Aquarium flush with funds

Lindsay Sandham

Orange Coast College students can expect to see some changes to the

student-run aquarium when they return for classes next fall, thanks

to a significant budget increase.

The Associated Students of Orange Coast College, the school’s

student governing body, will give the aquarium $2,000 to help operate

and maintain the exhibits, marine biology professor Dennis Kelly

said.

The money will be used to replace old equipment and upgrade

current exhibits.

Last year, the aquarium received $1,513 from the student

government and $500 the year before.

Historically, the Associated Students has granted the aquarium

$300 to $400 per year, Kelly said.

This year, aquarium senior manager Larissa Clary’s impressive

presentation led the committee to increase the amount once again.

“I gave a presentation emphasizing what we do for the community,”

Clary, a 21-year-old marine biology major, said. “With Science Night

and our open house, it’s a good reflection on the school. They were

pretty responsive to my presentation.”

Throughout the year, the department holds several events to raise

support for the aquarium. A lot of the equipment is old, and although

they repair it as needed, some of it needs to be replaced, Kelly

said.

“Hopefully, with this little bit of money we got, we can change

some stuff around,” said Erik Carlson, one of the student managers.

“We can buy some new pumps and some new filters.”

Adam Ereth, another student manager, said new equipment should

ease their workload because they will not have to clean the tanks as

often.

“Probably by the end of summer, our tanks will look twice as good

as they do now,” Kelly said.

While classes are out during the summer, the student managers are

responsible for all of the feeding and maintenance work.

Every semester, when the aquarium class is wrapping up, Kelly

recruits a handful of students to teach the ins and outs of running

the aquarium, so they can take over as managers the following

semester.

This summer, not only will the student managers be training the

incoming managers, but they will also be updating and beautifying the

tank exhibits.

“It’s a lot of work because you don’t have people in there

everyday,” Carlson said. “We still give it the highest level of care

-- the day-to-day stuff doesn’t change.”