Sac City Express » ASG president

Student newspaper wins big awards

Crystal Anderson — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 09:59:24 +0000

Complimentary Image from JACCONLINE

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 daily was one of seven online newspapers awarded general excellence. Several videos and a photo essay on SacCityExpress.com also won awards.

The Northern California awards are judged by professional journalists and are based on mail-in submissions for each academic year. About 60 community colleges statewide belong to JACC, a non-profit educational organization dedicated to community college journalism.

Awards won by the Express:

GENERAL EXCELLENCE PRINT NEWSPAPER
(1 of 6 awarded)
Express Staff Spring 2010

GENERAL EXCELLENCE ONLINE JOURNALISM
(1 of 7 awarded)
Express Online

ONLINE PHOTO ESSAY
(1 of 4 awarded)
Susanne Shirley

VIDEO JOURNALISM
(2 of 6 awarded)
1.Cecilio Padilla
2.Juan De Anda and Cecilio Padilla

NEWS STORY
1st place
Stephanie Rodriguez

STUDENT DESIGNED ADVERTISEMENT
1st place
Casey Mar

SPORTS GAME STORY
Honorable mention
Rob Small

FRONT PAGE LAYOUT
1st place
Casey Mar
David Kitchell
Victor Quintana

PROFILE FEATURE STORY
2nd place
Maxwell McKee

ILLUSTRATION
2nd place
Lori Llanillo

INFORMATIONAL GRAPHIC
3rd place
David Kitchell

NEWS FEATURES STORY
Honorable mention
Genevieve Jerome

For a full list of JACC award winners, go to http://www.jacconline.org/contests-awards.

Who represents you?

Stephanie Rodriguez — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 06:44:50 +0000

This fall semester City College students can expect to see some new and familiar faces on the Associated Student Government board. The Express sat down with these student-leaders to find out who’s running our campus, what qualifications they bring to the proverbial table and what their goals are for the upcoming months.

Former ASG secretary Renee Worley said her past experience allowed her to become familiar with the parliamentary procedures of student government and she also brings her management skills from her job outside City College.

“I’m a manager at my job and I feel like I’m a natural born leader,” Worley said. “I would like [ASG] to have a little more presence on campus so people actually know who we are and what we’re doing with your [student representation fees] and what we’re going to do for the students.”

Worley has made new changes since taking office: reinstatement of the “three meetings rule,” which was removed last spring semester.

“If anyone wants to join the board it is required to attend three ASG meetings before being appointed…” Worley said. “I do like to see that commitment from people because student government is serious.”

City College is the “greenest” of all four Los Rios District community colleges, Worley said. She has plans in the works to keep City College’s title alive, including properly labeling recycle bins, making them more “user friendly” and finding out if City College receives money from the current recycle bins.

With 20 years experience of accounting and bookkeeping, Jessie O’Keefe is the new ASG treasurer.

“I was around last year and I met the whole board and I really enjoyed the camaraderie…,” O’Keefe said. “I believe this year things are going to run smoother because we’ve learned a lot from last year.”

O’Keefe’s semester goal is to keep everything as simple as possible when it comes to the ASG budget.

“A little bit more laymen’s terms for everybody to know exactly where the budget’s at and to keep [the board] informed at all times so they know what monies they can spend and what they can’t,” O’Keefe said.

Bringing her experience as public relations officer for the City College Indigenous Peoples club and also a member of the Phi Theta Kappa honors society on campus, Emma Snuggs said her goal this semester is to put the community back into community college.

“I was the public relations officer for Indigenous Peoples for the year prior to this school year. I also have done a lot of work with outside organizations and I’ve done public relations work all my life…” Snuggs said. “I firmly believe in education and I firmly believe in community…”

Former ASG commissioner of public relations, turned vice president last spring semester, Justin Turner, returns this fall for another term as vice president.

“I wanted to come back and bring my experience,” Turner said. “We do have a bigger board with so much involvement and lots of motivated people.”

Turner is also a communications officer for the Student Senate for California Community Colleges and said he wants to make changes on a state level as well as locally.

