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Volume 88 Issue 14 • Feb. 28, 2014
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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
For a direct link to theranger.org, download a qr reader from the app store today
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.
SAConnected
2• Feb. 28, 2014
One applies for student seat Application deadline now March 20. By Katherine Garcia
kgarcia203@student.alamo.edu
Students interested in becoming the first nonvoting member of the district board may still apply by March 20 in Room 260 of Loftin Student Center or at www.alamo. edu/sac/StudentTrustee. The district extended the deadline from Feb. 28 to give more students the opportunity to apply, said SGA President Andrew Hubbard. He said one person has applied for the position, and he knows of half a dozen people interested, he said Wednesday. Hubbard said he expects more applications within a week because applicants may still be writing essays. Selecting a student trustee will create an interest in student government in general, he said.
Applicants must be enrolled in at least six credit hours in the Alamo Colleges, maintain a minimum 2.5 grade-point average, prove service and commitment to the college community and submit an essay on why they want to serve. Hubbard has plans to encourage organizations to ask members to apply such as Phi Theta Kappa, the Honors Academy and the Student Government Association. SGA members can apply, but they may not be involved in the interview process or serve as an officer of SGA if they are chosen as the student trustee or the alternate, Hubbard said, adding that officers of other organizations can no longer serve if they are chosen as well. After the deadline, SGAs from all the Alamo Colleges will have until March 31 to choose one applicant per college. Trustees will review
the applicants in April. In addition to a student trustee, the board will approve an alternate at the May 13 regular board meeting. Students will also be given the opportunity to vote on a potential fee increase starting 8 a.m. Saturday to 11:59 p.m. March 7. Students have two propositions to vote on: Proposition 1 proposes an addition of a $1 study abroad scholarship fee for students to earn college credit abroad. Proposition 2 proposes the increase of the student activity fee from $1 per credit hour to $2. A student taking 12 hours would pay $24 instead of $12. The fee funds student leadership activities, entertainment and recreational sports. Students can vote through a link provided in their ACES email and find more information on each college’s budget at http://alamo.edu/ main.aspx?id=37269.
Today is trustee race deadline Three board seats are up for re-election to sixyear terms. Communication organizer Enedina Kikuyu applied in the District 4 race in the May 10 election. District 4 trustee Marcelo Casillas said via email Feb. 21 he is “99 percent sure I will not file.” By noon Thursday, he had not. District 8 trustee Gary Beitzel’s application for re-election was received today. District 9 trustee James Rindfuss re-filed Jan. 30, and processing engineer Felix M. Grieder filed Thursday. The Ranger requested copies of the applications Wednesday, but board secretary Sandra Mora and public information officer Nancy Kempf said applications could not be viewed until filing closed at 5 p.m. today. By phone Thursday, Kempf said she could not release the applications because they needed to be redacted. The Ranger called Leo Zuniga, associate vice chancellor for communications, who said the information was being withheld but did not give a reason. After repeated requests, Ross Laughead, general counsel of district legal services, said he consulted with public relations and determined no redactions were needed. The applications were sent to The Ranger at noon Thursday. Nothing was redacted. Kelley Shannon, executive director of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, confirmed Thursday ballot applications in Texas are public. Other candidates can file with Mora at 201 W. Sheridan, Suite B, by 5 p.m. today. For more information, call Mora at 210-485-0030. Carlos Ferrand contributed to this story.
Satisfaction survey deadline extended to March 7 Free pizza in Loftin for students completing satisfaction survey. By Katherine Garcia
kgarcia203@student.alamo.edu
Four thousand students at this college were chosen to take the Noel-Levitz Student Satisfaction Inventory survey through their ACES email. Students have until March 7 to complete the survey. The survey asks students to rate the academic and student support services and their effectiveness, said David Wood, director of planning and institutional research. He said a generator used Banner IDs to choose 4,000 students from this college at random for the survey. “Each college is doing their own sample, as much as they need,”
Wood said. Three summary questions ask Noel-Levitz, a company that students if their college experience offers reports on recruitment, has met student expectation, rating retention and student satisfaction overall satisfaction of that experifor two-year colleges, conducts the ence, and if students had to enroll at survey. this college again, would they. The survey The survey asks students to ends with demoWe use the survey rate the answers graphic questions to see where we to 95 base quessuch as race, curmight need to tions on an rent course load improve. importance rating and if this college Robert Zeigler, of one to seven was their first president with seven being choice. very important. Wood said the Satisfaction ratings are based on surveys have been going on once the same scale. every two years since at least 2008. Students can enter the number He said the areas past students zero for “not applicable” if they are surveyed say are in most need of unsure of their answer. improvement are advising, financial Questions include rating the aid and admissions and records. approachability of academic advisThe company charges a base rate ers and accessibility of computer of $250 for conducting the email labs. survey, and 25 cents is charged for
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every email response sent in, Wood said. The college is not charged for unfilled surveys, he said. “We use the survey to see where we might need to improve,” President Robert Zeigler said. An email has been sent to those who have filled out the survey inviting them to a pizza party 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday in the atrium of Loftin Student Center. Those who haven’t yet filled out the survey can attend the party and fill it out on laptops provided by the office of technology services. Names and Banner IDs will be checked to make sure they received the email. The company will compile the information after the survey is closed, Wood said, adding the results should be ready by March or April.
