March 27th, 2010 Southern California Regional - How to Get to Pasadena City College

Southern California March 4th

Committee Regional Meeting

March 27th, 2010

1:00pm-6:00pm

at

PASADENA CITY COLLEGE

HARBESON HALL

1570 E. Colorado Blvd.

Pasadena, CA 91106

Welcome friends, colleagues, comrades, compañeras & compañeros!

The students, workers, and faculty at Pasadena City College (PCC) are both honored and excited that our campus has been selected to host the March 4th Committee's Southern California Regional Meeting.


Directions to PCC:
Provided below is a map of all the major highways that lead to PCC. The closest freeway to PCC is Interstate 210, which is less than two blocks away.

Typically, visitors from the East or West find it easiest to simply make their way to the 210 Freeway.

Visitors from the South, however, can either take:
Interstate 15 to Interstate 210, OR
Interstate 5 to Interstate 605 to Interstate 210.

A map of all major highways leading PCC is provided below:

(Click to Englarge)

For altenate routes, please use Google Maps or Yahoo! Maps

Parking:

Parking at any of the student and visitor designated lots is $2.00 per day. The parking pass is valid for any open space and mus be clearly visible on the vehicle's dashboard.

The closest parking lot to the event location (HH in the map below) is at the corner of Colorado Blvd. and Hill Ave. and is actually only $1.00 per day. However, because spaces are designated number, your ticket will not be valid for another space.

Parking lots colored in ORANGE.

Event location in RED

(Click to Enlarge)

For vistors arriving by Public Transportation:

There is an MTA GOLD LINE statation conveniently just a few blocks away on ALLEN AVE.

MTA Gold Line System Map

For a complete map of MTA Railway lines, click here

MTA Bus lines that have stops at PCC include:

Click on number for timetable:

180/181, 780, 177, and the 264/267.

For a complete list of all bus lines, please visit MTA Online

Below, for your convenience is a map of the PCC campus. Event location (HH) colored in RED.

 Printable version of the map can be downloaded here.

We hope this information makes it easier for you to get to our campus.

If you have any questions relating to Pasadena City College or the city of Pasadena please email to tesiae@gmail.com.

If you have any questions regarding the March 4th Committee please email to Lamarch4@gmail.com.

Thank you, and we hope to see you there on March 27th, 2010!

March 20, 2010 - Join the Anti-War March in Hollywood!

Hello everyone! Just as a reminder, tomorrow Saturday, March 20th is the big anti-war march at HOLLYWOOD & VINE AT 12PM. In order to avoid parking problems, our plan is to actually park our vehicles near VERMONT & SUNSET and ride the RED LINE to the HOLLYWOOD & VINE station. We will be at the Vermont & Sunset station at around 11am. If you can't meet up with us, please just go directly to Hollywood & Vine.

Here is a link to the MTA RED LINE Map in case you need to see where else you can board the train to Hollywood & Vine:

Link to Answer LA's Website:
http://www.pephost.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ANSWERLA

That's right, PCC Students... the Courier Editorial says, SUCK IT UP!

Editorial Link


EDITORIAL: Economy calls for sacrifices

Protesters must face reality

By:

Posted: 3/18/10

In order to achieve, sacrifices must be made.

This is a lesson that has been taught to us from a young age and has followed us since. Most people have at some point come to realize that they need to give up certain things in order to become successful, or even merely to just survive.

As an educational state, California has reached that point.

Last week's mass student-led protests against class cuts at all levels of higher education caught the attention of administrators and politicians not just in California, but across the country. The voices here echoed those of students in other states currently engulfed in similar predicaments.

But while those involved are being applauded for taking the initiative, their efforts are in vain, because the answer from up above remains this: there is no money.

There is no money to fund more classes. There is no money to pay teachers' wages. There is no money, period.

What students and everyone else have to realize is that the best is being done with what is available, particularly at this campus.

While UC students have seen an increase in tuition and Cal State campuses have implemented mandatory furlough days, PCC has not had to resort to either. Yes, our tuition (which is not locally controlled) was raised slightly last year from $20 to $26 per unit, but that is chump change in comparison to the thousands UC students have had to shell out to stay in school, or even to other community college systems across the country. According to the official website of the Connecticut Community Colleges System, the in-state tuition there had a price tag of $118 per unit for the 2009-2010 school year, and its governing board has already approved an increase to $126 per unit for the next academic year. How spoiled must we look to them?

PCC administrators are listening to the concerns of the students as well as the faculty, who fortunately have not yet been forced to take days off without pay. The newly-formed Enrollment Management Advisory Group, which is made up of representatives from all parts of campus life, is working to ensure that core curriculum is minimally affected by the section cuts. Its focus is to retain as many sections as possible of transferrable classes such as math and English, technical courses, and basic skills such as ESL. Just last week, another member of the Associated Students was appointed to EMAG, giving the student voice two representatives instead of just one, an acknowledgement of the need and the desire to listen to what the greater constituency is saying.

It all comes back to the same issue, however: money. As hard as EMAG is working, its success is directly related to the number of dollars allocated to PCC from the state government.

