The Sun, Vol 60. Issue 6

A N AT I O N A L PA C E M A K E R AWA R D N E W S PA P E R

Volume 60, Issue 6

theswcsun.com

April 11, 2017

NAACP investigating discrimination claims Some custodians allege blackmail by boss, campus leaders say claims are unwarranted

By Katy Stegall Viewpoints Editor

San Diego County’s chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of C olore d Pe ople i s i nve s t i g at i n g complaints of alleged racial discrimination at Southwestern College, according to NAACP President Dr. Andre Jose Branch.

“The NA ACP has received numerous

complaints of alleged discrimination from employees at Sout hwestern C ol le ge,” Br a nc h sa id. “Ou r L e g a l Redress Committee is investigating these complaints.”

Branch declined to go into specifics about the accusations. Three SWC custodians said the NA ACP was investigating the college on their behalf, but Branch would not conf irm that. The local NA ACP

was copied on a letter signed by four SWC custodians and an IT employee in January 2015 that ignited a series of ongoing controversies on campus. Signers of the letter said it was written by former dean Dr. Donna Arnold, who has denied authorship. Arnold retired in June 2015, but claimed in a lawsuit she f iled in December 2016 that she was forced out.

Arnold’s lawsuit is pending and college officials have declined comment.

Signers of the 2015 letter were custodians Roderick Curry, Thaao Streeter, Eric Matos and Mark Gutierrez, and PC

Systems Technician Johnny Blankenship.

Matos has since retired. Blankenship was temporarily suspended with pay in April 2015 along with Arnold when former classified union president Andre Harris received a death threat at his office at the National City satellite campus.

Blankenship was reinstated, but Arnold never returned to work. She denied writing the death threat or sending it to Harris.

Bla n kenship f i led a n employ ment discrimination suit against the college in February. He declined comment.

Trustees condemn water board official for anti-Muslim tweets

Curry, Streeter and Gutierrez met with reporters from The Sun several times in February and made a series of charges against the college and their supervisor, Director of Facilities Charlotte Zolezzi.

The custodians claimed Zolezzi was harassing them at work by following them around during their night shifts, blackmailing them with photographs of them sleeping or engaging in illegal activities during work hours, spying on them and allowing them to be insulted please see NAACP pg. A3

Chula Vista explores embracing Welcoming City status

By Alejandro Muñoz Anguiano and Brelio Lozano Staff Writers

Natalie Mosqueda/Staff

FACING THE FALLOUT — SWC ASO President Mona Dibas confronts Otay Water District Board Member Hector Gastelum over racist, anti-Muslim tweets. About 30 protesters, about half of which were SWC students, supported Dibas, who called for Gastelum to apologize and resign. He refused. College trustees passed a resolution condemning Gastelum that called for him to resign.

By Carolina Rubio Assistant Campus Editor

College trustees passed a strongly-worded resolution calling for the resignation of Hector Gastelum following a series of hateful tweets by the Otay Water District director.

Gastelum angered thousands of South County residents and American Muslims across the nation for a long series of racially-charged tweets that crescendoed on Feb. 23.

“Let’s Pressure OUR Legislators to increase list of so-called #MuslimBan to prevent #SubHuman #Scum from #USA to #MAGA(Make America Great Again),” Gastelum tweeted.

Elected officials and demonstrators from throughout the region have demanded that Gastelum step down from his seat on the Otay Water Board.

Besides the SWC board resolution, the Chula Vista City Council has called for Gastelum’s immediate resignation.

Gastelum insisted he will not leave the water board.

“I will not resign,” he said. “If they have an election, I will run again and I will win. I’ll win by a bigger margin.”

Gastelum taunted demonstrators and said that people who were offended by his tweets are overly sensitive.

“We tell toddlers, sticks and stones can break your bones, but words can’t hurt you,” he said. “It’s sad how people are just so hypersensitive to what words can do. I hate it. I call things as I see them.”

Trustee Roberto Alcantar was unmoved and called Gastelum an embarrassment.

“It’s disgusting to see someone like that representing the South Bay,” he said. “We are customers of that board, so we need to make a conscious decision as consumers who we are giving our dollars to. I find it unacceptable that someone like that is benefitting from our district.”

ASO President Mona Dibas, an American Muslim, has been an outspoken critic of Gastelum’s behavior and has organized Southwestern College students to speak at Otay Water District, city council

and college board meetings.

“As a student, I don’t feel safe having him as a representative,” Dibas told the city council. “It’s because of actions like his that people like me are killed and hurt in the streets. We are attacked, we have our hijabs pulled and so we are asking you for his resignation as well.”

City Council Member Stephen Padilla told Dibas he condemned Gastelum’s “abhorrent” and “ignorant” tweets, and thanked her for her leadership.

“When we remain silent in the face of situations like this, we become complicit,” Padilla said.

“Given his lack of desire to take responsibility for his actions, I join the other voices in the community asking him to step down.”

Otay Water District directors passed a resolution condemning discrimination following a raucous meeting packed with demonstrators and news media. Dibas was part of a lineup of please see Gastelum pg. A3

Chula Vista will not join the ranks of “sanctuary cities” in California, but the city council made it very clear that undocumented community members are welcome and will be protected.

Mayor Mary Casillas Salas, and councilmembers Patricia Aguilar and Stephen Padilla decided not to push for sanctuary city status, but directed staff to prepare an agenda item for its April 25 meeting to declare Chula Vista a “welcoming city.” By a 3-2 vote council also endorsed a state sanctuary bill.

After discussing an 18-page report regarding the city’s policies on immigration enforcement, the council majority agreed that city policies are as restrictive as can be in terms of cooperating with federal law in enforcing immigration national policies. Most sanctuary and welcoming cities forbid city police from enforcing immigration law, questioning people about citizenship status and turning people over to federal immigration authorities.

Chula Vista Police Chief Roxana Kennedy said public safety is the priority, not immigration. Kennedy said it is important that all members of the community are able to trust the CVPD and feel free to call local police to report crime.

Conservative councilmembers Mike Diaz and John McCann voted against considering the welcoming city option.

Diaz expressed concern that the Trump Administration might withhold federal funding to Chula Vista.

Casillas Salas, Chula Vista’s first Latina mayor, said the term “sanctuary city” has caused confusion and misunderstanding.

“The word ‘sanctuary city’ has been distorted and politicized to the point that is only become polarizing and meaningless,” she said. “I don’t want to give people a sense of security or insecurity by declaring Chula Vista a sanctuary city.”

Senate Bill 54, the state sanctuary bill passed by the California State Senate earlier this month is now being considered by the Assembly. The Sanctuary State bill would prohibit local law enforcement from enforcing immigration laws, or please see Sanctuary pg. A4

@theSWCSun

ARTS A12

VIEWPOINTS A5

CAMPUS A9

“Ni Solo Mujeres” explores Chicana issues and female identity.

Police chief needs to go as part of overdue shift in campus culture.

Border Angels seek funding for shelters for refugees gathering in Tijuana.

SPORTS A13

Tennis returns for first season after a seven-year absence.

A2

Brelio Lozano, editor

NEWS

April 11, 2017 — Vol. 60, Issue 6

Tel: (619) 482-6368 email: news@theswcsun.com

Lab faculty insist on pay equity

By Brelio Lozano News Editor

Faculty at Southwestern College that run labs, teach student nurses in hospitals and supervise artists are paid only 80 percent as much as professors who lecture. Faculty insist this is 100 percent wrong.

Dressed in their hospital scrubs, SWC nursing faculty recently lined up one by one and pleaded with the governing board to end pay inequity for lab hours, an issue that has lingered on campus for a quarter of a century.

Faculty is paid 80 percent during lab and clinical hours, versus the 100 percent in academic lecture settings. Among those effected are faculty in biology, chemistr y, visua l art, technolog y, journalism and nursing. Faculty with lab responsibilities need to work more hours than faculty without lab hours to make the same wage.

Nursing faculty are required to work 13 hours a week in a hospital setting, and do 12-13 hour shifts with their students and their student’s patients. Classes on theory make up the other two hours. 80 percent of the faculty’s pay is in the lab.

“This is the hardest job of all,” said Director of Nursing Cathy McJannet.

“A s a c l i n ic a l f a c u lt y, I ’ve h a d responsibility for 20 patients, over 200 medications, assisted with numerous patient procedures and provided close monitoring of 10 students, all in one clinical shift.”

Nursing faculty’s responsibilities include patient safety, working with facility staff and preparing students for board exams.

McJa n net sa id pay inequ it y demonstrates disrespect of SWC’s nursing faculty from the Southwestern College District.

Mira Costa College, San Diego City College, Grossmont College and Palomar College all have 100 percent nursing lab pay equity.

Natalie Mosqueda/Staff

LAB DUTY— (l-r) Nursing students Torrie Difiglia, 27, and Katherine Garcia, 23, practice pulsing exercises with Professor Teresa Russell. Faculty are paid less for lab hours than lecture.

“This is a highly-recognized and stellar nursing program,” said McJannet.

“These faculty do not complain to the union or frequent the president’s office.

They do their job very well, but at some point fairness and equity has to rise to the top. Today is that day.”

Sandra Peppard, a registered nurse and instructor, said clinical hours should not be valued less than academic.

“The pay for clinical does not compare to academic teaching due to life or death,” she said.

California has mandated acuity— measurement of the intensity of nursing care required by a patient—whereby a registered nurse is not allowed to have more than four to five patients during a

12-hour shift.

“We have 10 students and clinical stationed all over the hospital, and each student will have two patients,” said Professor of Nursing Teresa Russell, RN. “This means we have 20 patients that the faculty is responsible for, way over the acuity allowed in California to safely practice as a registered nurse.”

Nurses can lose their licenses for mistakes during hospital clinical hours, said Russell.

“We are expected to be perfect,” she said. “One mistake in the clinical could ruin a career forever. A wrong med given to an injury of a patient could have grave consequences to the hospital, but more so to the school and to the faculty. We

strive to be perfect. We strive always to keep patients safe and the students safe.”

Tragedies sometimes occur at hospitals during clinical shifts, said Russell.

“A month ago at my clinical site an 8-month-old baby was in the emergency room,” she said. “She had been a victim of extreme abuse. My student was in there caring for the baby. She actually had to perform CPR for the baby and the baby died. The student became extremely distraught and I spent the next two hours consoling and comforting the student regarding this very sad and complex situation. The student was beside herself and could not return to the clinical setting after what she had witnessed. This was very

stressful for me because I still had nine students stationed all over the hospital, but I could not leave this poor student.”

Faculty union president Rob Shaffer has been a strong champion of lab equity, said Russell. “(Shaffer) has totally opened the door for us,” she said. “He has worked really hard to get (the district) to listen to our side.”

Union negotiators recently announced a tentative agreement that would boost lab pay from 80 percent to 83 percent of lecture pay. Russell said it was a tiny step in the right direction.

“We are very hopeful now that we are going to move forward all the way to complete equity,” said Russell.

Vice President announces retirement New policies address sexual misconduct

Sun Staff

SO MANY GOOD THINGS GOING ON — Vice President of Academic Affairs Kathy Tyner was praised as a “hard worker” and a college institution.

By Alejandro Muñoz Anguiano Assistant News Editor

Kathy Tyner acknowledged that working at Southwestern College for nearly three decades was not the Garden Eden.

SWC did, however, also have a famous snake.

Tyner, Southwestern College’s vice president of academic affairs, announced her retirement effective June 30.

Her career in the California Community college system has spanned 37 years, 27 of them at SWC. “It was time to move on, but it’s hard.” she said. “ I love this college. We do great work here and I will always be a supporter of the college.”

Tyner’s duties include managing the curriculum and student enrollment. She guided the college’s shift from an 18-week semester to a 16-week compressed calendar that gave students the option of taking a winter intersession class.

“All the various things we’ve worked on have been a team effort,” she said.

Prior to serving as a VP, Tyner was dean of math, science and engineering. Dr. Michael Odu, the current MSE dean, said she was an eager mentor.

“She has always appreciated my outsideof-the-box thinking,” he said. “From the very first day I came into this office, she came looking for me to show me around.”

Tyner also taught classes as a professor of biology and chemistry. She is one of just three people in SWC history to earn both

the Teaching Excellence Award and the Faculty Leadership Award. Vice President of Student Affairs Dr. Angelica Suarez said some of Tyner’s greatest strengths emanate from her teaching days.

“She seeks to help people understand,” Suarez said. “If I tell her ‘Kathy, I don’t understand what you’re talking about, help me understand,’ she will break the issue down. Her approach is to ensure that she’s always teaching.”

SWC President Dr. Kindred Murillo said Tyner worked very hard and built bridges.

“Kathy and others at Southwestern College have been working with our partners at the Sweetwater Union High School District to create a Southwestern College Promise program that would grant free tuition, fees and books for selected Sweetwater District graduates,” she said.

“The relationship that Kathy has built with the Sweetwater District is one of the longest and most consistent collaborations here.”

Suarez said Tyner worked hard to help students make a smooth transition from high school to college.

“She’s always looking for ways to connect with the high school district,” she said.

Last fall about 1,200 high school students visited SWC for College Preview Day. Tyner also has a good sense of humor, Suarez said, and needed it when The Snake was on the loose. She recalled a time when a boa constrictor named Pickles escaped its terrarium in the biology department.

“Later, at a retreat, we were doing karaoke,” Suarez said. “Kathy was like ‘I’m not going to sing. If you give me a math problem I could figure it out, but I’m not going to sing.’ She wound up singing a song, acapella, about Pickles the boa constrictor.”

Tyner recently urged the Academic Senate to support the California Guided Pathways Project, a program that seeks to increase the number of students who earn degrees at California Community Colleges.

Academic Senate President Andrew Rempt said Tyner battles for students.

“She is a strong advocate for students and few people are as dedicated to our college and its mission,” he said. “Her institutional memory is vast. She will be remembered as someone who wasn’t afraid to roll up her sleeves and do whatever needed to be done. I will miss her.”

Governing Board President Tim Nader expressed gratitude for Tyner’s work at SWC. “Kathy has earned our appreciation, and hopefully an enjoyable retirement, for her nearly three decades of dedicated and tireless work on behalf of our college,” he said. “Her work necessarily entailed very long hours spent on challenging issues. I wish her a happy retirement and all the best in her life.”

Trustee Nora Vargas agreed.

“Kathy has been an institution at SWC for over 20 years,” Vargas said. “She is absolutely going to be missed, but she also leaves a legacy of building projects and supporting her faculty to create programs that are going to benefit students and the community in the long run.”

Tyner has more goals before her farewell.

“What I’m really hoping to do before I retire is to ensure that a lot of the accomplishments that we’ve made have an opportunity for sustainability into the future,” Tyner said. “I’m tying things in a bow to hopefully easily turn (them) over to the next person who occupies this office.”

She said she looks forward to spending time with her family.