www.theranger.org/calendar
UPCOMING Feb. 28 SAC Bowling: Free bowling by office of student life 3 p.m.-5 p.m. at Bandera Bowl, 6700 Huebner. Shoes, food and drinks provided. To reserve space, call 210-486-0125. March 1 SAC Event: ‘ASL on Stage’ Talent Show and Silent Auction by the department of American Sign Language and interpreter training 6:30 p.m.-10 p.m. in auditorium of McAllister. $10 donation. Call 210-486-1106. March 4 Event: Mobile food pantry by Phi Theta Kappa 2 p.m.-5 p.m. in Lot 1 across Ashby from Temple Beth-El. Call 210-486-0058. March 5 SAC Worship: Ash Wednesday service by Catholic Student Association at 12:15 p.m. on second floor of Loftin. Call 210-736-3752. March 6 PAC Event: Horticulture Club plant sale 9 a.m.-5 p.m. at the green house. Call 210486-3073. March 7 SAC Event: Outdoor showing of “Frozen” 7:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m. in mall. Free with SAC ID, $1 for others. Call 210-486-0126. March 8 Festival: South Texas Alamo Irish Festival by Harp & Shamrock Society of Texas 11 a.m.-11 p.m. at University of the Incarnate Word, 4301 Broadway. Free admission for active duty military with ID and children 12 and under. Adults $5. Visit www.harpandshamrock.org. March 9 Time Change: Daylight saving time 2 a.m. Set clocks back one hour. March 15 SAC Deadline: Graduation application due March 15 online through ACES. Call 210-486-0200. March 17 SAC Event: St. Patrick’s Day celebration by student life 11 a.m.-1 p.m. in Fiesta Room of Loftin. Call 210-486-0125 or visit www. orgsync.org. March 18
Crashed:
A Texas Towing operator hitches a Honda Civic at West Laurel and North Main as a police officer directs traffic Wednesday east of Tobin Lofts. No injuries reported, but the driver southbound on Main said the cars illegally parked on Main might have obstructed the view of the driver eastbound on West Laurel. Daniel Arguelles
ACCD Meeting: Standing committees of the board 5:30 p.m. in Room 101 of Killen Center, 201 W. Sheridan. Call 210-485-0000 or visit www.alamo.edu/district/board. March 25 ACCD Meeting: Regular monthly meeting of trustees 6 p.m. in Room 101 of Killen, 201 W. Sheridan. Call 210-485-0000 or visit www. alamo.edu/district/board. March 27
Do they ... : Interpreting freshman Tanisha Morgan and deaf support spePet duty:
Emergency veterinarian Danette Schweers speaks Tuesday during PechaKucha at Blue Star. She spoke of the importance of immunizing, spaying and neutering and medicating pets. Visit theranger.org for the story. Melissa Perreault
cialist sophomore Trieu Le play Guess Who? at ASL Game Night Feb. 21 in Nail. Read the story at theranger.org. Maria Duran
SAC Event: Meet the Majors 9 a.m.-noon in Loftin. Call 210-486-0864.
!
For coverage in SAConnected, call 210-486-1773 or e-mail sac-ranger@alamo.edu two weeks in advance.
News
www.theranger.org/news
Feb. 28, 2014 • 3
Chairs worry as they plan fall schedules for EDUC 1300 The rush to implement leaves “a lot of ifs.” By Bleah Patterson bpatterson13@student.alamo.edu During the Feb. 11 College Council meeting, this college’s president, Dr. Robert Zeigler, echoed faculty districtwide voicing concerns about the process used to implement the controversial implementation of EDUC 1300, Learning Framework, replacing three humanities hours with a student development course. Zeigler said he worried that the decision was made so quickly the proper faculty were not consulted and the implementation may be sloppy. District officials have said if the implementation was not rushed to meet a deadline from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, implementation would have to be postponed a full year. Faculty were shocked to learn Chancellor Bruce Leslie had submitted the proposal to the Coordinating Board without their input, and the
proposal had been approved. The Super Senate, a representative body of the senates at four of the colleges, sent a petition to the Coordinating Board complaining the chancellor had violated procedures in cutting faculty out of the decision. More than two weeks after Zeigler voiced his concern, English, reading and education Chair Mike Burton and Northwest Vista College’s humanities Chair Charles Hinkley are seeing the evidence of this as they prepare their fall 2014 schedules. Schedule building began Feb. 14 and will continue through March 23 to prepare for fall registration April 7. NVC is preparing for 80 sections of EDUC 1300, but Hinkley said faculty members worry there won’t be enough qualified faculty. Dr. Jo-Carol Fabianke, vice chancellor for academic success, said anyone with 18 hours in education or psychology can teach the class. “That may be extended to counselors, and some, but not all, of our current Student Development (SDEV)
0370 instructors will be able to teach the course,” she said. SDEV 0370, Foundations for College Learning, still will be required for students with fewer than 15 hours who require remediation in two areas. Fabianke said students in certificate programs won’t need either SDEV 0370 or EDUC 1300. “Certificate courses will strongly recommend either a Learning Framework course or an SDEV course depending on individual student requirements, but they won’t be required,” she said. Only students beginning a degree in fall 2014 will be affected. “We still have a lot of if’s,” Fabianke said. “It’s all been talked about but not finalized.” Burton said the problem is that no matter how many hours students come to the Alamo Colleges with, they would still have to take EDUC 1300 to earn an associate degree. He also worries about the toll it will take on humanities, philosophy and literature enrollment.
“Enrollment is basically nudging downward,” Burton said. “It is a continuing process that just keeps looking more and more bleak.” Since the 2009 core change that broadened the second humanities requirement from only sophomore literature to world cultures, foreign languages and philosophy courses, English sections have been reduced from 366 sections to 238. This college still hasn’t decided on how many sections of EDUC 1300 to offer.“One number thrown around was 140 sections,” Burton said. “But that’s the problem, we don’t know. We haven’t even seen the course. We are completely in the dark.” Currently, instructors allowed to teach the course need 18 hours in education or psychology. District is considering making exceptions to that rule, letting humanities, philosophy, English, and foreign language instructors teach the course since these will most likely be the departments losing sections. Fabianke said some student
development instructors would be able to teach the course. Hinkley said, “My worry is: Are the people teaching these courses really going to be qualified? They’re already making all of these exceptions instead of just taking it slow and making sure they’re prepared before they start this thing. “It just looks like they’re using this course to start us on a downward spiral to becoming vocational schools,” he said. Burton voiced a similar concern. “We send kids to good universities, to Rice, Amherst and Columbia. What happens now? If we take away academic rigor, we’re also limiting their aspirations. We used to be a trampoline, causing people to jump higher.” Many questions remain, but one question won’t go away. “This is Mickey Mouse, not academics,” Hinkley said. “There is no degree in Covey, and it’s better that way. It doesn’t make sense to any of us, and we’re wondering what the chancellor’s true motivations are.”
