City Times - Spring 2019 - Volume 73, Issue 4 by City Times Media

SPORTS: Tennis Family Page 7

LIFE: Displaced Art Students Page 3

CityTimes

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Covering the San Diego City College community since 1945

Volume 73, Issue 4

March 19, 2019

L ow st u d en t i n t er est h u r t s A SG Student Affa i r s a nd ASG w a nt to know w hy there i s low student pa r ti ci pa ti on B Y J E SSE A LTI L I O Staff Writer tudent Affair s wanted to know why the pr evious voter tur nout was so low, noticing only 218 people voted on a campus of over 14,000 students. I ts office had the Associated Student Gover nment poll students to find out why. ?We?ve r eally tr ied to look at why we?ve had fewer students know mor e about the election pr ocess,? said Mar ciano Per ez, dean of Student Affair s. ?I think some of it was tied to not having a cafeter ia, because in the past, that's wher e they held their for ums. ?That?s wher e all the candidates used to campaign. You?d constantly see ?oh, it?s election time.?? Most students don?t know much about the Associated Student Gover nment elections. Students who want to r un should establish whether they can pr ior to campaigning by contacting Student Affair s. Ther e?s a minimum of 100 signatur es to be added to the ballot,

and ever y candidate must be pr escr eened for r equir ements such as minimum GPA. I n r ecent elections ther e have been multiple uncontested positions that had to be appointed after war ds. Per ez said that San Diego City College wants to change that, meaning the school has to get students engaged and out to the polls. ?What I can tell you is that we'r e making a concer ted effor t this year to r eally pr omote the ASG election,? Per ez said. Student Affair s and the ASG plan to hold campaign events to infor m students about topics like who can r un for office, how to declar e your intent to r un for office, how to vote, and for ums wher e students can get to know the candidates. With that in mind, her e ar e some basics about City College?s upcoming ASG elections. Over seeing this election cycle will be, Miguel Antonio Cibr ian, the newly appointed student election commissioner. Cibr ian?s r ole is to manage the

ASG member s, led by pr esident Andr ew Leal (r ight ) and senat e pr esident Sebast ian Dunne, discussed impor t ant issues affect ing t he Cit y College campus. By Jonny Rico/ City Times

entir e pr ocess, be a neutr al thir d par ty, ensur e a fr ee and fair election wher e election codes ar e followed, and handle gr ievances. The San Diego Community College Distr ict plays a similar r ole, ensur ing r ules ar e obser ved and cer tifying

election r esults. The ASG pr esident ser ves as both the r epr esentative of the student body at City College, but additionally ser ves as student tr ustee on the SD CCD boar d. See ASG, page 2

Awar d-winning, on-campus t ax cent er offer s fr ee ser vice Low-income students (and non-students) can file their taxes for free at City College B Y J ONNY R I CO Editor-in-Chief an Diego City College students and community member s have the opportunity to have their taxes pr epar ed and filed at the on-campus VI TA Tax Center for fr ee. The I RS sponsor s the Volunteer I ncome Tax Assistance pr ogr am. City College became a cer tified VI TA location last year. Now in its sophomor e year, the pr ogr am's or ganizer s ar e pleased with the r esults. VI TA is designed to help lowmedium income individuals file their taxes for fr ee. Anyone who makes less than $54,000 per year is eligible for the fr ee ser vice. ?We?ve pr epar ed over 700 feder al and state r etur ns this year,? said associate pr ofessor Shana Car r. ?We have had over $650,000 in r etur ns for our clients so far.? The City College Tax Center was awar ded the 2018 VI TA Rookie Par tner of the Year by the I RS, beating out over 1,000 other VI TA locations nationwide. The center opened on Feb. 4 and will continue to oper ate until Apr il 15. Accor ding to Car r, the possibility of staying open until June to wor k on

back taxes is under consider ation at the moment. The Business Depar tment at City College has been sending its students to VI TA sites to help pr epar e taxes for over 10 year s and r ealized the ?need to have it on campus,? accor ding to Car r. The Tax Center is r un by volunteer students who took a one- week Accounting 132 cour se dur ing the Januar y intersession. Students accumulate valuable exper ience that boosts their r esumes. Car r said the pr ogr am had a total of 70 students who took the class in Januar y, up fr om the 55 students the pr ogr am had in its inaugur al year. Those 70 students ar e now volunteer ing their time wor king at the oncampus Tax Center or other VI TA locations ar ound San Diego. Jaime L opez is one of those students who took Accounting 132 in Januar y and is now one of the 26 students at the City College Tax Center. ?I t wasn?t as har d as I thought it would be,? said L opez, who has exper ience doing his own taxes. ?I t?s infor mation one knows alr eady. I t?s just knowing the patter ns. Pr ofessor Car r did a gr eat job (teaching it). ?I feel if I can under stand it, anyone can under stand it.?

