The Ranger Feb. 5, 2010

THE RANGERBlack History Month

EconomicEmpowerment

A forum of free voices serving San Antonio College since 1926 Single copies free

Vol. 84, Issue 13 Feb. 5, 2010

COUPLE ASSAULTED 4

ADMISSIONS CONSOLIDATING 7

H1N1 VACCINATION URGED 11

2 • Feb. 5, 2010 The Ranger

Chancellor: Dr. Bruce H. Leslie201 W. Sheridan, Bldg. B, San Antonio, TX 78204-1429Work: 485-0020 Fax: 208-8149E-mail: [email protected]

District 1: Dr. Bernard Weiner929 Manor Drive, Ste. 7, San Antonio, TX 78228 Work: 735-9151 E-mail: [email protected]

District 2: Denver McClendon3811 Willowwood Blvd., San Antonio, TX 78219 Work: 281-9141 E-mail: [email protected]

District 3: Anna U. Bustamante511 Ware Blvd., San Antonio TX 78221Work: 882-1603 Fax: 927-4557E-mail: [email protected]

District 4: Marcelo S. Casillas115 Wainwright, San Antonio, TX 78211Home: 922-6815 Fax: 923-3167 E-mail: [email protected]

District 5: Roberto Zárate4103 Buffalo Bayou, San Antonio, TX 78251E-mail: [email protected]

District 6: Dr. Gene Sprague14722 Iron Horse Way,Helotes, TX 78023Work: 567-5544 Fax: 520-9185E-mail: [email protected]

District 7: Blakely Latham Fernandez755 E. Mulberry, Suite 200,San Antonio, TX 78212Phone: 244-8879E-mail: [email protected]

District 8: Gary Beitzel15403 Forest Mist, San Antonio, TX 78232Home: 496-5857 E-mail: [email protected]

District 9: James A. Rindfuss109 Laburnum, San Antonio, TX 78209Home: 828-4630 Work: 375-2555 Home Fax: 832-8292 Office Fax: 375-0301 E-mail: [email protected]

Officials

San Antonio College, Dr. Robert E. Zeigler486-0959, [email protected]

Northeast Lakeview College, Dr. Eric Reno486-5484, [email protected]

Northwest Vista College, Dr. Jacqueline Claunch486-4900, [email protected]

Palo Alto College, Dr. Ana M. “Cha” Guzman486-3960, [email protected]

St. Philip’s College, Dr. Adena W. Loston486-2900, [email protected]

Presidents

Guest Viewpoints:

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community members are wel-

come to contribute guest view-

points of up to 450 words.

Writers should focus on cam-

pus or current events in a critical,

persuasive or interpretative style.

All viewpoints must be pub-

lished with a photo portrait of

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Letters Policy:

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to share views by writing letters

to the editor. Space limitations

force the paper to limit letters

to two double-spaced, typewrit-

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for spelling, style, grammar, libel

and length. Editors reserve the

right to deny publication of any

letter.

Letters should be mailed

to The Ranger, Department of

Media Communications, San

Antonio College, 1300 San Pedro

Ave., San Antonio TX 78212-4299.

Letters also may be brought

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For more information, call

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Single Copy Policy:

Members of the Alamo

Community College District

community are permitted one

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Where available, additional

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Newspaper theft is a crime.

Those who violate the single

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and criminal prosecution and

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Editor

Vanessa M. Sanchez

Managing Editor

Laura Garcia

News Editor

Zahra Farah

Calendar Editor

Sharon Hensley

Photographers

Tyler K. Cleveland, Rennie Murrell, Alison Wadley

Photo Team

Scott Aranda, Jennifer Charo, Sarah Janes,

James Lazo, Julysa Nathalie Sosa, Robert Stofa

Illustrator

Juan Carlos Campos

Staff Writers

Ximena Alvarez, Jacob Beltran, Marissa Cross,

Michelle Gaitan, Natasha Gregory,

Joshua Sanchez Guerrero, Steffany Gutierrez,

Nathan House, John P. Kline, Mary Lerma,

Alexandria Maxwell, Robert Medina,

Melody Mendoza, Celeste Nentwig, Victoria Ortiz,

Amanda M. Rios, Brandy A. Santos, Tamara Sayles,

Riley Stephens, Michelle Tymrak, Reagan White

Web Editor

Regis L. Roberts

©2010 by The Ranger staff, San Antonio College, 1300

San Pedro Ave., San Antonio, TX 78212-4299. All rights

reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced

without permission.

The Ranger, the student newspaper at San Antonio Col-

lege, is a laboratory project of the journalism classes in the

Department of Media Communications, published Fridays

except during summer, holidays and examinations.

News contributions accepted by telephone (486-

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The Ranger is a member of the Texas Intercollegiate

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The RangeR

The Ranger • Vol. 84 • Issue 13 Feb. 5, 2010 • 3

Online @ theranger.org

People slideshow

Chill Lounge slideshow

Basketball and volleyball slideshows

Memo of Commitment’s mysterious “6,000” figure explained

New parking developments

Complete Blotter

Go to www.theranger.org

for news and information.

A forum of free voices serving San Antonio College since 1926The RangeR

www.theranger.org

2 Policies and officials

4 Blotter

4 News

4 Student assaulted in parking lotBy Zahra FarahPhoto by Vanessa M. Sanchez

5 Contract housekeepers may take over ChanceBy Laura GarciaPhoto by Tyler K. Cleveland

7 Admissions and records moves to Pat Booker Road By Vanessa M. SanchezPhoto by Rennie Murrell

8 Staff Council voices concern for admissionsBy Laura Garcia

Faculty Senate questions board policyBy Laura Garcia

9 Transfer servicesBy Amanda M. Rios

Bookstore responds to stolen backpack victimBy Zahra Farah

Photo by Rennie Murrell

10 Criminal Justice Association electionBy Jacob Beltran

Japanese competitionBy Reagan White

11 H1N1 updateBy Vanessa M. Sanchez

14 Longwith leaks againBy Jacob Beltran and Riley StephensPhotos by Tyler K. Cleveland

16 Alumni Association plans fundraiserBy Celeste J. Nentwig

17 Concurrent enrollmentBy Melody Mendoza

Service learning By Stephany Gutierrez

12 PremiereBlack History MonthBy Celeste NentwigIllustrated by Juan Carlos Campos

Ball on display in AICBy Marissa Cross

24 Chill Loungeopens in ChanceBy Riley StephensPhotos by Tyler K. Cleveland and Sarah James

12 Movie ReviewWhen in RomeBy Jacob Beltran

15 Calendar

18 EditorialsCartoonBookstore AccreditationCIS anniversaryLetterViewpoint

15 Pulse


SAN ANTONIO COLLEGE

Jan. 25 – An individual reported

burglary of a vehicle.

An individual reported a suspi-

cious person.

An individual reported damage to

personal property.


losing her eyeglasses.

An individual reported striking

another vehicle in Lot 26.


burglary of a vehicle. No wit-

nesses.

An individual reported a vehicle

accident that occurred earlier in

the week.


cious person from a previous day.


four male subjects smoking in

Moody. Upon search of area, no

one located.

An individual reported being

injured. EMS not required.


cious person. Contact made with

suspect.

Jan. 29 – An individual reported a

suspicious person. Suspect locat-

ed. Everything found to be OK.

NORTHEAST LAKEVIEW

COLLEGE


found property. Item placed in

property locker.


verbal disturbance over a parking

space.


missing cell phone.


being injured. EMS not required.


graffiti on an Alamo Colleges sign.

NORTHWEST VISTA COLLEGE


theft of books from the Cypress

campus center. Suspect identified.

An individual reported theft of a

vehicle. No suspects.

Blotter

BY ZAHRA FARAH

Criminal justice freshman Abby

Vesa and her boyfriend, criminal

justice freshman Jose Angel, were

walking toward Angel’s truck at

4:50 p.m. Monday in Lot 21 south-

east of Candler Physical Education

Center when three young students

cornered the couple and assaulted

Angel.

“Angel received minor abra-

sions to the left side of his head

and a swollen eye,” said Sgt. Jessica

Cervantes of Alamo Colleges Police

Department.

The three suspects started to

punch and kick Angel’s stomach,

head and face. Vesa tried to protect

her boyfriend by covering him with

her back so he would not receive

any more punches to head.

The three suspects instead

started to hit Vesa in the back, Vesa

said.

“I don’t think they tried to hit

me intentionally,” she said. “I was

just in the way.”

Even though Vesa believes the

suspects did not hit her intention-

ally, she received a few bruises. An

onlooker who was watching the

fight called campus police. The

suspects then fled the area on foot.

