ByZack SmithAssistant City Editor
The expanding enrollment of the California State University systemwas on the minds of both incumbent State Senator Dede Alpert andJudge Larry Stirling last Tuesday, during a candidate forum forpoliticians.
The candidates addressed concerns before an audience eager to hearwhat everyone had to say. Both candidates were concerned with thecurrent condition of San Diego schools.
They addressed issues ranging from high textbook prices toincreasing financial aid availability for students.
Alpert, a Democrat, said when she was elected to the StateAssembly’s 39th District in 1990, she saw a need to reform thestate’s education.
That’s why she wants to increase summer class availability andstudent aid, she said.
“In the next few years, we’re going to see some of the results inSan Diego county of how schools have done last year and how they aredoing now,” Alpert said. “I think you are going to begin to see thatwe are starting to make the kind of progress that everybody inCalifornia wants to see.”
Alpert said higher education is a priority for her, as chairwomanof the Senate’s higher education committee. She said she willcontinue to work with CSU administrators on a master plan to increasesummer class availability at regular semester fees in order combatthe growing college enrollment.
“In the next 10 years, we are going to need to accommodate 750,000young people in higher education,” she said. “That is equivalent to30 new San Diego States.”
Republican Stirling, an SDSU alumnus and Superior Court judge onleave, said overcrowding and college tuition fees has become aproblem.
He said too many students have been left behind under the currentadministrations’ party. College fees have to be reduced and teachingstandards raised, he said.
“We need year-round teachers and year-round pay to teach the kidsto get the education they need,” he said.
If elected, Stirling said one of the first things he would do isaddress San Diego State University traffic problems by adding anotherexit off Interstate 8.
“I’ll make sure the education system is better off and students atSan Diego State get to park,” he said.
“The (democratic) legislature was asked to reduce college fees sowe could allow more students to get into school and not end up withbig debt,” Stirling said. “Unfortunately, that is the situation.”
Stirling said he supports a textbook tax exemption because risingtextbook costs are hindering the state’s educational efforts.
“I think (university) students are being ripped off by thetextbook lobby,” Stirling said. “Here we are in the state ofCalifornia. We invented information technology where students candownload the entire encyclopedia Britannica for free off theInternet, and students are being forced to buy textbooks at over $100a pop.”
However, Alpert said she disagrees.
Alpert said she doesn’t support a textbook tax exemption becauseit would undermine taxes needed for financial aid programs like theCal Grant.
Increasing Cal Grants will become a reality, Alpert said.
“For every student who has a good grade point average, the stateof California will sponsor scholarships to go to higher education,”she said. “That is an incredible statistic.”
Political science and Chicano Studies senior Denise Campos said itwas a good experience for the candidates to visit the campus becauseit informs students. She said she liked Alpert’s active role inpolitics and education.
Political science sophomore Katie Dean said while she wasimpressed with the forum, she didn’t like the “mud-slinging” thatAlpert and Sterling appeared to be doing.
Dean said Stirling appealed to her interests more.
“I think that (Stirling) focused more on the immediate concerns ofthe people of the community as well as student,” she said. “Alpertwent out there and said some key phrases like environment andcommunity and didn’t really expand on it.”
Alpert was elected to state senate in 1996. Since being elected,she has authored numerous education bills and heads the SenateEducation Advisory Committee. Prior to that, she served on the SolanaBeach school board for seven years. She currently heads the SenateEducation Advisory Committee.
Stirling is a Superior Court judge on temporary leave.
The 39th District encompasses the greater San Diego area fromImperial Beach to Del Mar and inland to College Area.
