TCC The Collegian August 24, 2022

Welcome back, TCC - See students tour the NE campus Page 4

Wednesday, August 24, 2022 – Volume 36 • Issue 1

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@tccthecollegian • collegian.tccd.edu

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Ariel Desantiago/The Collegian

Interim Chancellor Elva LeBlanc addresses the board at its Aug. 18 meeting. She has held the top position since June 24.

Board president praises interim chancellor’s start ALEX HOBEN

editor-in-chief alexandra.hoben@my.tccd.edu

TCC presents new food service options ALEX HOBEN

editor-in-chief alexandra.hoben@my.tccd.edu

Genuine Foods is introducing new food options to the TCC community in the new semester.

Since the contract TCC had with Subway ended in May the administration had to start looking for a different vendor. After presentations and food samples were provided to TCC staff and students, it was decided that the new contract would be signed with the food service operations company Genuine Foods.

Carl Preyer, the General Manager overseeing the Genuine Foods contract with TCC, was quick to talk about how smooth the transition went.

“TCC administration worked really well with us,” Preyer said.

“We stuck to our timeline pretty well with the exception of having to delay a couple of days for two openings, but we’re right on track, we’ll be up and running and ready for students on Monday everywhere.”

Preyer also explained how the main thing that will separate Genuine Foods from Subway for the TCC community is the quality and diversity of choice..

“Variety is the key, variety and quality,” Preyer said.

Executive Chef Joe Ladine explained how many more choices the menu has from the previous offerings.

“We’ve stepped up the game from Subway,” said Ladine.

When deciding the menu, he had to take into account age group, availability and most importantly the type of food the local area likes the best.

“Keeping in mind the local area of where we’re at in Texas,” Ladine said. “So Tex-Mex is a popular thing that we’ve put an influence in, barbecue, pizza — you know college kids love pizza.”

TCC NW financial aid associate Rachel Alvarado is glad to see the change.

“I did use the Subway,” she said after ordering her food at the kiosk station for the first time. “It kind of got boring after a while. I like that there’s a variety.”

With these new stands, the TCC community will have more cuisine choices at the new sites.

TCC’s executive director of procurement Michael Herndon explained all the possibilities that will be available at the new locations.

“Genuine will be offering a wider variety of options than what See Food, page 2

Interim Chancellor Elva LeBlanc has had a successful first six months, according to some members of the board of trustees.

On June 23, former Chancellor Eugene Giovannini’s resignation was accepted by the board of trustees, and LeBlanc was appointed as interim chancellor of TCC effective June 24. Since then, she has moved into the job well, according to board President Teresa Ayala.

“I think the transition has been smooth, I really do,” Ayala said. “She has such connections to this college.”

Ayala described the different positions that LeBlanc has had at TCC and how dedicated she is to the college as well as the students, seeing as she was once a student herself.

“We’re fortunate to have

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Budget approved despite board member objection ALEX HOBEN

editor-in-chief alexandra.hoben@my.tccd.edu

Illustration by Tj Favela/The Collegian

NORTHEAST

Students excited for new semester The fall semester is finally here, and TCC students said they are ready to get back on campus.

First-time students to college veterans said they are excited to jump into a new semester and see what the 2022-23 school year has to offer. NE student Vito Martinez is an incoming freshman this fall who is excited about furthering his education.

“I’m the first one in my family to go to college and so I kind

of want to prove myself,” Martinez said.

Along with the excitement of being a first-generation college student, Martinez said he wanted to explore the campus more as well as expressed his aspiration to create a better life for himself and his family.

Much like Martinez, fellow incoming NE freshman Leslie Cruz is eager to get a start to her college experience.

“I think what I’m most excited about is just getting to meet new people from other places and just getting started with school and living that college life,” Cruz said.

Cruz said she had visited multiple campuses until she found the right fit for her and that she looked forward to seeing what TCC has to offer.

But it’s not just the freshmen who are ready to be back. Thirdyear student Julia Macleod was both excited and nervous about her upcoming roster of classes.

“I am excited for my swim class because I really love swimming and that should be fun,” Macleod said. “I am a little nervous about my Intro to Chemistry class because I’m going for an art degree, so science isn’t something I’m super knowledgeable about.”

