Pierce Must Balance Saving Its Past and Facing Its Future
For 50 years, the farm at Pierce College has served alternately as a link to the past and a path to the future. But now the farm’s own future is very much in doubt, as the community college struggles to meet growing demands with a shrinking budget. Supporters of the farm rallied last weekend to save the land and called on private individuals, political leaders and corporations to step in and help keep the farm open. The Times repeats their plea for outside help. But we also recognize that it may be impossible ultimately to preserve the entire parcel along Victory Boulevard between Winnetka and De Soto avenues untouched by development.
Passionate cases have been made over the past year by preservationists who want the farm and its attendant agriculture program saved, as well as by skeptics who discount the farm’s role in a modern, urban community college such as Pierce. Earlier this month, Pierce President Bing Inocencio used these pages to outline the challenges and opportunities facing the college. Overall, $4.8 million must be slashed from Pierce’s budget this year. In his article, Inocencio pointed out that those kinds of cuts don’t come without tough choices. Field trips or more classes? Student jobs or necessary maintenance? The farm or something else? No department enjoys the luxury of fat budgets and all must share in cuts. Inocencio correctly notes that his main concern is for the long-term viability of the campus as a whole.
Farm advocates contend that sort of talk demonstrates a lack of commitment by Pierce administrators to devote the resources and energy the agriculture program needs to become profitable and successful. That may be true. Inocencio claims enrollment in the program dropped 62.6% between 1981 and 1996 while overall Pierce enrollment fell 42.4% over the same period. Here’s the glitch: Those numbers reflect the number of full-time equivalent, or FTE, students--the mechanism used by the state for funding. But with more part-time students, it is, as Inocencio concedes, possible to have a higher head count and a lower FTE number. Consequently, many agriculture classes are filled to overflowing and have long waiting lists.
However the numbers are manipulated, though, traditional agriculture clearly is not as popular a field of study as it was when the school was founded to train GIs returning home from World War II. Farm jobs are disappearing and the community college system’s mission is to prepare students either for jobs or for transfer to four-year universities. So proposals to turn the farm into a research area as some kind of public-private partnership may not be possible in their current forms. But they are steps in the right direction. Although traditional agriculture programs may not be popular, natural resource management programs are gaining acceptance--and attendance--at schools nationwide. Broader than pure agriculture programs, resource programs also focus on topics such as urban forestry and range management. They deserve the attention of Pierce administrators.
Only so much can be done on campus with existing resources. That’s where outside players like neighbors and corporations come in. Neighbors decry development of the farm, in part because it’s nicer to have green pasture next door than another shopping center. They need to do more than picket the school and sign petitions. How about suggesting workable alternatives, with numbers to back them up? If the farm is a community resource worth saving, then it demands the resources of the community to save it. Corporate partners might be solicited to sponsor programs or provide expertise to revamp curriculum that may be out of date.
In the end, though, some urban development may encroach on the farm. As an administrator, Inocencio would be remiss in not at least thinking about how to exploit the resources at his disposal. That includes the farm’s land. Already, the school is considering a deal to allow construction of a golf driving range. While a driving range may not be the best project, it’s clear that some of the land may have to be used to ease the school’s budget crunch. That won’t be popular. But tough choices rarely are--and those are the only kinds of choices Pierce and its neighbors face in the years ahead.
