The student media organization of California State University Northridge

Daily Sundial

The student media organization of California State University Northridge

Daily Sundial

The student media organization of California State University Northridge

Daily Sundial

Loading Recent Classifieds...
The Girls Who Code club met together in Sierra Hall, on Friday, Sept. 15, in Northridge, Calif. Club members played around with a program to create a virtual game.
The CSUN club that’s encouraging women in STEM
Miya Hantman, Reporter • September 18, 2023

CSUN’s Girls Who Code club is just one of many across many campuses and countries, including 110 in...

Students form a crowd for DJ Mal-Ski on Friday, Sept. 8, 2023 in Northridge, Calif.
Matador Nights carnival makes a splash at the USU
Ryan Romero, Sports Editor • September 21, 2023

The University Student Union hosted “Matador Nights” on Sept. 8 from 7 p.m. to midnight. The event...

Image courtesy of Adobe Stock by FiledIMAGE.
Women’s Soccer has Closed the Competitive Gap
Luis Silva, Reporter • September 19, 2023

There is no longer a significant competitive gap in the sport of women’s soccer. There is a brighter...

The line for concert merchandise on the second night of The Eras Tour in Paradise, Nev., on Saturday, March 25, 2023.
My experience at The Eras Tour
Miley Alfaro, Sports Reporter • September 18, 2023

It’s been a long time coming. I began watching The Eras Tour, Taylor Swift’s ongoing concert trek,...

Within the Oaxacan town of Asuncion Nochixtlan, we find my mother’s birthplace, Buena Vista. Photo taken July 29, 2023.
I Love Being Mexican
September 12, 2023
A student holds up a sign during a rally outside of the CSU Board of Trustees meeting in Long Beach, Calif., on Sept. 12, 2023.
CSU board approves tuition increase amid protests
Trisha Anas, Editor in Chief • September 15, 2023

The California State Board of Trustees on Wednesday approved a 6% tuition increase for the next five...

group of mena and women touching hands
Miracles In Action Restores Patients’ Lives and Actualizes their Potential

Educational Opportunity Program cutbacks due to budget crisis

Many students are having their funds cut from the Equal Opportunity Program (EOP) due to the recent budget crisis.
Many students are having their funds cut from the Equal Opportunity Program (EOP) due to the recent budget crisis.

A freeway commute of 20 miles before 8 a.m. and working sometimes until 10 p.m. six days a week is the plight of an engineering student who has had his funds cut from the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) due to the California budget crisis.

Nineteen-year-old Ernesto Ruiz’s life dramatically changed this semester. As an EOP student, Ernesto lived in the CSUN dorms, which allowed him the ability to easily study on campus. With California budget cuts, he could no longer afford to live in the dorms and had to move back home with his parents, some 20 miles away in Koreatown.

Because his funds were cut, he was also disenrolled from some of his classes. During the beginning of the semester, he drove to school before 8 a.m. every day to try and add classes to his schedule.

There are more than 3,000 EOP students in similar situations at CSUN.

Nani Chin, a fellow EOP student, said an EOP recruiter came to Los Angeles High School during her senior year. He told her the benefits of EOP and how it helped students who were the first in their families to go to college.

“We were both interested and so were many of our friends,” she said. “It was really a good program. They gave us a lot of support on campus, not just financially, but academically and socially as well. Then suddenly, the checks stopped coming in or came at a reduced rate, with hardly any explanation.”

Professor Glenn Omatsu, coordinator of the Faculty Mentor Program, said many EOP students enter the program with little knowledge of how to study or actively attend school.

“Mentors try and keep the students on track academically as well as socially,” Omatsu said.

Omatsu explained that EOP puts an emphasis on access and retention and the Bridge program is about motivating students as they begin to take on college.

“The regular campus has a graduation rate of 77 percent. The EOP program has a graduation rate of 85 to 89 percent,” he said. “The Bridge classes are 25 to 27 students, and there are 125 Bridge classes every year. We emphasize skills less and motivation more. We try to integrate academics and student services. Sometimes post-EOP students become mentors.”

EOP is celebrating its 40th anniversary.

“It was started from the ground up by the students. It was not started by the administration and passed down,” Omatsu said.

Omatsu said he is discouraged for the future because 80 percent of students used to receive scholarships and 20 percent received loans. Today, it’s 80 percent loans and 20 percent scholarships.

More to Discover