Apr 04 Issue 6 - AztecPressOnline

[email protected] • www.AztecPressOnline.com
April 4-17, Spring 2013 • Issue 6
Community Campus • Desert Vista Campus • Downtown Campus • East Campus • Northwest Campus • West Campus
Pima braces for probation
By CHELO GRUBB
Pima Community College’s accreditor
may place the college on probation following a damning report.
The Higher Learning Commission
will vote April 6 on whether to place a
sanction on the college.
Pima will be notified about the board’s
decision within 10 days of the vote.
Arizona State University and the University of Arizona have written to the
college saying they will continue to accept transfer credits from Pima.
Meanwhile, the Pima board and administration have been making efforts to
avoid probation by appointing a new interim chancellor and repealing unpopular admissions standards.
See related stories on Pages 8 and 9.
To catch up on the circumstances that
have lead to the possibility of probation,
visit AztecPressOnline.com.
ACCREDITATION COVERAGE
Page 6
Aztec Press editorial, “College needs a cleansing”
Page 8
New interim chancellor
Board removes admissions requirements
Page 9
Credits still qualify for transfer
Faculty Senate votes ‘no confidence’ in board
Admission policy change
Pima responds to HLC
Andrew Paxton/Aztec Press
Members of Scholarship A-Z, a student support group, hold up signs criticizing Pima
Community College’s governing board during a meeting on March 29.
AztecPressOnline.com
Full versions of all accreditation correspondence
Files show killer’s mindset
By ANDREW PAXTON
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department
has released all of its previously-sealed
investigation records pertaining to Jared
Lee Loughner, in compliance with a court
order.
On March 25 at 8 a.m., more than 2,700
documents were released to the public,
including witness interviews, results of
search warrants and records from 911 calls.
Loughner, 24, is the Tucson shooter convicted in the Jan. 8, 2011 attack that left
six dead and 13 wounded, including thenCongresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
The records paint a picture of a troubled
young man’s life, and provide a timeline of
events. The events include Loughner being pulled over by a Game and Fish officer
hours before the shooting, and him nervously pacing in a Circle K waiting for the
Brazilian
acclimates
Page 5
taxi that would deliver him to his targets.
Nearly everyone who came into contact
with Loughner, from strangers to friends to
his own parents, had a feeling that something was wrong with him, according to
statements made to detectives in the days
and weeks following the shootings.
But nobody saw enough to prevent the
tragedy that waited on the horizon, despite
the countless warning signs.
Before the shootings, Loughner was a
student at Pima Community College. He
had several run-ins with law enforcement,
and was eventually expelled from the college after posting a video on YouTube
blasting Pima.
According to the records, PCC officials
told Loughner’s parents he should seek a
mental health evaluation, and recommended that any weapons be confiscated from
him and hidden.
His father responded by taking his son’s
shotgun and locking it up.
His parents also began disabling his car
at night, and had him drug tested after his
strange behavior continued. He passed the
drug test.
However, no mental health evaluation
was ever conducted on Loughner.
Loughner’s father also told investigators that being expelled from Pima may
have been the final straw that pushed his
son over the edge.
A few months later, he legally purchased
the handgun used to commit the murders.
Employees had reservations selling the
weapon to Loughner, but eventually allowed him to purchase the firearm after he
passed a background check, according to
the records.
After the shootings, Loughner was held
in a psychiatric correctional facility. He was
forcefully medicated for
more than a year.
Loughner eventually pled guilty rather
than face trial, prompting Judge Larry
Burns to sign a court order lifting the restriction prohibiting release of the records.
The prosecution had no protests to the publication.
Loughner’s lawyer expressed objection
to the release, but did not file a motion to
block the release.
Softball
on a roll
Page 15
INDEX
News/Features: Pages 2-5
Opinion-Insight: Pages 6-7
Spotlight: Pages 8-9
A&E: Pages 10-12
Sports: Pages 13-15
AztecPressOnline.com Poll: Should the college board resign?
2
Aztec Press
April 4-17, Spring 2013
AZTEC CALENDAR: April 4-17
TUCSON EVENTS
LIVE MUSIC
CAMPUS EVENTS
April 5: Photo Friday at Center For Creative
Photography, 1030 N. Olive Road, 11:30
a.m.-3:30 p.m. Free, donations accepted.
Details: 621-7968.
April 9: Phoenix (indie rock) at AVA, 5655
W. Valencia Road, 8 p.m., all ages, $25-$35
gen. admission. Details: http://tickets.solcasinos.com.
April 4: Student withdrawal deadline for
16-week Spring Semester classes.
April 6: 20 Cents-A-Pound Airplane Rides,
Ryan Air Field, 7-11 a.m. Limited ticket
sales, price varies by weight. Details: 5738100.
April 12: Dropkick Murphys (rock) at The
Rialto, 318 E. Congress St., 8 p.m., all ages,
$26 general admission/$27 day of show.
Details: rialtotheatre.com/events.php or
740-1000.
April 11-14: Spring Fling at Rillito Downs,
First Avenue and River Road. April 11-12:
4 p.m.-midnight, April 13: noon-midnight,
April 14: noon.-8 p.m. $5 admission, additional fees on website. Details: springfling.
arizona.edu.
April 10: International Student Club Nacho & Bake Sale. West Campus, Bookstore
Lobby.
April 11-21: “The Diary of Anne Frank.”
West Campus, CFA Black Box Theatre.
Thursdays-Saturdays: 7:30 p.m.; Sundays: 2
p.m. $15, with discounts available. Box office: 206-6986. Details: pima.edu/cfa.
April 17: Café Tacvba (Spanish rock) at The
Rialto, 8 p.m., all ages, $40 adv./ $45 gen.
admission day of show. Details: rialtotheatre.com/events.php.
April 11: Faculty tuba recital. West Campus, CFA Recital Hall. 7 p.m. $6, with discounts available. Box office: 206-6986.
April 18: FUTURE (hip-hop) at The Rialto,
8 p.m., all ages, $27 adv./ $28 gen. admission day of show. Details: rialtotheatre.
com/events.php.
April 12-14: Dust Devil Tournament in Tucson, 1145 E. Valencia Road. Bout 1, April
12: 7:30 p.m.; Bouts 2-8, April 13: 9 a.m.7:30 p.m.; Bouts 9-14, April 14: 9 a.m.-5:45
p.m. Pre-sale daily pass $15, weekend pass
$25, day-of daily pass $18, weekend pass
$32. Details: dustdeviltournament.com.
April 16-17: Library book sale. West Campus, Santa Catalina Building east patio. 10
a.m.-2 p.m.
April 17: Earth Day celebration. Northwest
Campus, second level. 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Details: 206-4500.
April 19: The Midway Music Festival ft. Diplo, 2 Chainz and Krewella at The Slaughterhouse, 1102 W. Grant Road, all ages, $30$55. Details: showclix.com/event/3749686
or 344-2224.
April 13-14: Arizona Opera: “The Marriage of Figaro,” 260 S. Church Ave. April
13: 7:30 p.m., April 14: 2 p.m. Prices and
details: 293-4336.
April 17: Annual Juried Student Art Exhibition reception. Louis Carlos Bernal Gallery,
West Campus CFA. Noon-3 p.m. Award
ceremony at 1 p.m. Exhibit runs through
May 3. Details: pima.edu/cfa or 206-6942.
April 19: Silversun Pickups at the Pima
County Fair, 13100 S. Houghton Road, 8
p.m., $8 general admission, $5 parking.
Details: pimacountryfair.com or 762-FAIR.
April 18-28: Pima County Fair, 11300 S.
Houghton Road. Mondays-Fridays: 1 p.m.closing, Saturdays-Sundays: 10 a.m.-closing. $8 general admission, $5 parking. Details: pimacountyfair.com or 762-FAIR.
VIDEO GAME RELEASES
April 5:
“Double Dragon II: Wander of the Dragons” (Xbox 360)
“Sang-Froid: Tales of Werewolves” (PC)
“Lords of Football” (PC)
MOVIE OPENINGS
PIMA HOME SPORTS
Theater releases:
April 4: Women’s tennis vs. Paradise Valley
CC, West Campus, 1:30 p.m.