“I have grandchildren and I’m expecting more grandchildren,” she said. “I’m going to be spending a lot more time with my family. They give me great joy and I think that they need my help.”

By Katy Stegall Viewpoints Editor

C ol lege tr u stee s a re pu shing administration to update sexual misconduct policies, hire an effective Title IX officer, and start changing the campus culture as it relates to sexual assault and rape.

President Dr. Kindred Murillo said Board Policy 3540, a handbook of the college’s new sexual misconduct rules, has been drafted and will be presented to the governing board soon.

“We’re actually very excited because this handbook provides the information on how to file, what to do and resources for support,” Murillo said. “We want to act on a complaint, but we also want to provide resources. That sometimes gets left out.”

BP 3540 was modeled after a policy developed by the Orange Coast Community College District, she said. It will more clearly define what constitutes sexual misconduct, how to educate the SWC community and provide staff with procedures on how to handle sexual misconduct.

Murillo said hiring a qualified Title IX officer is another priority. SWC has had a series of temporary and short-lived appointees to the position, including Dr. Donna Arnold, who is now suing the college for racial discrimination. “(The hiring committee) is based on our policies and procedures for hiring an administrator,” she said. “Then they’ll go through a first and second level interview.”

Colleges and universities that receive federal funding are required to employ a Title IX officer to uphold and investigate acts of gender biases or sexual misconduct.

SWC has been rife with complaints by students and employees about rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment and sexual misconduct. A former Campus Police student worker recently filed a lawsuit charging three campus police employees with attempted rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment that spanned two years.

She also charged that Campus Police Chief Michael Cash was complicit and did nothing when she reported the alleged misconduct to him.

There is currently no Title IX officer at SWC following the resignation of Traci Beccera. Murillo said the college is taking seriously the absence of a Title IX officer

and will insist on a proper interview process.

Student leaders and some members of the faculty have worked together to increase awareness about sexual assault and Title IX. Dean of Student Services Dr. Malia Flood and ASO Vice President of Public Relations Nada Dibas said an informational flier is in process. They took on the task of condensing the wordy federal law into more easily understood language. Dibas said it is imperative that students know their rights and speak up when they see sexual misconduct.

“I didn’t title it Title IX because I feel like no one knows (what it is),” she said. “When you start off with Title IX, it’s either instantly a turn off for some people or they think it doesn’t relate to them.”

Title IX is a game-changing regulation written by former Hawaii Congresswoman Patsy Mink known for its protection against gender discrimination in college sports.

Dibas said many people do not realize that besides leveling the sports playing field for women, Title IX strongly condemns and forbids campus sexual misconduct. At Southwestern College, Title IX violations have most commonly related to sexual misconduct, including some high-profile cases of administrators harassing students or looking the other way.

Murillo said SWC meets the athletic gender requirements well, but that society has not paid enough attention to sexual misconduct issues in the past.

Flood agreed.

“The thing we see the most of is unwelcomed sexual conduct,” she said.

Flood has added a PowerPoint slide about sexual misconduct to SWC’s student orientation. An information video was also included in the orientation presentation.

ASO is currently writing a resolution that would take information from the FloodDibas Title IX fact sheet and put it on larger stickers that will be mounted in every bathroom on campus. Dibas said their goal is to educate people throughout the college on how to handle a sexual assault as a victim or as the person entrusted with the information about sexual misconduct.

“It’s really common for students on campus,” she said. “They go through this stuff and they feel helpless and it sucks because the system is not in favor of everyone. We do what we can to try and get that out there. It’s important.”

NEWS

The Southwestern College Sun

April 11, 2017 — Vol. 60, Issue 6

A3

Adjuncts seek better treatment

By Corina Barragan and Thomas Solis Staff Writers

Photos by Natalie Mosqueda

DOUBLING DOWN — (above) Otay Water District Board director Hector Gastelum refused to resign or apologize for racist tweets. (below) SWC ASO President Mona Dibas called for Gastelum’s resignation or recall.

Gastelum: Racist anti-Muslim remarks draw condemnation Continued from pg. A1

citizens that included representatives from the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Interfaith Center for Worker Justice and the United Taxi Workers of San Diego, the majority of whose drivers are Muslim.

Dibas, like many Gastelum critics, saw the resolution as a symbolic gesture.

“I respect that this resolution is being taken into consideration, but I don’t see any consequences,” she said. “I do see that you say you won’t tolerate it, that you won’t accept it, but what if someone breaks that? What if someone reads that resolution and decides it is not important. What are the consequences for that?”

Gastelum later said his tweet was aimed only at Muslim terrorists.

“When I mentioned scum, I was very specific to the stuff that’s happening in Sweden,” he said. “I don’t want that element to come here and live out of our tax dollars. For every refugee that comes here, guess what, we have to pay their housing, we have to pay their insurance, education, everything. It’s very irresponsible.”

Melody Godinez, a Service Employees International Union board member, said

NAACP: Employee

discrimination claims are under investigation Continued from pg. A1

and harassed by their direct supervisor.

Zolezzi said the charges were untrue and that she was holding them accountable to perform their work. Harris and former classified union vice president Silvia Lugo said they initially took the custodian’s charges at face value and investigated, but found no evidence that Zolezzi was treating them unfairly.

“Charlotte is just doing her job, which is to make sure the custodians do their jobs,” said Lugo. “They don’t like the fact that she is holding them accountable. They’ve gotten away with a lot of crap for years, but Charlotte is trying to make them fly straight.”

Zolezzi acknowledged that she has increased supervision of the custodians because some were not productive, and many college classrooms and offices have not been adequately maintained.

“I’ve offered in good faith to help them find new jobs if they are unhappy here,” she said. “No one should have to work in a job they don’t like. I’ve offered to help them retrain as plumbers or other professions if they feel they need a change. I don’t want anyone who works in my department to be unhappy, but if they choose to work here they need to work. We are counting on them to keep our campus clean for our students and our faculty.”

Curry, Streeter and Gutierrez complained

public servants such as Gastelum have responsibilities to their community.

“What that man does is not promoting diversity and inclusion,” she said.

C A IR Executive Director Hanif Mohebi also spoke at the meeting.

He said the resolution was a good first step towards safety for Muslims.

Mohebi emphasized that the pattern of Gastelum’s tweets also demonstrated hatred toward minorities other than Muslims.

“We would really like an official statement from this board condemning this kind of act,” Mohebi said.

Other speakers said that Gastelum’s social media presence was baff ling considering that he represents a diverse demographic.

Gastelum sidestepped the issue at the Otay Water Board meeting, but spoke of his personal encounters with violence in his native Tijuana and “gender equality.”

“I condemn treating women like second-hand citizens,” he said. “I condemn stoning them to death. I condemn throwing homosexuals from the roof.”

Gastelum’s only apology that evening was to the members of the water board for “their trouble,” which was also a backhand to the protesters.

“I want to apologize to the people of Otay Water,” he said. “Our press secretary, our general manager, our board of directors and everybody here.

They did not deserve all of this.” to students at The Sun and their advisor that the story about Arnold’s lawsuit in the March 6 issue did not include their complaints against Zolezzi and the college.

Gutierrez said he was very angry about the story and threatened a journalism student during a profanity-laden 11-minute phone call. Professor of Journalism Dr. Max Branscomb filed a complaint with William Kinney, acting dean of the School of Arts, Communication and Social Science against Gutierrez, whom he said “crossed a line he should not have crossed.”

College officials hired an independent investigator to look into the episode.

The investigation is ongoing. Curry and Streeter later apologized to Branscomb and the staff of The Sun for Gutierrez’s outburst, and insisted he did not speak for them.

Prior to Gutierrez’s phone call, he, Curry and Streeter met with staff from The Sun to outline a series of grievances. They said they were harassed and insulted by their former supervisor, Michael Cagle.

They called the campus police on Cagle on May 4, 2016 and Officer Adam Cato responded. Cato said the disagreement between Cagle and the custodians was not a criminal issue and did not require police involvement. They were formally reprimanded by Zolezzi.

Cagle was terminated by the district in December 2016. The custodians said he was fired for sexual harassment. Zolezzi acknowledged that Cagle was relieved of his duties and dismissed, but not for sexual harassment. She said the labor contract between CSEA and the college prevents her from providing any additional details.

The custodians said Cagle was Harris’s

Gastelum later tweeted “How will #feminists celebrate International ‘you have double chores because of a useless #WomensMarch that accomplished nothing’ Day?” His social media accounts have a history of similar hateful remarks, according to Godinez.

Dibas spoke at the March SWC board meeting and reminded trustees that the Chula Vista campus is in the center of Gastelum’s water board district.

“He refused to apologize and he refused to resign,” she said. “What I’m asking this governing board to do is

cousin and that Harris had used his influence as CSEA president to get him hired. Harris said he is not related to Cagle and never met him until after Cagle began work at the college. He denied participating in Cagle’s hiring.

“I guess because Cagle is black and I’m black they must have assumed we’re related,” said Harris. “This is just another crazy tale from those guys.”

Curry, Streeter and Gutierrez said they felt “sold out” by their union.

“Andre just abandoned us,” said one.

“He didn’t care about us anymore.”

The custodians said Harris and Lugo betrayed them by repeatedly ignoring their complaints and taking Zolezzi’s side. One accused Lugo of cheering on Zolezzi with exclamations of “You go get ‘em, girl!” as Zolezzi “yelled and cursed” at the custodians.

Lugo and Zolezzi said the charge is untrue.

Custodians also claimed that they had been directed by administration to search through documents at The Sun left on desks and put in the trash to preview stories and find evidence of unflattering articles in development. College administrators denied the allegation and the custodians could provide no specific examples of espionage in The Sun newsroom after hours. Branscomb said he saw no evidence that college off icials were spying on t he st udent ne w spaper. Cu stod ia ns walked back the accusation in subsequent interviews.

Lugo said contradictions of that nature were increasingly common.

“It became clear to the investigators a nd to u s t hat t he cu stod ia ns were

stand up against this type of bigotry, to stand up against this speech.”

Gastelum said he was unrepentant and claimed he has friends who are Democrats and Persians who agree with his anti-Muslim statements.

He said he has been encouraged by people that agree with him to continue his anti-Muslim tweets and public statements.

“I will always continue to be an activist and advocate for conservative American values,” he said. “I’ve always had a voice and when people elected me they gave me a megaphone.”

manipulating this investigation and were lying half the time,” she said. “They have alienated themselves by making up some of these things or changing facts to benefit them. It’s disappointing that grown adults have to go to this degree of manipulation and lying to get out of working.”

Harris agreed.

“Do your jobs, man,” he said. “And I quote, just do your jobs.”

A college employee or multiple employees contacted the NAACP in February 2016 when some African-American employees interpreted a comment by a new director as insinuating that there were too many African-Americans on a new Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) committee.

Some college employees said former president Dr. Melinda Nish repeated the comment at a management team meeting a few days later. Nish denied that she repeated the comment. She resigned in June 2016.

Nish was defended by most parties in the controversy, some of whom said she was speaking from a strictly clinical, mathematical perspective and meant no racial slight. The controversy has dogged Nish, however, as she has applied for presidencies at other colleges in California and Oregon. Articles in newspapers in Portland, Santa Barbara, Long Beach and Orange County have referenced articles and newscasts about Nish and the alleged comment.

T he NA ACP ’s Bra nch wou ld not say whether or not his organization’s investigation was related to the EDI episode. He did not say when he expected the investigation to wrap up or if there would be a report.

Adjuncts of Southwestern College organized a rally to get better wages and equal protections as full-time instructors.

Very few people showed up. There were more adjunct speakers at the rally than people in the audience.

Adjunct instructors teach almost 75 percent of the college’s classes. They do not have the same benefits as fulltime professors. Many adjuncts work more hours than a full-time professor because they travel to multiple schools to accumulate enough pay to survive.

English adjunct Geoffrey Johnson led the rally. He said that time on the road and long hours diminish the quality of education.

“You’re not going to give students the education they deserve,” he said. “They are giving a stressed education.”

Mark Freeman, a math adjunct, said he is a “freeway flyer,” a person who may teach at several colleges a day.

Freeman said he teaches at five colleges, including distant Palomar College.

Freeman said he travels 60 or 80 miles a day traveling from school to school to make ends meet. He said he is a single father and works long hours to provide for himself and his son.

“We get by,” Freeman said. “There’s months where money is tight, but we manage to make ends meet. You can live on it, but you can’t afford a lot of luxuries.”

Adjunct English instructor Cody Dolnick said part-timers have a higher risk of losing their jobs or not getting re-hiared.

Dolnick is a longtime SWC adjunct that travels three hours from Joshua Tree to teach here.

“Before I moved to Joshua Tree, I was based in San Diego,” he said. “I couldn’t abandon the benefits that I had at Southwestern. It’s too financially dangerous to try to get a job closer to where I live. It’s very easy to be a firstyear adjunct at a college and not get hired back the next year.”

Some adjuncts have to live on family insurance plans because part-timers cannot get a professor’s plan.

Dave Hurwitz, an English adjunct, said he injured his leg at SWC and could not get the same medical benefits as full-time employees.

“I was better off applying for unemployment for the two months instead of workers comp because I would not get any wages,” he said.

“If you’re going to be an adjunct instructor, be married to someone with good insurance. Otherwise you’re screwed.”

Mexican-American Studies adjunct Gregorio Pantoja said he is not bothered by the day-to-day routine of being a part-timer, but is more concerned with the bigger problem education faces.

Pantoja said society is distracted with the mundane aspects of life rather than critical issues like education.

“Society is more willing to fight for keeping the Chargers in San Diego, but will not go to a PTA meeting to support their children,” he said. “It is more than just Adjunct Action Day, it is also a day to rally for education. Once we lose the ability to educate our society, we begin to lose true democracy.”

President Dr. Kindred Murillo and Trustee Roberto Alcantar showed their support for adjuncts by speaking at the rally.

“It is so important that the adjunct faculty teaches for us,” said Murillo.

“The value they bring to this college is outstanding. It really is more than a full-time job.”

Alcantar agreed.

“I am thankful for the work and sacrifices they make, because they could be doing something else and making money some other way,” he said. “But they are here, and they are here because they care about you. They care about our school and community, which is why we have to fight for them too.”

Dolnick said he is asking students and faculty to get more involved helping adjuncts get paid office hours and disability leave.

Johnson agreed.

“You need to get involved,” he said.

“You need to be the people that are making the actions. You need to make California the society and the place you want it to be.”

A4

Beloved professor dies at 60

By Jaime Pronoble Production Manager

Former Southwestern College biology professor Dr. Nouna Bakhiet died Dec. 29 of cancer.

She was 60.

Bakhiet came to SWC as an adjunct in 1997 and was hired full-time in 1999. She was the first doctorate degree holder in the biology department.

She earned her Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctorate in microbiology from the University of Iowa after fleeing Sudan during civil war and Libya under dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Bakhiet actually earned her first college degree in Libya, but Gaddafi banned her from receiving it because she was a woman. She worked as a breast cancer research scientist in some of San Diego’s world-renowned labs.

