Campus security and water issues discussed at Senate

Published in CSULB Daily 49er newspaper Oct. 25.

A petition to increase the presence of campus security at night quickly morphed from a simple request to the Associated Students, Inc. Senate for support into a multi-layered resolution, heaving the Senate into confusion and disagreement Wednesday afternoon.

The resolution was eventually passed during the Senate meeting and the petition's author, communications major Caroline Chen, will now meet with CSULB President F. King Alexander and present her case with the backing of the Senate and over 2,000 student signatures.

"I wasn't prepared for the fight it turned out to be," Chen said. "But I'm glad to experience this."

The confusion that followed the petition dealt with possible inaccuracies written in the resolution sponsored by College of Liberal Arts Sen. Raul Preciado, College of Business Sen. Ruben Cordova and Sen. John Blowers. A disagreement with wording regarding sexual assaults on campus and the attempted expedition through the process - which requires three readings in multiple sessions, not three readings in one sitting - was the cause to the first postponement.

Wednesday's meeting almost saw another postponement because ASI Chairwoman and Vice President Lucy Montano didn't agree with doubling campus security.

"I understand this is urgent and we need to vote on it, but I don't think we need to double the amount of people working," Montano said. "I think we need to push for more carts.

"There's not enough carts to take people places, and I'm confused with what exactly they want to do."

During a break after the resolution passed Montano said, "I was confused. I thought that we were really trying to make an impact, but I realized we were just trying to support the petition."

Montano also said she was sad that some of the information in the petition is not exactly what they're trying to get at, like doubling security at night.

"But I'm happy it passed," Montano said. "At least the message will get across."

In other news, a water conservation resolution sponsored by College of Health and Human Services Sen. Megan Miller and Sen. Jeff Yutrzenka passed the first reading with all the Senate in agreement.

"We're facing a water crises throughout Southern California," Yutrzenka said. "I think we should pass this. It's important. It's vital."

The need to support the water conservation plan is critical under the premise that the three Northern California reservoirs - which supply half of Long Beach's water - have been recorded at their lowest levels in 15 years, according to the resolution.

Executive Director of ASI Richard Haller said, "The university land is considered state property and not obligated to follow Long Beach city's regulations. Everyone in Long Beach is following the water conservation regulations but the university."

This resolution will attempt to force the college to conform to Long Beach's regulations.

Pres. talks as NBC news cameras roll

Published in the CSULB Daily 49er newspaper on Oct. 18.

Student loan debt in America is a growing concern, especially in the Northeast, but according to CSULB President F. King Alexander, the issue is spreading to the West like some sort of disease.

With an NBC news crew from New York present, Alexander addressed the Associated Students, Inc. Senate Wednesday to inform the students that a fight is being held in Washington to lift the current $23,000 student loan cap to allow for a $7,000 increase.

"Right now there's a bunch of higher education organizations and other agencies wanting to lift the cap," Alexander said. "What that means is the institutions that can raise tuition fees readily may rapidly escalate those costs, and will at a pace we don't even think of in the state of California."

Alexander also said NBC is gathering information for a story regarding this issue.

"They're here to talk about and get the nation to face the reality that student loan debt is an important crisis in American higher education," Alexander said. "And it matters where you grew up."

With an average debt of $6,200, 30 percent of graduates are leaving CSULB in debt, according to Alexander. The national average is higher, with 62 percent of students leaving college carrying an average debt amount of $21,000.

"If these loan caps go up, students go into greater debt," Alexander said. "Also, we don't want our peers raising their fees or tuition, because then they put us at a significant disadvantage in the higher education market place."

Alexander called on the Senate to help fight this issue in the future and told the students that it's "an important economic impact on your lives, on what you're hoping to achieve, and maybe even on the career you're pursuing."

The president said he was pleased to have NBC present and bringing attention to the story. He also said that he hoped some of the senator's faces were shown on national TV.

