Victor Kamont
he Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) Board of Trustees met in the Pierce College Great Hall on Wednesday, May 11, in a public session at 2:30 p.m. for their board meeting an to discuss items on the agenda.
Pierce College President Kathleen Burke-Kelly gave welcoming remarks.
Daniel Axlerod, president of the Associated Student Organization (ASO), talked about the affect of the budget cuts on the students.
Because of the workload reduction, it usually takes students three to five years to get through community college, instead of the usual two years, according to Axelrod.
The ASO organized a protest outside the Great Hall with cardboard boxes used to make creations that symbolized the affect from the budget cuts.
“We are protesting outside the Hall to bring to your attention the plight of students and the affects the budget cuts will bring. The rally was called ‘Rally outside since I can’t afford my education’,” Axelrod said.
Vice Chancellor for Economic and Workforce Development Felicoto Cajayan gave a presentation and slide show about the LA MERIT PROJECT. It involves all community colleges in the LACCD.
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced the availability of up to $ 500 million in grant funds to be awarded under the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training grants program (TAACCCT).
Pierce College is focusing on Media Arts.
East Los Angeles College is focusing on Health Science Careers.
LA Aero is focusing on aeronautics.
Los Angeles Harbor College is focusing on the Los Angeles ports in career opportunities.
The NextGen Project specializes in developing mobile apps for businesses and also providing programmers to app development companies.
Carolyn Mallory, astronomy professor, did a presentation on Pierce Infrared Research called “Finding the Stars,” which was taxpayer-funded using Spitzer telescope data.
They found 29 new stars by heat, because they were naked to the naked eye.
“[The research] will be published in ‘Astrophysical Journal’ in July,” she said.
They didn’t know if there were a bunch of stars, or just a few, in the nebula so they had to use infrared to see in the dark mass.
Mallory is very enthusiastic and excited about her students and their visits to Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.
There was a slideshow showing the different stages of building the new planetarium and emphasizing the deck where the rolling telescopes could be brought out to watch the stars.
Bruce Yoshiwara, chair of Pierce College’s math department, went up to the podium to acknowledge the fact that he received a Hayward Award.
“Do you know the difference between an introverted and an extroverted mathematician? The extroverted looks down at his own shoes,” he said.
