Tax help is easy to find here Business Administration lends a hand to the community

weeks. And for the next seven weeks, they are preparing taxes for low-income families in the communities,” Ignatovski said.

Rundown Brahma Blotter

The deadline to file taxes is on April 17. It is fast approaching, but Pierce College has a program that can ease the stress of tax season.

Pierce College provides a resource for students that need help filing taxes—free of cost by creating the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program (VITA).

Department Chair of Business Administration Martin Karamian said the program is sponsored by the IRS and benefits low-income taxpayers.

“It is for people who are low income that make $54,000 or less a year, and it is free of charge,” Karamian said. “We are sponsored by the IRS, so they actually support us financially to provide this service for free.”

Karamian said people must meet specific qualifications to receive tax help.

Self-owned business owners, for example, are not eligible to participate in the program.

“This is for individuals who are either students, low-income earners, people with limited English or elderly people,” Karamian said.

Professor of accounting Stefan Ignatovski said this program helps his students practically apply what they are learning in class.

“I trained my students on how to prepare taxes for three

The students assisting with the VITA program go through a process before they can participate in the program. Students become certified by the IRS after they complete an exam.

“It is very rare in a college that you take a class and apply for a job right away. Usually, you have to wait to graduate to get a job in accounting,” Ignatoski said.

Taltar Hanounek, an accounting student and tutor, volunteers for the VITA program and said it’s helpful and fun.

“I started volunteering for the VITA program last year. This is now my second year, and so far, it has been a great experience for me,” Hanounek said.

Appointments are not necessary for the VITA program. The service is first come first serve for all students and members of the community.

Those interested can go to Business Building 3218 on March 10, 17 and 24, from 9 a.m. - noon to meet with volunteer tax income professionals.

These incidents were reported between Feb. 23 - March 3

Reported by: Jordan Nathan and Rocio Arenas

02/23

•Petty Bicycle Theft

An unknown suspect stole a mountain bike from Parking Lot 7 by cutting the bike lock between 2:30 and 5:30 p.m.

02/24

•Petty Theft

An unknown person stole a math textbook from the Student Store at 12:24 p.m. 02/26

•Property Damage

An unknown person damaged the door to Music 3400.

02/26

•Traffic Collision

An unknown person damaged the door to Music 3400.

2/28

•Graffiti Report opportunity to study outdoors. library has other resources available to students.

An unknown person graffitied the walls with chalk at the Elm 1700 building.

Library Department Chair Paula Paggi said that the patio attached to the library will allow for some extra space.

The Library / Learning Crossroads provides students with resources, such as access to computers, books, and a quiet environment. This semester, it will open an area long closed off to students and expand the study space outdoors. Open space and resources to the library will allow students to explore different avenues of education.

Since the Library / Learning Crossroads opened in April 2013, the patio space located behind Computer Lab B was supposed to be allocated to students to give them an

“Students could sit outside in the fresh air and read, take their tablets and be a little louder compared to being in the library,” Paggi said.

“It’s self-contained. It’s not really an entrance or an exit – they still have to go through the courtyard and front yard entrances.”

Paggi said the project was delayed due to adding security gates and ensuring that the doors work properly with ADA clearance and access.

The new patio space is expected to open after spring break.

In addition to more space, the

One of the newer resources is the ability to rent Microsoft Surface Pros. These tablets are available to be checked out by students for the entire semester. The process of renting a tablet includes providing a valid Pierce student ID and signing a contract taking full responsibility for the tablet. [See Tablet story on front page.]

Pierce Technology Librarian

Clay Gediman said the library has 105 tablets available for check out.

“Fifteen of those only check out for two days and that’s because we have some instructors that use this online test program called Proctorio, an online proctoring program,” Gediman said.

Proctorio is designed to reduce students cheating on online exams and determine how engaged students are in their online studies.

An annual program that the library does is the One Book, One Campus program. It is in its third year and has opened the conversation about numerous social and political topics. Each year, one book highlighting a specific theme is chosen and is used as a tool to help better understand the subject matter.

“I started the first one and I got the “Operation Homecoming” going,” Paggi said. “We just started small and we grew it, and I think it’s a way for us to open understanding.”

Paggi said the program initially started with highlighting veterans, then moved to women’s issue with “I Am Malala,” and are now opening the conversation about immigration with “Enrique’s Journey.”

One Book, One Campus brings awareness to matters that are relevant on campus.

Reference Librarian Mario Macias said choosing a book relevant to today’s social conscientiousness is the intended purpose.

“Usually we pick a book that’s related or highlights a marginalized identity group,” Macias said. “That brings up a lot of issues of social justice, which is always good to talk about and cultivate that activist mentality of what can we do to make our society a better place to live.”

BESA Club Meeting

When: Wednesday, March 7th at 2:30-3:30!

• Where: Birch 1101

• We will be discussing our plans this semester, so bring your friends!

Come

3/1

•Traffic Collision

An unknown person hit a parked vehicle and left the scene without leaving a note in Parking Lot 7.

Pierce College

Sheriff’s Station General Information:

Emergency: (818) 710 - 4311