In a close 7-9 vote members of the ASCC Senate denied the passing of a bill that would have funded a proposal to add a clock tower to the Cerritos College Library Resource in celebration of the college’s 50th anniversary last Wednesday.
In addition, questions were raised about the reasoning behind a letter written by Cerritos College Faculty Federation president David Fabish, expressed his appreciation to the Senate for its support in a revised resolution that refers to negotiations between the CCFF and Board of Trustees.
On Feb. 15 the Senate passed a revised resolution that stated:
¨The ASCC Senate supports the maintaining of a binding arbitration, meaning both the Faculty and the Board of Trustees will bargain over the contract dispute in which it will service the interest of the students of Cerritos College.
¨The ASCC Senate supports the consideration of the re-hiring of faculty.
Sergeant of Arms Oskar Ruiz asked what right did the CCFF have in saying that the Senate supports them.
“I think the Senate needs to petition the CCFF for the next meeting,” he added, “so (the CCFF) can explain this letter.”
Senator Kathrine Mishler agreed saying that, “the Senate only supports the idea (of the resolution).”
Upon hearing the letter Party Whip Lexie Guerrero asked, “Who is David Fabish?”
Vice President Charlene Angsuco informed her that Fabish was the president of the CCFF.
Holly Bogdanovich, director of student activities, suggested that all the members send one email to Fabish to explain its position of the resolution.
Furthermore, Ruiz said that if the Talon Marks read and saw that the Senate supports the CCFF that they would be quick to move on which side the Senate is on.
The Senate then turned its attention to the vote of whether or not its $45,000 donation for a clock tower that will have a chiming system along with an emergency announcement system should be built on top of the LRC building.
Senator Minicrystal Valenzuela was quick to express concern about the clock tower and Senate Liaison Alex Armendariz was not so sure about whether he supported it.
“I’m in the middle of the issue,” Armendariz said, “because I think that the money that will be used for this tower could be used for other things.”
Valenzuela reason for expressing concern was that she thought the clock tower would affect students who are studying in the library.
In other words, Valenzuela also suggested that the money that was being used for the clock be use for improving the campus.
“The Burnight Theatre is falling apart,” she added, “and the facilities on campus could use that money as well, so that money could be used for much better things.”
With concerns being heard the bill was denied.
After the bill was denied Ruiz expressed that it was a waste of time to vote on the bill, because there was no guarantee of safety that the tower would work in case of an emergency.
Instead Ruiz said that the money should be used for increasing student enrollment at Cerritos.
ASCC President Paulo Amaral assured that there have been efforts to encourage students to enroll such as having bus ads on the Norwalk Transit System and in the city of La Mirada.
