The Ranger, Oct 8, 2018

The anger Volume 93 • Issue 4 San Antonio College A forum of free voices since 1926

Oct. 8, 2018 WWW.THERANGER.ORG

E-scooters provide students with fast transportation Campus police recommend wearing helmets although they are not required by law.

By Liandre De la Uso sac-ranger@alamo.edu A new mode of transportation is taking flight all over the city and this campus.

Two companies —Bird Co. and Lime —are providing students with scooters, a fast and easy way of getting around campus.

“I was kind of curious on how to use them,” said mechanical engineering sophomore Josue Lira. “It’s fun and it gets you places, although a little pricey, but it’s still cheaper than taking a bus somewhere.”

Students are starting to catch on to this trend and have since started using the e-scooters to get to class.

“Anything that gets students to class on time is a good thing,” said risk management Coordinator Janae Johnson. “But I would just suggest that anyone who uses them takes the same precautions as when they’re riding a bike or a skateboard on campus.”

Bird Co., based out of Santa Monica, Calif., was founded in 2017 before rapidly expanding throughout the country and coming to San Antonio in the summer.

Only 500 e-scooters were placed downtown in June but now number about 1,700 around the city mostly on or around college campuses.

Competitor Lime — formerly known as LimeBike — also entered the e-scooter sharing market. Lime is also based in California.

One month after Bird Co. arrived in San Antonio, Lime released 200 e-scooters in the

downtown area. However, in terms of fleet size, Bird Co. still greatly outnumbers the competition.

For students to use the e-scooters, they must download the Bird app where they’ll be able to locate and pay to use a scooter.

An initial fee of $1 is charged and an additional 15 cents for every minute of use afterward is the charge for both services. It costs about $10 to ride one of the e-scooters for one hour.

Once riders secure an e-scooter with the initial fee, it can be locked and unlocked throughout the duration of the ride.

Riders are encouraged to leave e-scooters standing up on the sidewalk at the end of their rides so that they may be used by other riders later.

There have been safety concerns associated with riding the scooters that have been addressed by both the company and the college since students started riding them.

“Any student who plans on using the scooter should wear a helmet,” Deputy Police Chief Joe Pabon said.

“I have seen students riding on the streets, on North Main, and that could be dangerous.”

The San Antonio City Council has proposed regulations that would require dockless scooter companies like e-scooter companies to add an education page to their app to inform users about safe practices.

Riders would also follow the same regulations as cyclists and skaters on the street; however, helmets are not required.

“For the most part, I’ve seen riders be alert, making sure no one is going to hit them.

See E-scooters, Page 2

Biology sophomore Chris Fontenote rides a Bird scooter Sept. 28 at North Main and West Myrtle. The battery-powered scooters can be rented through the Bird Co. app for $1 to unlock and 15 cents per minute. Brittney Maria Moreno

Math tutor helps students in four languages

Executive Faculty Council looking for 2019-20 fellow Council discusses its relevance, addresses confusion about function.

By Sergio Medina smedina104@student.alamo.edu

The lab coordinator is available to tutor in Spanish.

By Jason Durant sac-ranger@alamo.edu Maryam Khadivian, math and architecture sophomore, can assist students in the math lab in four languages.

She was fluent in Farsi, Spanish, and French in addition to English before she moved here in 2015 to attend college.

Khadivian is a resident by green card, but she originally came here as an international student.

Khadivian learned all four languages in Iran, her home country. She was required to learn two new languages to be able to pass an entrylevel exam to come to the states. The exam is required by Iranian education authorities.

She tutors students in English most often, Spanish somewhat frequently, and Farsi and French from time to time, she said Sept. 26.

She has tutored more than 20 students in French and Farsi since she has been a tutor in the math lab.

She also knows Farsi sign language and can translate formal French.

“I only can translate true French from the country of France,” she said.

She has also translated in court on cases during jury duty assignments in Spanish on several occasions.

