Gov. Jerry Brown's budget proposal for 2013-14 provides increased funding for California's higher education and aims at improving graduation and transfer rates. After several years of reduction in revenues, the current budget proposal suggests a five-percent increase in funding for community colleges in California. "This small increase does not address the magnitude of great loss we had," said Chui L....

Public health officials are currently investigating a recent outbreak of tuberculosis in the Los Angeles area. However, Jonathan Fielding, director of the LA County Department of Public Health and health officer for the county, told reporters during a press conference call that "the TB outbreak is not a threat to the public at large."Tuberculosis is caused by a bacteria that...

Community colleges are sometimes considered "fall back" schools that are meant for unmotivated students who were not admitted to a university. However, my experience at Santa Monica College has shown me that many students attend the college because of financial reasons, rather than not being accepted to a four-year institute. Seeing the high tuition fees, expenses and loans on the...

Actress, producer and writer are only a few ways to describe former Santa Monica College student Carly-Ann Giene. Giene was already a passionate actress in high school, but discovered her talent for writing and producing when she attended SMC. "Evan Somers' advanced screenwriting class got me opened up to other aspects of film than acting, like writing, filming and producing,"...

Santa Monica College successfully completed another winter session, despite facing an operating deficit of $8.5 million, insufficient revenues and shrinking savings, according to SMC Board of Trustee Louis Jaffe. The winter session's cost of $1.8 million added to the college's deficit spending for the current fiscal year, which led to further depletion of the school's fund balance. “[Having the winter...