Reactions to Roe v. Wade The future of women’s rights at stake Page 3

Summer is overhyped Summer is by far the worst season Page 3

Dehydrated state This past season felt like the worst Page 3

RABBIA MOLAI

managing editor rabbia.molai@my.tccd.edu

somebody like her with her experience and her passion,” she said.

Board Vice President Kenneth Barr echoed Ayala’s sentiments.

“Dr. LeBlanc has done an outstanding job on the interim basis,” Barr said. “Frankly, I don’t think the college has missed a beat over the last six months or so while we were going through this transition.”

When asked, trustee Bill Greenhill immediately started describing how much LeBlanc has been able to cooperate with the board.

“She is a leader. She works with people very well,” he said.

“She works with us very well, with the board and each member of the board, very respectful. I am so grateful.”

Greenhill said how optimistic he is for the future of the college now that LeBlanc has settled into her position.

“We’re on a roll.

See Chancellor, page 6

The budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year was approved by the board of trustees, but it wasn’t unanimous.

Before the Aug. 18 meeting, anticipation was high in the room for the proceedings, with many mentioning how this was a big one. The docket for this meeting had 19 individual action items, one of which was a presentation of the entire budget to the board for approval.

Every item on the agenda was passed, but not all the items had complete agreement. Trustee Shannon Wood opposed three items: the budget itself, the yearly property tax rate and a connectivity proposal with Verizon.

During the deliberation, she expressed her concerns, particularly about the tax rate and how it would affect her constituents.

Then, when asked to comment after the conclusion of the public meeting, she got more personal.

“We have a lot of people in my constituency that are low-income, and I don’t want them to be homeless, and it really upsets me when they tell me their bills have gone up,” she said. “And you know how the appraisals have gone up. My daughter’s one of those people, so it’s very upsetting to me because I don’t want people to lose their homes.”

The board set the property tax rate at $0.13017 per $100 of assessed property value. While it’s the same rate as last year, Tarrant County property values have gone up, meaning more people’s property tax bills have increased.

Board Vice President Kenneth Barr reassured the public regarding the rate.

“The actual proposed rate is the same as the actual current rate for the prior year. That’s the See Meeting, page 6

Ariel Desantiago/The Collegian

Trustee Shannon Wood speaks during the board meeting. She opposed three individual action items, including the budget.

NEWS

2 • Wednesday, August 24, 2022

(continued from page 1)

was available through Subway,” he said.

“Those will include Stacked Mile High Deli, Rooted Plant-based Bowls, Motown Pizza as well as a hot food station that will rotate between campuses.”

The stands currently use a cashless ordering system where students can walk to the kiosk located next to the counter and order or get the app Toast on their phone which allows them to order ahead of time.

“I like the ordering,” Alvarado said.

“The way you can order online instead of standing in a line.”

But what Alvarado was most excited about was the fact that she would not need to be using the food trucks again. She described how she didn’t know where the food trucks would be on campus, nor what time

Chancellor

or even if they were going to be there that day.

“The food trucks were just ridiculous,” she said. “Their pricing of the food — it was a hit or miss. We never knew, sometimes they never showed up, we didn’t know the location. It was always inconvenient to find them.”

When asked about the food trucks NW coordinator of testing Martin Pham expressed his frustration with the price of the food compared to the quantity.

“They were expensive. $12-20 per plate and the plates were ridiculous,” he explained while gesturing to show the generally smaller size of the plates.

The food trucks were arranged by Genuine Foods for TCC during the transition

period from the closing of Subway to the opening of the new sites.

“We were obligated to keep that process going, Sandra handled that schedule in the phone calls, scheduling that daily as well as the groundwork,” Preyer said.

He explained how the initial offer of the food trucks was made without fully understanding how the industry worked, thus it was difficult to keep it consistent.

Sandra Bartron - the retail manager for Genuine Foods contracted by TCC was the one making phone calls to ensure that the food trucks for the next day were locked in for TCC locations.

“A day of break-even is a day of wasted time for them,” Preyer said. “And so it was very difficult, certain locations and

certain campuses really supported that effort. Through the rotation, you found out what campuses those were and that’s where the trucks wanted to be, other locations there was no interest.”