Multilingual tutor Maryam Khadivian assists horticulture sophomore Linda Morales with College Algebra homework Oct. 1 in Room 121 of McCreless. She works at the lab 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Monday and Wednesday and 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday. Brittney Maria Moreno “It is helpful for students when I tutor in their home language,” she said. “It gives the student and I a sense of commonality.”

Her best friend, who was an Iranian international student at St. Philip’s College, suggested this college to her while she was researching institutions in the United States because of its degree plans matching what Khadivian wanted to pursue.

“My friend felt it is a school I would thrive in with my architectural and multilingual credentials,” Khadivian said.

She is unsure of her career plans, but she wants to graduate from the University of Texas at San Antonio with a dual major in math and architecture.

Khadivian’s talents first caught the attention of Professor Samuel Harrison in MATH 2413, Calculus 1, in fall 2016.

“I was achieving 100s on all my assignments from the very first day, so my professor suggested I tutor in the lab,” Khadivian said Sept. 17.

Khadivian, along with lab Director Steve Ochoa, are available for Spanish translating and tutoring.

Students can request her help in Room 121 in McCreless Hall.

She works in the lab 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

Monday and Wednesday, and 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

Saturday.

For more information, call 486-0420.

The Executive Faculty Council, one of the bodies of shared governance in the Alamo Colleges, is looking for a new faculty fellow to join its ranks.

The council is composed of five Faculty Senate presidents, five senate vice presidents, the chair of chairs, and a faculty fellow.

On Sept. 28, district human resources sent out an email listing the fellow position as vacant.

Periodically, HR sends out an email to employees with a list of vacant positions in the district.

The fellow position is paid with hard money, paid at the current full-time faculty pay rate, and has a twoyear duration.

As the job description summarizes, the fellow is responsible for “planning, organizing, and facilitating strategic and operational

initiatives” regarding council research and decisionmaking.

Other tasks include overseeing council meetings, co-chairing the EFC ad-hoc committees and maintaining and updating the website, said Cindy Katz, co-chair of the council, in an interview Sept. 28 In addition, the description explains applicants must be permanent fulltime faculty members.

Previously, the position was held by math Instructor Dianna Torres Lee. Given the vacancy, the council previously assigned Adam Aguirre, anthropology coordinator at Northwest Vista College, and Katz as co-chairs of the council, for the time being.

For the council, it is important faculty understand what the council does.

See Council, Page 2

2

News

Oct. 8, 2018

WWW.THERANGER.ORG/NEWS

MOVE Texas registers 165 voters Registration deadline for Nov. 6 election is Oct. 9.

By James Russell and Liandre De la Uso sac-ranger@alamo.edu On Sept. 25, National Voter Registration Day, Saffron Kaplan in a bright yellow banana suit ran from one side of this campus to the other to speak to students about voter registration.

“We are trying to get that last push and get as many voters registered as possible,” Kaplan said.

The intern is the campus lead for this college with Mobilize Organize Vote and Engage, known as MOVE. The organization started in 2013 as a small student-run organization at the University of Texas San Antonio.

It has expanded to become a statewide operation.

“So a lot of people have this mindset, especially with presidential elections, that their

Education sophomore Joshua Rodriguez writes why he votes Sept. 25 at National Voter Registration Day in the mall. MOVE Texas informs and persuades students to vote. Alan Torres

votes don’t matter,” Kaplan said.

“Last year, we registered about 1,508 people (on Voter Registration Day),” Move fellow Noelani Sanchez said.

“We’re planning on doubling that. It’s pretty ambitious, but we can do it.”

The MOVE Texas goal was 350 voters registered at this campus and 15,000 state-

wide.

In a single day, MOVE Texas registered 165 people here and 5,375 people on college campuses statewide.

MOVE Texas is close to registering about 30,000 students statewide this year.

Students were enthusiastic to participate in the political process and the upcoming midterm elections.

“For students to be

able to voice their concerns, voting is the best way to do that,” business sophomore Karen Ortiz said.

“Getting them registered on this campus is the best way to do that.”

Deadline for registration is Oct. 9.

Election Day is Nov. 6, and early voting is Oct. 22.

