Rampage
Fresno City College Volume CXX, Edition 2
FCC Celebrates Mexican Independence
September 22, 2010
How to Succeed in College by
Marcell Dilworth Rampage Reporter
Photo Illustration by Abel Cortez and Kris Goka Students celebrate the Bi-Centennial of Mexico’s independence. band and a dance troupe. Many campus, according to informa- different clubs took advantage by Austin Verburg FCC clubs sold food and drinks to tion available on the State Center of the opportunity to raise their Rampage Reporter the large crowd that gathered in the Community College District’s profile. What does Mexican Indepen- Free Speech area. (SCCCD) institutional research “We support all races and culdence Day mean here at Fresno “This day [Mexican indepen- site. 9,701 students or 40 percent tural events on Campus,” Cleadus City College? dence] is a very big part of His- of students identify themselves as Shelton, president of the Alpha For many students, the celebra- panic culture,” said Noemi Rangel, Hispanics in the spring semester Gamma Sigma (AGS) said. “We tion provides a chance to show president of the Folklorico club at of 2010. like to participate in everything.” pride in their cultural heritage FCC. “It is special because every“It’s my race. I feel proud of it,” AGS club members sold soda, waespecially this year as Mexico one gets along as we celebrate our said Melina Rochin, Psychology ter and nachos from their booth in marks its bi-centennial of its inde- independence.” major. order to help raise money for other pendence from Spain. The event Hispanics are by far the largThe College Activities office activities. Shelton, said the event on Sept. 16 featured a Mariachi est group of students on the FCC organized a club rush, and many See Club Pride page 2
Q&A with SCCCD Chancellor by
Q
Ramiro Gudino
Rampage Reporter
Can you explain SB1440, the bill that deals with community colleges and transferring? Essentially what it will do is allow students to transfer from the community colleges to the CSU and have all 60 of their units accepted if they complete the associate degree. So if it’s a 120 unit degree program, our students are not supposed to be required to take more than 60 more units to complete the degree. It might not be unusual [presently] for a student to take 140 units, and be told, ‘You still have to take this; you have to take that.’ This bill prevents students from having to take more than the total number of units, minus the 60. There are also financial implications. This means that the CSU has
Photo by Abel Cortez
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Dr. Deborah Blue SCCCD Chancellor
News:
FCC Concludes
Centennial Celebration
to pay for more classes than they really need to be offering. Students were being required to take other courses that they didn’t need. It means that in terms of financial aid, students are getting financial aid to take courses here; they are getting financial aid to take courses at the university, and that’s costing the federal government more money. While discussing your goals and objectives for the district, you mentioned enrollment management. What does that mean? It means looking at our community needs and all the courses that we have developed to meet those needs. Also, planning schedules of classes offered across the spectrum of the semester. Again, we are here to
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Entertainment: Reel Pride Film
meet community needs, and also look at what the state allocates to us as the full-time equivalent students apportionment funding that we’re going to get and make decisions that about what numbers of students we believe we can adequately serve within the constraints of that budget, and a direction that we’re given by our board. But at the same time, we must determine how many students we can serve. How much funding are we going to get? What degree are we still going to serve students above or below, or at that number that we’re going to be funded for? Our board has given us direction that they want us to serve as many students as possible. So, right now,
See Chancellor page 4
Being successful in college can be a challenge for a multitude of reasons. Some students at Fresno City College come ill prepared to deal with the ups and downs that go along with being successful in college. Others may suffer from not having enough information necessary to help guide them to their degrees. Whatever the reason may be, for some students, going to college can be like having a starring role in the upcoming season of “Survivor”. It need not be so if you follow these simple strategies. Believe in yourself Don’t neglect your relationship with yourself. You should indulge in self-support and self affirmation by believing that you are an important piece in your own life. Keyinde Solwalzi, instructor of African American studies at FCC said students have to believe that they can learn anything that can be taught. “You have got to be able to say to yourself, this teacher can be hard, or this class may be difficult, but I know that as smart as I am, I can master this.” Create a study group An effective study group involves hashing out lesson materials together and discussing them with the intent of figuring out why one person’s answer differs from another’s. By doing that you learn more than you ever would have if you study by yourself. Ann Williams, a Developmental Reading Instructor, said that studying in a group really helped her when she was in college. “A group of people has more information than a single person, so you can get different ideas,” she said. “Group studying also works well if you need to be quizzed on a particular subject.” Surround yourself with the right people As the old saying goes, “Birds of a feather flock together.” People that do bad things have to be around others who do bad things, and people who hang around those who are chasing positive goals tend to surround
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See Academic success page 2
Sports:
Views: Parking Perils
Hail Mary Win
Festival see page 6
see page 9
see page 12
see page 15