This week Volunteer Carmen Garcia distributes items to aviation sophomore Cassandra Rios Wednesday at the Phi Theta Kappa Food Pantry, 602 W. French. The pantry is open noon-3 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays. Riley Stephens @TheRangerSAC /ReadTheRanger Scan The Ranger District celebrates international students International Education Awareness Week will be today through Friday sponsored by the district to spread awareness of the benefits of learning abroad. A reception kicks off the week at 4:30 p.m. today in Killen Center, 201 W. Sheridan St. A study abroad reception for students and faculty will be at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday in the same loca- tion. A luncheon for international students will be at noon Thursday at Koehler Cultural Center, 310 W. Ashby Place. Carol Fimmen, direc- tor of international programs, said the luncheon is to celebrate the 400 international students who attend Alamo Colleges, Fimmen said. For information, call 210-485- 0076. Jennifer Luna International Education Week boasts 20 events Twenty events sponsored by the foreign languages and ESL programs and the international student services office are sched- uled to celebrate International Education Week today through Friday. Confucius Instructor Yaping Zhang will host a Chinese cook- ing demonstration 8 a.m.–11 a.m. today in the lobby of Oppenheimer Academic Center and a presen- tation on Chinese pressure point massage at 11 a.m. Wednesday in Room 220C. At noon today, Dr. Ryan Lozano will have a discussion on “Yogasutra Patanjali” followed by a short yoga lesson in Room 220C in Oppenheimer.. A Japanese study abroad infor- mation session will be 9:30 a.m.-11 a.m. Wednesday in Room 128 of Oppenheimer. An open mic poetry session themed “Mother Tongue” will be 7 p.m.-9 p.m. Wednesday in Room 220 of Oppenheimer. Students will provide booths and activities showcasing their home countries for “Travel Around the World!” at noon Thursday in the lobby of Oppenheimer. For the full schedule, visit http://alamo.edu/sac/news/inter- national-education-week. Nicole A. West By FAITH DUARTE [email protected]The verbal altercation in Oppenheimer Academic Center Sept. 26, which led to the suspension of one student and the probation of another, began when a student threatened two students Sept. 24 because of their Iranian descent. This information was provided in highly redact- ed incident reports released by the Alamo Colleges department of public safety Nov. 2 and Nov. 5. College officials had provided no details of the incident, which attracted 10 police officers, includ- ing the police chief, and three student affairs admin- istrators, while an investigation was conducted. According to a Sept. 26 police report, a student threatened two students at about 11:15 a.m. Sept. 24 at the entrance to the first floor of the building. One of the victims, a female, told police that she and the other student, her father, were leaving the building when they heard two female students and one male student taunting them about their Iranian descent. One of the three students then threatened in Arabic to run over the two students, according to the report. The two students reported the incident later that afternoon. The reporting officer informed the two students who reported the threat that a campus police officer could escort them between classes and asked them to notify campus police if the victims saw any of the three students. According to a Sept. 28 redacted police report, four students harassed the two victims Sept. 26 in Oppenheimer while the father was calling campus police to identify the student who threatened them two days earlier. At about 11:30 a.m., the reporting officer noticed a crowd gathering in the lobby was yelling at the group “in a foreign language.” The father identified a male student as the aggressor, and the reporting officer then asked the male student to step outside to discuss the Sept. 24 incident. While the male student refused to cooperate, the reporting officer said several individuals told him that the male student did not need to go outside. The reporting officer then asked the male stu- dent and another male who accompanied the aggressor to go outside. As the two students walked outside, two female students shouted at the reporting officer and told the two male students not to cooperate with police. The female victim identified the two female stu- dents as the other students who accompanied the male student in the Sept. 24 incident. The reporting officer told the two female stu- dents to go outside and accompany the male stu- dents and the police when a crowd walked toward the group while shouting. The reporting officer asked the crowd to stay inside the building and requested additional police units. One of the female students said she could not talk to police “because of her culture” and two stu- dents attempted to leave the scene before an officer could get their information. The reporting officer witnessed the growing crowd and requested backup units a second time. About 10 officers responded to the scene, includ- ing Chief Don Adams. Once all of the individuals were separated, the reporting officer wrote that the male aggressor said he did not threaten anybody and called the female victim a liar. Once additional officers arrived at Oppenheimer, campus police and staff cleared the first floor and blocked entrances to everyone but students who had classes in the building. Dr. Robert Vela, vice president of academic and student success; Manuel Flores, student con- duct officer; and Emma Mendiola, dean of student affairs, also responded to the scene. Participants were separated