For more information, visit movesanantonio.org.

Council from Page 1 During its meeting Sept.

28, council members discussed some confusion between what the EFC does compared to the United Faculty Senate.

“The EFC represents the faculty in noncurricular system-wide issues,” Katz said.

“So all the faculty are impacted by what the EFC works on.

We need faculty to help run the EFC so that we can maintain a faculty-run body.

“The issues that come to the EFC come through either the Faculty Senate, the PVC (presidents and vice presidents committee), the board or the chair of chairs,” Katz said. “So the EFC is the one that works on the longer term issues that affect the faculty that are noncurricular.

“The United Faculty Senate works on issues dealing with faculty that can deal with curricular issues,” she said.

“If they can’t get it resolved, then they can present a proposal to the EFC, and the EFC can get an ad-hoc committee together to work on that issue.”

An example is an ad-hoc

E-scooters from Page 1 Some students approach the intersection and stop to look both ways and wait for the light,” Pabon said.

There have been no reports of e-scooter related

Cindy Katz, Executive Faculty Council co-chair, discusses vacant faculty fellow position Sept. 28 in Killen. Katz said new faculty fellow will oversee council meetings and ad-hoc committees. Dillon Holloway committee looking into lab loading, affecting faculty being paid for lab hours at two-thirds the rate for lecture hours.

Another distinction from the United Faculty Senate is that the council presents directly to the board, Katz said.

While it has not been confirmed, the council strongly suggested the deadline for application be Oct. 31. The applicant selected would begin the job in spring.

The council advised its members to announce the vacancy at their respective Faculty Senate meetings to get the word out.

The faculty meetings for October are: This college: Oct. 19; Northeast Lakeview College Oct. 5; Northwest Vista College: Oct. 12; Palo Alto College: Oct. 19; St. Philip’s College: Oct. 12.

“It builds leadership,” Katz said.

“You get to know more about what’s going on in the district offices. It’s an excellent opportunity for those who are wanting some leadership opportunities.”

For more information, email Katz at ckatz@alamo. edu, or visit the council’s website at alamo.edu/efc.

injuries on campus, according to the campus police department and the risk management coordinator. However, there have been reports of individuals being injured and at least two fatalities in Dallas

and Washington, D.C. Neither of the companies responded to requests for interviews.

For information, visit www.bird.co or www.li.me/ electric-scooter.

/readtheranger @therangerSAC

Oct. 8, 2018

@sacranger /therangervideo

WWW.THERANGER.ORG/OPINION

Opinion 3

Staff Managing Editor Sergio Medina Opinion Editor Austin P. Taylor Calendar Editor Andrea Moreno Social Media Editor Brianna Rodrigue Staff Writers Kathya Anguiano, Huguette Buduri, Kimberly Caballero Feliciano De Haro III, Liandre de la Uso, Jason Durant, Rogelio Escamilla, Julian Gonzales, Blanca Granados Richard Hernandez, Geoffrey K. Hovatter, Mardio Lattimore, Giovanni Maccarone, Janie Medelez, Jackie N. Muralles, Lionel Ramos, James Russell Photo Editor V. Finster Photographer Deandra Gonzalez Photo Team Christina R. Emmett, Mitchell Gawlik, Dillon Holloway, Brittney Maria Moreno, Alan Torres Illustrator Amanda Graef Distribution Manager Micaela Avila

©2018 by The Ranger staff, San Antonio College, 1819 N. Main Ave., San Antonio, TX 78212-3941. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without permission.

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Amanda Graef

New district support office waste of needed resources The district needs to be more pragmatic with its spending.

The Alamo College’s new district support office building is an expensive solution to the district’s scattered and aging support offices.

The building that has been dubbed the “Taj Mahal” by the Alamo Colleges community is a $55 million waste of taxpayer money.

A perfectly adequate space would have cost much less.

The only floor plan currently open to the public shows barren spaces where offices will go, but the only clearly labeled rooms, that aren’t conference rooms, are a green room, haven room and lactation room on the second floor, the office lounges.

