressed by the board in- clude how the recommendations “represent a fundamental change to the mission of community col- leges”, according to the resolution document. “I’m happy to say that the board and the senate are very much on the same page,” said James can’t be up to date with their pay- ments,” said student Geo Cuellar, 19. All data starting this year will be tracked since previous semes- ters do not count because students have not dropped for nonpayment before. Trustee Karen Schwartz said that the plan will run more smoothly and that it will eventu- ally become a routine for students. “I would recommend students to start saving ahead,” said Cuel- lar. “I understand that the school needs its money and that it must be paid on time, but it is a hassle for students,” said student Tai Sevelo, 23. See “SSTF,” on page 3 Riding into spring CSM celebrates Lunar Year
Transcript
San MateanTHE
College of San Mateo • www.sanmatean.comVolume 176, Number 1 Feb. 6, 2012
Budget cutsimplemented
The California Community College budget took a $102 mil-lion hit Jan. 11 and more cuts may be in store for the 2012-2013 year, resulting in fee increases and po-tential program cuts from CSM and the district.
The fiscal year triggered two se-ries of cuts to the CCC budget, a tier one $30 million cut and a tier two $72 million cut.
CCCs are looking to Governor Jerry Brown’s tax initiative pro-posal to garner funding for the year ahead.
“If it doesn’t pass, CCCs would be cut by $290 million over the next two years,” said Paul Steen-
KCSM-TV bidders debated
The upcoming sale of KCSM-TV is reaching its Feb. 14 bid-ding deadline and the list of pos-sible buyers has some community groups concerned.
Bay Area community organi-zations, such as Media Alliance, have voiced discontent with not only the sale of the CSM based television station, but also with who might buy it.
Media Alliance is a group cre-ated to support alternative, com-
munity and independent media. They follow the sale of commu-nity media outlets, said Executive Director of Media Alliance Tracy Rosenberg.
Likely bidders that went to a mandatory meeting on Jan. 10 included representatives from Public Media Center, who bid on KUSF last year, and representa-tives from Christian broadcasting station Daystar Television.
KUSF is an example of a higher education media outlet that was put on sale last year and bought out by a media conglomerate.
Photo by Vicky Diaz of The San Matean
Carl Herlitz, 23, grabs the school by the horns as he rides a mechanical bull in between classes for ASCSM’s Reboot Week.
New pay-ahead registration system frustrates students
The new pay-ahead policy in-troduced this fall has generated mixed feelings on campus.
The pay-ahead plan is a mea-sure that requires students to pay for their classes at their time of registration.
Students, who did not pay their fees by Jan. 4 and had outstand-ing balances from the previous semester, were dropped from the classes they had enrolled in. Since its implementation, 7 percent of students were dropped for the fall semester.
Payment plans were also avail-able for students to extend their
payments until April 5, enabling them to secure a spot in the class-room.
The Board of Trustees meet-ing of Jan. 25 answered questions regarding the pay-ahead plan and discussed the changes that result-ed from the pay-ahead plan.
This year between Jan. 1-4, the District processed an amount of $1,663,000 in payments.
Only $87,000 was received be-tween the same dates last year.
The board of trustees said they believed some portion of the non-paying students who registered were uncertain whether they would commit to the courses.
The 7 percent of students dropped does not include the stu-
Jeffrey GonzalezThe San Matean
Yasmine MahmoudThe San Matean
Manuel OrbegozoThe San Matean
hausen, principal fiscal and policy analyst for the Legislative Ana-lyst’s Office.
In response to the budget cuts, the CCC system has increased tu-ition by 77 percent in less than a year to $46 per unit. The fee in-crease will go into effect summer 2012.
“(The budget reduction) really takes you out of a safe zone,” said student John Kilic. “ Not every-one can get financial aid. It’s scary not knowing if the government has your back.”
Kilic works part-time and is considering getting a second job to begin preparing for the fee in-creases.
dents that receive financial aid, are enrolled in payment plans or have a third party payer.
The number of students on wait lists dropped by 45 percent this semester to 1,700.