Bakhiet was founder and director of the SWC biotechnology program, coordinator of Bridges to the Future and principle investigator of the Biotechnology Education & Training Sequence Investment (BETSI).

Bakhiet was a stellar professor recognized several times by her peers for her work. She is the only college employee ever to earn all three major faculty awards. Bakhiet was presented the Faculty Teaching Excellence Award for Part Time Faculty (1998-1999), the Faculty Professional Leadership Award (20112012) and the Faculty Teaching Excellence Award (2013-2014).

A profile about Bakhiet published in The Sun in 2012 said her colleagues did not understand why she left a more lucrative career in a cancer research center.

“Really, my calling, my talent, my nature is embedded in what I do here at Southwestern College,” said Bakhiet. “This is who I am. This is what I was meant to do. I was able to bring all of my experience, inside or outside of the classroom or inside or outside of the lab, and lay it at the student’s feet.”

Bakhiet also once said that she would be but one cancer researcher. As a professor she could train scores of researchers.

Vice President of Academic Affairs Kathy Tyner said she was very close to Bakhiet.

“She and I often said we were separated at birth,” said Tyner, “because we always just understood what the other was thinking.”

Tyner said she had known Bakhiet for 20 years had first met her when Tyner was in the biology and chemistry departments at SWC. She said they hit it off immediately.

“Nouna and I were both fascinated with DNA,” said Tyner. “At one point, we discussed that once we’d retired, we would learn how to make metal sculptures of DNA that could be displayed on coffee tables all over the country.”

Bakhiet’s mother was born in Sudan and her father was from Turkey. Tyner said they had both died at a young age. She had two brothers and two sisters, all successful professionals. Her older sister, Dr. Raga Bakhiet, also worked in the MSE department as the director of the MESA Program.

“I’ve always wished that I could have met Nouna’s parents who raised such an amazing family,” Tyner said.

Although Bakhiet was not the oldest, Tyner said she was considered the matriarch and warrior of the family.

“Her brother, who I can assure you is a no-nonsense, 6-foot 2-inch, military intelligence officer, jokingly told me that even though he was the older one, Nouna still claimed she raised him,” she said.

Bakhiet worked tirelessly at the college. Tyner said they would sometimes work all night until 6 a.m., go home and shower, then come back to campus to teach their 8 a.m. classes. Bakhiet commonly worked until 9 p.m. writing grants, preparing lessons or developing networking opportunities for her biology students.

Colleagues who noticed her lights on and dropped in could expect a warm cup of tea.

“Nouna gave so much of herself to her friends and colleagues,” Tyner said. “She was always someone I could bounce ideas off of.”

Professor of Psychology Dr. Chris Hayashi said Bakhiet put many hours into the college to make it what it is.

“There were many occasions where I would walk out the door and see her lights were still on and I would put my bag down and get back to work,” he said. “I knew I had to work twice as hard to be half as good

Peace and quiet is hard to come by at Southwestern College – harder than most people expected.

A proposal to designate a quiet “meditation space” on campus is universally lauded, but has trundled along for nearly two years with no visible progress.

Dr. Malia Flood, dean of Student Services, said she supports the idea, but acknowledges that it has been a struggle to find an adequate location.

“The difficulty comes down to the space,” she said. “It needs to be some place that is private for students, some place that is accessible so all students know where it is and can get to it, and some place that’s safe, too.”

ASO Social Vice President Yasmeen Obleid said ideally the meditation space would be a safe, quiet place for students to relax, unwind or pray.

She said the idea was inspired by the reality that Muslim students did not have an area on campus where they could openly pray without fear of being harassed or criticized.

“As Muslims, we pray five times a day,” said Obeid. “I pray on the grass, I pray in the parking lot, there’s no place to pray.”

Obeid said the room would be useful even for those who are not religious.

“As a student, you need a place on campus to just relax, to get away from everything going on,” she explained. “We’re all stressed out at some point in the semester. We all need a place to relax.”

College president Dr. Kindred Murillo and Vice Presidents Tim Flood and Dr. Angelica Suarez have said they support the concept.

Suarez said administration has looked at possible locations, including the 650 building area which used to house the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.

ASO officials have also suggested the mailroom and the patio outside the cafeteria as potential spaces, though they were adjacent to noisy areas.

Construction is another impediment, Suarez said.

“Whenever there’s construction you have to also make sure there’s a

thing called swing space,” she said.

“You need space for the things you’re displacing when you’re building in that area.”

Malia Flood agreed. “ When the math and science building opens up, that’s going to free up a lot of space,” she said.

“That’s going to be the ideal time.

But I’m hoping we don’t have to wait that far out.”

Suarez said she hopes the meditation space will be done before summer.

“We’re hoping to get it done this semester,” Suarez said. “It’s certainly something that’s a priority for us.”

Recently, however, there have been calls for other spaces to be set aside for marginalized groups, primarily LGBT students and students of color.

Dan Cordero, the president of the Sexuality and Gender Acceptance Club (SAGA), has been leading t h e c h a r g e . He s a i d t h e re i s a need for a safe space for LGBT students, separate from the proposed meditation space. Cordero said he feels safe spaces are important now more than ever and rejected the rhetoric of conservative opponents.

“I find that folks who are critical of safe places inadvertently turn the snowflake narrative back on themselves,” he said. “They are desperately trying to cling onto a space in which they can spew whatever bigotry or misconceptions t h e y h a ve a n d t h e f re e d o m t o perpetuate that without any form of criticism presented back at them.

I don’t see anything inherently bad or overly sensitive when we’re just taking initiative to make our campus a more inclusive and a welcoming place for people.”

Cordero said he is pleased that SWC leadership is committed to a meditation space, but emphasized that does not address the LGBT community’s needs.

“It is a necessity to have separate spaces on campus for different groups,” Cordero said. “It’s so important to be proactive in terms of designating the needs of those certain communities. It’s great to have these spaces designated as ‘safe,’ but it’s important to have conversations with

Tel: (619) 482-6368 email: news@theswcsun.com

Courtesy of José Islas

as Nouna.”

Former student David Sevilla said Bakhiet saw something in him that no one else could see — including himself.

“She believed in people, that’s the thing about Nouna,” he said.

Family friend Yadira Whitney agreed.

She said she helped Bakhiet organize almost 10 years of her paperwork. One day Whitney told Bakhiet she was a graphic designer, web designer and photographer.

“Nouna said ‘you know what girl? You have so much

Students seek separate safe space, meditation rooms

By Matthew Reilly Head Cartoonist

Brelio Lozano, editor

NEWS

April 11, 2017 — Vol. 60, Issue 6

Natalie Mosqueda/Staff

MEDITATION SPACE NOT ENOUGH — SAGA President Dan Cordero says LGBT students need a dedicated safe space.

different groups and ask, ‘What are your needs? What will make a space safe for you?’”

Ma l i a Fl o o d s a i d C o rd e ro i s correct.

“The meditation room is meant to be a quiet space, there for meditation, there for prayer,” she said. “It’s not a social space. It’s a quiet, reserved, respectful space where people can go and individually practice whatever practice they have. The proposed LGBT space seems more like a social place, a meeting space where you can go and have a place where you can connect with other students you can relate to, a space where students could feel like they are safe. There is a history of LGBT students facing discrimination, facing harassment, facing challenges that are unique to other students. I think a lot of campuses have realized there’s a need for that connection.”

Flood said the administration realizes the necessity for these spaces, but has limited options on a crowded campus. Cordero said he remains optimistic.

“This is a campus that is made up of so many different groups of people and identities that we need to start reflecting in a positive way. The campus is taking all these projects upon itself to show an increased sense of inclusivity. These steps may not be 100 percent perfect yet, but we’re on the right track.”

talent and you don’t even know it,’” said Whitney.

Bakhiet encouraged Whitney to attend college and she did.

An emotional memorial to celebrate Bakhiet’s life was held in the Botanical Garden, a place Bakhiet loved. About 100 people attended.

“Each of us has been touched in so many ways

by Nouna’s inspiration, enthusiasm for learning, and her exhilaration for life,” read the memorial program. “She truly has been a bridge to the future for a generation of biology students, staff and faculty members.”

Sanctuary: Chula Vista council to vote on Welcoming City status Continued from pg. A1

using resources to investigate or arrest people for immigration policies.

Chula Vista City Councilmembers will also vote on Casillas Salas’ proposal to join the “welcoming network.”

“Many of our residents feel a sense of anxiety by the ugly, divisive rhetoric coming from this new presidential administration,” Casillas Salas said. “That why I ask Chula Vista to join the Welcoming America Network to demonstrate that we value our immigrant and refugee neighbors to help them become a vital part of our economic and civil society.”

Southwestern College has been out front of the immigrant issue and its governing board approved a strong resolution of support for undocumented students and assurances that Immigration officials will not operate on campus without a warrant.

Trustee Roberto Alcantar urged the city council to follow in the college’s footsteps.

“We, as a college, decided to take action to protect our students,” he said. “We passed resolutions saying we will protect our students, we will not allow coordination with federal agencies without a warrant. I’ve heard people say that they don’t know anybody that is scared. If you don’t know anybody that is scared around you, then you need to check your privilege because it is the reality for millions of Americans right now that are terrified about what is happening in this country.”

SWC board unanimously passed a resolution to support a lawsuit against the Trump Administration by the city of San Francisco over a presidential executive order targeting sanctuary cities. Chula Vista’s council also discussed supporting the lawsuit.

Trump’s Jan. 25 executive order threatened to pull federal funds from local jurisdictions that do not aid in enforcing federal immigration laws.

Governing Board President Tim Nader, a California State Attorney, said it was legally problematic that the order does not clearly define a sanctuary jurisdiction.

“That order authorizes certain cabinet officials to take punitive action with certain jurisdictions that they subjectively consider to be sanctuary jurisdictions, whether the jurisdiction has so declared itself or not,” he said. “That could potentially include a jurisdiction that decides it has better uses for its police force than to act as surrogate ICE agents, like actually protecting people from crime.”

Nader also criticized the order’s vague language.

Nader “I look at an executive order like that and I can’t really tell what his position is,” he said. “‘Sanctuary city’ or ‘sanctuary jurisdiction’ is not clearly defined, and that’s one of the very dangerous things about this type of executive order. When you don’t define things carefully in the law and you impose punitive measures, that is a tool of a totalitarian because it gives them an ability without fair notice, without due process, without regard to the civil rights of the citizens, to do whatever they choose, and that’s what we’re challenging here.”

As a result of the board’s vote, Nader will write a letter to the court on behalf of the board. Councilmember Padilla said he spoke with Nader regarding the amicus brief.

“We don’t get to decide if we are a sanctuary jurisdiction,” he said. “The secretary of Homeland Security gets to decide, based on our policies. Our policies for many years now severely restrict, only to the extent absolutely required, that we cooperate with immigration enforcement.”

National City and Imperial Beach have struggled over sanctuary city and welcoming city resolutions.

In February, the National City city council voted against a welcoming city resolution in a controversial 3-2 vote at a meeting where more than 40 members of the public spoke in favor of the resolution. Mayor Ron Morrison presented a substitute resolution that altered the language to remove the word “welcoming,” among other changes, to the dismay of supporters of the original resolution.

The substitute resolution passed 3-2.

Late last year, Imperial Beach Mayor Dr. Serge Dedina declared the city a welcoming city. He retracted the proclamation after community members spoke against the unilateral move at a city council meeting.

Dedina said he should have put the matter to a vote of the council first.

“I am retracting the Welcoming City proclamation due to its policy directive that should have been subject to City Council, City staff and public review through a City Council resolution,” Dedina said in a statement.

Imperial Beach is scheduled to vote on the new “Welcoming City” resolution April 25.

April 11, 2017— Vol. 60, Issue 6

VIEWPOINTS

The Southwestern College Sun

A5

Editorials, Opinions and Letters to the Editor

The mission of the Southwestern College Sun is to serve its campuses and their communities by providing information, insights and stimulating discussions of news, activities and topics relevant to our readers. The staff strives to produce a newspaper that is timely, accurate, fair, interesting, visual and accessible to readers. Though the “Sun” is a student publication, staff members ascribe to the ethical and moral guidelines of professional journalists.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

ALYSSA PAJARILLO

Mirella Lopez

Millenials are using condoms less often than they should

PRODUCTION MANAGER

Jaime Pronoble NEWS

Brelio Lozano, editor Alejandro Muñoz Anguiano, assistant CAMPUS

Victoria Gonzalez, editor Carolina Rubio Ruiz, assistant Veronica Cruz, assistant VIEWPOINTS

Alyssa Pajarillo, editor Katy Stegall, editor Matthew Reilly, head cartoonist ARTS

Marty Loftin, editor Chelsea Pelayo, assistant Jeanette Sandoval, assistant SPORTS

Michael McDonald, editor ONLINE

Mirella Lopez, editor PHOTOGRAPHY

Matthew reilly/staff

editorial

Natalie Mosqueda, editor Thomas Contant, assistant SENIOR STAFF

Nicholas Baltz

The Issue: Chief Michael Cash has reigned over a period of sexual assault, illegal hiring and poor policing at the SWCPD.

Andrew Dyer COPY EDITOR

Brian del Carmen STAFF WRITERS

Corina Barragan

Miguel Martinez

JoseLuis Baylon

Priscilla Mendoza

Tayler Costello

Alex Morales

Sergio Esparza

Ivana Morales

Elibeth Esquivel

Alethze Meza

Elizabeth Farin

Karen Olea

Anthony Johnthan

Tristiana Rodriguez

Fiume

Armando Sanchez

Elena Hernandez

Thomas Solis

Maria Joaquin

Yamilet Torres-

Alexis Lopez

Leon

PHOTOGRAPHERS

CARTOONISTS

Eric Gonzalez

Dan Cordero

Maria Joaquin

Stephanie Garrido

Juan Morales

Michelle Phillips

Victoria Sanchez ADVISOR

Dr. Max Branscomb

AWARDS/HONORS Student Press Law Center National College Press Freedom Award, 2011 National Newspaper Association National College Newspaper of the Year, 2004-16 Associated Collegiate Press National College Newspaper of the Year National Newspaper Pacemaker Award, 2003-06, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012-2015 General Excellence Awards, 2001-16 Best of Show Awards, 2003-17 Columbia University Scholastic Press Association Gold Medal for Journalism Excellence, 2001-16 California Newspaper Publishers Assoc.

California College Newspaper of the Year, 2013, 2015 Student Newspaper General Excellence, 2002-17 San Diego County Multicultural Heritage Award

Society of Professional Journalists National Mark of Excellence, 2001-16 First Amendment Award, 2002, 2005 San Diego Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards 1999-2016 Directors Award for Defense of Free Speech, 2012 Journalism Association of Community Colleges Pacesetter Award 2001-17 General Excellence Awards, 2000-16 American Scholastic Press Association Community College Newspaper of the Year San Diego County Fair Media Competition Best of Show 2001-03, 20052016

Our Position: College leadership needs to terminate Cash, scrub out rape culture in the SWCPD and implement community policing.