What is clearly marked are the outdoor components.

The new building will feature an outdoor amphitheater, an acequia and extensive seating set inbetween the two main buildings.

As detailed in the Dec. 7 town hall meeting, the only defined spaces above ground level are restrooms and conference rooms.

The offices look to have been designed with an open floor plan in mind, but the walkthrough video on https://newdso.blog/2018/07/30/new-dsowalkthrough-video/ shows tightly packed cubicles with low partitions.

What’s the plan here?

Open floor plans are a bad idea; once, the design world’s trendiest trend, now they are reported to decrease productivity.

They do not allow for any privacy and inhibit the problem-solving abilities of employees.

The cubicle walls shown in the video of the new DSO building are so low they don’t actually block off anything.

A modicum of privacy promotes employee wellbeing.

There’s nothing in the floor plan presentation that shows where the chancellor and vice chancellors will be housed, only their departments.

Editorial

Letters

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‘Goodbye, my friend’ Editor’s note: This is an open letter paying tribute to plumber Michael “Mike” Segovia, who died on the job Sept. 19.

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My buddy, my buddy, my pal. He was a hard worker.

He loved his sons and he became my best friend till the end.

Mike loved to go see his sons perform, Jonathan and Alex in band, Davis in sports.

He always talked about the drives he would take to see the games, halftime shows and concerts.

Mike looked forward to his sons visiting him for the weekend.

Sometimes, he would show it when he got upset, but most of the time he was upbeat.

Mike was a hard worker. He may have complained here and there, but he would get the job done, and he did it to the best of his ability.

Mike always had a smile on his face, even for work.

When I first started helping him a few years ago, I could see the frustration, but I had him laughing in little time.

The first time I went to help him, I did not know what to do.

It was a women’s restroom. Mike went in to fix it, and I went off to get an out of order sign.

When I got back, he was outside fuming.

The buildings call center is shown to be between the district’s department of risk management and student success.

There are no walls to create a noise barrier between the departments.

This plan and all of this money was budgeted and approved in 2015.

Nothing said in this editorial can keep the district from spending on these offices.

But we can remind administrators and trustees of the context this spending takes place within.

This college has held back 30 percent of it’s budget in case predicted spring enrollment falls short and the district needs to be reimbursed.

That follows major cuts in the last fiscal year and many other years before that.

State funding continues to be cut while operating expenses are rising.

Instructors are still paid two-thirds their normal pay for teaching lab hours, which is traditionally when instructors do most one-on-one work with students.

It seems “students-first” only applies to college employees, not district support operations.

Peña and Segovia participate in Staff Development Day May 24, 2017.

A girl had gone in to use the toilet.

I didn’t know I was supposed to guard the door. It happened again on another day.

We joked around a lot and eventually Mike started thriving in his work.

Even when the task seemed hard, we would get through it with words of encouragement.

Between the two of us, work orders issued were knocked out quickly.

With each day going by, joking around and laughing, we would get our job done.

My first best friend, Joe, passed away a few years ago.

Mike reminded me of him a lot.

Maybe that’s why we bonded so quickly.

Same moods, jokes and responses.

It felt like Joe was here. By the time I knew it, Mike had become my best friend, too.

Mike and I worked really well together.

Mark would join us for lunch and play dominos.

Juan, another worker also joined us until he retired.

I remember he would put the wrong domino down and we wouldn’t notice.

I’d get mad because it would mess up my strategy.

One time it was just Mike and I playing dominos. This time I put the wrong domino down; after three turns he scored 70 points.

He told me what I did. I told him, “Oh, yeah! After 70 points now you tell me, just because you can’t score again.”

We started laughing. Mike and I usually cracked jokes.

One of many moments I won’t forget was when we were in an elevator and there was a lady wearing an Air Force shirt.

Mike asked if she was in the Air Force; she said her husband was. Mike replied “Oh, a fly-boy! I was in the Navy.”

From behind I said, “Yeah, he was a Navy seal. Er, er, er,” as in the seal animal. We cracked up. Even the lady was laughing.

