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Riveting return
WWII recreated in production
sports ◆ page 5
Stalemate Men’s soccer ends in 2-2 tie
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scene ◆ page 6
campus beat ◆ page 4
Site to see makeover Web page redesign nearing completion
VOL. 93, NO. 4
SINCE 1950
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 30, 2009 ACCENTADVOCATE.COM
THE WEEKLY STUDENT VOICE OF CONTRA COSTA COLLEGE, SAN PABLO, CALIF.
6 PAGES, ONE COPY FREE
Bus lines shift, cease
Center closing doors
WORKING TOGETHER
State reductions force DSPS lab shutdown
AC Transit reacts to $57 million deficit
By Holly Pablo EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Faced with the obligation to further reduce student services and address the statewide budget deficit, college administrators have chosen to risk the educational development of some of its most vulnerable students — those with physical and learning disabilities. Effective Thursday, the Disabled Students Programs and Services (DSPS) High Tech Center in CTC-109, a computer lab equipped with specialized equipment and adaptive software, will be closed indefinitely, DSPS Manager Yasuko Abe said. Student Alberta Henry said the lab is a vital part of her learning experience. “The teachers in class sometimes move too fast,
By Asia Camagong SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR
In response to a $57 million deficit, AC Transit is formulating a proposal to eliminate and reroute various bus lines in its transit district. Although definite changes will not be approved until Oct. 14, bus riders can take the initiative and vocalize their input on the proposal, possibly saving their route of transportation from falling victim to the service cuts. The 2009 Service Adjustments Plan, featuring a list of modifications made to lines in west Contra Costa County, Alameda County and the Transbay, gives face to a number of considered changes that cut bus services by 15 percent. “The economy has soured, and our funding basis has dried up completely,” AC Transit Manager of Media Affairs Clarence Johnson said. “We’re left with no alternative but to try to do more with less, and it’s a very difficult thing to do.” According to the proposal posted on the company Web site, www.actransit.org, 23 complete bus lines and segments of bus lines may be discontinued in west Contra Costa County, while others are subject to a change in routing. Reacting to the potential changes, students voiced concerns about the reliability of public transportation. Nursing major Nancy Reyes, a frequent bus rider, said the changes could affect the time it takes her to get to school and work. A number of the proposed changes will affect local bus riders that depend on bus transportation to get to Contra Costa College. “If you discontinue one line, it could mess up (someone’s) whole life,” nursing major Kena Bates said. Local lines coming through CCC, including Lines 70, 71, 72, 74 and 76, are facing possible adjustments. Line 70, currently ■ SEE TRANSIT: Page 3
SAM ATTAL / THE ADVOCATE
Giving back — Middle College High School senior Kristi Phan (left) and nursing major Andre Dayto plant vegetation on campus during Rheem Creek Volunteer Day Saturday. The event attracted more than 65 volunteers to help add nearly 100 plants to the area.
R E S T O R I N G the ENVIRONMENT
rules still blurry
page 2
By Sam Attal ASSOCIATE EDITOR
More than 65 local volunteers were covered in dirt, weeds and mud from planting vegetation for a campus watershed project Saturday. The Urban Creeks Council, a Berkeley-based organization, helped Contra Costa College and Middle College High School students work with community members to show their support for the Rheem Creek restoration project. “I’ve been meaning to help out and clean this school,” CCC alumna Gaby Plaza said. “The school has done a lot for me, so I feel like I’m giving back to it.” The volunteers worked to clear the campus creek, at a location near the Student Activities Building and Student Services Center, of weeds and other harmful vegetation and put in nearly 100 new plants from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Assessment struggles to muster funding By Jack Anderson SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR
The volunteer-run project started in mid-2008 and has focused on creating a more habitat-rich ecological system on campus while educating students, Urban Creeks Council Executive Director Phil Stevens said. “(Students are) out here learning what it takes to restore an ecosystem,” Stevens said. “(The event) gives them a sense of ownership.” Volunteers have worked together since the start of the project to remove non-native vegetation to allow creek-friendly plants to grow. So far, 85 species of plants have been put in the soil. The project, however, is nowhere near completion, Stevens said. “It’ll be 3-5 years before it becomes a real beautiful place,” he said. Stevens said the Urban Creeks Council plans to host creek restoration volunteer days on the last Saturday of every month.
Responding to a 62 percent cut to matriculation funding, the English as a second language department has been left scrambling for a way to properly assess incoming students. The department has not accepted any new assessments since the start of the semester and is searching for a new way to pay for the test by the time the spring semester starts, or they will have to change their assessment process. Matriculation money is used to provide services, such as counseling and assessment, for students before they register or enroll. “Matriculation is the process of entering and leaving (Contra Costa College) with goals,” Matriculation Services Coordinator Kenyetta Tribble said. All assessment is done through matriculation, but the ESL assessment is a longer, more involved and more expensive process, Tribble said. While some students only take a basic computerized test, she said, ESL students
■ SEE CREEK: Page 3
■ SEE ESL: Page 3
free of secondhand smoke. The policy, posted on signs STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER throughout campus, states that smoking is allowed only in parking areas A cloud of obscurity has sur- located at least 25 feet from the rounded the smoking policy on cam- entrance or exit of any building. pus since its revision in 2006 and has These signs hardly seem to stop left many students unaware of just people, however, as many students what is acceptable. smoke on campus regularly, President After the revision, Contra Costa McKinley Williams said. College was made a smoke-free “Obviously some folks are not campus in an effort to provide stu- aware of (the policy), and hopefully dents with a healthy environment ■ SEE SMOKING: Page 3
Lighting up —Student David Payne smokes a Black & Mild in front of the Humanities Building while waiting for his next class to begin Monday.
By Adam Oliver
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revision,
Closure of lab for disabled students is an unnecessary disaster that can be fully avoided through improved effort and volunteerism.
Cuts hit program
GEORGE MORIN / THE ADVOCATE
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recent
A wrong move
■ SEE DSPS: Page 3
Smoking policy clouded by ignorance, rebellion Despite
edit orial
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