a n at i o n a l pa c e m a k e r awa r d n e w s pa p e r
Volume 56, Issue 3
theswcsun.com
Cost saving measure may reduce library hours
Winter Edition 2012-2013
Campus mourns Phil Lopez
By Thomas Baker News Editor
As the average time for a two-year degree approaches 3.5 years, state legislators and community college leaders are pushing back with Senate Bill 1440, a plan to streamline the community college and transfer experiences. Students at Southwestern College may soon be able to earn an Associate’s degree with guaranteed admission to a California State University as the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act (STAR) continues to gain traction in California. State Senator Alex Padilla’s 2010 bill was signed by former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and is now in the hands of the community colleges. Local colleges were directed to create 60-unit Associate degrees for the most common transfer majors and implement them when they are ready, but no later than 2014. All the state’s 112 community colleges are to design transfer model curriculum degrees or “degrees with a guarantee,” that serve their student communities. By 2014 the chancellor’s office would like all community colleges to offer 100 percent of the 25 STAR Act degrees. “The intent was that students would move through their first two years in a much more streamlined, faster pace,” said Randy Beach, SWC Academic Senate president. These degrees guarantee admission to a CSU as a junior upon completion. “It’s not just an articulation agreement with one community college to another CSU,” said former California Community College Chancellor Dr. Jack Scott. “It means a system-wide transfer.” SWC has two approved STAR act degrees, Math and Communications, said Beach. Another five are in the pipeline. Student enrollment into the programs so far has been low, said Transfer Center Coordinator Cecilia Cabico, but he said
LRC looks to trim hours from 54 to 40, close on evenings, Saturdays By Nickolas Furr, Steven Uhl and Paulina Briseno Staff Writers
On January 14, when students return to the Southwestern College campus for classes, they will find the library open 14 fewer hours than it is today. Due to brutal budget cuts and rampant state fiscal problems, the administration has been forced to cut the available hours for staff, and library personnel have been forced to close their doors earlier and keep them closed all weekend. As a result, frustration has begun to bloom in every campus group – students, classified employees, faculty members, administrators and the governing board. And now, frustration is beginning to blossom into full-blown anger. But the anger is unfocused, with no one particular group for the others to be angry at. In 2011, California community colleges suffered a $502 million cut to help staunch the loss of blood flowing from the state’s bank accounts. This past November, with another round of cuts looming – an additional $300 million statewide – voters passed Proposition 30, Governor Jerry Brown’s proposal to channel taxpayer money into funding schools and community colleges. This is expected to minimize the damage schools will take, but the fiscal ship can’t turn on a dime. It needs time to turn around. Until then, SWC will suffer another round of cuts, and the library remains a casualty of these cuts. Humberto Peraza, SWC governing board vice president, said the damage could have been far worse, but it was still going to force changes. “We went from a $12 million cut to a $6 million cut because of Prop 30, which has helped a lot,” he said. “But this is still significant. Almost everything we do, no matter what we do, a $6 million cut is going to directly impact students.” Student Richard Riddle, 26, said the impact on hours would slice into the please see Library pg. A2
Diana Innocencio/staff
A LION OF A MAN — Professor of English Phil Lopez (at the microphone), an outspoken defender of free speech and employee rights, died of a massive heart attack Friday evening in a Chula Vista hospital. Lopez was widely admired for his service in the faculty union and on campus committees. A staunch advocate for employees and students, Lopez and three other professors were suspended three years ago by a former president for supporting students who were rallying against class cuts. Those suspensions, along with an attempt to silence the campus newspaper, were turning points for SWC and led to a new governing board majority and new administration. Lopez was 64.
more coverage on page A3
Student success legislation ‘narrows the gate’ By Thomas Baker News Editor
Southwestern College and other districts throughout the state will have students going through the two-year system at a much quicker pace with the reforms suggested by the Student Success Task Force (SSTF) as well as a recently signed law called Senate Bill 1456, otherwise known as the Student Success Act of 2012. These legislative acts will change the process by which students go through the community college system. All the reforms outlined by the SSTF will go into effect statewide by 2014 but individual districts are given the ability to implement the reforms ahead of schedule if they are capable
SWC gets jump on guaranteed transfer degrees
of doing so. Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 1456 into law on Sept. 26. This law had two reforms in its bill text. One is the mandatory assessment, orientation and education planning of all new students and the other is placing requirements onto the Board of Governors fee waiver to give students an incentive to make progress on their educational goals. According to the Chancellor’s office, mandatory assessment, orientation and education planning of all new students will be implemented on a statewide level beginning the spring 2013 semester. BOG fee waiver requirements will not be put into system-wide effect until the fall 2014 semester but community college districts have the ability to
Inside:
implement the requirements as of Sept. However change may not be so quick to come to SWC. “There are so many different aspects of the Student Success Act of 2012 that they are following a different time frame,” said Angelica Suarez, vice president of student affairs. “Some of the things being implemented need regulatory changes, some of them need statutory changes.” Currently, the assessment test is not a requirement for incoming students. It is an optional test any student can take to determine at what level they are for classes. A student education plan lays down the roadwork for a student to advance in their education by enrolling in
Former SWC child prodigy releases Christmas single Arts, A9
classes that pertain to their field of study. Starting Spring 2013, all new students are required to have an education plan within a year of their start. Department Chair of the School of Counseling and Personal Development, Scott Finn, said the state recommends a student should state a major and acquire an education plan by the time they have 24 units. “There is no penalty if they do not have an education plan,” he said. “Students who are in our veterans services receiving veterans benefits are required to have one. Our EOPS students have to have a student please see Success pg. A4
Luis Nuñez glad to be back after Afghanistan deployment Campus, B8
please see Transfer pg. A3
Students feel the heat waiting on maintenance By Nickolas Furr Senior Staff Writer
It is not unusual for a Southwestern College maintenance request to sit for a few weeks or a month. An air conditioning issue in room 429, however, went for more than five years without resolution, causing faculty and students to get overheated. Room 429, a reading classroom located in the Academic Success Center, has some folks hot under the collar. John Brown, SWC’s facilities director, insists everything is taken care of. Faculty who use the sweltering room have taken a wait-and-see attitude. “It appears there have been multiple and varied problems over the years with HVAC [Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning] in building 420, impacting room 429,” he said. “It appears maintenance had addressed those as they have come up, which is not unusual, and Dr. Levine is now personally satisfied with the current conditions.” Dr. Joel Levine, dean of the School and Language and Literature, said he was not personally satisfied. “I saw Gus [Frederick “Gus” Latham, maintenance supervisor] this morning and he’s not 100 percent satisfied,” Levine said. “He felt pretty good about it and thought they had taken care of it. But the test remains to see what it’s like after a lot of students had been in there for a while on a reasonably warm day.” Levin, Latham and many others insist there is reason to be cynical after five-plus years of room 429 as a hot topic. In August 2007, Fredric Ball, professor of reading and basic education, sent an email please see AC pg. A4