City Times - Spring 2023, Volume 77, Issue 1

CoveringtheSanDiegoCityCollegecommunitysince1945

City

T

designing afuture

SD City's graphic design changes perception of community college program

BY SEAN M ONNEY

Multimedia

Journalist

The work of students and professors in the San Diego City College graphic design program has not only earned the program international recognition but also built impressive portfolios that pave career paths for students

Graphic design projects produced by students at City College gained the college the first place spot in the Best Design Education Ranking of 2022/23 by the World Brand Design Society

WBDS is a nonprofit group that aims to recognize outstanding graphic design programs in colleges worldwide and City College received 17awards for student work

Natalie Holland is a City graphic design graduate whose brand project

?Heirloom?was recognized by WBDS

Now living in Charleston, South Carolina after graduating from City College in May 2022, Holland explained that the program encourages students to diversify their portfolio by branching out into all areas of graphic design

The graphic design program at City College covers everything from web design and branding to product photography and packaging

?I've been told by people up in New York and here in Charleston that my portfolio is much more impressive than local design schools that they've seen,? Holland said ?And we really have a leg up with what we're showing ?

Holland now works freelance doing branding projects for restaurants, but she had a previous career in apparel design

According to graphic design professor Bradford Prairie, the City College program is an education stop for many career transitioners and col-

lege returners

?They go to work every day and it's either soul-destroying, or they have this creative itch that they really need to scratch,?Prairie said Prairie explained the main focus of these students is to create a portfolio at a professional standard so they can get hired And the program helps them do that

?Portfolio classes are intensive,? said Meli Cervantes, another City College graphic design graduate ?But (the professors) really push you to revamp your projects to make them more current and what the industry is looking for ?

Cervantes is also a college returner, having previously studied interior design at San Diego State

University

Before her studies at City, Cervantes had thought of community college only as a transitory education and recalled community colleges having a bad reputation

But when the director of a design agency told her about the ?amazing projects? produced by City College, she decided to give the program a shot

After graduating, Cervantes said the academics at City College are comparable to SDSU, but with the added accessibility of a community college

Cervantes had also won a WBDS award for her brand project ?Liberty Girl,? and now works as a junior de-

signer

The portfolio coursework is not easy on students, with Holland calling it a ?grueling year of school? and Cervantes describing it as a ?24/7, full-time job ?

Prairie knows the rigor of the program can put a lot of stress on students, and all the professional industry work they regularly see can add unrealistic pressure

But Prairie believes the awardwinning work produced by City College students can demonstrate the quality of the graphic design program

?To be able to produce that kind of work is something that really motivates me,? Prairie said ?And I think it's big for the students It's really humbling, inspiring and motivating ?

New email ... Who dis?

SDCCD pushes back requirement for .edu email address for students

The San Diego Community College District announced a mandatory shift of communications to edu emails, but the switch has been pushed back from March 27 to summer 2023, officials announced Logging into this student account is critical, as all communications

from the district and City College professors will be sent to the edu address and any personal email will no longer receive any information

The specific date for this switch is undetermined, but Dean of Student Services Victor DeVore said it will happen ?during the heavy period (of) the summer semester ?

The decision behind the deadline change, DeVore explained, was because of insufficient registration

for student email accounts and some technical issues

As of April 3, only 74% of the 97,345 students enrolled at SDCCD had engaged with their student email, according to data provided by DeVore

The remaining 26%of students had never logged in to their edu email, meaning 25,376 students would have stopped receiving school communications from their professors or faculty if the switch had

occurred as originally planned

DeVore explained that the student email rollout also had some technical issues, including streamlining accounts for students who are also district employees

The district sees the summer as an opportunity to softly roll out student emails, giving them time to deal with nuances before the start of the fall semester

City College graphic design student Ksenia La Russe touches up a handbag she is photographing while Professor Bradford Prairie arranges another project in the background April 11, 2023 City is ranked

1 in the world by the World Brand Design Society

Photo by Sean Monney/ City Times Media

HUNGRY? TRYTHESE5FOOD OPTIONSATCITY

San Diego City College offers multiple

a grill- style kitchen is also inside the main cafeteria and serves freshly made hot food