April 12:
“Scary Movie 5”
“42”
DVD/Blu-ray releases:
April 9:
“The Sorcerer and the White Snake”
“Hyde Park on Hudson”
“The Kitchen”
“Bad Kids Go to Hell”
“Late Bloomers”
“Stolen”
April 9:
“Age of Empires II HD Edition” (PC)
“Guacamelee!” (PS3, Vita)
April 10:
“Age of Wushu” (PC)
“ShootMania Storm” (PC)
“Ocean City Racing” (PC, MAC)
April 11:
“Dillion’s Rolling Western: The Last Ranger” (3DS)
April 16:
“Django Unchained”
“Dragon”
“Save the Date”
“Wings of Life”
If there’s one thing biweekly newspapers
aren’t known for, it’s breaking news. It isn’t
easy to scoop major publications with a 14day production schedule.
This is my fifth semester working for the
Aztec Press. During my first three semesters,
deadlines worked like this: I spent a week researching and talking to sources.
Hours after emailing in my first draft, I
would receive an edit. Some commas moved
around and I called the piece finished.
That’s not the case anymore, thanks to a
constantly developing situation between the
college and PCC’s accreditor, the Higher
Learning Commission. (See related stories,
Pages 1, 6, 8 and 9).
A&E EDITOR
Bruce Hardt
SPORTS EDITOR
Steve Choice
PHOTO EDITOR
Larry Gaurano
SENIOR REPORTER
Celeste Orendain
REPORTERS
Arlo Costales
Jorge Encinas
Jaime Hernandez
Diego Lozano III
Corynn Marsh
Paloma Mello
Cole Potwardowski
Barry Jed Richardson Jr.
Nellie Silva
Sheila Templeton
Rose Valenzuela
COPY EDITORS
Erik Bachmann
Najima Rainey
Adriana Soria
Katie Stewart
CONTRIBUTORS
Noelle Fontaine
Leftrick Herd
Sierra J. Russell
FACULTY ADVISER
Cynthia Lancaster
ASSISTANT
Larry Gaurano
ADVERTISING MANAGER
Anthony French
April 13: Softball vs. Central Arizona College, West Campus, noon
WEBSITE
AztecPressOnline.com
April 14-15: Men’s golf, Silverbell Golf
Course, 11 a.m./10 a.m.
FACEBOOK
Facebook.com/Aztec Press
Compiled by Aztec Press staffers
Movies: Jaime Hernandez
Music: Nellie Silva
Pima home sports: Jaime Hernandez
Tucson events: Jorge Encinas
Video games: Andrew Paxton
Submit listings for free or inexpensive events
of interest to the Pima community at least
one week before publication date to:
Aztec Press Calendar, [email protected]
An unexpected dose of breaking news
Some stories have to be written from scratch
the night before the paper goes to press. Others are written ahead of time and then made
completely irrelevant by a surprise board
meeting or an administrator email.
Once the paper is ready to send to press, we
anxiously check our emails one last time just
to make sure nothing new has come in.
The news team (primarily made up of News
Editor Andrew Paxton and me) has spent
many late night hours in the newsroom going
over drafts of the paper.
We’ve gone to countless meetings. We’ve
taken detailed notes on letters between the
college and the HLC and obsessively checked
the college’s website for updates. We’ve overheard PCC employees gossiping about news
we didn’t even know had broken.
NEWS EDITOR
Andrew Paxton
April 9: Baseball vs. Central Arizona College, West Campus, noon
FROM THE EDITOR
By CHELO GRUBB
Staff
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Chelo Grubb
CARTOONISTS
Chris Kosters
Mariah Wall
April 5:
“Jurassic Park 3D”
“Evil Dead”
April 4:
“Evoland” (PC)
Aztec Press
I guess that’s the fun of collegiate and, well,
all newspapers.
It’s news, stuff happens.
News doesn’t follow deadlines and it’s pretty much impossible to tell when the big stuff
is going to break.
It’s a little dose of real-world deadline writing for the community college journalism
world.
Of course, this isn’t the ideal situation.
We’d much rather be a part of a college that
wasn’t facing probation.
I, for one, absolutely love this college. I’ll
be looking for updates, hoping to hear positive news about Pima’s progress.
But, as far as silver linings go, gaining journalism experience and breaking news clips
isn’t the worst condolence prize.
TWITTER
twitter.com/aztecpress
twitter.com/aztecsports
NEWS EMAIL
[email protected]
NEWS PHONE: 206-6800
ADVERTISING EMAIL
[email protected]
AD PHONE: 206-6901
FAX: 206-6834
Since 1970, a student-operated
newspaper has served as a public
forum for Pima Community College
student and employees.
The Aztec Press is printed biweekly,
eight times a semester,
by Signature Offset in Tempe.
Circulation is 5,000.
Unless otherwise noted, all
articles, photographs and graphics
are the exclusive property of
Aztec Press and may be reprinted
only with the express written
consent of the editor.
The entire contents of
Aztec Press
are copyright 2013.
Pima Community College
2202 W. Anklam Road
Tucson, AZ 85709-0210
SPRING 2013
PUBLICATION SCHEDULE
Issue
Issue
Issue
Issue
Issue
Issue
Issue
Issue
1:
2:
3:
4:
5:
6:
7:
8:
Thursday, Jan. 24
Thursday, Feb. 7
Wednesday, Feb. 20
Thursday, March 7
Thursday, March 21
Thursday, April 4
Thursday, April 18
Thursday, May 2
Society of Professional Journalists
2009 national finalist: best all-around
two-year college newspaper
Aztec Press
NEWS/FEATURES
April 4-17, Spring 2013
3
THE WORD: What’s your favorite prank?
Check out video versions of The Word at AztecPressOnline.com
Photos and interviews by Cole Potwardowski at East Campus
“I’m not a prankster.
I’m a good kid.”
“I don’t really prank
people that much.”
“Rig the kitchen sink and
spray them with water.”
“It depends on the person,
nothing super mean.”
“Hide something of theirs,
like their candy.”
Adrian Traslavina
Major: Computer science
Jessica Cornell
Major: Nursing
Connor Sams
Major: Fire science
Marisa Wysocki
Major: Psychology
David Deeb
Major: Business
Campus Coverage
Desert Vista
Downtown
Compiled by Nellie Silva
Compiled by Sheila Templeton
East
Compiled by Cole Potwardowski
Northwest
Compiled by Paloma Mello
West
Compiled by Celeste Orendain
3000 Club events
Creative writing
Test workshop
Open house
Library book sale
The Desert Vista 3000 Club
will host Market on the Move and
medical reclamation projects on
April 6 from 7-10 a.m.
You can purchase up to 60
pounds of fresh produce for $10.
The club will also collect unused medical supplies and personal care products to redistribute
to people in need.
For more information about the
events, visit the3000club.org.
Steve Kowit, a professional
writer who will teach a creative
writing workshop April 5-7.
The workshop schedule is Friday from 6-8 p.m., and Saturday
and Sunday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Pima Community College students can register through MyPima at pima.edu.
For more information, contact
Josie Milliken at 206-7156 or
Brooke Anderson at 206-7350.
A workshop on managing test
anxiety will be held April 9 from
1-2 p.m. in the library learning
studio.
The workshop will highlight
tips on test preparation, stress
during the test and prioritizing
academics.
It is one of 12 student aid workshops being held this spring.
For more information, call 2064500.
Potential students can tour the
campus, talk to lead faculty, receive information about financial
aid, and learn about training programs such as business, accounting, computers, hotel and restaurant management.
A Southern Arizona Arts and
Cultural Alliance art festival will
take place on campus at the same
time.
For details, call 206-2200.
The West Campus library will
hold a book sale on April 16-17
from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. outside the
Santa Catalina building on the
east patio.
The library holds the sale each
semester, selling books that have
been donated or are no longer
needed for an inexpensive price.
Proceeds benefit the library fund.
For more information, visit the
library or call 206-6821.
Social Work Degree in Tucson!!!