Roof replacement dust problematic By Carlos Ferrand and Neven Jones sac-ranger@alamo.edu
The roof replacement in Chance Academic Center is creating excessive dust and causing ceiling tiles to fall down. The roof is being torn off in sections to get all the material off the roof and into a dumpster each morning before classes begin, said David Mrizek, vice president of college services. Faculty and staff have complained about the project when they find “a hunk of ceiling on their desk,” Mrizek said. Construction company WTI, Weatherproof Technologies Inc. has the option of working at 10 p.m. or 1 a.m. and finishing in time to clean up before 8 a.m. classes start, project manager Louis Kreusel said. The old, original roof needs to be replaced, Kreusel said.
STUDY
Chance was built with the capital improvements projects completed in 1993. Classes were first offered in spring 1992. The most recent construction started at the beginning of the holiday break and will end in March, Mrizek said. The construction company checks the classrooms and hallways for dust daily, said John Strybos, associate vice chancellor of facilities. Despite dust and ceiling being removed from classrooms, faculty and staff said dust is left lingering in the air. Biology Adjunct Mercedes Alba is asthmatic and must wear a mask. “The dust is dangerous for people with severe asthma,” she said. Alba said her asthma has worsened as result. “This is a Priority 1 roof replacement project; otherwise, the roof will be leaking and all the classes would be canceled,” Strybos said.
Fireproofing was sprayed on the underside of the metal structure the roof sits on as standard procedure. In the process of the construction crew putting down the new roof, some of it is falling off in chunks and coming through the ceiling tiles, Mrizek said. On Feb. 18, the weight of fallen fireproofing caused a ceiling tile to fall overnight in Room 353 of Chance. A blanket of dust hung in the hallway outside the classroom, causing professors and students to wear masks covering. The fireproofing was tested by this college last month and does not contain asbestos. It is original to the building, Kreusel said. Nursing sophomore Liz Jennings wears a mask while doing her homework in the BioSpot in Room 350. “I have to study for a test, and I can’t breathe or see,” Jennings said.
Front row seat to good grades
By Katherine Garcia
kgarcia203@student.alamo.edu
If you want to do well in a class, sit in the front row. When you choose a seat in the middle or far away in the back of the classroom, you are likely to be less engaged. Students and teachers agree that sitting near the front is beneficial to learning. “It’s hard for them not to give you eye contact when they’re right in front,” student development Adjunct Leticia Leal said. She said those sitting in the front are generally more attentive and more engaged, while students who have trouble with tardiness and absences usually sit in the back. “I think they don’t ask for help,” she said of students sitting in the back, adding that students sitting near the front are more likely to. Criminal justice sophomore Alissa Rios said she prefers to sit in the middle of the classroom most of the time because she can focus better. “In the back, you’re more distracted,”
Rios said, noting that other students could improve simply by choosing another seat. “I’d suggest for them to switch it up and try sitting in the front or the middle to help them focus,” Rios said. Leal said people sitting at the back are not necessarily at a disadvantage, but students who don’t want to be in a class often sit in back. Still, she tries to keep all students engaged. Leal said she likes to walk around the classroom and make eye contact with her students. She said she calls out a student on a cell phone or daydreaming to ask them to rejoin the class. “I’m going to draw them out, no matter where they’re sitting,” she said. Leal said instructors can help those in the back of the classroom by engaging with each student. She said she does this by planning group activities that force students to stand up and interact with one another.
Nursing sophomore Kate Motsko studies adjacent to debris from a ceiling tile Feb. 17 from Room 353 of Chance. Repairing the roof is causing flame-retardant material applied to pipes to shake off and fall on ceiling tiles. The tiles then collapse under the weight. Carlos Ferrand Jennings said dealing with the dust is an everyday thing. “We study, eat and work here,” she said. Lab tech Susan Garza said 20 years of dust is falling from the sky, and faculty and students are being forced to breathe it.
LIVING
Chicken Little in Chance With retirements causing extra duties, mentoring of adjuncts, more student demands and college committee work, the biology faculty could be excused
for feeling like the sky is falling. Last week, a roof cavein made it official. Read the full story at theranger.org
Breathing stimulates relaxation
Good posture also contributes to proper breathing. By Pam Paz
sac-ranger@alamo.edu
Most people don’t give a second thought to the act of breathing unless they run out of breath. Speech Professor Suzanne Skinner said proper breathing comes from the diaphragm, the area between the rib cage and belly button. “If you’re breathing correctly, when you take a deep breath, that part of your body comes out, and when you exhale, it comes in,” Skinner said. For her speech students, Skinner teaches breathing exercises to help students learn to breathe deeply and relax. Skinner said practicing breathing exercises protects the voice so that it carries and enables speaking for a longer period without running out of air. She said good posture is another way to promote proper breathing. Proper breathing is important for everyone, not just speech students, she said.
Kinesiology Instructor Medin Barreira said proper breathing while doing physical activity is essential and will aid in a more efficient workout. For physical activities, he said to breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth, he said. Barreira advised students to never hold their breath because it could cause them to have headaches, or, in extreme cases, have an aneurism. Time and again, people are told to take a deep breath and relax. With all the pressures college students have with courses and jobs, practicing proper breathing will help them to be more relaxed and less anxious. Harvard Health Publications reports, proper breathing lowers blood pressure and increases relaxation, allowing the body to calm, which results in less stress. Meditation and yoga are two ways to practice deep breathing techniques. For more tips on how to breathe properly, visit www.health.harvard.edu and search for relaxation techniques.