Time to cashier Police Chief Cash Southwestern College’s Police Department needs to be stopped and frisked. Its chief needs to be cuffed and led away.

Shocking charges of systemic years-long sexual harassment and attempted rape in the SWCPD outlined in a lawsuit are somehow not shocking at all. Chief Michael Cash and some (not all) SWCPD personnel have been cavalier toward sexual assault on this campus and have intentionally misled this community about the severity of the problem by keeping inaccurate records and downplaying a very serious malignancy.

It would be untrue to say that relations between civilians and officers are shaky. There are no meaningful relations. Our police do not know us and we do not know them. Most students cannot identify a single officer on campus. Cash’s dysfunctional methods of “public safety” are to have officers parking their empty cars randomly around campus and watching video back at HQ. Interaction with students and employees is virtually nonexistent. SWC’s campus police are invisible. Yet, magically, we are supposed to trust in them to protect us.

This is not a superhero movie. We do not need our protectors to have a secret identity, wear a cloak of anonymity and surreptitiously monitor video in a hollowed-out volcano. We need friendly, engaged cops who walk the beat. We need professional men and women who are visible, accessible and trustworthy.

We need community policing at Southwestern College.

Community policing is democracy in action. More important, community policing works. Don’t take our word for it, ask Dr. Adolfo Gonzalez, the legendary former National City Police Chief who integrated community policing and cut a violent city’s murder rate to zero. Crime plunged, fueling a Renaissance in the long-beleaguered community. Ask former Chula Vista Police Chief David Bejerano, who used community policing to make Chula Vista the 10th safest city in America.

Community policing is a U.S. Department of Justice initiative created in 1994 and employed successfully in hundreds of American towns and cities. Southwestern College is, once again, late to the party. In fact, we are going directly backwards, away from engagement and Online Comments Policy

trust, and headlong into isolation and suspicion. Instead of proactive partner, Cash is a reactive overlord.

Community policing is a long-term strategy that encourages officers to get to know their community and make connections. Community-oriented law enforcement is about committing to people, working to walk in their shoes and aiding conflict resolution. By every quantifiable measure it works. It works very well.

We know many of our better SWCPD officers are itching to use community policing strategies, but have been hamstrung by Cash. Our chief is a bully and a bullshit artist who has lost the respect of his officers and most of the campus.

Cash is reckless (firing weapons indoors), has engaged in cover-ups (using the Police Officer’s Bill of Rights to hide his mistakes and tamping down sexual assault data) and misogyny (victim shaming and permitting rape culture in the SWCPD).

Speaking of misogyny, is there a reason all of our sworn officers are male?

Cash told us last year he had hired a female officer, Emalee Pallis, but that was another lie. She was not a sworn officer, but an a RAD Instructor who Cash masqueraded as a uniformed sworn officer who carried a gun. When the deception came to light, Pallis was let go the same day, which means SWCPD is a testosteroneonly club again. Cash did similar illegal hiring for other high-ranking former SWCPD officers, including sergeants he was not authorized to hire at all.

A police force should not look like a frat house, but ours often does. If a police chief and his officers are more concerned with protecting one another than holding each other accountable, the murky culture will not change.

Our new president Dr. Kindred Murillo has many serious issues to deal with, one of which is our dysfunctional campus police. We hope she can devote some time and energy to transforming our police department.

She speaks often of the importance of a civil, transparent culture. She is so right. We need to transform this campus away from silos and fiefdoms, and toward transparent, service-oriented leadership.

Cash, alas, is beyond repair. He needs to go.

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In this strangest of election seasons, California voters are being asked to consider adult films stars as role models.

Don’t laugh.

Next month, Californians will vote on Proposition 60, a ballot initiative that would require the producers of to pay for health and check up requirements for adult film actors. Proposition 60 will also require actors to wear condoms take and other protective measures while filming.

Proponents and opponents of Proposition 60 have valid points. Those who oppose argue that the performers could opt out of the law so long as they do not have financial gain and are not producing the films, and that it could potentially cost the state several millions in tax revenue per year. It would take at least $1 million a year, just to implement and police the law, according to Buisnesswire. com.

Taxes and pornographic preferences aside, condom representation in adult films is important.

Many people, especially youth and young adults, mimic what they see depicted in pornography in their own sex lives.

Youth and young adults are often exposed to pornography before their first sexual encounter. If more pornography is filmed with the actors wearing condoms, it could lead to a rise in youth condom use. Most students know that condoms prevent sexually transmitted diseases. Condoms can protect against unwanted pregnancy and diseases like HIV and gonorrhea. Young people may have the knowledge about condoms, but they are not putting it into practice.

Condom use has declined among from 13 – 24 year olds, according to the Center for Disease Control. The CDC also reported that there was a 20 percent decrease in condom use from 2003 to 2015.

Millennials also are having less sex with condoms while exchanging relationships and dating for casual hookups.

San Diego State University published new research showing that 25 to 28 percent of Americans ages 18 to 29 have engaged in casual sex.

Millenials are having more non-monogamous sex than previous generations Millennials are having more one-night stands, without discussing condoms and sexually transmitted diseases beforehand. This has been a recipe for a rise in sexually transmitted diseases.

Avert a sexual health website, reports that the number of clyamida infections has skyrocketed from 500,000 in 1997 to 1.25 million in 2015.

While Millinnials may be more sex positive, condoms are still critical to protection against sexually transmitted diseases.

Alyssa may be reached at sexandthesun@theswcsun.com

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April 11, 2017 — Vol. 60, Issue 6

VIEWPOINTS

Alyssa Pajarillo and Katy Stegall, co-editors Tel: (619) 482-6368 email: viewpoints@theswcsun.com

Freedom Administration Accessibility Report Card requires GOVERNING BOARD eternal A vigilance A Governing Board President Tim Nader

Governing Board Member Roberto Alcantar

History does, indeed, repeat itself. Today’s public battle between Donald Trump and the American news media is reminiscent of a similar war on journalism and free speech that took place on this campus from 2008-10.

Former Southwestern College President Raj Kumar Chopra began a campaign to seal off student journalists from all campus leaders and decision makers in 2008 after The Sun published articles about his word-for-word plagiarism of a Thanksgiving message published in a Southwest Airlines magazine and his acceptance of a $15,000 raise when classes were being cut and college employees were facing layoff.

Chopra forbade all administrators from speaking to journalists from The Sun, and ordered journalism students to speak only to former PIO Chris Bender. He ordered the newspaper adviser to direct his student to follow his new rules.

Professor of Journalism Dr. Max Branscomb and his students refused to comply with the unethical directive.

They were severely punished, but stood their ground despite salary reductions, crippling cuts to the journalism budget, physical intimidation and threats of arrest. Following the 2010 election of a new governing board majority, Chopra and most of his crew were swept away, though some linger.

Since 2011 The Sun and other newspapers across America participate in Sunshine Week, an initiative by the Society of Professional Journalists to monitor accessibility and transparency in government and public education.

Accessibility grades for SWC leadership have improved steadily since 2011, and 2016 was an excellent year for our board and administrators.

Only two campus leaders received failing grades. Police Chief Michael Cash failed due to inconsistency, inaccurate information and generally uncooperative behavior.

Dean Mia McClellan remains the college’s worst First Amendment offender and for a year threatened two Sun student reporters and Branscomb with a specious $5 million lawsuit.

McClellan still works at SWC, but was moved to a new position so that she would not interact with students anymore.

The Editorial Board of The Sun congratulates college leadership on this excellent report card and thanks administrators for honoring the First Amendment and supporting us on our mission to learn how to be successful professional journalists.

EDITORIAL BOARD Southwestern College Sun

Governing Board Member Griselda Delgado Governing Board Member Norma Hernandez Governing Board Member Nora Vargas

SENIOR ADMINISTRATORS President Dr. Kindred Murillo Vice President Student Affairs Dr. Angelica Suarez Vice President Academic Affairs Kathy Tyner Vice President Business and Financial Affairs Tim Flood

A A A A A A A

ACADEMIC LEADERSHIP Dean H.E.C. Otay Mesa and San Ysidro Silvia Cornejo Acting Dean School of Arts, Com., Social Sciences William Kinney Dean School of Language, Literature and Humanities Dr. Joel Levine Dean School of Mathematics, Science and Engineering Dr. Michael Odu Dean H.E.C. National City, Crown Cove Aquatic Center Christine Perri Dean School of Wellness, Exercise Science and Athletics James Spillers Dean School of Business and Technology Dr. Mink Stavenga Accreditation Oversight Co-Chair Angelina Stuart

A A A A A A A A

NON-ACADEMIC LEADERSHIP Chief Information Systems Officer Daniel Borges Police Chief Campus Police Department Michael Cash Dean of Student Services Dr. Malia Flood Dean Institutional Effectiveness Linda Gilstrap Director Research Grants and Planning Linda Hensley Director Veterans Affairs, Financial Aid and Evaluations Patti Larkin Public Information and Officer Lillian Leopold Performing Arts Coordinator Silvia Lugo Dean Academic Affairs Mia McClellan Director Nursing Program H.E.C. Otay Mesa Cathy McJannet Interim Campus Police Chief Dave Nighswonger Director Facilities, Operations and Planning Charlotte Zolezzi

A F A A A B A A F A A A

UNION LEADERSHIP SCEA President S. Rob Shaffer CSEA President Matthew Millus Former SCEA President Frank Post Former CSEA President Andre Harris

A A A A

The Southwestern College Sun

?

Thinking Out

VIEWPOINTS

April 11, 2017— Vol. 60, Issue 6

ERROR 404: Devos experience not found

Loud

Do you feel immigrants are safe on campus?

“I cannot really speak for the immigrants with darker complexions because, although I am an immigrant myself, I feel safe only because I am white.”

Alejandra De Hoyos, 19, Art

Stephanie garrido/staff

By Jeanette Sandoval A perspective

“I’m not sure they are feeling safe, but this is a safe zone for immigrants. They shouldn’t fear about getting asked for papers because it is a safe zone here on campus.”

Loui Castillo, 22, Administration of Justice

“On this campus, yeah, I feel like they’re safe because a lot of the student body is immigrants, so I don’t feel out of place.”

Samira Abukar, 18, Nursing

“I don’t think they are because being a black male on campus, I at times do not feel safe, so for immigrants I could only imagine what they must feel like.”

Malik Walton, 20, Graphic Design

“Yes, they are safe. People that I know in the community are willing to do anything to protect anyone.”

Daniel Alvarez, 19, Biotech

Follow us on: The SWC Sun Theswcsun @theswcsun

Theswcsun

Theswcsun

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“He alone who owns the youth, gains the future,” said Adolf Hitler at the 1935 Nuremburg Rally.

It would be unfair to compare newly-confirmed Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to Hitler. She is not anywhere near as smart as Der Fuhrer. For that, at least, we should be glad.

DeVos is easily one of the least-qualified, leastcapable and least-prepared cabinet secretaries ever. Most Southwestern College administrators or faculty would be more competent.

DeVos, admittedly, chose her parents and husband well.

She is the daughter of a billionaire industrialist, wife of a billionaire entrepreneur and co-owner of the Orlando Magic. She is qualified in the eyes of Trump because she is rich.

In the hours following DeVos’ confirmation hearing, millions of Americans realize how

unqualified the Secretary of Education nominee was.

During DeVos’ first confirmation hearing,Washington Senator Patty Murray said she immediately received 36 letters signed from 133 organizations expressing opposition. Thousands more followed. A spokesman for California Senator Kamala Harris said her office received almost 2,000 calls opposing the nomination of DeVos days after her first confirmation hearing.

DeVos was sworn in after Vice President Mike Pence broke the 50-50 vote.

Public schools, already treated as the Republican government’s ugly stepchild, will take further kicks to the head from DeVos, a veteran teacher basher and charter schools kook. She has zero experience in education and has no business making decisions about the public school system she loathes. DeVos is part of Trump’s campaign to make the rich richer at the expense of the rest of us.

She will dispense billions of our dollars to phony, flimsy charter schools owned by her friends.

DeVos wants to privatize public education, America’s greatest ever idea. It was government-funded compulsory

public education that fired the American Industrial Age in the 1880s and made this country a world economic power.

DeVos is worse than a hack, she is dangerous. Her $200 million donation to the Republican Party in 2016 bought her an undeserved cabinet post. Now she has her foot on the throat of America’s school children.

As Secretary of Education DeVos controls FAFSA, the gateway to higher education for working class America.

Multi-billionaires like DeVos do not sweat FAFSA, but millions of the rest of us do. Trump has promised to reduce FAFSA funding, essential support for millions of talented, but low-income students.

The Secretary’s web page is drenched with promises to privatize education and provide taxpayer-funded scholarships to religious private schools – most of which are staples of incompetence, flat earthers and anarchists.

“Above all, I believe every child, no matter their zip code or their parents’ jobs, deserves access to a quality education,” postures DeVos on her website. She forgot to add the disclaimer saying, “J.K. public school children.

Get along with less while I skim off billions of your dollars.”

DeVos said she will rewind the clock to a time with no Individuals With Disabilities Act and no Title IX. Students’ civil rights will be left to individual states, meaning California students may be okay, but kids in Texas, Indiana, Mississippi, Kentucky, West Virginia, Kansas and other backwards Fauknerian states will take a savage beating.

DeVos is as loopy as she is vacuous. During a confirmation hearing she said guns in school may be a good idea because of “grizzly bears.” (Really, YouTube it.)

During her initial hearing the ethics review was not finished. It should not have taken long because DeVos is devoid of ethics. She is an agent of wacky evangelicals and right-wingers who believe in sky gods, magical angels and no taxes, but deny climate change, the efficacy of vaccinations and the harmful effects of societal violence.

“Making American education great again” was the official slogan of the DeVos website.

My goodness, where did she ever come up with such a creative, meaningful and inspiring message? Oh, right, The Donald.

DeVos is not qualified to run a rural PTA and should set foot in the USDOE only when visiting on a tour. U.S. education needs a strong leader, not a political donor. In a pool of dreadful cabinet appointments, DeVos is possibly the worst. Trump gets a big fat F for this outlandish appointment.

“Slacktivism” feels good, means nothing

By Martin Loftin A perspective

Being “woke” is not enough.

If Americans want to defend the rights that others have fought so hard for, they cannot do it solely from the safety of their cell phone or computer.

Not all of the rights that many Americans hold dear came from the Constitution or the Bill of Rights. Caring people have engaged in political activism since 1776 to make the United States a more perfect union.

“Slacktivism” is a modern alternative to getting politically involved that is as ineffective as it sounds. Activists become deeply involved with an issue, but “slacktivists” do little more than just talking about the issue as a topic of discussion. While slacktivists think they might be sticking it to The Man by sharing/ reblogging/retweeting a story, they leave The Man a convenient paper trail to follow.

