An ‘Empire’ of music
A brand new beginning GWC softball team has high hopes. Sports. 11
Television review. A&E. 6
Volume 49, Number 8 n Golden West College n Feb. 11-24, 2015 n www.westernsun.us
B.A. degrees offered by 15 California JCs Changes could be in place by fall 2015
By Tre Nesbit Sun Executive Editor
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA
For the first time in the Golden State’s history underFLICKR/CREATIVE COMMONS graduates will be able to earn select bachelor’s degrees from community colleges. Legislators passed a bill late last year that will differ from the roughly 50-year-old California Master Plan for Higher Education to allow 15 community colleges throughout the state to offer one four year degree not currently their specific needs…[con- available from Cal State Uninecting] more ready-to-work versities to their students rangAmericans with ready-to-be- ing from automotive technolfilled jobs.” ogy, dental hygiene, and even The plan has stirred con- mortuary sciences. troversy, with some citing the The growing need for percentage of completion of skilled workers in these fields a four-year degree as being pushed State Senator Marty lower for students that attend Block to craft the bill, callcommunity college than those ing the move “a major step in who attend a four year school. keeping California’s higherOthers favor the strengthening education system affordable of the education system, view- and accessible while also ing it as a crucial step towards keeping our state economically the growth needed in this na- competitive in the future.” It’s Continued on page 2 estimated that California will
5 million more grads from two-year schools? Obama sets goal for USA colleges
By Justin Pierce Western Sun staff writer In his State of the Union address on Jan. 27, President Barack Obama announced a plan to reform the American education system in hopes of creating more opportunities for workers to face the competition posed by foreign job markets. Obama set two U.S.
national goals to be achieved by 2020: regaining former status as the country with the highest rate of college graduates in the world, and having community colleges produce 5 million additional graduates. He said that this plan would “lead an across-the-board reform of America’s training programs to make sure they have one mission: train Americans with the skills employers need…connecting companies to community colleges that can help design training to fill
need 1 million more bachelordegree holders by the Public Policy Institute of California. With this bill passed CaliforContinued on page 2
Major security update for the campus By Tre Nesbit Sun executive editor
EMERGENCY PHONE
A major security renovation will be sweeping across Golden West College, updating emergency phones, doors and locking mechanisms, as well as lighting poles in efforts to make our aging campus
safer. “This school was built in the 60’s and hasn’t been continuously updated in terms of security measures,” says Public Safety Coordinator Jon Arnold. “You’ve got things like doors that open outward, which are harder to barricade in a campus shooter scenario as well as a lot of trees which
makes the campus very dark at night time.” Along with replacing the doors so that they open inward, the locks will be replaced with a Door Access Control system. “You’ve got some 400 doors across campus, this system will replace hard keys that can get lost or break with electron-
The Newspaper of Golden West College, Huntington Beach, California
ic sensors that unlock with the tap of a keycard, about the size of a credit card.” Issuing new cards and changing access perimeters on the sensors is cheaper and faster than changing locks and replacing keys. In addition to these benefits the doors can be electronically Continued on page 2