3 16th and C Stor e 16th and C Store is on the first floor of the MS building and is open Monday 8:30 a m to 2 p m and Tuesday through Thursday from 8a m to 2:30p m

4 Food tr ucks

Food trucks can be found in the AH quad from Monday to Thursday from 3-7p m

5 K nights?Table

City?s food pantry, Knights?Table, is in the T building in T-150

It is open Monday through Thursday from 10 a m to 2 p m and is free for students who show a student ID

- Daniel Lasker

PANTRYNOURISHESSTUDENTAPPETITE

Free food, supplies available for City College students

San Diego City College students can grab something to eat or drink at a new food assistance resource this semester

The new food pantry, Knights' Table, is open Monday through Thursday from 11 a m to 2 p m It is located in the T building at T-150

Administrative assistant Marie

Lindsay said the pantry offers a variety of healthy snacks because it keeps students?energy up throughout the day ?Nutrition fuels the brain,? Lindsay said ?We want them to be able to function and be a good student ?

Lindsay said the pantry also offers various food items, including breakfast, snacks, and lunch items ?We?re going to expand and have more hygiene products also,? Lindsay said to City Times Media

Students must complete an intake form in person or online the first time they visit Students then use their student ID to check in on their next visits Scan the QR code to r ead mor e and listen to a podcast pr oduced by Sven Domingos that featur es an inter view of L indsay

City times media wins big at jacc

Staff takeshome15awardsfromstatejournalismconference

BY K EADAN B RADL EY Social Media Producer

San Diego City College journalism students took home 15 awards from the statewide publication and on- the- spot competitions held by the Journalism Association of Community Colleges at its annual spring conference in San Francisco in February

The conference, run in conjunction for a second year with the Associated Collegiate Press national convention and co-sponsored with California College Media Association, brought together 700- plus student journalists and faculty from around the nation

JACC is a nonprofit organization that facilitates events between students, educators, photographers, professional journalists, editors, and other reporters, according to its website

That includes a statewide conference inviting students and educators to compete in publication and on-thespot competitions

Students can submit work they have done for the publication section

CityTimes sdcitytimescom

and participate in on-the-spot competitions where they have limited hours to complete an assignment

Kathy Archibald's photo of art professor Terri Hughes-Oelrich won first place in the magazine photo category at the 2023JACC Publication Awards

Archibald won first place for magazine photo section and fourth place for magazine cover design

Archibald, whose work was submitted by City Times Media adviser Nicole Vargas, was elated when she found out she won the awards

?It was a little unintentional," she said "I did not expect those at all " Susana Serrano, City Times managing editor won the first place award for video journalism

Serrano?s award-winning video focused on children from the nonprofit The House of Music as they prepared for the Cuba Llego concert in San Diego last spring

Serrano, who has completed production courses in radio/podcast and TV news production at City, was especially honored to receive this award due to her love for video pro-

Volume78,Issue1|April20,2023

PublishedasTheJaySees(1945-1949), Fortknightly(1949-1978),CityTimes(1978-present)

IncorporatingnewspapersTecolote,KnightOwl&Flicks

Districtpolicystatement:

Thispublicationisproducedasalearningexperienceunder SanDiegoCityCollege?sDigitalJournalismprogramAll materials,includingopinionsexpressedherein,arethesole responsibilityofthestudentsandshouldnotbe interpretedtobethoseofthecollegedistrict itsofficersor employees

CITYTIMESCONTRIBUTORS

JillianFortner,VinceOutlaw

duction of events happening in local San Diego communities

?My first love is video making and editing," said Serrano, who was elected JACC student president at the conference "So whenever I have the chance to cover, and to actually show people, I do it Getting that award just makes me feel so proud of

Duringthespring2023semester CityTimeswill publishonlineregularly orasnewsbreaks on sdcitytimescomandtwiceinprint

Signedopinionsarethoseoftheindividualwritersand donotnecessarilyrepresentthoseoftheentire newspaperstaff,CityCollegeadministration,faculty andstaffortheSanDiegoCommunityCollegeDistrict BoardofTrustees

