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ranger Serving San Antonio College since 1926
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online now Volume 89 Issue 12 • March 2, 2015
210-486-1773 • Single copies free
Don’t ever give up It’s not an easy life when you are born with a birth defect — take it from me. Page 4
College’s ‘Top Brags’ paper cost 50 percent extra Page 3
Leticia Van de Putte kicks off Women’s History Month events Time capsule opened to mark 30 years at Palo Alto College
Amanda Martin, Adjunct Faculty Council chair, and members Randi Wayland, Dr. Gustavo Valadez and Arisa Rice discuss proposals concerning payment for extra work Feb. 23 in Room 100 of Gonzales. Eddie Chozet
Quilter Nina Fennell points out the different people represented on a quilt depicting the underground railroad during “Piecing it All Together: Quilts and Their Role in Art and History,” a panel during Black History Month Feb. 25 in the Fiesta Room of Loftin. On the far side of the quilt, Harriet Tubman is carrying a gun because if someone tried to turn around and go back, she would kill them, Fennell said. Fennell worked with other quilters for two years hand-quilting the characters and piecing together the bordering blocks. Mandy Derfler
No quorum, Panel discusses police use of force big problems Protocols and perception evolve, panelists say.
Adjuncts can’t get a quorum for pay proposal. By Kyle R. Cotton
Mrizek, vice president of college services; Tim Rockey, dean of conThis college’s Adjunct Faculty tinuing education and workforce; Council has a proposal to revise Vernell Walker, dean of profesthe adjunct compensation polsional and technical education; icy and has support for it from and Kristine Clark, interim vice Faculty Senate and President president of student services. Robert Vela. However, in a meet“I feel we are representing ing Monday, members of the the four of us and we’re not repcouncil said they have not been resenting the 5,000, or however able to achieve a quorum to vote many adjuncts there are.” on or amend the Linda Boyerproposal, whichOwens, associate Adjunct Faculty creates some vice chancellor of Council meets form of a leave human resources at 1 p.m. March policy; compenand organization16 in Room 100 sation for particial development, of Gonzales. pation in camsaid this semesFor more pus committees, ter, there are 1,147 task forces, office adjuncts with information, call hours and proteaching assign210-269-1571. fessional develments across the opment; and a district. compensation tier-system based Martin said the council only on years teaching here and comrepresents the 928 adjuncts affilimunity participation. ated with this college despite At present, none of those being the only such council in elements of the proposal are in the district. The Adjunct Faculty place. Adjuncts earn $740.67- Council has eight members and 918.71 per class hour dependrequires a five-member quorum. ing on their level of education, The four members in attenranging from a bachelor’s degree dance, adjunct Chair Amanda to doctorate. Each adjunct can Martin, Wayland, math Adjunct teach up to 12 class hours, and Gustavo Valadez and ESL Adjunct are not required to maintain Arisa Rice were all perplexed. office hours beyond 10-15 min“I’ve hand invited people, utes before a class starts. face-to-face in my department, For professional developand they look at me like I’m from ment, adjuncts are only not comacross the street in the library, pensated, but also have to pay ‘Who are you?’” Wayland said. for their own travel and confer“They always say thank you ence fees, in addition to a salary when we do something, but there deduction for time missed. is never any support while or Kinesiology Adjunct Randi before we do it.” Wayland said the Adjunct Faculty Martin said, “It’s one thing if Council has only been able to you’re not actually signing up to reach a quorum once in the five be a representative, but if you’ve meetings this school year. done that, you ought to have read Wayland said, “I was extremewhat you are committing to.” ly embarrassed last month when Dawn Elmore, English profive people showed up, the presifessor and president of Faculty dent on down, and there was only Senate said, “We voted unanithree of us sitting here,” referencmously to approve the proposal ing a Dec. 1 visit from Vela; David from Adjunct Faculty Council.” sac-ranger@alamo.edu
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By Karenna Reyna
sac-ranger@alamo.edu