Another funny moment was when we were putting a water heater back in place.

It was scary at the moment, but we were glad we could laugh about it.

He was soldering the water lines and I was cleaning the electrical connectors.

The water heater is electric. So,

I told him “flammable stuff.” Mike said OK. “Mike, flammable.”

He said OK. He kneeled to solder the drain line and poof, fire!

He grabbed the rag I had used and started hitting the flames and the rag catches fire!

Panicking, I started throwing water from the drain until it went out. I said, “Mike, flammable.”

Mike said, “I know.”

After a few minutes, I said, “Mike, flammable” and we started laughing out loud.

He said “comedy capers.”

Mike used to say, “A happy heart is full of laughter.”

Riding around together and helping each other out, he was joyful and glad to complete all the work orders in the tablet.

He was determined to finish the last order. He put his job before his health.

His last words to me were, “I have to shut the water off. I have to shut the water off.”

Mike will be missed by a lot of people, especially his friends and family. I know I miss him a lot, especially at work.

It won’t be the same without him.

The old routine, “Mikey, Mike!” and the good mornings.

My buddy, my buddy, my pal.

Rest in peace, Mike. You are greatly missed.

Jose Peña Jr. General Maintenance

4

Features

Oct. 8, 2018

WWW.THERANGER.ORG/FEATURES

New history instructor engages students with role-play exercises The technique helps students develop critical thinking skills.

By V. Finster

vfinster1@student.alamo.edu

History Instructor Suraya Khan divided students into four groups for a mock scenario deciding America’s course of action during the Philippine War of Independence in a history class Sept. 25 in Chance Academic Center.

The groups in HIST 1302, U.S. History 2, had to choose whether to negotiate the return of the Philippines to Spain, grant independence after a short transitional period with an American protectorate, grant independence but include an American naval base on the island, turn over the islands to a friendly power, govern the islands jointly or annex the Philippines as an American colony.

Each group was provided a primary source for information to determine their decision. For example the Filipino perspective comes from a let-

ter to the U.S. Congress from Emilio Aguinaldo, president of the Philippine Republic.

The U.S. perspective comes from a publication in The North American Review “Imperialism and Christianity” by Rev. F.W. Farrar in September 1900.

The groups represented the political and military perspective, economists, politicians and moralists and the Filipino perspective.

Three of the four groups agreed to grant independence but with American possession of a naval base on the islands. This mirrored the actual outcomes.

The fourth group decided the Philippines should be granted independence.

“Every class comes to a different conclusion,” she said.

The mock scenario is part of an active-learning, role-play method Khan adopted from her mentor Howard Zinn, author of “A People’s History of the United States.”

History Coordinator Erik Anderson said this high-impact practice was the kind of teach-

ing strategy the department was looking for when the college hired Khan in April.

“I think it’s a good idea. It’s something that requires continued engagement,” he said.

Anderson said the department will continue using innovative teaching techniques that encourage active learning.

Khan said this method helps students think critically from a perspective different from their own.“The method is all about letting go of the heroic narrative and whitewashing of history,” she said.

Khan said this technique unsettles the narrative that history is just a forgone conclusion and provides context on why events happened as they did.

“Our background knowledge on the debates that are happening today is so limited, we don’t understand the situation for us to make actual effective policy,” she said.

“History is not one forward march of progress. There are cycles, things get good, things get worse, there’s a backlash, a

History Instructor Suraya Khan leads her U.S. History 2 class Sept. 25 in Chance in an active-learning method called role-play. Khan assumed the identity of U.S. President William McKinley while four groups represented perspectives on decision-making in the 1899 Philippine War of Independence. V. Finster constant struggle.”

Khan was born and raised in Houston and grew up as a South Asian American after 9/11.

“I’ve always been aware of issues surrounding race, class and gender,” she said.

Khan, a first-generation college student, took basic courses at Lone Star Community College

in 2006 in Houston.

She received a doctorate in 2018 from Rice University, and this fall is her first semester of teaching.

