ABOVE THE FOLD Progress on Mathematics and Social Sciences building may mean more parking soon PAGE 4
CT CityTimes
Covering the San Diego City College community since 1945
Volume 67, Number 1
OUTREACH Expo bestows knowledge and workplace skills on youths
August 21, 2012
Weekly at sdcitytimes.com
ADMINISTRATION
Burgess to retire City College president has been at campus since 2001 By Jennifer Manalili City Times
Signs hung around the campus, direct attendees to various workshops and speeches. Troy Orem, City Times
A passport to a new life Expo focuses on giving youths skills to help them achieve By Adam Burkhart City Times Roughly 800 youths crowded City College on August 14 for the Passport to Life Career and Education Expo, an event for the benefit of youths on probation in the San Diego Superior Court system. The message iterated by organizers and speakers was that law enforcement and the courts want to stop crime not solely through incarceration, but also by guiding youths to the right path. “We’ve all made mistakes,” said Juvenile Court Judge Carolyn M. Caietti, “but that doesn’t mean it has to define [our] future.” Caietti began the program four years ago for the young people who she saw could use encouragement and guidance during a difficult time in their lives. She believes that having City College host the event can have a big impact on youth setting foot on the college campus. “It’s City College that I think has made a difference,” she says. “Just by showing up, [they] see that they can go to college.” A big focus of the expo is, of course, introducing young people to career possibilities. Karen Dalton, public information officer for the San Diego Superior Court, acknowledged the obstacles faced by job applicants with a criminal record: “It’s difficult enough to get a job when you have a clean slate and a college education.”
Following the conclusion of the 2012 - 13 academic year, Terrence J. Burgess will retire from his position as President of City College after serving for 12 years. Burgess made the announcement at the college’s Convocation program on Aug. 17 and also relayed the message through email. “I have made this announcement early, as I want City College to have an academic year to prepare for the leadership change and to assure that the transition is orderly,” he said in an email announcement to the campus. He will depart following Commencement in May.
City College President Terrence J. Burgess will be leaving after 12 years. City Times file photo “The City College presidency is far-and-away the zenith of my professional career, a career which has been blessed with many wonderful things. I will continue to champion City as I continue to support your remarkable work and innovation while preparing for your new leader,” said Burgess. See Burgess, page 4
HIGHER EDUCATION
City College hosts the 4th annual Passport for Life: Career and Education Expo. An expo which focuses on giving young people on probation, skills and life lessons that can benefit them. Troy Orem, City Times To give young probationers a leg up, Passport to Life offers workshops where they can begin to learn about developing personal skills and habits that will serve them in school and at work, as well as available scholarships and student aid. Around 80 organizations comprised of representatives from schools, the military, training services and companies looking to employ workers set up informational exhibits in Gorton Quad. Hosmar Hernandez, 19, who is currently finishing up a 10 month prison term, was released for the day, under
supervision, so that he could attend Passport to Life. Hernandez’s story is unique, yet the experience of parents frequently absent during childhood and an abusive father is perhaps familiar to many teens convicted of crimes. “I was kind of…an emotional kid,” said Hernandez. “Them not being around that much, I felt like I needed something all my life.” Hernandez said his best memories come from the time his mother quit working to stay home
RALLY DRAWS BIG NAMES Prop. 30 supporters gather at steps of B building SDCITYTIMES.COM
See Passport, page 3
CSU turning away in-state students By Carla Rivera MCT Campus LOS ANGELES — The California State University system is embroiled in a controversy over plans to admit higher-paying out-of-state and international students to its undergraduate and graduate programs next spring while barring California residents because of state funding cuts. The issue has become so heated that department leaders on some campuses are saying that rather than turn
BOURNE LUNACY Latest installment is lacking PAGE 4
away Californians, they will not accept any students into their programs. “I don’t want to come across as xenophobic,” Maria Nieto, a professor of biology at Cal State East Bay who coordinates her department’s graduate studies, said Thursday. “Diversity from the international community is always welcome. ... But you do not run a program in the Cal State system and exclude California residents from the application pool to bring See Admission, page 3
REACH US
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ABOVE THE FOLD Governor Jerry Brown attends a Aug. 20 Rally at City College to support Prop. 30. PAGE 3
CT CityTimes
Covering the San Diego City College community since 1945
Vol. 67, No. 2
September 11, 2012
Weekly at sdcitytimes.com
URBAN FARM Seeds @ City maintains a self sufficient lifestyle