4 • www.theranger.org/premiere
Clowning around
Prem
Kid
Professional organizations want college-age members. By Adriana Ruiz
aruiz168@student.alamo.edu
“Expressive Head” Courtesy
U.S. Olympian Peter Schifrin visits NVC By Ansley Lewis
sac-ranger@alamo.edu
Olympian and sculptor Peter Schifrin will speak and display his sculpture at Northwest Vista College March 18. A reception will be at 6 p.m. followed by an art talk and showcase 7 p.m.-8 p.m. in the Palmetto Center for the Arts. Schifrin was on the 1984 Summer Olympics U.S. men’s fencing team. He is a member of the International Sculpture Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the creation and understanding of sculpture. Schifrin is a professor of fine art sculpture at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. In 2011, he was voted into the National Sculpture Society. The NSS encourages the knowledge of excellence in sculpture inspired by the natural world, according to the organization’s website. He creates small and largescale sculptures out of metal, ceramics and paints. Vinnie Bradford, chair of fine and performing arts and kinesiology, is curator of the exhibit. She is also an Olympian and a member of the 1984 Summer Olympics U.S. women’s fencing team. “Peter is a long-time friend and renowned sculptor,” Bradford said. “His work is very interesting. You can see the influence of sports — the movement and expression — in his art.” The Palmetto Center will have one of Schifrin’s sculptures on display through April 25. For more information about Schifrin’s art, visit www.mudpoet. com. For more information regarding the event, call Bradford at 210-486-4088.
Wearing a painted face, big red nose and floppy shoes and bringing laughter to crowds or cheering up a lone child in the hospital is the life of a clown. Clowning is not just a profession. It’s really got to come from the heart, it’s got to come from inside of you, said Bob Neil, vice president of the World Clown Association. Neil, also known by his clown name, Kiwi, has been clowning around for 42 years since the age of 26. Neil got his first taste of the art form in 1972 while working as a police officer touring schools and lecturing to students. Neil said he would dress up as a clown to gain the students’ attention. “I found out young students have a short attention span. I was looking for a way to keep their attention while still getting the message across,” Neil said. Neil said he has been a big fan of the circus, and after his experience with schoolchildren, his interest in becoming a clown increased. When starting out, Neil said there were no programs or schools to learn how to become a clown, so practicing and reading books was the only way to learn. “It was a tough time to get started because we (clowns) didn’t know what we were doing,” Neil said. Now, there’s an abundance of resources to learn how to become a clown. Neil said anyone interested in becoming a clown should join a group or organization. The World Clown Association and Clowns of America International are two of the more notable organizations. In Texas, the Texas Clown Association has chapters across the state. Diana McCurtan-Talbert, also known as “Buttons,” is president of the Texas Clown Association and Jolly Joeys Clown Alley, local clown chapter. She said joining a clown organization helps aspiring clowns build professionalism. McCurtan-Talbert said the Jolly Joeys Clown Alley offers clown school at least once a year, and graduates receive a certificate of completion in a ceremony. She said the clown school is a six-week program, teaching balloon animals, face painting, character development, clown history and clown etiquette. “We try to hold a standard. The last thing we want to do is scare kids. We want to keep it professional,” McCurtan-Talbert said. McCurtan-Talbert said the group has a variety of members, but the average age is 55. She said she would like to have more people join who are at the college age because they would add life and energy along with a whole new level of skills. McCurtan-Talbert said there are perks for college students who wish to become clowns. “It’s a really good way to make money. You can do one birthday party and make $125 an hour, so it’s a good way to offset expenses,” McCurtanTalbert said. The Jolly Joeys Clown Alley meets at 7 p.m. every second Thursday of the month in Room 302 of University United Methodist Church, 5084 De Zavala Road. Call 210Illustrations by Alexandra Nelipa
229-9299 for more information. Aspiring clowns and clown enthusiasts can attend conferences on a national level like the California Clown Camp t in Ontario, O Calif., and of e Mooseburger Camp in the cente Buffalo, Minn. At the camp Neil said he teaches at dren will have the op the two conventions, and nity to learn basic circu they are good places for aspiring includi performers to gain experience, network and glin receive a certificate of completion as well. gym Neil said the journey to becoming a clown alo is unique for each aspirant. He said according dis to personality, clown hopefuls fall under one their of three categories — the white face clown, the by learn Auguste clown who described as unlucky with trip and th exaggerated face features and flesh-colored Each d makeup tones, or the hobo/ be split into tramp clown. sections. Mornin “You kind of see where be dedicated to physica your personality will fit in and warmups and acrobatic exerci then develop your character will break for a snack and have t from that. You don’t try to duplicate books related to the history of th what someone else is doing,” Neil said. dedicated to practicing comedy a According to a Feb. 17 article by the All participants should b Daily News, clown organization memlunch. Snacks will be provide bership numbers are declining. The Camp instructors are hu U.S. membership shows numbers wife duo Alberto and Pam R have declined from about 3,500 to owners of Arriba Arte Stu 2,500 since 2004. Both have long histori Neil said although membership numbers being in the circus. are down, there are still plenty of clowns Alberto Ramir performing. said he and his wif “There is no clown shortage. I don’t know auditioned for the where that came from. Our numbers in our orgaRingling Bros. cirnizations have decreased, but that does not mean cus, and in 2001 there aren’t people out there still performing. The had the opportunireason that our numbers are declining in World Clown ty to tour the count Association and Clowns of America International is as clowns because young people do not join things,” Neil said. “We He said the World Clown Association has about 2,500 Ringli members currently in the organization. from Neil also said another reason numbers might be down is because the clown business is a tough way to make a living, and ex a majority of clowns do it as a part-time job. to “Many clowns I know don’t do it for the money. They donate conf their time to hospitals, nursing homes and charitable organizaHe tions,” Neil said. clown, Neil said clowning is tough, but there are moments that make tory of the the job worthwhile. Ramirez He said one of the moments that has made a difference in the Spanish his life was visiting a terminally ill 7-year-old girl who was know as “carpas, in pediatric intensive care and non-communicaand how families tive for almost two weeks. from this city packed Neil and his partner visited the girl and up and traveled as pergave her a teddy bear. formers during the 20th He said as they were walking out of century. the room, the little girl turned her head The spring break circus c toward them and said, “Thank you, is $150 per child, Volaños said clowns.” they will accept about 20 “If I can make that kind of impact in that participants. little child’s life for just two minutes, everything For more informaI do, any money I spend is worth everything to me,” tion, call Volaños at he said. “They will have to haul me away to a funeral 210-271-3151 or vis home before I ever give this up.” www.guadalupecu For more information, call 210-386-9395 a l a r t s. o r g break-c
miere
ds learn circus basics Lessons on juggling, pie throwing, history.