Angel vomited after the fight;

Vesa said it was probably either

his nerves or being light-headed

or dizzy.

“He’s throwing up, which is not

a great sign, but it could be stress

or the excitement of it all,” para-

medic Lydia Clark said.

Angel was in stable condition,

but paramedics advised him to go

to the nearest hospital. The assault

was a result of a conflict earlier that

day. One of the suspects was trying

to make advances on Vesa the day

prior to the fight. At 1 p.m. when

Vesa and Angel were walking to

their next class, one of the suspects

was giving dirty looks to Angel.

“They were trying to talk to me,

but were looking at him ugly,” she

said. Vesa said the suspects and

Angel were becoming angry, and

Angel said he was not scared of

them and asked if they wanted to

fight. At around 4 p.m., Vesa was

studying in the library in Moody

Learning Center. When she looked

up from her studies, one of the

suspects was hovering over her. He

said, “Yo, what’s up?”

“I told him to please leave me

alone,” she said.

Vesa said when she left the

library and met up with Angel the

suspect started to taunt Angel and

said Vesa was flirting with him.

The suspects continued to give

Angel dirty looks while they were

walking to the Lot 21 parking lot.

When things started to escalate,

Vesa said, “Now are y’all going to

fight him when it’s all three of you?”

Vesa recognized one of the sus-

pects from a student development

class.

Onlookers gave district police

a description of the three sus-

pects. In a campus crime alert sent

out Tuesday, the report said the

suspects were described as three

Hispanic males, wearing black and

carrying black backpacks. One had

a red marking on his black jacket

and another had markings on the

back pocket of his jeans.

Sgt. Ben Peña of district DPS

said no arrests have been made

and the investigation is still ongo-

ing.

Students assaulted by three students

Paramedic Lydia Clark escorts criminal justice freshman Jose Angel to his truck in Lot 21

Monday after an assault.

CONTACT INFOEmergency222-0911

General DPS485-0099

Weather Line485-0189

Vanessa M. Sanchez

If anyone has further information, please call

district police at485-0099.

The Ranger Feb. 5, 2010 • 5

By Laura Garcia

Six housekeepers have left the college since

October, leaving facilities considering hiring

contract custodians to take over cleaning duties

in Chance Academic Center at the end of this

semester.

Facilities Superintendent David Ortega is

now searching for options to this problem,

including looking into the possibility of extend-

ing contract employer GCA Services Group’s

contract to add a building to their duties in the

academic instruction center and the nursing

and allied health center.

During an interview Jan. 29, Ortega

explained that everything is in the planning

stages and would need to be approved by the

board of trustees.

GCA Services has been in charge of the newer

buildings since their contract was approved

during an April 28 board meeting. Before that,

college housekeeping staff was in charge of

them. The current contract expires July 31.

Two of San Antonio College’s newest build-

ings were simply added to the biennial contract

that includes all buildings at Northwest Vista

and Northeast Lakeview College, the Pat Booker

buildings and Central Texas Technology Center.

That original contract was approved by the

board June 17, 2008.

Ortega explained that while facilities is not

experiencing a hiring freeze, the department

is only hiring internally within the district. The

department is accepting housekeeping trans-

fers from other colleges in the district.

Nine positions have been vacated since

October, including three from maintenance

with reasons ranging from retirement to resig-

nation and health problems.

Ortega supervises 44 full-time housekeepers

who are responsible for cleaning 36 buildings at

this college, five shift foremen and one quality

control employee.

Ortega estimates that there were about 57

total positions at San Antonio College last year.

The four district buildings on Sheridan

Street and one on Houston Street are also under

Ortega’s supervision. Those buildings require

four housekeepers and a working lead house-

keeper.

Housekeepers’ normal duties include stock-

ing restroom supplies, trash and recycle bin

removal, and cleaning of floors, glass windows

and outside entrances.

The amount of cleaning in a building

depends on the overall frequency of use.

Ortega said the national average is about

22,400 square feet cleaning area per individual

on an eight-hour shift.

The starting salary for a housekeeping atten-

dant is $8 an hour with a maximum yearly sal-

ary of $25,792. These numbers do not include

benefits, which would add up to 30 percent

more. Benefits for housekeepers at this college

include medical leave, life insurance, worker’s

compensation and tuition assis-

tance.

Thomas Gifford, regional vice

president of GCA Services Group-

Education Division, said employ-

ees start at $8 an hour with similar

benefits. A portion of the benefits

are paid by the college.

During a telephone interview

Wednesday, John Strybos, asso-

ciate vice chancellor of facilities,

said that if people look at the dollars for dollars,

it doesn’t look like the district is saving much

money.

The real savings are in indirect costs like

purchasing uniforms, worker’s compensation

and overtime, Strybos said.

Because the contract employer is a private

contractor, they don’t have to go through a pro-

cess to terminate employees who violate poli-

cies; they just fire them, Strybos said.

He admitted that there have been disci-

pline problems with contract employees, but

the same type of issues can be found within the

college housekeeping staff.

Strybos said that before the district sought

outsourced custodial services, they had trouble

getting enough qualified housekeepers to apply.

Staff Council President Geraldo Guerra said

that co-workers within the business depart-

ment in the academic instruction center are

happy with their contract housekeeper but said

he acknowledges that some of the other depart-

ments in the building are unhappy

with the quality of work.

However, during a Wednesday

Faculty Senate meeting,, business

Chair Val Calvert said she has used

student restrooms and noticed

that paper towels aren’t being

replenished.

Calvert said she suspects con-

tract custodians sleep across two

chairs in offices because of the

arrangement of furniture when she arrived in

the morning.

English Chair Alex Bernal said he thought it

was a ridiculous way to treat lifelong employees

who take care of buildings, faculty and students.

During the senate meeting, Bernal told

members a story about the housekeeper

he came across while exiting Gonzales Hall

Tuesday.

He said it was cold and late and he overheard

the housekeeper counseling a student to stay in

school and not drop his classes.

Contract housekeepers may take over Chance

Housekeeper Juanita Hernandez packs up her cart at the end of her shift at 2 p.m. Tuesday in Chance Academic Center.

Tyler K. Cleveland

www.theranger.orgGo online to read the full version.

6 • Feb. 5, 2010 People The Ranger

Vanessa M. Sanchez

Julysa Sosa

Tyler K. Cleveland

James Lazo

Hair raisingly high: Kinesiology sophomore Cassy Larios demonstrates her toe touch for cheer coach Ruben Torres at the second tryout Monday in the craft room in Loftin.

Stokin’ hot: Dickey Dzuik, former student, works the fire for the stove tops Jan. 29 at the 32nd annual Cowboy Breakfast at Cowboys Dance Hall. Students from St. Philip’s College culinary arts program helped with the cooking.

Dissed: Mary Segovia, academic unit assistant in disabled student services, honored as the college Employee of the Month, said she appreciates the acknowledgement of her work by her co-workers. However, she was unable to use her designated parking space as someone Tuesday disregarded the large sign reserving it for her.

Relief efforts: Nursing sophomore Tiffany Martinez is asking the college community to contribute to a drive by her employer, Aéropostale, to send gently used jeans to teens of Haiti. Donations will net a 25 percent discount on a new pair of jeans at the retailer in Rivercenter.


Administrators respond to student information center rumors

By Vanessa M. sanchez

Questions arose about students throughout

the district having to travel to Pat Booker Road

to pick up transcripts or financial aid after sev-

eral employees districtwide were told they were

being reassigned to a new Center of Student

Information.

Those concerns are unfounded, Chancellor

Bruce Leslie said Tuesday while visiting new

AT&T classes in the Oppenheimer Education

and Training Center here. “That’s incorrect

information.”

Students can still pick up their financial

aid checks from the college in which they are

enrolled, but the back office work is not done at

each of the colleges, he said.

The center, in the Albertsons facility on

Pat Booker Road, previously housed Northeast

Lakeview College until a permanent campus

was built.

At the moment, it is being used as a “back

office,” Leslie said.

The district is making the switch from the

current Passport system to Banner, a software

package the district purchased for $6 million to

process human resources, financial and student

records.

Some of the work will be completed at the

center by employees who will continue to be

paid from their colleges’ budgets. There is no

separate budget for the center.

Employees from across the district, however,

have told The Ranger that those who have had

to move were being forced to volunteer.

A St. Philip’s English professor said a co-work-

er approached her to talk about the relocating of

several college employees to the center because

she was concerned about transportation.

When she was a college student, she said,

she took four buses to get to her community

college. When she attended a university, she

said she had to take eight buses. No buses ser-

vice the Pat Booker Road facility.

She questioned how this would better assist

students.

The professor said in the welcome center

“staff were being told that they had to go, that

people would have to volunteer.”