"We want our campus highlighted, we want this fight highlighted, we want these issues addressed at the federal level and we want to make sure these caps are kept on these loans so that these institutions and others won't shove a greater number of students into debt," Alexander said. "Quality doesn't equal the cost of attendance in the United States."

Alexander continued by mentioning that the more people who understand this, the more parents and students will realize that they don't have to spend $30,000 to $50,000 a year on higher education.

"Too many parents and too many students are misled into believing that," Alexander said.

The Senate didn't ask any questions at the end of Alexander's speech.

In other news, Sen. of the College of Liberal Arts Raul Preciado attempted to pass a resolution for a petition concerning campus safety, which will extend the hours of campus escorts and heighten security.

"This is an important resolution," Preciado said. "We have students that have taken action to make sure everyone is safer on campus, and I think the Senate should support them."

Preciado and Sen. of the College of Business Ruben Cordova attempted to have the resolution voted on and passed in one sitting when, according to ASI Executive Director Richard Haller, normal procedure calls for new resolutions to be read three times, then voted on.

The resolution proposed by Preciado and Cordova contained information that some senators disagreed with. The main focus of discussion fell on whether or not the resolution should read that there have been at least four sexual assaults and an attempted kidnapping.

According to Associate Vice President for Student Services Mike Hostetler, there were only three sexual assaults and one attempted kidnapping. Although there were four reported, one was found to be a false claim.

Due to possible inaccuracies, the resolution will be voted on in the next ASI Senate meeting on Oct. 24.

ASI Senate addresses lighting fund withdrawal, campus retention rates

Published in the CSULB Daily 49er newspaper Oct. 4.

The Long Beach City Council voted against the plan to add additional lighting along the outskirts of Cal State Long Beach, according to President Mark Andrews of the Associated Students, Inc. Instead, the money was allocated toward after-school programs, a snow day and Halloween parties.

"Councilman Patrick O'Donnell made a motion to re-allocate the lighting money toward other programs," said Andrews while addressing the ASI Senate Wednesday. "There was an 8-1 vote, with Councilman Gary DeLong being the person that voted for us."

The Senate was also addressed by Catherine Pittet, the ASI public defender, who reminded the group about "Light Up Our Nights," which is a rally on campus today from noon to 2 p.m.

"The rally is in response to recent attacks on campus," Pittet said. "I hope it makes a big difference, because students are fed up."

The rally will include speakers such as City Councilman Gary DeLong, CSULB President F. King Alexander and Jack Pearson, the chief of police.

"We're putting together a town hall event for students, by students," Pittet said. "Hopefully this will have more of an impact, because students feel a connection with other students."

Students Caroline Chen, Kelly Janke and Sonia Esquibel also addressed the Senate regarding a safety petition in which they said they hope will extend the hours of the security escort patrols around campus.

"This petition is for campus safety," Chen said. "We want to increase the number of security officers during the hours of 6 p.m. to 12:30 a.m."

Chen said they also want security guards patrolling each parking lot.

"My friends have told me about experiences they had when they called the campus escort service," Chen said. "They say they wait for 20 minutes, alone in the dark, while they wait for someone to arrive. It's ridiculous - anything can happen in that amount of time and I don't know why nothing has been done about it."

Janke said, "Daylight savings is going to be ending soon, so it will be getting darker earlier, and that means more opportunities. Plus, it's not just the women on campus who are scared. I've heard men are, too."

In other news, Andrews informed the Senate that CSULB is below the national average in graduation rates.

"This is something that affects the university's reputation," Andrews said. "Fortunately, the college has been working on this."

Andrews said the college's retention rate has climbed two percent this year, which will bring graduation rates up, but CSULB is still below the average.

"I don't want to be behind Cal State Fullerton," Andrews said. "Everyone who knows me knows I hate Fullerton. I'm not content with being the national average - I want to be above."

Andrews announced his creation of a new executive committee on student success. There will be at least two student senators on the board.

"We need to make this one of our biggest pushes this year," Andrews said. "Everyone should be working on it together."