This week the university announced that due to the budget crisis it will no longer be able to operate the center.

Although the university will not operate the facility the mission of the center and the services that have been offered under Cal Poly's leadership will continue, said Ed Tessier, who with his family has been the principal donor to the Downtown Center project.

Academic projects, community outreach, cultural programs, art openings and other activities will still be offered, he said.

"The only real difference is it will be the (School of Arts and Enterprise) that's operating the center," Tessier said Friday.

Under the current arrangement the university is the operating institution and under its umbrella provides space and coordination for various community projects, Tessier said.

Since the School of Arts and Enterprise opened in 2002 it has had a presence at the center and occupies the second floor of the building and has partial use of the rest, said Tessier speaking on behalf of the Tessier Family Trust which owns the building.

During the 10 years "the Downtown Center has been the impetus of some terrific community programs," said Carol Richardson, dean of the College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences in a statement released late Thursday evening.

"There have been hundreds of outreach and service events, art exhibitions, performances and festivals. We greatly appreciate the efforts of the volunteers, nonprofits, donors, the city of Pomona, and the downtown itself that helped make all of this possible," she said.

Although Cal Poly will no longer be the operator of the Downtown Center the university still plans on being involved in the community, university spokeswoman Uyen Mai said Friday.

At this point, however, the university is evaluating how to best provide programs and services now provided through the Downtown Center, she said.

University representatives are talking with schools and other Pomona entities that could lead to new ways and locations to provide the services now based at the center, Mai said.

"Lots of ideas are still on the table and we have to wait and see which ones are most feasible," she said.

The university is expected to cease operating the center Jan. 31, Tessier said.

In explaining the challenges the university is facing and its reason for giving up operation of the center "it doesn't seem like they really had a choice," Tessier said.

"The good news is that after 10 years the Downtown Center is a very well-established venue," Tessier said.

"Everybody's goal is to not only continue the programming but to see real continuity in services," Tessier said.

Efforts are under way to find a means to have the university continue providing some of its programs at the center, he said.

If it's not possible to achieve such an arrangement other organizations have expressed interest in offering programs there, Tessier said.

Carolyn Hemming, president of the Downtown Pomona Owners Association, said members of the organization are disappointed to hear of Cal Poly's departure from downtown but the news wasn't totally unexpected.

Council members voted 5-0 in favor of the proposed social host ordinance Monday night Nov. 16). Councilmen Freddie Rodriguez and Tim Saunders were absent.

Councilwoman Paula Lantz said she supported the proposal and what it will attempt to do.

"I hope that we really get the cause and effect relationship between loud, unruly parties that have under age drinking and the havoc that wreaks in our neighborhoods," she said.

The push to adopt a social host responsibility ordinance in Pomona came through members of the Pomona Youth and Family Master Plan Community Board.

Board members Bernardo Rosa and Rev. Rick DeBruyne of Lincoln Avenue Community Church researched the matter and had discussions with city staff and members of the Pomona Police Department.

Rosa told council members pursuing such an ordinance is in response to a number of incidents in the city that had connections to parties and resulted in deaths.

Among the most resent incidents is the April 17 shooting of Diamond Bar resident Marquis Leblanc. The 18-year-old was shot at a large house party that drew about 200 people.

The proposed ordinance is not intended to harm cultural celebrations or responsible parties, said Rosa, who recently became co-chairman of the community board.

"This is about saving lives and ensuring we have a clear voice to protect our children," Rosa said.

He added it's also about trying to address underage drinking and "the tragic accidents and incidents that have occurred as a result of unsupervised parties."

The proposed ordinance, which will go before the council for a second and final vote Dec. 7, sets fines and other penalties for owners, tenants or landlords responsible for the house or private property where a person conducts or allows a disorderly gathering to take place.

Penalties start at $100 for the first violation and go up to $500 for the third or subsequent violation, according to a city staff report.

Unruly parties are defined as gatherings where two or more people engage in certain types of behavior including under age drinking, excessive noise, excessive traffic, obstruction of public streets, crowds the spill onto public streets, fights and disturbances.

Those found in violation of the law can be ticketed for an infraction or a misdemeanor in the most serious cases, the staff report said.

In the case of a misdemeanor, penalties would be $1,000 or six months in jail, the report said.

Those who expressed concern about the ordinance were a group of Cal Poly Pomona students active in the university's fraternity organizations including Mark Arranz.

"We feel as a Greek community that this may be a direct attack against our quarterly social events held at our official and unofficial fraternity houses," he said.

Members of the university's fraternities and sororities realized that such an ordinance is meant to "help keep the peace in the city of Pomona," he said.

However, he added such regulations "would interfere with our standard operating procedures and traditions that have proven to be an integral part of developing successful leaders for our future," Arranz said.

The student organizations have put on parties and other social events and have been responsible by having security personnel and checking identifications, he said.

The students groups "just want to make sure if this ordinance does pass it does not completely interfere with us being able to hold social gatherings for the benefit of not only the city of Pomona but all the students of Cal Poly Pomona," he said.

Jeremy Botica, past president of the Greek community at Cal Poly, said the student groups hold parties and other activities especially during recruitment periods that can draw as many as 150 people.