Letterstotheeditor:

Letterstotheeditorarewelcome,350wordsorless Thestaffreservestherighttoeditforgrammar, spelling,punctuationandlength

myself and makes me feel like I'm in the right place "

In all, the staff of CTM, which covers all of the student media partners at City College received two awards in the on- thespot competitions and 13publication awards

Howtoreachus: CityTimes

SanDiegoCityCollege

1313ParkBlvd|SanDiego,CA92101

Newsroom:L-117

E-mail:citytimes@gmailcom

Memberships:

JournalismAssociationofCommunityColleges

CaliforniaCollegeMediaAssociation

AssociatedCollegiatePress

CaliforniaNewspaperPublishersAssociation

Mar ie Lindsay, Knights' Table administr ative assistant, r estocks shelves with snacks available for students at City College?s food pantr y, Mar ch 14, 2023 The pantr y opened at the star t of the spr ing 2023 semester in the T building Photo by Sven Domingos/ City Times Media

Kathryn Gray, editor-in-chief of City Times, receives her third place JACCaward for feature writing City Times Media won 15 awards in all

Photo by Luke Bradbury/ City Times Media

city to offer first 4-year degree Cyber Defense and Analysis bachelor's program tobegin 2024 fall term

ERRANO ManagingEditor

In a first in the 108-year history of the campus, San Diego City College has been approved to offer its first bachelor?s degree

The Cyber Defense and Analysis baccalaureate program will begin in the fall 2024 semester, according to a press release by City College

The news came after the California Community College Board of Governors approved in January the pro-

gram, which was one of 10 proposed in early 2022 City College is the second campus in the San Diego Community College District that will offer a four-year degree Mesa College has offered a bachelor?s degree in Health Information Management since 2015

Information, Network and Technology professor David Kennemer said City?s program will have a very specific focus tied to specific unmet workforce needs in San Diego

Employment of computer security

analysts is projected to grow 35%from 2021 to 2031, according to data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics ?We?re going to focus on critical infrastructure and supply chain,? Kennemer told City Times last year, ?and all this emerging technology, and focus on the defensive side, and how you can actively defend in real-time ?

During a press conference hosted by the California Community Colleges Chancellor's office, Interim Chancellor Daisy Gonzales said four-year degree programs offered by community

colleges are here to stay

?This is only the next step,? Gonzales said, ?because what we should really be building out is a pipeline for all of our students just to have options

?Now the work is about integrating them so that our students can benefit, not just offer a new option but to offer it in a way that expedites their completion and that allows them to reach their next destination ?

Thisstoryisthelatest inaseriescalledTheKnowledgeIndustry,whichexplainsthehistoryof 4-year degreeson communitycollegecampusesacrossthestate.ReadmoreandlistentothepodcastsbyscanningtheQRcodeabove.

VOXPOP: What do you like t o buy w it h your st udent discount ?

DYLLANMARTINEZ,PHOTOGRAPHY,22

?I'mplanningtousethatdiscounttoaphotography business It?scalledB&HIt'sastoreIt'sallabout cameras,computers,alltechnology,butit'salot aboutphotography?

CJBUMATAY, MARKETING,26

?IgraduatedfromStateandIalreadyusethe discountonSpotifywhenIsignedup(Discountsat) coffeespotswouldbeniceYeah,wegetalotof coffee?

wal k-in andonl ine t ut or ing avail abl e

ASKER

Staff Writer

When Lance Soukhaseum thinks of how the San Diego City College Tutorial/Learning Center can help students, the center director compares it to a well-equipped workout gym

For those interested in improving their health, a gym is an excellent place to develop their physical strength and conditioning with help from a personal trainer

For City College students eager to improve their math, science and foreign language skills, the Tutorial/Learning Center, staffed by peer tutors, is an available resource ?Come here on a regular basis to build up your (academic) muscle,? Soukhaseum said

Located on the second floor of the L building, the Tutorial/Learning Center currently offers walk-in tutoring in 16 different subject areas, including math, languages, communication and the sciences

Once there, students can partner with a peer tutor and receive support in one or more subjects at a time at any point in the semester

That was the case for City College student Marie Castillo just after spring break

?I come for extra support,? said Castillo, who was at the Tutorial/Learning Center working with peer Tutor Adrian Larios Larios tutors in math and physics

?We don? t want to project the message that when you struggle, you come in,?Soukhaseum said ?We want you to be proactive ?

