Subject: Santa Maria Times: State budget cuts could affect school programs
Santa Maria Times
12/19/03
State budget cuts could affect school programs
By Tamara Miller/Staff Writer
Ricardo Jaramillo felt a little intimidated when he enrolled at Hancock College and wasn't exactly at the top of his class at first. Looking for support, he joined the college's Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement program and saw one class grade rise from a C to an A. "They (lend) me books and they have computers," he said. "Me and my friends ... we come together here and study together." MESA, a University of California outreach program, has helped hundreds of students like Jaramillo succeed in college by lending otherwise expensive books, offering computer time, and providing tutors and a host of other services. But if a proposed spending cut plan makes its way through the state, outreach programs like the MESA program will go. Julie Niles, interim director of Hancock's MESA program, believes that would be a travesty. "I can't think of any other program that exists that has been established for several years," she said. "MESA is a ... program to uniquely serve math, science, college-degree-seeking majors in an organized, long-term fashion ... No other program does that." Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed $1.9 billion in mid-year spending cuts include the elimination of most of the University of California's K-12 and community college outreach programs. Several Santa Maria and Guadalupe schools have students who participate in these programs, most notably MESA. David Hoskings, MESA advisor at McKenzie Junior High in Guadalupe, said his students have written letters to the governor and Assemblyman Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria, asking them to look for another way to cut spending. McKenzie implements the program into science classes, allowing almost 100 of the school's 340 students to participate in some way. His students participate by entering MESA competitions that require they use math and science skills for projects. They also get to meet with professionals in the field. "It's just practical experience and normally they don't get that exposure," he said. Hoskings credits the program for sparking an interest in math and science that can grow into a career later. The program's intent is to support under-represented students - such as racial and ethnic minorities - successfully complete their degrees and enter the math, science or engineering industry. There aren't enough students in those fields as a whole, Niles said. "The industry is begging colleges," she said. "And they want to diversify their workforce and they are not receiving enough graduates." More than half of the 36 Hancock math and science majors who transferred to a four-year-college last spring were minorities, Niles said. Teri Lee, marketing director for the statewide program, said MESA would be difficult to replace. It's been around since 1970 and has, over time, won the support and investment of companies in the industry. "It's penny-wise and pound foolish," Lee said. "The outreach programs consist of four-tenths of 1 percent of the UC's budget. The state really has gotten its money's worth in terms of keeping these programs." *
Staff writer Tamara Miller can be reached at 739-2216 or by e-mail at tmiller@pulitzer.net.