Jeff Parker leads students away from the 26 Bldg. Photo by Lianna Sapien

A fire alarm was activated today in the 26 Bldg. at approximately 9:35 a.m. Students swarmed in front of the building confused and wondering what caused the fire alarm. Jeff Parker, director of public safety, said he does not believe that there was a fire.

“We have a pull station that has been activated and we’re investigating it right now,” Parker said.

Later, Parker mentioned it might have been cheap thrills.

Students resumed their classes at about 9:45 a.m. once public safety officers said the building was safe enough to return.

Lianna Sapien

News Editor

Graphic courtesy of the U.S. Census 2010 campaign.

With the United States 2010 Census underway, it is important to count both citizens and non-citizens; however, the census faces resistance from immigrant communities because of the current issues with immigration policy.

As mandated by Article 1, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, congress has power to conduct the census in “every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct.”

According to the 2010.census.gov Web page, the purpose of the census is to equally distribute the seats of the U.S. House of Representatives among the states, and the equal allotment of funds in order to provide federal services and programs to each state population.

According to the Seattle Times, “For the advocates and the people they represent, each person counted means $1,400 a year in needed health care, housing assistance and other federal and state public-assistance programs.”

However, an enduring problem may hinder a near exact count of the population.

A report made by the Spanish news network, Univision, says that many immigrant communities are wary of the census because they fear being turned in to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E), if they participate.

“The immigrant community in the U.S. fears to be part of the census because they feel like immigration will know where the majority of them live and there could be the possibility of deportation,” said Iveth Cervantes, 19, co-chair of Improving Dreams, Equality, Access and Success (IDEAS), a support group for undocumented students.

“This could also lead to exploitation such as doing more checkpoints on specific target communities,” Cervantes said.

As of March 8, the 2010.census.gov website estimates that 120 million homes will be receiving an advanced census letter urging people to fill out the questionnaire form.

The letter reads, “Dear Resident: About one week from now, you will receive a 2010 Census form in the mail. When you receive your form, please fill it out and mail it in promptly. Your response is important. Results from the 2010 Census will be used to help each community get its fair share of government funds for highways, schools, health facilities, and many other programs you and your neighbors need. Without a complete, accurate census, your community may not receive its fair share. Thank you in advance for your help. Sincerely, Robert M. Grove, director of the U.S. Census Bureau.”

Despite the goals set forth in the letter and its signed sincerity, some are still not entirely comfortable with the idea.

“I don’t think its fair that the government is asking for everyone to be counted because not everyone will qualify for these federal programs,” Cervantes said. “Of course they want to count everyone, including people that are undocumented because it will benefit the state but it wont benefit the majority of the people.”

Jimmy Diaz, 20, chemistry major agreed with Cervantes that immigrants might be avoiding the census in order to protect themselves from further government scrutiny.

“If they speak up, then they may believe it could be a dangerous mistake and this could lead to more persecution,” Diaz said.

Local governments however, want to clarify and stress the fact that all U.S. Census information is confidential.

In a second article by Univision that reports on a possible boycott, Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles speaks in favor of the census.

She said that boycotting the census would be like shooting one’s own foot. She said that the main purpose of the census is to make people visible and to acquire a great deal of representation.

“It is time, be counted!” Salas said.

Josué Velásquez
Multiculture Editor

The Mounties’ women’s team holds a record of 24-6 and with the win advance to the California State Championship tournament that begins on Thursday, Mar. 11, at Cal Luthern College. Mt. SAC will face one of the top four teams from Northern California in the first round, opponent and time to be announced.

The No. 5 men’s team ends its season with a 25-5 record (8-0 in conference) as No. 4 Irvine Valley squeaked by in an overtime one point victory as the Mounties played in another playoff game that went down to the wire. The team had an increase of 12 wins over their 13-17 record last season (3-5 in conference.)

Isai Rocha
Sports Editor

Photo by Josue Velasquez. Student protesters march with a banner depicting President Obama's new national budget.

Students, faculty, and education protection activists rallied yesterday at the Free Speech Area in protest of budget cuts, furloughs, layoffs, and tuition hikes.

Protesters marched through the Student Service Center to Bldg. 26, past the Mountie Grill, and then concluded the demonstration with an open forum at the Free Speech Area.

Arturo Chavez, a history professor at Mt. SAC, was one of many guest speakers at the rally.

“In 1966, when that Reagan guy took over as governor of California, we were second in the nation in spending on public education,” Chavez said, adding that now California has dropped to 49th in the nation.”

Raquel Vega, 24, architecture major, said the rally was an opportunity for students to speak out about the human effects of the budget cuts.

“It’s gonna create some type of resistance to all these cuts that are sweeping across the board, affecting everybody,” Vega said. “They’re just making it harder for students to get through school, as if it weren’t hard enough.”