L opez takes delight in being able to get a bigger r etur n for the clients than they thought was coming. ?I t makes me feel like I know my stuff,? he said. The biggest challenge for L opez has been r emaining as pr ofessional as possible. ?I feel that someone that does your taxes has a close look at your per sonal life,? L opez said. ?I tr y not to get too close or too involved.? The Tax Center ?s success has been noticeable fr om the Jaime Lopez enjoys get t ing client s as much money back as possible. By star t and it has been Jonny Rico/ City Times able to navigate But she also explained the change smoothly thr ough tough situations didn't cause any confusion for the like the gover nment shutdown at the students who took the accounting star t of the year and a br and new tax cour se since they wer e lear ning code implemented by Pr esident Don- taxes for the fir st time. ald Tr ump. ?I think it was a bigger challenge ?The new tax law did change the for our pr ofessor s than for the stucur r iculum,? Car r said. dents,? Car r said.

CITYLIFE

ASG

sdcitytimes.com | March 19, 2019

As pr esident they advocate for students dur ing administr ative meetings, sit on shar ed governance committees, and r epr esent City College at functions and events. As student tr ustees they meet with local officials and state lawmaker s, such as gover nor Gavin Newsom. City College?s student delegation r ecently met with Newsom and other student gover nment r epr esentatives fr om acr oss Califor nia. ASG positions ar e open to all students except pr esident and vice pr esident, which ar e only open to students who have completed at least one semester in another ASG r ole. This ensur es leader ship has pr ior exper ience and has a wor king knowledge of the ASG constitution, which must be r atified ever y thr ee year s by the student body. Senate seats ar e deter mined by the pr evious fall semester enr ollment. Since last semester ?s enr ollment was down, ther e will be less senate seats. Ther e?s often enough uncontested positions that appointments have been common. Students looking to jockey for the pr esident or VP should be able to complete the exper ience r equir ement. Candidate tur nout appear s consistent with pr ior elections this year. A clause in the ASG constitution states that the one-semester exper ience r equir ement can be waived, but only if a faculty member can pr ovide a letter that details why a pr ospective candidate has sufficient skills or past exper ience fr om outside of the ASG. Voting will be online via student accounts on Reg- e and on sdcity.edu. This ties each vote to a single user and pr ovides an easy way for the distr ict to cer tify elections and r educe the chance of ballot err or s or fr aud. As the votes ar e electr onic, exit polls and voter data ar e easy to compile and post online. Election r esults wer e pr eviously on the City College website, as wer e the official election codes and r ules, but for this election, the website administr ator has not yet incor por ated those pages with the new site.

The men?s basketball playoff game was CT going off the pages live-streamed by City Times staff

he digital- fir st mentality of the City Times will be pushed one step fur ther with the cr eation of a podcast. Podcast dir ector Sonny Gar ibay, who is also the City Times? spor ts editor, is leading the pr oject that is set to debut after spr ing br eak. The podcast episodes will featur e behind-the-scenes access to stor ies published or coming soon on the City Times website or in the pr int newspaper and L egend magazine. Episode 1 of ?Off The Page? will pr eview the upcoming featur e on City College gr aduate (and for mer City Times staffer ) David Pr adel, who cr eated the ?The City?s Champions? documentar y following the Knights? 2017 state championship title r un.

Staff to compete for sta tew i de a w a r ds

ity Times staff will be tr aveling to the Califor nia state capital, Sacr amento, dur ing the final week of Mar ch for the 2019 Jour nalism Association of Community Colleges State Confer ence. At the confer ence, Editor- in- Chief Jonny Rico and News Editor David Ahumada will have the oppor tunity to compete in on- the- spot news wr iting contests. Ar ts and Enter tainment Editor Br ian Mohler r eceived an awar d in this categor y at the JACC r egional confer ence at Cal State Fuller ton during the fall semester. Also being consider ed for awar ds at the JACC state confer ence is the December 2018 edition of the L egend magazine. Multiple stor ies and pictur es fr om the City Times and L egend have been submitted to var ious categor ies for consider ation. The confer ence will take place Mar ch 28-30.

CityTimes

sdcitytimes.com

JONNY RICO Editor-in-Chief JEN SOUZA ManagingEditor DAVID AHUMADA NewsEditor BRIAN MOHLER A&EEditor DIANGELA VERAS Art Director KRISTIN DIXON Newsletter Editor

SONNY GARIBAY SportsEditor Podcast Director VICKY PINEDA Asst. SportsEditor JOCELYN MORAN Student Assistant (Spanish)

NICOLE VARGAS Adviser

City Times hits the r oad

CT Updates

Continued from page 1

Cit y Times spor t s edit or Sonny Gar ibay r epor t s live on locat ion fr om Sant a Monica cCllege dur ing t he men's basket ball playoffs. By Jonny Rico/ City Times

B Y CI TY T I M E S STAFF

he City Times staff hit the r oad on Feb. 27 and tr aveled to Santa Monica to cover the San Diego City College men?s basketball playoff match against Santa Monica College. Editor- inChief Jonny Rico and spor ts editor Sonny Gar ibay live- str eamed the game on the City Times Facebook page. They also took photos and wr ote multiple ar ticles about the dr amatic game. ?Thanks for str eaming,? wr ote the official City College Athletic Depar tment Facebook pr ofile (SDCC Knights) in the comment section of the live str eam. Member s of the City College men?s tennis page was also inter ested in the game, asking for sever al scor e updates thr oughout the game. The Knights lost the game to the Cor sair s by one point in the final

February19, 2019 | Volume73, Number 4 PublishedasTheJay Sees(1945-1949), Fortknightly(1949-1978), City Times(1978-present). IncorporatingnewspapersTecolote, Knight Owl &Flicks.