Genuine Foods is currently looking for students to apply for the positions they have available across the district.

Currently the employees are provided

by Genuine Foods as well as a staffing agency.

Preyer is hopeful that the TCC community will be able to see the effort that Genuine Foods has put into their stands to make a high-class product.

“Everything as you’ll see is done with quality in mind, and just making it a good experience for everyone,” he said.

(continued from page 1)

There’s no question that we’re going forward,” Greenhill said. “There’s no doubt in my mind that we have a brilliant future coming.”

According to the board, LeBlanc has been hard at work during her initial six months in her association with the TCC administration. During the Aug. 18 board of trustees meeting, it was mentioned that LeBlanc had several appointments with the board members as well as the chief operating officer Susan Alanis, to work with and clarify items of the budget that would be approved later that evening.

“I want to thank Dr. LeBlanc and Ms. Alanis and all those who have been meeting with the trustees over a lot of this material to make sure their questions were answered and addressed,” Ayala said.

Currently, there is no immediate need to search for a candidate for the permanent position, Barr said.

“I would anticipate we’ll take action later,” he said. “At this point, things are running well, and I don’t think we’re in a hurry to start the process.”

According to vice chancellor of communications and external affairs Reginald Gates, there has not been an official timeline or process set yet for the search.

“The board wanted to take intentional

time to look at the overall organizational needs of the college.”

When asked about the search, Ayala explained how both the board and LeBlanc are focused on putting the students first and keeping the district running efficiently after these changes.

“

There’s no doubt in my mind that we have a brilliant future coming.

Bill Greenhill TCC trustee

“

Food

“But as far as how we’re going to move forward, I think we’ve been evaluating that because we need to just make sure that the wheels continue to run and that the students are still being served and the community is still being served,” she said. “Because again, we had to make sure we were focused on the college and the students and that’s where our focus has been, and she knows that too.”

Ariel Desantiago/The Collegian

Interim chancellor Elva LeBlanc discusses agenda items during the meeting.

Ariel Desantiago/The Collegian

Trustee Bill Greenhill shares a laugh while at the Aug. 18 board meeting.

Meeting

(continued from page 1)

$0.13017 tax rate,” Barr said. “The proposed rate honors the commitment made to voters for the 2019 bond program to absorb the new debt service without raising the overall rate. That’s the commitment we made, and we’re honoring that commitment.”

Also on the docket was the approval of a cumulative $4.1 million over three items for the acquisition and installation of furniture for the NW renovation project.

“Essentially we did one bid with six different categories of furnishings that are required for the NW Campus redevelopment,” said chief operating officer Susan Alanis.

Many items highlighted in the new budget were changes being made to TCC staffing, particularly the addition of new positions and an increase in pay rates. Interim Chancellor Elva LeBlanc highlighted how much thought and preparation went into these decisions when board members commended the thoroughness of Alanis and her team.

“We’re doing the due diligence and that’s important to mention. We’re also being more transparent than ever before,” she said. “Because you had personnel

lumped in budget areas where you couldn’t monitor them and now we will be able to monitor them much better.”

LeBlanc also mentioned how important it is to realize that TCC has an incredibly important position not only in the county but on a state level.

“When we talk about the budget, we seldom take time to discuss the return on investment and critical role that TCC plays in the economic development of the entire region,” she said.

She emphasized how the revenue coming in from the college wasn’t just in the items in the budget but in the cultivation of the students attending the college.

“We are educating the current and the future workforce,” she said. “They’re becoming taxpayers, and they’re contributing to the economy. And it’s not just them, they bring their siblings along so when you look at the students for example in ECHS [Early College High School], they’re making sure their brothers or sisters are joining in, getting an education at TCC so we are huge.

We make an enormous impact on the whole economy of Tarrant County and the North Texas region and that should be discussed along with this budget.”

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Wednesday, August 24, 2022 • 3 EDITORIAL

Rising fear for retraction of women’s rights On June 24, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to overturn the landmark case of Roe v. Wade.