According to Greg Gonzales, 21, sociology major, the demonstrators set up tables and tents where they would be passing out information regarding California’s education crisis.

The demonstrators also created a graveyard of crosses.

“The crosses represent the death of programs on campus,” Gonzalez said.

Photo by Josue Velasquez. Student organizer Jared Moreno marched with other students in protest of cuts to education.

Jared Molina, 19, political science major, read about the protests on CNN’s web site, and came to support Mt. SAC.

He said the budget cuts have affected the student population and overcrowding of Mt. SAC classes.

“I had 98 people trying to add my anatomy class” Molina  said. “I see it affecting a lot of people, not just me. There’s so many people in the class, it’s hard for the teacher to give that one-on-one individual attention to each student.”

Roberto Dearco, 20, undeclared, said he was affected directly by the budget cuts.

“I came from Cal Poly to Mt. SAC because I didn’t have enough money to pay for school,” Dearco said.

Football player Justin Mostajo, 19, nursing major, said the budget cuts have affected the football program this year.

“Last year we did a lot, but this year we’re gonna have to do a lot of fundraising,” Mostajo said.

Professor April Tellez required her history of the Mexican-American students to attend the rally.

Tellez’ student, Izena Valenzuela, 20, health science major, said, “We have to do a write-up just to describe what the students have to say.”

Valenzuela said she was excited to be there, and funding needed to be reexamined.

“So much money is wasted on the military and we need way more money for education,” she said.

Monitoring the event was Director of Public Safety Jeff Parker.

Parker said he was there “strictly to ensure the peace is kept and to ensure that the students who wish to speak have an opportunity to speak, both pro, con, doesn’t matter to me.”

Shelby Spenser, 33, communication disorders major, was in class when the protesters passed Bldg. 60.

“It was a good disruption,” she said. “Everybody’s been affected by the budget cuts.”

Kashmir Timberlake, 27, a worker in the Veterans’ office of the Student Services Center, and Brianna Hernandez, 18, who works at the information desk, both said the protest did not disrupt their work environment.

Timberlake said she “can’t speak for the office,” but she supported the protest.

Photo by Josue Velasquez. Students voiced their opinions and spoke about the personal effects of budget cuts to education during an open mic portion of the rally.

Pati Guerra, 20, organized a demonstration at Cal Poly Pomona with other student activists.

The demonstrating group performed a Guerrilla Theater satirizing officials handling of the budget cuts.

Guerra said she is the first of her family members to go to college, and is concerned about what college will be like for her younger siblings.

“It’s just becoming more and more expensive,” she said. “I really don’t have the finances to come to school.”

Students participated in the Guerilla Theater by performing poetry, songs, and skits.

In addition to their campus rallying, Mt. SAC and Cal Poly teamed up with other California students, faculty, and supporters for a protest and march in Pershing Square, Los Angeles.

Protesters shouted different chants and  grievances throught the march including:

“Hey Hey, Ho Ho, these budget cuts have got to go!”

“You say furlough, we say hell no!”

“Students united, we’ll never be divided!”

The Pershing Square protest included musical performances, poetry, guest speakers, and a march through downtown to the Ronald Reagan state building.

Megan Lewis & Stephanie Chavez
Staff Writers

Additional coverage of the event can be found here, here and here.

Artwork by Xico Gonzalez. National day of action poster used by the California Faculty Association.

MARCH 4  - [Original]

The national Day of Action March 4 rally is currently in progress today across the state of California.  Universities and colleges from all over the state of California are participating in the rally to defend public education and protest the budget cuts affecting students, faculty, and staff.

The location of rallies for participating universities and colleges can be found on http://ucfightsback.blogspot.com, a blog of coalitions of students, faculty, and unions that formed on September 24, 2009, at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Another website http://www.indybay.org offers the time and location of rallies all over California and focuses primarily on what is happening in Northern California, Oakland, and Berkeley.

Students at UCLA are protesting for lower student fees, maintaining their resources, reversing the layoffs, and stopping pay cuts for the lowest paid workers on campus.

Mt. SAC is participating in the rally today from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. in the Free Speech Area on campus and will then participate with California Polytechnic University, Pomona at Voorhis Park at 2:30pm.

The information on Mt. SAC’s participation in the rally can be found on their Facebook site: http://www.facebook.com/event.

Claudia Gonzalez
College Life Editor

Photo by Josue Velasquez. Mt. SAC students join in dialogue with other student at the CA Dream Network Retreat.

Mt. SAC was represented by six students supporters of an urgent immigration reform bill and the DREAM Act at the University of California, Santa Cruz this past weekend, for the CA Dream Network State Wide Retreat hosted by the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA) and Students Informing Now (SIN).