Leslie said this is a Banner-driven task.

“We’re not doing anything different than other

colleges.”

Currently, there is work done at each of the

five colleges, he said, so the district identified

several people who could work at the center to

help with the Banner consolidation project.

He said instead of having information in five

places, the colleges will make the transition to

use one system, and it will take time for people

to adjust to it, but, in the long run, it is going to

provide better student assistance.

Dr. Adelina Silva, vice chancellor for student

services, oversees the project.

Dr. Robert Zeigler, this college’s president,

said there were five or six employees reassigned

but was unsure of the exact number.

Zeigler said the employees are being reas-

signed on an interim basis.

As to the rumors floating around the col-

leges, Zeigler said, “That’s not the plan at all.”

Customer services and front desk duties will

remain at each of the colleges, Zeigler said.

This will increase efficiency by having a

faster turnaround time when students need

information.

Dr. Robert Vela, vice president of student

affairs, in a phone interview Wednesday, said,

“We have a total of three people on an interim

basis.”

There are also employees who work any-

where between 20 and 40 hours and others who

work 10 to 20 hours per week at the Pat Booker

Road facility learning Banner.

Vela said he could not identify the employees

who were reassigned because he did not want to

violate confidentiality with human resources.

He said the employees who went “volun-

teered to go. Some of the folks that wanted to

go lived closer to Pat Booker. Nobody was told

to go.”

He added, “Those asked to go had a specific

skill set. It wasn’t mandated for anybody to go.”

Another five employees are probably going

to leave a college for the center as of March 8

when the district requests another volunteer

wave.

Until then, he said, every college has a plan

to backfill the positions of the employees who

volunteered to work at the center.

Silva said this will help the district as items

such as state reporting and downloading appli-

cations will be done at one time and one station

instead of the current model that has these

done individually at each of the colleges.

“It’s a collaborative model,” she said. “The

vice presidents and I are working on aligning

the duties to this center.”

She said four people were reassigned for 90

days. Four others were reassigned with no end

dates.

Those who were chosen were very excited to

go, she said.

Silva said employees have known about the

creation of the center for a long time and have

been part of the Banner practice for several

months. “They’ve been working with Banner

practices since fall,” she said.

Right now the employees are establishing

the center and developing the processes. “They

got to plan the transition,” she said.

The district will later advertise positions

internally to see if other employees want to join

the center. Silva said the center will have 19

employees when it opens in September.

Silva said the center should be functioning

by April 1.

The district awaits the arrival of admissions and records staff from all five colleges to debut the new Center of Student

Information located at 8300 Pat Booker Road, which will be called the Alamo University Center in the fall.

Rennie Murrell


By Laura Garcia

Staff Council members Tuesday expressed

concern for the district’s abrupt consolidation

of admissions and records departments in the

colleges.

Council member Henry Castillo of admis-

sions and records said during a Staff Council

meeting that Dr. Robert Vela, vice president

of student affairs, broke the news to J. Martin

Ortega, director of admissions and records,

Jan. 29.

He said Vela told Ortega and six other

employees in the admissions and records office

that they were to move three days later on Feb.

1 to the Albertsons facility on Pat Booker Road.

That location formerly housed the Northeast

Campus and then became Northeast Lakeview

College before a permanent campus was con-

structed farther east.

Before that, the building was home to an

Albertsons grocery store.

Vela confirmed Wednesday that only five

employees would move to the new location and

that Ortega would be part of a second phase

of moves from the college to the consolidated

admissions and records district office.

Castillo said the district was going to choose

one “boss” of the five college’s admissions and

records directors.

Members discussed the possibility of a direc-

tor from a small college taking over responsibil-

ity for the records of the 60,000-plus students in

the district.

“They wouldn’t have the faintest idea what

to do,” Castillo said.

Castillo announced that 19 employees from

throughout the district, including seven from

San Antonio College, would be moved to the

Albertsons location.

This number was confirmed Wednesday

during a Faculty Senate meeting with President

Robert Zeigler as guest speaker.

Castillo said Mary Jane Carreon, associate

director of residency and reports, may have

to find another position within the college

because her position would be lost.

Rachel Zamarripa of continuing education

training network asked if Carreon’s salary would

remain the same in a new position.

Castillo noted that if San Antonio College

students have problems with admissions and

records, they would still handle it here at this

college.

Zeigler explained that although he doesn’t

have the details, he said it does make some

sense and thinks it may be more efficient.

He said the students would still go to the

college for any problems and that district said,

for example, the transcript turn-around time

would be quicker.

The positions at the Albertson’s location are

interim and employees moved volunteered for

the time being.

Zeigler said that the positions will be opened

internally and admissions and records employ-

ees need not be concerned about job secu-

rity because many of them are cross-trained in

other areas of the department.

Staff Council questions admissions services move

By Laura Garcia

Faculty Senate invited new trustee Blakely

Fernandez of District 7 to speak at special

called meeting Feb. 10, but that’s not going to

happen.

She has said board policy prohibits her from

speaking without another trustee present.

English Instructor Jane Focht-Hansen tried

corresponding with trustees Gary Beitzel of

District 8, Roberto Zárate of District 5 and

board Chair Denver McClendon of District 2

to accompany Fernandez, but both said they

would be out-of-town.

Zarate added, in an e-mail Jan. 29, “It is

beyond my role and responsibility to meet

with either staff and faculty. This protocol is to

maintain an objective viewpoint when making

decisions.”

This prompted senate members during

Wednesday’s meeting to question whether some

trustees care about making informed decisions.

They hope to reschedule with Fernandez but

may not be able to until she becomes a candi-

date for re-election, Focht-Hansen said.

As a candidate, she would be free to appear

alone, unlike appearing as a trustee.

Faculty Senate President Jeff Hunt brought

up the memorandum of commitment written

by Chancellor Bruce Leslie and announced that

along with the Super Senate, all of the college

presidents refused to sign the draft.

Members agreed the Jan. 20 memo seemed

unnecessary and offensive when the chancel-

lor referred to student success as if this idea

stemmed solely from the Accreditation Review

Committee’s report.

“It’s what we do,” math Professor Carlos

Corona said. “It’s our mission.”

A special guest at the meeting, President

Robert Zeigler explained what he knew of the

admissions and records backend operations

moving to the Albertsons building at 8300 Pat

Booker Road.

He saiddistrict officials will process paper-

work more efficiently and work well with

Banner, software consolidate college processes.

He assured faculty that no one in admissions

and records would lose their jobs and that over

time, the cost savings would be in attrition.

Reference Librarian Celita DeArmond ques-

tioned, “If everything’s online, why move bod-

ies?” English Chair Alex Bernal asked, “Who’s

plan is it?”

Most questions went unanswered because

the president didn’t know all the details of the

plan. But he said he believed the plan was

originated by former Vice Chancellor James

McLaughlin and was now being overseen by

Tom Cleary, vice chancellor for planning and

technology, and Adelina Silva, vice chancellor

for student success, along with the vice presi-

dents of student affairs.

In other business, radio-television-film

Professor John Onderdonk brought up a situa-

tion in which a terminated faculty member had

multiple student grievances filed against him

while teaching on a one-year terminal contract.

Onderdonk and other members questioned

district policy in which faculty members are

dismissed but given an additional year to teach.

Business Chair Val Calvert said, “It’s cheaper

to pay them for a year than a lawsuit.”

Onderdonk said, “Who’s really suffering? The

students. It doesn’t help a program to have a

crappy instructor.”

This is one of the issues the senate may take

up with Linda Boyer-Owens, vice chancellor of

human resources.

The senate went into executive session for

about 20 minutes with Zeigler.

Senate discusses two-fer trustee policy


By Zahra Farah

After having her book bag stolen Jan. 25 from

a designated drop spot, international business

freshman Alejandra Chavez found San Antonio

College bookstore management claimed no

responsibility for her loss despite their prohibi-

tion of backpacks in the store.

Even though the bookstore claimed no

responsibility for Chavez getting her book sto-

len, they have agreed to take care of her and

replace her stolen reading book worth about

$77.

District manager Elizabeth Grey said in an

interview Tuesday that they look at theft inci-

dents case by case.

“We will work with you,” Grey said.

The bookstore’s twin goals are to deter peo-

ple from stealing from students and students

stealing from the bookstore, she said.

Amy Turpin, bookstore manager, received

permission from the corporate office of Follett

Higher Education Group to speak to The Ranger

on Jan. 29.

Via e-mail that day, Turpin explained the

bookstore maintains a bag-drop policy, request-

ing that while shopping, customers leave back-

packs or bags in an area observed by video

camera and store personnel.

She also wrote that during the busy period

in the first week or two of classes, the bookstore

provides a bag check station to customers.