Available walk-in tutoring generally lasts one hour Sessions can also be split into two half- hour sessions if necessary

For a schedule of tutoring available on a walk-in basis, a schedule is available online

For students looking for work as a peer tutor, paid positions are also available at the Tutorial/Learning Center

The application can be found at the Tutorial/Learning Center and applications can be submitted to Soukhaseum in person

There is a vetting process and students who are approved by faculty in the subject area can apply as a peer tutor

There are also other tutoring opportunities available through the Tutorial/Learning Center including virtual tutoring, resources through Canvas and additional etutoring services

LILIANARIVERA,PHOTOGRAPHY,25

?Wewerelookingforsome(studentdiscounts) We wenttothisphotostoreandtheyhaddiscountsbutit wasreallyconfusingBut,no,wedon?tuseanyI wouldlovetogetdiscountsatfoodspots?

LIZBETHBAUTISTA,EDUCATION, 18 ?WhenIgotmyiPad,Igotthestudentdiscountfrom AppleAndthenwhenIgotoGoodwill,Icanuseit too?

?So if there's anything that we might have missed, we can use the summer to be able to tweak our messaging, maybe add some additional training materials, or maybe even some suggestions to make the process better,?

DeVore said

DeVore stated the district also plans on developing training material in different languages to assist nonEnglish-speaking students

Aileen Gum, a City College professor and faculty online mentor, understood the district's decision to postpone the email deadline

?I think they want to be a little more cautious and make sure everyone will be served as much as possible,? Gum said ?And that if there are things that haven't been considered,

that they can have those supports put into place so the students don't get frustrated or that it doesn't lock communication ?

Gum said that access to a edu email for students is an ?equity issue? and would provide SDCCD students equal opportunities for access and discounts that students at other colleges and universities already have

She also explained that not all students have as much technological access or knowledge to register for a new email

?I think we have some student populations that need more help that wasn't anticipated,?Gum said SDCCD is providing online help with signing up for a edu email and with setting up forwarding from the student account to a personal inbox

Tutorial/ Learning Center peer tutor Adrian Larios, right, assists City College student Marie Castillo with her physics coursework in L-205, April 12, 2023

Photo by Daniel Lasker/ City Teams Media

-SeanMonneyandVinceOutlaw

City College men's basketball honored onall-conference team

Knights knighted

Wright said ?I?m just glad it got recognized ?

sity in Memphis, said City was the place for him

After a successful season that ended in heartbreak for the San Diego City College men?s basketball team, the Knights finished with the highest number of Pacific Coast Athletic Conference All-Conference Team honors

The men?s basketball team had two first team all-conference selections and three second team selections, 5in all

?I?m really grateful for the season I had,? said Knights guard Lorenzo Wright, who made the all-conference second team ?I put a lot of work in this year ?

City went 14- 2 in the conference with an overall record of 24-6 and finished the season undefeated at home

?I feel like we have so many weapons on the team this year,?

The 5-foot-10 guard averaged 116 points per game and 29 assists while shooting 38% from the three- point line this past season

Wright?s highlight of the season was when he led the Knights in scoring while coming off the bench in a pivotal playoff win against Copper Mountain

?I?m glad I got recognized as one of the top players in the conference,?Wright said ?I wish we would have ended up for the championship, but I am grateful for the season ?

Wright, who transferred in this season from Christian Brothers Univer-

NEXT ONSTAGE: CABARET

When: Opens April 21, 7p m

Wher e: Saville Theatre

Tickets: citycollegetheatre com

?One of my coaches from Detroit knew (Coach Mitch Charlens) and then he put me and Mitch together and then I just planned on going to City,?

Wright said ?My plan was to go to City, have a good season ?

