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PROP. 8 DEBATE
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A Pro and Con on overturning law PAGE 3 Volume 65, Number 1
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August 31, 2010
College unexpectedly adds classes By Ricky Soltero City Times With the ongoing dispute over how to fill the budget gap and the several budgets cuts that have hit San Diego City College over the last two years, the college unexpectedly added about 287 extra units this semester. For the last two years, classes would fill quickly and many students looking forward to transferring or graduate had to wait longer
to take required courses. “First semester it seemed hard,” said Michael Robles, a City College student. “Everything seemed full even after my counselor appointment. But everything has gotten a lot easier (this semester).” A local news outlet recently reported that the San Diego Community College District had cut approximately $10 million in the past two years, but this year it was estimated that 1,150 additional classes despite the
budget reduction. “The stimulus for the increase, I believe, is largely due to an unprecedented students demand that has resulted in over 98 percent of all available class seats (being) occupied.” City College President Terrence Burgess said. City College Vice President of Instruction Mary Benard said the number of sections increased by 25 percent compared to fall of 2009. Classes were 90 percent full as of Aug. 21 and there are 6,196 stu-
dents on waitlists for classes. “We have been experiencing extraordinary demand since the financial meltdown in 2008. We believe the high unemployment, the loss of jobs, and reduction in capacity at the universities are all contributing to increased enrollment,” Vice Chancellor Lynn Neault said. There is also a state law requiring 50 percent of budget expenditure to be implemented for instructional classroom categories.
“This fall, a decision was made to ensure compliance with the law and to meet some of the extraordinary demand,” Neault said. Although Burgess assures that every year the district has been compliant with this rule in the past. “We are adding classes district wide is to assure that we are not required to further cut student support programs, such as library services, and to maintain a 50-50 balance between instructional and non-instructional expenditures.”
Students urged to get pertussis booster shot By Nico Smedley Contributor Nurses in the Student Health Services office are urging City students to get booster shots to increase their immunity against pertussis (the illness more commonly known as whooping cough) as it continues to spread throughout California. Debbie Helm, a family nurse practitioner who
“I think it is a big deal anytime someone dies because of an illness that is completely preventable with vaccination.” Debbie Helm, nurse practitioner works on campus, especially encourages those who are regularly in contact with infants or with anyone who has a compromised immune system to get the injection. Helm notes that the main defense against the disease for members of that population is through the immunity status of those around them. The reported numbers of whooping cough cases in California have been on the rise this year. According to the California Department of Public Health, 2,774 cases had been reported as of Aug. 10, which is about a seven-fold increase over the 395 cases reported through
the same date in 2009. Additionally, seven infants have died in California by Aug. 10 of this year, compared with three throughout all of 2009. While many students may not feel that something like whooping cough is worth taking the time and money to vaccinate themselves against, Helm said she hates the fact that people are dying from something that is relatively easy to avoid. “Is the epidemic a big deal? Yes and no,” Helm said. “As far as there being large numbers of people in the state coming down with severe illness or death, no, it is not such a big deal. However, I think it is a big deal anytime someone dies because of an illness that is completely preventable with vaccination.” “I do wish more students would come in to get the vaccine,” she added. Most people do not consider whooping cough to be a serious illness worth worrying very much about, mainly because a vaccine that provides immunization against it has existed since the 1940s. According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, before the creation of the vaccine pertussis, deaths in the United States were between 5,000 and 10,000 each year before the creation of the pertussis vaccine; whereas, after vaccinations became readily available, the figures went down to around 10 per year. See Cough, page 2
Construction workers work to fix a broken pipe moments after accidently hitting it on Aug. 23, the first day of fall semester classes. The accident caused students, faculty and staff in the C building and other areas to be without air conditioning for several days. Carlos Maia, City Times
Broken AC turns up heat in classrooms Construction crew hits pipe carrying water for air conditioning By Coatlicue Villanueva City Times While drilling near B Street on Aug. 23, construction crews at City College hit an unidentified pipe that carries chilled water to the air conditioning units in the C building. This caused many professors and students to be without air conditioning on the first day of fall classes. According to Jerry M. Davis, Vice President of Administrative Services on campus, construction crews were “in the process of installing a retaining wall.” While doing this, a pipe was hit
that was not shown on the plans they were given. Current plans date back to the 1970s. Professors Elva Salinas and Ana Rogers teach classes in the C building and had to carry their own fans to class everyday in an attempt to cool down the air for their students and themselves. “It’s intolerable in the classroom,” said Rogers, who had to hold her class outside due to the heat. “Students are literally pouring sweat.” Some became so nauseous that some had to step outside her classroom in order cool down. Rogers jokingly said how she uses her classroom as an example of Native American sweat lodges in her history class. “I’ve worked here since 1975 and I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Salinas, who also experienced her stu-
dents becoming nauseated due to the heat. “The air gets suffocating.” Salinas added that they still keep teaching despite the heat. “Faculty are masters at adapting and incorporating their environment into the learning for their students,” she explained. Crews worked through the night to try and repair the damage. Originally the time given for the repair was 24 hours. This schedule has now been extended to “a couple of days,” according to Davis. Davis sent out an e-mail Aug. 23 explaining the situation and that construction crews were in the process of replacing the leaked water as well as checking the current stability of valves. He assured that construction crews were “doing everything in their power to get the air conditioning back as soon as possible.”