By Adriana Ruiz
aruiz168@student.alamo.edu
The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center will sponsor the Spring Break Circus Camp 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. March 10-15 at 1300 Guadalupe St. The camp is an opportunity for children ages 8-12 “to have a wonderful time learning the performing arts,” said Orlando Graves Volaños, deputy director education at er. p, chilpportuus skills ing jugng and mnastics ong with covering inner clown ning how to hrow a pie. day will o three ngs will al routines involving ises. In mid-day, they the opportunity to watch films and read he circus culture, and afternoons will be acts and theatrical skits. bring a sack ed. usband and Ramirez, udios. ies of
rez fe e 1 try s with the circus. e both went to clown school with the ing Bros. The bulk of our training came m there,” he said. Ramirez said he and his wife want to xpose the wonderful world of the circus children while allowing them to build fidence and tap into their creative skills. said besides learning how to act like a he also wants children to learn the hise circus. said he wants to teach children about circus ,”
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camp d
t sit ulturg/springcircus-camp/.
Feb. 28, 2014 • 5
Succeeding in a testing dominated culture Palo Alto College production uses elements of Shakespeare. By Pam Paz
sac-ranger@alamo.edu
The status of education in the U.S. and “teaching to the test” are addressed in Palo Alto College’s department of fine arts/speech communication presentation of “This Above All.” Alison Vasquez, drama instructor at PAC, cowrote and will direct the play. Vasquez, a San Antonio native, received a master of fine arts degree at Ohio State University in the spring of 2012. While there, she was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. This company partnered with Stand Up for Shakespeare, an organization trained to teach Shakespeare to children in kindergarten through 12th grade. Vasquez collaborated with eight other graduate students at Ohio State to co-playwright the play. They are Alex Boyles, Ashely Kobza, Tory Matsos, Kevin McClatchy, Moopi Mothibeli, Charlesanne Rabensburg, Ibsen Santos and Aaron Michael Zook. Vasquez and her co-playwrights taught Shakespeare to students in public schools in Columbus, Ohio, 2010-11. The curriculum was based on dramatic inquiry pedagogy, which is starting things with a question, Vasquez said. The most rewarding part was seeing four students test out of special education after they participated in Stand Up for Shakespeare. She said the characters were based on students and teachers she and her peers worked with. The title of the play comes from the famous line in Act 1 of Hamlet when Polonius tells his son, Laertes, “This above all: to thine own self be true.” The play is set in a Texas high school with jaded teachers, unmotivated students and standardized tests. A new freshman English teacher recognizes a problem and uses Shakespeare to bring teaching back to the classroom. Soon they discover hidden meaning in Shakespeare’s writing and their own lives. During rehearsal Feb. 21 in the theater in the
Drama sophomore Amber Perez, who plays pregnant teen Lala, reads aloud a question from the STAAR test during rehearsal Feb. 21 in the performing arts center auditorium at Palo Alto. Siobhan O’Donnell performing arts center at Palo Alto, Vasquez stopped a scene to ensure the students understood it on a deeper level. The actors were rehearsing a scene about what their lives were like at home. “Why do you say what you say?” she asked drama sophomore Amber Perez, who plays pregnant Lala, and drama freshman Ryan Ozuniga, who plays Brock the Jock. Vasquez helped the students make connections to the story and understand how the audience would perceive it. The play has nine actors who play multiple roles. Liberal arts sophomore Jonathan Velez plays three roles: a father, a foreign exchange student and a teacher. Drama sophomore Erica Beard plays Mrs. Mann, the coach, and Beatrice, the smart girl. Beard likes the message the play sends. “What you learn in high school doesn’t prepare you for the real world,” she said. “No one teaches you how to do your taxes, balance your checkbook or change your tire.”
One of the Shakespearian elements of the play is the use of a jester. The jester speaks directly to the audience and provides comic relief. Benito Lara, part-time technical assistant at PAC, plays the part of the jester, the school janitor. Lara is a 2006 graduate of this college with an associate degree in drama. Drama sophomore Angel Huerta plays Penny, a shy student who never says a word. Though she doesn’t talk until the end of the play, she delivers the message of the play in one line: “How do you redeliver a heart?” This play contains strong language and adult situations and may not be suitable for children. The play premieres at 7 p.m. Thursday. Additional showings will be at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. March 7-8 and 3 p.m. March 9 at the Palo Alto Performing Arts Center, 1400 W. Villaret. Admission is $3 for PAC students, faculty and staff and $5 for other Alamo College students and the public. For information, 210-486-3207.
UTSA graduates shine in ‘New Sculpture’ exhibit Nontraditional sculptures draw a crowd to NLC. By Ansley Lewis
sac-ranger@alamo.edu
Seven graduate students from the UTSA art and art history department impressed about 60 Northeast Lakeview College gallery viewers Feb. 20 with unique sculptures created from nontraditional materials. The “New Sculpture” exhibit includes sculptures created using furniture, construction material, steel, cement, Mountain Dew bottles, paint and mixed media. Visitors took a tour of the gallery before Buster Graybill, senior lecturer at UTSA and curator, introduced the artists and purpose of the exhibit. “When I was attending university, it was difficult to find galleries showcasing artists my age,” Graybill said. “I want students to see artists within their age proximity and the creative work these artists can do.” The first piece visitors see when entering the gallery is “Sweet Cream Spore” by Alyssa Danna. “I wanted the audience to feel the contrasting senses of attraction and repulsion. They see this beautiful cream-colored couch and then have this overwhelming panic when they see the spores,” Danna said. On the sides of “Sweet Cream Spore,” Danna has two sculptures titled “Succulent Switch” and “Fester.”
