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EmailDecember 29, 2005
Governor halts CSU fee increase
By Omar Medina
Governor Schwarzeneggers office announced yesterday that his budget will provide enough money to eliminate the planned university fee increases for the 2006/2007 school year that were announced earlier this year.
"Because of the state's improved revenue picture, the governor is taking the opportunity to ease the financial burden on students and their families," said an administration official who detailed the budget move on the condition of not being identified.
On October 27th, the CSU Trustees approved the 2006/2007 budget and fee increase proposal. They approved an 8 percent fee increase for undergraduate students. The current annual State University Fee is $2,520.00; this fee would have increased to $2,724.00.
The fee increase was part of a deal made with Schwarzenegger in 2004 in which the universities agreed to raise fees over six years in exchange for a guarantee that the state would provide a minimum level of annual funding.
It now appears that the Governor is taking the state's improved fiscal condition to benefit his image by halting the fee increase that he initiated back in 2004. An image that is in need of help after all his proposed 2005 ballot initiatives failed and with the upcoming Gubernatorial election next November.
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December 23, 2005
Santa Rosa School Closures
By Omar Medina
On Friday, December 9 the Press Democrat published an article showing the intentions of the Santa Rosa City Schools Board of Education to shut down some school's for what they say are fiscal reasons. That same night Aztlán en Vivo devoted the show to addressing the issue. The following Friday, December 16, we continued with the coverage and an update with the information that the board presented at their first community forum regarding the issue on December 13.
Tonight we will continue the discussion with an update on what parents are doing, what they can do, and we will also continue dialog on the sociological effects of these closures. Some of the questions that need to be addressed are:
- Why are the targeted schools primarily populated by people of color, and for that matter Raza?
- Are fiscal reasons truly behind the closures? Or is it a pre-emptive attempt to resolve issues with the No Child Left Behind Act?
If you are unable to tune-in, please get involved and attend one of the community forums that the SRCS school district will be holding. Simply download the schedule.
Related articles published in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat:
- SR may close up to 2 schools -- December 9, 2005
- Parents outraged over proposed SR school closures -- December 10, 2005
- Board invites public to discuss school closures -- December 11, 2005
- Board invites public to discuss school closures -- December 12, 2005
- Meeting on SR school closings -- December 13, 2005
- Possible SR school closures debated -- December 14, 2005
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December 19, 2005
New Look
By Omar Medina
Today I have taken the first steps in giving the MEChA de Sonoma website it's much overdue update. You will notice that in general it has a similar look as before, this is primarily because many of you expressed that you really liked the old look. However, it will be using a technology that is a bit more complicated than regular HTML.
I will be using MovableType 3.17 as the foundation for all pages on the site. Through this I can use PHP and MySQL to better manage content. This is the same way in which the National MEChA website will be run (it too is currently under development). The primary reason for using this format is to allow others to post on to the site without requiring extensive, or any HTML programming knowledge.
There are still many bugs that need to be fixed, links to establish, and content to develop; but hopefully it will become one of our greatest tools in terms of communicating with each other and the community.
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