You are invited to attend an Information
Session to learn how you can get your
Bachelor of Social Work (BSW)
BSW Application Deadline for Fall 2013 Admission is May 1, 2013
2012-2013 BSW Information Session Dates
4:00-5:00 PM on the following Mondays:
September 24 ● October 22 ● November 19 ● December 17 ● January 28
February 18 ● March18 ● April 8 ● May 27
RSVP by calling 884-5507 x 10 or 17
____________________________________________________
Topics Covered:
*Social Work as a Career
*Program Requirements/How to Apply
*Financial Aid /Scholarships
*Child Welfare Training Program Scholarship
*Developing a Transfer Course Plan
*******
Please bring unofficial transcripts for evaluation
____________________________________________________
Arizona State University
College of Public Programs
School of Social Work-Tucson Component
340 N. Commerce Park Loop, Suite 250-Tortolita Building
Tucson, AZ 85745
(520) 884-5507
http://ssw.asu.edu/tucson
Tucson’s “Best Kept Secret” for over 35 years!
Cole Potwardowski/Aztec Press
Program director Susi Schmidt provides pharmacy technology details.
East Campus features
pharmacy technology
By COLE POTWARDOWSKI
Students interested in pursuing
careers in pharmacy technology
attended a professional panel at
East Campus on March 28.
The pharmacy technology session was one of three panels being
held at East Campus this spring.
The first was veterinary technology careers on Feb. 28 and the
last is administrative of justice
careers on April 24.
Counselor Danielle Berrien organized the sessions.
“I hope this will give students
a chance to learn more about the
three major programs here at the
East Campus,” she said.
Program director Susi Schmidt
led the pharmacy discussion.
Greg Novak, an in-patient
pharmacy technician at University Medical Center, elaborated
on the program’s benefits.
“Anyone can get a study book,
but it’s hard to find a job without
formal training,” he said.
UMC is one of many Tucson
hospitals that offer internships
through the PCC program.
Students are eligible for internships after earning lab certification or pursuing an associate of
applied science degree.
On the retail end, Schmidt announced that a recent contract
with Safeway has opened alternative opportunities for pharmacy
technology internships.
The American Society of
Health System Pharmacists accredits Pima’s pharmacy technology program.
4
April 4-17, Spring 2013
NEWS/FEATURES
AZTEC PRESS
SAYING GOODBYE TO EARLY PIMA LEADERS
HENRY ‘HANK’ OYAMA
Mourners honor activist
By STEVE CHOICE
Photo courtesy of Steven Harper
Pima Community College President Kenneth Harper meets with students
at West Campus in 1972, during a rally held to support him.
KENNETH HARPER
First president
dies in Phoenix
By STEVE CHOICE
Kenneth Harper, Pima Community College’s president when
the school opened in 1969, died
of natural causes on March 15 in
Phoenix. He was 91.
Harper was integral in establishing a culture of diversity and
inclusiveness at Pima College, as
the school was called then.
“Ken was very ahead of his
time,” former PCC physics instructor Pat Hruby said. “He
wanted this college to embrace
everybody and truly reflect the
face of the community.”
A former Methodist minister,
Harper had some of his earliest
experiences with diversity as a
missionary in the remote villages
of Zimbabwe.
Those experiences squared perfectly with Harper’s attitudes at
Pima, Hruby said.
“Under Ken’s leadership, we
didn’t think about any differences,” she said. “That was revolutionary.”
Former PCC humanities instructor and counselor Lee Scott
said Harper’s influence is still felt
today.
“Those three years when Ken
was president were incredibly
defining years for the college,”
Scott said.
“I have to think that deep underneath it all was his very authentic Christian commitment to
inclusiveness.”
Steven Harper, one of the expresident’s four children, looked
back on his father’s stewardship
of Pima.
“My father tried to hire a staff
that was reflective of the ethnic
makeup of the city,” he said. “He
was really stretching the edges of
what was being done at the time.”
Steven Harper said those ideals may have led to his father’s
removal by the Pima governing
board in 1972.
“He had hired as instructors
a black man and a Latino man
who were politically involved in
the community,” he said. “The
board didn’t like the men’s political stances and affiliations, so
they demanded that my father fire
them.
“He refused, so he was forced
to resign under pressure.”
About 1,000 students rallied at
West Campus in support of Harper as the controversy unfolded.
After serving at Pima, he became president at Riverside City
College in Riverside, Calif.
Harper moved to Phoenix in
2006, and spent his last years
teaching Tai Chi, dance, meditation and poetry classes.
“He was teaching Tai Chi up to
a week before he broke his hip,”
Steven Harper said. “That was
just about two weeks before he
passed.”
The younger Harper, who
teaches at the Esalen Institute in
Calif., said his father’s influence
lives on.
“The theme of my father’s life
was education, and as a son, I’m
proud of my dad for that.”
See an additional photo and read
a longer version of this story at
aztecpressonline.com.
At exactly midnight on March
20, the amazing life of local educator and civil rights activist
Henry “Hank” Oyama came to an
end. He was 86.
Funeral services were held
March 25 at the Saint Augustine
Cathedral. Oyama was interred
at Holy Hope Cemetery in a ceremony that included a U.S. Air
Force color guard.
The former Pima Community College administrator was
remembered by all as a man of
integrity and significant local influence.
“Hank was very active in the
Tucson community,” Tony Arroyo said. “He got along with
everybody and seemed to know
everybody.”
Arroyo, director of the Desert
Vista Campus library, served with
Oyama on various Pima-related
fundraising boards. Oyama’s
wife Ann recalled his giving and
accepting nature.
“Hank was a very generous guy
with everybody,” she said. “Hank
didn’t think about class or race
when he set out to help people.
He always just wanted to bring
people together.”
Born on Tucson’s south side
in 1926, Oyama was of Japanese
descent, but spoke only Spanish
until he attended grade school.
In 1942, he and his family were
Steve Choice/Aztec Press
Hank Oyama at his home in 2010.
sent to a Japanese-American internment camp.
Instead of turning against his
country, he joined the U.S. Army
in 1945, as World War II entered
its final stages.
The 19-year-old private’s
skills were put to effective use
as a counterintelligence agent in
Panama.
Following WWII, Oyama attended the University of Arizona
as an Air Force Reserve Officers’
Training Corps cadet.
He earned a master’s in education in 1953. He went on to teach
Spanish and history at Pueblo
High School.
In 1959, Oyama and first wife
Mary Ann Jordan, a white woman, made history by attempting
Buy one, get one free
eegee’s coupon at
www.eegees.com
april cookie of the month
chocolate lover’s
to get married. Interracial marriage was outlawed in the state
at the time. Their legal challenge
reached the Arizona Supreme
Court, where the law was declared unconstitutional.
In 1966, Oyama and five colleagues published “The Invisible
Minority,” a landmark study that
focused on Hispanics’ educational experiences in the Southwest.
The work was instrumental in
President Lyndon Johnson’s signing of the Bilingual Education
Act in 1968.
Oyama became director of Pima’s bilingual and international
studies program in 1970. He rose
through the ranks, eventually becoming an associate vice president before retiring in 1992.
That year, Oyama co-founded
Amigos de Pima Community
College, an organization that
awards scholarships to Spanishspeaking students.
Oyama received numerous
awards honoring his contributions, including Pima County
Man of the Year in 1993. A Tucson elementary school was named
for him in 2003.
“Well ... things happen,” Oyama said in 2010 of the events he
had been part of. “I’ve just always
wanted to do my part to build
bridges in whatever I’ve done.”
Read a longer version of this
story at aztecpressonline.com.
Aztec Press
NEWS/FEATURES
April 4-17, Spring 2013
5
Tuition
Brazilian learns nursing skills gets $2
increase
THE INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE
By PALOMA MELLO
Ivens Emanuel Potenza, 29, came to Tucson in 2008 from his hometown of Curitiba,
Brazil.
After studying business for four years at
Universidade Positivo in Curitiba, he arrived
in the United States with two main goals:
improve his English and study nursing.
Potenza studied English at the University
of Arizona.
“It took me six months to get a hold of
the language,” Potenza said. “Besides the
ESL classes, I learned by watching movies,
listening to songs and interacting with other
students, and friends. Grammar for me is
still a nightmare, though.”
He enrolled in Pima Community College’s nursing program in July 2008.
“I was told that I would have to wait 18
months to enter the program, which made
me think of dropping Pima and going to a
different school,” he said. “However they
called me in less than six months.”
He is now in his last semester of classes
at Pima and works as a nurse technician in
clinical classes at Northwest Medical Center.
“It’s been hard to conciliate studying with
work,” he said. “I wake up studying and I eat
studying when I’m not working, but I will
not quit until I’m done.”