Bookstore employees supervise the sta-

tion, checking bags in and out by means of a

numbered card or slot to ensure the bags are

returned to rightful owners.

Turpin wrote this policy is similar to most

retailers who request that shoppers leave their

parcels at the front of the store. “Our bag policy

is only implemented with permission of the col-

lege and district,” she wrote.

“During non-busy periods, we provide cubi-

cles monitored by video camera and within

view of our sales associates,” Turpin wrote.

“This policy is designed to ensure that we

treat all of our customers equally,” she wrote.

Grey elaborated, saying, “We don’t discrimi-

nate. The system is designed to not discriminate

against anyone.”

This means everyone is asked to drop his or

her bag in a cubby.

Grey said the bookstore would be happy to

work with the college in improving security. “It’s

our goal to have as safe an environment as pos-

sible for students to shop in,” she said.

Video cameras greet students in the front

entrance right when then they walk in.

In an interview Tuesday, Turpin said, “People

who plan on stealing know we are watching.”

On Jan. 25, Chavez said her backpack was

stolen at 10:30 a.m. from the San Antonio

College Bookstore in the storage area at the

entrance to the college bookstore on the lower

level of Loftin Student Center, while she was in

line buying Scantrons.

The bag contained two textbooks, two note-

books, an agenda and her car keys.

Chavez said she placed her black backpack

in a cubby provided by the store just outside

the north entrance. She then picked up her

Scantrons and stood in line to pay. When she

returned to the cubby, her bag was gone.

Chavez could tell from the store video that

the man who stole her backpack was beside her

as she was putting her things in the cubby.

He was also in line in front of her as she was

waiting to purchase the Scantrons, but he left

the line before reaching the cashier.

“When he left the line, that’s when I think he

grabbed my bag,” Chavez said.

She described him as an African-American

with dreadlocks and a teardrop tattooed on

the left side of his face. She said campus police

advised her not to confront the suspect if she

saw him again. If you have any information on

this incident, call the district department of

public safety at 485-0099.

Bookstore responds on backpack policy

By amanda rios

If students have questions

about their major and the college

they want to attend after gradu-

ation, they can visit the transfer

center in the counseling center on

the first floor of Moody Learning

Center.

The transfer center has degree

plans from senior colleges that

could help students determine

the best four-year college for their

major. The transfer center also has

a computer lab that students may

use to look up and compare uni-

versities.

The transfer center also helps

with registration and schedules at

this and other colleges, Counselor

Rosa Maria Gonzalez, transfer

center coordinator, said Jan. 22.

Gonzalez offered advice for

students to be successful in col-

lege.

“Be prepared. Know your

major. The sooner you know, the

sooner you know which university

you want to transfer to,” Gonzalez

said.

“Knowing your major helps

before choosing your school no

matter what campus you want to

transfer to,” she said. “It’s helpful

to know if they have your major

and the best program that they can

offer for a student.”

Students may be concerned if

they haven’t already chosen their

major.

“We try to help students get a

liberal arts degree if they have not

chosen their major,” transfer cen-

ter secretary Jeanette Cantu said

Jan. 27.

Gonzalez said, “The transfer

center will try to help a student

choose a major, if not chosen yet,

by giving them degree plans and

school references if they know the

college they want to go to.

“If the student is still not sure

on what major, we suggest that

they stay with SAC’s core curricu-

lum because our curriculum will

transfer to any university in Texas.”

The center also hosts coun-

selors from the University of

Texas at San Antonio, Texas A&M

University-San Antonio and Texas

State University-San Marcos:

UTSA, Rosalinda Garza, 486–

0337, e-mail Rosalinda.garza@

utsa.edu; and Vanessa Contreras,

486-0337, e-mail Vanessa.contre-

[email protected];

Texas A&M-San Antonio,

Jennifer McDaniel, 744–9791,

e-mail Jennifer.mcdaniel@tamuk.

edu; and, Texas State-San Marcos,

Kyle Pyron, 512-245-2340, e-mail

[email protected].

Students may make appoint-

ments to meet with these coun-

selors, who have calendars outside

their offices indicating dates when

they will be on campus.

The transfer center is open 8

a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through

Thursday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday

and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.

For information, call 486-0864

or visit http://www.alamo.edu/

sac/csd/tc/.

Center offers transfer assistance


By JacoB Beltran

San Antonio Police Department Officer

Andre Taylor outlined the basic require-

ments for applying as a city police officer

at the Jan. 27 Criminal Justice Association

meeting.

Taylor also discussed what it’s like to

attend the law enforcement academy.

The meeting was the first of the semes-

ter in which club members also opened

nominations for students to run for officer

positions.

“The Criminal Justice Association has

turned out really well,” criminal justice

Lecturer Tiffany Cox said Monday.

“The student officers were very instru-

mental in getting everything going.”

Meetings are open to students who are

interested or want to learn more about crim-

inal justice.

“The goal is really to get students to meet

with different criminal justice fields to see

what they like, and especially, what they don’t

like,” Cox said.

Requirements for joining the Criminal

Justice Association are a minimum grade-

point average of 2.0, and members must have

completed at least six hours as a student at

this college.

Voting for the positions of president, vice

president and secretary will occur at the Feb.

24 meeting.

Students elected will serve a one-year

term.

Members of the Criminal Justice

Association are allowed to run or vote for

officer positions.

“The deadline to show interest for the

positions and run is the Feb. 24 meeting,”

Cox said.

The Criminal Justice Association will

meet at noon Feb. 24, March 24 and April 4 in

Room 220 of Chance Academic Center.

For more information, call Cox at 486-

0835.

By reagan White

Japanese-language students at this college will

participate in the preliminary rounds of the 21st

annual Japanese Speech Contest Feb. 13.

The competition is 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the aca-

demic instruction center. Admission is free and

open to the public.

Japanese Professor Yuko Kawabe said Jan. 28

she expects a big turnout.

“Last year, 55 students participated from local

middle schools, high schools and colleges,” she

said. Kawabe said she expects seven students

from this college to compete.

The Japanese American Society of Texas, the

Japanese Teachers Association of Texas and the

Consulate-General of Japan at Houston are the

contest’s sponsors.

The contest will have two categories: poetry

recitation and free speech. The poetry recitation

segment involves reciting a Japanese poem by

memory. For the free speech category, students

will have to write and recite a two- to three-min-

ute speech in Japanese. Contestants will be judged

on pronunciation, grammar and delivery.

Kawabe said most speeches are about the cul-

tural differences between Japan and the United

States or reasons for American students to learn

Japanese.

One of the contestants, international studies

sophomore Sarah Pichardo, said that she plans

to speak about the differences between American

fast food and the Japanese version of American

fast food. “Kentucky Fried Chicken is not as greasy,

and McDonald’s is fresher,” she said.

Two winners from each division will move on

to the statewide contest March 6 in Houston.

Every speaker will receive a framed participa-

tion certificate. First-, second- and third-place

winners will receive a trophy and a Barnes &

Noble Bookseller gift certificate.

Kawabe encourages students to attend the

contest to experience “the enthusiasm the speak-

ers have for Japanese and how well they express

themselves with another language.”

For more information, call 486-0976.

Students to competein Japanese

Criminal Justice Association sets date for officer election

James Lazo

Welcome center Coordinator Edie Huff shows off a donation for the SAC food pantry at the east entrance of Fletcher Administration Center. The pantry needs canned vegetables and fruits, peanut butter, jelly and canned meats and pasta. The pantry is open noon-3 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday in the Catholic Student Center at Belknap and Courtland. With a college ID, students and employees can pick up a bag of groceries each week — no ques-tions asked.

Fast food differences is the topic of an international studies sophomore.

The Ranger Feb. 5, 2010 • 11Health

By Vanessa M. sanchez

Getting the H1N1 vaccine is encouraged for

college students because they are in constant

contact with many people, officials said Jan. 26.

The H1N1 pandemic is still an ongoing

problem targeting youth ages 24 and younger,

health officials said during a conference call.

Flu vaccines are available. This was the mes-

sage from the U.S. Department of Health and

Human Services in that call with college news-

papers.

Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the U.S.

Department of Health and Human Services,

said because the H1N1 pandemic was the first

in four decades, those infected with the disease

are six times more likely to be hospitalized.

The Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention reported on their Web site, from Jan.

17- 23, there were four confirmed deaths caused

by H1N1 in 2009.

Since August 2009, there were 203, and

counting from April 2009, there were a total of

263 confirmed deaths.

She said there are two kinds of vaccines, an

injection and a nasal mist.

Taking her message to college students

where many already are plugged in, Sebelius

announced a new application for social media

Web site Facebook, called “Become a Flu

Fighter.”

