For two years Dave Cooper has coordinated Butte College’s Study Abroad Program. Cooper, a graduate of UC Santa Barbara moved to Chico in the late ’80’s to bring his daughter closer to his family here. He started working part-time at Butte as a ceramics instructor and eventually got a job as a full-time teacher with the art department.

On Election Day, Feb. 5, Butte College students had a chance to see their tuitions lowered from $20 to $15 and the state’s community college system could have realized an increase its overall budget. It didn’t happen. Proposition 92 failed to capture the simple majority needed to see these things come true.

Les Jauron, an assistant to the president at Butte-Glenn Community College District, said that lack of education in California coupled with higher inflation has led to a lower per capita income here than the national average.

Many of us are wandering the halls of the Chico Center without our morning cup of joe since the disappearance of Coffee's On. The company that offered a variety of mochas, cappuccinos and baked goods up until this semester, failed to renew its contract with the school.

John Gliha, the executive director of development for the Butte College Foundation, said, "It's all economics. We are looking for an alternate vendor. We won't be going back to just the [coffee] bean; we are hoping to expand this service by finding a vendor to also offer food of some kind."

The Butte College Foundation recently added Tom Lando to its board of directors. Lando is no stranger to Butte College.

Formerly the city manager of Chico, Lando helped Butte College in its efforts to build its Chico Center campus. He is the owner of Lando and Associates, a consulting firm. Lando is a member of the Chico Rotary Club, the Youth and Alcohol Committee and serves on the Torres Homeless Shelter board of directors. Lando has been a resident of Butte County for 26 years.