If more people had been involved, the 2016 elections would have gone differently.

Slacktivists enjoy the reassuring feeling that they are making a difference for a cause that fits their interest, without the inconvenient aspects of real activism, such as being brutalized by the police, arrest, sacrifice or hard work.

Internet access has united people around the world and is a tool for staging massive political movements. The Arab Spring of 2010 used Twitter and other forms of social media to organize a wave of revolutions across the Arab world. But the Arab Spring would not have had any impact if people just stayed at home on their phones and computers. People on the streets carried the day.

On the day after President Donald Trump was sworn into office, the largest single-day protest in U.S. history blossomed across the country, uniting people against the divisive identity politics that has plagued Americans.

Erica Chenoweth of the University of Denver and Jeremy Pressman at the University of Connecticut went through the grueling task of tracking down figures from across the country by tallying head counts from newspapers and other sources. She estimated that between 3.33 million and 4.63 million individuals participated in the Women’s March on Washington (and many other places) to show intersectional solidarity among the different communities that Trump had targeted.

With the success of the Women’s March, the organizers have announced

that another demonstration called “A Day Without A Woman” is on the horizon.

Unlike the Arab Spring, the huge protests against Trump have yet to result in a coup or revolution.

Trump and those that tell him what to do are waging war against the American public through a campaign of disinformation.

Even though the Figurehead-in-Chief’s administration wishes to divide the country along lines of race, religion, gender or nationality, contempt for the current president is a powerful uniting force.

Professional media is slowly adapting to White House deceptions. While Trump might not be called out as a delusional liar on live television anytime soon, it is important to inform people that he lies constantly and so do his advisers.

That rebellious energy must be used wisely because the Trump administration will use any whiff of violent protest as an excuse to crack down on the loyal opposition.

At Berkeley non-violent protesters have already been slandered by rightwing outlets that claimed that they “turned violent” when a white-nationalist provocateur/professional Internet troll was invited to speak by the College Republicans.

UC Berkeley officials said 150 masked agitators interrupted the non-violent protest by setting fires with Molotov cocktails, attacking police with fireworks, assaulting people and destroying property.

“The Young Turks” host Cenk Uygur hypothesized that these violent agitators were right-wingers who sought to discredit liberal protestors and the university they represent, or an anti-fascist group like Antifa that believe that fascism can only be defeated with violence.

Whether or not that is true, any violence will be used as an excuse by Trump to seize more power. Trump even threatened to take federal funding from Berkeley even though the university had nothing to do with the “riot.” He has blamed California for costing him the popular election, citing millions of illegal votes (without evidence).

Trump has stated that he should withhold funding since the state is “outof-control,” but California is a donor state that in taxes gives more to the federal government than it receives in federal disbursements. Maybe California should be the one doing the cutting off and we will see how well charity cases like Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska and other deep-red states hold up.

Activism should take the form of marches, contacting representatives,

labor strikes, sit-ins, rallies, boycotts and – most importantly – voting out extremist politicians.

These tactics have worked to get children out of factories, improve working conditions, prevent corporations from poisoning the environment, give women and minorities the right to vote and stopped women from having to self-abort their pregnancies with toxic substances or sharp objects.

Those who want to protect America from becoming a dystopian dictatorship should actually get involved and not just talking about it online. Sharing articles online to inform others is fine, but it is not enough to fight the rising tide of totalitarianism.

By the time people become comfortable enough to protest and take a stand against injustice, it might be too late for political activism to be an effective method of enacting social change. When Germans were rounding up “undesirables” and putting them into concentration camps in the 1930s, the time for peaceful protest

Matthew reilly/staff

was long past.

Trump and his cronies are already attempting to undo all the work that went into making this country better, while arguing they will “Make America Great Again.” Adolf Hitler said in 1934 he was going to make Germany great again by combining Nationalism and Socialism. Trump cannot make America great again by combining Nationalism and Corporatism.

Trump’s approval rating of 39 percent is the lowest of any new president ever, and his disapproval rating at 45 percent is also a record, according to a Gallup survey.

Trump wishes he were as popular as Hitler when the Führer became chancellor.

He lost the popular election by 2.86 million votes. Despite his obsession with imaginary illegal voters, Trump does not have popular support for any of the executive actions that he is signing. He is not a king, despite his love for golden thrones, and no amount of “alternative facts” will show that Trump has the love of the people (or his father).

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April 11, 2017 – Volume 60, Issue 6

The Southwestern College Sun

CAMPUS “I am really happy to be able to witness this upsurge in resistance all over the country and all over the world.”

Angela Davis’ fight for social justice continues

By Carolina Rubio Assistant Campus Editor

Photos by Natalie Mosqueda

RESISTENCE IS NOT FUTILE — Human rights icon Dr. Angela Davis

gave a rousing presentation to a packed crowd in the college gymnasium.

“Education or Incarceration” reviewed American civil rights violations through the centuries and urged the audience members to join the battle against enviromental degradation. Davis said the United States needs to make sweeping changes to its system of justice which locks up one in three African-American men in their lifetimes and one in six Latinos.

Dr. Angela Davis grew up in the Dynamite Hill area of Birmingham, Alabama. Her neighborhood owes its nickname to the Ku Klux Klan’s bombings of African-American homes during the 1960s.

Now it is Davis who is blowing up convention and blasting social injustice in a country still reeling from 450 years of slavery and oppression.

Davis, the once-controversial UC Santa Cruz professor, rallied an audience of 1,200 in the creaky, cramped but crazed gym. She moved mellifluously from her days in the early 1970s on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list to her current role as the greying but gregarious critic of environmental degradation and mass incarceration.

“We can never forget that this land was forcibly taken from the people who worked its stories, who respected this land and entered a caring relationship with it,” she said.

Davis’ “Education or Incarceration” lecture was part of the college’s Cultivating Courageous Conversations series. Prison, she said, is the plague of African-Americans.

America has suffered a 500 percent increase in incarceration rates over the last 40 years, without an increase in crime rates. Davis said the targeted groups have been ethnic minorities, with one in three black men and one in six Latino men likely to be imprisoned during their lifetimes. Putting men of color behind bars is a profitable business, she said.

Davis related mass incarceration to the way capitalism has invaded every aspect of American life. She encouraged the audience to “form a country that doesn’t need prisons.”

There is a direct link between the nation’s financial structure and spikes in prison building and incarceration rates, she said.

“Our analysis of the crisis in overincarceration and the role that racism plays in it, is connected to the way in which

“We can never forget that this land was forcibly taken from the people who worked its stories, who respected this land and entered a caring relationship with it.”

-Angela Davis incarceration fuels the economy,” she said.

Environmental injustice is the foundation of all other injustice, Davis said. Land ties everything together, she insisted, as demonstrated by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Without the land, she said, there is nothing.

Davis said the election of Donald Trump was unfortunate, but it is waking up a sleeping country.

“This resistance has been led by women,” she said.

She used Trump’s Muslim ban to illustrate how resistance has brought the country together.

“It was absolutely incredible, the way that people flocked to all the international airports and spontaneously created all of these demonstrations,” she said. “In cities where there were no international airports, people went to symbols of power and demonstrated there.”

Professor of Communication Dr. Rachel Hastings said Davis inspired students to rise up.

“I’m hoping to get some good, honest, historical conversation on how to stay involved,” she said.

Davis would be all for that.

“I am really happy to be able to witness this upsurge in resistance all over the country and all over the world.”

Victoria Gonzalez, editor

CAMPUS

Tel: (619) 482-6368 email: campus@theswcsun.com

April 11, 2017 — Vol. 60, Issue 6

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Miguel Martinez/Staff

EARNING HER KEEP— Rosyo Vega, one of more than 100 people who stay at the Casa del Migrante shelter, helps out by painting and doing chores. Nearly 50 migrant shelters are known to have

sprung up in churches and homes throughout Tijuana to assist desperate refugees from at least four continents.

Border Angels create Adopt-A-Shelter program

By Chelsea Pelayo Assistant Arts Editor

The planet’s fastest-growing refugee crisis is not in Greece, Turkey or Pakistan.

It is about six miles south of Southwestern College.

A humanitarian crisis has been fulminating for more than a year just minutes from paradise. Refugees coming from Haiti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Ghana and Honduras have traveled through as many as 10 international borders seeking the opportunity to live in the United States, but America’s door is not budging.

Shelter operators are begging for help and the human rights organization Border Angels is coordinating an “Adopt- a -Shelter” drive in the United States.

Adopt-a-Shelter is an attempt to build a stream of monthly donations to help build and support shelters similar to Casa del Migrante. Activist Hugo Castro said it is a matter of getting the message out to altruistic people ready to contribute to the cause.

“With Adopt-a-Shelter we haven’t yet received a promise to completely adopt a shelter, but we have groups able to provide donations every month for three shelters,”

he said. “We are looking for organizations or students to provide food, donations or the money to buy food on a weekly basis.”

Castro, Border Angels’ Baja California volunteer coordinator, said churches in Tijuana and Mexicali have been haphazardly converting to shelters in an effort to support the influx of refugees. It is a full-blown crisis, he said, and the world has been slow to notice. Raising funds has been difficult.

“I started to receive donations through a post on Facebook,” he said. “And then, from that one post, I received like six emergency calls from other shelters asking what they need to do to be considered for donations because they didn’t have enough food for the migrants.”

Border Angels is currently helping 18 shelters in Tijuana and two in Mexicali, which is about two hours east of Tijuana. The nonprofit organization is using donations received on its website to buy food and pay for utilities.

Now, Castro said, those funds are also supporting construction projects which aim to convert temporary shelters into permanent structures. This project, named SOS Migrants, was launched in December. Castro said its next goal is to create an Adopt-a-Shelter program, a network of donors that guarantees regular financial support to specific shelters.

“The community has responded, not

the (Mexican) government,” he said.

“The government doesn’t pay for utilities.

Some of the utilities have risen to $2,000 a month.”

Border Angels has begun to reach out to American corporations to give regular donations to provide a stable source of funding.

“We are spending between $1,500 to $2,000 weekly in order to cover the shelters in Tijuana,” he said.

Castro said that the cost of purchasing necessary wholesale items quickly adds up.

“At least 200 pounds of rice weekly, at least 120 pounds of oatmeal, at least 10 gallons of cooking oil, at least 100 pounds of pasta for each shelter,” he said. “We will need the $3,500 to cover the basic needs every week.”

Funding all 20 shelters Border Angels is putting up for adoption comes out to about $8,000 monthly, Castro said.

Due to the improvised nature of the shelters, living conditions can be unsubstantial.

Efren Guevara Galindo is a deportee a n d re s i d e n t a t Sa n t a Ro c a d e Sa l v a c i o n , a Pr o t e s t a n t c h u r c h nestled atop the hills of Tijuana.

Despite sustaining crippling injuries from a recent kidnapping, Guevara is helping to build the foundation of a migrant facility

using his background working in hotel remodeling and construction at chains like Marriott and Radisson in the U.S. “It’s going to be like a hotel,” he said. “It’s going to have all separate rooms, they’re going to have restrooms, kitchenettes for families and we’re going to put in a daycare.”

Guevara said he was deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement last May when he could not to prove American citizenship. He said his adopted parents, who are also his biological grandparents, brought him to the U.S. when he was seven months old.

He lived in the United States for 46 years and had never been to Mexico until ICE dropped him off there.

The timing of his deportation caused him to miss a crucial hearing for his citizenship case, he said. Through Border Angels, Castro connected Guevara with a human rights lawyer who is helping him with an asylum application.

“It’s kind of rough right now,” Guevara said. “The (Mexican) government was getting geared up to receive all these refugees, but the help didn’t come as they promised.”

Father Pat Murphy, head coordinator at Casa del Migrante, said he has been working with migrants for more than 30 years at the permanent shelter. Casa del Migrante

receives aid from a national and international network of donors, he said.

“We have a full-time psychologist, two social workers, a department that finds work for residents,” he said. “Our whole system is to try to help people reintegrate into the Mexican society that they were born into but maybe have forgotten because they’ve been in the United States for 20 years.”

Murphy said Casa del Migrante is under pressure to prepare for an uncertain future of deportees from the U.S. “It’s much more than just food and shelter, you have to give them a way to establish their lives,” he said.

“We (are) really lacking in preparing for this reality, so we’re trying to do that.”

Casa del Migrante’s comprehensive program will not work if the influx of deportees and refugees grows at its current rate, Murphy said. For now, he said, a stable source of funds is keeping the shelter operational. About 25 percent of the shelter’s budget comes directly from donations. “(We get funds from) people who have been donating to us for years,” he said.

“I go out as much as possible to give talks about the Casa and to get people committed to being a friend of the Casa and send a monthly donation.”

Students establish brotherhood of success

“Meaning for 100 students coming here for a four to six year span, we only graduate three.”

While programs like UMOJA (Swahili for “unity”) and the athletics department offer support to African-American students, B²LA is aimed at students who have no systemic connections, said Omar.

“We know that they’re the most vulnerable population,” he said. “How can we help them become successful?”

Nathaniel Galloway, 21, a computer science major, said he is a fan. He has been a member of B²LA since the program’s inception last semester and said it has been a great motivation for him. “(B²LA has helped me) to excel in what I’m doing, and to branch out and look at other possibilities,” he said. “It also teaches me how to mentor others in a way I would have never known I could.”

B²LA has already helped Kenneth Jeanette Sandoval/Staff McCall, a finance major, transfer to the DREAM TEAM FOR DREAMS— B²LA Co-chair Abdimalik Buul jokes with University of San Diego. He said the members Nathaniel Galloway and Carver Bedeau during their weekly meeting. program’s support and motivation were The group has already helped one of its members to transfer. essential.

“I joined kind of at the end of my

By Jeanette Sandoval friends and colleagues gathered to support community college career, but honestly I Assistant Arts Editor and mentor each other, according to couldn’t have transferred without (B²LA),” counselor Abdishakur Omar. he said.

There is no point in sugar coating it, male Omar said the program helps to connect McCall said more students should join.

African-American students struggle mightily SWC’s male African-American students “We’re starting to establish a presence on at Southwestern College. They are barely two into a supportive cohort. He said he hopes it campus and we welcome everybody,” he percent of the student population, barely improves their alarming failure rates. said. “We want to see a lot of people join three percent transfer.

“African-American males have the lowest our group.”

Black Brothers Leadership Association graduation persistence and transfer rate at Eyob Solomon, 21, a graphics major, is a (B²LA) is fighting back. B²LA is group of Southwestern College, with statistics putting new member who said the program and its twelve male African American students, them at roughly 3 to 4 percent,” he said. members are helping him transfer to UC

Santa Barbara.

“I used to be like, ‘oh, I’m by myself,’” he said. “Most of these guys have the same family background as I do. I like this club because they’re friendly and it’s just like brothers.”

