At trustees' meeting,

lone voice for remedial ed

By Linda Fimlaid, Forty-Niner Online
Sept. 14, 1995

A meeting of a key Cal State University committee was interrupted Tuesday by an angry opponent of a proposal to eliminate most remedial education classes during a meeting of the CSU Board of Trustees.

The proposal was not on the agenda of the Committee on Educational Policy during the two-day trustees meeting which wrapped up Wednesday.

The remediation proposal, which will be voted on in January, is designed to significantly reduce the number of remedial classes by implementing and enforcing stricter admissions policies.

The proposal will deny minority students access to a program that allows them to achieve their goals, said Agustin Cebuda of the Brown Berets de Aztlan, speaking out of order.

"We will fight," shouted Cebuda as he walked out of the room followed by a small but assertive group yelling "Chicano power."

The Remediation proposal will be the subject of a series of public hearings. The hearing in Los Angeles will be on Sept. 29 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

The Committee on Finance reviewed the 1995-96 support budget which includes a State General Fund Support increase of 4.2 percent.

Lt. Gov. Gray Davis stated his support for not increasing student fees. However, the trustees remained concerned about future funds for the CSU system.

"Do we raise fees to match the budget or cut expenses?" asked William Campbell, a CSU trustee.

"On top of the 4 percent we would seek appropriations instead of raising fees," said Molly Corbett Broad, executive vice chancellor of the CSU System of Executives, after the close of the meeting on Wednesday. "If we do not get funding the board would raise student fees by 10 percent."

Student fee increases and the state of financial aid, which some trustees said was in a state of crisis, will be the subject of discussion at the board meeting later this fall.

The meeting of the Committee on Collective Bargaining also sparked a series of protests which included a lone man picketing outside of the building and about 15 union members displaying buttons in support of the unions in their bid for a new contract.

"We feel they have used strong arm tactics," said Brian Young, division director of the California State Employees Association. Young expressed his concerns about the pay-for-performance system defined in the contract.

An agreement on a contract between the California Faculty Association and the board has been hard fought since the previous contract expired in 1993.

The proposal approved by the committee at the meeting on Tuesday includes a change from a merit-based system of salary increases based on costs of living to a pay-for-performance system.

The change in the system to award salary increases would not be received well at any time, said Campbell, who chairs the Committee of Collective Bargaining.

Plans for the improvements to the University Student Union at Cal State Long Beach were approved at a meeting of the Committee on Campus Planning.

The plans approved by the trustees include a new addition on the top of the bowling alley and an enclosure at the top-terraced level of the Student Union, creating more meeting and activity rooms.

"All in all it's a very good project at a reasonable cost," said Jon Regnier, senior director of Physical Planning and Development at CSULB.

The total cost estimate of the plan, which was voted on by CSULB students in the spring 1995 semester, is $13,790,000.

CSULB President Robert Maxson credited the future improvements to the Student Union a result of the hard work of the Associated Students government and CSULB students.