The staff of Susurrus recently learned that the 2010 edition of the City College Literary Journal won second place in the Pacific-Western Division of the Community College Humanities Association Literary Magazine competition. “We’re thrilled and honored to be recognized again by the CCHA,” said Susurrus adviser Jan Haag. “When a national organization gives a student literary journal an award, it is a major validation of the students’ work.” ‘Susurrus has won many past awards in the annual CCHA competition, including the top Best in the Nation prize in 2002 and 2004, as well as second place in 2001 and third place in 2005 in the Pacific-Western Division. “Every year our students turn out a top-quality magazine,” said Language and Literature Division Dean Albert Garcia, who helped launch the journal. “With its quality poems and stories, it’s beautiful artwork and design, Susurrus is stronger than many university journals.”

Since Susurrus’ inception, a new edition of the literary journal has been published every May for the past 16 years, much to Haag’s surprise. “When Tom Miner, Albert Garcia and I started Susurrus in the fall of 1994, we hoped the book might last a good five years,” Haag said. “When we got…» Read More

Nov. 8

Beginning of Homecoming Week. On the Quad and Hughes Stadium. Runs until Nov.11

Nov. 9

Reward, recognition, respect open forum.  Contribute your ideas and suggestions for creating a campus-wide recognition and reward system recognition and reward system.  In LRC 105, from noon – 1 p.m.

Nov. 10

Indian Education – Student Center 5:30-7:30 p.m. Healthy Balance 3 – Cultural Awareness Center 3-5 p.m. and 5-7 p.m.

Nov. 11

Road Trip Nation will be on campus. Look for the Green bus. What is your path in life.

Nov. 15

All-USA Academic Team Scholarship due for more information contact Prof. Joy. Hip Hop and Art with Artist Milton Bowens – Cultural Awareness Center 9 a.m. Native American Film Festival – Movie: TBA Cultural Awareness Center 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 16

Hmong Fashion Show – Student Center 12 – 1:30 p.m. Native American Film Festival – Movie: TBA Cultural Awareness Center 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 17

Native American Health Fair – Student Center 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. Native American Film Festival – Movie: TBA Cultural Awareness Center 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 18

Native American Film Festival – Movie: TBA Cultural Awareness Center 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.

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Every year an estimated 50 students with visual impairments register at the City College Disability Resource Center for the use of alternative textbooks. Depending upon the course, students with disabilities such as blindness or dyslexia struggle through delays to get their specialized course materials needed for class—in some cases up to four months.

Through a partnership between the Alternative Text Production Center and Access Text Network, City College will now have access to an additional 360,000 specialized textbooks for blind and dyslexic students, according to a press release from the ATN. The course materials can be converted to many different formats, including Braille, audio, enlarged-text, or any variation to fit a student’s specific needs.

Though City College students already have access to specialized forms of textbooks, “What would be interesting for us to see is if this makes a difference in [how quickly] we get [materials] from the ATPC,” said Dr. Gwyneth Tracy, coordinator and counselor for the Disability Resource Center.

According to Ryan Glenn, City College Educational Media Design Specialist in charge of converting hardcopy textbooks into usable formats for students with disabilities, wait times depend heavily on the subject matter. For subjects like math or applied sciences, Braille…» Read More

The City College news publication, the Express, garnered an impressive 14 awards at the Journalism Association of Community Colleges NorCal conference Nov. 6 in San Jose.

Online news editor for SacCityExpress.com, Stephanie Rodriguez, won first place for her article about the recall effort of ASG president Steve Macias during fall 2009. Under Rodriguez’s leadership as editor in chief during the spring 2010 semester, the Express was one of six community college newspapers in Northern California to win the general excellence category.

“Winning general excellence shows the Express is a student-publication worth paying attention to,” Rodriguez said. “It definitely shows all the hard work, late nights and stress of running a publication pays off in the end.”

Two other first-place awards were presented to the Express page designers. Casey Mar, former Express design editor and current “Nightlife” columnist for The Sacramento Bee’s Ticket, won first place for her student-designed advertisement. Mar, Victor Quintana and David Kitchell won for their front-page newspaper design. News editor Maxwell McKee, recently hired as a public relations technician in the City College Public Information Office, placed second for his profile on Scott Bailey, a City Theatre staff technician.

The Express website, SacCityExpress.com, presenting original online content…» Read More

Falling behind in classes can drastically affect an entire semester—especially in the case of grades. But a new website called NoteUtopia.com developed by Sacramento State graduate Ryan Stevens, allows college students to upload and share their notes, and even study guides, from class lectures.