This is music to Omar’s ears, he said, and motivates him all the more.

“I know just by seeing them here and meeting them here once a week doesn’t fix the issues,” he said. “A lot of times for our student population, it’s more of trying to meet them where they are, but they also want to know how far you can go for them. To see where they can go in order to be successful.”

The group meets on Tuesdays at the Transfer Center to update one another on their weekly academic and social progress.

“We’re checking in with students to see where they’re at,” he said. “Not only classes but their well being. Are they OK? Do they have food? Are things going well for them?”

Omar said the program is an around-theclock job.

“There are also other hours we put in, outside of our working hours,” he said. “We go above and beyond. We go out on dinners with students, meeting them halfway, volunteering together.”

Carver Bedeau, an auto mechanics major, said B²LA helped him find money for his classes and books after he quit his job to become a full-time student.

“I have a success dream team,” he said.

“That is what this group has created for me and a brotherhood of comradery. I always look forward to the group.”

Bedeau said the program allows fellow

students to spur each other on.

“This program means an opportunity for black brothers to excel and to rise above our mediocre retention and transfer rate,” he said.

B²LA’s most challenging step is funding, said Omar.

“We are trying to do a lot of fund raising, a lot of grant writing to see if we can secure money from an outside source,” he said. “SWC does not allocate funds to the program and money is gathered wherever it can be found.”

Peter Padilla, a mechanical engineering major, is one of the group’s newest members.

He said he would like to see the program expand.

“The next step would be linking up with other schools or possibly starting the same kind of clubs at other community colleges and then staying in contact with the students who transfer out so that we can network with them at bigger universities,” he said.

“We could have them collaborate with our smaller schools, just so our students can be better prepared when they move on to bigger schools.”

Bedeau and McCall said they would like B²LA to reach out to the community.

“More leadership, more community service,” said McCall. “Really more involvement. We have our mission statement, a good group of guys. It’s just honing in.”

Galloway said he would like SWC students to learn from each other as well as teachers.

“We are based upon the idea that we can build off of each other and that we can thrive off of each other,” said Galloway. “We are our brother’s keeper.”

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April 11, 2017 — Vol. 60, Issue 6

Victoria Gonzalez, editor

CAMPUS

Tel: (619) 482-6368 email: campus@theswcsun.com

New National City trade center open for business

By Elizabeth Farin Staff Writer

Victoria Sanchez/Staff

WE WILL NOT GO QUIETLY INTO THE NIGHT—Assistant Professor of ASL Shannon Engelhart says American Sign Language is a critical form of communication for the deaf and part of a beautiful and complex culture.

A voice for deaf culture

By Elena Hernandez Staff Writer

“I want students to have more respect for the deaf community and its members,” she said. “I want them to know that there are different types of sign languages out there and ASL is just one of them.”

World Languages Chair Esther Alonso said ASL classes enlighten students on what to do when they encounter those who are deaf, even if they do not know how to sign.

“We have always tried to inform people, not just our students, on the importance of being conversant

American Sign Language is a hands-on affair that can be spoken with style and flair.

Shannon Engelhart says that is fine, but ASL is a language, not a performing art.

Engelhart, SWC’s new assistant professor of ASL, is at the vanguard of a movement to move the deaf community toward success in the hearing world while also celebrating the unique beauty of deaf culture.

Sign language is probably thousands of years old and in many ways uniquely American. “We laugh at the same things European explorers first noted and get sad about the same Plains Indians communicating across tribal linguistic barriers things. Being deaf isn’t a by using a sophisticated sign disability, it’s a culture.” language. ASL is more than 200 years old and, like spoken -Claudia Valdivia languages, has endured in complexity and nuance.

Engelhart said a lot of people have misconceptions about ASL. “They think it’s beautiful and so pretty,” she said. “I understand their in another language and culturally perspective, but at the same time it competent,” she said. is a language with its own history Alonso said ASL courses have been and structure.” offered at SWC since 2001, but they It is impor tant that people were not always part of the World recognize ASL as an actual language Languages Department. essential to a large population, “Some people did not believe it Engelhart said. Though ASL can would fit well because it wasn’t a be spoken artfully as English can world language,” Alonso said. be spoken artfully, ASL students At first ASL was part of the must always remember that ASL communication department, which is essential to thinking, forming emphasizes oral communication. communication and expression for Alonso said the movement to the deaf as well as their family and include ASL as a world language friends. was fired by scholars who insist it

shares characteristics with other foreign languages. She said demand for ASL training has increased and SWC needed a full-time expert to manage its classes and curriculum.

“The program has grown because there is interest and now we have a full-time instructor,” she said.

“That’s crucial.”

Students have different reasons for taking ASL. Bilingual student Claudia Valdivia, 21, a communications major, said she did not want to learn a language that she would only use if she went outside the country. Though she met the language requirement for her major, she decided to keep going and take a third ASL class.

“I thought ASL was going to be the most useful to learn and also the most interesting,” she said.

“Most people would be surprised how much we have in common with the deaf community. We laugh at the same things and get sad about the same things. Being deaf isn’t a disability, it’s a culture.”

Engelhart, who is deaf, agrees that America has a rich deaf culture that relatively few are able to access. She said ASL is the deaf community’s way of expressing itself. She said she would like students to take that understanding with them once they leave the program.

“I really pull out the students’ cultures, too, and then I’ll model mine and the deaf culture,” she said. “I empower the class to work together as a team to remind each other if they did something inappropriate, to really make this environment deaf friendly.”

National City’s notorious Mile of Bars was anchored by the even more notorious Pussy Cat Theater porno house. Rockn-Roll Hall of Famer Tom Waits wrote memorable songs about the colorful goingson of the sailors, prostitutes and “characters” in his classic “The Ghosts of Saturday Night (After Hours at Napoleones’s Pizza House).”

Venerable (and wonderful) Napoleone’s is still around, but everything else has been swept away like the “real rain” prophesized in “Taxi Driver.” Southwestern College is a center of National City’s new look and new hope.

SWC’s trio of business development programs were united under one roof at the Center for Business Advancement (CBA) at the Higher Education Center in National City. This new center joined the Small Business Development Center, Center for International Trade Development (CITD) and San Diego Contracting Opportunities Center into one powerful hub of commerce.

SWC is now one of only two California community colleges to offer all three of its programs in one location.

Business development centers like the SWC CBA are—along with instruction—a core component of the mission of California community colleges, though few people know that. Colleges are supposed to be engines of innovation, entrepreneurism and economic growth for their districts.

Victor Castillo, the director of CITD, said he and his SWC colleagues are devoted to the jobs of coaching business owners and providing networking opportunities.

Lynn Hijar, president and CEO of iBiz247, said she has worked with the CITD for 18 years. Her organization provides connections and sources into one website to assist international businesses, she said.

Hijar said she has worked with Castillo since she began work at the World Trade Center in San Diego in 1999 with export consulting and finding buyers.

“In many different capacities they’ve helped me and my businesses,” she said.

“I’ve also worked with them very closely in helping other customers.”

Hijar said CITD has helped her to network and to find manufacturers in Tijuana and Mexicali.

“I feel like they’re my partners in many

ways,” she said. “I know that I can always reach out for help and information from them and they’re incredibly resourceful.”

Having all of the centers in one location has helped Hijar, she said.

“It’s like the puzzle came together,” she said.

Chris Perri, dean of the satellite campus at National City, said she thought all three centers should be in one location.

“I think it’s a wonderful asset for the city of National City,” said Perri. “It just elevates the activities that happen here.”

Perri said her next goal is to improve relationships between the CBA and academic programs.

“These three entities that make up the Center for Business Advancement really have their fingers on the pulse of the economy, of what the businesses need and want,” she said. “That knowledge shared with our academic programs help guide curriculum, to help innovate programs so students are getting offered the best educational programs possible.”

Former National City dean Bill Kinney said CBA had humble beginnings. The original office was set up in a nearby hotel room, he said. Beds and furniture were removed, he said, and a desk was placed in front of the headboard.

National City Mayor Ron Morrison said he is very happy SWC has invested so much into his community.

“The idea of having education that small business owners (can use) is phenomenal,” he said.

Morrison said the great relationship between the city and college has led the way to the two-block development. National City invested almost $20 million into the CBA, he said. National City helped pay for a parking structure, Morrison said.

“You normally don’t put an education facility in the middle of your downtown, but we decided that makes a lot of sense,” he said. “That’s where it needs to happen.”

Congressman Juan Vargas said the center has helped the community to move forward. Gone are the X-rated movie theater and other remnants of the days of wild military nightlife. In its place is an incubator for entrepreneurs and students. SWC CBA is a great benefit to the community, said Vargas. “(During) a time when people have real fears, we’re doing good things.”

Miguel Martinez/Staff

BUSINESS SPACE AVAILABLE— Chris Perri, dean of the Higher Education Center at National City, outlines benefits and impact the Center for Business Advancement will have on local entrepreneurs and the economy.

Former undocumented immigrant became Wall Street banker

By Elizabeth Farin Staff Writer

Every weekend during her years in college, Julissa Arce took a two-hour bus ride from Austin to San Antonio to sell funnel cakes.

With the cash she earned she paid rent and tuition at the University of Texas at Austin. Sticky hands and bouncy bus rides led to a degree in finance from one of America’s best universities and an internship at Goldman Sachs.

About 17,000 people apply for jobs at Goldman Sachs each year, but only 300 or so are hired. Arce parlayed her internship into a career.

“A lot of people would say I stole that job from a U.S. citizen,” she said. “I think that I earned it.”

She became a vice president at age of 27 and earned considerable a m o u n t s o f m o n e y. M o n e y, she learned, is not an end-all, beall.

The Latina activist and writer spoke to Southwestern College students about her bumpy road from undocumented immigrant to citizenship and the American Dream.

She arrived in San Antonio when she

Natalie Mosqueda/Staff

HOW CAN I BE ILLEGAL?— Former undocumented immigrant Julissa Arce shares her triumphant story on how she became a Wall Street executive. Her book is currently in the process of becoming a TV series.

was 11 on a travel visa. She said she was completely unprepared for what came her way.

Arce said she had envisioned Americans as white since that was all she saw on television.

“When my parents told me I was going to come live in the U.S. with them, I was really scared that I wouldn’t fit in,” she said. “It was a fear that told me I didn’t belong here.”

When she was 14 her visa expired and she suddenly became an “illegal alien.”

Overnight she went from the Texas sun to the shadows.

“How can I as a person be illegal?” she said. “I felt really ashamed about being undocumented.”

As a teen she laid low and graduated high school. By the time she was looking at her options for college in 2001, Texas passed a law permitting undocumented students to attend college and pay instate tuition. She said she hopes the law does not get overturned by antiimmigrant Trumpistas.

“I just think how crazy it is that we would deny someone who has earned their right to go to college,” she said. “At the end of the day it’s a benefit not just to that person, but to our country.”

Arce advanced professionally while remaining undocumented. When she married in 2008 she finally had the opportunity to become a citizen. In 2014 she took her oath.

“It bothered me that none of my

accomplishments on their own were enough to fix my status,” she said. “The only path to citizenship for me was being married.”

Arce said she was moved to speak at SWC because she understands the reality of students who live in the borderlands.

Students have the opportunities available to them, she said, but may not see them.

“Sometimes it’s difficult to picture yourself in the future when you don’t see people who look like you,” she said.

Former Wall Street capitalist Arce has turned philanthropist. She is the co-founder and chairman of the Ascend Educational Fund, an organization that provides scholarships and mentorship programs for immigrant students in New York City. Ascend has awarded $200,000 in scholarships, she said, and aims to expand to Los Angeles soon.

Her new book, “My (Underground) American Dream: My True Story as an Undocumented Immigrant,” may soon become a Fox TV series.

Arce insisted her story is important to share with students who have a similar background. She said the key is never giving up on your dreams or yourself.

“It may be difficult, but it’s not impossible.”

April 11, 2017 — Volume 60, Issue 6

The Southwestern College Sun

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ARTS A delicious taste of old New Orleans

> REVIEW

By Chelsea Pelayo Assitant Arts Editor

“When you gots it,” said Louis Armstrong, “you gots it.”

Euphoria Brass Band gots it.

A local treasure, the hearty horn ensemble erased the staid walls of a Southwestern College lecture hall and conjured the carnivalesque streets of mother New Orleans.

Its booming performance summoned a spirit of celebration that paid delightful homage to the joviality of the post-Civil War years.

EBB is a San Diego Music Award-nominated band and cornerstone of the region’s jazz scene. It fires prominent venues such as Panama 66 in Balboa Park, House of Blues and classic local bars such as Parks and Rec. Its recent SWC appearance was a night of entertainment infused with some good ol’ learnin’ about early spirituals and New Orleans funeral music. Its players showed the incredible versatility by ending with a modern adaptation: Bhangrainfused brass band music that paid homage to the Brooklyn band Red Baarat, recently featured on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts.

Saxophone/clarinetist J.P. Balmat, a teacher at Mission Bay High School, showed musical and teaching chops. “ What you’re hearing is about 90 percent improvisation, so that means what we’re doing up here is pretty much on the spot,” he said. “We do have a few rules that we’re following as a band, but we break those rules pretty much all the time.”

“I’ll Fly Away,” a wistful Civil War standard, got a moving performance. Horns stood in for the soulful voices of the 18th and 19th century Southern churches, complete with note bending and vibrato.

As Branford Marsalis says “Those who can capture that human voice in their horns, they are the ones who can play.”

Bassist Drew Miller said the genre repurposed brass instruments used in the military during the Civil War to create a new, livelier form of music that filled the markets of New Orlean’s Congo Square, a holy ground of American music where African slaves first shared the musical innovations of their native continent.

A somber rendition of “A Closer Walk With Thee” demonstrated a funeral song heard before laying the recently deceased to rest. A lone clarinet sounded as if was wailing from loss. Despite the song’s deeply emotional significance, it still retained undertones of joyfulness hinting at the celebratory conclusion to come. An instantaneous transition from a somber dirge to a festive marching number symbolized the stage after grief and a beautiful reminder to friends and family to resume the celebration of life.

Lively Mardi Gras classics such as “Tootie Mah is a Big Fine Thing” and “Go to the Mardi Gras” had audience members tapping their toes.

EBB’s virtuosity and spirit of adventure reflected constantly evolving musical innovation of New Orleans, the world’s musical laboratory. With its roots deeply entrenched in the swampy soil of the delta, these musicians can raise the dead and have the saints go marching in.

THE ORIGINAL HEAVY METAL—(top) J.P. Balmat, (above, l) Ron Bocian, David Jackson, April West, Steve Ebner and Balmat. (above, r) Ebner and Drew Miller.

Photos by Victoria Sanchez

A jazz love

affair

>REVIEW

By Yamilet Torres Staff Writer

Photos by Juan Morales

LOVE LIKE JAZZ – Mark Diaz and Sara Martinez showed lots of heart at the Valentine’s Day concert “The Jazz Cafe: Love and Blues.”

