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Winter holidays
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Human rights activist dies at age 95
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VOL. 101, NO. 12
SINCE 1950 20 PAGES, ONE COPY FREE
THE STUDENT VOICE OF CONTRA COSTA COLLEGE, SAN PABLO, CALIF.
Student worker accused of theft
State pushing success
LEAVING A LEGACY
Task force suggests application methods
By Brian Boyle NEWS EDITOR
bboyle.theadvocate@gmail.com
Crime on campus does not often come in the form of a two-for-one sale, but on Nov. 27, a student worker allegedly committed burglary and embezzlement in the Bookstore. Police Services Lieutenant Jose Oliveira said, “It was just the same thing you’d see at a store: an employee thought it would be a good idea to refund money to her personal credit card.” The alleged suspect is an adult, female student worker. Lt. Oliveira explained that the crime of burglary happens whenever one enters a building with the intention of stealing from it. Embezzlement is the theft or misappropriation of funds that one has been entrusted with. Oliveira said that charges had not been filed yet because the Bookstore was still conducting their own investigation, but when the charges are filed, the burglary charge will be the one most likely to stick. He refused to release the identity of the suspect until charges are filed. Burglary in all instances is a felony offense. Bookstore lead operation assistant Darris Crear said that the Bookstore became alerted to the theft during their internal investigation. Crear explained that the Bookstore has 10 cameras that monitor “every inch” of the store. These cameras monitor and make it easier to catch both customer and employee theft. This type of theft is rare at Contra Costa College. “This is the first instance of theft like this I’ve ever seen on campus,” Oliveira said. “And I’ve been here forever.” The fact that employee theft is rare on campus goes against national statistics. According to the Centre for Retail Research’s Global Retail Theft Barometer for 2011, of all forms of theft stores experienced, employee theft represented 44 percent of all forms of theft. Admissions and Records is another group on campus that actually receives money from students. Director of Admissions and Records Catherine Fites said that Admissions and Records has never had a problem with
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 11, 2013 ACCENTADVOCATE.COM
By Cody McFarland ASSOCIATE EDITOR
cmcfarland.theadvocate@gmail.com
told. Our Helen is finally retiring -- A new life to have and to hold!” Kalkstein began her teaching career at Contra Costa College as a part time ESL professor in 1990, while also working at UC Berkeley. She was told by a former colleague to keep an eye out for jobs at community colleges. With a bachelor’s degree in speech therapy, she decided it was not the right major for her and that she was far more interested in language acquisition. She then earned her master’s degree in teaching ESL. Her first job at UC Berkeley’s extension was a non-credit class for nonnative English speakers. This led to Kalkstein teaching classes at UC Berkeley’s main campus to prepare students for college English classes equivalent to English 1A. While at UC Berkeley, the concept of ESL was still young, yet the field was
Last September, Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law Senate Bill 1456, known as the Student Success Act of 2012, a statewide initiative that has begun to change how community colleges throughout California serve students. With recommendations for implementation orchestrated by a 21-member Student Success Task Force appointed by the state Board of Governors, SB 1456 is geared toward strengthening and supporting college student preparedness with emphasis on technology, increasing transfer and degree completion rates and implementing a better system for funding. The changes implemented by the act have started shaping, and will continue to shape, the California community colleges for the next two years or longer. Returning students at Contra Costa College should expect a shift in enrollment priorities by fall 2014, when first time students will experience a new orientation process that entails the mandatory development of an educational plan. Changes that have already been implemented include that students are now required to declare a course of study by the time they complete 15 degree-applicable units or their third semester and course repeatability has been limited to make access more equitable. “The Student Success Act is about completion, not just access, and to have students completing goals as efficiently as possible,” CCC President Denise Noldon said. Dr. Noldon said the act is a step in the right direction and, that while some recommendations of the state task force may prove challenging to implement, there is no individual part of the act she disagrees with. A District-wide Student Success Task Force divided into three working groups has been discussing, researching and working to implement the state Student Success Task Force Recommendations for over a year. “The act is very positive for students,” district Chancellor Helen Benjamin said. “The district task force is doing a good job of implementing the recommendations and working together as a team to better promote student success.” Coming away from the recent economic downturn and major cuts to state-provided funding, it is hard to tell how exactly the California community colleges will fund the promotion of student success, the accomplishment of goals and the enhancing of resources like online technology and programs, counseling and assessment. “It’s going to take all of us working together toward the same goals,” CCC Vice President Tammeil Gilkerson said. “I believe it will make the system better in the long run.”
Q SEE KALKSTEIN: Page A3
Q SEE SUCCESS: Page A3
JANAE HARRIS / THE ADVOCATE
Humble departure — Liberal Arts Division Dean Helen Kalkstein plans to retire after beginning her career at Contra Costa College in 1990. She plans to travel and write.
DEAN ‘JUBILACIÓN’ Former ESL teacher retires from position after 23-year journey at CCC
Q SEE CRIME: Page A3
By Veronica Santos SCENE EDITOR
vsantos.theadvocate@gmail.com
Liberal Arts Division Dean Helen Kalkstein searched for the word “retire” on Google and found that it meant to withdraw. She prefers the Spanish word “jubilación” which sounds much more like jubilation, a feeling of great happiness and triumph. “I prefer to look at retirement as jubilación rather than withdrawing into seclusion,” Kalkstein said. ESL professor Liz Xiezopolski greeted Kalkstein in her office with beautiful handmade bracelets, and former LA Division Chairperson Lee Brelie bid her farewell with a song. Brelie adopted “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean” for Kalkstein. In her adaptation she sang, “Our Helen is leaving the college, and rest for a while, so we’re
Small space may hinder textbook buying process Because of the small size of the portable building, there can only be so many students allowed into the Bookstore at a single time, which will more than likely result in long lines forming outside of the Bookstore, right in the middle of Lot 9 when classes begin in January, By Jared Amdahl Dunn said. OPINION EDITOR “We’ll have to invent some crowd control jamdahl.theadvocate@gmail.com efforts,” he said. “Seeing as how if we get more As the fall 2013 semester comes to a close, than 40 people in this building it is potentially a employees of the Bookstore prepare themselves fire hazard, people will have to line up outside.” for a busy spring season in their temporary porAfter losing nearly 700 square feet, about 27 table building located in Lot 9. percent of the original space the Bookstore had, “We went from something a lot bigger to this textbooks are now forced to be kept in a backspace we’re in now,” Bookstore supply buyer room storage area, which means students can no Nick Dunn said. “We’re just trying to adapt to longer browse through the many aisles of books CHRISTIAN URRUTIA / THE ADVOCATE Cozy — The Bookstore’s temporary location in a modular building in Lot the new space. We went from 10 aisles and a the Bookstore once had. lot of wall space to three aisles and virtually no “Most of the big, expensive items will be in 9 is about half as big as its previous location. The decrease in size may wall space.” Q SEE BOOKSTORE: Page A3 make it difficult to accommodate students during book buying season.
Bookstore readies itself for upcoming semester
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