After Jan. 5th, 1,575 students were dropped, said Kathy Black-wood, Executive Vice Chancellor of the district.
The district created a survey for faculty to find out how the new policy has affected students in their classes, she said.
The pay-ahead plan would help students manage their schedule better and stimulate the school’s cash flow, Blackwood said.
She also added that the District has been in contact with Sally Mae
to figure out student payments and a new marketing campaign.
They are already working to-wards the Summer and Fall se-mesters and are hoping to have different deadlines prior to drop date for each semester.
Meanwhile, students are not content with the new pay-ahead plan and are asking for the district to be more considerate with their financial situations.
“Everybody is broke this se-mester, since they spent their money paying for last semester,” said student Miriam Guerrero, 23. “It’s stressful specially if you have to pay out of your own pocket.”
“It doesn’t promote a good sense of care for students. They
Photo by Greg Marshall of The San Matean
Children from the Mary Meta Lazarus Child Development Center on campus celebrate Chinese New Year with traditional dance and Chinese artwork to kick off 2012, the Year of the Dragon.
Task Force policies adopted
The members of the district Board of Trustees addressed con-cerns with the California Commu-nity College Chancellor’s office’s new SSTF (Student Success Task Force) recommendations at the Jan. 27 district meeting.
A resolution was passed and adopted on January 25 by the Board of Trustees, said Barbara Christensen, Director of Commu-nity and Government Relations.
Varsha RanjitThe San Matean
See “Budget,” on page 2
See “KCSM,” on page 3
Rosenberg said PMC is taking advantage of these higher educa-tion media outlet fire sales.
“They’ve described media (out-lets) as beach front property,” said Rosenberg.
Representatives from PMC were unavailable for comment.
Rosenberg describes Daystar Television as a fast growing tel-evangelist network that is swal-lowing up public media and stan-dardizing content. It has one goal, to “reach souls with the news of
The resolution states the concerns must be “considered before im-plementing any of the recommen-dations”, according to the resolu-tion document.
All academic senate presidents and administrators attended the board meeting at which the rec-ommendations were discussed, including James Carranza, CSM Academic Senate President.
“I am very satisfied with the Board’s and Chancellor’s assess-ment of the SSTF recommenda-tions,” said Carranza.
The Student Success Task Force releases recommendations to promote proposals for student achievement. Many of the con-cerns expressed by the board in-clude how the recommendations “represent a fundamental change to the mission of community col-leges”, according to the resolution document.
“I’m happy to say that the board and the senate are very much on the same page,” said James
can’t be up to date with their pay-ments,” said student Geo Cuellar, 19.
All data starting this year will be tracked since previous semes-ters do not count because students have not dropped for nonpayment before.
Trustee Karen Schwartz said that the plan will run more smoothly and that it will eventu-ally become a routine for students.
“I would recommend students to start saving ahead,” said Cuel-lar.
“I understand that the school needs its money and that it must be paid on time, but it is a hassle for students,” said student Tai Sevelo, 23.
See “SSTF,” on page 3
Riding into spring
CSM celebrates Lunar Year
News
Transfer Pathway FairTuesday, Feb. 7, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.Bldg.10, Bayview Dining Room
Last day to declare Pass/No Pass option for semester-long classes with optionFriday, Feb. 10CSM
Last day to drop semester-long classes without appearing on student recordFriday, Feb. 10CSM
Tax Preparation at CSM - VITA site(Free Tax Preparation to anyone with income less than $50K)Saturday, Feb. 11, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.Bldg. 14, Room 104
Veterans Resource and Opportunity Center Ribbon Cutting and Grand OpeningWednesday, Feb. 15, 11 a.m. to NoonBldg. 17, Room 112
Last day to apply for CSM Scholarship application 2012-13 academic yearThursday, Feb. 16, due by noon.CSM
Lincoln Day HolidayFriday, Feb. 17CSM
President’s Day HolidayMonday, Feb. 20CSM
SPORTSCSM Baseball vs. Solano CollegeThursday, Feb. 9, 2 p.m.CSM Baseball Field
CSM Softball vs. GavilanSaturday, Feb. 11, 11 a.m.CSM Softball Field
CSM Baseball vs. Ohlone CollegeTuesday, Feb. 14, 2 p.m.CSM Baseball Field
Campus BriefsIf there is an event that readers would like listed in Campus Briefs, please submit it to The San Matean at Bldg. 19, Room 123, or [email protected]., or call 574-6330. Submissions should be typed neatly.
