2009_0127_CT_v63i9

Q OUR NEW PRESIDENT Duties to ourselves, our nation and the world VOICE / PAGE 3

CityTimes www.sdcitytimes.com

Covering the San Diego City College community since 1945

Volume 63, Number 9

January 27, 2009

City feeling the squeeze

Enrollment grows as funds dissipate Evonne Ermey City Times Fewer class sections, larger class sizes, and shorter student service hours. The following are what students can expect upon their return to City College this semester as administrators do their best to trim fat off of bare bones in the face of mid-year budget cuts.

The cuts proposed in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 200910 budget would relieve the California public education system of some $6 to $10 billion in state funding. City College President Terrence Burgess expects that City College’s share of that cut will be approximately $1.8 million.

With the implementation of a hiring freeze and the dissolution of 60 to 70 sections from the class schedule administrators hope to reduce this year’s expenditures by $915,000, leaving the remaining $811,000 deficit to be absorbed next year.

Cutting sections in a way that produces the least negative impact is the ultimate goal for administrators.

“Sections will be cut determined by a combination of enrollment patterns. What impact will cutting a section have on the program? How many total sections are there in the program that are loaded at 80 percent? If we cut one section will they have a good chance of getting into another section? The big issue is fill rate and demand. These things

don’t usually change. These are trends,” said Richard Dittbenner, director of Public Information and Government Relations for the San Diego Community College District.

Still, both Dittbenner and Burgess acknowledge that some students with inflexible schedules will feel the impact of the cuts.

The only departments that have not been subjected to the knife are the Sciences as they are the most in demand.

As for the 2010 school year and the remaining $811,000 in reductions needed, “Frankly, we’re kind of running out of places to look for the other $811,000 there are only one or two things we can do. Reduce the class schedule further or reduce student services,” said Burgess.

Reduced services may come in the form of less library hours and the elimination of Friday classes from the summer intercession.

The four week intercession option for summer has already been dissolved.

“We are doing scenario planning right now. It depends on what the state is going to do,” says Burgess.

Another challenge to the College’s emaciated budget comes in the form of rising enrollment rates. College freshmen finding their plans to attend UC or CSU thwarted by cuts in freshman admissions this year have suddenly found themselves seeking

Michele Suthers City Times

City celebrates civil rights leaders old and new City College student Abdulkadir Ahmed portrays President-Elect Barack Obama on Jan. 17, lip-synching to the now-president’s speeches, on City’s Martin Luther King Jr. parade float in Tailgate Park, located by Petco Park. Behind Ahmed, City Counselor Tandy Ward portrays King. More than 100 City College students, faculty and staff represented the campus at the parade, according to Student Affairs Dean Denise Whisenhunt.

See Budget, page 4

College boasts higher than average transfer rate Emily Mather City Times City College’s higher-thanaverage transfer rate has caught the attention of the Transfer Leadership Center (TLC), which has featured San Diego City College in its most comprehensive case study to date.

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Community College Chancellor’s Office, Santa Barbara City College, the RP Group’s Center for Student Success and California Partnership for Achieving Student Success (Cal-Pass), City College is participating as one of the top seven two-to-four-year California community colleges with a consistently higher than average transfer rate, according to a

cohort study conducted by the State Chancellor’s Office of the California Community Colleges.

In the course of the study, visits to City College, interviews, and focus groups with students, counselors, faculty, administrators and high school counselors were conducted to conclude the many common factors that lead to high transfer rates. Common

Take Note

Q Welcome week

Information booth, located in front of A-111 www.sdcity.edu/WelcomeWeek.asp

factors included determining a prospective student’s educational goals by their career interests, having an enthusiastic and caring faculty, classes and programs that address and promote further transfer for students to move forward, and an honors program that has alliances with 12 universities.

When discussing vocational

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education and transfer, City College Vice President of Instruction Mary Benard stated they are of “equal importance, high priority for us.”

“We’re a dream incubator, and our students come with a lot of different needs. We’re a classic community college. We meet

See Transfer, page 2

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City Times

Calendar / NEWS

TakeNote Compiled by Shevaun Brandom Get your event or club meeting in the paper. E-mail us at citytimes@gmail.com or call (619) 388-3880

January n Jan. 28 Softball at Santiago Canyon College 3 - 5 p.m.

First regular season game of the 2009 season.

Men’s Basketball at Cuyamaca 7 p.m.

February n Feb. 2 Associated Students Weekly Meeting 3:30 - 5:30 p.m.

D-106 or B-103 http://www.sdcity.edu/studentresources/campuslife/AS n Feb. 4 Photojournalist Keith Harmon Snow lecture and photos. 11:10 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Saville Theater. His work on human rights issues around the world,

Transfer Continued from page 1 students where they are,” added Vice President for Student Services Peter White.

City College President Terrence Burgess said that support of transfer as “part of my being,” emphasizing the growing interest in incoming transferring students and currently enrolled students looking to transfer on to one of the eleven four-year USArmy.SDCC.4.9x7.7.BW.ai 11/18/2008 3:31:35 PM

emphasizing the importance of individual contribution to resolving global problems. See his work at allthingspass.org. Contact Julie Kitterman World Cultures Assistant 619-388-3552. n Feb. 6 Last day to receive, process and pay for add codes.

Deadline to drop classes with no “W” recorded n Feb. 9 Last day to drop and be eligible for refund of enrollment fees and/or non-resident tuition. n Feb. 11 Lecture on protecting the ecosystem of the Oceans and our role in minimizing the dangerous impact of plastic pollution. 11:10 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

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universities that visit City College on a regular basis. When asked what improvements would be made to support transfer rates, most responses dealt with the need for additional counseling staff.