Potenza said he received an excellent
nursing education at PCC, calling the program very thoughtful and serious. “I have
received a couple of job offers, including
one at the Northwest Medical Center,” he
said.
Once he graduates from PCC in May, Potenza plans to earn a bachelor’s degree in
nursing.
Potenza said he often felt homesick while
living in a different country without his family and friends.
“Several times I thought about returning
home without finishing what I came here
for,” he said.
“It’s easier to deal with adversities when
By ANDREW PAXTON
Paloma Mello/Aztec Press
Ivens Potenza works at Northwest Medical Center as a nurse technician in clinical classes.
you have parents, friends and family all
around.”
Although he still thinks about his friends
and family in Brazil, Potenza has realized
that he can make friends anywhere.
He now feels surrounded by lots of good
people in Tucson, too.
“I ended up getting married to an amaz-
ing woman, Pamela, and we are expecting a
baby girl 10 days after my graduation day,”
he said.
“The best things about my experience as
an international student were the new friendships and the knowledge of a new culture,
where I was able to fit right in with some
adjustments,” he said.
Legislators seek to regulate guns
By STEVE CHOICE
From Capitol Hill to tiny city halls, legislatures all over the country are considering a
multitude of gun-related bills.
The U.S. Senate is expected to vote on a bill
in April that would expand law enforcement
background checks, crack down on gun trafficking and fund programs intended to boost
school security.
The Senate Judiciary Committee had also
approved an assaults weapons ban to go to
the full body for a vote, but Senate Majority
Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., stripped the passage from the legislation. He said it will be
offered as a separate amendment.
Reid said support for a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines does not
exist, with Republicans and Democrats representing rural states unlikely to sign on.
The gun trafficking measure in the Senate
bill targets so-called “straw purchases,” which
is when someone buys a gun for a person who
is legally prohibited from obtaining one or
who wishes to avoid background checks.
It would become a federal crime to purchase a firearm for someone who is barred
from owning one, and carry a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
STATE LEGISLATION
Statehouses across the country are also taking up the issue, both with bills to enhance
control of firearms and to protect gun-owner
rights.
New York passed the Secure Ammunition
and Firearms Enforcement Act on Jan. 15.
Among other provisions, the law limits detachable magazines at seven rounds, requires
a state registry of assault weapons, outlaws
Internet sales of assault weapons and requires
background checks for all gun sales, including
by private owners.
Colorado followed suit in March, though
with less far-reaching legislation.
The Colorado law includes a universal
background check, aimed at closing loopholes
in private gun sales, and places a 15-round
limit on magazines. A bill requiring buyers
to pay a fee for their background checks also
became law.
Many country sheriffs in the state have declared their opposition to the new laws, and
there’s serious doubt they will enforce them.
‘SUPREMACY CLAUSE’
In a sign of the just how fractious the national debate is, the specter of local and state
nullification of federal law is being raised.
Though Article VI, Clause 2 of the U.S.
Constitution, also known as “the Supremacy
Clause,” establishes federal law as “the supreme law of the land,” numerous officials
at lower levels of government have vowed to
ignore any federal legislation they don’t agree
with.
In Alaska, the state’s Republican-led House
passed a bill in February that would exempt
Alaskans from following federal gun laws.
Federal agents who attempted to enforce them
would be subject to felony charges.
Numerous other states have proposed similar measures to pre-empt any federal laws that
may be passed.
LOCAL LEGISLATION
Even local governments have penned laws
to address the issue of guns.
In March, a Georgia town council committee unanimously approved a proposal to mandate gun ownership.
Citizens of Nelson, Ga., a town of about
1,300 located 50 miles north of Atlanta, will
review the proposal before the council votes
on it.
In the Nelson ordinance, people with physical or mental disabilities are exempt from the
law, as are “paupers,” felons, and those who
oppose gun ownership based on religious doctrine.
A similar law is being considered in tiny
Byron, Maine.
“I believe in the right to bear arms,” Selectman David Noise said, “but you shouldn’t
make people. What are you going to do if I
don’t want one? Come to my house and tell
me I have to leave town?”
The proposals seek to address a national crisis that has shown no signs of abating, while
also honoring and establishing balance with
the Second Amendment.
There have been more than 2,300 gun-related deaths in the United States since the Dec.
14 mass killing in Newtown, Conn., most of
them by handguns.
Pima Community College’s
governing board voted to raise tuition during their March 20 meeting.
The board decided, by a 3-2
vote, to raise in-state tuition by $2
per unit and increase both student
service and technology fees by 50
cents. PCC will also eliminate the
current out-of-state tuition discount available to nonresidents
taking less than seven units per
semester.
Starting in the fall, nonresident
students taking fewer than seven
credits per term will have to pay
$319 per unit, instead of the $106
per unit rate they are currently
paying.
“While enrollment will likely
drop somewhat as a result of this
change, the increase is expected
to generate out-of-state additional
revenue net of the expected enrollment decline,” Interim Chancellor Suzanne Miles said in her
recommendation to the board.
However, Miles said she does
not anticipate enrollment numbers would drop significantly,
citing a similar change made recently by the Maricopa County
Community College District.
Miles suggested three options
for the board to consider.
One of the proposals would
have raised tuition rates by $3 per
unit and increased student service
and technology fees by 50 cents,
but would not have eliminated the
nonresident discount.
The final proposal would have
raised tuition by $4 per unit and
increased student service fees by
50 cents. Technology fees and the
nonresident discount would not
have been affected.
Board members also had the
option to pick and chose elements
from all three proposals and create a fourth rate increase suggestion.
Miles listed contractual obligations, facility maintenance, increases in employee health care
and higher utility costs as reasons
for the need to increase tuition
rates. Each $1 increase to in-state
tuition represents approximately
$600,000 in total revenue, according to figures released by the
college.
The tuition rate increase adopted by the board would generate approximately $1.8 million,
according to David Bea, the college’s finance administrator.
Pima currently has the thirdlowest tuition for community colleges in Arizona. Even after the
$2 per unit increase, PCC is projected to remain third-cheapest,
according to Bea.
Arizona’s three public universities are also considering tuition
increases. The University of Arizona and Arizona State University are seeking 3 percent tuition
hikes, and Northern Arizona University is contemplating a 5 percent jump.
The Arizona Board of Regents
is expected to set tuition and fees
for the three universities in early
April.
6
OPINION
April 4-17, Spring 2013
Aztec Press
AZTEC PRESS EDITORIAL
College needs thorough cleansing
Walking around Tucson these days, it’s
practically impossible to say the words
“Pima Community College” without someone grimacing and saying, “Yikes, what’s
going on there?”
Pima has lost the community’s trust. Restoring faith after a scathing report from
the Higher Learning Commission will not
be easy.
BOARD RESIGNATIONS
The governing board is taking lots of
heat for the college’s problems. Board
members have expressed regret and a desire to correct the mistakes they’ve made.
They seem eager to help the college get
onto a better path.
However, no amount of conciliatory effort will restore the board’s credibility.
Problems persisted for too long and too
many errors were made.
Each board member knows his or her
role, responsibility and culpability in the
problems Pima has faced. They, as individuals, should decide if they need to step
away from the college.
Board members with intimate knowledge
and limited fault should help get Pima back
on track. Institutional experience must not
be sacrificed just to save face. Those with
firsthand knowledge of issues can offer
deeper insight regarding solutions.
Nevertheless, at least two board members who served while former Chancellor
Roy Flores was in charge must step away
within a year or Pima will seriously jeopardize its accreditation.
If the HLC places Pima on probation, it
will re-examine the college in two years to
determine whether the issues in their report
have been addressed.
If the college stays in the same hands, the
HLC, college faculty, students and the Tucson community will not be convinced that
Pima is heading in a new direction.
But if, alongside new member Sylvia
Lee, two new board members were elected,
there would be a fresh majority that did not
serve during the Flores years. This is the
kind of change the community needs.
OUTSIDE EVALUATION
Just bringing in new board members
won’t fix the hefty problems the college
faces, especially if they have no working
knowledge of the issues.
If the college is put on probation, an outside firm must be hired to conduct an eval-
uation. It must prove that all issues highlighted in the report have been addressed,
and that all other accreditation standards
have been maintained.
Pima should be proactive and start evaluations now. Have a consulting firm wrap
itself in Pima’s environment and begin addressing the “culture of fear” that the HLC
reported.