Duringthespring2019 semester, theCity Timeswill publish onlineregularly, or asnews breaks, onsdcitytimes.com startingMonday, Jan. 28.

District policy statement: Thispublicationisproduced asalearningexperienceunder San DiegoCity College?sDigital Journalismprogram. All materials, includingopinionsexpressed herein, arethesoleresponsibility of thestudentsand shouldnot beinterpreted tobethoseof the collegedistrict, itsofficersor employees.

TheCity Times will publishaprint edition threetimes: Tuesday, Feb. 19, Tuesday, March19 andTuesday, May 14. The May14 edition will includeaspecial commencement section.

CITYTIMESSTAFF DavidAhumada, JesseAltilio, JadeBenn, Angel Cazares, KristinDixon, Scott Gardinier, Sonny Garibay, Madai Gurrola, BrianMohler, UyenPham, Vicky Pineda, Jonny Rico, Jen Souza, ElisabethVermeulen, DiangelaVeras.

Community CollegeDistrict Board of Trustees.

tenth- of- a- second. Despite the painful and dr amatic loss, Rico and Gar ibay still got r eaction fr om coach Mitch Char lens and outgoing sophmor e Chubath Tut. ?I think this shows what the City Times is capable of,? Rico said. ?We will be looking for mor e oppor tunities to br ing live cover age to events impor tant to the City College community.? Technical difficulties outside of the City Times? contr ol caused the live br oadcast to be inter r upted in the final minutes of the game. The music being played in the ar ena?s sound system caused Facebook?s copyr ight tr igger to go off and cut the str eam. City Times management appealed the block on the video to Facebook. The video has been r eleased and it can be viewed in its entir ety on the City Times Facebook page.

Howtoreachus: CityTimes SanDiegoCityCollege 1313 Park Blvd. | San Diego, CA92101 Newsroom: BT-101 E-mail: citytimes@gmail.com

Memberships: JournalismAssociationof Community Colleges Signedopinions arethoseof theindividual writers anddonot CaliforniaCollegeMediaAssociation Associated CollegiatePress necessarilyrepresent thoseof theentirenewspaper staff, City Collegeadministration, faculty andstaff or theSan Diego CaliforniaNewspaper Publishers Association Legendmagazinewill publishonceonTuesday, April 16.

Letterstotheeditor: Letterstotheeditor arewelcome, 350 wordsor less. Thestaff Designedentirely inthe reservestheright toedit for grammar, spelling, punctuation cloudusingLucidpress andlength.

CITYNEWS

sdcitytimes.com | March 19, 2019

L ocal col l ege abr upt l y cl oses i t s door s Ci ty College rea dy to help di spla ced students uator, confir med via email that any units taken at Ar t I nstitute after Spr ing 2011 ar e eligible for tr ansfer. he Ar t I nstitute of Califor nia?We also have the option of major San Diego, closed its door s on modification, in case any class (at Ar t Fr iday, Mar ch 8, I nstitute) doesn?t have a only days after dir ect equivalent (at City aler ting students and College),? Wong said. faculty. Accor ding to Wong, City Br ittany Woodhead, a College has many pr ogr aphic design major gr ams similar to the Ar t who was appr oximately I nstitute. a year away fr om gr adu?We have a gr eat gr aphic ating with a bachelor ?s design pr ogr am,? he said. degr ee, said she r e?Our gr aphic design stuceived an email on dents ar e winning naWednesday aler ting her tional awar ds. that the school would ?We also have other top close down on Fr iday notch ar t pr ogr ams.? unless an unexpected Ar t I nstitute students buyout took place. who wer e wor king on a Car olyne Cervantes, a bachelor 's degr ee can student pur suing a also r eceive guidance bachelor 's degr ee in fr om City College counculinar y management, selor s. said she r eceived an ?We may not be able to email on Monday about offer too many (class) opthe possible closur e of tions to students wor king the school at the end of on a bachelor ?s,? Wong the quar ter. said. ?On Wednesday, peo?(But) we will help those ple at school wer e told students build a pathway that the school is shutto a univer sity.? ting down on Fr iday,? The hallways of t he Ar t Inst it ut e building in Mission Valley wer e empt y and deser t ed on what was it s final day on Accor ding to Wong, Ar t Cer vantes said. Fr iday, Mar ch 8. By Jonny Rico/ City Times I nstitute students ar e The closing is due to welcome to come to the ?Once is enough,? she said. legal and financial tr oubles to the I have a job. A lot of the people that I City College counseling office for a San Diego City College is pr epar ed Dr eam Center, the nonpr ofit or gani- went to school with don?t have jobs.? ?quick question appointment.? Woodhead wasn?t sur pr ised about to assist displaced Ar t I nstitute stuzation that bought the chain of forA counselor can look at the students. pr ofit Ar gosy Univer sities just over a the closur e, either. dent? s unofficial tr anscr ipt and offer She just didn?t expect it to happen ?Students who wer e wor king on an year ago, which included the Ar t I nan opinion on whether that student is so quickly. associate?s degr ee can have their stitute of Califor nia-San Diego. r eady to apply to a univer sity or ?I had alr eady star ted to look into units tr ansfer r ed,? said Ray Wong, a College officials did not r espond to might benefit fr om completing lower tr ansferr ing options,? she said. ?I counselor at the City College couna r equest for comment. division classes at City College. The closur e did not come as a sur- just didn?t think it would happen out seling center. Wong str ongly encour ages stuWong and Edwin Heil, the co-chair pr ise to Cor y Walker, a 2016 Ar t I nsti- of nowher e.? dents to apply and submit their offiAs a militar y spouse, she figur ed of the counseling depar tment, tute gr aduate who was on campus cial tr anscr ipts and have them evaluFr iday mor ning hoping to r etr ieve she would have to tr ansfer out of the r eached out to Chr istina Monaco to ated by the distr ict. Ar t I nstitute- San Diego but said ?I confir m the eligibility of tr ansfer r ing his tr anscr ipts. ?The last six months wer e wor th- thought it would be a little mor e units fr om Ar t I nstitute to the San The City College counseling office planned out.? Diego Community College Distr ict. less,? Walker said. can be found in A-366. Woodhead is now consider ing Monaco, a distr ict tr anscr ipt eval-

