Senate bill proposals by the Student Success Task Force (SSTF) that are currently in the Legislature could force students across California to create educational plans to complete their degrees early in their college careers and link funding for colleges to student success in school.

Faculty members across the Los Rios district have mixed emotions about how the SSTF’s 22 recommendations will affect students, which were unanimously approved by the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s office.

In 2010, a controversial Senate bill, SB 1143, introduced by Sen. Carol Liu (D-Glendale), proposed basing funding for community colleges on their academic performances. After the [read more...]

City College hosted the first Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transsexual Los Rios District Conference. Following the conference, members of the City College Queer Straight Alliance club organized ‘Fabulosity in Red,’ a talent show featuring students from the district’s colleges.

QSA Club adviser Natascha Storms said the show has been anticipated by the club’s members since the beginning of the fall semester.

“A lot of [queer] students find their self expression in art, especially in high school when it’s not really okay to be out,” Storms said.

For over a decade now, online instruction has offered students an alternative to the scheduled lecture courses that were previously available only on campus.

With the current economic climate and the influx of students seeking higher education, many professors are embracing the Internet as a valuable tool to make learning more accessible to the growing number of students, according to instructors who’ve added online courses to their teaching schedules.

The number of online classes has increased significantly since they first popped up in the mid-1990s. City College now offers more than 100 courses in more than 40 subjects. Tom Miner, [read more...]

What would you do if you knew you had two to five years to live? Would you go skydiving? Follow your dreams of becoming a singer or someone well-known in your field? Cherish your friendships and family members?

These are all the things that 53-year-old former City College student Cathy Speck has accomplished in her life so far.

Speck spoke on March 14 to psychology professor Joanne Moylan-Aube’s class on “The Psychology of Death and Dying.”

As Speck strolled down the classroom aisle, she was aided by her walker, decorated with mini-stuffed animals and purple streamers that hung from either [read more...]

Community college students have an opportunity to study overseas in Barcelona, Spain, this fall semester. The deadline for applications is April 1.

Diane Richy-Ward, professor of art at American River College, said that the program, sponsored by the Northern California Study Abroad Consortium along with the California Community Colleges, is open to all Los Rios students and offers 12 units of UC/CSU transferable courses.

The cost of the trip is $7,365 and that excludes student enrollment fees and airfare.

Financial aid, scholarships, medical services, an optional travel package and other services are available for students that wish to look into [read more...]

When Mike Blanchard was a child, his brother accidentally hit him in the face with a bullwhip. It was then, while he was bedridden that he was introduced to rock ‘n’ roll when his mother bought him his first record, “Please Please Me” by the Beatles.

“I was blind for most of the month and had to lie still the entire time,” says Blanchard, now 50. “I listened to that over and over again”

Blanchard, who has played in local bands for more than 25 years and recently returned to City College for his journalism degree, was raised around creative [read more...]

The Student Associated Council will hold elections for all positions within the Clubs and Events Board and the Student Senate Tuesday and Wednesday, April 17-18, in the Learning Resource Center Lobby.

The outcome of the elections will determine who will run student events and voice student concerns starting July 1.

As SAC Election Chair Amina Hersi said, “If you care about your education, you should be out there [voting]. If you care about what goes on… [if] you have ideas, you should come out and vote.”

Not only will all positions on the two SAC boards—including SAC Senate president and [read more...]

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