Jim Sinegal, co-founder, and former CEO of Costco speaks on the second night at the 2012 Democratic National Convention at Time Warner Cable Arena on Sept. 5 in Charlotte, N.C. Harry E.Walker, MCT Campus
POLITICS
City alumnus backs Obama By Adam Baird City Times
City’s Seeds earning green Seeds program supports itself through tough times. By Amanda Rhoades City Times While many academic programs are making cuts in adjustment to California’s looming financial crisis, Seeds@ City Urban Farm at San Diego City College has found room for growth thanks to faculty, student and community support. “The college does pay for two of our classes each semester but it is not enough to keep the farm going,” said Erin Rempala, who manages Seeds in addition to teaching full time at City. Erin In Dec. 2011, Seeds Rempala launched a campaign on Kickstarter.com to raise money with the purpose of building a greenhouse on campus. The fundraiser ended 30 days later with donors giving about $1,500 more than the project set out to raise. The greenhouse is necessary for the programs organic greenhouse management course which could be added to the schedule as early as next semester. Negotiations are currently in prog-
San Diego City College alumnus and Costco cofounder Jim Sinegal gave a speech endorsing President Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention on Sept. 5; Sinegal spoke on his business success and providing a rebuttal to the claim that the current administration is anti-business. “Business needs a president who has covered businesses backs. A president who understands what the
private sector needs to succeed,” said Sinegal in front of a gathering of about 20,000 people at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte. “We recognize that job creation requires time and investment and commitment to the long term. It requires companies that plant and grow, not executives who reap and run.” “But here’s the thing about the Costco story, we did not build our company in a vacuum. We built our See Alumnus, page 9
ADMINISTRATION
Admin. Services gets new leadership (top) A student shows off one of the urban farms, bi-colored pear gourds, one of a large variety of plants grown and sold to support the Seeds @ City program. (above) Seeds @ City student Jake Anzarouth poses in front of the Urban Farm. Photos by Jesse Gomez-Villeda, City Times ress regarding the location of the building. Rempala said that they’ve narrowed it down to two potential sites and are currently waiting on district approval before beginning construction. The farm was developed in 2008 and used for internships. In 2010, City began a sustainable agriculture program offering certificates in urban farming, urban gardening, organic gardening for the culinary arts, introduction to ecological landscaping and advanced ecological landscaping. Students can also obtain an associates degree in sustainable
urban agriculture through the program. “The other piece of this puzzle about keeping the farm growing in this continuing horrendous fiscal climate is we’re trying to make ourselves as financially self-sufficient as possible. Unlike a lot of other programs, we can grow things and sell them for profit,” said Rempala. The farm uses about a quarter of the water that was used to maintain the lot it replaced, according to Rempala.
GRAB YOUR SPORKS Restaurant Week Returns PAGE 6
See Seeds, page 9
By Amanda Rhoades City Times
lege from the University of California, Davis where she served as the chief administrative officer. Although Jacquelin Bell her background is in has been appointed finance, she said it was as vice president her time volunteering at of administrative Solano Community Colservices, filling the lege that brought about position left by the her interest in educapassing of Jerry Davis, San Diego Jacquelin tion. Bell “I became enamored City College President Terrence Burgess by the impact that commuannounced in an email in nity colleges can have in changing lives,” Bell said. August. She served as business “I’m following in the footsteps of a very admired pre- and administrative services decessor,” Bell said. Bell comes to City ColSee Bell, page 9
SUSPECT ARRAIGNED Armando Perez attends bail hearing PAGE 3
INDEX
Calendar................. 2 Arts........................ 5 Opinion................. 10 Sports................... 12
ABOVE THE FOLD San Diego Latino Film Festival commemorates reaching 20-year milestone PAGE 6
CT CityTimes
Covering the San Diego City College community since 1945
Weekly at sdcitytimes.com
STUDENT SERVICES
New Blackboard gets mixed reviews Online tool for City students causing both good and bad reactions By J. Rae Chipera City Times
Saxaphone player Walter Gentr y, a member of the group “Madame LeRoux and Krewe,” performs his solo at the Jazz 88.3 Mardi Gras event on Feb. 12. See stor y on page 7. Thomas Westerlin
March 12, 2013
With the adoption of a social media-style atmosphere, the new Blackboard has some users praising the developers, while irregularities from the software update have others wanting to scrape their fingernails across Blackboard. Starting this semester, City College upgraded to Blackboard Service Pack Ten. English professor and City College’s Online Faculty Mentor, Gwynn Enright, whose job it is to instruct professors on Blackboard use, stated that the new service pack was created by the software engineers as a normal commercial production update. San Diego Community College District converted because the old version was no longer supported by the software creator, according to Enright.