into three groups as officials attempted to determine what happened. All names, including the names of the reporting officer or officers, were redacted from the reports. Vela confirmed Oct. 25 that one student was ultimately suspended while another faced proba- tion. The student who was suspended was already on probation from the Sept. 24 incident. No criminal charges were filed. Ethnic taunts, threat sparked altercation District police and college officials gather information on an incident in Oppenheimer Sept. 26. Riley Stephens Single copies free • 210-486-1773 theranger.org Vol. 87 Issue 8 • Nov. 12 2012 By FAITH DUARTE [email protected]The role of the office of student life will need to increase to provide more activities after the completion of the public-private partnership Tobin Lofts, Dr. Robert Vela, vice president of academic and student success, said Oct. 29. To increase stu- dent engagement upon completion in fall 2013, stu- dent life Director Jorge Posadas will be responsible for building a relation- ship with Campus Advantage, a stu- dent housing man- agement company, in addition to his regular job duties. Vela said Thursday that he has established a committee of faculty and staff to collaborate with Campus Advantage. Student activities specialist Carrie Hernandez represents student life on the com- mittee. “We will need to do more evening- and weekend-type programming in collaboration with Campus Advantage, who will oversee the day-to-day operations of Tobin Lofts,” Vela said. Tobin Lofts will be open to students from any college and include a 225-unit residential space, a 961-space parking garage and 12,000 square feet of commercial space, with Luther’s Café as anchor tenant. “We anticipate that most of those students are going to be from SAC, and they’re going to want programming, they’re going to want activities, and Campus Advantage wants to partner with us to continue to develop this, so that role will get bigger and bigger,” Vela said. Posadas declined to be interviewed con- cerning exactly how student activities will expand and how the office of student life is affected by the director ending involvement with the Student Activity Fee Committee, which oversees about $400,000 in funds desig- nated for student activities. Posadas resigned from the committee dur- ing the summer. Because Posadas is no longer part of the committee, Vela said Posadas would have to ask for student activity funds “in the same proposal format that anybody else will have to do it.” Posadas had been in charge of the com- mittee of five students and four faculty and staff since the implementation of the student activity fee in fall 2006, which is generated through the collection of $1 per credit hour per student. Emma Mendiola, dean of student affairs, was appointed chair of the committee in September. A district procedure allows the college president to appoint someone other than the student activity director to fill that role. According to district Procedure F.2.3.1, “The Director of Student Activities or com- parable assignee appointed by the President shall serve as a nonvoting member and chair the committee.” Student activities to expand for Tobin Lofts Director is expected to engage more student participation. See STUDENT, Page 4 Jorge Posadas
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This week
Volunteer Carmen Garcia distributes items to aviation sophomore Cassandra Rios Wednesday at the Phi Theta
Kappa Food Pantry, 602 W. French. The pantry is open noon-3 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays. Riley Stephens
Emily Kahanek, assistant coordina-tor of special proj-ects, gives criminal justice sophomore Alicia Pacheco a voucher for a free meal in the cafeteria Monday after drawing a high income card during the OxFam hunger banquet in Loftin. Students were asked to draw cards of high-middle and low income class-es, and were then served rice or beans, or both, depend-ing on their class. English Professor Patricia Portales drew a low income card and received a small amount of rice. Portales said the ban-quet has taught her to be thankful for having three meals a day. Riley Stephens
Kinesiology Instructor Medin Barreira teaches cardiovascular exercises to a spin bike class to prepare them for a two-hour final exam Tuesday in Candler. Monica Correa
EMS freshman Chris Shatlain and business administration sophomore Hannah Dunn perform Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” in the 28th talent show Wednesday in Loftin. Music business sophomore Robert Fly won first place and an 8 GB Nook tablet for singing his original song “The Sand In My Boots.” Riley Stephens
records office is still receiving applications from
the department advisers, Joe Jacques, assistant
director of admissions,
said Wednesday.
After a student sub-
mits an application to
graduate in ACES, the
admissions office sends
the student an email
indicating the applica-
tion was received.
The second step for
the student is to go to
a faculty adviser in the
department of the major or field of study for
advising. The student and adviser go over
the degree checklist. The adviser puts in the
student’s grades for courses required for the
degree.
The departments usually turn in all appli-
cations within a week.
“So I’ll get most all of them by the end of
this week,” Jacques said.
At the end of the semester, admissions and
records checks the packets for accuracy before
issuing degrees.
The college will have its annual com-
mencement May 11, and December graduates
may participate.
“An associate degree is worth money,”
Jacques said. “Many of
our students will go out
and pursue employ-
ment while they’re
going to school.”