“I just want to make sure the students’ voices are heard,” Turner said. “We’re a lot stronger as a region than just as a community college.”

A native New Yorker, Maszaba Carter has held positions of leadership outside City College.

“As Inter-Club Council president, my position also has a lot to do with the events that occur on campus. And that’s one of the things that is going to become more prevalent in future semesters,” Carter said.
Carter encourages all clubs on campus to participate in City College special events to come.

“We have Welcome Day on Thursday the 9th [of Sept.] that we’re working towards,” Carter said. “Our first big club day event is going to be Constitution Day and then of course we have Club Day. Constitution Day is on the 16th [of Sept.] and Club Day is on the 23rd of this month.”

Other positions:

Chief Justice: D. Del Toro
Secretary: Kaylyn Gardner
Commissioner of Legislative Affairs: Ruben Moody
Commissioner of Student Affairs: Richard Ragudo
Commissioner of Technology: Jamie Openshaw
Commissioner of Environmental Affairs–Rubie Simonsen (new position created this semester)

ASG President Steve Macias reinstated

Stephanie Rodriguez — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 03:38:27 +0000

Express file photo Allison Valenzuela

Associated Student Government President Steve Macias has been reinstated in full, following a failed recall attempt and a suspension approved by his fellow ASG members.

More than 600 students voted in the two-day recall election held on Oct. 27 and 28 and more than half voted to remove Macias and ASG Student Affairs Commissioner Monica Guzman from office, according to ASG Vice President Debby Dixon.

The election was declared null and void by City College on Nov. 2, however, due to a violation of an open-meeting law called The Brown Act under California Government Code Section 54954.2 which states:

“The agenda shall specify the time and location of the regular meeting and shall be posted in a location that is freely accessible to members of the public.”

The violation concerned the ASG’s failure to appropriately post the agenda for the special meeting that led to a vote to hold the recall election, ASG Vice President Debby Dixon admitted.

“I messed up the students’ voice,” Dixon said. “I forgot to put the time on the agenda set for the special meeting — just that technicality.”

The same day Macias survived the recall election results he was also suspended and stripped of his duties as president, according to City College Public Information Officer Amanda Hamilton.

“In the absence of his participation as president, the ASG Senate voted to suspend his duties indefinitely so that ASG activities can continue,” Hamilton said.

As quickly as Nov. 5, the suspension of Macias was overruled and he was reinstated in full, according to ASG Commissioner of Public Relations Justin Turner.

“A couple of the members of the ASG have began the process of impeachment,” Turner said. “President Steve Macias has broken constitutional bylaws such as … not being present at meetings, even prior to the recall.”

According to Hamilton, an application form to impeach Macias was submitted to the ASG Judicial Branch on Nov. 2.

As far as Guzman’s position as Student Affairs Commissioner, she has been officially voted out by the ASG board because of unexcused absences, according to Turner.

Guzman is being replaced with former Public Relations Commissioner Richard Martinez, who was nominated and accepted by the board.

“We have no idea where she is,” Turner said. “She had too many unexcused absences before the recall election hit. We just removed her and appointed someone new.”

ASG recall date set

Renee Macauley — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 03:07:29 +0000

SCC file photo Randy Briggs

Associated Student Government President Steve Macias and Student Affairs Commissioner Monica Guzman face a recall election Oct. 27 and 28.

A petition for recall was circulated by the Queer-Straight Alliance about a week after the Genocide Awareness Project held a graphic anti-abortion demonstration on the Quad. Controversial images seen in that Sept. 16 and 17 display included disfigured fetuses alongside lynching and Holocaust imagery and ignited debate across campus.

“The [QSA] group felt like Steve was misrepresenting the GAP group to the student population, and a lot of [QSA] group members felt that it was important that the ASG president follow the correct procedure for inviting groups on campus,” said Ash Pearson, president of the Queer-Straight Alliance.

The initial recall dates were Oct. 19 and 20, but those dates were approved only by the student senate and not the entire ASG board as required by the ASG constitution. The dates were changed to Oct. 27 and 28 and approved by the board in order to meet that requirement, according to ASG adviser Lee Weathers-Miguel.

