Hillary in the house? page 6
LAVOZDEANZA.COM
Irvin walks out on Senate
la voz
Confused? Ask La Voz. page 5
THE VOICE OF DE ANZA COLLEGE
Planetarium prepares for launch THE NEWLY REMODELED FACILITY SET TO OPEN SPRING QUARTER
COUNSELING DEAN WITHDRAWS FUNDS REQUEST AFTER DEBATE WITH SENATOR Tim Nguyen LA VOZ
- Howard Irvin, Dean of counseling The leading voice in the opposition to the counseling center funding was Senator Sam Karimzadeh. “When I was just a regular college student, I had a bad experience with the student assistants,” said Karimzadeh. “If we give you money, there is no system of accountability.” Karimzadeh suggested the counseling center be completely automated and proposed two signs to be put up at the counseling center: one to let students know about the DASB card and the other directing them to the deanʼs office. Though terminals have already been set up in the counseling center, Zahra Noor said the automation system would not work be because some information cannot be processed through a machine. “There are a lot of students asking ʻWhereʼs thisʼ and ʻWhereʼs thatʼ and the lines are always packed on Mondays,” said Zahra Noor, one of the two student assistants. “Because itʼs only the two of us, people come in and tell us ʻYou donʼt know anythingʼ
see FUNDING, page 2
District chancellor campaigns to assist immigrants, fight poverty Helen Zou
Confusion during Wednesdayʼs De Anza Associated Student Body Senate meeting may have extinguished any hope for two student assistants in the counseling center. “I hire students to help students,” said Howard Irvin, Dean of the Counseling and Matriculation division. “If there is no funding for the counseling center, weʼll be down to zero student assistants.”
“The stipulations are ridiculous. The kinds of questions they were asking didn’t come up the first or other times we’ve asked for funding.”
FEBRUARY 5, 2007
LA VOZ
Maureen Gamarra/LA VOZ (2) Construction continues inside De Anza’s planetarium, which has been closed since spring 2006. Astronomy classes, which took place in the planetarium, relocated during construction. The remodeled facility is scheduled to reopen in April 2007.
Sean Sullivan LA VOZ
When De Anza Collegeʼs planetarium opened in 1970, it was state of the art. Since then advances in technology and astronomy have taken a lot of shine off the big-domed building. In March 2006, the planetarium closed for renovations, temporarily dimming the lights, lasers and stars that taught students about the skyʼs constellations. This spring quarter, students will again be able to learn about the stars in De Anzaʼs technologically advanced planetarium. “Iʼm really excited to imagine what itʼs going to be like. Itʼs a really exciting time for us at the planetarium,” said Karl von Ahnen, who works at the planetarium and has been overseeing the renovations. The lobby is rearranged, the gift shop and restrooms have been updated and the theater is revamped. The chairs are reupholstered and now face one direction, which improves the experience for teachers, students and audience members. The screen in the planetarium has seamless lining, like a mov-
De Anza College’s Planetarium, located near the S-Quad, will reopen this spring.
ie screen. The electronics have been updated: air conditioning, heating and lighting have been renewed, including new LED lights, and a new surround sound
“I’m really excited to imagine what it’s going to be like.”
system has been installed in the theater. The maximum capacity of the planetarium was 170 before the renovations, but was reduced to 145. Planetarium fans can, for a $400 donation, have short personal messages engraved on one of the seats inside the theater. The name of the planetarium is also on sale, but the cost has not been set yet. More information and updates are at the De Anza Planetarium Web site: http://www. planetarium.deanza.edu/karls corner/infinium_s.html.
De Anza and Foothill Colleges are joining in a national campaign to fight poverty. In the Santa Clara County, roughly 120,000 families are living below the poverty line. Dr. Martha Kanter, De Anza and Foothill Community Collegsʼ District Chancellor, is one of the leaders of the discussion on poverty relief in support of education for this region. This national campaign is being facilitated by Catholic Charities. The goal is to reduce poverty by half by 2020. To accomplish this, Catholic Charities has asked communities to come together and work as a unit in combating poverty. “We all look on this problem from our individual perspectives,” said Kanter. “And what theyʼre trying to do is bring us together so we can plan and put our resources together.” An economic impact study done in 2005 showed that $1 in each credit earned at De Anza or Foothill generates a $1.88 in the local economy. The average expected lifetime earnings for a graduate with an associateʼs degree is $1.6 million, which is about $400,000 more than what a high school graduate earns. “Families should know that financial aid and scholarships are
see CAMPAIGN, page 2
your guide to la voz
The Planetarium’s Infinium-S Projector:
news 2 campus events 3 features 4 a&e 5 opinions 6-7 sports 8
- Uses 250,000 tiny points to create the Milky Way - 23 brightest stars have individual projectors - The sharper and clearer projections of stars twinkle
This is Vol. 40, Issue 14. Call us at 864-5626 or email us at lavoz@fhda.edu. We’re hanging out in L-41.
- Karl von Ahnen, De Anza Planetarium technical director
Courtesy of http://www.planetarium.deanza.edu/