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ranger Serving San Antonio College since 1926
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Volume 88 Issue 14 • Feb. 28, 2014
210-486-1773 • Single copies free
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PENNY WISE
Student petitions 1-textbook proposal
Retirement planning needs to start now
Petition will be delivered to the March 18 committee meetings.
Retirement may seem far way for many students, but it is essential to begin thinking and planning now. “It’s really, really important that young people know these things at the beginning of their career,” business Professor Sylvia DeLeon said. “You don’t want to find out about it at age 50.” DeLeon said one of the main things she teaches in BMGT 2383, Cooperative Education-Business Administration and Management, is not to accumulate debt. Graduating with a bachelor’s degree and a $40,000 debt is not a good way to start. “Try not to take out loans if at all possible; go with scholarships.” When starting out in a career, young people should consider Social Security benefits, the retirement plan their employer provides and their own individual retirement account or an annuity, she said. The first thing college students must do is find out if the industry they are going into provides a retirement plan. She recommends young people go into industries that contribute to employees’ retirement. If you’re in a field that doesn’t carry a retirement plan, create your own, she said. The more an employer provides for you, the more money you will have set aside for retirement. It is also important to understand the ratio, she said. “If I put in a dollar, they’re (the employer) going to put in a dollar, that’s called a one-to-one ratio.” Having a retirement pension plan and Social Security benefits is good, but it’s also a good idea to create an individual retirement account. “It’s called diversifying your retirement plan. You’re diversifying in three sources,” DeLeon said. If something goes wrong in one, the other two will still provide retirement funds. Some people are living off only Social Security checks, which is an average of $1,269 a month, DeLeon said. If you were born after 1967, full retirement benefits for Social Security start at age 67. Congress has now been talking about increasing the minimum age for retirement to age 70. “Start young,” she said. “The sooner, the better.” For information on retirement planning, contact a financial planner or a bank.
Maria Duran
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By Katherine Garcia
kgarcia203@student.alamo.edu
Paramedics carry math Professor Paula McKenna to a chair after she slipped on the stairs because the non-skid strips were worn Feb. 21 in McCreless. Mandy Derfler
Professor’s fall leads to McCreless repair By Neven Jones
njones4@student.alamo.edu
Math Professor Paula McKenna slipped as she was walking up the stairs to her office in McCreless Hall about 7:50 a.m. Feb. 21 because the non-skid strips were worn. “I fell because the strips were not on the stairs,” she said. The stairs have been slippery for a while, she added. Cynthia Morton, secretary in the math department, called EMS because McKenna was unresponsive. McKenna said Tuesday her blood pressure dropped when she fell. Four EMS personnel carried her to a nearby conference room because she could not put weight on her legs. After her blood pressure returned to normal and she realized she was not hurt badly, she declined to go to the emergency room, McKenna said. McKenna was taken to Texas Med Clinic by her husband, Morton said. “If I had been able to speak, I probably would have told them to hold off,” she said referring to calling EMS. McKenna said the medical personnel there took X-rays and nothing was broken. The college no longer provides a registered nurse so students, faculty and staff are advised to call 911 for emergencies. Five days later, McKenna said she has limited mobility in her left knee where her leg hit the stair and also has soft tissue bruising. She returned to campus Monday. She expects to be back to normal in a week, she said. McKenna said the non-skid strips were “worn to nothing,” and that there were no strips down the center of the steps. McKenna has worked here 20 years and can recall the strips being replaced only twice, she said. The strips were replaced the same day, Morton said. “This building is so old and it needs maintenance all the time, and I don’t think it gets the maintenance it needs. I really don’t,” McKenna said. McCreless, built in 1950, was one of the first building on this campus. Morton called in a work order to replace the strips a year ago, she said. She tried to retrieve a confirmation email but could not find it. The strips were changed as a precautionary measure, facilities superintendent, David Ortega said. The weather was dry when McKenna slipped so he is not sure if she slipped because of the worn non-skid strips, he said. Ortega is researching the work order Morton submitted, he said. He did not get back to The Ranger by deadline.