Associated Student Government Commissioner of Public Relations Justin Turner said the ASG supports the student body’s right to recall.

“The events are unfortunate,” Turner said, “because there are many issues that we would rather be working on, but if the students have spoken then we will make their voice heard.”

ASG members Turner, Dina Kirben and Debby Dixon all expressed the opinion that the agenda description of the GAP display voted on in August by the ASG board for approval was misleading. Dixon stated that when she asked Macias what the event was about, he replied that it would feature nonpartisan speakers on constitutional issues.

According to the Ralph M. Brown Act, which governs the meetings of local legislative bodies, agenda descriptions “must not be misleading.” The Attorney General’s guide to the Brown Act states that the purpose of agendas is “to inform interested members of the public about the subject matter under consideration.”

Macias said he approved the GAP display on the principle of free speech.

“The student government isn’t here to legislate morality,” Macias said. “Allowing different groups to come on to the campus with controversial opinions doesn’t mean we endorse them.”

If Macias and Guzman are recalled, Vice President Debbie Dixon would take over as president.

Macias claims proper procedure for the recall has not been followed. In accordance with the ASG constitution, all petitions for recall must be submitted to the ASG Judicial Branch for signature validation. Macias claims this step was superseded, instead being submitted to and validated by faculty adviser Weathers.

“What do I do if my adviser’s against me?” said Macias. “If he’s the one breaking the rules, where’s my recourse?”

Weathers said that though there were some initial problems with the timing of the recall, he has followed procedure in his handling of the recall petition.

“My role has been to enact the will of student government who represents the student body,” Weathers said. “I just facilitate. I don’t influence or control.”

Weathers said that the recall petitions may not be valid in Guzman’s case, because the original petition did not meet the signature requirement and a subsequent petition did not include Guzman’s name. Her name will be included in the recall election, however.

“She’s pretty much off the board anyway because of her unexcused absences,” Weathers added.

Guzman was not available for comment on this article, but e-mails between Guzman and Macias obtained by the Express reveal that Guzman no longer supports Macias.

“I now see that the only interest you have is your own,” Guzman wrote in an e-mail to Macias where she expressed concern over “the events of Sept. 16 and 17,” the days of the GAP presentation.

“At this time I do not trust you,” Guzman wrote to Macias.

Leave your mark on City College

Robert Pace — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:58:36 +0000

Commemorative bricks will be placed at the base of the Panthers statue near the College Store. Engraving will begin once the 20-order minimum is met. Christopher Geanakos geanakc@imail.losrios.edu

City College and the Associated Student Government are selling commemorative bricks at the base of the Panther statue near the student bookstore.

The statue was installed last year by the ASG. The bricks are at the base of the statue and include one line of up to 15 characters for the buyer’s name. They are priced at $30 for current City College students and $50 for non-students.

“It is a recognition gift that they will have forever,” City College Foundation Executive Director Mary Leland said. “They can come back and sort of see their footprint here — or paw print.”

There are 1,000 bricks available for purchase, and a minimum of 20 orders must be met before any of the bricks can be engraved.

ASG President Steve Macias said that the ASG has been slow to promote the sale because the plans were drawn up by the prior ASG administration.

However, he said there are plans for a full-fledged promotion.

“One of the things our ASG has talked to Mary Leland [about] is commercializing the statue itself, selling commemorative bricks to actual businesses to support the campus,” Macias said. “I feel like we put a lot of money into these local business, [so] they should give something back — right?”

According to Leland, the commemorative brick sale will continue until all 1,000 bricks are sold. She also said that even though the 20-order minimum has not currently been met, she is hopeful that it won’t be too long until every brick is sold.

Proceeds from the sales will go to repay City College and the ASG for the statue’s cost, which Vice President of Administration Robert Martinelli says consisted of about $8,000 contributed by the ASG and roughly $32,000 from the college.

For more information, contact the City College Foundation office at (916) 558-2197