Page 2 • The SAN MATEAN Feb. 6, 2012
Former professor passes away, leaves legacy of art
Campus Blotter Thursday, Jan. 12 6:46 a.m. – A San Mateo Athletic Club member was swimming at the pool and had left his duffle bag at one end of the pool with $100 cash in it. The surveillance tapes were reviewed by officers and they saw a male suspect approach the duffle bag three times, the third time the bag was approached the suspect took something out. The officers were able to identify the suspect by the distinctive clothing. The suspect was contacted and admitted to the act and agreed to return the money. The club member did not press charges because of the suspect cooperation.
Wednesday, Jan. 18 12:45 p.m. – During a walk through of lot 6 C, an officer could smell marijuana coming from a car in the lot. The officer approached the car and found two students smoking. The students were referred to the Vice President of Student Services.
Thursday, Jan. 19 11:07 a.m. – A female student left her wallet unattended at the bookstore for about 5 minutes. The wallet contained identification, credit cards, gift cards and $200 cash. There was a search done in the bookstore and the wallet wasn’t found.
Friday, Jan. 20 1:30 p.m. – An officer saw five students in Lot 3 passing around a glass pipe smoking marijuana. The officer spoke to the students and they were sent to the Vice President of Student Services.
Thursday, Jan. 26 2:42 p.m. – A female fainted in the women’s bathroom of second floor of Building 10. Officers responded and called for fire and ambulance and the woman was transferred to a hospital for treat-ment.
Saturday Jan. 28 10:12 a.m. – An on duty officer was informed that there was a car on fire. The officer responded with a fire extinguisher attempting to put it out and failed. The officer called for police and fire and put out the blaze. The cause of the fire remains unknown.
This information was provided by Chief of Security John Wells.— Ariana Anderberg
The San Matean
Erasmo MartinezThe San Matean
Former CSM professor Vincent Rascon passed away at the age of 88 on Jan. 2, 2012.
Mr. Rascon was born in El Paso, Texas in 1923. There he attended college and obtained his bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the University of Texas. He later earned his master’s degree at Los Angeles County Art Institute. His post graduate studies were fulfilled at the University of Southern Texas in El Paso.
Mr. Rascon went on to further his studies in printmaking at the University of Madrid in Spain. He also studied printmaking at the Ateiler 17 Gallery in Paris.
His work is displayed in Mexico in the Office of the Governor of Oaxaca, Merida City Museum, and Regional Museum of Oaxaca. In Spain, his work is in the Sala Provincia de Leon and the National Libary of Spain.
Mr. Rascon spent 25 years of his life in the San Mateo School District teaching ceramics, etching, and glass blowing between 1963 and 1988.
After teaching, Mr. Rascon spent his time between the Bay Area and Atzompa, Mexico during retirement.
Dean Drumheller, a laboratory technician in the astronomy depart-ment, met Rascon 15 years ago in Half Moon Bay.
“He was doing some painting,” said Drumheller in an email to the San Matean. “I remember him being especially creative and intelligent.”
Drumheller drew portraits of Rascon while he painted. “Vince was at home with his brush,” he said. “(I’m) proud to have (the time) with such a special person.”
Anna Rascon, his daughter, re-members the passion Mr. Rascon
conveyed in his art.“In the past 20 years he painted
and did etching,” she said. “He did a lot of Mexican influenced paintings.”
Mr. Rascon traveled to Paris and Venice during the summer, often using his trips for inspiration.
“(He) loved to travel,” Rascon said. “His subject matter was danc-ers he would see on his trips.”
Mr. Rascon enjoyed Half Moon Bay and the coast of California.
During his final years, Mr.
Rascon lived in a village in Mexico that specializes in green glaze pot-tery. His time spent in there went towards helping with the pottery designs of the village.