It was Valentine’s Day and the Jazz Vocal Ensemble gave a passionate performance that showered the audience in love.

SWC’s popular vocal musical group brought energy and virtuosity to an evening of love songs during its “Love & Blues” concert in Mayan Hall.

Gina Trimm showed the audience some love and became a crowd favorite with her physical performance of “Speak Low.” She sang a slow ballad that worked well with the theme of the night, love.

She swayed gracefully with the song, blending her sultry voice with David Castel de Oro’s sweet piano.

Castel de Oro led a smooth band of Richard Amezola, Kyle Bayquen and drum prodigy Niccolas Nordfelt. Cast members from the musical production “Godspell” joined the Jazz Vocal Ensemble for two spirited performances of “Turn Back Old Man” and the Top 10 hit “Day by Day.” A borderlandsflavored rendition of “Day by Day”

by Violeta Ruiz-Lopez worked well.

Blending our community’s two major languages in the lyrics was a good way of incorporating the cultural diversity of Southwestern College.

Musical selections demonstrated

variety and rigor, and the 14 pieces felt distinct. MaryJo Abney, Eduardo Barrientos and Mark Diaz brought a sassy and lively element to the show with quirky dance moves that complemented the jazzy funk of the music.

SWC student teacher Sara Martinez was a cheerful force of nature who lit up The Mayan. She showed the younger singers how it’s done.

Ensemble finale “Red Top” was a song that brought it all together. As members danced and snapped their fingers to the beat, the audience snapped along.

Dreary old Mayan Hall could not darken the mood. Gandhi was right, even in the Age of Trump, love always prevails.

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ARTS

April 11, 2017 — Vol. 60, Issue 6

The Southwestern College Sun

Photos by Thomas Constant HERE TO STAY – “NI SOLO MUJERES (Nothing But Women)” celebrates powerful Chicana art in the SWC Gallery. (top) Berenice Badillo’s installation “rewind and press play” declares, “I am here and I am not leaving.” (above) Famed Mexican photographer Rotmi Enciso talks about her iconic image “Ni Santas, Ni Putas, Solo Mujeres.” (r) Students were encouraged to reconsider their notions of Mexican women and Chicanas.

Exhibit celebrates power of Chicanisma

By Chelsea Pelayo Assistant Arts Editor

In the 1970s Chicana ideology burst out of the Mexican-American experience. There is no going back.

“Ni Solo Mujeres: Intersecting Chicana Identities” made a powerful debut in the SWC Gallery on the eve of International Women’s Day illuminating the complexities of the Chicana experience. It featured expressive artwork curated by Mesa College gallery director Leticia Gomez Franco. Gomez exhibited the artwork of a diverse set of female artists whose work disputed traditional preconceptions and celebrated the range of Chicana feminist identities.

Gomez said the exhibit explored the intersection of Chicana and female.

“What we were trying to do was see how identity fluctuates and how it exists in flux,” she said. “One artist was born in Mexico City, another is Columbian-America. One is halfJapanese and half-Mexican. So even within the Chicana, identity which already seems to be so defined, there’s so much room for diversity

and there’s so much room for sharing different experiences.”

“Ni Solo Mujeres” featured the work of distinguished Mexico City photographer Rotmi Enciso, who produced the iconic photograph “Ni Santas, Ni Putas, Solo Mujeres.”

Enciso’s photograph, taken at a 1991 feminist rally in Mexico City, has the timeless quality of 1960s feminist nonconformist. “Rosalinda,” the subject of her photo, is brazenly holding an unlit cigarette in her mouth and holding a sign that says “Ni Santas, Ni Putas, Solo Mujeres” (Not Saints, Nor Whores, Just Women). Her unapologetic expression, which establishes her own brand of unconventional femininity, captured the hearts and minds of Latin and Chicano movements.

Enciso said the photo was taken during a time when Mexico City was experiencing a lively new wave of feminist movements.

Rosalinda and her comrades had were ready to take the streets, she said.

“It was on March 8, 1991, in that moment the feminist movement was colorfully present,” she said. “The feminists at that moment had

their hearts embedded in the fight. It was a type of feminism that was adamant about taking the cause to the streets.”

Enciso said she found a kinship with the Chicana identity. She had always been fond of the word Chicana, she said, because it is a product of what happens when cultures combine and render dichotomies obsolete.

Cultural and experiential collisions, Enciso said, give people the chance to see and do things differently.

“Ni Solo Mujeres” does things differently and is deservedly garnering local and national attention.

“A Fine Tuned Machine” by PANCA, a Tijuana artist from Chula Vista was the show’s most clearly political piece. Her work can be seen in galleries and on the walls of Tijuana and San Diego. The acrylic painting employed Mexican muralist tactics reminiscent of Diego Rivera and Jose Clemente Orozco, artists who replete negative space with symbols. PANCA told a story of the current political turbulence and the complex state of a border region in flux.

“A Fine Tuned Machine” is densely packed

with sociopolitical symbols. It explicitly depicts themes of immigration, racial tension and a comprehensive snapshot of the complex immigration dynamics that inhabit both sides of the border. It does not hold back on the gruesome details and reveals the decay of humanity. It explores the movement of people and the influences of a border culture that has erupted, and thus evolved into part of our regional identity, one that many Chicanas identify with.

“Ni Solo Mujeres” helps deconstruct the meaning of Chicana into its parts. Art history was written on the humble walls of the Southwestern College Art Gallery and women were at the forefront of this revolution. To be Chicana is to be a part of that revolution, said Gomez.

“Especially something like Chicana, which is not an ethnicity, it’s a political-social state of mind,” she said. “If there is one thing that does unify the Chicana experience it’s the feeling of displacement and a struggle for justice. It is a political consciousness in which you can find a common a thread if you look.”

SWC students represent Baja California in Dance Festival

By Alex Morales Staff Writer

Mexican performing arts officials looking for a great dance ensemble to represent Baja California in a national competition found one in Chula Vista.

Three Southwestern College students traveled to the central Mexican town of Santa Monica Ozumbilla to represent Baja California at “Tercer Encuentro Nacional de Danza Folklorica Mexcicana,” an exhibition festival that showcases traditional garb and dance.

Paloma Zaizar, Eddie Castro and David Rivera represented “Grupo de Danza Folklorica Mexicana Wa-Kushmá,” a Mexican dance academy in Chula Vista. Wa-Kushmá, Kumeyaay for “family that

dances together,” has represented Chula Vista and Baja California at competitions and exhibitions in Michoacán, Queretaro, Jalisco, Coahuila, Chiapas and Veracruz.

Zaizar, a 20-year-old journalism major, said she has been a Mexican folk dancer for 12 years. She said it was an unexpected surprise when Wa-Kushmá received the invitation and that it was an honor to represent Baja California, especially since they live in the United States.

“You never know how someone will find out about us,” she said. “They discovered us through YouTube.”

Castro, a 20-year-old business administration major, has been dancing for five years and said he is proud of his Mexican heritage.

“I came back to San Diego (County) with more

knowledge and insight of Mexico,” he said.

Castro performed in a traditional “guayabera” shirt. Dance costumes educate the audience about the diverse cultures of Mexico, he said.

Rivera said he has been dancing for five years.

The 19-year-old psychology major said he has become “obsessed” with dance and the trip was the opportunity of a lifetime.

“Living in the U.S. has made it hard to show how much we appreciate the rich culture of Mexico,” he said. “Dancing in Wa-Kushmá helps us spread our love of Mexico by performing around the U.S.” Castro said traveling to Mexico City to dance was Courtesy Photo an unforgettable experience.

“Having the opportunity to do something you WA-KUSHMÁ – Paloma Zaizar kicks it would never even dream about is extraordinary.” into high gear to represent Baja Calif. in a Dance Festival in Mexico City.

The Southwestern College Sun

SPORTS

April 11, 2017 — Volume 60, Issue 6

Photos by Thomas Contant

QUEEN OF THE COURT RESTORED—Head Tennis Coach Susan Reasons advises Aide Orantes-Esquivel and Diana Dominquez. Reasons, a 2011 SWC Hall of Fame inductee, fought for seven years to bring back the historically-strong women’s team.

Seven-year itch is over, Lady Jaguar tennis returns

would get a chance to play on a team.

“In high school I was taking college biology so I couldn’t go to tennis,” she said. “So in college I took the tennis class. I felt good about it, so “Keep your racket up.” my goal was to be on the tennis team, if there “Fix your feet.” was ever going to be one here. I didn’t expect it “Always know the score.” to be this year.”

Subtle intricacies of tennis can once again be Frances-Steffany Aquino played in high school heard booming across Southwestern College’s and after learning that there would be an SWC newly-resurfaced courts. team, she decided to go for it.

After a seven year absence, Lady Jags tennis “When I first came to Southwestern I didn’t is back. No one is happier than Coach Susan plan on doing any sports,” she said. “I wanted Reasons. to focus on my studies. But over summer when Budget shortfalls were blamed for the abrupt I took the class I fell in love with the sport again, suspension of the Jags’ tennis program in 2009. so I decided I was going to keep going.”

No timetable was offered for its return. It took Reasons said she may not have gone to seven years. college without tennis. Playing Reasons, who coached for SWC in1979 was a life the team from 2000 changer, she said. until its suspension, is “When kids join these clubs back to head the team. A or teams on campus it’s about 2011 SWC Hall of Fame more than sports,” she said. “I inductee, she said that she get a sense that they feel they’re was not sure why it took a part of Southwestern now. so long.

They’re a part of something.

“Every year it was just, It’s not just about attending ‘well it’s not going to college, not just about getting happen this year,’” she said. your degree. It’s about being a “It’s almost like you lose part of it. Life is experiences, your arm, but then you not just going through the somehow get it back. It motions.” feels like there was always Though the new team had something missing these trouble winning to start the -Coach Susan Reasons last seven years. I feel like season, Reasons said she has I’m home again.” seen improvement with each Athletic Director James match.

Spillers said the return of the program was part Her young team’s inexperience and missing of SWC’s gender equity plan. out on the pre-season program have not deterred “Every community college athletic program Reasons. has a gender equity plan where we look at “I’m the only coach of any team, our school providing intercollegiate sport experience for the and the conference, that did not get to meet underrepresented gender,” he said. “We thought with her team prior to the season starting,” she there was no better way to meet that need than said. “Our goal this year is to become better to bring back women’s tennis.” tennis players strategically, technically and more Reasons said rebuilding a storied program experienced within our matches so we’ll turn that produced a national champion (Katalina some of these around, ‘cause you play everyone Romera in 2001) and SWC’s only California twice.”

Scholar Athlete of the Year (Viridiana Martino Reasons said playing a college sport can have a in 2007) would be hard work. It all begins with lasting effect. She said she does everything in her giving young women a chance. power to make tennis memorable for her players.

“We’ve got this opportunity here for girls “The life experiences are what you’re going now,” she said. “Come to Southwestern, come to remember. It builds the whole person. So if study here. We’ve got something here for you I can make it work, I will. I call myself Coach as an athlete and a student.” more than I call myself by my first name. ‘Til I Liliana Martinez said she took the tennis class take my last breath on this earth, I’ll be Coach. in a previous semester, but was unsure if she That’s who I am.”

By Michael McDonald Sports Editor

“It’s about being a part of college. Life is experiences, not justgoingthrough the motions.”

BACK IN FULL SWING — (top) Diana Dominquez tosses up her serve as doubles teammate Aide Orantes-Esquivel readies for the return. (below) Orantes-Esquivel prepares to fire a backhand return.

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Michael McDonald, editor

SPORTS

April 11, 2017 —Vol. 60, Issue 6

Tel: (619) 482-6368 email: sports@theswcsun.com

Southwestern cross-country pioneer continues to run through all barriers

By Ivana Morales Staff Writer

AIN’T NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH—(above) After beating cancer in 2002, Maria Madueño vowed to run a marathon a month. She has since competed across the U.S. and around the world. (below) Madueño was setting records while winning meet after meet running for the SWC cross-country team in 1996.

“This is about living the moment and not thinking about anything except the road” -Maria Madueño

Courtesy Photos

In 1996 Maria Madueño beat practically everyone on the crosscountry course. In 2002 she beat cancer. In 2017 she is beating Father Time.

Madueño, 60, promised herself she would run one marathon per month the year after her cancer recovery.

She has raced way past that goal.

Born and raised in Tijuana, Madueño said her love for competition began on a bike.

“I was 14 when I started cycling,” Madueño said. “I won several national championships in Mexico, and I was able to compete in the first world cycling championship for women.”

Her cycling ended when she turned 21 and got married.

Professional cycling was too expensive and the newlywed couple could not afford the costs, so Madueño began running as a hobby.

Practicing at CREA, an athletic training center in Tijuana, she caught the attention of a group of runners who invited her to train with them.

“They were the best runners in Tijuana,” she said. “When they realized I was able to keep pace, they encouraged me to run a marathon.”

Madueño’s first marathon was the Baja International Chula VistaRosarito in 1984. She finished in an “astounding time.” With only one month of running experience she took first place.

From that moment, Madueño said she knew that she was made for running and began competing in every race around Baja California.

“No one could stop me,” she said. “I started winning all of them.”

It was at a marathon in Tijuana she was recruited by Dr. Duro Agbede, the legendary former head coach of the SWC cross-country team.

“I asked my assistant coach to talk with Maria,” said Agbede.

“When I saw her I thought, this is the type of athlete that we like to have representing our college. She is a very hardworking, competitive person. That competitiveness was what actually made me try to

recruit her.”

When Madueño arrived at SWC in 1995 she said she did not know what to expect. Language was a challenge, said Agbede, but did not stop her.

“When Maria came in, she put in a lot of work and she was very dedicated,” he said. “She was able to overcome a language barrier and did very well in her classes.”

Madueño majored in child development. As a full-time student-athlete, mother and wife, her sports career required sacrifices.

Family, she said, was essential to her success.

“My family became my biggest support system,” she said. “My husband has always been there for me without hesitation and my children were wonderful. They sometimes would help me with cooking and the household chores.”

Madueño left Southwestern a legacy of greatness. She was named Pacific Coast Athletic Conference Athlete of the Week twice. She was the 1995 PCAC Champion and placed fourth in the California State Cross-Country Championship.

She won the UCSD Triton Invitational Cross Country Meet in 1996, which elevated SWC athletics to another level.

“She defeated her opponents by a massive margin,” said Agbede. “She ran almost every race by herself.

After Maria came in, our program became a synonym of success. A lot of athletes wanted to run for Southwestern.”

Madueño earned the nickname “Pies Calientes” (Burning Feet).

Opponents said she was so fast she did not touch the ground. She ran 5 kilometers in 17:01 minutes, a state record. It stood for 20 years until SWC’s Aminat Olowora ran a 16:59 in the 2015 State Championship.