According to the
Alamo College website,
students with an asso-
ciate degree can earn
at least $7,000 or high-
er income than high
school graduates.
“Having an associates degree on a résumé
can transfer into dollars,” Jacques said.
An associate degree includes the core cur-
riculum that must be accepted by all Texas
public colleges and universities.
For more information, call 210-486-0200 or
visit www.alamo.edu/sac/graduation/
Graduation applications are still filtering in from advisers.
“An associate degree is worth money. Many of our students will go out and pursue employment while they’re going to school.”
Joe Jacques,assistant director
of admissions
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“It’s a little different from the other colleges
… But after he stepped down, we needed to
figure out who would be the best person to
serve in that role,” Vela said.
“We’re fortunate and very happy to have
Ms. Mendiola say yes to this role because
it’s a very difficult role,” he said. “There’s a
lot of organization, a lot of oversight, a lot of
accountability of the money that needs to be
transparent and it needs to be well-document-
ed. It’s not an easy job.”
Vela said when Posadas asked to resign
from the committee, “he basically said he
could no longer fill in the role, and he wanted
to focus on his office and his team, and we
respected that.”
Vela said Thursday that Posadas’ role as
nonvoting chair of the Student Activity Fee
Committee was an added duty to his role as
student life director.
“His role, really, is to provide leadership
opportunities and programs to students,
oversee the clubs and
organizations, oversee
our recreational sports
programs, coordinate
and put together dif-
ferent student activi-
ties … to facilitate this
experiential learning
piece,” he said.
“He’s still respon-
sible for the student
life office, which deals
heavily with clubs
and organizations, Student Government
Association, leadership programs and oppor-
tunities, programming, the whole club sports,”
he said Oct. 29. “That is still a very vital piece of
our student affairs operation.”
Vela said this fiscal year is a transition-
al period for the committee because of the
change in committee chairs.
He said he expects Posadas to continue his
role as student life director and continue being
available for students.
“I expect him to do all of the activities that
he’s been doing in the past, and engaging
more and more participation from students,”
Vela said.
“And to his credit, we have a wonderful
student life program, and we see a lot more
students here than we’ve done in the past.”
According to a district job description
for director of student activities, job duties
include supervising events in the student cen-
ter and organizing performances, seminars
and lectures.
The job also calls for an “ability to commu-
nicate well with all levels of people and work
effectively with community organizations.”
Posadas declined to talk to The Ranger for
this story Wednesday “because we’ve already
had this interview,” he said in reference to The
Ranger story “Posadas steps down as activity
fee committee chair,” which was uploaded to
The Ranger Online Aug. 30.
The Ranger scheduled an appointment Oct.
30 with student life secretary Mary Schlabig to
conduct a face-to-face interview at 2 p.m. Oct.
31 with Posadas.
About an hour before the interview was
to take place, Schlabig called The Ranger to
reschedule the interview with Posadas because
she said he was ill.
On Nov. 5, The Ranger visited the office of
student life and rescheduled with Schlabig the
interview with Posadas for 3 p.m. Wednesday.
She asked if the reporter wanted to do the
story or was assigned the story.
At about 2:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Posadas
called to reschedule
the interview and
requested a Ranger
reporter accompany
him while attending
meetings, instead of
conducting an inter-
view.
“It’s going to take a
little more time from
you, but it’s going to
take a lot of time from me, and my time, I need
to give to my primary duties,” Posadas said
Wednesday.
It would make for a more interesting story
than a sit-down interview, he said.
“If they (Ranger advisers) don’t like the
idea … send me your questions in an email,”
he said.
The Ranger does not conduct email inter-
views except in unusual circumstances, such
as with sources out of the area.
After Posadas told The Ranger he expected
to be paid for interviews Oct. 17, 2011, inter-
views in January and February with Posadas
were supposed to be in the presence of Vela.
At least one took place under those conditions.
Vela said Feb. 9 he wanted “to ensure a
good interview process” and that everyone
was “playing by what we agreed on.”
“He must provide — and his staff — inter-
views, just like we all do to The Ranger,” Vela
said Thursday. “He’s not excluded from provid-
ing interviews … that is part of our job.”
Vela could not comment on Posadas’ job
performance because “that’s more of a confi-
dential evaluation process.”
“I think I need to see how this rolls out
within the next year and see how much that
chair activity took out of his time,” he said.
“Now that he’s no longer chair, I want to
see within the next six months or year what
that means.”
From STUDENT, Page 1
Dr. Robert Vela
“We anticipate that most of those students are going to be from SAC, and they’re going to want programming; they’re going to want activities ...”
