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CITY TIMES DANIELLE COULTER THE YEAR IN REVIEW Q&A with new AS president PAGE 4
Covering the San Diego City College community since 1945
Stories from the 2010-11 year PAGE 8 Volume 65, Number 14
CINCO DE MAYO’S COLORFUL HISTORY
Take Note.......................... 2 Arts.................................. 5 Life................................. 10 Voice............................... 12 Sports............................. 16
May 10, 2011
Trimming summer school saves fall and spring session By Megan Rose Bartell City Times San Diego City College’s summer session of classes has been canceled to preserve the fall and spring semesters of the upcoming 2011-12 school year. “By eliminating summer classes as opposed to fall and spring, we hurt our City College students less,” President Terrence Burgess said. “The enrollments that we typically get in summer are disproportionately university students that are coming back for the summer and picking up a class.” According to Burgess, the San Diego Community College District is being forced by the state to minimize the student population by the equivalent of 5,500 full-time equivalent stu-
dents. The state will no longer pay to support this amount of students starting July 1. The 5,500 full-time equivalent students are equal to about 18,000 enrollment seats in classes. Burgess said that the number of classes the district needed to eliminate to downsize by 18,000 enrollment seats was about the same as number classes previously offered in summer school. “We felt that by not cutting fall and spring, more students would be able to enroll full time and therefore be able to preserve their financial aid,” Burgess said. It’s not only students that are being affected, but professors as well. Adjunct or part-time instructors See School, page 14
Mental health resources available for those in need By Alec Fernandes City Times
Grupo Calpulli Mexhica performs ceremonial Aztec dances at San Diego City College’s Cinco De Mayo celebration. Students were invited to join in the festivities, learning simple steps and dancing with the professionals at the May 5 event. Troy Bryant Orem, City Times
The suicide of a 21-year-old male student at San Diego City College on May 1 suggested that not all students know where to get help when dealing with a crisis. City College does offer help, students can receive free therapy at the Mental Health Counseling Center in room A-221. Services include crisis intervention, individual, couple’s and group counseling. The center aims to help students
Local mental health resources City College Mental Health Services: (619) 388-3539 Access & Crisis hotline 24/7: (800) 479-3339 address seemingly minor problems before they develops into a more serious issue. In an email interview, Mental Health Coordinator Leslie Easton See Health, page 4
Infant kidnapped from campus found safe in South Bay Woman pretends to be college employee, tricks mother into handing baby over By Ernesto Lopez City Times A 2-month-old who was kidnapped from her mother May 4 around 1:30 p.m. from the grounds of San Diego City College later was found safe in San Ysidro with the woman suspected of taking the child. The woman, who was described as black, 35 to 40 years old, about 5 feet 6
inches tall and heavy, had pretended to be a day care provider at the campus Child Development Center, at 16th and B Street. She convinced the 16-year-old mother to enroll in a program, said Richard Dittbenner, public relations officer to the San Diego Community College District. Dittbenner said the incident began when the woman randomly started a conversation with the young mother, who had just exited the trolley station near the campus. “The older woman is not an employee at the center and the mother is not a student at City College,” informed Dittbenner at a press conference outside of the facility. “These people have no connection to the school.”
The woman, child and mother walked the three city blocks to the child care center. They went inside but for an unknown reason the mother left the area. When she returned shortly after looking for her child, the baby and the woman had vanished. Dittbenner said the center’s staff did not question the women when they saw her leaving with the youngster because they had no idea of the relationships. Around 4 p.m., the woman was arrested nearly 14 miles south at the Iris Avenue trolley station after she got off with the infant, authorities said. “This was a crime of opportunity,” said San Diego See Kidnapped, page 4
San Diego City College administrators get briefed by campus police about the kidnapping that took place at the school’s Child Development Center on May 4. The child’s mother had entrusted a woman who reportedly said she was an employee at the child care facility. The toddler was found safe hours later with the same woman, according to authorities. Troy Bryant Orem, City Times