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ranger Serving San Antonio College and the Alamo Colleges
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Volume 91 Issue 11 • Feb. 20, 2017
210-486-1773 • Single copies free
Building border A criminal justice professor discusses the U.S.-Mexico border plan. Page 7
Maintaining compliance with Title IX Pregnant students have rights the college community may not be aware of. By Maria Gardner
sac-ranger@alamo.edu
Students and faculty may not be aware of the rights pregnant students are accorded under Title IX of the Education Amendment of 1972, JacobAidan Martinez, director of student conduct and Title IX , said Jan. 18. Title IX protects people
from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance, according to the Department of Education website at www.ed.gov. “Title IX changes all the time and we have to be compliant because we can lose all federal funding,” Martinez said in an interview.
Martinez said the issue that is most common is that pregnant women are being dropped for excessive absences when the professor is required to provide accommodations for the pregnant students. “Adjunct professors are not familiar with the law. They are part time, so they are not required to attend the SAC Cares training overview that we hold in the beginning of the school year during convoca-
tion,” Martinez said. “All employees take a training through the district, but it happens every two years,” he said, He said pregnant students have rights to certain accommodations such as a larger desk, and if a student misses a test, a proctor can be provided for a makeup test. “Every student has the same classes, but how you go about
See TITLE IX , Page 7
District enrollment Enrollment across the district was overestimated. Page 3
online now SGA visits state Capitol Go Print made easy Watch Rodeo highlights at youtube.com/therangervideo
Transcripts now issued in sets By Kimberly Brown sac-ranger@alamo.edu
Miranda Billman, Darren Pilc and Emily Zollner enjoy a carnival ride called Cliff Hanger, which requires the riders to lie down on a platform while gliding through the air Feb. 11 at the 68th annual San Antonio Stock
Show and Rodeo. The three friends are sophomores at Ingleside High School in Ingleside. The stock show and rodeo continue through Feb. 26. Michelle Delgado
Students at the five district colleges now will receive a separate transcript for courses taken at each college. Students also will see three different gradepoint averages on these transcripts — an institutional GPA based on classes taken at a specific Alamo college, an Alamo Colleges District GPA that includes all of the classes taken at any Alamo College and a cumulative GPA also reflecting courses accepted as transfer equivalents at an Alamo College. This information was made available to students in an email Feb. 3. Unofficial transcripts reflected this change beginning Feb. 9, director of enrollment Martin Ortega said. Unofficial transcripts were unavailable in ACES beginning Jan. 30. Before this change, students received one official transcript for work taken at all Alamo colleges and a GPA that reflected courses taken at all district colleges. This change in transcripts was the result of scrutiny by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges accreditation team, which questioned the way this college, St. Philip’s and Northwest Vista colleges reported grades on official transcripts, Ortega said Jan. 31 in an interview. The accrediting agency put the three colleges on probation in the fall until they can prove autonomy, including autonomy in reporting grades.
See TRANSCRIPTS, Page 7
Men’s basketball coach ejected from job Northeast Lakeview adjunct is serving as interim coach. By S.R. Garcia
sac-ranger@alamo.edu
This college has replaced a popular basketball coach who had improved the team’s standing in the two full seasons he coached here. Men’s basketball coach Louis Martinez is no longer employed at this college, Mark Bigelow, student life interim director, said Feb. 3 in a phone interview with The Ranger. Martinez had coached the team since 2014, said Steve Ochoa, a math academic program specialist who served as assistant coach under Martinez. Bigelow declined to say why Martinez was let go. “It is a professional and confidential matter,” he said. Criminal justice sophomore Steven Walters, who plays center/power forward, said Bigelow pulled Martinez aside during the Feb. 3 practice and spoke to him. After practice, Martinez told the team that, effective immediately, he was no longer the head coach, Walters said. Martinez did not return phone calls from
The Ranger requesting a comment. Bigelow said he is committed to the success of the team and has hired an interim coach, Ken Morris, a student development adjunct at Northeast Lakeview College. Morris will take over the rest of the season. Of two applicants reviewed by Bigelow, Morris was the best fit for the team, Bigelow said. “We lost a hell of a basketball coach,” Ochoa said. Ochoa, who was not at the Feb. 3 practice, said he received a text from Martinez that day. After arriving at the gym, Ochoa found Martinez boxing up his things. Ochoa said Martinez told him, “They let me go.” Ochoa, who has coached basketball for 30 years, said he recognizes a good coach when he sees one. Martinez was one of them, Ochoa said. “He knows what to do and when to do it in a game,” Ochoa said. “In the three years coach Martinez has been here, I considered him to be a good friend,” Ochoa said. “The program will really miss him,” he said. A part-time employee, Martinez was hired as head coach after human resources approved the position, Ochoa said. Before
that, volunteers coached the team. When Martinez took over the Rangers, their record was 4-15, Ochoa said. In Martinez’s first year of coaching, he led the team to 8-8, making the playoffs but losing the first round. The next year, the team had a record of 9-7, winning the first round of the playoffs, but losing in the second round. This year, the team is in first place, Ochoa said. “I don’t know about the timing of this,” he said. “We’re in first place, the kids love him …” He continued: “I don’t know if you change horses in midstream like that. If student activities felt that was the change they had to make, we just live with it and move forward. It’s just unfortunate that it happened this way.” Martinez made an impact on the team’s record and an impact on each of his players. “Coach Martinez helped me pull up my grades so I could play on the team,” Walters said. “He always inspired me to make the team better.” Engineering freshman Fabian Chavarria said he was shocked Martinez was let go in the middle of the season.
File Louis Martinez “He meant a lot to the team, and he’s the reason I’m here,” he said. Chavarria looks forward to playoffs and will miss practicing with his coach. “It came as a shock to me,” said business management sophomore Chady Joukeh. Joukeh said he will use this experience as motivation to strive through the playoffs to win the championship. Joukeh also will miss the coach yelling his nickname, “Brazil,” during practice and games. Kinesiology freshman Adam Villanueva
See COACH, Page 7