Let an outside, unbiased consultant conduct interviews and observe how the college works. Put people on notice that the
status quo is changing. Figure out who is
part of the solution, who needs guidance
and who needs to be shown the exit.
It will require an impartial outsider to
confront the problems and ensure everyone
agrees a fair assessment has been made.
REPAIRING THE DAMAGE
Meanwhile, as Pima continues searching
for a permanent chancellor, the college has
an opportunity to give someone new and
impartial the top leadership role.
Pima urgently needs a strong, independent educator with a reputation for discipline and reform.
Many colleges have faced similar, and
worse, issues than Pima now faces. They
emerged with their accreditation intact. A
strong, untainted chancellor will further restore Pima’s damaged reputation.
Every administrator must focus on restoring Pima’s image and regaining the
trust of its accrediting body, faculty, students and the Tucson community.
Many of the college’s most vocal critics
have offered to help the college move forward through these troubling times.
The HLC report condemned Pima for ignoring critics. Now, while our college is in
need, it is essential to have administrators
and the board work with faculty, students
and community leaders. Everyone must be
invited to the table.
Solving the issues requires more than individuals doing what they believe is best
for the college. It’s a matter of taking a
close, critical look and determining what
issues could cost Pima, and its students, a
prosperous future.
PCC is deeply embedded in Tucson’s
veins. Everything possible, everything,
must to be done to keep the college alive
and thriving for decades to come.
Written on behalf of the Aztec Press editorial board by Editor-in-Chief Chelo
Grubb and News Editor Andrew Paxton.
Allowing knives
Teaching at Pima a pleasure
back on planes
a terrible idea
GUEST OPINION
By JERRY H. GILL
There has been a lot in the news
lately about difficulties connected
with the administration of Pima
Community College. I do not
know much about the issues involved, but what I do know is that
teaching at Pima is a very stimulating and enriching experience.
The administration and faculty
colleagues, as well as the student
body, are creative, helpful and
enthusiastic about Pima’s place in
the Tucson community.
I spent 50 years as a college
professor. I tried twice to retire,
but failed both times.
Shortly after moving to Tucson
I signed up to teach as an adjunct
at Pima, and I have been doing
so for the past 15 years. I have
taught courses at each of the five
campuses in the fields of philosophy, religion and humanities.
I currently teach almost exclusively at East Campus, and regularly teach a course on the philosophy of religion and one called
Intercultural Perspectives.
In the philosophy class, we
take up such issues as the nature
of religious experience, the existence of God, the problem of evil
and the relationship between faith
and reason.
Each topic leads to many deep
and sometimes rousing discussions.
In the Intercultural Perspectives course, we consider five
minority ethnic groups that help
make up the cultural diversity of
America.
Tell us what
you think
By reading short stories, viewing films and talking with guests,
we learn about the cultures of Native Americans, Hispanic Americans, African Americans, Asian
Americans and Muslim Americans. Obviously there is much to
explore and discover.
The main things I myself learn
from teaching stem from the incredible variety of students and
the depth of the difficulties many
of them face.
Of course we have a good number of so-called “regular” college
students. However, the bulk of
my students could be considered
“nontraditional” for a wide range
of reasons.
Some are clearly not academically ready for college because
the high schools they come from
did not do a good job preparing
them. They have not been taught
to read and write at a level that
would enable them to understand
Aztec Press
welcomes feedback
Send letters via email to:
[email protected]
and think critically about collegelevel issues.
Others have extremely complex lives that require them to
work at least part time while carrying a full academic load. They
may also have serious family responsibilities, such as infirm relatives or young children to care
for. I always have several single
mothers in my classes.
Pima really is a “community”
college, rather than a standard
university. It serves people from
low-income families through inexpensive tuition costs, and provides smaller classes and more
flexible course offerings.
There is hardly anyone in Tucson who does not have at least
one family member who has
benefited from taking courses at
Pima.
In addition, we have an increasing number of foreign students from all over the world,
especially from Asian and Latin
American countries. Although
some have language difficulties,
the majority are quite intelligent
and highly motivated.
All of this diversity creates
what I like to call a great “stew
pot” for learning. We have a wonderful opportunity to learn from
one another.
I count it a great privilege to
work with these students, and
help them meet the various challenges they face by learning from
their experiences. In the classroom, we strive to create a community conducive to interactive
education and mutual growth.
Letters must be signed
and include contact details.
Limit length to 150 words.
We reserve the right to edit letters
for length, clarity and accuracy.
By JAIME HERNANDEZ
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration has decided to
let airline passengers carry small
pocket knives. The rule change
will take effect April 25.
It is now deemed safe to bring
the following objects on a plane:
pocket knives with blades no longer than 2.26 inches, up to two
golf clubs, souvenir baseball bats
less than 24 inches, and hockey
and lacrosse clubs. There is still a
ban on box cutters like the ones
used by the 9/11 hijackers.
TSA officials figure they can
save money if they don’t have to
screen for those items.
This stupid idea is due to sequestration budget cuts. TSA
faces a hiring freeze on airport security screeners and cutbacks on
overtime.
John Pistole, chief of the TSA,
insists the change is safe.
“A small pocket knife is simply
not going to result in the catastrophic failure of an aircraft,” he
testified.
That’s not the way I see it. I believe air travel will now be more
dangerous because Congress
can’t balance the federal budget.
This is the reason why government agencies like the TSA
shouldn’t exist. They determine
what is safe or not safe based on
how much money they can or
can’t spend.
People should have a real
choice. They could chose to use
an airline that has fewer security
restrictions or one with stricter
measures.
If something goes wrong on a
flight, the airline and not the government would have to answer for
its wrongdoing.
Obviously, airline companies
don’t want this. They love things
the way they are. After all, they
aren’t the ones paying for security
screeners.
If responsibility for passenger
safety was in their hands, you can
be damn sure they would hire the
best people possible for security
screening positions.
If they dropped the ball, they
would be the ones paying the
price.
When I get on a plane, I want
to feel safe.
When people are allowed to
carry knives on a plane, that feeling will no longer exist.
Hernandez cares about the safety and freedom of all Americans,
and wants air travel to be safe for
everyone.
INSIGHT
AZTEC PRESS
April 4-17, Spring 2013
7
FROM THE ARCHIVES
Earth Day issue offers ecological tips
Part 1 of a two-part series
By SIERRA J. RUSSELL
In 1990, the Aztec Press published a special edition dedicated
solely to Earth Day activities.
The edition included charts,
graphs and surveys to help readers gain a better understanding of
threats to the environment.
It also offered suggestions for
what could be done on a daily and
personal level to help.
Most students interviewed
voiced a willingness to be a part
of the effort to reduce environmental threats. However, many
also expressed feelings of helplessness.
Many said they believed the
quality of the environment had
deteriorated within the past century and was on a steady decline.
The edition outlined simple
changes that can make a deep impact, such as water conservation,
reduced fuel consumption and
proper disposal of waste.
At the time, recycling bins had
recently been put in place on Pima
Community College campuses.
The
student
government
worked with PCC’s food service
company, the Marriott Corporation, to provide bins for aluminum cans. A pending project focused on recycling scrap paper
but hadn’t yet been implemented.
One article explained how to
create a backyard compost heap
to produce garden fertilizer.
Another listed trees that grow
well in the Southwest, including
Desert Willow, Mesquite, Blue
Palo Verde, Texas Ebony, Eucalyptus, Acacia and the Feather
Tree.
2013 Earth Day logo
Clayton May, a PCC chemistry
laboratory technician and a consultant for the Fish and Wildlife
Service’s endangered species division, told about discovering endangered Tumanoc Globe Berry
plants growing near West Campus in 1985.
“The Tumanoc Globe Berry
is a tuber,” May explained. “It
emerges from the ground approx-
imately two to three weeks before
the summer rains.”
He located eight plants, but two
of the plants were later lost. One
was accidentally demolished during a construction project and the
other was carefully unearthed and
taken at night.
May said one way to ensure the
safety of endangered species was
to support legislation that protects
large areas of natural habitat.
Michael Flores, a member of
the Tohono O’odham nation, was
interviewed.
“It is good that people are beginning, although a little too
late, to realize the consequences
of these acts of cruelty toward
Mother Earth,” Flores said.
