UCLA professor strives to help L.A. community colleges

By Octavio Pescador

Pescador's staff is completely composed of former students, fellow scholars and community volunteers. "Our (campaign's) greatest asset is (students') intellect(s)." "(Pescador) is a professor. He will take the students' values and opinion to the board." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNn8UpcensM

Octavio Pescador has constantly preached the importance of active community engagement to his students.

The coordinator for the UCLA Center for Mexican Studies continually pushed them to return to their roots and serve their neighborhoods. Having heard his numerous ideas for social change, his students challenged him to lead by example and apply to the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees.

The Board of Trustees is the community college equivalent of the UC Board of Regents. The seven board members are elected into office and oversee the administrative, legal and financial functions of all Los Angeles community colleges.

Currently, nearly 30 out of every 100 high school students in the Los Angeles Unified School District drop out before graduation. For many dropouts, pursuing equivalency courses at community colleges is one of the only ways to obtain a GED.

Up to 90 percent of LAUSD students who successfully graduate go to community colleges because of financial or academic reasons, Pescador said.

More students have to forgo entry to larger, four-year higher education institutions such as the University of California and California State University because of financial reasons and capped admissions. This has led more high school graduates to opt for community colleges with the possibility of transferring in the future.

However, community colleges are facing a decrease in the number and variety of courses they can offer as a result of tightened budgets, making it harder for students to graduate on time.

Students who have been in a community college for more than five years are less likely to transfer. This could affect the number of transfer candidates to schools like UCLA, Pescador said.

Pescador has worked with transfer students in the past and is interested in the role they play in theUCLA community.

"He understands student needs, now it's just about getting the word out," said Diego Janacua, a fourth-year Latin American studies student who took a class with Pescador in the 2008-2009 school year.

Janacua, a transfer student from Los Angeles City College, has remained in contact with his professor and is currently acting as a liaison between the campaign and nearby community colleges.

... Pescador's staff is completely composed of volunteers.

His staff is entirely unpaid and consists mostly of his former students. Some have graduated a number of years ago and are currently engaged in service and public works.

"(My campaign staff) has a lot more experience than me. I've never been in politics, I've only worked as an academic," Pescador said. "Our greatest asset is their intellect."

Along with alumni, the professor has also enlisted the help of current undergraduate students. Though only a second-year student, Adam Swart is the director of operations and manages the logistics and content of Pescador's campaign.

"This has given me a real insight into L.A. politics," said Swart, a political science student. "I had taken classes on it but I get to see firsthand how it works, how to run a campaign."

Swart said he was recruited into the campaign by one of Pescador's former students, as was Jonathan Bash, the campaign's communications director.

Neither Swart nor Bash had met Pescador before joining his campaign staff, but both were instantly drawn to his cause.

"The other candidates running are sponsored by other interest groups and don't really represent the students," said Bash, a second-year political science student. "But (Pescador) is a professor. He will take the students' values and opinion to the board."

The Board of Trustees election will be conducted on March 8.