It tells Facebook friends when someone has

received a flu shot or challenges a friend to get

a flu shot.

Dr. Stephen Reed, director of the influenza

coordination unit for the Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention, said, “We’ve learned a

lot about H1N1 since it began in April.”

“There’s a real opportunity for prevention,”

Reed said.

H1N1 was labeled a pandemic in June.

Many college students remain targets for the

disease, he said, but currently, there are close to

a million vaccines in the U.S.

The population of the targeted age group

is 30,713,000, almost 10 percent of the nation’s

population.

He reminded, “Flu is very unpredictable. Flu

pandemics come in waves.”

There was one in 1918 and another in 1957,

which there were vaccines for, but there are

multiple places to get vaccinated now, he said.

“It’s really a life-saving intervention,” he

said.

Nurse Paula Daggett, health center coor-

dinator, said it is an individual decision to get

vaccinated, but it is good to get it if in a high-

risk group.

Students may have seen signs within rest-

rooms across campus urging hand washing to

prevent flu, but Daggett says, “That works for

anything.”

Another way to keep from getting sick is to

“try to keep your immune system up,” she said.

Eating as healthy as possible, getting sleep

and exercising more can help in keeping a per-

son’s immune system up.

Luke Duvall, 15-year-old survivor, spoke

during at the conference, saying, “I almost lost

my life by not getting vaccinated.”

Duvall, an Arkansas native, became ill in

October.

“If I had the opportunity to get the vaccine,

I would’ve,” Duvall said. He said he developed

pneumonia after getting H1N1 and felt as if he

fell asleep then woke up with a large percentage

of his body weight lost.

In a rehabilitation hospital, he saw his

reflection for the first time, Duvall said, and

he thought something was wrong with his

mirror.

“I lost so much weight and muscle mass that

I worked so hard to get,” Duvall said.

Getting vaccinated is important not only for

one’s health but for others in high-risk groups

such as pregnant women and children.

“It’s also for the people you don’t know you

can affect their life by not getting the vaccine,”

he said.

“I’ve become a spokesperson to make sure

everybody gets a vaccine,” Duvall said. “It can

save your life.”

To find flu vaccine locations, visit flu.gov.

Walgreens at Cypress and San Pedro is

the closest location to the college that has

the vaccine. There they have an employee to

give the vaccine. The hours, however, vary;

people can contact this Walgreens location at

225-4809.

Their location on 300 E. Houston St. distrib-

utes the vaccine from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.

This is also an $18 charge. The number to this

downtown Walgreens is 424-3462.

H-E-B’s pharmacy at 300 W. Olmos is also

distributing the vaccine. Their cost without

insurance is $18; some insurances cover the

H1N1 vaccine but that is not known until the

paperwork goes though the insurance.

Their immunizer is present today from 10

a.m. to noon; contact 829-1705 for more infor-

mation on times to receive the vaccine.

Officials urge H1N1 vaccination for students

12 • The Ranger Premiere Feb. 5, 2010 • 13Premiere

“When in Rome”

Director: Mark Steven

Johnson

Producers: Steven Roffer

and Ezra Swerdlow

Actors: Kristen Bell, Josh

Duhamel, Danny Devito,

Will Arnett, Jon Heder, Dax

Shepard, Bobby Moynihan

Rated: PG-13

Plot: Work-obsessed and

unlucky in love Kristen

Bell takes time off to go

to her sister’s wedding in

Rome. There she meets Josh

Duhamel, but after seeing

him with another woman,

she steals a few coins from

a magic fountain to rescue

her romantic wishes. The

coins contain the hearts

of the men who threw the

coins into the fountain,

prompting many hilarious

attempts by love-struck

men to win her heart.

It’s a romantic comedy,

with a little something for

everyone. Of course, guys, it

is a chick flick, but if you’re

being dragged along with

your girlfriend, you’ll defi-

nitely get some laughs.

Jacob Beltran

In theaters: Today

Rating: MMM

This reviewer also enjoyed:

“The Proposal,” directed

by Anne Fletcher, and “The

Devil Wears Prada,” direct-

ed by Mark Steven Johnson.

Geometric sculpture artist’s thank you

Tyler K. Cleveland

Students observe artist Dan Suttin’s “Big Ball” made of 3,600 paper tetrahedrons and 55,440 paper clips Feb. 3 in the academic instruction center.

By Marissa Cross

A retired high school math teacher has donated a geometric

sculpture to this college as his way of “giving back” for his scho-

lastic experience here.

“The level of teaching here is wonderful,” Dan Suttin said

Tuesday.

The “Big Ball”, also known as “Variation on the Truncated

Icosahedron,” was created with 3,600 pieces of fluorescent

poster board, held together with glue and 55,440 paper clips.

Reconstructing the sculpture “would cost $360 (for poster

board) at 10 cents a piece and over $200 of paper clips,”

Suttin said Tuesday while constructing a mini tetrahedron

model. Hedrons are geometric solids having multiple plane

faces, or sides.

Suttin described how he came upon the idea of build-

ing his “Big Ball” from a class of children he taught in

Massachusetts. He got a book of 18 basic polyhedron models

for examples. “(The children) made tetras and hedrons, and I

noticed they go together,” Suttin said.

President Robert Zeigler collaborated with Suttin on where

the sculpture would be placed on campus. They tried Chance

Academic Center and the auditorium of McAllister Fine Arts

Center before settling on the first floor of the academic

instruction center, Suttin said. The sculpture’s permanent

location was announced Jan. 20.

“It took about a semester to decide where they were going

to put it,” Suttin said.

Suttin’s “Big Ball” took him 500 hours to create in his

dining room and was displayed at the Guardian Angel

Performance Arts Academy at Blue Star Gallery as well as

the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center for Luminaria, an

annual local arts event.

“It takes 30 hours to re-assemble it, and 60 pieces (of

poster board) would need to be replaced to break it down

each time,” he said. “I didn’t have enough room in my garage

because of the next one (sculpture) I’m building.”

His next work will contain 2,600 pieces of painted card-

board and will take a year and half to complete, he said.

“It’s going to take two years at 40 hours a week to com-

plete it,” Suttin said. “I already have 35 percent of it done.”

Suttin, who attends this college through the senior citizens

program, tutors students in math. He also teaches students

how to put together his tetrahedron models, available on his

Web site at www.homespun4homeschoolers.com.

“If I could get about 10 students together on campus, I

would be glad to do a workshop on how to construct a tetra-

hedron,” Suttin said.

For more information, visit Suttin’s Web site or e-mail

him at [email protected].

Juan Carlos Campos

Black History Month events begin today

By Celeste J. NeNtwig

Music, movies and money management instruction are all part of

this year’s Black History Month celebration, along with the 21st annual

African-American Read-In and a Dating Game. All of these events, spon-

sored by the Black History Month Committee, will be on campus, and are

free to students.

The first of these will be a performance at 11 a.m.–1 p.m. today by the

Regency Jazz Band in the round in Loftin Student Center.

The Regency Jazz Band is the lead band for the annual Holiday

Saxaphone at the Guadalupe Theater and participates in the yearly

Jazz’SAlive Festival.

At 9:25 a.m –10:40 a.m. Tuesday in Room 120 of the visual arts

center, visual art Professor Marlene Hoover will screen and discuss

the documentary film “The Quilts of Gee’s Bend.”

After the Civil War, in Gee’s Bend, a rural community in

Alabama, a small community of African-American women began

making quilts to tell their stories.

The quilts have been exhibited in the Houston Museum of

Fine Arts and other fine art venues.

For more information, call Aaron Tavitas at 486-0134 or

e-mail [email protected].

At 2 p.m. Tuesday, the San Antonio Symphony String

Quartet will have a concert in the auditorium of

Palmetto Center for the Arts at Northwest Vista

College.

This concert is an outgrowth of the

Residency Program, a collabora-

tion of St. Philip’s College

and the San Antonio

Symphony.

The con-

cert is free

and open

to the

p u b -

lic.


By JacoB Beltran and riley StephenS

Carpeting on the second floor of

Longwith Radio, Television and Film

Building became drenched Wednesday

when rain leaked in through a sliding-

glass door and a window.

Water seeped into three of the rooms

on the second floor of the building. Two

of the rooms are filled with computers

and electrical wires. The studio of radio

station KSYM 90.1FM is located just a

few steps away from where the flooding

occurred.

Students and faculty said Wednesday

they were concerned about moisture in

the space.

“We use it to have staff meetings, recre-

ation, student study and lounge,” music busi-

ness sophomore Marcus De Leon said.

Facilities Director David Ortega said

Wednesday he is hiring Samuels Glass Co. to do

repairs on the sliding door to see if it is possible

to repair the door without replacing it.