Dr. Robert Vela,vice president of academic
and student success
For more information,call Vela at 210-486-0931.
For more informationon the office of student life,
Mortuary science freshman Michael Hall and Professor Francisco E. Solis carry a decorated altar to the middle of the stage during the Day of the Dead workshop Nov. 1 in Loftin. It has been a tradition in the department to bring awareness to the way death is viewed in the Mexican culture. Carolina Vela
www.theranger.org/premiere
Graduates of Texas Community Colleges Receive:
The Online University for Texas.
Learn more at texas.wgu.edu/ranger or call 1.877.214.7011.
Finish to Go Further with WGU TexasOnce you’ve finished your associate’s degree, go further with an accredited, online bachelor’s degree in business, IT, education, or health professions (including nursing) from WGU Texas.
As an online, competency-based, nonprofit university, we offer you the freedom to accelerate your degree based on your skills and knowledge, affordable tuition, and unparalleled flexibility to log in and learn anytime, anywhere your life takes you.
WGUT-SACC-Ranger_Oct2012_10x3625.indd 1 10/3/12 9:13 AM
Staff Council distributes turkey raffle ticketsEighteen winners will be chosen Friday.
Courtesy
Nov. 12, 20126 • The Ranger Editorial
Adjuncts who feared they would not be able to teach more than 7.4 semester hours in the spring semester have been given a reprieve — at least for now.
President Robert Zeigler said Oct. 31 that the district will make a 6.4 percent contri-bution to the Teacher Retirement System for adjunct faculty teaching more than 7.4 semester hours in the spring.
The adjuncts will have to match that con-tribution as well.
On Sept. 26, Chancellor Bruce Leslie announced to all faculty members that the TRS rule required retirement contributions for adjuncts who teach half of a full-time load.
On Sept. 27, Zeigler sent an email propos-ing three options for this college: Hire more adjuncts, keep faculty teaching 7.5 hours or more with justification or cut classes.
Many feared the college could not afford to pitch in its share and that adjuncts teach-ing multiple classes would have to settle for a reduced course load. Some would not be able to afford the cut in pay and would seek posi-tions elsewhere.
Jerry Townsend, Adjunct Faculty Council chair, voiced concerns about the rule at the
Oct. 3 Faculty Senate meeting and Oct. 9 Adjunct Faculty Council meeting and was planning to speak during the citizens-to-be heard section of the Alamo Colleges regular board meeting Oct. 30.
Townsend said he was informed of the decision at the regular board of trustees meeting; however, Zeigler said the decision for the district to pay the 6.4 percent contri-bution was made around a month ago.
While it’s great that the problem was resolved temporarily, an apparent miscom-munication kept that information from get-ting to the people it affects the most.
The Adjunct Faculty Council and Faculty Senate should have been kept up to date on the issue so they could allay the concerns of faculty.
No one wants to sacrifice loyal adjuncts whose classroom performance merits their being assigned multiple classes.
And certainly, students don’t want classes cut.
So let’s hope the administration realizes the value of ponying up the extra money for adjuncts’ retirement in the spring — and continues to do so.
That would send a clear message.
Keep adjuncts informed
Use MyAlamo appA new mobile app MyAlamo allows employ-
ees and students to access a directory, news feed, course information and emergency contact information for iOS and Android operating systems.
Students should download this free app for easy access to district information.
The district spent $66,000 for a company to create the app. So far, it looks like money well-spent.
If students need to contact professors or classmates, the app allows them to find contact infor-mation in a matter of seconds.
Class catalogs are available on the app now to help with the reg-istration process.
Phase 2 of MyAlamo, which should be implemented by the end of spring, would allow students to view their grades, class schedules and financial aid information.
Dr. Thomas Cleary, vice chancellor for planning, performance and information sys-tems, said students will be able to register for
summer classes from their smart phone because of Phase 2.
A possible Phase 3 of the app may even tell student or employ-ees the location of an available parking space. How cool is that?
Well, it may not be as trendy as Facebook or Twitter, but it keeps students and employees up to date with what is happening at district colleges.
The app can even direct you to the district’s Facebook and Twitter account as well the web-sites for the district and each col-lege.
Smart phones are popular among students, so students
should download — and use — the app that will help them access information that can help them succeed in college.
Guest Viewpoints: Faculty, staff, students and com-munity members are welcome to contribute guest viewpoints of up to 450 words.Writers should focus on campus or current events in a critical, per-suasive or interpretative style. All viewpoints must be published with a photo portrait of the writer.
