El Camino College
Serving the campus community since 1946
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Union
J. Cole debuts highly anticipated new album Page 6 Torrance, Calif.
Student learns welding in academy EC students
hurt by no priority for CSU transfers Andrew Lim News Editor
Sylwia M. Ozdzynski/Union From left, Ernesto Castellanos, 18, and Daniel Rodriguez, 18, are learning how to weld during the new welding program offered by the Career Advancement Academy (CAA). The CAA on campus offers electrical utilities tool technology, welding, and machine tool technology.
Cal States are downsizing. Transferring is getting harder. And the required GPA to transfer is getting higher. Things will not improve because the college currently does not have a CSU in the “local admission area” that gives its transfer students priority admission, Sue OdaOmori, Transfer Center Coordinator, said. “We’re not in anybody’s local admission area except for CSU Dominguez Hills and Northridge,” Oda-Omori said. “(But) all students across the state are held to minimum requirements in those schools.” Oda-Omori said that she had told Tom Fallo, president, and the vice presidents about the problems of not having a Cal State giving priority admission. She added that they’ve approached the Cal State University Chancellor Charles Reed and that they’ve been talking with legislators. “When our cabinet approached Reed, our initial push was to get a local area for Long Beach,” Oda-Omori said. With the college trying to push for local areas while Cal States are downsizing, EC is hoping to eventually have Cal State Long Beach give our students priority admission. “We’ve seen representatives of legislatures and worked with Cerritos College,” Fallo said. “We are continuing to discuss the issue with representatives of the college system, but this is not an easy issue.” Oda-Omori added that the legislators are looking at the overall issue of the local area admissions. “It doesn’t seem fair that some schools are in two local areas, while some schools are in one and some schools are in none, like EC and Cerritos College,” she said. Students who attend EC and are trying to transfer to Cal States are held to higher standards than most of the other colleges in the state, Oda-Omori said. “Students in the local area admission for non-impacted majors are held to minimum eligibility,” she said. “Students outside of the area are held to higher admission requirements, mostly a higher GPA.” Helin Hernandez, 18, undecided major, does not think it’s fair that some people can take the easier route than others. “I think it’s important to have priority registration,” Hernandez said. “Not everyone decides to go to a private college or a UC and most people choose EC or Cal States because they’re less expensive and they should not be deprived of priority admission because of that decision.”
Forensics team starts off new year
New drop-off zone enforces safety
Andrew Lim News Editor
Ashley Marie Patterson Staff Writer
After being crowned No. 1 within the community college system last year, the forensics team started the year with a “warm-up” tournament last weekend. However with different issues, including budget problems, the team will be smaller than the previous team that was one of the best in the nation. “We have a smaller team this year because of the economy in general,” Francesca Bishop, forensics team coach, said. “We have less students and the cost of tournaments has gone up. It’s quite expensive. They have to pay for entry fees as well as judging fees.” The next tournament will be the “Double-up” Tournament
NEWS LINE –Jorge Camarillo
which is going to take place Oct. 14 - 16 at the Concordia University in Irvine. Shannon Meredith, 20, political science major, who is one of the returning members for the team, won superior for extempo-
“The tournament gave us opportunities to get back in the game,” —Shannon Meredith, political science major
raneous speaking and impromptu speaking over the weekend. “The tournament gave us opportunities to get back in the game,” Meredith said. “It was our chance to show the newer debaters. People looked to the (returning members) more for
guidance.” Harrison Shieh, 18, business and economics major, who won superior on extemporaneous speaking, said it was a good experience and different from his previous debating experiences. “It was definitely harder than high school debate,” Shieh said. “If the weekend was any indication of how it is to come, I’m very excited.” Although the forensics team is facing some obstacles, Bishop said that she thinks that the team is still going to do very well. Morgan McNally, 19, political science major, who is also a returning member won superior in impromptu speaking. “You know everything that is involved (as a returner),” McNally said. “You don’t have the jitters. Everything feels so smooth.”
Already running late for class, the student asks his parents to just drop him off at the stop sign in front of the Humanities Building. While he’s getting out of the car, he notices a cadet walking toward him with a citation for $38 for disobeying the signs in the passenger drop-off zones. “It’s just a safety issue,” Sgt. Dal Toruno said, “A lot of people are not complying with the signs and are not using the area for dropping off people. When they do this, it creates a bottleneck effect that then becomes a safety hazard in the front of campus.” Toruno said there will be cadets outside during the dropoff peak times, from 7:30 to 9
a.m., to enforce traffic and control some of the chaos. People who don’t comply, he added, will receive a citation The new citation, created one month ago, will be a motivation for students, faculty and campus visitors to obey the signs. The campus police have gotten numerous complaints from students and faculty, Toruno said. “Many faculty members who work in the Administration Building and students come to us and complain about the amount of congestion there is in front of campus at the drop-off zone,” he said. “A lot of people don’t even use the zone. They stop in the middle of the traffic lanes and let their passengers out at the stop signs,” Toruno added. Toruno said the campus po-
lice have not handed out many citations since they imposed the fine one month ago and that students are more likely to comply with the threat of a citation. “I think it’s fair because a lot of people park in the dropoff zones and hold up traffic,” Nathan Pumphery, creative writing major, said, “I get dropped off there and during peak times, the traffic can be difficult to deal with. The police should fine people only during peak times.” Students have responded favorably to the new citation, but think the fine may be too expensive. “I think it is little unfair just because it originally was not regulated,” Kate Steiner, philosophy major, said. “It does get kind of crazy over there though.”
UC San Diego will host a tour for students
Students can commence applying for Cal States
Workshop for UC’s will take place Wednesday
Students can get help for CSU applications
There will be a UC San Diego tour from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. tomorrow. A $5 refundable deposit must be made. Any interested students may sign up at the Transfer Center, or call 310660-3593, ext. 3408.
Students may start applying for fall 2012 admission to all Cal State Universities immediately. The deadline for applications is Nov. 30. Students can go to www.csumentor.com to fill out applications.
The UC Application Workshop will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday in the Alondra Room. Students who are interested in applying can go to the workshop to gain tips and strategies on filling the UC applications.
Students who are trying to fill out applications for CSU’s can attend the CSU Application Workshop at 1 p.m. next Thursday in the Alondra Room. Students will be able to go to the workshop and get tips.