Bittersweet opening

Tom Forquer

A giant pair of scissors cuts through a mound of shredded course

booklets. The glass casing around the display at Orange Coast

College’s art building reads “Budget Cuts Shred Your Future.”

Students’ reactions were mixed on the first day of OCC’s fall

semester. Some students were glad to be out of high school, some were

happy to be progressing in college, but many were concerned about

course availability, selection and cost.

Compared to last year, enrollment dropped 11.4% and total course

offerings are down 22.2%, problems precipitated by the state’s budget

cutbacks, said Jim Carnett, OCC’s community relations spokesman.

“It’s pretty tight out there for high-demand classes,” he said.

Janet Mar, a 21-year-old philosophy major, competed with about 40

students to get into a Philosophy 100 course.

“I’m really stressed out right now,” she said with a hand on her

forehead. “All of the philosophy classes are partially religious

studies,” she said to explain the high demand for the course.

To get into a class that they are not registered for, students can

arrive at the class on the first day to petition -- the act of

convincing the teacher to allow them into a class.

David Feliciano, a 20-year-old biology major, used to forego the

registration process completely and petition all of his classes.

“You can’t do that anymore,” he said.

Though he had no problems this semester, Feliciano has contended

with a scheduling dilemma many students face, holding a job while

going to school. He had to quit his job at a day care last spring to

get a math class only offered in the morning.

Adding to scheduling problems, the amount students pay per unit

has risen from $11 to $18 this year.

“I’m still managing to do it, but it isn’t fun,” said 18-year-old

Megan McCal, who is working at Claim Jumper to pay for her 17 units.

Despite the financial challenges, McCal said she liked her first

day of college much more than she did her entire high school

experience because her classmates wanted to be there.

“It makes class a lot more enjoyable, she said.

With 546 classes less than last year, course selection has been

another concern.

“Our division deans have labored over their schedules to offer a

comprehensive course schedule,” Carnett said.

Directors of Film, Coastal Oceanography and Hemp Effects on

Civilization were some of the classes students noticed missing this

year.

Rosemary Torres, 25, another one of the students petitioning

Philosophy 100, said after making a long list of complaints that

“it’s all worth it,” adding that she was happy to be back in school

“giving my brain some food.”

* TOM FORQUER is a Daily Pilot intern. He can be reached at

tom.forquer@latimes.com.