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VOL. 101, NO. 7
SINCE 1950 12 PAGES, ONE COPY FREE
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 16, 2013 ACCENTADVOCATE.COM
THE STUDENT VOICE OF CONTRA COSTA COLLEGE, SAN PABLO, CALIF.
Dental program extracted Campus battles over department’s future
edit orial Pulling teeth
“All programs that would help students get a job upon completion are essential.” John Marquez,
By Brian Boyle
district Governing Board trustee
NEWS EDITOR
Vocational education programs are too important to be removed from the college curriculum.
page 2
bboyle.theadvocate@gmail.com
Dental assisting, a program that has been with Contra Costa College since the day it opened its doors in 1950, has been effectively closed. The program, which was suspended in 2011 only to be saved for a year by a grant then again suspended in May 2012, was dealt a near-death blow in March when the College Council reached an impasse as it was discussing the program’s fate. The council could not even hold a vote on dental
assisting’s future. Since then, the dental assisting lab in AA-206 has been disassembled. The room has become a place where culinary students meet most mornings. Department Chairperson Sandra Everhart has been reassigned to tasks related to completely closing down the program. Students who would normally be learning dental assisting skills at CCC are, theoretically, attending other schools. Q SEE DENTAL: Page 3
FILE PHOTO / THE ADVOCATE
Checking for accuracy — Dental assisting student Aisha Amin prepares a X-ray trainer in the former dental assisting lab in AA206 on March 21. The dental assisting program was suspended indefinitely at the end of the 2013 spring semester.
NOTHING BUT SOUL
SB 150 helps students in need Solution implemented to waive out-of-state fees By Lorenzo Morotti EDITORIAL CARTOONIST
lmorotti.theadvocate@gmail.com
GEORGE MORIN / THE ADVOCATE
Droppin’ the jazz — Dean of Natural, Social and Applied Sciences Division Terence Elliott debuted his first full length album at Yoshi’s in Oakland on Sunday. Elliott balances his profession and his passion for music.
A PASSION FOR MUSIC Balancing profession, music, Elliott features his first album ‘Jazz Nothing But Soul!’ at Yoshi’s jazz club in Oakland EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
gmorin.theadvocate@gmail.com
Jazz is nothing but soul. Music has always been a passion for Terence Elliott, dean of the Natural, Social and Applied Sciences Division. Dr. Elliott debuted his full-length album “Jazz Nothing But Soul!” at Yoshi’s restaurant and jazz club in Oakland on Sunday. Former Contra Costa College president McKinley Williams was in the dimly lit auditorium, showing support for Elliott. Greene “That man (Elliott) sure can play piano,” Williams said. “He has the jazz in his soul.” Elliott said, “I have to do it (play music). If I don’t play the keyboard at least once a day, I can tell my soul is missing something. Music is like exercise, once you start doing it, you need to keep going to feel satisfied.” A former student of Elliott, and Associated Students Union Coordinator, Erika Greene said Elliot helped her find an appreciation for music. “He would press the issue that a message can be transferred through music and that they can work as one unit,” Greene said. “That really stood out to me, I never really looked at music that way before.” Greene said she was impressed by Elliott’s musicianship.
“He’s (Elliott) very organic on the keyboard. He lets himself flow onto the keys.” Erika Greene,
ASU coordinator
“He’s (Elliott) very organic on the keyboard. He lets himself flow onto the keys,” she said. Elliott grew up in Parchester Village near Point Pinole Regional Park. His parents were both educators. The “rebellious” Elliott wanted to be as far from the teaching field as possible. He wanted to become a musician. When he brought this news to his parents, they both laughed at him. When Elliott was 14 years old, his father told him, “You want a piano? You’re going to have to get your own piano.” He worked at the church across the street from his house, helping them clean up after mass. There, he was able to play the piano for free. Elliott said he and one of his friends, who played the sax, would play through the evening. “We just played what we felt,” Elliott said. They played what they felt, until a churchgoer would come in and yell at them to “stop playing that devil music.” Elliott said, “I never understood what they meant. To us it was just music.” After saving up enough money from cleaning around the church, Elliott bought his first keyboard, a Fender Rhodes piano, from Scaled Music on 23rd Street, when
scene X page 7
Album slams listeners
Fuzz leaves fans wanting more songs, tracks
he was 14 years old. “I was glad my parents made me pay for it (the keyboard) myself. It really made me proud to call it my keyboard,” he said. “It was mine.” Elliott always kept the image of becoming a musician in the back of his mind. He had to put it on hold when he got a job as the co-chairperson of the black studies department at CCC, he said. “A past professor (who Elliott would not name) told me I was ‘nothing but a musician’,” he said. “That really stuck with me for a whole year. Was I too much of a musician?” Over the next year, Elliott did his best to be the picture of a scholar. “It took me about a year to really come to terms with the fact that being a musician and professor could go hand in hand,” he said. “Other great people in history had a creative tie to music.” Elliott is proud to call himself a musician. He earned two bachelor’s degrees from San Francisco State. His degrees are in music and black studies. Elliott also received his master’s degree in humanities from SF State. Elliott recently earned his doctorate of education in educational leadership from Argosy University in Alameda. A day after his performance at Yoshi’s, where he played to a packed house, Elliott returned to CCC early Monday morning. “I’m still riding that high,” Dr. Elliott said. “It was quite the moment walking into a room (at Yoshi’s) and having everyone clap for you.” “But it’s back to business. Just another day.”
campus beat X page 8
Ward III Rinn takes vacant seat
Q SEE SB 150: Page 6
sports X page 10
Neville a key element All-conference player humble on, off court
CMYK
By George Morin
With the signing of Senate Bill 150 by Gov. Jerry Brown last week, California’s high school students who are concurrently enrolled in college classes will no longer be subject to out-of-state tuition fees due to their undocumented status. “The passing of SB 150 affects every community college in California,” Gateway to College counselor Joseph Camacho said. “We are all bound by the same laws.” College President Denise Noldon said that administrators and staff are working with the district Governing Board to ensure that a policy will be put into place in accordance with the new law. Contra Costa College is host to two high schools — Middle Valdez College and the Gateway to College program — and stu- She said dents from both are concur- she is in rently enrolled in classes at support of SB 150 CCC. The bill, SB 150, will go and feels into effect Jan. 1, 2014. The the district law states that undocumented should high school students and their adopt the families will no longer have to bill and pay the out-of-state fee of $254 stand by it. per unit. “I contacted the students’ affected by the fees parents and explained the situation,” Middle College Principal Anne Shin said. “I let them know what choices were available to them before SB 150 had passed.” AB 540 was signed by ex-governor Gray Davis in 2001. That law allows undocumented students who have met certain requirements to enroll into the college of their choice without having to pay out of state fees because of their residency status. However, the requirements for a student to fall under AB 540 include attending at least three years of high school and graduating with a diploma or GED, registering or currently enrolling in an accredited college in California and they cannot hold a non-immigrant visa. Students attending MCHS or the Gateway program did not meet these requirements because they were still enrolled in high school. “Take into consideration that most college campuses don’t normally have a high school in them,” counseling department Chairperson Norma Valdez-Jimenez said. “When AB 540 passed over a decade ago, it only took into account high school students about to graduate or those already enrolled in college.” Dr. Noldon said a letter was sent to all undoc-
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