This is where sacrificing comes into play. If students still want good, inexpensive education, they have to give up something in return.

There are two obvious ways to raise the money, none of which are palatable but will result in more cash. The first is to cut payroll in the government sector, or in other words, lay people off. This includes firemen, police officers, and yes, even teachers. While this is already happening to a certain degree, most will agree that it is not beneficial in either the short or long term.

The second solution is probably the best but not the most popular method of government fundraising: raising taxes. This too has already begun, but the state will have to push it further in order to dig us out of this great debt we are facing.

What it comes down to is this: the students protesting against the cuts are really advocating the loss of jobs and higher taxes. There is just no other way to achieve the results being called for. Both cannot be had in this current economic environment.

This is not an effort to put down the cries of the students. This is a wake-up call to those who think they deserve diamonds at the price of pebbles. College students cannot be so naive about the costs of a good education; otherwise, our education system truly has failed us.

If you want them to stop cutting classes, then you must be ready to make the sacrifices. Or you could always just move to Connecticut. But something's got to give.
© Copyright 2010 Courier

More than 40 schools in Detroit, Michigan, set to close under plan

More than 40 schools in Detroit, Michigan, set to close under plan

The district has been beset with falling enrollment as well as aging buildings, emergency financial manager Robert Bobb said Wednesday. The plan will allow the district to cut operating costs by about $31 million in 2010 and ensure lower maintenance costs in the future, he said.
The plan, which complements an academic plan recently unveiled by Bobb, will "create a leaner, smarter DPS," he said.

"We believe that this plan provides certainty where, in the minds of some, there may be uncertainty."

The Detroit Free Press reported Wednesday that an additional 13 facilities will be closed by 2012. District spokeswoman Jennifer Mrozowski told CNN on Wednesday that more schools may be scheduled for closure in the future but could not confirm a number.

"We're calling this DPS 2.0," she said. "We're looking to create a smaller but more efficient district" with an eye toward growth.

The district has 50,000 excess seats, Bobb said, and kindergarten enrollment has declined from 16,046 in 1994 to 6,039 in 2009. Such decreases are expected to continue, Bobb said. The Free Press reported that district enrollment will fall from 84,000 this year to 56,000 students in the 2014-15 school year.

Community members will be able to provide feedback on the plan at a series of town hall meetings, Bobb said. A final decision will be made in mid- to late April. If voters approve a bond measure sometime in the future, he said, "this plan offers a potential investment of over $1 billion in city neighborhoods."

According to the Free Press, other schools will be built under a two-part construction plan. The first phase calls for the remodeling and renovation of 22 schools, using $500.5 million under a bond measure that voters approved in November. The second recommends another $500 million in renovations and new schools, but would require voters' approval of an additional bond measure.

The plan will coincide with $41 million in security upgrades at all schools, Bobb said. It was formulated after officials considered factors including enrollment vs. capacity, academic performance, and the conditions of neighborhoods and facilities, among others.

The proposal also calls for the construction of new campuses, aimed at educating everyone from preschoolers to college students, the Free Press reported.

The previously released academic plan calls for a 98 percent high school graduation rate and a 100 percent college acceptance rate by 2015.

"We're still going to grow the district," Bobb said, but will do it "realistically."

The plan also aims to protect schools along city boundaries as officials believe the district would further lose students to suburban districts if those schools were to close, he said.

The district closed an additional 29 schools last year, Mrozowski said. It ended the 2008-2009 school year with a deficit of $219 million, which is projected to increase to $316.6 million by the end of the year, according to Bobb.

"I do anticipate that the cumulative deficit will be further decreased as I implement further cost savings during the rest of this year," he said. A spending and hiring freeze has been implemented, he said.

Last week, the Kansas City, Missouri, Board of Education voted to approve a plan to close 29 educational facilities, including 26 schools.

Antiwar Protest at Recruitment Center

We're On the Move Again!
While March 4th was successful in mobilizing thousands of students, workers, and faculty across the state, WE MUST CONTINUE our actions.

The time has come to broaden our struggle and ask ourselves a very basic question: WHY IS THERE NO MONEY FOR SCHOOLS?Since 2001, $1 TRILLION has been spent on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. After almost a decade of combat, THOUSANDS of dead American soldiers and more than HALF A MILLION CIVILIANS killed as "collateral damage," both Afghanistan and Iraq continue to be unstable puppet governments disguised as democracies.

All the while, the richest corporations in the world have profited untold billions, while our educational system has fallen through the cracks.

For 2011 alone, Obama has proposed a record $738 BILLION in MILITARY SPENDING, while EDUCATION gets a measly $122 BILLION. There is something very wrong when our government would rather spend our money making SMARTER BOMBS, but DUMBER STUDENTS!
We CANNOT struggle against the cutbacks to education without struggling against the WARS that have COST US SO MUCH!

JOIN US AS WE RALLY, MARCH, AND EDUCATE!

When: March 18, 2010

Time: 12:00pm

Where: Gather at PCC Mirror Pools, March to Recruitment Center Across
from PCC.