“Depending on whether or not the people

there really need the balcony, (it) will determine

if we need a window or a sliding door,”

Ortega said.

“I don’t know why they would put a

sliding glass door there,” Ortega said. “It’s

not a good design in that location. You

can’t weatherproof a sliding-glass door.”

Along with the gap in the sliding door,

there is another gap visible in between

the window frame and the frame that

holds the sliding door itself.

An effort was made to stop the leak-

age by drilling holes in the balcony so

that the water would not have a chance

to build up and seep inside, said KSYM

program director Joey Palacios.

But the water pools around the holes

and does not flow off the balcony, he said.

The second floor also was drenched Jan. 15,

when water overflowed onto the carpet.

The second floor has leaked during heavy

rains since the building opened in 2005.

RTF sophomore David O’ Rourke and KSYM program director Joey Palacios investigate saturated carpet in the lounge of KSYM Wednesday in Longwith.

Longwith leaks again in KSYM suite

A hole drilled through the balcony does not drain enough water.

Photos by Tyler K. Cleveland

15 • Feb. 5, 2010 The RangerCalendar

Today

SAC Deadline: Applications accepted

for Teaching Academy Program Peers

Scholarship. Continues through noon

March 3. Visit www.tappatsac.blogspot.

com.

SAC Deadline: Applications accept-

ed for Texas Public Radio Scholarship.

Continues through Feb. 15. Call 486-

1367.

Sac Deadline: Women of Vision

Scholarship Essay Contest sponsored by

the women’s center. Continues through

Feb. 22. Visit www.alamo.edu/sac/wc.

Call 486-0455.

SAC Event: Adjunct Faculty Exhibition

in Visual Arts. Continues through March 6.

Call 486-1034.

SAC Donation: Peer Educators collect-

ing money for Christian Haitian Outreach,

Inc. 9 a.m.-1 p.m. in Room 120 of Chance.

Continues through Feb. 12. Call 486-

1448.

SAC Event: Virtual Reality Gaming

Friday 1 p.m. in the Cyber Café of Loftin.

Continues Fridays. Call 486-0128.

Trinity Concert: Recital by pianist

Nelita True 7:30 p.m. in Ruth Taylor Recital

Hall, Trinity University, 1 Trinity Place. Visit

www.trinity.edu.

Saturday

Trinity Event: Campus of Champions 10

a.m. various locations on campus, Trinity

University, 1 Trinity Place. Call 999-7207.

Monday

SAC Event: Karaoke 11 a.m.-1 p.m. in

the Fiesta Room of Loftin. Continues Feb.

22. Call 486-0128.

UIW Lecture: 2010 Pierre Lecture

“Solidarity and Collaboration: The Moral

Foundations of Health Care Reform” fea-

turing Sister Carol Keehan 7 p.m.-8 p.m.

in the Rosenburg SkyRoom, University of

the Incarnate Word, 847 E. Hildebrand.

Call 283-5062.

Trinity Lecture: “An Evening With

Academy Award Winner Dustin Lance

Black” 7:30 p.m. in Laurie Auditorium,

Trinity University, 1 Trinity Place. Call 999-

8441.

Tuesday

SAC Event: “HIV/AIDS Prevention-A

Choice and a Lifestyle” 11 a.m.-3 p.m.

in the Fiesta Room of Loftin. Visit www.

blackaidsday.org. Call 212-2266.

SAC Event: HIV testing and counseling

services 11 a.m.-3 p.m. in Room 119 of

Chance.

SAC Meeting: Astronomy Club 12:30

p.m.-1:30 p.m. in Room 142 of Chance.

Call 486-0063.

SAC Meeting: Campus Crusade for

Christ 1:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m. in the craft

room of Loftin. Continues Tuesdays. Call

381-0991.

SPC Event: Open auditions for spring

theater production “Dinah Was!” 7 p.m. in

Room 103 of Watson. Continues through

Feb. 10. Call 486-2704.

Wednesday

SAC Event: Wild West Rodeo Roundup

9 a.m.-2 p.m. in the mall. Call 486-0128.

NVC Event: Valentine Stuff-a-Bear noon

in Room 121 of Cypress. Free to first 100

students. Call 486-4010.

NLC Workshop: Valentine Gift Basket

sponsored by the office of student devel-

opment, leadership and activities student

commons 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. in Room

131 of student commons. Call 486-5404.

SAC Workshop: “To Google or not to

Google … That is the Question” by John

Deosdade, Dr. John Skinner and Jolinda

Ramsey 2 p.m.-3 p.m. in the auditorium of

McAllister. Call 486-0494.

Thursday

SAC Event: President Robert Zeigler

7:30 a.m.-8 a.m. on KSYM 90.1 FM.

Continues Thursdays. Call 486-KSYM.

NVC Workshop: “The 7 Habits of

Highly Effective College Students!” 5:15

p.m.-9:15 p.m. in Room 121 of Cypress.

Continues 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Feb. 13. Call

486-4007.

Lecture: “Introduction to Pictorialism”

by Victor Pagona 7:30 p.m.-8:45 p.m.

in Valero at McNay Art Museum. Call

824-5368.

Feb. 15

SAC Concert: Instrumental Ensemble

7:30 p.m. in the auditorium of McAllister.

Call 486-0255.

SAC Workshop: Aracely Flores, travel

accountant for Alamo Colleges, discussion

of travel reimbursement and procedures

2 p.m.-3 p.m. in the craft room of Loftin.

Call 486-0128.

Feb. 16

SAC Event: Mardi Gras Celebration fea-

turing Dixieland Music by The Second Line

Jazz Band 11 a.m.-1 p.m. in the Fiesta

Room of Loftin. Call 486-0128.

Trinity Lecture: “Hot, Flat, and Crowded:

Why We Need A Green Revolution And How

It Can Renew America” by New York Times

columnist Thomas Freidman 7:30 p.m.

in Laurie Auditorium, Trinity University, 1

Trinity Place. Visit www.trinity.edu.

Feb. 17

SAC Workshop: “It’s as Easy as 1, 2, iii”

facilitator Dick O’Neal 2 p.m.-3 p.m. in the

auditorium of McAllister. Call 486-0494.

Feb. 19

SAC Deadline: Last day to withdraw

for Flex 1.

Feb. 20

SAC Event: ASL on Stage 2010 Talent

Show and Silent Auction sponsored by

the American Sign Language department

7 p.m.-10 p.m. in the auditorium of

McAllister. Call 486-1112.

Event: Third Annual On and Off

Fredericksburg Road Studio Tour spon-

sored by Bihl Haus Arts 11 a.m.-6 p.m. in

the Deco District. Continues noon-6 p.m.

Feb. 21. For maps, visit www.onandofffred.

org or the San Antonio Visitors Bureau.

Call 383-9723.

SAC Workshop: Women4Women

Workshop sponsored by the women’s cen-

ter 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. in Room 105 of the

Empowerment Center, 703 Howard. Free

for female SAC students 18 and older.

E-mail [email protected]. Call

486-0455.

Feb. 23

SAC Concert: Latin Jazz Combo 12:30

p.m. in McAllister. Call 486-0255.

ACCD Meeting: Alamo Community

College District board 6 p.m. in Killen

Center, 201 W. Sheridan. Continues March

16, April 20 and May 18. Call 485-0030.

Feb. 24

SAC Transfer: Transfer Fair 9 a.m.-1

p.m. in the Fiesta Room of Loftin. Call

486-0864.

SAC Concert: Wind and brass ensem-

ble 2 p.m. in the auditorium of McAllister.

Call 486-0255.

Feb. 25

Event: “Camera Obscura (La Cámara

Oscura) 6:30 p.m. in Chiego at McNay

Art Museum. $5 nonmembers. Call 824-

5368.

Calendar Legend

SAC: San Antonio CollegeNVC: Northwest Vista CollegeSPC: St. Philip’s CollegeSWC: South West CampusPAC: Palo Alto CollegeNLC: Northeast Lakeview College

For coverage call 486-1773 or e-mail [email protected] two weeks in advance.


By Celeste J. NeNtwig

A college coffee brand, con-

sumer discounts, insurance plans

and an e-waste recycling drive

join perpetual fundraising on the

Alumni Association’s agenda.

The association is working to

build membership and aware-

ness of the benefits of member-

ship, Kathryn Armstrong, coor-

dinator of special projects, said.

Membership dues are $10 for

current students and $20 for stu-

dents of other district colleges,

alumni, faculty and staff.

The first year is free to new

graduates.

Jittery Joe’s Superior coffee,

SAC 1925 blend, commemorat-

ing the college’s 85th anniversary

next year, is sold on the alumni

Web page for $12.99 per 12 oz.

can with $2 of the sale funding

scholarships.