B Y J ONNY R I CO Editor-in-Chief

Walker cr edits the fact that he has a job to his ability to lear n on his own outside of the classr oom. ?I lear ned mor e on my own and in my inter nships,? he said. ?That?s why

pur ely online options because she doesn?t want to go thr ough the tr ansfer pr ocess again if her spouse is r elocated out of San Diego, which is likely to happen.

New websit e cont inues t o see impr ovement s B Y B RAI N M OH L E R Arts and Entertainment Editor

esigning new website content can come with some discontent. Since the new San Diego City College website launch, the discontent has been web sear ches with br oken links fr om the old site. City Times pr eviously r epor ted the website was r edesigned to be mor e user-fr iendly for students, but students ar e still r epor ting tr ouble with br oken links. ?I got a 404 ser ver er r or message when I was sear ching for the class schedule,? said Jose Car r illo, a psychology student. Commer cial music student, An-

gel Bello said he got the same er r or message when sear ching for the campus events calendar. But those br oken link issues will soon be fixed and the homepage of the new website is designed to access any infor mation within twoclicks, including the campus events calendar on the homepage. City Times spoke with webmaster, Victor Chen, and infor mation officer, Cesar Gumapas, r egar ding the br oken links. ?We?ve submitted a new sitemap but it can take Google time in spider ing out content fr om the old website,? Chen said. ?Spider ing is r eindexing the infor mation for the entir e site based on the new

content.? Chen said he thinks the br oken links should be fixed within a couple weeks, but it depends on how quickly Google can spider out the old website links. ?We?ve r eceived a lot of positive feedback about the site being mor e student- focused,? Gumapas said. ?We?ve been tr aining depar tments and or ganizations to update information so it?s mor e accessible to students. ?We?r e still doing some edits as we get feedback fr om vice pr esidents, deans and faculty.? Gumapas became the City College infor mation officer at the star t of the semester but Chen has been

updating and tr oubleshooting the new website for the past four months. ?We?ve been helping with cur r ent content for depar tments but eventually each depar tment should be able to update the infor mation on their own pages,? said Chen. ?I t?s been a challenge to wor k with all the depar tments and meet tr aining needs but the new site is a huge upgr ade,? said Gumapas. ?We?r e able to get r id of tons of confusing links fr om the old homepage and the new site will be mor e sear ch engine optimized.? Chen added,: ?The new site is also much mor e accessible to people with disabilities.?

THE DOCTOR WHO HEALS MATH ANXIETY 7

BY BRIAN MOHLER ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

DR. ROB RUBALCABA HAS A UNIQUE WAY OF CONNECTING STUDENTS AND MATH

ood teachers care about their students and students appreciate a good teacher, but San Diego City College?s professor of mathematics, ?Dr. Rob? Rubalcaba, has a special way of connecting with students. Rubalcaba uses his alter ego, DJ Professor Shadow, to reduce the stress around studying for midterms and finals through Math Jams. It?s not just the hip hop that reaches students. Rubalcaba receives help from dozens of tutors and Umoja club volunteers creating a sense of community. ?(Rubalcaba) helps curb student anxieties around learning math,? said Ebony Tyree, a math jam volunteer and English professor also involved with Umoja. ?He brings in his whole authentic self, what made him fall in love with math and he shares it with students. That?s why he changes the lives of students.? Students say ?Dr. Rob? and Math Jam have a positive effect on their learning. ?I met him at Math Jam last semester and plan to take a class with him next semester,? said

math student Lilliana Pisabaj. ?He seems so compassionate about the way he teaches.? Adam King took calculus with Rubalcaba. He now helps tutor other students in math through calculus and is planning to transfer to UCLA or USC to study computer science. ?(Rubalcaba) makes math very relatable,? King said. ?He goes out of his way to help people and organize stuff like (Math Jam).? Kelly Giang, a philosophy and psychology student who works as a program assistant for the World Cultures Program on campus, thinks Rubalcaba is amazing. ?He teaches fractions with turntables and is one of the most generous people I know,? she said. ?Dr. Rob bought