March 4th Followup Meeting

March 4th Followup meeting will be held

MARCH 13th, 2010 at 4:30PM.
So-Cal Library
6120 S. Vermont.

It's time to start preparing for the next round of actions!

Photos from March 4th Day of Action

Thanks to the students from Los Angeles City College, East Los Angeles College, and Cal State Los Angeles for making our march of solidarity a phenomenal success.

A special thanks to the students, workers, and faculty of Pasadena City College. You can out in numbers and gave em' hell.

But the fight is not over, not by a stretch. It is just beginning...

Check out a slideshow of March 4th below:

Also, check out this video of the PCC March:

PCC March 4th

We will be having a followup meeting on Tuesday, March 9th at 12:00PM in room C-351. We need to discuss what's to come for the rest of the semester.

Pasadena City College Faculty Association Newsletter - Spring 2010

Welcome Back: Dreams Deferred and Promises Broken
Support March 4th Protests

While each new semester brings the hopes and dreams of fresh beginnings (and, yes, the chaos of strained nerves as desperate students attempt to add your classes), we must assess the harsh realities of Spring 2010. The first shock came from the Chancellor’s Office announcement that state Community College enrollments are down!

The 1% drop represents about 21,000 students out of 2.9 million in the largest college system in the country. The old adage that during high unemployment students return to school is only true if classes are available. The cuts have reversed a five-year trend of enrollment increases. At the flagship institution, Santa Monica, classes have been cut by 5% per semester for three semesters running. At El Camino, classes have been cut 11% over the past year even though overall enrollment is slightly up. Thus, teacher exploitation rates increase exponentially as El Camino class sizes balloon. At PCC our overall numbers of students (actual head count) are down 3.7%, and at Glendale enrollment is even worse at around 6% fewer students.

Historians may note that while the cuts have been in place for some semesters, Spring 2010’s quantitative data document the end of the California collegial mission, the promise broken, and the educational dreams permanently deferred. No one is optimistic.

However, we teachers should reject the attempt to persuade us to be “realistic” and accept the cuts as necessary. Unfortunately, Chancellor Scott himself cited “mission creep” that supposedly includes “superfluous” courses in yoga and flower arranging. Such rhetoric belies the real issue. The current budget slashed Categoricals (dozens of programs that help the neediest students), and some districts are cutting Basic Skills, GED, and ESL classes. The latest recommendation from the state Legislative Accounting Office (LAO) recommends a 40% increase in fees for CCs.

The Community College cuts and CSUs’ announced reductions in students, coupled with 32% tuition increases for CSUs and UCs, have inspired the March 4th protests statewide.

PCCFA urges all Faculty to join their students, lead them, or at the very least, excuse them from attending class the afternoon of Thursday March 4th so that all may join in the massive demonstrations. Thousands of teachers and students from LA area high schools, Community Colleges, CSUs and UCs will converge in a grand alliance to seize the initiative and turn the tide for public education in California. March 4th is however a nationwide effort to address the broad injustices of war budgets, bank bailouts, and the assault on health, education, and welfare for tens of millions of people (see reverse side for details).

_______________________________________________________________________________________
Why March 4th is Important

This coming Thursday, March 4, 2010, thousands of students, workers, and faculty across many campuses statewide (from K-12 through university) will be participating in simultaneous demonstrations against the budget cuts to education. Although this burgeoning of mass activism is particularly focused on addressing the state’s mismanagement of our funds, this movement must also be contextualized within a larger framework.

• Since 2001, $1 trillion has been spent on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. For 2011 alone, Obama’s proposed military budget is a record $738 Billion. Education, on the other hand, will receive a comparatively smaller $122 Billion.
• In the midst of an economic recession, the banks and credit unions responsible for the financial chaos received $700 billion in bailouts, with which CEOs gave themselves bonuses for a job well done.
• Although the national rate of unemployment is at 10% (12.4% in California alone), when the numbers of half-employed workers are factored in, that percentage can jump to as high as 20%.
• At a time when at least 20 million Americans are uninsured, politicians killed a public option and endlessly debate over how best to serve the interests of insurance companies.
• Despite being the 8th largest economy in the world, California is 48th in taxing corporations operating within the state.
• In 2009, California spent $48,000 per prison inmate, while per pupil spending was at $7,500 (ranking us 47th in the nation).

All this mismanagement of our resources, coupled with a general disenchantment over Obama’s broken promises of hope and change, have brought to the foreground an obvious contradiction: that our elected representatives do not represent us. Given that this past January, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that corporations could have unlimited spending in candidate elections, democracy, it seems, has been sold to the highest bidder. In the absence of a functional democratic mechanism that serves the needs of the people, it is then the responsibility of the people themselves to organize, exert the power of masses, and remind the politicians who is really in charge. March 4th is not only a movement of students, educators, workers, and community members working collectively to redress the injustices of the system, but it is the continuing struggle to ensure access to education for future generations. It is quintessentially the true spirit of democracy and merits our complete support.