This news shocked many people to their core as the right to have a safe and legal abortion had been protected by the government for decades. The effects of a ruling like this present the question of how many of our rights are at stake.

Considering Roe was protected under the right to privacy it begs the question: What other privacies are next on the chopping block?

What’s almost worse than seeing the leading country of the free world going back in time is seeing the rights of every woman fading in front of our eyes.

Living in Texas where a trigger law was already in place meant that the minute the overturning was finalized, the tension in the air was palpable. In a world that already deals with so many political and economic issues, there is now the added stress of losing bodily autonomy.

If the choice of what can and can’t be done medically is now endangered, what does that say about other individualistic choices? From clothing to TV shows and music preferences, what will the government decide to choose for people next?

So many of the decisions made on a daily basis are rooted in the right to privacy, from whom people choose to be in a relationship with to the media they consume.

Those decisions are theirs to make, and the criminalization of abortions just goes to show that any of these rights could be taken away within a

moment’s notice.

Justice Clarence Thomas has already made it clear he wants the rulings on same-sex marriage and interracial marriage to be reevaluated next. This is what the land of freedom has turned into in the 21st century– constantly looking over one’s shoulder and refreshing news apps to see what could be overturned next.

The stress of seeing every issue plaguing the country within seconds of it happening takes a major toll on one’s mental health.

Not only do people now have to worry about accessing legal and safe health care — they also have to consider if anyone in a place of power didn’t approve of their life choices, those practices could now be at risk for criminalization.

Tj Favela/The Collegian

Mental health is already a pressing issue for many people nowadays, but to have to deal with the constant knowledge that you can no longer make choices regulate your own health and well-being is enough to take anyone over the edge.

The right to make decisions about one’s own body should not be the government’s decision. This

doesn’t just affect the way young people will go about their intimate lives. This issue now spreads to medical privacy and emergency situations which can’t be made without the consultation of a lawyer first. Decisions like overturning Roe will cost the lives of many people, most from low-income and minority households with nowhere to go.

The saddest thing is that making abortions illegal won’t stop people from getting them. It’ll only stop people from having safe access to the health-care they need.

So make no mistake, people will die – whether it be from botched backyard abortions or from being kept from the life-saving procedure they need because it’s now illegal.

It seems that the Supreme Court doesn’t really care about those lives or the lives of the families they will be leaving behind.

If this was truly about saving lives, maybe the focus should be on the people who are already alive.

When a person can no longer make such personal decisions, it will affect their lives in every sense of the word. People will have to consider all of their options before choosing to be intimate. Families will have to worry about what the political views of their states look like before trying to get pregnant for the fear of a potential emergency.

Worst of all, we now have to live our lives with the knowledge that although we may live in our bodies in a sense, they are not just ours. And that is a haunting reality to face.

VIEWPOINTS

Texas was too damn hot over the summer, now we’re soaked

Summer is the overhyped sweaty armpit of all seasons

RABBIA MOLAI

managing editor

rabbia.molai@my.tccd.edu

Every year as the spring comes to an end, we’re force-fed this narrative that the greatest time of the year is finally upon us.

Summer is presented as a never-ending opportunity for late-night memories, popsicles and beach days.

It’s all lies.

Summer has been shoved down our throats since grade school. Back then, it was the greatest time because we didn’t have to go to school, our parents would let us run wild with our friends and, most importantly, we were too young to know about all the problems in the world. Let’s not kid ourselves people: Summer is the sweaty overhyped armpit of all the seasons.

I mean, think about it. First of all, we’re in Texas. We don’t get the luxury of cute hot weather. It’s 95 degrees at 10 p.m., not to mention the humidity. I don’t know about y’all, but I don’t particularly enjoy feeling the weight of the atmosphere every time I step outside.

On top of that, we also have to deal with ungodly amounts of mosquitos, and of course the constant companionship of screaming cicadas.

Some things about summer I can admit are nice, like summer fruits. I mean,

watermelon is the absolute boss of fruits.

However, that does not make up for the disappointment that comes from not getting a “The Summer I Turned Pretty” type of experience.

There’s just too much pressure during the summertime. It’s like you‘ll waste the whole thing if you don’t do something extraordinary every single day. If you’re anything like me, your summer was probably spent shoving as many extra hours in your seasonal job as possible to save up for the fall.