Police training teaches officers to use verbal and other non-violent tactics before resorting to physical force when subduing suspects, three criminal justice experts said during a panel discussion Feb. 10 in Loftin Student Center. Tiffany Cox, criminal justice coordinator, organized “Police Use of Force” as part of Black History Month on this campus. The panel discussed officer-involved deaths like Michael Brown’s last year in Ferguson, Mo. The three panelists, who have decades of experience in policing, prosecution and defense, discussed procedures and how they are handled. “You may have standards, you may have procedures, but the things that happen on the street happen very fast,” local attorney Cornelius Cox (no relation to Tiffany Cox) said about following protocols straight from the book. Cornelius Cox has a law degree from Howard University, was a pros-
ecutor for many years in Miami-Dade County, Fla., and is a criminal defense attorney in San Antonio. Oscar Ruiz, a peace officer since 1976, has worked as a deputy sheriff and constable in South Texas for more than 11 years. He said law enforcement training is different nowadays. Use-of-force policies have been modified throughout the years, he said. Officers now must start with verbal strategies to defuse the situation, although it depends on the nature of the call and the danger of the situation, he said. “We have come a long way; now it is mandatory that all patrol officers have a dash camera,” Ruiz said. “They no longer can hide any evidence, they have to treat everyone the same and it is all recorded.” Cornelius Cox opened the discussion by asking the audience if anyone has felt they have been stopped by a police officer without a good reason. Many raised their hand. He explained everyday experiences influence people’s judgments on what will happen to them when confronted by an officer.
Cox himself was stopped once by a Miami police officer who suspected Cox’s car was involved in a robbery. The officer searched his car, placed him against a wall and detained him for 45 minutes. He said he felt there was no reason he should have been stopped. Incidents like this happen every day, he said. “What is reasonable?” he asked, referring to police’s behavior with suspects and citizens. Mistreatment of citizens should never take place, and being mindful of the situation will help reduce the chances, he said. Local attorney Dexter Gilford agreed. “Most agencies follow a use-of-force continuum approach — that is, there is a preference that force should be used from the least intrusive means to the most intrusive means,” Gilford said. Gilford served as a prosecutor for Bexar County for two years, and has been in private practice for more than 18 years, working on defense and capital murder cases. He is a full-time adjunct in this college’s criminal justice department.
Library cuts books, materials and databases The budget was reduced by $116,164.
subscription, was cut, but after a faculty complaint, librarians negotiated for restoration at half price, Bahlinger said. By Alyssa Zapata However, the library cannot promise to have this datasac-ranger@alamo.edu base again next year because of the increasing prices and Cuts to the library’s materials budget for this academic uncertainty about the library’s budget. year have resulted in fewer databases and reductions in As of 1994, the Alamo Community College District took acquisition of books and other materials. over the library and other department budgets. Librarians The 2014-15 budget plummeted below $400,000, said submit a budget each year, but the college administration reference librarian Tom Bahlinger, who manages the budget. determines the amount the library receives, library director The 2014-15 materials budget is $370,000, which is the Alice Johnson said. lowest it has been in four years, Juanita She recalls students began paying Lewis, learning resource specialist, said. a library fee that year of no more than District gives us a Bahlinger said this is not the biggest budget and our college $2 a semester, which ended five or six cut the library has had, but the total years ago. decides how they’re materials budget is less than the 2013-14 “District gives us a budget and our going to spend it. budget of $486,164. college decides how they’re going to Alice Johnson, In 2011-12, the materials budget spend it,” Johnson said. library director was cut to $450,000, which The Ranger When the library makes cuts, librarreported was the biggest reduction in ians review database usage. They conrecent years. In 2010-11, the budget was about $400,000. sider databases like America: History and Life essential to This budget must be split among materials, books and the history department, but also must weigh those needs databases. Three databases were identified for cancellation, against available funding, Bahlinger said. but one was restored. America: History and Life and MLA Other cuts include the reduction of librarians from at International Bibliography will no longer be accessible. least 12 full-time to five full-time and two part-time, he said. Safari Books Online, which cost $11,525 for an annual Retiring librarians were not replaced.
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