While at Lone Star, Khan said she had a professor who singled out Muslims.

The professor told the class most Americans viewed

Muslims as terrorists after 9/11 and passed around newspaper editorials indicating that view was widespread.

“I don’t want students to feel unwelcome in my class,” she said.

Khan said the role-play method gets students asking: Could history have gone differently?

Author Gabby Rivera urges students to connect to others Her comic book superhero allows readers to discover who they are.

By Giovanni Maccarone sac-ranger@alamo.edu

Artwork and creativity elevate people’s view of themselves and disrupt negative stereotypes about what others think, author Gabby Rivera told students Oct. 1 in the auditorium of McAllister Fine Arts Center.

“It doesn’t take much. You’d be surprised,” she said to an audience of about 60.

The event is part of this college’s observation of Raza Heritage Month and LGBTQ History Month.

She explained the words that define who she is and what she does.

“Queer, Latinx and joy. They might seem like obvious words. For me, there’s more to it than that. For me, queerness is this incredible gift from the universe.

It is this whole other lens of power and

Writer Gabby Rivera speaks about social justice and exploring identity during “Inspiring Radical Creativity: An Evening with Gabby Rivera” Oct. 1 in McAllister. Kimberly Caballero strength and beauty, all in how I love people, all in how I connect to other folks,” she said.

“It is the power I have to completely change the world around me. So I have

a good time with it,” she said.

Rivera said the term “Latinx” reflects Hispanic people’s heritage and where they are from.

“Latinx. That’s a funny word,” she said.

“It’s one of those words that doesn’t mean anything, really. But it points to where you are and where you’ve been only if you accept that, and that’s your term.

“And the funny thing about Latinx is that even though it has no significance in it of itself, there’s a consciousness brewing in this country for us,” she said.

She explained “joy” allows people to make those connections.

“It is the thing that holds us together.

It is the thing that allows us to be a community. It is the thing that allows us to connect with others,” she said.

Rivera authored the book “Juliet Takes a Breath,” a story about a woman who interns for a writer, discovering a new environment from what the character is used to.

The book was published Jan. 18, 2016, by Riverdale Avenue Books.

Rivera also wrote a comic book series for Marvel surrounding the queer Latina superhero, America Chavez.

“I took a couple of different

Online Now

WWW.THERANGER.ORG

Finalists for student success dean interviews Two dean of student success candidates were interviewed Oct. 3 and two others were scheduled for interviews Oct. 5. All four

appeared at open forums.

One finalist is expected to be presented at the Oct. 16 board meeting at Killen Center.

Support groups available in student advocacy center

By Julian Gonzales Support groups are offered through the counseling services in the center for academic enrichment.

The services are designed to help students get through tough times, which almost every student goes through,

approaches with America, and a lot of it started with what is important to me,” she said.

The comic books have gained attention worldwide for starring a queer Latina woman as the main character.

“When I put America Chavez on a page, there is permission for everyone reading her to go on the same journey as she is going on,” she said.

“Throughout the series, she is allowed to forge a new way to figure herself out. You get to be the hero all the time. You must discover yourself. You are allowed to.”

Rivera has been writing from a young age and started with poetry but found short stories and fiction more comfortable.

“Life is so brutal. And I don’t want to be responsible for telling someone else’s truth in a work of nonfiction,” she said.

“Fiction is therapeutic to me. If something wrong happens in my real life, I can find a way to make it beautiful.”

Counselor Marco A. Mar said in an interview Sept. 17.

The support groups let students share experiences and make connections in the college community.

Groups meet MondayThursday in the advocacy center.

Library renovates study rooms for collaboration

By Janie Medelez The library in Moody Learning Center is upgrading six study rooms to provide projectors, computers and connections for electronic devices.

The library has six study rooms on the second floor, and the improvements were inspired by surveys students fill out after using services on the second floor desk area, technology services Librarian Lee LeBlanc said Sept. 25.

Library administrators recognized a need for study rooms better equipped for students to come together to collaborate in groups, he said.