He noted that many people he
spoke with during an Earth Day
celebration seemed to be economically motivated. He said that
was better than no motivation.
“Spirituality should be the motivator,” Flores said. “We all have
it within us; some don’t use it as
much as others; some don’t use it
at all.”
Many European settlers fled
their homeland because of political persecution and lacked a
strong bond with the new land,
Flores said.
He urged people to establish a
way to commune with nature, to
strengthen both the environment
and humankind’s mental and
physical health.
“We all have a responsibility to do something,” Flores said.
“Anything anybody can do to
protect Mother Earth will help future generations.”
Next issue: Backyard gardening
and water conservation.
NW Campus
to celebrate
Earth Day
By PALOMA MELLO
Pima Community College
Northwest Campus will hold an
Earth Day celebration on April
17 from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. on the second level.
The annual event, which is free
and open to the public, encourages students, employees and members of the community to explore
the natural world.
Participants can learn about
native plants and animals, conservation, recycling, astronomy,
climatology, geology and how
to protect the environment. Displays will include the giant campus sundial and food cooked in a
solar oven.
Those who score 90 percent
or better on “How much do you
know about planet Earth” and
“How much do you know about
astronomy?” quizzes can win a
Quick Study Bar Chart from Follett Bookstore.
More than 60 organizations
and community groups will participate, including the ArizonaSonora Desert Museum, Children’s Museum of Tucson and
Bear Essential News.
Arizona State University, University of Arizona, UA College
of Education and University of
Phoenix will host advising and
admissions booths.
For more information, contact
Denise Meeks at denise.meeks@
pima.edu or call 206-4500.
ONLINE EXTRAS
aztecpressonline.com
See a complete history
of Pima Community
College’s accreditation
concerns
Comment on
Jaime Hernandez’ opinion
column: Do you think small
knives should be allowed
on airplanes?
8
April 4-17, Spring 2013
SPOTLIGHT
Aztec Press
PIMA ANNOUNCES CHANGES
Harris taking over April 15
By CHELO GRUBB
Pima Community College’s governing board
has named
retried Chicago educator Zelema
Harris as the
college’s new
interim chancellor.
Members Zelema Harris
of the college’s governing board, other
employee groups and a student
interviewed Harris.
Board chair Brenda Even said
she was the obvious choice from
the candidates provided by the
Association of Community Col-
lege Trustees.
Even said everyone involved in
the interview process was “so incredibly on the same track” about
which candidate to hire.
Harris retired in June 2011
from St. Louis Community College. She was the chancellor of
that college for four years.
“She has led St. Louis Community College through major
challenges during a period of extraordinary growth for our institution, and has done an outstanding job in her leadership role,”
then-STLCC board chair Denise
Chachere said in a News Gazette
article about the announcement.
She will remain in the interim
position until a permanent chancellor is in place. Despite a recent
restart of the chancellor search
process, the college is aiming to
have a new chancellor by July 1.
However, Even said that Harris’ contract was worded in a way
that would allow her to remain
with the college for an elongated
period of time should the chancellor search process take longer
than previously expected.
Her first day on college grounds
will be Monday, April 15.
Current interim Suzanne Miles’
final day in the position will be
Friday, April 12.
Miles was appointed to the position following former Chancellor Roy Flores’ departure from
Pima. Flores, who has been accused for sexually harassing eight
female employees, cited health
concerns as his reason for leaving
the college.
A report submitted to the college’s accreditor noted “claims
Pima drops admissions
requirements in 4-1 vote
By ANDREW PAXTON
Pima Community College will
once again feature open credit
classes following a vote by the
college’s governing board.
At a March 29 meeting, the
board voted 4-1 to suspend
placement and registration standards that have been in place
since fall of 2012.
The vote was made following
recommendations from Interim
Chancellor Suzanne Miles and
Provost Jerry Migler, who wrote
a letter expressing why the standards should be suspended.
“At this time, we believe it
would be in the best interests
of the College to step back and
re-examine how we ensure that
our students are appropriately
prepared for the rigors of college
level work and equipped with
the tools necessary to succeed,”
they wrote.
The recommendation was
made after criticism of the
changes became impossible
to ignore. In addition to many
community groups opposing the
deviation, the Higher Learning
Commission also expressed dismay with the alteration in a letter
to the college.
“The college’s decision to
change its admissions policy
despite community opposition
conflicts with its stated mission
of developing the community
“We have fundamental problems
with education in this country.”
Scott Stewart, board member
through learning and demonstrates a lack of understanding
of its role in serving the public
good in its community,” HLC
President Sylvia Manning wrote.
Members of the community
were present at the meeting to
express their concerns to board
members in person. They expressed frustration regarding the
lack of inclusiveness displayed
by the board when changing
policies.
Scholarship A-Z, a community group that has been critical
of the new admissions standards,
explained to the board their
views on why the criteria should
be suspended.
“One of the reasons we are in
this mess is because of the decision to disregard an open enrollment process and create an
admissions process,” Executive
Director Matt Matera said. “The
community was not involved in
that decision.”
Scott Stewart was the board
chair at the time the changes
were made, and was the only
board member to vote against
suspending the policies.
“This move to raise standards
has put the college through absolute hell, but it has shined a light
on a number of things,” Stewart
said.
“We have fundamental problems with education in this
country, and particular in this
community, and I think raising
standards is a better way to go.”
Stewart argued that allowing
students into the college who are
unable to show basic competency skills is a waste of time and
money.
“You can spend an awful lot
of money growing apples on the
North Pole,” he said. “But in an
era of declining resources, you
have to make choices.”
This prompted several members of Scholarship A-Z in the
audience to hold up handwritten
signs proclaiming “I am not an
apple.”
After the meeting, members of
the group reacted to the board’s
decision.
“It was an important step,”
Matera said. “But they need to
acknowledge all the problems,
all the issues.”
that the interim chancellor has
not been candid or honest in her
responses” to the accreditor.
Days after the report was released, Miles sent an email to all
Pima employees saying she had
made the decision to step down.
“It has now become clear that
my continued service as interim
chancellor could be viewed as
an obstacle to moving forward,”
Miles’ email said.
Just before the report was published, Miles was announced as a
finalist for a college president position at an Oregon college.
Miles withdrew from consideration on March 20; six days
after she was named as a finalist,
five days after the critical report
was published and one day after
announcing she would stepping
down as interim chancellor.
“By reinstating
the previous
admissions
standards and
authorizing
needed
improvements
in the college’s
developmental
education
program, the
board can
quickly remove
one of the
major obstacles
threatening
PCC’s students’
loss of
accreditation.”
Carol Gorsuch
POAC chair
The Pima Open Admissions
Coalition was founded
in 2011 with the goal of
keeping Pima Community
College’s open to the public.
Find them on Facebook by
searching for “Pima Open
Admissions Coalition.”
Northwest Campus president leaving
By PALOMA MELLO
Alojzy “Alex” Kajstura, the
Pima Community College Northwest Campus president, is leaving the college June 30 after two
years on the job.
Kajstura joined PCC as Northwest Campus president in June
2011.
Darla Zirbes, vice president of
instruction at Community Campus, will serve as acting campus
president beginning July 1.
Interim Chancellor Suzanne
Miles appointed Zirbes to the
post on the recommendation of
a Northwest Campus committee
composed of administrators, faculty, staff and students.
Kajstura emigrated to the United States from communist Poland
more than 30 years ago
He worked in Virginia and
Florida as a department chair, division chair, associate dean, dean
and provost before taking the
PCC job.
When Aztec Press contacted
Kajstura, he said his busy sched-
ule prevented him from commenting immediately.
PCC spokesmen did not reply
to requests for information on a
timeline to select a permanent
campus president.
PCC will advertise internally
for an acting vice president at
Community Campus, according
to the email.
Comments from Downtown Campus stud
College re
seeks pro
By CHELO GRUBB
Pima Community College responded to a highly critical report by
the college’s accreditor by acknowledging problems but making a case
to avoid probation.
The report, submitted to the Higher Learning Commission, outlined
several breeches of accreditation
standards. None of the concerns
questioned the quality of Pima’s educational programs.
“Probation would have significant
negative impacts on our students and
create unwarranted doubt about the
quality of educational services provided by the college,” Pima attorney
Jeffrey Silvyn said in the letter to the
HLC.