students bus passes who couldn?t afford to get to school and he raised money to buy a laptop for a student because she didn?t have a computer to do homework.? Giang appreciates the ?it takes a village?philosophy behind Math Jam. She plans to transfer to UCSD, but wants to come back, and eventually become a dean at City College because she believes involvement and equity have a major impact on student success. ?Hip hop was part of my growing up,? said Eddie Garcia, a first year biochemistry student. Garcia went to Math Jam to study because he?s taking back- to- back, eight- week math courses, but he is also studying hip hop dancing and choreography in Dance 120A. ?(Hip hop) gets people involved in exercising ? having fun dancing.? Fun is why Rubalcaba started doing Math Jams. The music and food helps bring people to the tutoring. ?It?s motivation,? said Rubalcaba. ?And it gets rid of math of anxiety. ?Students help each other overcome the frustrations and confusions that can come with learning new things and it?s great to see them leave feeling more confident.? Mat h Jam cr owds br ing a smile t o t he face of Dr . Rob Rubalcaba. By Jonny Rico/ City Times

CITY COLLEGE TO REVAMP MATH COURSES NEW BILL GETS STUDENTS ON TRACK TO TRANSFER FASTER BY DAVID AHUMADA News Editor

state law signed by former Governor Jerry Brown will change the way students at San Diego City College and all other state community colleges approach math. California State Assembly Bill 705 clarifies existing regulation and ensures that the community college districts or schools place students into transferlevel courses within a one- year time frame unless evidence proves that they are unlikely to succeed in the college-level course. The bill also states that high school coursework, grades, GPA and CST scores will now all be considered for the right placement in the right course. Brown signed the bill on Oct. 13, 2017 and it took effect on Jan. 1, 2018. All California community colleges are required to be in compliance with the bill no later than fall 2019. ?The new law is designed to allow students that want to take statistics without having to go through (Math) 38, 46, 96, and then to take statistics,? said Dr. Rob Rubalcaba, mathematics professor and City College graduate. ?The law was designed to help students who weren?t making it through those algebra classes.? Students like Itzel Ferrer, who had to take Math 46 twice, will no longer be delayed and forced to take the long math road. Students are required to take a placement test upon enrolling in City College. Some feel as if they

Snacks, food and desser t ar e also pr ovided while you wor k, so st udent s can st ay awhile and r eally get t he help t hat t hey need. By David Ahumada/ City Times

didn?t do well enough or felt like they tested lower than where they belonged. ?First, I had taken a different entrance exam at another school,? Ferrer said. ?(City College) didn?t accept that test, so I had to take the exam (again) and I had to start from the bottom.? Kate Woodward, a math center manager, said many students at City College are in remedial math and struggle with it. The single- measure placement test isn?t going to be the only thing considered when entering any California community college, starting fall 2019. ?The math department is in the process of realign-

ing the math classes to be in alignment with AB 705," Woodward said. ?A student should be able to go through the pipeline of math within a year starting in fall 2019. ?(The math center) will continue to offer refresher courses to help students prepare for transferlevel math classes.? Starting in April, City College will have new pathways and blocks available for students not only in Math but also in English. City College Counseling Department did not respond in time for print with a request for comment.

UMOJA BRINGS MUSIC, PIZZA AND MATHEMATICS TOCITY COLLEGE MATH JAM HELPS STUDENTS HAVE FUN, GAIN ACCESS TO TUTORING SERVICES dent on campus that takes math comes around with their questions.? Achusi was happy to share his knowledge with he Umoja community at San Diego City Colhis community, and was thankful for the Umoja lege brought music and pizza to many stuprogram and the support from City Coldents at the Math Center and Curran Plaza lege faculty. during a recent Math Jam. ?I also want to thank the faculty of The event provided a fun, social environment City College and all the staff for their intended to help students get math tutoring for exceptional investment and belief into upcoming midterms and homework assignments. this Umoja program,? Achusi said. Students gathered to eat pizza, meet tutors and ?The sky is just the starting point do a little dancing at the Curran Plaza out side of for this kind of social community the Success Center. After an hour of fun, the tutors grouped students by what their needs were and headed upstairs to the Math Center. According to Kate Woodward, math center manager, ?(there were) about 125 students and 150 hours of tutoring at our previous Math Jam. ?It really shows the level of dedication to succeed in math from the students.? One of the math tutors assisting with the event, Chima Achusi, had nothing but great things to say about the successful program. ?It kind of gives an avenue whereby every stu-

BY SCOTT GARDINIER Staff Writer

created to help students fall in love with mathematics again.? The Umoja community is a program designed to assist African-American and other historically underrepresented students who desire to transfer to four- year colleges and universities, according to its website. The Math Center is located in L-208. Upcoming Math Jams this semester are scheduled for April 24 and May 15. The Umoja club is t he or ganizat ion t hat host s 100- plus st udent s for Mat h Jams. By Jonny Rico/ City Times