Alexis Morrow, a liberal arts freshman at Northwest Vista College, is trying to stop the chancellor’s charge to use one textbook per course for the entire district. The board of trustees approved the proposal during the Jan. 21 regular board meeting at Killen Center. Students will pay for instructional materials upon registration, and a committee of two people per college will choose which ebook — or textbook, if no ebook equivalent is found — is best for the entire district. “I heard what was going on, I was uncomfortable with it and I wanted to stop it,” Morrow said. “I don’t like the fact that it’s going to raise tuition and force us to pay for textbooks through the school.” She plans to submit the petition to the board at the March 18 standing committee meetings at Killen Center. The petition at Northwest Vista started Feb. 6 after Morrow’s call to the chancellor’s office, and it started at Palo Alto and this college this
week, she said. She hopes no later than today to begin circulating the petition at Northeast Lakeview and St. Philip’s colleges. So far, the petitions have garnered 1,000 signatures, and Morrow hopes the number rises to 3,000 by the time they’re presented to trustees. “The main goal is to make sure that the students know what is going on, that they pay attention to what they’re doing,” she said. She said the book chosen would not necessarily give students the best education. Morrow said she was still putting together the petition before she decided to call the chancellor’s office at 1 p.m. Feb. 6 to ask for a response. She spoke with Adriana Contreras, deputy to the chancellor, and someone by the name of Ms. Carol, later confirmed as Jo-Carol Fabianke, vice chancellor of academic success. Morrow said Fabianke told her, “This initiative has nothing to do with you.” Fabianke explained in a phone interview Thursday that students do not have input because faculty choose textbooks, and “that’s the way it’s always been.” See full story at theranger.org.
Time for fall, summer advising By Marina Garcia
sac-ranger@alamo.edu
With spring break a short week away and midterm the following week, registration won’t be far beyond. To prepare for the March 24 opening of registration for summer and April 7 for fall classes, students should seek advising soon. The counseling and advising center on the first floor of Moody can help students with academic advising and personal counseling. Walk-ins are welcome, but aside from early morning, be prepared to wait for an appointment. To further expedite the process, students should log into ACES to check their accounts for holds because at check-in in the counseling and advising center, students must enter Banner IDs. If any academic holds remain, students will be directed to the appropriate office to remedy the situation, Dr. David Rodriguez, coordinator for the counseling and advising center, said Wednesday. A hold on a student’s account keeps a student from registering for classes, requesting copies of transcripts and graduating. Rodriguez said only holds that could prevent registration are handled this way. Counseling and advising, student development and the business office can place holds. Reasons include academic probation or dismissal, a GPA of 2.0 or lower, transcripts, balance due, record of bacterial meningitis inoculation and financial aid. Holds from the bursar’s office for balance due or traffic tickets will not preclude a student from seeing an adviser or counselor. Rodriguez said students with holds are required to address them before advising so they can be ready to sit down at a computer to register once advised. The center also offers personal counseling services by licensed professionals. In the screening at the front desk, students will be asked what kind of assistance is needed so the clerk can direct students to a counselor or adviser.
Rodriguez said personnel was reduced with budget cuts so screening was put in place to save students from waiting for an appointment only to be told they had to go elsewhere first. On Feb. 5, Monica Rodriguez, computer support specialist freshman, was barred from seeing a counselor, she was told, because she had a hold on her account because she was not in compliance with the Texas Success Initiative, a state-legislated program providing assistance with reading, writing and math skills of students entering Texas public colleges and universities. Rodriguez said she knew she had the hold, but she was seeking counseling for personal reasons about returning to college after a three-year absence. The clerk refused to allow Rodriguez access to a counselor even though another employee offered to help. On Wednesday at The Ranger offices, the director of counseling and advising met with the student to hear her story and discuss clarifications he said the story, “Student denied counseling” in the Feb. 21 issue, needed. Dr. David Rodriguez stressed that a student seeking personal counseling would not be turned away and it pained him to see a headline accusing people trained specifically to assist students with life’s problems of denying service. He emphasized the center employs two types: academic advisers who are restricted to that activity and licensed professional counselors who are available for personal counseling as well as academic advising. “All counselors advise; not all advisers counsel,” he said. Students are limited to two sessions with a counselor for personal reasons, but students can participate in support groups the center offers. Before 2010, counselors were allowed to offer six sessions to students. Students requiring more assistance are referred to area professionals. For more information, call 210-486-0368.