Charlens was excited for his team to be honored with allconference selections, but felt more credit should have been given to the players left out ?I think we should have had five guys on the first team,? Charlens said ?Our top six guys would have started on any other team in the conference ?

This was Charlens? first season back at City after returning from a one-year stint as an assistant coach at the University of San Diego Their season ended in a close loss to eventual champion Fullerton College in the third round of the California Community College Athletics Association

Playoffs

?It was a complete rebuild this year,? Charlens said ?It was a crazy deal to put that team together and go and win 24games ?

Wright is currently deciding where he will transfer to next semester, still mulling over the offers he has received, Wright will consider both basketball and academics when making his decision

?I was really looking into where I?m best fitted there school-wise, sportswise, just where I feel comfortable at,?Wright said

DIRECTOR

'S DREAM COMETRUE

STUDENTACTORMAKESDEBUTBEHINDTHESCENES

For Jesus Sandoval, a film major at San Diego City College, the opportunity to have his original play ?We Were Men? produced was a dream come true

?It was definitely surreal to see that email and to see my name as one of the people who was chosen,?Sandoval said

Sandoval describes his play as a comedy that tackles sensitive issues such as PTSD and the negative effects that come from war

?I studied World War I a lot,? Sandoval said ?I saw ?All Quiet on the Western Front?and it was one of my favorite movies ?

Sandoval?s play is one of eight that was featured in the 8th Annual Festival of New Plays, which showcaseed works from City College students earlier this semester

Sandoval also directed a play ? ?The First Date? written by Victoria Garcia

?I wanted to know what it felt like to be a director and a playwright,? said Sandoval, who was the only City student playwright who was also directing one of the festival plays ?I wanted to see two sides of the coin ? to see what my vision looks like in someone else?s eyes ?

Sandoval previously acted in last fall?s production of ?Imogen Says Nothing ?

Making the transition from actor to director was a difficult one for Sandoval, taking him time to adjust

?It?s been a challenging but rewarding situation where I find some things to come intuitively but other things I really have to ask help for,? Sandoval said ?Everybody?s been really helpful and making sure that I get production up and running and get the vision to where the playwright and I want it to be?

From the moment Sandoval found out he was directing, he made sure to shape the play in his vi-

sion from the ground up

The production process was fast-paced and Sandoval was there from the beginning

?I imagine it?s the same thing that, like parents feel, when they see their toddler walk,? Sandoval said ?The play evolves from just a script to a whole production ? The whole process has honestly just been eye-opening ?

Drama Professor Katherine Rodda loves seeing her students grow in all aspects of theater

?Oh, so gratifying It's just wonderful,? Rodda said ?To see the plays, just to see a student really catch fire, and enjoy writing and then turn that into a production ?

Earlier this semester Sandoval, along with other students in the City College dramatic arts department, traveled to The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Region 8in Las Vegas

?It was the first time back in three years,? Rodda said ?So that was really exciting to get to do that And we had 16 students go, which was huge for us ?

The KCACTF is a national theater festival program for college students The goal, according to its website, is to showcase student work and improve college theater

?It was actually really interesting to be producing my own play, and actually get to go to workshops where we get to talk with playwrights,? Sandoval said ?It?s not so much like tips that you get, but it?s just the dialogue that happens ?

While the festival was exhausting for Sandoval, the sharing of ideas and experiences was something he took and applied to his directing style

?I felt rejuvenated with being able to come up with new approaches to the way that I am directing,?Sandoval said

The City College men?s basketball team huddles during a timeout at Harry West Gym Feb 15, 2023 Five athletes appear on the All-PCACteam Photo by Joel Nevarez/ City Times Media

BY JOEL NEVAREZ SportsEditor

Jesus Sandoval performs in ?Imogen Says Nothing ? He wrote and directed in the New Play Festival and will perform in the upcoming production of ?Cabaret ? City College Theatre photo

HOLDINGCOURT

All-PCAC Fir st Team Al Green (144ppg) Anthony Howell (104ppg)

All-PCAC Second Team Lorenzo Wright (116ppg) Anjay Cortez (125ppg) Kailen Rains (134ppg)