CITYLIFE

sdcitytimes.com | March 19, 2019

D r ama st age set for spr ing 2019 New Play Festival wraps, "Heathers The Musical" set to debut at Saville Theatre B Y K RI STI N D I XON Newsletter Editor an Diego City College?s Dr ama Depar tment will have two pr oductions dur ing the spr ing 2019 semester. The fir st was the four th annual New Play Festival, which r an fr om Mar ch 7-16 at the Black Box Theater. ?Those ar e plays that wer e wr itten by City College students,? dr ama pr ofessor Dr. Katie Rodda said. ?L ast semester ther e was a playwr iting class that was taught and the students who completed that class submitted their plays. The top ones wer e selected for pr oduction in the New Play Festival ... dir ected by faculty member s.? The second pr oduction will be ?Heather s The Musical,? dir ected by Rodda. The play is based off the 1989

cult film ?Heather s.? The musical is chor eogr aphed by pr ofessor Kr istin Ar cidiacono. The cast had to attend choir pr actices as well as lear n multiple dance number s. ?I t t akes place in a high school in Ohio,? R odda said. ?(T her e ar e) t hr ee gir ls w ho ar e super popular, and t hey all happen t o be nam ed H eat her. T hey?r e cr uel and t hey?r e m ean. T hey?r e like t he or iginal m ean gir ls.? Accor ding to Rodda, the lead character, Ver onica, played by Alyssa Salacup, gets swept up into the Heather s?wor ld. Ver onica falls for the new kid J.D., played by Devin McKenna, who has a dar k str eak. ?He?s ver y, ver y distur bed,? Rodda said. T his is not t he fir st t im e

The Cit y College dr ama depar t ment pr epar es for t he musical ?Heat her s.? By Jonny Rico/ City Times

Salacup and M cK enna play r om ant ic leads t oget her. T hey had t he lead r oles in ?T he R ocky H or r or Show ? last year. Opening night will be Apr il 12 and

the play will r un thr ough Apr il 20 at the Saville Theatr e at City College. Tickets for ?Heather s The Musical? can be found at eventbr ite.com. Pr ices r ange fr om $10 to $15.

Thir d annual City Women Rock Confer ence empower s students Event kicked off Women?s History Month events B Y U YE N P H AM Staff Writers

A Estefania de La Tor r e, a City College student technician, volunteer ed her time to put the Women Rocks Confer ence together . By Elisabeth Ver mulen/ City Times

Women Rock Confer ence par ticipants left encour aged and with a bag full of goodies. By Elisabeth Ver meulen/ City Times

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E L I SABE TH VE RM E UL E N

one-day confer ence, held at San Diego City College, contained a meaningful message that connected audience member s to women of color. The event took place on I nter national Women?s Day and commemor ated the empower ment of women who ar e not only the hear t of their family but also the inspir ation for many people. ?The goal of today is to continue building the sense of community, empower ment, and being able to r each higher than you could r each,? said Women Rock coor dinator L illian Gar cia. This year ?s confer ence featur ed a r etur ning pr esence. Estefania de la Tor r e, a student technician, volunteer ed for the fir st time in 2017 and r etur ned to lend a helping hand in 2019. ?The fir st time that we put this event together it was r eally empower ing because it is the fir st time that we had ever seen a community of just women,? de la Tor r e said. ?I t?s a safe place to teach all of these different

aspects that you wouldn't get at a normal confer ence especially because it's cater ed to women, by women.? Accor ding to de la Tor r e, ther e will always be a helping hand and r esour ces available to those who look for it. ?One of the biggest things that I would like to see fr om students getting out of this exper ience is knowing they'r e not alone,? de la Tor r e said. ?We all have differ ent goals, but at the end of the day, we'r e tr ying to better our selves, for our selves.? Ther e wer e many other wor kshops with speaker s specialized in differ ent fields who wer e r eady to help women help lay a foundation for success. ?I f one woman is successful, it would be nice for that person to shar e their exper iences,? Gar cia said, ?which (can) r each a lar ge city of successful women, building the momentum.? The event was seen as a gr eat success, with the attendance of mor e than 100 people including 24 high school students. I t was a star t to community- building in the long r un, and was the fir st time City College incorpor ated high school students fr om near by schools in or der to spr ead the message to the younger gener ation. City College?s Lilian Gar cia coor dinated the Women Rock Confer ence. By Uyen Pham/ City Times

CITYSPORTS

sdcitytimes.com | March 19, 2019

K night s t ennis dr aws st r engt h fr om ?family? Close bonds betw een tea m m a tes ha ve been the key to success B Y SONNY GARI BAY Sports Editor ess than 24 hour s after suffer ing a 5- 4 defeat against College of the Deser t on Mar ch 14, member s of the San Diego City College men?s tennis team wer e back on the cour ts, pr epar ing for their upcoming match against Saddleback College. The willingness of the player s to teach and lear n fr om each other in their unofficial pr actice was just one way the Knights have demonstr ated their closeness this season. A closeness, which they believe, is a dr iving for ce behind the team?s success. ?We?r e buddies, man,? sophomor e Rafael Maniego said about his teammates. ?We joke ar ound, we get along. We tease each other. We get under each other 's skin all the time.? Maniego was voted one of the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference player s of the month for Febr uar y. Sophomor e Jonathan Velasquez is concer ned about his team?s futur e success. He was a star ter last season. This year he is a r edshir t, a pr acticing player who chooses not to compete. By r edshir ting he saves a year

of eligibility, allowing him to stay on the team as a thir d-year sophomor e. He wants to continue to be a leader on the team next season. ?We got a bigger goal in sight,? he said of his decision to stay at City College. The fr eshmen on the squad appr eciate the active r oles that the sophomor es have taken on, ?(Sophomor e leader ship) is ver y, ver y impor tant,? fr eshman Colin Palmer said after winning a singles match against Glendale College on Mar ch 2. We have a chant it?s, ?Knights and family,? And it has r eally made this like a family.? Head coach Br andon L upian sees another r eason for the Knights? success, the wealth of talent on the r oster. Alejandr o Zatar ain Ramos, Jonah Kim, and Jose Ramir ez Chao have all won cr ucial matches thr oughout the season and have kept them in contests, even at times when player s at the top of the r oster have str uggled. ?Our depth has allowed us to sustain momentum,? said L upian after the Knights beat Glendale. I n the aftermath of the defeat

