IT's move slowed Despite new home, 9 department members remain in the old building

JORDAN NATHAN

Reporter @JNathan_Roundup

The newly renovated Faculty / Staff and Resource Center may look empty and closed next to the Library / Learning Crossroads, but it is soon going to be home to the entire Information Technology Department.

Vice Associative President of Administrative Offices Larry Kraus said that now that the Faculty / Staff and Resource Center is completed, the IT Department is ready to move in. However, due to configuration issues, some IT members will have to wait longer to relocate.

“It is a very successful thing for the IT Department to move into Building 600. It will still take a while to move the whole department,” Kraus said.

The IT Department's webgroup, Media Center IT and management moved into the new building in July.

According to IT manager Mark Henderson, there are about nine IT members left in the bottom floor of the Pierce Media Center, the department’s previous location.

Henderson said IT members are still in the old building because the school is setting up the Resource Center.

“The configuration means that the electrical and the data networking have yet to be completed,” he said.

Kraus said it’s an ongoing process where the safety teams meet and keep up with things going on both on and off campus and also make sure equipment is working properly and not dated.

“We have training sessions with the team, and they’re constantly getting new equipment and supplies. They’re testing their backpacks and the flashlights,”

Henderson, who has been at Pierce for 11 years, said that the move will be good for him and his technicians. Soon everyone will be able to work together in a newer building, he said.

“It'll be great once we are all over here. It'll be physically great to have us all in one spot,” Henderson said.

According to Henderson, the IT Department's move from the Media Center to the Resource Center is necessary because IT is an important aspect of Pierce infrastructure, and it has different roles that maintain the daily function of technological structures.

“We are responsible for and try to support all the campus technology and applications. We support the district applications on a more local level,” Henderson said. “We are in charge of the school's website, networking, desktop support and server support. Every person here has a function, and each one has specific job classifications.” jnathan.roundupnews@gmail.com

Hank Murphy, an instructor of computer science information technology, said that the move was a step in the right direction.

“The move into the newly renovated 600 Building has been a long time coming, and we certainly hope that it can improve the service as well as their facilities,” Murphy said.

Kraus said. “So, all the time, we’re alway checking and rechecking to make sure we have the most up-to-date first aid and survival quick kits to help students and staff.”

Pierce College has a team that meets periodically to discuss incidents which could lead to unacceptable behavior on campus as a preventive measure of high school, to not feel able to obtain an education. Everyone needs an education,” Tarifa said. “Knowledge is power. If you’re not educated, if you’re not aware, you don’t know how to take the next step in life.”

Student march organizer Gavin Pierce said he hopes this march will show how much free education means to those in need.

“This march is in support of AB19, and our goal is to get eyes on AB-19, because right now, it’s just sitting on the governor's desk. All he has to do is sign it,” Pierce said.

“By publicizing that and gathering the public support for it, we can really push Gov. Jerry Brown to actually sign that.”

Pierce said the passing of this bill would be a major stepping stone toward free education in California.

“And once that happens, millions of students in California are given free tuition for their first year at community college,” Pierce said. Pierce said he thinks Brown has not signed the bill because he is waiting to see if it get’s the support it needs.

“I think this event is going to show that yes, there is a need for it. Yes, there are people who are going to fight for it,” Pierce said.

Once the march headed toward City Hall, participants started to line up to speak.

Human rights activist Melissa Demyan attended the march to support free community college.

“We need to engage with millennials. We need to do more for voter turnout. We need to make sure that our voice is present,” Demyan said. “We will fight with the urgency that we need to have when we’re talking about issues that matter the most to us.”

Demyan said there are not enough student voters. Only 60 percent of millennials are registered to vote, compared to 78 percent of baby boomers and nearly 90 percent who are 70 years or older, Demyan said.

“It’s really important that we’re present at events like this, and that we’re electing millennials to office so they can represent us and our issues,” Demyan said.

Assemblymember Miguel Santiago spoke at City Hall and said that he is fighting for education rights for the future generations.

“Give us that hope. Give us a quality education that isn’t going to put us in debt for the rest of our lives,” Santiago said. “What we are fighting for is a better future than the generations before us, and if we were to do anything for our kids, for our community, to get educated people, we know we can encourage people around us to go to college.”

[For photos of the event, go to page 6. For video of the event, go to roundupnews.com]