The benefits of membership

include access to www.saving-

sconnections.com, which offers

coupons for items such as grocer-

ies and travel accommodations.

“The coupon savings in one

week alone could cover the

amount spent on membership

dues,” Armstrong said.

With the association ID card,

members will receive free admis-

sion to the planetarium as well as

a discount at L&M Bookstore.

Bookstore manager Pat Puig

said, “Members will be given a

10 percent discount on any non-

textbook purchases.”

The association is also con-

necting members with affinity

groups offering medical and rent-

er’s insurance, as well as tuition

reimbursement programs at a

considerable discount.

The reimbursement program

pays students back the cost of

tuition should they become ill

and have to drop out during a

semester, provided they have

proof from a physician.

Also, when a policy is pur-

chased through one of the affinity

groups, a portion of the proceeds

goes into the scholarship fund.

They are also working on a

number of projects including

a coffee brand and a recycling

fundraiser.

In response to a recent article

in the San Antonio Express-News

headlined, “E-waste is piling up

across the U.S.,” the association

is going green by sponsoring a

recycling fundraiser. Armstrong

said, “This issue is current, rel-

evant, and we’re on top of it.”

Bins will be set up around

campus where students can

donate old electronic items,

including iPods, laptops, cam-

eras, radar detectors, printer ink

cartridges and cell phones, which

will profit the association.

As coordinator of special proj-

ects, she also helps students at

the Magic Closet, sponsored by

the alumni association and the

Network Power group, which

provides women with interview

apparel, including black clothing

for mortuary science students.

“The Magic Closet assisted

approximately 40 women after

the grand opening last fall,” she

said.

This project is in constant

need of donations, which can

be made directly to the Catholic

Student Center, or to Armstrong

in Room 305D of Fletcher

Administration Center.

The association’s ultimate

goal is to give students a life-

long lasting connection to San

Antonio College.

For more information or

inquiries concerning member-

ship, call Armstrong at 486-0904.

Alumni Association plans fundraisers


By Melody Mendoza

Students can enroll concur-

rently at more than one of the

Alamo Colleges and pay tuition

and fees as if they were enrolling in

only one of the five colleges.

This is called concurrent or

cross enrollment. The chancellor

recently said more than 6,000 stu-

dents, or 10 percent of the district,

are cross-enrolled.

If a particular class is unavail-

able at a student’s primary college,

students can enroll in the class at a

different college.

First, the student needs to

apply at each college they wish to

attend for that semester.

The registration process

includes sending each college a

transcript and test scores.

The Alamo Community College

District uses the Texas Common

Course Numbering System, so

course numbers are the same at

each college.

This makes it easier when stu-

dents start picking their classes at

two or more colleges.

Although there are many inter-

changeable courses between col-

leges, some courses are only avail-

able at one college.

Refer to each college’s course

schedule.

Counselors are available to help

students with this process because

they can view classes at all of the col-

leges through the Passport system.

Although they can view courses

at other colleges, they cannot reg-

ister a student at another college.

Students also can log on to www.

alamo.edu and click on Student

Information and Online Registration

for step-by-step instructions.

Wednesday Counselor Jan E.

Starnes was helping a student who

needed credit in a biomedical sci-

ence course.

Starnes went to the St. Philip’s

College Web site and looked

through their e-catalog for a bio-

medical-related degree plan. She

viewed classes the student was

able to take at this college that

would transfer.

A student enrolled concurrent-

ly needs to inform the business

office before paying the bill so base

tuition and fees will not be charged

for each college.

Students still are limited to a

maximum of 18 hours per semes-

ter and 14 in the summer.

For more information about

concurrent enrollment, go to your

primary college’s online academic

catalog, click on Registration and

Concurrent Enrollment at the

Alamo Colleges.

By Steffany Gutierrez

Service learning is a program in which

both the students and the community benefit

through learning and active participation.

It is usually arranged through higher educa-

tion institutions, elementary schools, second-

ary schools and various nonprofit and commu-

nity service organizations.

The goal of service learning is to help stu-

dents learn in an active and productive envi-

ronment by encouraging them to become

volunteers and mentors in the organizations

their classes are

involved with.

Under service

learning, stu-

dents learn

through hands-on experience while at the same

time giving back to the community.

English Professor Liz Ann Aguilar, for exam-

ple, has a project involving Hirsch Elementary

third grade students and some of her freshman

composition students.

Aguilar’s students tutor and mentor the chil-

dren in writing poems and short stories.

This in turn provides the college students

with the experience of working with young

children, and it gives the children something

different and entertaining to look forward to

at school.

The college offers a wide variety of service

learning opportunities in departments such as

art, computer information systems, early child-

hood studies, engineering, history and kinesiol-

ogy to name a few.

Service learning has now developed its own

page on the Facebook social network to com-

municate with students who are interested in

service learning.

Coordinator Audrey Grams said this helps

students more quickly to collect all the perti-

nent information at once.

On the Facebook page, which can be

accessed without an account at www.facebook.

com/sacservice, one can find useful informa-

tion regarding serving learning and volunteer

opportunities and events.

Groups also can upload photos or service

projects and join discussions.

For more information, call Grams at 486-

0763 or e-mail her at [email protected] or

civic engagement Coordinator Justin Storrs at

486-0760 or [email protected].

Choices abound in service learning

Full class? Enroll at another college

in the district.

Pay single tuition; enroll in multiple colleges

Rennie Murrell

English students mentor children in poetry and storytelling.

The Service Learning and Volunteer Fair will be

Wednesday from 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m. in Gym 1 of Candler.

Barbie Leal-Hallam, recruiter for Big Brothers and Big Sisters, conveys the benefits of becoming a mentor to students

gathered Jan. 20 in the Methodist Student Center.

The Ranger 18 • Feb. 5, 2010 Editorial

When a store requires customers to leave all bags at the front before enter-ing, the store should pro-vide some security and be held responsible for those belongings.

Most businesses under-stand this and offer a place to stow bags behind a coun-ter.

But forcing students to leave valuables unattend-ed is about the same as asking them to leave cold, hard cash lying out in the open because that’s what it will end up costing stu-dents.

Hoping no one will walk away with things is not effective policy, and the bookstore management knows it.

The bookstore certainly makes sure its property doesn’t slip through the door unpaid.

The San Antonio College Bookstore, owned by Follett Higher Education Group, employs cameras, sensors and staff to ensure its secu-rity.

The implication is clear: What’s ours is ours and what’s yours is anybody’s for the taking.

Every semester, The Ranger publishes stories reminding students to keep a close watch on their valu-ables because stolen text-books can bring a thief a pretty penny at the return counter.

The department of pub-lic safety tags vehicles with

a notice reminding students to remove valuables in plain sight before someone else does it for them.

The weekly blotter is full of reports of stolen property. Yet the bookstore expects students daily to risk theft while they rush in to pick up a Scantron.

Theft takes mere sec-onds.

Either let students retain their bags, or hire someone to monitor students’ pos-sessions while they shop in the campus bookstore.

And if you don’t, don’t be surprised when students are unwilling to patronize your store.

Administrators need to step in to make sure stu-dents are protected by demanding the bookstore provide some safer alterna-tive that will meet its own security needs as well.

Juan Carlos Campos

Bookstore needs to monitor backpack storage

Liberal arts freshman Mariana Munante stows her bookbag Jan. 29 in one of the cubbies

provided at the entrance to the bookstore.

Rennie Murrell

Feb. 5, 2010 • 19 The Ranger Editorial

Normally, committees are convened to gauge opinion and feedback from members, who are selected to serve based on expertise.

Usually, their opinions are respected.Not so with the Accreditation Review Committee, orga-

nized by Dr. Bruce Leslie last summer.The committee was charged with compiling pros and

cons of single accreditation for the five district colleges together versus the current accreditation model for five individual colleges.

Instead of offering information from an informed, real-istic standpoint, faculty members from the district colleges and student government representatives from the colleges were asked to pull statistics with an eye to the bottom line.

Not only were opinions not requested, they were unwel-come.

Seems like a job an intern or any number of vice chan-cellors or associate vice chancellors could have been tasked with.

Especially as all the chancellor wanted was numbers. A few phone calls would have sufficed and 86 pages of

research compilings could have been avoided. Leslie could have called Title 3B and Title 5 employees

throughout the district to have them research risk to fed-eral funding.

Here’s an idea: Call the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and ask them about accreditation models.

How about calling on staff in the district’s office of research and effectiveness for assistance?

If you didn’t want anyone’s opinion, why distract them from their primary duties — you remember the students, don’t you?

