Cheer on the women’s basketball team as it competes in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight Championships on Tuesday in Missouri. President Ortiz and his wife, Betty Faye, are in St. Joseph, Missouri, this week to watch the Broncos in action.

The Bronco Student Center will host a viewing party Tuesday evening. Tipoff is at 6:30 p.m. The game will also be streamed live at www.ncaa.com/brackets/basketball-women/d2/2011.

Last week, President Ortiz celebrated the groundbreaking of a new facility for International Polytechnic High School, or I-Poly, which is run by the Los Angeles County Board of Education. The new building will be adjacent to Parking Lot K and officially open in September 2012.

Ortiz ends his weekly video message with a note about the state budget. The legislature has not resolved whether the tax extensions will be on the June ballot.

“Let me repeat what is most critical, if the proposal fails to get on the ballot, or if voters reject the tax extensions, the CSU may lose as much as another $500 million,” Ortiz says. “For us that equates to a total reduction of $50 million – from a budget of just over $124 million.”

The president encourages the campus community to contact their state representatives and advocate for the CSU. To contact your representative, go to www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html.

To read the video message, download a PDF of the transcript at http://polycentric.cpp.edu/news_stories/presmessage032111.pdf.