DeBruyne said the motivation behind the proposal is to address risk factors some of the city's youth face and was never aimed at fraternities or sororities.

"It just concerns me a little bit that you think it applied to you," DeBruyne said. "I hope that your parties aren't unruly or that you're entertaining under age drinking."

Councilwoman Danielle Soto asked Police Chief Dave Keetle if there have been any problems associated with fraternities.

There have been problems but none recently that come to mind, he said.

"They never came to mind when this ordinance was being crafted," Keetle said.

The 13-mile run will involve numerous local partners and is being organized by former Olympic pole vault champion and Pomona native Bob Seagren and his company, International City Racing. 

The announcement was made Monday (Nov. 16) afternoon at Fairplex, which will serve as the starting and ending point of the running event.

When it comes to children, "84 percent of middle school students would rather eat their broccoli, take out the trash, go to the dentist or clean their room" than study math or science, said Tessie Topol, director of strategic philanthropy with Time Warner Cable's corporate offices in New York.

In an effort to turn that situation around and make the nation more competitive in these areas, Time Warner Cable will spend $100 million in cash and in-kind resources across the nation to support school programs that inspire children to pursue science, technology engineering and math studies, or STEM, Topol said.

The "Connect a Million Minds" initiative is a five-year project for the company, she said.

The announcement was made at Pomona Unified School District's Montvue Elementary School where students for the second year are developing those skills through the creation of robots.

As part of the announcement, Time Warner representatives also announced the company will donate $15,000 to Cal Poly Pomona which is working with Montvue on the robot project.

Faculty members in the university's College of Education and Integrative Studies and from the College of Engineering work to train teachers and guide them in using robotics to develop their students' STEM skills.

Cal Poly currently works with two classrooms at Montvue and two at Collegewood Elementary in the Walnut Valley Unified School District on the robotics project.

Time Warner's contribution will allow Cal Poly to expand and take the program to another Pomona Unified school as early as spring, said Nicole Forrest Boggs, director of development with the College of Education and Integrative Studies.

"Our funding is meant to enhance and draw attention to programs and take them to the next level," Topol said.

A program like Pomona's is not only educating children but doing so using available resources and partnerships with the district, the university and now Time Warner, she said.

Time Warner's national initiative also calls for a public awareness campaign that includes public service announcements and the creation of a Web site, www.connectamillionminds.com, where parents can learn about programs in their community that will help their children develop STEM skills.

Interested parents will be able to volunteer their time or mentor children through these programs, Topol said.

Among those at the announcement was Assemblywoman Norma Torres, D-Ontario, who thanked Time Warner "for supporting our young scientists."

Interim Superintendent Richard Martinez also thanked Cal Poly and Time Warner for supporting a program that gives students "a hands-on introduction to science and math."

Martinez congratulated students, some of whom participated in the project last school year, for their success in May's Robot Rally at Cal Poly. A Montvue team placed first in the competition.

Students learn many things through the robotics program, among them the importance of being persistent, said Peggy Kelly, dean of Cal Poly's College of Education and Integrative Studies.

With a homework assignment a student rarely goes back to work on the answers he or she got wrong, Kelly said.

Building a robot out of tiny Lego blocks and then getting it to move as students wish means they have to review their work if it doesn't perform as they wanted, Kelly said.

In building a robot students "test again, and again and again ... Concepts then become clearer," she said.

Students in Mary Lou Ortiz-Jamieson's combination fifth- and sixth-grade class were at the event with robots they built recently.

The robot project allows students to develop STEM skills and others such as language arts as they present their ideas to fellow students and try to convince them to use them, she said.

Alex Guzman, a sixth-grader in Ortiz-Jamieson's class, said building and programming a robot looks easy but it's far from it.

"It's very frustrating at times but it's very easy if you relax," he said.

But building a robot also comes with a sense of accomplishment, Alex said.

After working to figure out how to get his robot to do a certain movement he's often happy and looking forward to the next challenge.

"I can move on to something else. It's very fun," he said.

The appointment brought cheers and applause from many of the more than 150 people in the audience, most of them district employees.

Martinez appointment was passed on a 4-0 vote with Board President Andrew Wong abstaining.

Martinez thanked everyone and said he took the response that came from the room after the announcement as a message.

"I think you support what I'm doing and want to continue doing good work," he said.

While Martinez's appointment was welcomed the board action was critisized by some including Tyra Weis, president of the Associated Pomona Teachers.

She congratulated Martinez and said her disappointment "in no way reflects on Mr. Martinez" before telling the board they should have waited and allowed the district's new board, which will be seated Dec. 9, to select the new superintendent.

"You had everything to win by waiting and absolutely nothing to lose," she said.

Lincoln Elementary School parent, Guadalupe Gallegos, said that in the future district officials should "take into account the new board" in making such a decision.

Gallegos went on to say Thelma Melendez de Santa Ana, Martinez's predecessor, "is in the place she is at now for the work she did in Pomona," referring to Melendez de Santa Ana now being a member of President Obama's admininstration

"The group that surrounded her was a good group and among them was Mr. Martinez," Gallegos said in Spanish.