Recently, his work was featured at the Coastal Arts League Museum in early November of 2011 with an exhibit displaying his work from the past 50 years.
“(He) was a great friend,” added Rascon. “He had friends all over the world. He was always smiling. He was very generous and creative.”
Photo courtesy of www.vincentrascon.comVincent Rascon, artist and teacher, uses a blow pipe for glass creations.
E-mails needed for investigation
The San Mateo County District Attorney’s office recently requested numerous e-mails between San Mateo County Community College
district employees.The request was part of an inves-
tigation into whether or not criminal acts were comitted by some district employees, said Vice-Chancellor Harry Joel said in an email. The district would cooperate with the
D.A., he said.Both Joel and Director of Com-
munity Relations Barbara Chris-tensen were contacted by The San Matean and confirmed the D.A.’s request, but declined to comment citing the ongoing investigation.
Shaun CarmodyThe San Matean
Request for district emails required to investigate possible criminal activities
Continued from Page 1Budget
“If it does not pass, the com-munity college funding will have been reduced over 13 percent in two years, the two years being the current one, 2011-12 and the next one, 2012-13,” said Kathy Black-wood, chief financial officer for the district.
“If that were to occur (and the first 7.5 percent has already oc-curred) the state will reduce the workload for community colleg-es, that is, the number of students for which the state will pay.”
The district remains in Basic Aid Status after the cuts made ear-lier this year. Basic Aid Status is achieved when student enrollment fees and property taxes exceed the number of students the state is willing to pay for. Essentially, the amount of revenue exceeds the amount allotted by the state.
“If the governor’s tax initia-tive doesn’t pass, our revenue limit will go down, ensuring that our local revenues will continue to exceed our revenue limit,” said Blackwood.
If the initiative does not pass, it paves way for even more cuts to CCCs, including programs and services, said Blackwood.“This is bad for community colleges,” she said. “For the district, our funding is likely to stay the same whether the initiative passes or not, as we will not be receiving state apportionment revenues.”
The proposed cuts will be determined by this November’s election.
“California used to be one of the top educational entities in the country, now budget cuts have ruined that,” said student Paulina Alcordo.
Campus Life/sportsFeb. 6, 2012 The SAN MATEAN • Page 3
Women’s Basketball pulls off comeback win over CCSF
Photo by Alexis Madayag of The San MateanHannan Salah (3) and Sarah Balling (33) defend CCSF’s Rachelle Smith (24) as Vanessa Castillo (5) and Chirra Duncan-Perry (35) watch in CSM’s comeback victory Jan. 27.
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Continued from Page 4Amendment
Trailing by 10 with 16 minutes left in a crucial rivalry game vs. City College of San Francisco, the College of San Mateo Bulldogs appeared to be being outplayed by their Coast North rivals.
It was at this point that head coach Michelle Warner called a timeout to address some issues with her team.
10 minutes later it was tied. Six minutes afterward, the final buzzer rang: Bulldogs 77-Rams 61
“I just told them to settle down,” said Warner on the timeout.
“The refs let us play so I told them to use it to their advantage and press up on the (City College) guards.”
“Defense was what was going to get it done,” said Warner.
Heeding the advice of Warner, the Lady Bulldogs outscored City College 40-14 in the final 16:32 of the game, forcing turnover after turnover and scoring on a lightning-quick transition offense.
CSM tied CCSF with 6:26 left in the game following a layup in traffic by guard Nicole McDonald, who was fouled on the play. McDonald converted the free throw to take a 54-53 lead.
One possession later, the lead was extended after a layup by center Sarah Balling, although the play was made by forward Hannan Salah, who made the pass to Balling as she was falling out of bounds.
“We played more relaxed (in the second half),” said guard Kimmie Fung.
“If our defense was on then our
offense would be on,” she said.Fung, whose play during earned
praise from Warner, finished with 12 points good for third-highest on the team.
McDonald lead CSM with 16 points (13 in the second half alone) and forward Chureel Kanongata’a was second with 13.
“Kimmie stepped up huge,” said Warner.