Blackboard’s commercial website says the feature updates were influenced by feedback provided by nearly 600 students and more than 600 instructors at 640 different schools. Not all users are excited about the new changes. “You can’t tell what you’re looking for because the first page is
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It’s not surprising there are glitches. Gwynn Enright
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ARTS Living up Fat Tuesday with jazz
Vol. 67, No. 9
blank. If you don’t know that you have to go to the right side to find your classes, you won’t be able to find them,” said psychology student JoAnne Beck, age 52. Beck is referring to the “My Blackboard” feature, which includes a side-bar drop down menu containing the courses and icons referring to each category of items available, all under a Facebook-style red box notification about messages and activity on Blackboard. According to David Giberson, the district’s Blackboard administrator, the social networking features were
GONZALEZ CASE
STUDENT LIFE
By Allison Browne City Times
Writing contest will award winning students with cash prizes
Perez is ordered out of courtroom Armando Gabriel Perez, 39, the suspect in the Diana Gonzalez murder case, was ordered to leave the courtroom due to lack of cooperation only a few minutes into his arraignment on Feb. 28. Perez appeared before Judge Peter Deddeh at the San Diego Superior Courthouse located downtown at 1:30 p.m. Perez requested to read a lengthy statement that appeared to be several pages long. Deddeh denied him, saying “We’re not going to do
this right now. You’re either going to plead guilty or not guilty or I’m just going to enter a plea on your behalf and take you out of here.” Perez asked why he didn’t have the right to talk. The judge replied that it was not the appropriate time for him to speak, and he only had the right to enter his plea. Perez refused multiple requests from Deddeh to hand the note to the bailiff, resulting in the judge ordering Perez be removed from
Suspect Armando Perez sits in an enclosed box during the arraignment with his attorney, holding a statememt he wanted to recite in court. See Perez, page 2 David L. Wells, City Times
designed to further help link the students and professors online, and to provide a social connection to other Blackboard users. It introduces profiles that students can set up, along with status updates and profile photos in order to make Blackboard function more interchangeably with social media. Enright also noted that there are updated privacy settings, allowing students to opt into or out of new features. “The default privacy settings allow users to communicate with students and instructors in their Blackboard courses. Any communication outside of these limits requires an opt-in from the student or faculty member,” said Giberson. To access other basic user settings, Blackboard users can click on the drop-down carrot next to their name in the upper right corner and then click on “settings.” From there, users can change their personal information and edit notification settings. Other new features for users include a consolidated calendar that can be exported to Outlook or See Reviews, page 2
Calling all writers
By Jennifer Manalili City Times The San Diego Community College District League for Innovation is currently inviting student poets, playwrights, and writers to submit work for their Student Literary Competition. Submissions in the following four categories are welcome:
poetry, fiction, essay and one-act play. The deadline for all entries is April 19. Winners from the district will go on to the national competition and be eligible for publication and cash rewards. $500 will be offered for First Place, $200 for Second Place, and $100 for Third Place in each category. To download an entry form or to see a full list of contest guidelines, visit sdcity.edu/campuslife/leagueforinnovation. A list of previous winners is also available on the website. For more information contact campus coordinator Professor Karen Lim at klim@sdccd.edu.
HISTORY ON FILM
BATTER UP!
Oscar winning film sparks debate over the n-word PAGE 5
Softball team going strong after tournament PAGE 11
INDEX
Calendar................. 2 Opinion................... 4 Arts........................ 6 Sports................... 12