Page 2 - Florida Sentinel 3-20-18

Features
FAMUan Upset Over Limited Fund University Received From Legislature
BY GWEN HAYES Sentinel Editor
The Florida State Legis- lature completed a grueling 62-day session this week, having to spend a great amount of time on gun- c0ntrol.
According to reports, the legislators passed less bills during this session than they have in over 20 years. And, the bills that were passed will still hurt a lot of people, one Tampa resident says.
Carolyn Hepburn Collins, Chair, FAMU Gov- ernment Relations Commit- tee, Tampa/Hillsborough County, says the damage the legislature did to HBCUs in Florida, especially FAMU is not acceptable.
“I am concerned about these budget issues that may be in danger, due to the President’s (Trump) pro- posed cuts in Education and the devastating im- pact on Florida’s only state assisted HBCU, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University.
“Additionally, all four of Florida’s HBCUs (FAMU, B- CU, EW and FM) will suffer infrastructure opportunities if the President’s budget cuts are allowed to prosper,” she said.
Mrs. Collins said she has been getting calls from around the country of con-
CAROLYN HEPBURN COLLINS
cern about FAMU being neglected by the legislators. “Alumni come to our
campus and want to know ‘why don’t we have new buildings like other cam- puses.’ This is one of the reasons – no funding,” she said.
The building on campus currently under construc- tion is Center for Access and Student Success (CASS). The school had asked for $22 million to continue the project, but came up empty.
And, there’s no funding for planning and construc- tion of a third building at the FAMU-FSU College of Engi- neering and to hire addi- tional faculty. There also was no money in the budget for the FAMU-FSU College of Education.
The school received $6 million in operational sup- port.
Mrs. Collins said, FAMU did not receive the
request of nearly $5 million for central plant improve- ments, or the $1.2 million sought for agricultural re- search, education and train- ing at its Brooksville location.
Mrs. Collins believes the cuts made in President Trump’s budget will trickle down to the state level.
She explained, The Pros- per Act could have a nega- tive impact on low-income and first generation stu- dents, and higher education as a whole, especially on HBCUs. It would cut fund- ing levels for Title III, which funds the Capitol Finance Program that would provide funding to meet infrastruc- ture needs.
President Trump’s
budget would cut and/or eliminate funding for work- study programs, GEAR UP and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis- tration (NOAA) for the Edu- cational Partnership Program for Minority Serv- ing Institutions.
“This is a request that I am getting: ‘Please assist us in stopping the disruption in the educational needs of FAMU and all of Florida’s HBCUs. As for FAMU, enough damage has been done during this session of Florida Legislation, coupled with Florida’s Board of Gov- ernors’ Performance Fund- ing Model for the SUS.’
“I’m telling them, you have to get folks registered to vote and then get them to the polls,” she said.
Hillsborough County Seeks
Applications For Citizen Boards
And Councils
Applications due April 12, 2018
Hillsborough County Commissioners are seeking residents to serve on several County Citizen Advisory Boards and Councils. Resi- dents interested in seeking appointment must reside in and be registered voters in Hillsborough County.
These are voluntary posi- tions and members serve without compensation. Ap- plicants may apply to more than one board, but may only serve on one board at a time unless specifically ap- proved by the BOCC. All ap- plicants must submit a completed Questionnaire for County Appointments and a Standards of Conduct form. Incomplete applica- tions will not be considered.
The deadline to apply is Thursday, April 12, 2018.
Appointments will be scheduled for a meeting of the Board of County Com- missioners in May or June 2018.
The forms are available in the Commissioners’ re- ception area on the second floor of County Center, 601 E. Kennedy Blvd. in down- town Tampa; by calling the Boards and Councils Coor- dinator at 813-272-5826; or on the County’s website at: HCFLGov.net.
All forms must be signed and dated and all questions must be answered in en- tirety to be eligible. Both forms must be submitted in order for the application package to be complete.
If you apply to a board that requires a background check, you must also submit a Background Investigation Disclosure and Authoriza- tion form.
FYI
DLD Motivational Moments
The “DLD Motivational Moments” have returned to WTMP 1150AM (97.5FM) Radio. Donald Dowridge will present these moments between 8 a. m. and 9 a. m., Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He’ll be giving 60 seconds of empow- erment to start you on a fantastic day.
PAGE 2 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2018