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November 4, 2010
Volume XXVIII - Issue 6
Suspect arrested in shooting
www.theskylineview.com
Skyline students and Daly City residents breathe a sigh of relief by Katherine Ramirez
A man was arrested on Tuesday as the suspected gunman in the shooting that occurred last Friday in front of a movie theater in Daly City. San Francisco native Andrew Covarrubias, 18, is the believed culprit in Friday night’s shooting. At around 10:40 p.m., Covarrubias was allegedly bumped into by one of the victims in front of the Century 20 theater at the Pacific Plaza, and because of it, opened fire on those in the area. Three people were wounded in the attack, police say, including one pregnant woman who was forced into a premature labor because of the incident. According to Sgt. David Mackriss, however, their conditions remain stable, and the victims, including the premature baby, are expected to survive the attack. Immediately after the shooting Covarrubias is said to have fled from the scene using the pedestrian’s tunnel for Daly City BART. Pedro Cuevas, a Skyline student who works for Century 20 in Daly City, was working the night of the shooting. “I [was taking tickets] at the
Pose no threat to students
Left: Courtesy of Daly City Police. Right: Katherine Ramirez/The Skyline View
Andrew Covarrubias (left) is the suspect in custody for the shooting on Friday, 0ct. 29 at Century Theaters in Daly City (Right).
door, and all I heard were popping sounds,” he said. “I saw the people in line to get tickets rush inside the theater. One guy came up to me and said, ‘Somebody’s shooting!’ and I thought he was lying.” He went on to say that a police officer who had heard the commotion came over to ask them what had happened. Investigators later found out that a man matching the description of the shooter (footage had been taken from security cameras) had taken a cab into San Francisco from
Daly City BART. He was allegedly dropped off at the 4400 block of Mission Street in the city. According to Lt. Jay Morena of the Daly City police department, Covarrubias was seen by undercover Daly City police officers and, after giving chase, was apprehended on Tuesday. Covarrubias is currently being held in the San Mateo County Jail on three counts of attempted murder and on a weapons violation. One Skyline student, Shelley Michaels, said that she couldn’t
believe that this had happened so close to home. “I have been taking my kids to that theater for over 3 years now,” said Michaels. “I never thought that something like this would happen in a place that always seemed so safe.” “At least the police found him,” said Joshua Michaels, Shelley’s husband. “I’m glad that it didn’t take long for the feeling of safety to come back.”
FYI about FYE: Skyline’s newest learning community by Katherine
The Skyline View: How did FYE come about? Soodie Zamani: “The state of California decided to fund community colleges to increase the rate of success for students in basic skill classes.” TSV: What classes that would be considered ‘basic skill’ classes? SZ: “Well, in m a t h , w e t e a c h Soodie Zumani. three classes below the transfer level in Skyline. If a student places in a class below the transfer level, they are basic skill students. Math 811, Math 110, and math 120 are the classes below the transfer level for that subject.” TSV: Why did California decided to fund the programs? SZ: “The number of students placing in the basic level classes in California was very high and the success rate was very low, so the state decided to create a program that they called ‘Basic Skill Initiatives’ to bring the success rate up”.
Termites cover campus
A conversation with Professor Zamani TSV: How did Skyline come up with First Year Experience? SZ: “Every school did a selfstudy and came up with a plan. It’s a 5-year funded program that, according to what the school came up with, began its implementation in accordance with their funding. FYE is a proLarry Crystal/Skyline gram that began because of CSI (College Success Initiatives) at Skyline whose emphasis is the learning community.” TSV: Why learning communities? SZ: “Students who are in a learning community have a higher transfer and success rate than those who work alone and are at the basic skill level-- being in a learning community increases the student’s positive reinforcement from their peers—they have friends, somebody to work with, and have more interest in coming to class.”
TSV: How did you find students to be involved in FYE?
TSV: How does the program continue?
SZ: “FYE recruited students to the program. The students stay together and work on common projects from different teachers. There are other learning communities, but they usually have one or two classes—this is a whole program. We have never done this before at Skyline, this is the first time, and we are monitoring it very closely to see how successful it will be. So far the students are responding well.”
SZ: “The funding for the program has decreased, so, we continue as long as we have funding. What we’re doing is assessing all the programs and, if the programs are successful, we are going to institutionalize them. The funding comes from the state and its according to school size and the programs that they are implementing as their initiatives.”
TSV: Why should students enroll in FYE classes? SZ: “By creating FYE we’re trying to reinforce that, because of the close relationship they might have with their counselor or teacher they will be able to transfer or graduate successfully. A goal of the FYE, specifically, is that the first year that the students are in school they can complete the requirements to transfer, at least for math.”
TSV: What happens when the state funding is finished? SZ: “There are different funding sources that, if the program is very successful, then they will be possibilities.” TSV: Finally, what do you hope will come of the program?
SZ: “ I’m hoping that, even when the funding stops, we can continue using the different programs that we have. It takes a lot of work and TSV: What is the end-goal of the dedication from everyone working together and, even though they’re program? sometimes more expensive than just SZ: “Basically to teach students teaching the course, I think that in how to be college students- how the long run it’s worth it, because it to increase their independence and keeps a lot of students in college and helps them to succeed and actually learn how to study.” be able to be educated.”
by Stephen Benoit While the termites that seem to be infesting Skyline have the potential to destroy the buildings, they are largely harmless. The type of termite at Skyline are generally reproductive termites that can be destructive if lumber is piled up during times of construction. Termites, however,will not instantly eat through the wood lying around. It’s a long process of digging out a new colony, laying eggs, and then having their new work force keep digging, break down wood, and feeding off of it. While many students find themselves in fear of these insects, in actuality these termites do not pose a threat. The flying reproductive termites seen here are not equipped to bite, and present very little risk. These termites aren’t really dangerous to anything but dry wood. “With the tanned bodies, these sound like Drywood Termites,” said Orkin Entomologist Greg Bauman. “Termites don’t live in soil, they don’t need much water and do not expand aggressively. They build colonies, but very slowly, and not overnight” According to Bauman, it can take several years for Drywood Termites to make a colony. After a long dry season, the first rain will herald in hundreds of termites coming out of the ground and flying off. These, however, are not the termites you see flying around campus. The ones flying around campus lately are the type that live entirely in wood. They have no need to dig colonies underground. Despite being harmless to students physically, they can do serious damage to the new buildings. Termites prefer wood in nature over manufactured wood, but construction workers are generally very cautious about leaving wood lying about. There are things that students can do to assure that a termite infestation does not also occur in their homes. Knocking on the walls around the house can reveal potential termite damage, as termite colonies will sound much more hollow than other places around the house. Also, one can look for the leavings of termites, which Bauman described as something akin to a chunky sawdust. Overall, the school is in no danger and neither is the student body. Students are urged not to disrupt class the next time they encounter a flying termite. not only will they not get hurt, but they will effectively be taking away from class time. “The most important thing is to identify a pest,” said Bauman. “Once you’ve identified it, you can learn the biology of it.”