Over 25 campuses, from San Diego to Davis came together, uniting their efforts towards the 2010 immigration campaign.

Jonathan Carmona, 20, a political science and economics major said, “Seeing 25 campuses from across California come together and plan actions in support of immigrant rights is simply amazing. I will never forget the solidarity we showed this past weekend.”

Carmona, who is a Mt. SAC student, has served and was re-elected to hold a third term in the CA Dream Network committee.

The many events of the weekend included folklore dancing by the Oaxacan community and dance group, Centeotl, of Santa Cruz, workshops to develop one’s personal story, how to organize actions, the development of a networking campaign and the future work that will make the immigration campaign stronger.

Jonathan Sarmiento, 20, biology major said, “I learned many things at the retreat this past weekend but we still have a lot of work to do and direct action is needed to pressure our government. I also learned that we all have different points of view but instead of fighting and arguing with each other, we can always talk them over in order to have a stronger unity between the campuses and CHIRLA.”

The students left UC Santa Cruz in solidarity, knowing that the struggle and the efforts for immigration reform must continue to stand strong they said.

Josué Velásquez
Multiculture Editor

According to the report, LAO analysts recommended that the state Legislature reject and alter portions of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s budget proposal, which does not include fee increases for CCC students. The analysts argue that raising fees from $26 per unit to $40 per unit would “take better advantage of federal dollars available for students.”

According to the report, need-based financial aid programs, such as the CCC’s Board of Governors Fee Waiver, would leave a most students unaffected by a fee increase.

“Keeping fees low does nothing to help lower-income students because these students don’t have to pay fees due to a long-standing fee waiver program,” Higher Education Director Steve Boilard said in a YouTube webcast attached to the report. “What’s more, most middle- and upper- income students who do pay fees are eligible to have those fees reimbursed through the federal government’s tuition tax credit program.”

The recommendation comes at the heels of a $6 fee hike that went into effect for the 2009-2010 school year, an increase of 30 percent from the previous year that brought fees to a current $26 per unit. Even with that hike, CCC’s fees are relatively low: The LAO estimates that CCC fees are “at about 27 percent of the national average.”\

“This fee is by far the lowest in the country,” Boilard said.

“[A fee increase] would generate about $150 million in new fee revenue for the community colleges, which would provide funding for about 26,000 more full-time community college slots,” Boilard said.

The analysts also reccomend that the Legislature reject the Governor’s proposed suspension of Cal Grants starting in 2010-2011.

The report outlines restoring per-student funding for the UC and CSU systems to pre-fiscal crisis levels, which would shave $298 million from the Governor’s budget.

Vanessa Solis
Features Editor

This year marks its 30th anniversary of Women’s History Month in the United States but the Inspiring Women Award is a bit newer.

“Inspiring Women began in 2004 when two female executive officers wanted honor women on campus who have made a difference in the Mt. SAC community,” said Anita Lopez, Associated Students Secretary.

The recipient of the award can be any female student, faculty, staff, or alumni that has made a difference in someone’s life.

“To nominate someone for Inspiring Women students, staff, or faculty can just fill out an application [that is available in the Student Life Office] and write about how that person has impacted their lives,” Lopez said.

Nominations for the 2010 Inspiring Women award are due on Monday, March 8, by 12 noon in the Student Life Office. The Inspiring Women committee will select two current students and two employees or alumni to receive the award.

The award ceremony and banquet will be held on March 24 and the theme for this year’s ceremony is “Write Women Back into History.”

Claudia Gonzalez
College Life Editor

Photo courtesy of ScifiWire.com. Avatar is nominated for 9 Academy Awards including Best Picture.

Editorial
Last June, the Motion Picture Academy decided to add five more movies to the Best Picture category, bringing the number of Best Picture nominations up to ten.

This is seen as a bit of stunning move since there have been five nominations since the 1944 Academy Awards. It is notable, however, that there used to be anywhere between 8 and 12 nominees during the 30’s and early 40’s.

It is also interesting to wonder about what else would be been nominated in the time between 1944 and 2009 if there had been five more nominations. There could have been dozens more nominees, and while those five extra films might not have won, it is always a distinction to be nominated for an Academy Award.

The nominees this year are Avatar, District 9, The Blind Side, An Education, The Hurt Locker, Inglorious Basterds, Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire, Up, A Serious Man, and Up in the Air.

The decision does also seem to broaden the types of films that get nominations, with Up being the second animated film to be nominated for Best Picture to date (the first being Beauty and the Beast). The film Precious also marks the first time in which an African-American director has been nominated for a Best Picture category.

Whatever the reason the Motion Picture Academy has for, it appears to be a good one since it gives more movies the chance to be recognized for excellence in filmmaking.

Raymond Mendoza
Managing Editor