Vet er an player s like Manuel Car dona pr ovides t he necessar y leader ship for t he young t ennis squad. By Jonny Rico/ City Times

against Deser t, Maniego saw only positives with his teams? per for mance. ?I t wasn?t something that wasn?t attainable,? he said after the loss. ?L ast time we played them, we lost 81 and now it came down to the last match. I t?s amazing how much our team has gr own since then.?

The team huddled together after the loss, comfor ting each other and planning their next move. ?Pr actice tomor r ow,? Maniego told the team befor e implor ing them not to get down on themselves. ?Don?t get it twisted,? he told his teammates. ?We?r e a good team. ?We?r e a bunch of scr apper s.?

M ent al st r engt h and det er minat ion Knights make up lack of roster depth with talent B Y SONNY GARI BAY Sports Editor

r ight now.? On Mar ch 15, Figuer oa star ted against Ventur a College and pitched he 2019 softball season the entir e eight- inning game. almost didn?t happen She hit a deep base hit in the for San Diego City Colbottom of the 8th to win the lege due to what head game for the Knights. coach L eeann Taylor simply The ver y next day against called ?adver sity.? The team Santa Bar bar a City College almost had too few player s to she enter ed the game in the compete. They feel for tunate second inning in r elief and r ethat they get to play at all. peated the feat. Hitting a walkWith twelve names on their off base hit in the fifth to end r oster, only last place I mper ial the game. Valley College has fewer playThir d baseman Kate Br aunser s in the Pacific Coast Athletic dor f consider s the team unConfer ence. I n contr ast, the der dogs, and is excited about San Diego Mesa College softhow well the team is playing . ball website lists 30 player s on ?We have been thr ough so its r oster, not including r edmuch together. We?ve had so shir ts. Confer ence leading many ups. We?ve had so many Palomar lists 17. downs and just to keep doing ?At fir st it was challenging what we?r e doing and coming because we didn?t know if we out with wins, it's amazing.? wer e gonna have enough peoCoach Taylor is patient in her ple,? said shor tstop Vanessa appr oach to the season. She Tir ado. As a full time student at sets attainable team and indiUCSD, Tir ado enr olled at City vidual milestones and has seen College just to play softball. consistent impr ovement. She made a commitment to the The Knight s soft ball t eam ar e having a pr oduct ive year despit e obst acles By Sonny Gar ibay/ City Times ?(We) have to tr ust the team not to quit. pr ocess,? she said. days. The Knights make up for the lack stolen bases with 11. Taylor is not too shy to shar e her Pitcher Sabr ina Figuer oa leads the ?I ?ve been pitching ever y single of depth with a consistent high level feelings about her squad. She calls confer ence in batting aver age with game lately,? Figuer oa said. ?I ?m just play. them ?the little team that could. Tir ado, the Knights? lead-off hitter, .618. She has star ted most of the digging deep. I don?t r eally car e about ?I love this team,? she said. has a batting aver age of .496 and team?s games. She is also been r elied my tir edness. I t?s super mental to me

seven stolen bases. Catcher Car ley Gr ant is tied for fir st place in place in the PCAC for

upon as a r eliever. She has no qualms about thr owing a lot of pitches, or taking the mound on consecutive

sdcitytimes.com | March 19, 2019

CITYESPAÑOL

Gobier no E st udiant il busca más par t icipación L a fa lta de una ca feter í a ha contr i bui do a la poca pa r ti ci pa ci ón de elecci ones que se agr egar an a la boleta elector al, y cada candidato debe ser pr eseleccionado par a confir mar l depar tamento de Asuntos Esr equisitos tales como el pr omedio de tudiantiles quer ía saber por calificaciones (GPA). que la par ticipación elector al En las últimas elecciones ha anter ior fue tan baja, al dar se habido múltiples puestos no impugcuenta que tan solo 218 per sonas nados que tuvier on que ser asignavotar on en una escuela de más de dos después. Pér ez dijo que San 14,000 estudiantes. El Gobier no EsDiego City College quier e cambiar tudiantil fue dada la tar ea de encueseso, lo que significa que la escuela tar a estudiantes par a aver iguar las debe encontr ar la maner a de involur azones. cr ar a los estudiantes par a que par?Realmente tr atamos de ver por ticipen en las ur nas. qué hemos tenido menos estudiantes "L o que puedo decir les es que esinfor mados sobr e el pr oceso electamos haciendo un esfuer zo concertor al", dijo Mar ciano Pér ez, decano tado este año par a pr omover la elecde Asuntos Estudiantiles. ?Cr eo que ciones del Gobier no Estudiantil", dijo par te de eso estaba r elacionado con Pér ez. no tener una cafeter ía, por que en el El depar tamento de Asuntos Estupasado, ahí es donde tenían sus diantiles y el Gobier no Estudiantil for os. planean or ganizar eventos de cam?Ahí es donde todos los candidatos paña par a infor mar a los estudiantes solían hacer campaña. Constantesobr e temas como quién puede posmente se escuchaba 'oh, es tiempo de tular se par a un car go, cómo declar ar la elecciones'?. su intención de postular se, cómo L a mayor ía de los estudiantes no votar y for os donde los alumnos saben sobr e el pr oceso de elecciones pueden conocer a los candidatos. del Gobier no Estudiantil. Teniendo esto en cuenta, aquí hay L os estudiantes que quier an posalgunos conceptos básicos sobr e las tular se deben establecer elegibilidad pr óximas elecciones del Gobier no comunicar se con Asuntos EstudiEstudiantil de City College. antiles antes de empezar una camSuper visando este ciclo elector al paña. Hay un mínimo de 100 fir mas P OR J E SSE A LTI L I O Staff Writer

