Renegade Rip

Due to the state of California's financial problems, several colleges will receive less money for education.

This semester has 1,603 sections compared to last semester in the fall of 2008 with 1,871 sections. This is about a 14 percent decrease in classes or more than 200 sections not offered to students at BC this year.

Interim Vice President of Academic Affairs Nan Gomez-Heitzeberg said, "One of the things we decided not to do was to tell everybody they had to cut by a certain percentage, because we wanted to take a look at student needs."

The school also wanted to take a look at what classes could be delayed until another semester and also which classes had a low enrollment rate.

"Our goal was to be selective," Gomez-Heitzeberg said." The goal to be selective was made by department chairs, program directors and administrators over the summer, so enrollment has not dropped much this year compared to last year.

Gomez-Heitzeberg shared some advice how to not let class cutbacks affect students. "I encourage students to enroll early, get their fees paid and utilize the waitlist," she said.

Also some popular student services are in operation, such as Extended Opportunity Program and Services, California WORK Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids, Cooperative Agencies Resources for Education might be in jeopardy.

With 1,200 students on EOPS, including the waitlist, 150 student on CARE and 200 students with CalWORKs, it is fair to say these programs are taken advantage of and make a big impact on students.

EOPS is a state-funded program that provides full time students who come from a low income and an educationally disadvantaged background with a wide range of supportive services.

Some of these services include additional tutoring services, peer mentoring, educational advising, counseling, grants, book vouchers and priority registration.

CalWORKs is a state-funded program that assists students who receive cash aid to them achieve their educational goals. Some services include education and training for employment, child care, bus passes, gas cards, academic counseling to provide support and school supplies.

CARE is a state funded program that provides full time students who are single parents with at least one child under the age 14 and who are on Temporary Assistance for the Needy Families or TANF.

CARE offers many different services which include: school supplies, academic, career and personal counseling, peer mentoring, grant checks for child care and educational expenses.

"There are a lot of unknowns still because the state budget took so long to get signed," Primavera Arvizu, director of EOPS, CalWORKs and CARE said.

One thing for sure is that fewer book vouchers were handed out this semester but, Arvizu assured, "We are here to serve the students so we will do whatever we can to try to maximize out services with less amount of resources."

Arvizu also reassures students will still be accepted into any of these programs if they qualify and added, "I'm a true believer that we are a vehicle for their success. We are still going to be that vehicle. That vehicle might have a different color but the vehicle will still be here."

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