STUDENTS SHOW SUPPORT FOR VETERANS

This Sunday, Nov. 11, The Student Senate for California Community
Colleges passed two resolutions on Veteran Services.

The text of the resolutions are as follows:

19.01 F07 Statewide California Veteran Network to Help Veterans Transition
Author: John Salcedo, Rio Hondo College, Region 7

Whereas, Many community colleges have resources that provide assistance to facilitate "civilian transition" for military veterans;

Whereas, There is no exclusive outreach programs at California community colleges to enroll military veterans, and to provide assistance for veterans to network with other veterans who have made successful transitions into community college and university levels; and

Whereas, Veterans often feel excluded from the college, business, and social environments and need to have resources to help them move into these environments to ensure their success in any endeavor they pursue;

Resolved, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges supports the development of a social support mechanism within the California Community Colleges system for military veterans to assist with transfer, internships, and jobs;

Resolved, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges assist in creating a statewide support network in order to rapidly send and receive information about community college enrollment, transfer, scholarships, internships, community involvement, career networking, and job placement within the California Community Colleges system; and

Resolved, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges encourages opportunities for veterans to associate amongst other veterans who have shared similar struggles and have succeeded at the community college or university levels.

Removing GI Bill Barriers
Author: Bonnie Wilson-Schmitt, Shasta College, Region 1
Amended by: Ulises Benavedes, Los Angeles Trade Technical College, Region 7
Amended by: Annette Moreau, Cerro Coso College, Region 9
Amended by: Bonnie Wilson-Schmitt, Shasta College, Region 1

Whereas, The current GI Bill for returning military and veterans only allows two years from the time of discharge to begin one's college education and access GI Bill benefits;

Whereas, The current GI Bill does not provide any funding for less than 12 units per semester and it only provides funding for
transferable courses;

Whereas, Nearly 60% of our returning military have acquired physical, mental, and emotional injuries that affect their educational capabilities; and

Whereas, The vast majority of these affected veterans will need more than two years of recovery time before being able to begin or resume their college education, due to the high stress level of taking a "full load," 12 units, would not be realistic or possible and the necessity of taking basic skills classes is guaranteed;

Resolved, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges supports legislative changes made to the GI Bill to expand time limits or eliminate the two-year limit all together, thus allowing veterans to access their educational monies when their recovery is sufficient to allow them to begin their education;

Resolved, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges supports legislative changes made to the GI Bill to allow affected veterans to take necessary basic skills courses and undergo retraining needed prior to taking transferable courses;

Resolved, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges supports legislative changes made to the GI Bill to allow affected veterans to take less than 12 units if needed, to allow for academic success relative to the individual's level of functioning; and

Resolved, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges supports changes so that all veterans' formal occupational training received during their military service be evaluated per individual situations to be used as course credit.

---
Hoa Long Tam
Student Trustee, Marin Community College District
President, College of Marin Student Senate
SS120, 835 College Ave., Kentfield, CA 94904
Tel 415.485.9390 Fax 415.456.7770

STUDENTS DEMAND ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION

This Sunday, the Student Senate for California Community Colleges passed five resolutions on environmental sustainability:

The text of the resolutions are as follows:
16.02 F07 Systemwide Carbon Neutrality
Author: Hoa-Long Tam, College of Marin, Region3
Note: Passed by acclamation

Whereas, “A primary mission of the California Community Colleges is to advance California’s economic growth and global competitiveness through education, training, and services that contribute to continuous workforce improvement” [Education Code §66010.4(a)(3)];

Whereas, Global scientific consensus concludes that climate change is a serious threat and that human activities are the primary source of increased atmospheric concentrations of global warming gases;

Whereas, The climate change crisis will require national and international solutions, but greenhouse gases are ultimately generated locally and cities, states and other governments and organizations thorough the United States are committing themselves to lower their greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impact; and

Whereas, The California Community colleges, the largest system of higher education in the world, which serves more than 2.6 million students, must take a leadership role in addressing worldwide environmental concerns;

Resolved, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges finds that a vital part of advancing “California’s economic growth and global competitiveness” is ensuring a viable, livable and sustainable world for future students to enjoy;

Resolved, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges work with the other California community college constituencies (faculty, staff, administration, trustees, taxpayers, etc.) at both the local and state levels to formulate a plan by the end of 2009 to make the California Community Colleges system completely carbon neutral and minimize its other environmental impacts by the year 2035; and

Resolved, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges seek the full implementation plan systemwide and work with the other constituencies to update the plan no less than once every five years.

17.01 F07 Adoption of the Talloires Declaration
Author: Student Senate Council
Amended by: Michael James Seidenberg, Moorpark College, Region 6

Whereas, The depletion of natural resources, the accumulation of toxic waste, and deforestation threaten the biodiversity of the planet and the integrity of the earth;

Whereas, Higher education systems educate a vast majority of the people who develop and manage institutions in our society and therefore have the responsibility to create programs to teach environmental literacy to all undergraduate, graduate, and professional students, and to develop techniques to promote the efficient and sustainable use of energy, water, and other natural resources;

Whereas, The California Community College system has the largest student enrollment with 2.5 million students, and therefore must be a leader in the effort to develop techniques to promote the efficient and sustainable use of energy, water, and other natural resources; and

Whereas, The Talloires Declaration encourages all colleges and universities to engage in education, research, policy formation, and the exchange of information on population, environment, and development to move toward global sustainability;

Resolved, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges sign the Talloires Declaration as a first step to engage a unified commitment to an environmentally sustainable future.

