SMC betrays seniors
Editor:
SMC has been boasting that it restored winter session thanks to the passage of Proposition 30. Not true. It has canceled Emeritus' winter session, leaving 3,000 students out in the cold ("Emeritus College loses winter classes," Nov. 28). This is particularly dire for the more than 50 percent who take exercise classes.
Health experts agree that exercise is the key to keeping aging bodies healthy and vital. With the cancellation of the winter session, these exercisers will have an eight-week break between the end of the fall session and the start of spring classes (Dec. 14, 2012 to Feb. 11, 2013).
SMC can't honestly claim it is closing Emeritus for eight weeks to save money. Emeritus' total cost for winter session would be about $160,000, the most cost-effective item in a multi-million dollar budget.
Are they going to continue paying Dean Furuyama his inflated salary during Emeritus' closure? How about the janitorial staff? The rent for the various off-site spaces that host exercise classes? If so, the only "saving" will be a few thousand dollars for part-time teachers' salaries.
Seniors voted to help pass Prop. 30, are supporters of the various building bonds that SMC always seems to need and elect SMC trustees to their post as well as contribute some $200,000 a year in donations to Emeritus. What do they get in return? Betrayal.
Harriet P. Epstein
Santa Monica
