Rundown Brahma Blotter

These incidents were reported between April 29 - May 5

Reported by: Jordan Nathan and Rocio Arenas

4/30

Petty Theft class let out was 20 minutes before 10 p.m. She said she would gladly take an early dismissal.

“It’s hard to stay awake in class, especially when you have classes throughout the day,” Ramirez said.

“I’d like to be let out early so I can enjoy my night, hang out with whoever, have a decent meal.”

Pierce student Neil Juarez said that his engineer lab class is mostly autonomous, and unless there is a project, the class is let out early. He said he usually doesn’t mind.

“If it’s a class that I’m particularly enjoying, I’d be a little ticked off,” Juarez said. “As long as correlates to student achievement.

“Our success rates are low and our completion rates are low, so we really want to do something to engage differently,” Dixon-Peters said. “Ask our students, ‘What can we do differently that will help our students be connected and be successful and complete their educational goals?’”

Berger said that a college hour could provide more opportunities for community engagement on campus.

“It would afford us to schedule a meeting time so that more to buy the physical copy of the textbook,” Putnam said. “This makes it cheaper for them.”

Some programs, such as STATway and Algebra Success at Pierce, have fixed textbooks that can’t be changed, Putnam said.

Gediman wants to help with student success goals.

“We see sometimes students don’t buy the textbook and lots of them have electronic devices,” Gediman said. “Our goal is to help students succeed with zerocost courses that use online and printable PDFs.” dzayer.roundupnews@gmail.com

Trophy Of Classrooms

Low attendance equals low grades for students

MONICA VIGIL KPCRadio.com Program Director @monica_a_vigil

Everytime you skip a threeunit class, it will cost you about $5. But if your instructor grades on attendance, you may pay a steeper price.

Professors across California community colleges are not allowed to grade students on class attendance, in accordance to the California Code of Regulations.

“Attendance is not part of a course subject matter or a discipline-specific skill and therefore may not be separately assessed as part of the course curriculum,” according to the same regulations.

However, it goes on to state that instructors may include an “attendance and participation” factor such as in-class quizzes, activities and assignments when determining a course grade.

Though teachers are not allowed to give points to students for showing up, they are able to use in-class assignments as a way to grade those who are in attendance.

Department Chair of Performing Arts Michael Gend said that some classes in his department are deliberately structured in a way that requires students to attend to prove they have mastered the material.

“There is this law where, technically, you can’t grade on attendance,” Gend said. “I think that the reason the participation quote is part of that same rule is to give instructors that have activitybased classes a way to still properly evaluate the students.”

Gend teaches the technical stage production class in which students build the sets for the department’s plays.

“In my classes, participation is almost 50 percent of the grade. My students are very much encouraged to be there and to be it’s not a recurring event, because I think it’s always a fun surprise when the professor lets you out early.”

Agadjanian said that she thinks teachers who dismiss class early have reason to do so.

“Sometimes things happen. Maybe the professor isn’t feeling good, or maybe they assign students work that they can do at home so they compensate for the lack of time in class,” Agadjanian said. “I don’t want to think that teachers just don’t want to teach.”

Classes are offered different times throughout the day to faculty and staff can participate. It would afford students to have student activities,” Berger said. “More students can attend those events because they are less likely to be in class.”

However, she isn’t sure that everyone agrees with scheduling a college hour block, so she is taking all sides in account.

“I know there are some faculty, staff and students would very much like to have a college hour, and then you have people on the other side of the issue as well,” Berger said. “I don’t know where

Agadjanian said that night classes also provide opportunities for teachers. She said she worked conducting research during the day and would come to Pierce and teach at night.

Berger has also taught a threehour late night class and said she knows it can be difficult to keep the class engaged.

“I always kept my class. It was hard, yes, because people get tired,” Berger said. “I would hope that teachers plan accordingly, and that students would enroll in classes and understand that they are signing up and making a commitment to that class as much as the teacher who accepted the assignment.” varredondo.roundupnews@gmail.com everyone is, but I’m trying to remain neutral and be open to whatever comes up.” newsroom.roundupnews@gmail.com

Berger acknowledged concerns that the quasi college hour next semester might be during a time when less students are on campus.

“It might be a little late. Students may not want to stay for an event at 2:30 p.m., but without putting the whole schedule into chaos, this was probably be the least disruptive to that process,” Berger said.

A student reported that his duffle bag was stolen in the North Gym Men’s Locker Room at about 3:40 p.m.

05/03

Student Incident present, because I don’t know how to teach a theater class without having people be in the room,” Gend said.

A student parked in a reserved stall and refused to move the vehicle at an officer's request in Parking Lot 1 at about 11:20 a.m.

Instructor of physics and planetary sciences Craig Meyer said he was not aware such a rule was in place.

“My understanding is that you have a right to establish your grading criteria as long as it’s clear from the beginning,” he said.

Meyer does not grade on attendance or participation because he thinks it is not necessary to police college students about where they choose to spend their time.

“I figure if you don’t come to class, you won’t get the information and you’ll penalize yourself,” he said. “At least in my class, you can’t get it if you’re not here getting the information. It seems to be a self-correcting problem.”

Dear Students,

History is in the making and time is calling out for your attention. The sacred power of education, advancement and equality is the key to the success of our society. Endowed with empathy, devotion and envisioning endless possibilities towards progress, I believe that, you the students are the gateway in passing the solemn transfer of this great power to our next generations. Here in America, we are blessed with the Declaration of Independence that serves us the rights of equal opportunity. It is only upon us to preserve these rights, promoting peace and progress. I stand to remove the burdensome student loan and heavy debt conditions. I stand to create new better paying jobs and to remove economic hardships faced by the students for many years. It is in this noble cause that I stand to serve and protect your future, asking you for your heartiest help and participation. God bless you and God bless America.

I will fight your fight, for your rights and for your future. I will be your champion for humanity. I will set our youth on a winning path and strengthen women in the workforce. Women are pillars of our workforce and TIMESUP for sexual harassment.