Instead, the college is asking the
HLC to consider placing the college
on “notice” while it works to address
the concerns laid out in the report.
“The college does not dispute that
there have been shortcomings and
that significant change is necessary,”
Silvyn wrote.
The team that conducted the investigation found the college had
cultivated a “culture of fear.” It also
said the college improperly handled
changes to admissions practices and
sexual harassment claims against
former Chancellor Roy Flores.
The college’s response sought to
correct what it called “errors of fact”
in the HLC report.
In one instance, the college said
the report incorrectly identified the
years when board members received
sexual harassment complaints.
The report said the college was
notified about Flores’ “inappropriate
behavior” in 2008, 2010 and 2011.
The college said “neither the board
nor the administration is aware of an
Nee
Find a full histo
A
SPOTLIGHT
Aztec Press
April 4-17, Spring 2013
9
Faculty, community
call for resignations
By ANDREW PAXTON
Andrew Paxton/Aztec Press
dents reflect concerns about Pima Community College’s accreditation status.
esponds to report,
obation alternative
anonymous complaint received during 2010.”
Since receiving the report, the college has made changes in an effort to
correct the problems.
The college board voted March 29,
the same day the response was sent
to the HLC, to lift the admissions restrictions put into effect last year.
Interim Chancellor Suzanne Miles
will step down into a lower position
at the college on April 12. Zelema
Harris, retired chancellor of St. Louis Community College in Missouri,
will start at the college on April 15.
A permanent chancellor is expected to be in place by July 1, although
Harris’ contract could be extended to
accommodate a longer search process.
The HLC’s Board of Trustees will
consider HLC President Sylvia Manning’s recommendation to place the
college on probation and the college’s response when voting on Pima’s fate on April 6.
The board can vote to put the college on probation, show-cause, notice, or no sanction.
If the HLC’s board follows Manning’s recommendation and places
the college on probation, Pima would
have two years to prove it has fixed
the problems. At the end of the two
years, the probation would be lifted
or the college would lose its accreditation.
Accreditation is a mark of quality assurance that lets employers and
other institutions know that a college
meets national standards. It allows
courses to transfer to other schools
and students to receive federal finical aid.
See all communication between
Pima administrators and the HLC at
AztecPressOnline.com
Sanctions
In the letter Higher Learning
Commission to Pima Community
College outlined the sanctions
the college might face. The HLC’s
Board of Trustees will vote to place
PCC on one of these sanctions
on April 6. The college will hear
about the HLC’s decision within
10 days.
No sanction
An institution with no sanction is
in good standing with the HLC.
Probation
Probation indicates that an institution is not meeting the criteria of
accreditation. The HLC’s board
then specifies which situations
have lead to probation and the
college must prove that corrective
action has been taken.
Notice
An institution is placed on notice
if it is pursuing a course of action
that could result in a breech of the
accreditation criteria. If an organization is placed on notice the
HLC’s board sets a due date for the
college to submit a written report
on corrective measures.
Show-cause
Show-cause is an order that
requires an institution to demonstrate why it should not lose it’s
accreditation. When this order
is issued, the HLC’s board sets a
period of time less than or equal
to a year.
ed to catch up?
ory of the accreditation concerns at
AztecPressOnline.com
The faculty and staff of Pima
Community College have lost
confidence in the governing
board that is responsible for running the college, according to
resolutions passed by representatives of each group.
The Faculty Senate, in a 51-1
vote with two abstentions, approved a resolution stating the
instructors have lost faith in a
majority of the board members.
The resolution calls for the board
members to resign.
“The Faculty Senate does not
have confidence in the four current board members of the PCC
board who were in office during
the Dr. Flores administration to
effectively guide the college out
of its present crisis,” the resolution read.
The four board members are
Marty Cortez, Brenda Even, David Longoria and Scott Stewart,
who all where on the board while
Roy Flores was chancellor. Sylvia Lee, the fifth member of the
board, was elected in November
2012 after running on a platform
of openness and change.
“Faculty Senate believes that
these four board members have
contributed to the present crisis
by their failure to recognize and
act ethically and prudently upon
problems, and believes that these
four board members constitute
an impediment to change,” the
resolution said.
While the faculty “appreciates the efforts” of the four board
members, the resolution said
“the greatest service that they
can now perform” to rebuild
trust in the college is to resign.
“We have tried to be patient,
but the board has not acted,” said
senate president Joe Labuda during discussion before the vote.
The resolution also requested
the postponement of Pima’s ongoing search for a new chancellor until the four board members
have been replaced.
“We are not alone,” said Labuda, referring to others who have
called for board members to step
down.
The Staff Council, a group
representing nonteaching staff at
Pima, unanimously passed a resolution expressing comparable
views. It stated “Staff Council
believes the named board members lack the integrity and ability” to support Pima and included
a call for resignation.
Labuda said he personally believes the board members should
announce when they plan on
stepping down and stagger their
resignations, because “one person can’t run the college.” But
he concedes there are some faculty that “want them gone yesterday.”
The faculty and staff did not
call on Lee to resign. Lee, a former Pima administrator, was one
of the first to demand others on
the board step down during a
March 20 meeting.
“There is a way that we, on
this board, can prevent probation now today, and that is for
three of our longest-sitting board
members who have served this
college to the best of their ability
over the past decade and beyond
to step down and allow new
community leaders to come and
help us heal.
“This is our greatest hope for
our Pima,” said Lee, who received applause from the audience following her comments.
Numerous other community groups have also called for
members of the board to step
aside, including the Coalition
For Integrity, Respect and Responsibility.
“It is time for you to recognize that continuing to cling to
your position no longer serves
the best interests of the college
and our community,” C-FAIRR
wrote to the four embattled
board members.
Governing board
Four of Pima Community
College’s five board
members served under
the college’s previous
chancellor.
Brenda Even
12 years on board
Up for re-election in 2014
David Longoria
3 years on board
Up for re-election in 2016
Scott Stewart
14 years on board
Up for re-election in 2016
Marty Cortez
18 years on board
Up for re-election in 2018
News publications, including
the Aztec Press editorial board,
have called for resignations as
well.
Not everyone believes the
board members should resign.
College administrators point out
that the board members are not
paid, and are designated to their
positions by the citizens of Tucson.
“They’re all elected officials.
They have an obligation to the
people who voted for them,” said
administrator Jerry Haynes. “If
the people who voted for them
want them gone, there’s a process for it.”
The four governing board
members have not responded to
any of the demands for their resignation and continue to push for
a new permanent chancellor by
July 1, despite requests for the
search to be suspended.
“The faculty has voted noconfidence in this board. They
shouldn’t be hiring the new
chancellor,” Labuda said.
Credits will transfer despite
probation, universities say
By CHELO GRUBB
Two of Arizona’s
three state universities have written letters
assuring Pima Community College that
transfers will still be
accepted even if the
college is placed under
probation.
“The joint role that
the UA and PCC play
in meeting Tucson and
Arizona’s higher education needs is one of our
communities strengths,
and one that must remain well coordinated
for our educational missions to be successful,”
Ann Weaver Hart, UA
president, said in a letter dated March 25
“As Pima completes
its search for permanent leadership, your
students and faculty can
know that they have a
steady partner in the
University of Arizona,”
the letter said.
Pima Provost Jerry
Migler noted that the
college is expecting
a similar letter from
Northern Arizona University to arrive in the
next few days.
College administrators have been working to reassure students
that, from an academic
standpoint, the college
is still functioning normally.
The college held a series of information sessions for students with
questions about Pima’s
accreditation.
During an April 2
information
session
at Downtown Campus, Migler noted that
academic concerns are
“notably absent” from
the Higher Learning
Commissions’ report.
“Are we going to
lose accreditation? If
we did nothing, I guess
theoretically that could
happen,” Migler said.
“If you want a personal
opinion, no, we’re not
going to lose our accreditation.”
Migler said he has
spent about 20 years
doing peer reviews with
the HLC. From his experience, he thinks it is
unlikely Pima will be in
serious jeopardy.
“The HLC doesn’t
want to take our accreditation away, they want
us to fix our problems,”
Migler said.
“Our issues are serious but fixable,” Migler
said in the meeting,
echoing a statement
which has been prevalent among administrators since the problems
became public.