Relying on users to upload course materials to the site, NoteUtopia.com acts as both a social networking hub and a marketplace for notes and study materials. The site was designed for college students to collaborate on projects, as well as share course-specific notes with other students. Users are given the option to upload their notes and share them with other students for free, or charge a small fee for access.

“You might charge $1 for a note, 2 bucks for a study guide, or 5 bones for an outline.  It’s really that simple,” as NoteUtopia.com’s introduction video states.

Amy Lopez, a graphic communications major at City College heard about NoteUtopia.com on the radio. Although she hasn’t used the site herself, she can see its potential usefulness to students.

“I think it’s helpful,” Lopez said. “I think some people aren’t great note takers, but it might help supplement your notes.”

To assure the best notes rise to the…» Read More

The results are in and this year’s City College Outstanding Essay Contest winner is Kevin Cornwall.

Cornwall will receive $1,000 as the winner. He is not the only student being recognized for submitting outstanding writing. Claire Davis received second place. For third place, a tie took place between Jonathan Berg and Erin Palecek.

“This time we wound up with two essays that we felt were in that third place category,” Maureen Dana, City College Outstanding Essay Contest judge said. “We went back and forth and couldn’t choose between the two, so we decided to award two third place [winners].”

The contest is run by the English department, and funded by the Sierra Health Foundation, who donated a total of $2,300. First place will receive $1000; second place will receive $700 and third will collect $300 each.

The Express congratulates Kevin Cornwall and the recipients for their outstanding essays. They were publicly recognized Thursday, Nov. 4, at noon in the Rodda Hall South building in Room 221.

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City College Physical Education, Health and Athletics professor Karen Kunimura was honored by the Emeriti Affiliates on Oct. 21 as the 2010 recipient of their faculty achievement award for more than 30 years of service and leadership.

Kunimura has mentored students and served faculty through a variety of coaching and administrative positions, namely as women’s track and field coach, athletic department chair and athletic coordinator. In addition, Kunimura currently serves as the faculty representative for the division on both the Curriculum and Student Learning Outcomes Advisory committees.

“Miss Kunimara emulates all the qualities of leadership, collaboration, and student-centered teaching the Emeriti faculty achievement award represents,” said City College Emeriti Affiliates Director Mary Leland.

According to Leland, Kunimura has been an invaluable administrative leader for City College in her work with district and state organizations.

The City College Emeriti Affiliates, founded in 1982 by a group of retired faculty, staff, and administrators, has over 100 members and holds a yearly fall luncheon recognizing a faculty member for their outstanding achievements.

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After a nine-month wait, the Clery crime report was published showing 2009 crime statistics at City College.

According to the annual Clery Report, crimes at City College decreased in 2009 for all major areas except motor vehicle theft. The Clery Report, published by the Los Rios Community College District, reported that six motor vehicle thefts occurred on campus in 2009 and that assault, robbery, burglary and sex offenses all decreased.

Because of the Clery Report data and vehicle thefts that have recently occurred, Sgt. Mike Olson of the Los Rios Police Department said his department has taken action. “We jumped on it. I brought in extra officers from other campuses, we kind of flooded the campus.”

The LRPD also teamed up with the Sacramento Police Department’s car theft task force who brought out “ bait cars,” according to Olson. Bait cars are alluring vehicles that are strategically placed to entice would-be burglars and car thieves.

Car thieves had been increasingly targeting City College and Cosumnes River College for the past month and a half and the operation yielded at least three arrests, according to the report.

“At this point, suddenly the motor vehicle thefts have kind of dropped off the…» Read More

California community college degree and transfer rates are too low and must increase or face losing state budget funds, said proponents of a new state law signed Sept. 28 by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Opponents like the Los Rios College Federation of Teachers, which represents college professors, worry how the bill will affect already underfunded campuses.

“The motivation behind the bill (Senate Bill 1143) is that we have a lot of students going to community colleges and not completing with a certificate or a degree,” Suzanne Reed, California state Sen. Carol Liu’s chief of staff said. “Only 29 percent of community college students who enter the system in pursuit of a certificate or degree or to transfer to a four-year institution advance after seven years.”

Surviving five amendments during its six-month journey through the Legislature, SB 1143 introduced by Liu, awards funds to colleges whose students complete the most degrees and certificates, based on the school’s enrollment.

Funding for community colleges is based on the number of full-time students counted in the third week of the term. The original bill would have required a census in the third week and again at the end of the term to get more of…» Read More