City College’s presidential support of transfer, Transfer/Career Center, caring faculty that are committed to success and communication with students, and linking career interests of the student to their course planning has brought an overall supported increase in transfer rates that will be continually evaluated and improved as long as students transfer.

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January 27, 2009

January 27, 2009

City Times

VOICE

3

Obama, finding solid truths in abstract ideals “I would like to be the first black president,� said the 8-yearold me to my mother. “Don’t you want to leave open the option that someone could get there before you’re old enough,� was her coyly voiced reply.

What’s a kid left to do but cross her arms, sigh and give a

vexed, “Yeah.�

Well, with President Barack Obama, the target of first black president has been hit, but I must note that this has occurred after my having reached the Constitutional requirements. Being a Southern girl, 8 was already little bit late to start down the path of

CityTimes Volume 63, Number 9 January 27, 2009 www.sdcitytimes.com Published as: The Jay Sees / 1945-1949 Fortknightly / 1949-1978 City Times / 1978Incorporating the newspapers Tecolote, Knight Owl and Flicks

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San Diego, CA 92101 Newsroom: T-316 Phone: (619) 388-3880 Fax: (619) 388-3814 E-mail: citytimes@gmail.com Program homepage: www.sdcity.edu/citytimes

City Times is published twice monthly during the semester. Signed opinions are those of the individual writers and do not necessarily represent those of the entire newspaper staff, City College administration, faculty and staff or the San Diego Community College District Board of Trustees.

District policy statement This publication is produced as a learning experience under a San Diego Community College District instructional program. All materials, including opinions expressed herein, are the sole responsibility of the students and should not be interpreted to be those of the college district, its officers or employees.

Letters to the editor Letters to the editor are welcome, 350 words or less. The staff reserves the right to edit letters for grammar, spelling, punctuation and length.

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political ambition.

I didn’t jump on the Obama wagon right away. I watched as classmates and others of various ethnic backgrounds hopped on with enthusiasm. One student’s enthusiasm was particularly contagious. I signed up to receive notifications from one of her Obama boards.

In the back of head was the thought, “but doesn’t everyone know that it’s Hillary Clinton’s year?� That thought paired with a basic non-belief that an African American President could be elected this time around, left me with a deep ambiguity.

I knew that my vote would most likely go to one of the these two candidates. Since there were no glaring differences in their political platforms, as an African American woman, I first began to think about which identity had more of my loyalty, ethnic or gender. No need to pause on that one. Gender was the winner with much room to spare.

Though not actually Southern, Hillary had proven herself a successful transplant while living in the governor’s mansion in Arkansas. As a Southerner myself, this gave her some leverage. And Americans have shown some amount of preference for Presidential candidates with a drawl.

Obama’s campaign message was an enormous appeal. Comparing the outlook of my friends and acquaintances who preferred one candidate over the other, Obama successfully came across as the candidate of hopefulness.

Perspective Sonjiala Hotchkiss

In the end, my mind and my vote were guided by a hope of attaining the most precious of intangibles.

The Hillary camp had a few too many sword wavers for my taste.

And then there were the Kennedy slights. First, a Hillary staffer ranted ad nauseam about her belief that President John Kennedy’s contribution to the Civil Rights Movement were miniscule. After being late with her apology for this misstep and running second in polls for the Democratic nomination, she supported her decision to stay in the race with distasteful references to timing of Robert Kennedy’s assassination.

Making my way back to a Southern culture reference, growing up I never heard much good said about either Yankees or Catholics. That being said, Southern Democrats surely did love themselves some Kennedys.

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Though not a democrat myself, to read the Kennedy family speak on public service made me swoon with national pride, John and Robert in particular.

I began to imagine a dark skinned family in all those White House photo ops. I closed my eyes and saw the Obamas getting on the plane to Camp David, he family playing with mischievous and lovable family pooch, President Obama pointing to familiar faces in press core for questions.

I was excited watching the Presidential Debates. Obama’s calmness and dogged dedication to diplomacy impressed me.

Obama’s administration was dedicated to keeping avenues of communication open with friends and foes. In my mind Obama understood the quiet darkness of the deep seas as a well as the surface swells and choppiness.

In the end I thought of neither gender nor ethnicity. In the end, my mind and my vote were guided by a hope of attaining the most precious of intangibles.

President Barack Obama spoke “...a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task. This is the price and the promise of citizenship.�

Sonjiala Hotchkiss is City Times’ online editor

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City Times

NEWS

January 27, 2009

Budget

Continued from page 1

colleges. This, combined with the rising enrollment that is a general symptom of economic turmoil, means less money and more students for City.

“Enrollment grew about 6 percent in the fall. Early numbers from last week show us running 15 percent over what we were doing last year,” said Burgess in a phone interview on Jan. 16. “For us to cut

community college funding at a time when we need them more than ever is shortsighted.”

“We’ve never experienced anything like this in California. Community colleges have never experienced anything like this.

We’ve never had a recession this deep in modern history,” echoed Dittbenner.

With the forecast for community colleges looking bleak, Burgess urges students to be proactive. “Students can be very effective in having a voice that is heard. I hope students will be motivated to contact their local government officials and senators.”

Join the City Times staff and pick your path

CARLOS MAIA City Times

Students pay for aid with time One week before the beginning of the spring semester, City College students wait in line at the in front of the financial aid office on campus eager to speak to one of the clerks about their particular financial eligibility.

Contact City Times at (619) 388-3880 or at CityTimes@gmail.com