CSULB
students rally for Proposition 47
By Ruth Estrada
On-line Forty-Niner
 Students
from California’s community colleges, the
California State University system and UC
schools organized a panel and pep rally
in downtown Los Angeles at First AME Church
in favor of Proposition 47’s $13.05 billion
bond.
Close to 50 people were in attendance, some
of which were students from high schools
in the Los Angeles area.
The Kindergarten-University Public Education
Facilities Bond Act of 2002 is a bond to
repair old schools, reduce overcrowding
and help build some of the 46,000 new classrooms
needed in California.
By the year 2010, more than 710,000 students
will enter California’s community colleges
and universities.
More than half of the CSU facilities are
more than 28 years old and are in need of
modernization.
Clara Potes-Fellow, media relations manager
for CSU Public Affairs, said that the need
for more classrooms is best understood by
the students themselves.
“This event shows that California State
University students, [UC students] and even
high school students want to be involved,”
Potes-Fellow said. “They are here to show
how important Proposition 47 is to them.”
On the panel, Artemio Pimentel, chairman
of the California State Student Association,
also said that students best understand
the need for new classrooms.
“We are in a huge state of emergency and
no one knows it better than us, when it
comes to our overcrowded campuses,” he said.
Students are unable to get the classes they
need because of the guidelines that limit
the number of students per classroom, Pimental
said.
Scott Macdonald, communication director
for the Yes on 47 campaign, said that if
Proposition 47 passes, the CSU system, the
UC system and community colleges will receive
$1.65 billion.
“This is all about constructing new classrooms
where they are needed and focusing on schools
that need repairs,” he said.
Macdonald said that the bond would cost
a little more than $800 million a year and
would come from the state’s General Fund.
“California is the sixth largest economy
in the world — it is huge,” he said. “It
is just a general portion of our state budget
which is about $35 billion.”
Macdonald also said that $800 million dollars
is the amount of money that taxpayers will
pay each year for 30 years.
Danny Vivian, president of the Associated
Student Inc., said that education is a right
and not a privilege.
“I think that Proposition 47 is kind of
an equal player, leveling some of the damages
people may have in more affluent neighborhoods,”
Vivian said. “I definitely think that this
is a positive step in assuring access and
inequity when we talk about education in
the state of California.”
Jade Wallis, secretary of intergovernmental
relations for A.S.I., also said that Proposition
47 is important for education in all respects.
“You must start at the beginning K-12 and
make sure that these kids have equal opportunity,”
Wallis said. “We need equal facilities,
so that when these kids get to college they
will be at the same level as everybody else.”
A.S.I. will present a panel Monday at 6
p.m. discussing the pros and cons of Proposition
47 in the University Student Union small
auditorium.
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