Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/9051
Sarah Smith in chemistry class at Lake Tahoe Community College. percent of its funding from Sacramento. Last quarter, all of the center’s tutors were let go, although a few were hired back part time. The center also lost the part-time learning disabilities specialist who had been testing students for more than 20 years, the classified person at the front desk, and the “alternate media specialist” who helped match special-needs students with resources, such as Braille for blind students. Beth Marinelli-Laster, the learning disabilities specialist, now runs constantly back and forth between the front desk and her office because there’s no longer a receptionist. “We care a lot about the students and are trying very hard to meet their needs, but everyone is starting to get burned out as they try to do more with less,” she says. The library is open fewer computers there because they can’t afford to buy their own. “The staff is starting to feel strained,” says library di- rector Lisa Foley. The library now receives 50 percent less to purchase new books and has lost funding for all database subscriptions, which students need for online research. The campus cafeteria is no Beth Marinelli-Laster Lake Tahoe Community College longer open. A local Thai res- taurant is scheduled to take it over, but students and staff say it will be difficult to exist on only Thai food. “Losing the cafeteria is a big deal for me,” says Joe Stanton, a third-year student who hopes to transfer to UC Davis. “I’m here all day long.” Esta Lewin says that the Scott Lukas Lake Tahoe CCFA president hours and closed Saturdays, which hurts students who check out textbooks or use counseling staff has been cut and that Early Alert, an inter- vention program for students at risk of failing classes, was eliminated. Despite high un- RIGHT: Alex Mellon, a student at Lake Tahoe Community College. MARCH 2010 | www.cta.org 25 employment in the rural area, there’s no money for the annual career and job fair, so that’s been canceled, too. “I think we’re all being affected by the dire news,” says the counselor. “We have a constant stream of dire news, so how could we not be worried? And how could this worry not trickle down to students?” Mellon, the student who misses home- work, is plenty worried. “I worry quality teachers will be driven out of the profession by what’s happening here,” he says. “And I also worry that fu- ture generations will be deprived of a quality education.”