“She found passing lanes when she was being triple-teamed, I almost couldn’t believe it.”
The CSM gymnasium played host to an unusually raucous home crowd Friday night, who Warner also credits for contributing the late-game comeback.
“(The crowd) was the most since I’ve been here,” said Warner. “I loved it.”
Shaun CarmodyThe San Matean
Carranza. “The summary of the concerns highlights what all of us are concerned about.”
The academic senate follows the SSTF and reviews the recom-mendations frequently.
These new recommendations “will be a real challenge if even possible in some cases,” said Car-ranza.
On Feb. 1, California Com-munity Colleges Chancellor Jack Scott was present at the state capi-tol for the Education and Assem-bly Higher Education committees joint hearing to review the SSTF reform recommendations pack-age.
No action was taken by the committees but the hearing was required by law.
Christ,” said Rosenberg.Daystar Television is present
in southern California, but wants to expand its presence to the Bay Area, said Arnold Torres, busi-ness administrator of Daystar Television. “We are still evaluat-ing all information and are going through our due diligence,” said Torres, the company was uncer-tain whether it would bid or not.
Non-commercial stations and non-profit organizations have the right to broadcast from public institutions under FCC law, said KCSM general manager, Marilyn Lawrence.
By law, the district cannot de-cide if a particular entity is better or worse for the audience, added Lawrence.
“No matter who’s (buying out
community outlets), there’s an epidemic of loss of variety,” said Rosenberg.
“While our content is largely family and faith based program-ming, we would consider to let the college air their programming as well,” said Torres.
There have been no bid entries. Bidders usually wait until the day before or the day of deadline, said Jan Roecks, director of general services.
Sealed bids are submitted to Roecks, where she will wait for the Feb. 14, 2 p.m. deadline to open the bids in a public forum.
In case the bidding does not meet district expectations or re-quirements, they reserves the right to proceed or not to pro-ceed with the sale process, added Roeks.
story was put on hold.Acting in concern with the fu-
ture of the program, The San Ma-tean requested four sets of records as discussed in previous editorials and one was regarding journalism professor Ed Remitz’s FSAs. This request was completely separate from the story about FSAs in gen-eral.
Yasmine Mahmoud, then man-aging editor of The San Matean, had a meeting with Claire on Dec. 6 to discuss the class cuts process. She was not informed that Susan Estes, Vice President of Instruc-tion was to attend.
Claire and Estes opened the meeting with a discussion of FSAs, which was not what Mah-moud, now editor of The San Ma-tean, was there to discuss. They explained to Mahmoud that two deans had informed them that Re-mitz had asked questions about his FSAs similar to the questions that The San Matean asked at their previous meeting with Claire about FSAs.
They asked Mahmoud several times if Remitz had instructed she and then editor Kayla Figard to write an article about FSAs, to which she responded no.
Then they presented her with the Society of Professional Jour-nalists Code of Ethics, saying that The San Matean breached the code by not disclosing that we were instructed by Remitz to do the story on FSAs (which was not the case).
“They said that if The San Ma-tean wanted to maintain indepen-dence and its reputation as such, the paper needs to disclose all po-tential conflicts of interest,” said Mahmoud in an email.
Figard, now executive editor, had a similar meeting with Claire and Estes on Dec. 14.
After this confrontation, The San Matean corresponded with Frank LoMonte, Executive Direc-tor of the Student Press Law Cen-ter through email.
“First of all, the duty to dis-close a conflict of interest means disclose it in the story — not dis-close it to the people you request documents from,” said LoMonte. “There seems to be no conflict here.”
The San Matean did not get this idea from Remitz. The paper wanted to do a story on FSAs be-cause it is an important topic that most students do not know about. But, even if the paper had gotten
the idea from Remitz, it would not have breached any code.
“There is a big difference be-tween being ‘fed ideas’ (if those were the words used) versus being ordered to pursue a story,” said LoMonte.
“Faculty members — includ-ing advisers — feed stories to the media all the time. As long as you have the power to say yes or no, then it’s still a student-run publi-cation.”
We asked Remitz if he had heard from either Claire or Estes about this matter. He did not.
