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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 2016 • VOL. 43, NO. 4 • WWW.HCCEGALITARIAN.COM • @HCC_EGALITARIAN
Super Bowl volunteer preparations
Rodeo Hall of Famers honored
A beautiful struggle see Campus, Page 2
see Culture, page 14
see Community, Page 5
Honors College expanding AlyssA Foley
THE EGALITARIAN Houston Community College’s Honors College program is expanding to two new campuses this fall: Stafford and Spring Branch. With 25 slots for the freshman classes at each location, the primary responsibility of the Honors College Directors Deanne Schlanger at Southwest and Dan Flores at Northwest is to populate the program with qualified students. The Central Honors College is in its ninth year, serving 50 of HCC’s most talented students every year. The Honors College admissions deadline is set for May 1. However, “we’re open until the class fills, and the class does have to fill with people who are qualified,” said Dr. Cheryl Peters, the executive director of the Honors College. “Just the fact that someone submits something tells you that they have some motivation,” said Dr. Peters, “I want to work with as many people who have an interest in being in something like this, but they do have to meet the qualifications. Period.” New students must show that they’re ready to take college-level courses in their first honors semester. They look for either a qualifying TSI score, a combined SAT score of 1100 or a composite ACT score of 26. “Test scores even trump high school GPA,” said Dr. Peters, but she added that, “Nobody is excluded unless every last test score they have said they’re not college ready.” An essay and two letters of recommendation are also among the admissions requirements, followed by an in-person interview once all
Thomas Hopkins / The Egalitarian HCC Central Honors College students Josue Rodriguez (right) and Alexandre Soares da Silva (left) study in the honors lounge on the first floor of the San Jacinto building. Two new Honor Colleges, complete with student lounges, will open this fall at the Stafford and Spring Branch campuses. requirements are met. “You have to be able to mentally and intellectually keep up with others who have demonstrated that they want to be good students and they want to be in a group of other similarly smart and motivated students,” concluded Dr. Peters. Applicants can be first-time college students or can have some prior coursework, but students must take a minimum of 18 credit hours with the Honors College. Honor students are given additional financial help and guidance through the aid process, from filling out the FAFSA for Pell Grants to finding scholarships. Undocumented students are directed
to TASFA, which enables them to receive state financial aid and state tuition under certain conditions. The HCC Foundation, T-STEM and outside cultural organization scholarships are also available to such students. There is also a strictly merit-based Honors College scholarship for students who are turned down for a Pell Grant. “These funds are limited,” Dr. Peters cautioned. Referring to international students she said, “we can’t scholarship them all.” The Honors College was established to serve local constituents of the HCC district, which adds some political pressure to the program to put local students first. Dr.
Peters said she could fill the freshman class with qualified international students instantly, “they’re fabulous students.” Scholarships are awarded proportionally to the total international student population at HCC, which means about four international students at Central receive aid through the Honors College scholarship fund. The scholarship proportion cap doesn’t affect admissions, “We don’t want to keep them out of the Honors College...We’ll take you in, but whether or not you get the scholarship or not, we can’t tell you right now.” Since scholarships are so limited, they wait till all the new students are admitted before determining the most deserving. “That’s why we can’t really say it’s free for everyone,” explained Dr. Peters, although they certainly try to make it. “There will be some students who are not getting the same benefits that everyone else is, and it’s only because they are an international student,” said Dr. Peters regretfully. Thao Thanh Nguyen is an international student studying chemical engineering at the Honors College. She received an Honors College scholarship in her first semester, but as the funds were stretched, she was encouraged and assisted in applying for other scholarships to help pay for her tuition. And with a the program’s textbook scholarship, her books are free. Today Nguyen is the secretary of the Central campus’ Student Library Advisory Council, she says that her biggest benefit has been “being with other honors students and learning from one another.” SEE
HONORS, PAGE 3
Chancellor Maldonado says “No” AlyssA Foley
THE EGALITARIAN The Houston Community College Board of Trustees authorized the chancellor to execute a lease agreement on Feb. 25 for the Conn’s property. The property has been the center of controversy since HCC Trustee Dave Wilson filed a complaint with the Harris County District Attorney’s office against Chancellor Cesar Maldonado and Chief Facilities Officer Chuck Smith in August 2015 for alleged “Fraud/ Misappropriation of Bond Funds” due to “misstatements [that] resulted in excess money
being paid for the property.” Trustee Wilson alleges that among other things, the trustees were told only a portion of the property would be leased, but the appraised value is based off the entire property being leased. When asked if there was any discrepancies between what the trustees were told and what was told to the professional appraisers, Chancellor Maldonado responded with a dismissive, “No.” Chancellor Maldonado stated in an interview that he does not believe that the complaint is justified, and he refused to respond to the trustee. Harris County District
Attorney’s Public Integrity Unit would not comment on the status of Wilson’s case against the chancellor. Public Relations Officer Jeff McShan stated that the unit, “will never confirm nor deny it is investigating anything.” Trustee Wilson previously stated that he has only been told that the case has been assigned. McShan added that, “If a grand jury decides to indict on any public integrity case...then that info would be released to the public.” The plan is to lease the building at 5505 West Loop South as a business location for service to the general public. With the board’s approval, the agreement
received the green light to be sent back to the prospective tenant to finalize. It’s been almost a year since HCC acquired the property. Leasing the building is intended to defray the long-term cost of acquisition. According to meeting minutes, the board previously approved a lease agreement on May 27. Currently, there is a “For Lease” sign on the building and no rental income has been generated. The former Conn’s Appliance store was acquired by the College in March 2015 for $8.5 million, even though it was appraised for just $5.3 million just a few months before.
The college hired appraisers to assess the property’s value in November 2014 and again in January 2015. The November appraisal of $5.3 million did not satisfy the seller, so the same appraisers were directed to reassess the property in January, which is when the value jumped to about $8.5 million. The Jan. 15, 2015 appraisal document lists an “Extraordinary Assumption” that “We assume the property is leased to Tesla Motors at $23.00 per square foot on a 5 year term with a 4 year, 11 month option.” They used the SEE
CONN’S, PAGE 5