After leaving Southwestern, Madueño competed all over the world, including marathons in Barcelona, Berlin, Prague, Boston and New York.

“It was a turning point in my life,” she said. “I was able to become an elite athlete. Reaching the finish line is like achieving freedom,” she said.

“Winning championships was not my priority,” she said. “It is something that came naturally. I feel a commitment to myself while I am running because it is like the race that is life.”

In 2002, she faced the biggest challenge of her life, a diagnosis of cancer. Her competitive nature helped her to fight the disease and defeat it.

“After spending one year dealing with my sickness, I decided to run one marathon each month,” she said. “Running a marathon is like a dessert for me.”

Madueño’s 2017 calendar includes the Los Angeles Marathon in March, the San Diego 100 Mile in June, the Seattle Marathon in July, the 12,000-foot elevation Silver Rush 50 Run in Leadville, Colorado in August and the GORETEX Transalpine-Run, a 7-day ultramarathon that goes through Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy.

Tijuana’s über-athlete worked for years as a teacher. Madueño has dedicated part of her life to teaching physical education to children and teenagers. When doing that, she said, she could transfer her knowledge and passion for life to the younger generations of aspiring athletes.

She taught at Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada Elementary School, Instituto Paula Montal, Colegio Nuevo Amanecer, Instituto Anahuac and Instituto Progreso.

Alexander Soler, an elite Mexican basketball player, is a former student of Madueño. She said Madueño helped her to grow as a person and as an athlete by developing her physical skills and molding her mental strength.

Fight for the win, learn how to lose, and always respect your rival were Madueño axioms, said Soler.

“I remember getting excited when I saw Professor Madueño entering through the door of the classroom,” she said. “I felt so much admiration for her. You were able to feel her passion for teaching.”

Watching her students become champions is one of her biggest life satisfactions, said Madueño.

“I teach them to cherish their lives,” she said. “I encourage them to find a physical activity that would activate their bodies and free their minds. There are no obstacles for achieving their goals.”

Madueño said she has miles to go before she sleeps.

“You never know when the time is going to come. This is about living the moment and not to thinking about anything except the road.”

‘Headstrong’ slugger Landers leads softball team into the state’s top tier

By Tayler Costello Staff Writer

Superwoman is hitting .398 with power to all fields. That is just in the afternoon.

In the morning Jacqueline Landers is the kind and helpful special needs classroom aid training to become a teacher.

But after lunch she transforms into Jaqi, the Lady Jaguars super second baseman who brutalizes softballs and punishes pitching.

Head softball coach Yasmin Mossadeghi said Landers is a beast on the field, but also a teacher.

“She is always quick to give advice to whoever is playing with her, as well as making sure that the girls understand the situation before we move on to the next thing,” she said.

Mossadeghi said she expected Landers, a sophomore, to lead the team. Her .398 average and 12 RBI also lead the team. Landers bedeviled Golden West College by starting the scoring with an RBI double and knocking in two more runs in an 11-2 romp. Mossadeghi said nothing Landers does surprises her.

“Jaqi comes out daily and works super hard and really helps to educate those around her,” she said. “She really helps out. Knowing when the team is struggling they can count on her to get the next hit.”

Though she has played softball since she was 5, Landers said she has a heart for teaching.

“In kindergarten I would always run around my classrooms helping my classmates,” she said. “Starting my junior year (at Hilltop), I

helped the special needs classrooms and it was so rewarding seeing how much you can inspire someone by just being around them.”

Superwoman takes seven classes and works at Michael Kors at night. She also works parttime for the Chula Vista Elementary School District.

“I am a sub,” she said. “I do student attendance and am an instructional aid.

This semester is definitely the hardest with (the softball) season, but I am trying to get everything done to transfer next semester.”

Outfielder Serena Terrenes said Landers motivates her teammates.

“It’s great for the freshman to see that it is possible to be a working student-athlete,” she said.

Landers’ mother, Lety Preciado, said her daughter works for what she wants.

“Jacquelyn has always been very headstrong,” said Preciado. “It sometimes has gotten her in trouble, but I believe it is also what gives her determination.”

Landers said she plans to get her degree in liberal arts and return to her alma mater, Hilltop High School.

“I want to transfer to San Diego State next semester,” she said. “Later, I might transfer to San Francisco. I want to be a special needs teacher at Hilltop and help coach there.”

Landers said juggling her full schedule means not procrastinating.

“Managing everything in a timely manner is the hardest thing to do,” said Superwoman.

Clubbing softballs, it seems, is easy.

Victoria Sanchez/Staff

SHE’S GOT IT — Jacqueline (Jaqi) Landers calls for a fly ball at second base as a Santiago Canyon College base runner retreats to the bag. The Lady Jags won, 11-3.

The Southwestern College Sun

SPORTS

April 11, 2017 — Vol. 60, Issue 6

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Landscape wizard a green giant of SWC field of dreams freshly-cut grass compliments how smooth groundballs roll out here.”

Hearing compliments from visiting teams makes Ruelas proud.

Southwestern College is home “It’s like they’re looking at some to one of the finest baseball fields of my art,” he said. “Hearing teams in Southern California. Coaches, say this is the best field in California players and fans praise the House is an honor. I must be doing my job That Bartow Built for its fresh, correctly.” low-cut grass and pristine true-hop Ruelas said all the hours he puts in infield. preparing the baseball field is one of For 20 years senior gardener his favorite parts of his job.

Armando Ruelas has been in charge of “The first thing I do every day is maintaining Southwestern’s athletic head to the field and get to work,” he fields. He said he takes special pride said. “There’s always something that in the baseball field. can be fixed or worked on. I practice “I love being able to work on all my craft every day, exactly how the the fields,” he said. “I enjoy working players do.” on the baseball field more than the Sophomore pitcher Andrew Lopez others because it’s my said SWC’s Jaguar favorite sport.”

Junction baseball Ru e l a s , a f o r m e r “Beingabletocome field is the best he student and student has ever played on. worker, took classes to work every day, “Not only does here 20 years ago. knowingI’llbedoing the field look clean, “One day one of the it also feels good something I love, is but positions opened, so I under our cleats,” he gave it a thought and a true blessing.” said. “Our field is applied,” he said. “I better looking than -ArmandoRueles Division I schools was hired and have been working here ever I’ve seen.” since.”

Ruelas said he tries Ruelas said love for sports has kept “not to be too original” with his grass him dedicated to his work. cutting artistry.

“My love for sports says it all,” he “I like to play with it a little bit,” he said. “Being able to come to work said. “I usually try to come up with every day, knowing I’ll be doing ways to cut the grass in a different something I love, is a true blessing.” pattern. Sometimes I just leave it how Ruelas said he feels like a member it is because I don’t hear the players of the team because he works on the complaining about it.” field every day before and after the Ruelas said he appreciates that team plays on it. players assist with the field. Jags keep “If I do my job correctly, then I the batting cage and mats off the feel like it gives the team motivation grass so it does not die. to play better,” he said. “I make sure “I have to give credit to the players,” the field looks just as good as I would he said. “They help out with the little want if I were playing. things. It’s a team effort.”

Sophomore outfielder Blake Ruelas said his heart belongs to Flippen said he loves stepping on to Jaguar Junction. the outfield grass.

“I’ve loved this job since my very “There’s something special about first day. I’ll keep working my best on this field,” he said. “The smell of this field until my body tells me no.”

By Armando Sanchez Staff Writer

Michael McDonald/Staff

OUTSTANDING IN HIS FIELD — As as student Armando Rueles applied for a grounds crew position. He got the job and found a career he loves. He is now senior gardener in charge of sports field maintenance.

Long-awaited Wellness Center nears completion

By Michael McDonald Sports Editor

NEW FACE OF THE COLLEGE—Southwestern’s Wellness Center will be home to basketball, water polo, volleyball, and swim and dive teams.

Construction is expected to be complete in time for the fall semester.

Eric Gonzalez/Staff

Ji m Sp i l l e r s s a i d w h e n he looks at the ongoing construction on the corner lot, he can see the future.

He likes what he sees.

So u t h we s t e r n C o l l e g e’s a m b i t i o u s n e w We l l n e s s Center is on schedule for a fall 2017 opening. It will become the home of Jaguar basketball, water polo, volleyball, swim and dive.

The complex will include two outdoor Olympic-sized pools, a training pool and a state of the art gymnasium. A separate building will house classrooms, offices, fitness labs and cardio-workout rooms.

Athletic Director Spillers said that the project will serve SWC, high school and community athletic programs.

“We elevate our programs from a water polo, swim and dive standpoint, but we also elevate the programs throughout the Sweetwater Union High School District,” he said. “It’s going to be one of the nicest aquatic complexes in Southern California.

They’re going to be using this pool a lot.”

Facilities director Charolette Zolezzi agreed.

I think (the governing board) looked at it for community use,” she said. “We will use it for events and competitions.

There might be a diving club in San Diego, we might bring in competitions. That will add in a whole other feature that the old pool didn’t have.”

A 2,500 seat gymnasium

will feature six badminton courts, a volleyball court and two intercollegiate basketball courts. Zolezzi said the gymnasium will also be used for host civic and academic events.

“It’ll be a great place for large events,” she said, “similar to the Angela Davis event held in the old gym. I see that for the new gymnasium, too, serving the community and the district well.”

B a s k e t b a l l c o a c h Jo h n Cosentino said the new gym will be a welcome change.

“I’ve been here 29 years, we haven’t even had a team room,” he said. “Next year we’ll actually have a team room and our own locker room. We used to share a locker room with the football team. If you’ve ever been in a football locker room, it’s horrendous. It’ll be really nice.”

Zolezzi said she is confident the center will open this fall.

Despite building on top of an underground stream and heavy winter rains, she said construction crews were able to stay on schedule.

“There is a massive underground infrastructure,” she said. “There’s still an u n d e r g ro u n d p a s s a g e w a y where water runs. They had to put in these giant piers to hold the building up. It’s secured into the hard granite part of the ground. Where they have hit really hard secure ground.”

“I’m hoping that we’re able to keep going at a good clip and we’ll have everything ready for the fall. We’re on track for that now.”

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April 11, 2017 — Vol. 60, Issue 6

Design by Mirella Lopez Tel: (619) 482-6368 email: news@theswcsun.com

>REVIEW

“Godspell” is compelling come-to-Jesus theater

By Marty Loftin Arts Editor

Southwestern College’s bilingual production of “Godspell” took Jesus Christ and his followers out of the deserts of the Middle East and onto the beaches of Southern California. This timeless story transcends musical genres, cultural and religious boundaries, turning ancient text into something fun and contemporary.

In the original 1971 Broadway musical, composed

by Stephan Schwartz with a book by John Michael Tebelak, Jesus is an afro-wigged clown in a Superman t-shirt and his flock of disciples is a troupe of harlequins who sing and recite parables in a junkyard.

In the SWC version directed by Ruff Yeager, Jesus (Daniel Ward) takes the form of a lifeguard and his apostles become a diverse band of beachgoers clad in colorful Hawaiian leis. Together they retell the lessons from the Gospel of Mark (and a couple from Luke) while switching between English and Spanish.

“Godspell” opens with a prerecorded rendition of the fugue “Tower of Babel,” a piece that is sometimes omitted from stage productions due to the song’s strange and chaotic nature. It begins with philosophers from throughout history singing their ideologies until their voices overlap, creating a cacophonous roar as they attempt to sing over each other and make their ideas heard above the din.

It is Schwartz trying to show that, as competing doctrines drown each other out, the voice of Jesus is one of the few that rises above the rest.

As the physically- and ethnically-diverse cast recounted familiar stories from the Bible with dramatic flair, old parables like “The Good Samaritan” are presented in a more energetic light. With the occasional switch between the two languages, it becomes obvious that it is the message that matters and not the messenger. Jesus and his follower may look and act funny, but their performance does not sully their words or their ideals.

“Day by Day,” a Top 40 hit in 1972, may have been based on a prayer written by Saint Richard of Chichester, a 13th century bishop, but its lyrics aptly describe the relationship millions of people have with God. “Oh, Dear Lord, Three things I pray: To see thee more clearly, Love thee more dearly, Follow thee more nearly, Day by day.” Yeager made the bold decision to blow up the song, give it a mariachi arrangement and have it sung in Spanish.

For those acquainted with the Bible, language is no barrier. Even though the songs and scenes may be difficult to follow if one cannot understand half of what is said, the players pantomimed their parts well enough to fill in the gaps. Expertise in the New Testament is not required to get something out of “Godspell.”

Most of the cast members were able to deliver their lines well and sing powerfully in both languages, though Jesus had to read his Spanish lines off a piece of paper. But given the almost-

goofy atmosphere of the play, there was enough levity to make it seem more of a joke rather than a deficiency in the actor’s language abilities. Ward made up for it with his beat-boxing and vaudeville skills.

Michael Buckley’s set, a recreation of the border wall at Border Field State Park in Imperial Beach, loomed between the players and the always-brilliant SWC Mariachi.

New walls are built at a terrible cost.

In “Godspell,” the sin of building a wall between the United States and Mexico is equated with the kind of evil that led to Jesus being crucified.

“Godspell” is notorious among the more dour Christians, those uncomfortable with the events of the Bible being depicted so lightheartedly. The original production was criticized as being too liberal an interpretation. Some thought it blasphemous for Jesus to be a singing and dancing clown.

In 1973, “Godspell” opened in Maseru, Lesotho for five months before it opened at the University of Witwatersrand, Jo h a n n e s b u r g , So u t h Africa, where it was quickly banned for blasphemy.

Jesus and his followers know when to turn the dial up to 11 for the dramatic finale. During his crucifixion Jesus calls out, “Oh God, I’m dying!” and his followers respond, “Oh God, you’re dying!” with such emotion that the actors seemed to feel the weight of his ultimate sacrifice.

Many productions, including the SWC version, move the song “Beautiful City” to the end as an answer to the backlash from previous productions that lack a resurrection scene. It matters not that Jesus came back from the dead, but that his teachings have helped so many people to improve their lives.

The Jesus of “Godspell” is not the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant Jesus whose teachings are far removed from the actions of his followers. Instead, he is truer to the original source than most other depictions, since this Jesus is more like a real person than the intangible Son of God. One does not need to be Christian or even religious to appreciate “Godspell.” It was born as educational theater and it remains so today.

BLESSED ARE THE PERSECUTED ­— Jesus (Daniel Ward) made an appearance on the beach at Border Field State Park hard against the Mexican border wall in an updated version of the 1971 musical “Godspell.”

SWC drama students abandoned the childlike hippie characters of the original for vulnerable denizens of the borderlands.

(Clockwise from top) Jesus gives the Eucharist to followers. MaryJo Abney faces stoning in a fire pit before Jesus rides to her rescue.

Christ is crucified on the border fence. Director Ruff Yeager mixed in Spanish and clever mariachi arrangments to bring some flavor of la frontera.

Photos by Natalie Mosqueda