The Roundup
There are times when your mother would tell you “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”
This would be one of those times.
California and the rest of the nation are under a tough budget crunch. We all know that and the evidence is all around us. However, it’s not as apparent at Pierce College.
You might have noticed a few changes this semester, but more importantly, you probably didn’t notice what hasn’t changed.
According to the tentative budget set for the Los Angeles Community College District for the 2009-2010 school year, Pierce will be receiving the third largest amount of money of all the nine campuses.
This semester only 25 classes will be cut and 175 spring classes will be cut out of the 3,500 classes offered year around, according to Nabil Abu-Ghazaleh, vice president of Academic Affairs.
Winter session will be reduced from 212 classes to 50 classes, offer only basic English and math.
There might be outcry and complaining and protests, but if we all took a step back to look at the big picture, it might put things in perspective.
Los Angeles City College, the school receiving the second largest amount of the budget, had to cut six of their sports teams in order to fund classes.
West Los Angeles College offered no summer school and had to cut their entire athletic program.
Not only has Pierce kept all of its sports teams, it offered summer school and will also be offering Winter Session.
It’s not all sunshine and rainbows though.
We are going to have to make sacrifices by way of class sizes and student services. This is the reality for every school in the district.
We’re receiving nearly twice the amount of funding of other schools. We’re not eliminating any of the programs already in place, including athletics and student services, and we’re being able to offer some classes in the winter.
And students are complaining about waiting lists while some schools don’t have any of the things we have this semester?
Times are tough and everyone is feeling it, but look on the bright side. We have the opportunity to go to a school that is still flourishing, despite hard times.
Teachers were still adding during the first week of classes. Our sports teams are still having games. Students get to walk around a brand new mall, and enjoy an amazing swimming pool and a remodeled gym.
So the next time you want to complain about the budget cuts, think about the people at other schools in the district, and remember the advice your mother gave you.
An editorial cartoon illustrating how well Pierce College is doing compared to surrounding schools (Shannon Berry / Roundup)
