Vol.45, No. 1
Serving San Jose City College
Get a j ob ... sha na na na ...
Open admissions threatened By Elizabeth Gotelli
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Thursday, Feb. 14, 199 1
program. The entrance exams would lower the number of individuals eligible for admission to such schools, thus lowering the number of students eligible for fmancial aid. Said Dr. Jones, "It is my fantasy that the proposal was drafted by two well-meaning private school graduates who have no idea how an open school system works .... " For now there has been an injunction on the law until June 30 of
Some San Jose City College administrators are calling the new federal regulation which requires all students without high school diplomas to take an admission exam illogical, undemocratic and grossly unfair. The federal regulation, dubbed the "ability to benefit" law, as it was originally written, would require all non-high school graduates to pass an entrance exam in order to attend community colleges. Failure to comply with the law would result in the school losing all federal funding. According to Director of Admissions and Records Robert Brown, the problem educators are having with the law is that "it kills the whole idea of an open school system." this year. Dr. Richard Jones, interim presiThe injunction was originally dent of San Jose City College, ordered to give schools more time agrees. Said Dr. Jones, "San Jose to comply, but the regulation itself City College is a perfect. egalitar- was met with so much opposition ian, democratic school system. that it looks like it will be revised. Anyone who so desires is allowed The degree of those revisions is yet to enter the school system and be to be determined. educated. The new regulation Also undetermined is the long threatens this." range impact it will have on the The "ability to benefit" proposal number of students registering for wasoriginallytargeted at privately- classes at City College. According owned trade colleges whose main to Brown, of the 11,000 students source of income is from students attending it is estimated that only who receive federal fmancial aid, 400 do not have high school diplowhich is paid directly to those mas or equivalents. schools, then do not complete the What is known, however, is that
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'San Jose City College is a perfect, egalitarian, democratic school system.'
Barajas and Sandra Jaramillo view employment u..,•~"~'~"l the Job Placement Office on campus. Photo
Enrollment surges By Kevin Moore Spring enrollment is up 11% over Spring 1990 at San Jose City College and 9% at Evergreen. V~lley College according to prelimmary data compiled on February 1. Daytime students represent the largest increase with a rise of 15% ai City College and 18% at Evergreen. While evening enrollment ai City College rose by 6% over last spring, evening enrollment at Evergreen dropped by 7%. While overall student enrollment a! City College is up 11% (1,123 more students), the total number of classroom hours is up by only 9%, llldicating that more students are laking fewer classes. As many as one third of the total umber of students are not counted
in these census statistics, because actual student attendence hours are counted, and figures are not available until semester's end. It is too early to tell whether or not the Gulf war has affected the ratio of men to women on campus; there has been a steady trend over the past five years leading to a majority of female students (51% last Fall). The recent economic crisis has resulted in increased enrollment, according to RobertL. Brown, district director of admissions and records. The addition of two full-time recruiters to the City College staff is also credited for the increase. Final census count is scheduled for Feb.19 ,andfmal statistics should be available by mid- March.
Stagnaro t~~~A2Yne~'"'
Bonnano said that Gay has been an "outstanding coach" while in Assistant football coach Don that role at City College. Gay Stagnaro will take over as the head coached the team to five consecucoach of the Jaguar football team tive Golden Gate Conference championships from 1983- '87, for the Fall 1991 season. Howard Gay, former head coach along with the national title in 1986. Stagnaro is "excited about the of the San Jose City College f~t ball team bas asked for a re-asstgn- position," and does have experiment of 'his duties for one Y~· ence as a head football coach at the according to Bert Bonnano, ~ts high school level. He admitted the tant dean, athletics and phy teal team struggled this past season with a record of 3-7. education. . Stagnaro said that both " the Gay recommended thatas~JStant offense and defense need work," as Coach Stagnaro to replace him. . Gay underwent minor surgery thts well as the kicking game, " which was our downfall last year." past ovember. TheoolychangesStagnaro wan Gay said that his ~v~ry, along with some "profess!onal unprove- to make are a couple of coaching rnents" he is working _on, wo~ld changes. "Basically, I have one interfere with all the duues of bemg more coach to get-a defen ive ahead coach. will on as a c rdinator."
by Mark Gomez
the regulation would have a profound impact because it would change the college's open door policy to a closed one. "San Jose City College has become known as a second chance institution," said Brown, "Individuals re-entering the school system are normally very timid and their first contact should not be met with opposition." He is afraid the regulation will put off a lot of wouldbe students. Community college leaders particularly object to the provision in the law which states that if one nonhigh school graduate, whether he applies for fmancial aid or not, slips through the the system it could result in City College losing all federal funding. This would mean no fmancial aid and a stop on our Title Three Grant, which is a $500,000 per year payment disbursed to the school over a five year period, and is allotted to the development of the college. "Federal government has every right to set standards for students everywhere, but the way this proposal is written is completely inappropriate," said Jones, "but there have been a lot of new developments in the last week, and it looks like the regulation will be revised." Michael Hill, vice-chancellor of fmance for Evergreen and San Jose City College confirmed this and said that he hopes that the revisions will be done in time for the June 30 deadline.
Board measures designed to bring ethnic representation
New appointees reflect diversity By Melanie Saxberg Trustees of the San Jose-Evergreen Community College District made history on Feb. 5 by appointing two members who became the frrst black and fourth Hispanic in 17 years to the board of trustees. Bobby Dixon, 36, is a training chief for the Milpitas Fire Department, and Maria Fuentes-Lucero, 39, is a mental health specialist for Santa Clara County. This is a significant event for minority groups, traditionally underrepresented on the district's board. There have been three Hispanics and seven women who have served on the board since it was created in 1963. Dixon and Fuentes-Lucero were appointed to vacancies that were created by two recent ballot measures which expanded the board from five to seven members as well as providing for the election of trustees from their own re idential
Maria Fuentes-Lucero
Bobby Dixon
the governance of the San Jose- the school board Evergreen Community College ''My goals are making sure that District. our colleges are meeting the needs The ballot measures were passed of the future," Fuentes-Lucero said afteracontroversial decision based recently in an interview with the on a Watsonville case which ruled Evergreen Flyer. that the voting districts of Dixon is concerned with the high Watsonville were unfair to His- rate of dropouts among the panics. community's high school students. areas. Hispanics made up more than His main goal will be keeping the This vote made it possible for half of the population in that city community college available to resident minorities to participate in but still had no representation on those students.
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ew Campus paper
Playoff time again !