Due to budget cuts, the Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement (MESA) program might be cut next year, leaving students with fewer scholarship opportunities and depriving them of a comfortable place to group-study.

MESA encourages low-income students pursuing math or science-based degrees to transfer to universities, through providing workshops, transfer information and peer facilitation. Yesenia Reyes, peer facilitator and program assistant, believes that students might not be as successful without the program because they will no longer have a place to study together.

“This is where I do all my homework; this is where everyone does their homework, so we can go crazy writing out physics problems on the board,” Reyes said.

“If MESA center is cut, we won’t have that comfortable zone.”

Reyes says that the program is successful mainly because it allows students to work together and help each other study.

“If they take MESA away, students won’t have a place to study where noise is acceptable,” Reyes said. “Here you can share your ideas.”

MESA director Arturo Hernandez also believes that students would miss the kind of study environment that MESA provides.

“They (MESA students) love this program; they love that we have this place,” Hernandez said. “This is like their home; they can study, they can rest, they can listen to music.”

Since the program began in 1999, 112 MESA students have transferred to four-year colleges and universities.

“They (MESA students) excel in their math and science courses because of the help that they get in the MESA center…they transfer successfully,” Reyes said. “MESA is a key word for universities. They tend to accept people who come through these types of programs.”

MESA also provides students with transfer information and opportunities for internships, scholarships and attending leadership retreats that MESA students, including Marina Setiawan, need.

“MESA has helped me a lot because I get a lot of information about universities, scholarships and anything having to do with engineering,” Setiawan said.

Hernandez is hopeful that EC will continue to provide funding for MESA, because of strong support from the faculty.

“If we continue to do a good job, we’ll still be around, but it’s no guarantee,” Hernandez said.

The MESA center is located in the basment of the Math Building and about 60 students per day use the center because of its unique environment. Students can study and socialize at the same time.

Most said that MESA is an environment that they believe provides services no other place on campus can provide.

“It’s a nice place to get to know people. You get to know people in the same field as you,” Setiawan said. “I really hope they don’t cut it.”