Asunt os que afect an a la población de Cit y College son analizados por el Gobier no Est udiant il. Fot o por David Ahumada/ City Times

ser á Miguel Antonio Cibr ián, el r ecién nombr ado comisionado elector al de estudiantes. L a función de Cibr ian es administr ar todo el pr oceso, ser un ter cer o neutr al, asegur ar una elección libr e y justa donde se siguen los códigos de la elección y manejar las quejas. El Distr ito de Colegios Comunitarios de San Diego desempeña una función similar, asegur ando que las

r eglas se cumplan y cer tifique los r esultados de las elecciones. El pr esidente del Gobier no Estudiantil actúa como r epr esentante del cuer po estudiantil en City College, per o también sir ve como fideicomisar io de estudiantes en juntas del distr ito.

Tr aducción por M adai Gur r ola

Cit y College hace disponible asesor ia legal gr at is Abogados migratorios han sido contratados para ayudar a estudiantes y sus familias P OR B RI AN M OH L E R Arts & Entertainment Editor s muy impor tante conocer sus der echos, por que entr e más conocimiento, más pr otección habr á. L os der echos legales es la especialización de la abogada de inmigr ación y la alumna de San Diego City College, Dulce Gar cía. Recientemente, Gar cía dir igió una discusión sobr e "Conozca sus der echos" en el Centr o de r ecur sos de Dr eamer dentr o de uno de los ¡SUBI R! Cultur al Center de City College. Gar cía L aw Fir m, que ella mismo fundó, ha sido contr atada por el colegio par a br indar asesor ía legal gr atuita a los estudiantes indocumentados y sus familias. L a ger ente del pr oyecto Título V del Centr o Dr eamer Resour ce Center, L ilian Gar cía, quien no tiene r elación con Dulce, dijo que la agencia de abogados de Gar cía ofr ecer á estimadamente 9 a 10 hor as de asistencia legal gr atuita cada mes. Dulce Gar cía, un r eceptor de Acción Difer ida par a los L legados en la I nfancia, entiende el pr oceso tan bien como cualquier a. En una er a en la que los agentes de I nmigr ación y Contr ol de Aduanas examinan los vecindar ios e incluso

Ayuda legal par a inmigr ant es est á disponible dent r o del Cent r o Cult ur al Subir . Fot o por Jonny Rico/ City Times

esper an que los padr es indocumentados dejen a sus hijos en las escuelas, Dulce Gar cía dijo que es importante tener un plan y estar infor mado. "(Quer emos) infor mar a las personas de los abusos que están ocurr iendo", dijo Dulce Gar cía. "Se puede

gr abar en su teléfono y subir (el video) a la ACLU (Amer ican Civil L iber ties Union)". Una r ed de r espuesta r ápida de voluntar ios pueden ser contactados llamando al (619) 536- 0823. El apoyo está disponible las 24 hor as del día, los 7 días de la semana, según Dulce

Gar cía. Enr ique Vélez, un estudiante de San Diego Community College y r eceptor de DACA, toma clases a tr avés del pr ogr ama de Continuing Education del distr ito, per o dijo que quier e tr ansfer ir se a City College. A pesar de que DACA le da a Vélez una for ma de documentación par a tr abajar, una discapacidad hace que sea casi imposible encontr ar un empleo y le cuesta pagar las factur as. El estado legal de Vélez limita los beneficios par a los que puede calificar, que es una de las r azones por las que estuvo allí par a pedir le ayuda a Gar cía. Estudiantes indocumentados como Vélez de otr as escuelas del distr ito están invitados a utilizar los ser vicios pr opor cionados por City College. L os nuevos ser vicios legales están r espaldados por una subvención de $336,000 que el distr ito r ecibió par a ampliar los r ecursos par a estudiantes indocumentados. L os ser vicios no solo están disponibles par a los estudiantes, sino que los amigos y familias también pueden apr ovechar los r ecur sos legales disponibles. Más infor mación está disponible en el ¡SUBI R! Cultur al Center, ubicado en AH-200A. Tr aducción por M adai Gur r ola