But, let’s not dwell on the past.The chancellor needs to learn from this experience that

no one is interested in his games of charade.

Stop wasting everyone’s time and energy that could be better used in the classroom and in real contributions to improving this system and the education it provides.

The magic of community college is the speed with which it can respond to the educational needs of the com-munity.

Fifty-five years ago, officials of this college realized computer skills were quickly becoming an essential and marketable skill, leading to the cre-ation of a new department.

In the run-up to the year 2000, the department couldn’t offer enough classes. The demand for programmers was so intense classes were offered around the clock. (On the bright side,

students enrolled in midnight or 4 a.m. classes didn’t have to worry about parking.)

Now called computer information systems, the department has grown from what was then cutting-edge technology to today’s state-of-the-art systems that will one day be seen as antique junk, too.

A collection of exhibits in the library of Moody Learning Center commem-orates that history.

They will be on display through May.

The exhibition is open for viewing 7:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 7:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m.-7 p.m. Sunday.

The story of computers is the story of the last half of the 20th century. Little is done today without the assis-tance — and sometimes interference — of computers.

But the exhibit tells the story of community college as well.

A long time ago, this college saw a need and filled it and continues that story today.

Faculty, students lose in chancellor’s charade

CIS exhibit is story of community college, too

Juan Carlos Campos

20 • Feb. 5, 2010 The Ranger Letter

Software laggingEditor:

As a Mac user and student, I have struggled every

semester to access my online classes. I will take a small

part of the credit for Mac users having access at all, as we

certainly didn’t when I took my first online class — and I

have the F to prove it.

Every semester since, I have been cheerfully assured

that access would be no issue, and yet every semester,

there has still been some difficulty, some issue.

The only issue I have had is susceptibility to the ram-

pant viruses that affect SAC.

I thought that Alamo Colleges, BlackBoard Vista and

Edugarage should know that to access BBV properly, I

had to dig out a 4-year-old laptop that uses OS 10.3 rath-

er than the current OS 10.6.2. Additionally, I have to use

Safari 1.3.2 rather than Safari 4.0.4 (copyright 2003-2009).

Because of these issues, my teachers aren’t receiv-

ing critical e-mails, I cannot read critical data and I am

becoming a very unhappy student.

I am beginning to examine other, more expensive col-

leges that have confirmed access with software.

Sara Cooper

Science Sophomore

The Ranger Feb. 5, 2010 • 21Viewpoint

On Jan. 27,

noted histo-

rian Howard

Zinn passed

away. Often

polarizing but

never dull, he

touched the

lives of both

his students

and his readers. The author of the

bestselling “A People’s History of the

United States,” Zinn radicalized the

teaching of American history. His

new approach looked at the efforts

of “ordinary” people who struggled

to bring justice and equality for all.

Some of you may be familiar with

Zinn’s work without even having

read it. Most famously, actors Ben

Affleck and Matt Damon praised “A

People’s History” in the film “Good

Will Hunting” and on stage when

they received an Academy Award

for the screenplay. Musical artists,

including Pearl Jam, System of a

Down, Rage Against the Machine,

NOFX and Bruce Springsteen, refer-

enced Zinn’s writings in their songs.

And in perhaps the best sign of cul-

tural saturation, Marge Simpson

read “A People’s History” during her

college days.

After serving honorably as a

bombardier during World War II, he

took advantage of the G.I. Bill to

get his bachelor’s degree, and even-

tually, a doctorate from Columbia

University. His first teaching job

was at Spelman College, the nation’s

most historic college for African-

American women. There, he wit-

nessed firsthand the second-class

treatment of black students. A model

activist-scholar, he participated

in sit-ins to protest segregation in

the Georgia state capitol. Fighting

for equality and civil rights led to

dismissal from his tenured faculty

position. Undeterred, he continued

to agitate against segregation and

later the Vietnam War. When Daniel

Ellsberg leaked the secret and tragic

history of American involvement in

Vietnam in the Pentagon Papers, he

first gave a copy to Zinn. At Ellsberg’s

trial for allegedly passing on sensi-

tive information, Zinn testified for

hours about the duplicitous nature

of U.S. policy in Southeast Asia. At

the heart of his argument and of his

later scholarship was a respect for

the truth no matter which politician

was embarrassed.

Howard Zinn was also a gentle-

man. I know this personally. During

my first year of master’s studies, I

sent Zinn a long e-mail complain-

ing — like grad students are known

to do — about a topic I believed to

be missing from his “The Twentieth

Century: A People’s History.” I

expected that a celebrity author

of his stature would not respond.

Rather, his lengthy reply was courte-

ous and respectful. I felt humbled to

receive this treatment from my idol.

If you never decide to read any-

thing by Zinn, you should under-

stand one fundamental aspect of his

philosophy. It has been the struggles

of common people, sometimes

across generations, to achieve some

of our most basic rights or privi-

leges. The list of the achievements is

long: the right to vote, 40-hour work

weeks and the end of segregation,

to name a few. Today, many of our

students and faculty are continuing

this same fight, whether over equal

access in our society, improved con-

ditions for the most disadvantaged

or other grassroots causes. In time,

another historian will write a similar

people’s history for the 21st century.

Be assured that, even if you are

not mentioned by name, your strug-

gles for justice will be acknowledged.

You matter.

Instructor Sean Duffy teaches history.

Remembering Howard Zinn: historian, activist, gentleman

Guest Viewpointby Sean Duffy


Tyler K. Cleveland

Slammin’: Social work sophomore Nicole Plata and nursing sophomore Samantha

Fematt of the Lady Rangers go up for a block against the Palo Alto College Lady

Palominos Jan. 28 in Candler. The Rangers won 25-17, 25-19 and 26-24. The team

faces Victoria College at 7 p.m. Feb. 11 in Candler.

Tough loss: Business freshman Christina Wasaff struggles to put up a shot during

the Lady Rangers 48-28 loss to the Northwest Vista College Wildcats Wednesday in

Candler. The Lady Rangers’ will face the Palo Alto College Lady Palominos at 6:30

p.m. Feb. 10 in Candler.

Tyler K. Cleveland


By Riley StephenS

The Chill Lounge opened Jan. 29, offering

students a place to relax on the first, second

and third floors of Chance Academic Center.

“It is a space designed by SAC students for

SAC students,” Aaron Tavitas, assistant coor-

dinator for student leadership activities and

men’s basketball coach, said.

Design 3 Professor Isabelle Garcia’s class

came up with the lounge’s design in fall 2008.

The area was designed to be student-friendly

and relaxing: a place where students are able

to bring friends.

About 75 faculty members and students

gathered as President Robert Zeigler and

Trudy Chance Kinnison, daughter of Truett L.

Chance, after whom the building was named,

cut the ribbon officially opening the Chill

Lounge. Once the ribbon was cut, the crowd

viewed the new lounge, indulged in a free buf-

fet and listened to Mariachi Las Altenas.

Before the Chill Lounge, students did not

have anywhere to sit besides the floor.

“It’s about time,” engineering freshmen

Devos Dehoyes said at the ribbon-cutting.

“You sit on the floor, and your butt hurts.”

Student life purchased new furniture for

the space using money from video-game sales,

student life Director Jorge Posadas said Jan. 29.

Posadas said he “didn’t feel comfortable” stat-

ing the project’s total cost.

“Facilities staff made the wood and fur-

nishings that are where the vending machines

used to be, like the bar and all the furnishings,”

Posadas said.

The Chill Lounge’s lettering and furniture

were based on designs by Garcia’s students,

she said. Posadas said, “The goal was to make

spaces for students.”

Chance typically is open by 6 a.m. week-

days, housekeeper Marguerita Garza said

Monday. Chance usually closes by 10 p.m.,

facilities superintendent David Ortega said

Tuesday.

New Chill Lounge offers spot to relax in Chance

Architecture sophomores Carlos Montalvo and wife, Felcia, pose with 18-month-old Isabella for fellow student John Silva Jan. 29 at the grand opening of the Chill Lounge in Chance. The Montalvos were on the 14-student design team.

Professor Isabel Garcia’s Design 3 students, who began designing the Chill Lounge in fall 2008, raise their hands.

President Robert Zeigler and Trudy Chance Kinnison, daugh-ter of Chance Academic Center’s namesake, open the Chill Lounge.

Rhonda Garcia from Mariachi Las Altenas serenades the gathering crowd at The Chill Lounge opening Jan. 29 in Chance.

New student-designed art hangs in the rotunda.

Tyler K. Cleveland

Tyler K. Cleveland

Tyler K. Cleveland

Sarah Janes

Sarah Janes

The Ranger Feb. 5, 2010

Documents

Transcript of The Ranger Feb. 5, 2010