Also, no one ever seems to talk about summer allergies. You always hear about them in the spring, but I would argue summer allergies can be worse. Not only is your nose running like a continuous faucet, you’re also sweating profusely while constantly wiping at it which, of course, makes it start chafing.

I know a lot of these issues could easily be solved by living in a different place. For example, if you live near a beach, I can absolutely see summer being the best time of year. Living in DFW though, we don’t get the beautiful ocean views. Instead, we get the lovely view of charred grass.

Before anyone criticizes me and says that we have lakes and rivers, I think we can all agree that it’s not really the same thing. I mean, a clear blue ocean and a musty brown lake can’t really be qualified as equals. Sure, you can still enjoy the lake, but you also run the risk of leaving with some weird disease.

So while those in coastal areas enjoy their heat waves and summer days, I’ll be here prematurely putting out Halloween decorations, sipping hot chocolate and preparing for the actual best season of all time. Fall is almost here, ladies and gentlemen, and I, for one, am ready to welcome it.

ALEX HOBEN

editor-in-chief

alexandra.hoben@my.tccd.edu

The cowboy state has melted like the Wicked Witch of the West without any water provided.

It seems the main thing that people can agree on is how laughably hot it is, but it was a problem before the sunny season even started. While sitting directly in front of a fan on a palatable 99 degree June day I received a well meaning message from a friend, “Happy first day of summer!”

Somehow the temperatures were frying the great state of Texas without it even being in the right location around the sun.

Everyone knows summers here are hot, but who could have predicted that we would be soon drowning in our own sweat and tears before even a dark cloud graced the sky.

Almost as if that message were an omen, day by day, week by week and month by month passed without a single drop of rain.

Lake’s water levels fell lower with every hour under the blazing sun’s unforgiving rays, plants turning dry and brittle without their life-blood. According to WFAA the DFW area had a 65-day dry streak which is the second longest ever recorded.

In this period of void precipitation, people began to worry more and more about the performance of our power grid. Texas’

energy system is notoriously unreliable in times of stress as we learned in the great freeze of 2021, and now with the scorch of 2022 the problem still remains.

There was a downpour of distrust and even insults thrown online at the Electric Reliability Council of Texas or ERCOT because of the requests of conservation they made to the Texas community.

When it was obvious that the heat wave that swept the nation would hold nothing back, they pleaded with the public to limit the consumption of electricity. But I know I didn’t.

In fact, I cranked up my window air conditioner as well as the home unit just so I could be useful to society and not a puddle of melted goo. It felt like the heat was more oppressive than ever before and I lived in fear that ERCOT would send a letter in the mail personally asking me to help the cause.

The standard of living had hit an all time low when on Tuesday Aug. 8, we were graced with the barest drizzle and it was the best thing to ever happen at that moment. I received texts with so much enthusiasm and happiness over the simplest weather event it was disconcerting.

That’s what this summer has done to us, we celebrate the smallest movements in the stratosphere as if it were the Olympics, but then at least the weather was tolerable for a while.

But then the first week of school came, and it started to pour. Suddenly I had to start driving through puddles on the road big enough that a new ecosystem could form and my car felt like it was snaking through a water slide tunnel.

If there is one thing you can always count on when it comes to Texas weather it is this, it will always find a way to betray you.

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Staff

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Alex Hoben

MANAGING EDITOR Rabbia Molai

ILLUSTRATOR Tj Favela

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PHOTO EDITOR Joel Solis

PHOTOGRAPHER Ariel Desantiago

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4 • Wednesday, August 24, 2022

A sign directs students to their tour sites on NE Campus, taken on Aug. 20.

NE students Fernanda Flores and Sierra Woods present during the tour.

Welcome Back,

TCC!

Illustration by Tj Favela/The Collegian

NE student Sierra Woods shows her tour group around NE Campus. The tour guides took students around and explained various aspects of TCC.

NE student Fernanda Flores speaks to her group in the NACB building.

Student Fernanda Flores shows her tour various rooms around NSTU. Photos by Joel Solis/The Collegian