Facing “Fester” is Stephanie Darling’s mixed media piece “Mourning ’til Flight.” Darling used the extinct, ivory-billed woodpecker in her piece, which many guests compared to the legendary phoenix of mythology. “I look at cycles in nature and culture. For example, death and decay are unifying parts of life,” Darling said. Displayed on the floor next to Darling’s piece is “Carry On” by Ashley Nepote. Nepote took cement slabs and sculpted them to resemble suitcases. “My work stems from going to high school overseas. It took me a while to feel like I was at home once I returned. That’s why I like to use materials that represent being grounded,” Nepote said. Along the rear wall of the gallery, visitors can see Justin Korver’s sculptures “Construction 10: Counter Weight” and “Construction 11: Caution Flags.” “It is part of a body of work that focuses on construction, caution, limitation and tenderness as themes,” Korver said. “They are built in a similar manner to the inside of domestic walls, but with idiosyncratic outcomes.” Korver used Mountain Dew bottles for “Construction 10,” which became a
Justin Korver, graduate student of sculpture at UTSA, is applauded after introducing his sculptures Feb. 20 in performing arts at Northeast Lakeview. “Construction Counter 10: Counter Weight” was designed for open interpretation, though he said it is about masculinity with the exterior man hard and tough, yet the subverted emotional side tender and warm. Daniel Carde center of attention for the piece. “My father and brother have both worked as contractors, and I observed that Mountain Dew was used as a kind of nourishment, or to energize the body,” Korver said. “Within ‘Construction 10: Counter Weight,’ it becomes a metaphor for pressure, weight and energy and literally props up the sculpture.” On the wall across from Korver’s sculpture are four chairs. Three of the chairs are raised several feet off the ground and secured in place with nails, while the fourth sits on the floor against the wall. The artist of the “1000 Series” is Roberto Celis. Celis said he dislikes the level of
mass production in society and showcases it through his pieces. “People do not really care about products that are mass-produced. They tend to care about something that has a history behind it,” Celis said. “If there is no history, there is no identity.” “New Sculpture” will be on display through March 20 in the gallery in Room 132 of the performing arts center NLC. Visitors are required to set up an appointment for entry. For more information and appointments, call academic assistant Carrol Price-Champion at 210-486-5646 or Instructor Jasmyne Graybill at 210486-5643. For full story, see theranger.org.
6 • Feb. 28, 2014
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Editor Mandy Derfler Managing Editor Katherine Garcia News Editor Cassandra Rodriguez Premiere Editor Adriana Ruiz Opinion Editor Bleah B. Patterson Social Media Editor T.L. Hupfer Web Editor Carlos Ferrand Web News Editor Neven Jones Staff Writers Kathya Anguiano, Manuel Bautista-Macias, Brandon Borrego, Brenda Carielo, Casey Coggins, Ian Coleman, Maria Duran, Mandi Flores, John D. French, Marina Garcia, Imani Gayden, R.T. Gonzalez, Marco Horta, Ty-Eshia Johnson, Ansley Lewis, Pam Paz, Juan A. Rodriguez, Marie Sullins, J’son Tillmon, Adrian Yancelson Photographers Daniel Carde, Belinda Hernandez, Riley Stephens Photo Team Nathan J. Fox, David Guel, Siobhan O’Donnell, Melissa Perreault, Paula Christine Schuler, Addison Simmons, Catharine Trevino, Eric M. Valdez, Roberto Villarreal Video Team Daniel Arguelles, Robbin Cresswell, Steven C. Price Illustrators Alexandra Nelipa, Franchesca Ruiz Production Assistant M.J. Callahan Franchesca Ruiz
Advertising Manager Patricia McGlamory ©2014 by The Ranger staff, San Antonio College, 1300 San Pedro Ave., San Antonio, TX 78212-4299. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without permission. The Ranger news outlets, which serve the Alamo Community College District, are laboratory projects of journalism classes in the Department of Media Communications at San Antonio College. The Ranger is published Fridays except during summer, holidays and examinations. The Ranger Online is available at www.theranger.org. News contributions accepted by telephone (210-486-1773), by fax (210-486-9292), by email (sac-ranger@alamo.edu) or at the editorial office (Room 212 of Loftin Student Center). Advertising rates available upon request by phone (210-486-1765) or as a download at www.theranger.org. The Ranger is a member of the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association, the Associated Collegiate Press and the Texas Community College Journalism Association. Guest Viewpoints: Faculty, staff, students and community members are welcome to contribute guest viewpoints of up to 450 words. Writers should focus on campus or current events in a critical, persuasive or interpretative style. All viewpoints must be published with a photo portrait of the writer. Letters Policy: The Ranger invites readers to share views by writing letters to the editor. Space limitations force the paper to limit letters to two double-spaced, typewritten pages. Letters will be edited for spelling, style, grammar, libel and length. Editors reserve the right to deny publication of any letter. Letters should be mailed to The Ranger, Department of Media Communications, San Antonio College, 1300 San Pedro Ave., San Antonio TX 78212-4299. Letters also may be brought to the newspaper office in Room 212 of Loftin Student Center, emailed to sac-ranger@alamo.edu or faxed to 210-486-9292. Letters must be signed and must include the printed name and telephone number. Students should include classification, major, campus and Banner ID. Employees should include title and telephone number. For more information, call 210-486-1773. Single Copy Policy: Members of the Alamo Community College District community are permitted one free copy per issue because of high production costs. Where available, additional copies may be purchased with prior approval for 50 cents each by contacting The Ranger business office. Newspaper theft is a crime. Those who violate the single-copy rule may be subject to civil and criminal prosecution and subject to college discipline.
METAMEDIA
HIPAA and the media Emergency medical service personnel with the San Antonio Fire Department can treat accident victims while media photograph them in public, a public information officer said Feb. 21. “If someone outside takes a picture and releases it, that is not our liability. That’s someone else’s liability,” Deborah Foster, public information officer, said. A district police officer told The Ranger Feb. 21 that the reason a photographer was told to move away from the scene of an accident in McCreless Hall was that fire department personnel would not treat the victim if she were being photographed. Another campus police officer told The Ranger photographer to move and tried to block her camera. That despite the fact she was about 15 feet away from the stairs where math Professor Paula McKenna fell. Foster said the fire department can treat patients no matter what is going on around them.
The fire department is governed by the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, which prohibits medical personnel from releasing the personal health information of individuals without the patient’s consent. “We can’t govern anybody outside taking pictures, like the media,” Foster said. HIPAA does not restrict the right of journalists or others from taking photographs of an accident victim in a public place. EMS was called after McKenna tripped on the stairs because she said the non-skid strips were too worn to be effective. “I never saw the reporter, heard the camera or anything,” McKenna said Tuesday. When a person is injured, the last thing they think about is the public, McKenna said. McKenna worried more about whether she needed to go to the hospital or contact her family, she said.
