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Vol. 87 Issue 2 • Sept. 24, 2012
theranger.org
‘Science of Sound’
Officials plan three collegewide surveys The college is asking for student participation in three surveys this semester. A survey from college selfstudy Foundations of Excellence will be available for students Oct. 1-Nov. 16. Course evaluation surveys also will be sent to students later in the semester. The survey will remain open through Dec. 21, the last day of the fall semester. The college administered a Noel-Levitz student satisfaction survey to 4,000 students selected at random Sept. 13. That survey closes Nov. 1. For more information, call Dr. David Wood, director of institutional research, planning and effectiveness, at 210-486-0063.
Faith Duarte
President’s Q-and-A forum set for Oct. 2 Students and employees have a chance to ask President Robert Zeigler questions at the president’s first open forum. The forum will be 3 p.m.-4 p.m. Oct. 2 in the Fiesta Room of Loftin Student Center. Public information officer Julie Cooper said this is the first time the president will have a forum for students and employees. In the past, only employees have had Q-and-A sessions with the president, she said. The event will be streaming live on a media site and there will be a link to that site at alamo.edu/sac. Questions can be sent a day before the forum to sac-pr@alamo. edu, tweet them to @SAC_PR or post on facebook.com/sanantoniocollege.
Justice Steven Hilbig, 4th Court of Appeals, explains the right to privacy during a speech in honor of Constitution Day Sept. 17 in Room 218A of nursing. Monica Correa Courtesy
New course builds hands-on experience in recording industry. By ADAM MEZA
sac-ranger@alamo.edu
Young people are told they must crawl before they walk, but this adage does not apply to students in MUSB 2450, Commercial Music Project. This semester they will be crawling, walking, strutting and running way before midterm. These students in the music business program produce “The Science of Sound,” which airs on Channel 98 Fridays to a public audience. That means that they will get to see the real world applications of their work as they are learning to produce the show. The class records live bands on a set on Fridays in a television studio in Longwith Radio, Television and Film Building. On Friday, students were scheduled to record Dawns, a band from Montana. Music business Coordinator Donnie Meals teaches the course. He said he has done media production since before most of his students were born. He has taught at this college as an adjunct since 1984 and has owned Edit Point Studios since 1987. He has also won an award from the Accolade Competition for “El Corrido,” a documentary he produced.
“As an instructor, I focus on reinforcing the technical theory involved with producing a TV studio production involving live music,” Meals said. “The business side of music is the requirement, not just the entertainment value. I supervise all technical setups and during setup, focus on problem-solving, such as unique signal routing and stage troubleshooting.” Meals started producing the show in spring of 2011 with a few volunteers and interns. In those three semesters, “The Science of Sound” has produced 27 shows. The show has featured local, regional and international talent, such as Denmark’s The Foreign Resort and New Jersey’s MK4. This is the first semester that this college is offering college credit in this class for the show’s production. But students in Commercial Music Project aren’t the only ones getting a piece of the public exposure. “As program coordinator of the music business program, I combine the efforts of all the classes in that curriculum so that each student’s subject matter can put what they are learning to practice,” Meals said.
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Rebecca Salinas
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Liberal arts freshman Robbie Willis practiced kickboxing skills in kinesiology Adjunct Martha Stephenson’s cardio kickboxing class Sept. 19 in Candler. The class work is composed of basic kickboxing skills and cardio and respiratory endurance. Vincent Reyna
Constitution more than criminal tool Students explore everyday applications of U.S. Constitution. By CARLOS FERRAND sac-ranger@alamo.edu
Justice Steven Hilbig of the 4th Court of Appeals started off Constitution Day lectures, Monday here with a question, “Do you think the Constitution has an application in your everyday life?” Instead of a standard lecture, the former student of this college challenged his audience to explore their understanding of constitutional law. During his time as Bexar County district attorney in 1990-98, he employed a practice encouraging citizens to ask him questions in a game he called “Stump the DA.” He adapted the game for students using the potential outcomes of a stop for a minor traffic offense to ask their opinions on the constitutionality of: • being arrested immediately for a minor vehicle offense such as rolling through a stop sign. Test your • a strip search after an knowledge arrest for that same minor of the U.S. traffic violation. Constitution • searching for informawith a quiz tion on a cell phone belongon Page 5. ing to the arrested person. By a show of hands, a majority of students believed that being arrested for a small traffic violation would be an unreasonable seizure and a contradiction of the Fourth Amendment. Hilbig referenced a similar case, Atwater v. Lago Vista, that went before the Supreme Court in which justices decided that the arrest was constitutional. “So you think the Constitution has application in your everyday life?” Hilbig reiterated. Regarding the strip search, far fewer indicated they were sure it was unconstitutional, and again, students were surprised to find out that this, too, was considered a reasonable seizure. “Now, is the Constitution just that yellowing document up in Washington, D.C., or is it something that has application in your everyday life?” Hilbig asked. To his final question, students voiced opinions rather than displaying a show of hands. After listening to many of the students’ views, Hilbig said, “We don’t know. We don’t know because there have been cases that go on both sides. That is the beauty of the Constitution; 225 years later it is helping us out. It’s still defining the role of our government.” Hilbig’s message to students was one of awareness and practical application of the Constitution. He also reminded students that the Constitution is much more than just a criminal tool. “It’s not only on the criminal side,” he said. “If you go to a church, your freedom to go to that church is protected by the Constitution. If you read a book, the content of that book is protected.”