The confrontation brings up questions. Why did the admin-istration react this way about the topic of FSAs? Why did they con-front Mahmoud in such a way? Why did they not call Remitz if they thought he was feeding The San Matean staff story ideas?
Their actions have highlighted the problem with FSAs and how they affect journalism studies.We learned from the records that Re-mitz wrote two memos, one to Es-tes and one to Creative Arts Dean Kevin Henson regarding the FSAs that were allegedly forced on him.
“I oppose adding DGME 101 Writing Across the Media and DGME 102 Mass Media Law Eth-ics to my FSAs,” said Remitz.
DGME 102 is not transferable to San Jose and San Francisco state universities because it is con-sidered an upper division course, said Remitz in an email to Estes. “It makes no sense, then, to force this into my FSA.”
Remitz offers a solution to DGME 101 — to integrate ele-ments of the course in a revised Newswriting and Reporting class. “The new, hybridized class, using The San Matean as a practicum, would be part of core DGME and journalism curriculum.”
The records did not indicate much of a response from either Estes or Henson.
This brings up another ques-tion. How is adding classes that do not transfer in journalism studies helpful to the program?
The San Matean is left to won-der about the future of its program and what role FSAs play in the matter.
The San Matean will continue to publish its newspaper and web-site under the current Digital Me-dia Program.
The San Matean will update our website, www.sanmatean.com, as it hears more about the future of the program.
Continued from Page 1KCSM
Continued from Page 1SSTF
opiNioN & pubLiC forum Feb. 6, 2012Page 4 • The SAN MATEAN
editorial
Deadline debatedCSM’s newly implemented registration policy has given students a
deadline to pay for student fees.The deadline for the Spring 2012 semester was Jan. 4. About seven
percent of students failed to meet the deadline requirements.An advantage to the deadline is that it secures spots in classes for
students who are committed to the courses they registered for.Disadvantages include the number of students who are committed yet
simply missed the deadline because they were not informed, or did not have the money.
However, students are able to set up a payment plan on WebSmart, allowing them to pay a small amount by or on January 4 and the policy does not affect those on financial aid.
While it certainly seems an unfortunate bi-product of recent budget cuts and the current economic crisis, it is also entirely appropriate.
For starters, it forces students to take enrollment more seriously and to make up their minds faster.
This reduces the number of students trying to add last minute, which reduces crowd pollution on campus in the notoriously overcrowded opening weeks of the semester. It is also a great way of assuring that spots in popular and essential general classes are populated by students dedicated to their studies.
This also reduces stress on faculty who already have a great amount of work to complete without worrying about students who failed to en-roll in advance trying to add at the last minute.
This policy is also far more ideal than the alternatives which include cutting classes, staffs, and important student resources, an all too famil-iar occurrence at CSM and community colleges state-wide.
Back Talk by Erasmo Martinez and Ryan Patterson
The San Matean is continuing with First Amendment updates, report-ing on an ongoing dispute with the administration regarding the future of its newspaper and website.
During the fall 2011 semester, The San Matean was looking into in depth but newsworthy topics — Student Learning Outcomes, class cuts and Faculty Service Areas — the last of which has brought about a troubling confrontation.
The San Matean met with President Michael Claire to discuss FSAs early in the semester. He gave us several handouts about the subject, but we needed more information. During the meeting, Claire asked us where we got the idea for the story.
The San Matean tried to interview several CSM staff about FSAs, but were not getting responses, so we went to the state level.
“FSAs are used for one purpose — to determine the order by which full-time faculty may be laid off when a district is facing a reduction in force,” said Daniel Crump, Northern Representative for Academic Sen-ate of the California Community Colleges.
In other words, FSAs can be used to layoff faculty members, making the story even more important to our readership.
The San Matean had another meeting with Claire to discuss Crump’s comment. CSM has not had to cut down on staff yet, said Claire. The spin CyCle
Skewed messages?
Was the State of the Union address satisfactory?
Ashley Jones, 19Alcohol and Drug Studies, San Bruno
“He doesn’t have as much power as he thinks he does.”