Too diverse for one voice Giving a student a seat on the Alamo Colleges board of trustees is a nice gesture, but it stops short of giving us what we really want: fair representation. The Alamo Colleges represent nine districts; therefore, nine trustees sit on the board. Sounds pretty fair. They attend board meetings and vote on important issues that will impact students, faculty and staff at all of the Alamo Colleges. The board found a loophole so they don’t have to follow the same procedure in appointing a student trustee. Major universities like the University of Texas System have elected student trustees, but there is no statute for community colleges to elect them. By choosing a student rather than electing one, the board is able to give us a nonvoting student trustee. On the surface it sounds like they are doing something for students, but in actuality the student trustee is restricted in what he or she can do. The student trustee, will be allowed to attend meetings, except for executive sessions, which the Texas Open Meetings Act allows for the discussion of such items as legal issues, personnel matters and security concerns. The student trustee also cannot look at nonpublic materials from executive sessions,
all of which means the board has control over the information the student trustee is privy to. It is great that trustees want input from a student trustee, but if they really wanted input that represents the students, they would take this gesture one step further and give us one student trustee from each of the five colleges. One student cannot be expected to represent the 65,000 students who attend all the Alamo Colleges. According to the student demographics posted on the district website; 67.9 percent are Hispanic, 29.6 percent are white, 6.2 percent are African-American and 6.4 percent other. Overall, we are a largely Hispanic group; however, some schools have a larger Hispanic population than others. This college and Palo Alto are largely Hispanic; St. Philip’s is a historically black college. Will this student know where the students from the different schools are coming from? What they value? The district has found a way to give us what we want - to be heard. But appointing a student to basically sit in on meetings and answer questions stops short of giving us a say in policy that directly affects us. Perhaps the district is afraid of what might happen if the students actually had a say on policy.
Time to listen to students Why bother selecting a student trustee if no one pays attention to student opinions? Students are rejecting EDUC 1300, Learning Framework, as a waste of time and money. Faculty, charged with meeting the demands and needs of students, oppose it. University faculty cringes at replacing humanities with student development. Yet, the Chancelor stubbornly pushes forward blind and deaf. Committees are forming to evaluate which textbooks will produce the “most successful” students. Standardization is the first step toward replacing textbooks with ebooks. Jan. 31, The Ranger reported students preferred textbooks 68 percent-24 percent. Eight percent polled had no preference. The district has not been particularly successful in getting students to log into ACES for email. Why will they rush to read an etext? And what about the many students without a computer or Internet access? Officials who scoff are showing how little they know.
As a result, programs have been gutted. Labs across campus are understaffed and underfunded. Officials need to show a lot more care of students and a whole lot less attention to Saudi Arabia, “7 Habits” and reducing community colleges in this city to a generic joke. We hope SGA and trustees choose wisely. When a student is seated, trustees need to listen and consider appropriate responses. Don’t just teach the district’s specialty of how to avoid answering questions while babbling on about transparency and principled leadership. Students are quite a bit more intuitive and understanding of their own needs than this chancellor have ever given them credit for. Clarification Clarifications were requested to “Student denied counseling” in the Feb. 21 issue of The Ranger. See Page 1 for the story.
Opinion Free open-source textbooks might be the answer www.theranger.org/opinion
Maybe you’ve noticed that textbooks have been in the news lately. The Ranger recently reported on the Alamo College’s proposed “one Guest textbook” policy. viewpoint Reporters from by Aaron S. U.S. News and Ellis World Report, the Huffington Post, and CNBC have been writing, blogging and talking about textbooks, too. Why are textbooks becoming such a hot topic? According to the U.S, Government
Feb. 28, 2014 • 7
Accountability Office, prices for new textbooks have risen 82 percent in the last 10 years, that’s almost three times the rate of inflation for the same period. Most of us would balk at such a price increase in other products, but for some reason, we accept it in education. We’ve been living with this depressing trend for a while, so why are we seeing movement now? Late last year, U.S. Rep. Rubén Hinojosa, D-Texas, introduced a bill to Congress that calls for the establishment of a grant program to fund colleges and universities to create free, high-quality, peer-reviewed
textbooks and other open educational resources. Yes, that’s right. Free textbook. From my office in Moody Learning Center, I hear about the textbook problem at the beginning of each semester. Students talk about it while they wait for their classes to start. They’re overwhelmed by the cost of instructional materials. For them, the Affordable College Textbook Act (SB1704/HR 3538) could lower one of the not-so-hidden costs of higher education and increase the likelihood of completion. But while we’re waiting for Congress to ease that burden,
OpenSTAX College, SPARC and other non-profit organizations are already offering free, open-source college textbooks under a very permissive Creative Commons license. OpenSTAX College is one of the better funded and staffed of the OER initiatives. It’s received donations and support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Rice University and others. OpenSTAX College textbooks have been peer-developed and peerreviewed by college and university faculty from the U.S. and around the world.
OpenSTAX College has released 13 textbooks covering physics, anatomy and physiology, micro-economics and more. More than 100 institutions of higher learning have adopted OpenSTAX textbooks, including the University of Texas, Duke University and our very own Palo Alto College. The Alamo Colleges provide educational services for more than 60,000 students each year among five colleges and several satellite locations. Open educational resources and free textbooks might be that change. Aaron S. Ellis is a multimedia specialist with STEM.