Letters Policy: The Ranger invites readers to share views by writing letters to the editor. Space limitations force the paper to limit letters to two double-spaced, typewritten pages. Letters will be edited for spelling, style, grammar, libel and length. Editors reserve the right to deny publication of any letter. Letters should be mailed to The Ranger, Department of Media Communications, San Antonio College, 1300 San Pedro Ave., San Antonio TX 78212-4299.Letters also may be brought to the newspaper office in Room 212 of Loftin Student Center, emailed to [email protected] or faxed to 210-486-9292.Letters must be signed and must include the printed name and tele-phone number. Students should include classification, major, cam-pus and Banner ID. Employees should include title and telephone number. For more information, call 210-486-1773.Single Copy Policy: Members of the Alamo Community College District community are permitted one free copy per issue because of high production costs.Where available, additional cop-ies may be purchased with prior approval for 50 cents each by con-tacting The Ranger business office. Newspaper theft is a crime. Those who violate the single- copy rule may be subject to civil and crimi-nal prosecution and subject to college discipline.
Editor Alma Linda Manzanares
Managing EditorRebecca Salinas
Calendar EditorJennifer Coronado
Photo EditorRiley Stephens
Photographers Monica Correa, Vincent Reyna
Photo TeamGloria Fernandez De ClementsJovan Ibarra, Sergio Ramirez,
Carolina Vela
Multimedia EditorIngrid Wilgen
Illustrator
Juan Carlos Campos
Production ManagerMandy Derfler
Production AssistantJason Hogan
Staff WritersCristina Carreon, Angelo Thomas Dixon, Chelsea Driskell
Lucia Espino, David Espinoza, Carlos Ferrand Edgar Garcia, Kirk Hanes, Jennifer Luna,
Kinesiology Majors Club hosts fifth annual boot camp run
Rock wall at NLC now openBasic instruction is required before students begin climbing.
Funds raised from the run will go to scholarships and travel for members to a state convention in Galveston.
www.theranger.org
Fire science freshman Eddie Bautista break-dances in front of his friends in between classes Monday in Loftin. Bautista said he and his friends, dance freshman Ferno Guerrero, liberal arts freshman Fidel Melchor and communications freshman Nathan Wieters, share a love for break dancing. Monica Correa
•
105% increase in male clients from 2000 to 2010.
34%of all health services are contraceptive.
3/4 of clients receive services
to prevent unintended pregnancies.
6 million+activists, supporters, and donors.
76%of clients at or below 150% of the federal poverty level.
900,000 clients served by Planned Parenthood-supported partners in 10 developing countries.
96 years providing women, men,and young people
with the education, information,and services needed to make responsible choices about sex and reproduction.
584,000of unintended pregnancies averted by contraceptive services each year.
parts of term will be two weeks prior to the first
day of the part of term.”
Fabianke said concerns also arose this
semester when Smart Start was enforced. Smart
Start instructed faculty to drop students who do
not attend a class at least once during the first
week of the semester.
District Procedure F.6.1.5 states that if a
student misses at least one session during the
first week of class, the student will be dropped
from that class. The procedure was approved
July 26, 2011.
“There’s a balance of trying to keep enroll-
ment up and do what we know is right for
students,” Fabianke said. “So we feel like this
is really important, and we’re trying to make
sure students understand it and are going to do
these things.”
She compared the modules to student devel-
opment courses, which “nobody wants to take.”
“The results show us that that’s really valu-
able for students and that students have a
higher GPA and persistence is greatly increased
if they go through that class,” she said. “We’re
trying to weigh what we need to do for students
to get them ready.”
Time-ticketing registration for spring begins
Monday-Tuesday for students who have com-
pleted 46 or more hours, Wednesday for stu-
dents with more than 31 hours, Thursday for
students with more than 16 hours and Friday
for students with more than one credit hour.
Registration opens to all students Nov. 19.
News Nov. 12, 20128 • The Ranger
Challenger Center fundraising gets $500,000 donation
Registration requires online modules, advising
“Basically you go out and ask people to give you money.”
David Mrizek,vice president of college services
Above: Vaughn Construction works on the renovations of Scobee Planetarium with the addition of the Challenger Learning Center Wednesday. Renovations are estimated to finish October 2013 at a total cost of $10 million, David Mrizek, vice president of college services, said. Riley Stephens
Left: Vaughn Construction performs asbestos abate-ment Aug. 8, on Scobee. Riley Stephens
Below: Renovations to the outer shell of Scobee Aug. 1 Ingrid Wilgen
Planetarium Coordinator Bob Kelley looks as a crane removes roof debris July 10 on the west side of Scobee. Ingrid Wilgen