17.02 F07 Transportation
Author: Ryan Kaplan, Cabrillo College, Region 4

Whereas, Following the 2006 passage of landmark bill AB 32 (the Global Warming Solutions Act), California has set rigid standards and a timeline to sharply reduce greenhouse gas emissions;

Whereas, Community Colleges are known to be "commuter schools," which clearly have a major impact on transit systems and air quality;

Whereas, Public transit, carpooling and bicycling are all environmentally sustainable means of transportation; and

Whereas, AB 2766 (Sher 1998) allocates funds to support air district-operating planning, monitoring, enforcement and technical studies necessary to implement the California clean Air Act and those available funds to non-profit organizations (including colleges) as grants to study and reduce transportation impacts;

Resolved, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges encourages associated student organizations to work with their districts' facilities directors to conduct a carbon footprint assessment of their districts, setting goals and timelines for transportation-related emissions reduction;

Resolved, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges recommends that California community colleges apply with their regional Air Districts for AB 2766 grant funds to support programs to encourage alternative, sustainable and public transportation and bicycle accommodations, and to reduce single occupancy vehicle trips to and from campuses;

Resolved, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges advises local senates to work with their administrators and regional transportation organizations to reduce costs for public transportation passes; and

Resolved, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges advocates for full and consistent funding of public transportation in the state budget.

17.03 F07 Waste Mitigation
Author: Ryan Kaplan, Cabrillo College, Region 4
Note: Passed unanimously

Whereas, California generates 92 million tons of waste annually;

Whereas, The 72 community college districts under AB 75 (Strom-Martin, 1999) to divert at least 50 percent of their waste by source reduction, reuse, recycling, composting or by other means, and a current bill, SB 1020 (Padilla, 2007), aims to increase waste diversion mandates to 60 percent by 2012 and 75 percent by 2020;

Whereas, California's community colleges control annual budgets of enormous purchasing power for material goods, and purchasing departments generally abide by procurement policies; and

Whereas, Organizations like the Foundation for California Community Colleges research broker discounts with vendor for all community colleges;

Resolved, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges asks local senates to audit their college district waste stream, and work with maintenance and operations staff to ensure that waste diversion for recycling is maximized in all district operations;

Resolved, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges encourages local senate to work with district purchasing departments to prioritize the procurement of sustainable and recycled-content materials as a district policy;

Resolved, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges requests the Foundation for California Community Colleges to work with the California Integrated Waste Management Board to develop environmentally preferable purchasing guidelines and agreements with recycled product manufacturers; and

Resolved, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges supports more strict mandates for waste diversion in the State of California.

17.04 F07 Sustainability
Author: Christine Javier, Pasadena City College, Region 7
Amended by: Chuck Rogers, Butte College, Region 1

Whereas, The awareness and assessment of sustainable practices on California community college campuses is neglected or minimal;

Whereas, We feel it necessary to provide environmental literacy to the California community college population at large to circumvent our wasteful practices and implement new measures to repair our environment and promote the efficient and sustainable use of energy, waste and other natural resources;

Whereas, the Chancellor's Office and the Student Senate for California Community Colleges are in need of assembling a body in which environmental, social, and economical concerns may be addressed and tackled; and

Whereas, The Student Senate for California Community Colleges does not have a standing committee to deal with sustainability issues;

Resolved, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges work with the Consultation Council to form a group, which would include a student representative and broad representative from other constituent groups and Chancellor's Office staff, to address issues of environmental, social and economic concerns in California community colleges; and

Resolved, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges form a standing committee called the Sustainability Advisory Committee to deal with issues as they arise.

---
Hoa Long Tam
Student Trustee, Marin Community College District
President, College of Marin Student Senate
SS120, 835 College Ave., Kentfield, CA 94904
Tel 415.485.9390 Fax 415.456.7770

STUDENTS SUPPORT TAX-FREE TEXTBOOKS

This Sunday, Nov. 11, the Student Senate for California Community Colleges (SSCCC) passed a resolution supporting a sales tax exemption for textbooks similar to exemptions in Conn., Mass., Minn., N.J., N.Y., N.D., S.C., Tenn. and W. Va.

The text of the resolution is as follows:

4.01 F07 Tax-Free Textbooks
Author: Troy Carter, Sacramento City College, Region 2

Whereas, According to the United States Government Accountability Office, over the past two decades higher education textbooks costs have risen at twice the reate of inflation and now equal approximately 72% of the cost of tuition for community college students, and the financial burden of textbook purchases is amplified by th sales taxes levied on them by the State of California;

Whereas, Textbook purchases are currently tax-exempt in the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia, and legislation making textbook purchases tax-exempt has been introduced and is in various stages of passage in the legislatures of Georgia, Texas, and Virgina;

Whereas, A student conducted at the request of the Advisory Committee on Student financial Assistance, a nonpartisan panel appointed by Congress to advise it on educational access issues, recommended legislative action to establish tax exempt status for textbook sales as a means to decrease financial barriers to higher education; and

Whereas, The Student Senate for California Community Collges supports any efforts to reduce out-of-pocket expenses to students consistent with maintaining a high-quality educational envirtonment, and believes tax-free textboooks should be a high priority legislative item;

Resolved, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges supports legislative efforts to amend California Code allowing for the exemption of sales tax on textbooks purchased by college students; and

Resolved, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges work with the Student Senate Council, system partners, other statewide student groups, and local associated student organizations, to make collaborative efforts to achieve the passage of such legislation.

---
Hoa Long Tam
Student Trustee, Marin Community College District
President, College of Marin Student Senate
SS120, 835 College Ave., Kentfield, CA 94904
Tel 415.485.9390 Fax 415.456.7770