Ideas for fee increase will directly benefit more students Students deserve a strong justification for raising any fee they pay. The potential fee increase from $1 to $2 per credit hour was proposed in fall 2013 by the Student District Council, composed of student leaders Guest from across the five Alamo viewpoint Colleges. by Richard SGA President, Andrew Farias Hubbard has told me anecdotally, that he has heard requests for increased student club funding, free printing and additional activities and recreational sports. It’s important for students to know that the way their money is spent is proposed by the Student Activity Fee Committee, which is assembled by the college president and com-
posed of five students, four faculty, and one nonvoting chair (currently Emma Mendiola, dean of student affairs). The committee’s proposed budget is reviewed and approved by President Robert Zeigler and Chancellor Bruce Leslie annually. While the fee supports student activities, state law prohibits the fee monies being used for “regularly scheduled academic functions” of the institution. This means that services such as tutoring or academic advising could not be funded through the student activity fee. On the Alamo Colleges website, there are links to the current and proposed student activity fee budgets for all five colleges. But I want to give more specific insight about ways the office of student life could use additional funds to enhance opportunities for our students:
• Added athletics and recreational sports. Student life offers men’s and women’s soccer, baseball and boxing. We also would like to bring back intercollegiate basketball, a cheer team and other sports students show interest in. • Faculty-student interaction opportunities via lunch series, mixers and open houses. • A station for free printing housed in Loftin Student Center. • Peer mentoring. Countless academic studies show that peer support outside the classroom is key to student success. A strong peer-to-peer program has worked well at other colleges to enhance leadership skills for mentors while also providing valuable guidance to mentees/new students. We can have the same thing here at SAC. • Additional evening and weekend events. • A space in Loftin Student Center for student-led clubs to have designated workspaces
and physical offices. The office of student life has already obtained furniture quotes for such a space, but added funds are needed to make that a reality. • High-profile entertainment from nationally recognized musicians, speakers and performers. I hope students will agree that tentative ideas listed above would benefit them directly and would add to their overall experience as valued members of SAC’s vibrant community. The average student taking nine-12 hours would only pay an additional $9-$12 per semester, and they will likely see the benefits of that investment tenfold, if not more. If a student would like to share their perspective with me, please email me at rfarias@ alamo.edu. Richard Farias is the director of student activities at this college.
News
8 • Feb. 28, 2014
www.theranger.org/news
GYM SHORTS K Club in the dark IN THEORY An LED basketball and glow stick necklaces light a half-court tournament. By J’son Tillmon
sac-ranger@alamo.edu
Northwest Vista liberal arts sophomore Tory Prusak and business sophomore Turundus Luckett battle Pirates guard Daniel Mathson for the ball Wednesday in Huisache Hall. David Guel
Final Scores Wednesday Men’s basketball Northwest Vista 71 Victoria 65 Women’s basketball Victoria 71 Northwest Vista 60
Upcoming games Wednesday Men’s basketball Northwest Vista at Northeast Lakeview at 8 p.m. at wellness gym. Incarnate Word at Southwest Texas at 8 p.m. at La Forge Hall and gymnasium. Victoria at St. Philip’s at 8 p.m. at the health and fitness center. Women’s basketball Northwest Vista at Northeast Lakeview at 6 p.m. at Huisache Hall. Incarnate Word at Southwest Texas at 6 p.m. at La Forge Hall and gymnasium. Victoria at St. Philip’s at 6 p.m. at the health and fitness center.
The Kinesiology Club will have for the first time a 3-on-3 glow-in-thedark basketball tournament at 2:30 p.m. March 26 in Gym 2 of Candler Physical Education Center. The tournament is free for Alamo Colleges students. “That’s the K Club. We provide a service for the students to enhance their collegiate experience,” Instructor Dawn Brooks said. Members discussed the tournament at a meeting Feb. 19 led by President Jesse Guillen, kinesiology sophomore, in Candler. Guillen got the idea at a seminar from a fall 2013 trip to the annual Texas Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance meeting in Dallas. “I came across the topic glowin-the-dark 3-on-3 basketball. I was intrigued on the idea and decided to attend and find out a little more on how exactly to run this event,” Guillen said. In March 2013, the club had a 3-on-3 basketball tournament, but Guillen thought this year adding glow-in-the-dark and making it free would probably get more people interested. “Just hearing glow-in-the-dark
basketball tournament catches their attention,” Guillen said. A themed basketball tournament fits in with the themed 3k and 5k runs, such as Color Me Rad and Glow Run. “The main purpose is to provide a great service,” Brooks said. “You’re (members) learning how to be in charge of it and how to handle it. It’s just something for the students.” There are divisions for men, women, and coed teams of four people. Players will wear glow stick necklaces and play half court with an LED basketball in the dark. Winners will receive T-shirts. Teams will start out with the same color glow-stick necklaces. The final teams will play with different colors. The fliers for the event have the registration form on the back. Fliers will be passed out in kinesiology classes and available in the slots located by the hallway at the main entrance to Candler. All players will have to sign a waiver. The forms will need to be turned in by March 21 to kinesiology secretary Michelle Alejios in Room 131A of Candler. The playing bracket with all the teams will be available March 25 through orgsync.com and on the bulletin boards in Candler. For more information, call Brooks at 210-486-1023.
Soft drinks, caffeine lower bone density Thirst indicates dehydration. Ty-Eshia Johnson
sac-ranger@alamo.edu
Water carries nutrients and flushes toxins out of the body, Martha Stephenson, kinesiology and dance professor, said. Without enough water, it’s difficult for the body to carry out normal functions, and people will suffer from dehydration, she said. “I like to challenge myself to drink water,” Stephenson said. Stephenson stores BPA-free bottles of water in the refrigerator and tries to drink 64 ounces, equivalent to eight cups of water, daily, the amount recommended by the American College of Sports Medicine. BPA stands for bisphenol A, a chemical used to make plastics that some studies show can seep into food. Stephenson said 60 percent of body weight is water, and the function of organs depends on how much water people intake. It is important to drink water before feeling thirsty. Thirst indicates that the body is becoming dehydrated. “The best thing to do is cut
Fire science freshman Marco Flores quenches his thirst in between basketball games. Addison Simmons out soda habits,” Stephenson said. Soda can lead to bone deterioration and has no nutritional benefits. Stephenson said caffeine interferes with calcium absorption, and soda could be replacing a healthier choice. Stephenson referred to research by Tufts University: “Women who drank three or more sodas per day were shown to have lower hip bone mineral densities than women who drank less than one soda per day.” Stephenson said getting plenty of water helps the body perform better. Clothing and exercise raise body temperature, causing people to sweat to reduce excess heat. Water lost during exercise must be replaced. “People have more balance when drinking more water,” she said. For more information, call 210-486-1010 or visit www.acsm. org.
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