Mark Cadol, 20 Political Science, San Carlos
“A lot of what he said was possible. He’s kept up most of his promises.”
Clarissa Calimbas, 19 Liberal Arts, S. San Francisco
“It didn’t really appeal to me. I was expecting better, but it was OK.”
Keith Cheng, 19 Digital Media, Hong Kong
“It’s alright but some of what he said was facts, but he really didn’t address the issues.”
Katya Grishina, 18 Business, San Mateo
“The president did a good job proposing economic ideas but we need more action. He’s just telling us what we want to hear.”
Jessica Lizardo, 22Psychology, S. San Francisco
“It made me feel optimitic but he kinda said the same things. Some things were contradictory. ”
You are walking to class when someone handing out information suddenly interrupts you.
They flash you a friendly smile and a “good-day” is exchanged, as well as small pamphlet.
They maintain their smile with you until eye con-tact is lost and they walk toward the next closest per-son.
You look down at the handout they left with you; the cover shows hens in a field standing peacefully, with the title “Compassionate Choices.”
As you open it up, you are treated to a pro-vegan pam-phlet showing the “inhumane” treatment of animals used to produce food for the masses.
Very elaborate pictures and facts decorate the inside, ex-plaining to the reader that we as humans have evolved past eating animals and we now have the means of surviv-ing without having to consume them.
The back of the flier contains a mixture of organi-zations and companies that support these ideas and contact information on how to get a hold of them if you want to help them with there mission.
As much as these organizations try to be good willed, their practices are convoluted and have ulte-rior motives from the companies funding them.
Distributing a pamphlet can be helpful, but also very questionable when the organization that gave it to you is against the mass production of food and it features vegan solutions from a major corporation pushing their own agenda.
How are people with valid concerns and good in-tentions supposed to get a message across without corporate greed sticking their hands into it?
Corporate food processing is always a topic with animal rights groups and have spawned many books and movies like Food Inc. or Fast Food Nation.
The main issue is that none of these animal rights publications provide solutions to the problems but they will tell you what companies to get your food from and how great they are for the world.
It would be amazing to see one of these corporations and activist groups give us a solution to provide food to millions of people a day on the same grand scale that we do today without the cruel treatment of animals.
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has a significantly high profit margin and instead of trying to find a way to lower their 85.9 percent euthanasia rate, they choose to in-vest it in Super Bowl ads featuring bikini bombshells promoting vegetables and telling people to not play Super Mario games because Mario wears a fur ta-nooki suit.
How is somebody supposed to get a noble and heartfelt message out to the masses without the fund-ing of the major cooperation’s that will only invest in them if they are allowed to push there own agendas?
—Ryan Pattersonand Erasmo Martinez
The San Matean
First Amendment updAte
Bombshell and bombardment
See “Amendment on page 3
The San MaTean is a First Amendment newspaper published bi-weekly during the academic year by the Journalism 120, 300, 690 and 850 students at College of San Mateo as a medium for campus communication and laboratory for classes. Opinions, letters and commentary reflect only the opinion of the writer, and not necessarily the opinion of The San MaTean. Letters to the Editor and opinion articles are welcome, although they may be edited for style, space, content and libel. Mail or deliver letters to Building 19, Room 123, 1700 W. Hillsdale Blvd., San Mateo, CA 94402. Telephone: 650-574-6330. E-mail: [email protected]. All letters must be signed and accompanied by phone numbers or addresses to verify authorship. Names may be withheld upon request. Advertising that conforms to San Mateo County Community College District regulations is welcome. The San MaTean reserves the right to refuse advertising. Single copies are free —additional copies 25 cents each.
the saN mateaN is printed thanks to a generous donation of printing services by the San Francisco Newspaper Company
STaff:Monica Airo, Larisse Borelli, Vicky Diaz, Dom Ellis,
Tamara Gomez, Jeffrey Gonzalez, Kenneth La, Amanda Lennon, Erin Mahlstedt, Barbara Martin, Greg Marshall, Alexis Maydag, Carlos Mesquita, Ian Mitchell, Manuel Orbegozo, Ryan Patron,
