ROBLES CONTINUES TAKING HITS FOR JULIET

I saw a man pursuing the horizon;

Round and round they sped.

I was disturbed at this;

I accosted the man.

“It is futile,” I said,

“You can never —”

“You lie,” he cried,

And ran on

by Stephen Crane



By Juan Montoya

Even as the writing is on the wall for TSC-UTB president Juliet Garcia and her new and improved partnership between the college district and the UT System, trustee Robert Robles remains doggedly on the hustings trying to force the board's majority to bend to her will.

Last week it was the city commission at Port Isabel. The latest forum chosen by the indefatigable heart surgeon according to the TSC-UTB Collegian newspaper, was the student senate. His horror show was dutifully reported in the ultimate media vehicle for his captive audience.

Robles is reported in the college media organ to "pass a resolution that supports the dissolution of the community college district and handing UT-Brownsville the 'full' responsibility of providing all higher education programs."

The Collegian reported that Robles told the student group they must act fast.

"The matter is so serious … I feel that it has reached crisis proportions, that we need to make a decision quite quickly, fast,” Robles told the senate during its meeting Tuesday.

Then, as if unaware of the contradiction in a trustee elected to represent the taxpayers of the community college district, he urged them to pass a resolution that supported measures which would in effect dissolve the district.

He asked the SGA to pass a resolution that supports:
--the dissolution of the community college district and cancellation of district property taxes as soon as possible;
--the transfer of all assets of the college district to the University of Texas at Brownsville free of charge;
--giving UT-Brownsville full responsibility for providing all higher education programs and services at the university and community college level at competitive tuition and fee rates.
Wisely, and much to the students' credit, the senate tabled the action on the resolution for further review.

Robles selectively reviewed the chain of events that led to his startling proposals. He outlined how on Jan. 19, University of Texas System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa met with the TSC board of trustees to discuss options regarding the future of the partnership and how it will impact the students and community. The majority of the trustees, he admitted, favor the separation of the institutions.

This would, in his view, " cause an increase in cost to run the institution on both sides, both on the university and the college.”

Then, dangling the tax-increase bogeyman he has pulled out of his hat with social organizations and public entities, he said the local residents can say goodbye to the $20 million the UT System provides yearly to operate UTB/TSC.

"Everyone who is a business person, that owns property, taxpayers [in] the district, will probably see their taxes double, if not triple,” he said. Moreover, Robles told the terrified students, there is a sense of urgency.

"March 15 is the last day that anyone can file a bill for the current legislative session so that it can be looked at and discussed at the [Texas] Legislature in Austin,” he said.

Oh, and by the way, he continued, if UTB and TSC separate, there will be an increase in administrative costs and that may be transferred onto the student.

“Even though they are talking about lowering tuition, I’m not sure [it’s possible] in this economic climate, you know with [the state being] $27 billion dollars in the hole,” he said.

“Please, I am pleading that you show up to the Feb. 17 [TSC board] meeting at Gorgas Hall,,”
he told them.

It was interesting to note that Robles did not mention to the student leaders that UTB-TSC was already dealt a 5 percent budget cut last fiscal year, followed by a 2.5 percent reduction this fiscal year.

Now UTB-TSC officials are now being told they’ll have to bear a 20 to 25 percent cut in state funding for the biennium, or just under $10 million a year over the next two years.

With tuition and fees already the highest in the state, students will be asked to pay more and layoffs are in the works.

Additionally, UTB-TSC will be forced to lay off around 150 faculty and staff according to current budget projections and the school is facing a proposed 50 percent reduction in the need-based TEXAS Grant scholarship program upon which about 700 students rely for financial assistance for the four years it takes to earn a bachelor’s degree.

With all these dire storm clouds in the works, why isn't the good doctor railing against the $38,000 salary increase that his boss and benefactor Juliet Garcia granted herself for the 2010-2011 school year?

"These next six weeks are going to be very intense," said a trustee. "Juliet is going to pull out all the stops and Robles is going to be her point man. We hear that his next stop is the Brownsville Lion's Club. She is literally throwing him to the lions."