10
A&E
April 4-17, Spring 2013
Aztec Press
Student art
reception
April 17
By NELLIE SILVA
The annual Juried Student Art
Exhibition is on display through
May 3 in the Louis Carlos Bernal
Gallery at Pima Community College’s West Campus.
A reception will be held April
17 from noon-3 p.m., with an
awards ceremony at 1 p.m.
The exhibit is divided into two
sections: media and fibers. Jean
Marie Nutt’s fiber works, “Nuclear Family” and “Studio Portrait,”
were named Best of Show.
The exhibit gives students from
each PCC campus an opportunity
to present their work in a professional venue, gallery director David Andres said.
“Every year we ask students
to send in three possible entries,
then I hire three jurors that are
known throughout Southern Arizona to choose students who they
think fit the idea of the exhibit,”
Andres said.
The gallery received 77 entries
from 70 different artists.
This year’s jurors were Bailey
Doogan from the University of
Arizona School of Art, Liz Allen
from the Arizona State University
Northlight Gallery in Tempe and
Ben Mckee from Cochise College
in Sierra Vista.
Gallery hours are Mondays and
Wednesdays from 10:30 a.m. to
5 p.m., Tuesdays and Thursdays
from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Fridays at
10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and before most
evening theatrical performances.
For more information, call 2066942, email centerforthearts@
pima.edu or visit pima.edu/cfa.
Briefs
April 11 recital
showcases tuba
Pima Community College will
feature a tuba recital by Mark
Nelson at the Center for the Arts
Recital Hall at West Campus on
April 11 at 7 p.m.
The annual faculty recital will
feature Nelson and guest musician Kelly Thomas on euphonium
performing “Double Concerto for
Euphonium and Tuba” by James
Grant.
The program will commemorate the 20th anniversary of
Grant’s “Three Furies for Solo
Tuba” in a tuba performance by
Nelson, accompanied by Marie
Sierra on piano. Grant will provide commentary on the works.
Faculty members Rob Boone,
trombone, and Victor Valenzuela,
horn, will team with Nelson for
“Trio” by Hungarian composer
Frigyes Hidas.
The program will also mark the
10th-anniversary performance of
“Tango Images,” written for Nelson by Adriana Figueroa Mañas.
Tickets are $6 with discounts
available. For information, contact 206-6986, centerforthearts@
pima.edu or visit pima.edu/cfa.
-By Bruce Hardt
Aztec Press photos by Cole Potwardowski
Mr. Frank (David Zinke) urges silence as Anne Frank (Gaby DeBrequet) climbs stairs in their secret annex while hiding from Nazis.
‘DIARY OF ANNE FRANK’
Drama brings Holocaust home
By COLE POTWARDOWSKI
Pima Community College’s theater department will step back in time in “The Diary of Anne Frank,” a historical drama about
a young Jewish girl who went into hiding
for two years during the Holocaust.
The play runs April 11-21 at the West
Campus Center for the Arts Black Box Theatre.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning drama was
adapted from Frank’s diary in 1955 by playwrights Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. Nancy Davis Booth will direct the Pima
production.
The show will also commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day at Tucson’s Jewish Community Center on April 7. Members
of the cast and crew will meet and learn
from Holocaust survivors.
“I was surprised that the students knew
so little about the Holocaust and World War
II,” Booth said in a press release. “It is critical for each generation to know the story
and to tell it over and over.”
Frank was born to Otto and Edith Frank
in Frankfurt, Germany on June 29, 1929.
The Dutch-Jewish family relocated to Amsterdam after the rise of the Nazi Party in
1933.
A decade later, Frank’s older sister received a deportation notice to a concentration camp. The family hid in a secret annex atop the father’s office building. They
shared the cramped hideout with four others for two years until the Nazis discovered
them on Aug. 4, 1944.
Frank left behind a diary. Her father’s decision to publish it resulted in a bestseller
with more than 60 translations, two stage
adaptations and several movies.
Through the ages, the message of the diary remains.
Actors in Pima’s production read Frank’s
diary and wrote character evaluations for
their roles. They separately researched the
play history, genocide since the Holocaust,
concentration camps, color patches, D-Day
and food rationing of the time.
“They’re going to present this to each
other and then learn it as a whole,” Booth
said.
FYI
‘The Diary of Anne Frank’
When: April 11-21
Where: Black Box Theatre, West Campus
Tickets: $15, with discounts available
Box office: 206-6986
Details: pima.edu/cfa
Cast list
Mr. Frank: David Zinke
Mrs. Frank: Jessica Morgan
Anne Frank: Gaby DeBrequet
Margot Frank: Rebecca Edmonson
Mr. Van Daan: Jesse Pickering
Mrs. Van Daan: Victoria Cordova
Peter Van Daan: Damian Garcia
Dussell: Aeric Azana
Miep Gies: Samantha Severson
Mr. Kraler: Andrew Kincaid
Anne Frank (Gaby DeBrequet) writes in the
diary she kept during two years in hiding.
Rehearsals run from 6-9 p.m. Mondays
through Fridays. On performance nights,
the cast will warm up 30 minutes before the
show and remain onstage through the intermission.
“This is a very seasoned cast,” Booth
said. “Everybody’s disciplined.”
Student Gaby DeBrequet, who plays
Anne Frank, acknowledged the need for focus and energy.
“It’s important to put some of yourself
into your character,” DeBrequet said. “Trust
is a huge thing.”
She drew parallels between Frank’s temperament and her own, and spent time exploring the set before rehearsals to understand the character’s frame of mind.
Booth gathered additional facts and collected music from the ‘40s by Edith Piaf,
Marlene Dietrich and Kurt Weill. She also
collaborated with Rabbi Stephanie Aaron of
Tucson’s Congregation Chaverim, who lent
her an authentic prayer book called a siddur
to use in the play.
Anthony Richards designed the secret
annex, constructing the three-bedroom set
with open-framed walls to ensure optimal
viewing.
“You can see all of it from any angle
you’re sitting,” Booth said.
“The Diary of Anne Frank” debuted on
Broadway in 1955, and is still performed.
Booth said she picks relevant themes, and
wanted to reprise the play’s message for a
Pima audience.
“I hope they will have some sort of
change in their thinking about intolerance,”
Booth said.
In 1944, Frank kept a positive outlook.
“In spite of everything, I still believe that
people are really good at heart,” she wrote.
Tickets cost $15, with discounts available.
Performances will run Thursdays through
Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2
p.m.
American Sign Language interpreters
will be available April 18.
An open dialogue with the audience, cast
and director will follow each performance.
For more information, call 206-6986 or
visit pima.edu/cfa.
Aztec Press
A&E
April 4-17, Spring 2013
“I like entertainment, and that’s pretty much all I’ve wanted
to do since I was a tiny baby child.”
Mishell Livio, PCC student
11
FESTIVALS
Calling all
chalk artists,
carnival fans
Compiled by Nellie Silva
Park Place chalk art festival
April 6-7
Everyone is welcome to participate in the
second annual festival at Park Place, 5870
E. Broadway Blvd. The event transforms
storefront sidewalks into colorful works of
art. The event will be Saturday, 9 a.m.-6
p.m. and Sunday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Admission is free. Artists must complete an application.
Details: saaca.org/Chalk_Art_Festival.
html
Spring Fling
April 11-14
Aztec Press photos by Paloma Mello
Mishell Livio jokes with her KFMA radio partner Fook. Her work on the “Fook and Mishell” morning show is just one part of the Pima
Community College student’s busy life. She also sings and does standup comedy, and has worked as an actress and model in Los Angeles.
Student juggles studies between gigs
as radio DJ, comedian, model, actress
By PALOMA MELLO
Pima Community College student
Mishell Livio, 25, almost won a modeling
competition, not just because of her beauty,
but also because of her sense of humor. She
now hosts a show on KFMA radio.
Livio earned sixth place on the first season of Model Latina five years ago. The
television reality show spotlights aspiring
models who compete in fashion and cultural challenges.
“I’m an actress, and I take that to different factors,” Livio said. “I like entertainment, and that’s pretty much all I’ve wanted to do since I was a tiny baby child.”
Born and raised in Tucson, Livio comes
from a Mexican-Italian family. Her dad is
a Mexican mariachi musician who teaches
music at the University of Arizona and in
the Nogales school system.
Livio knew early on that she needed to
move to Los Angeles to pursue her dreams.
“I wanted to move right after high school
but I had a scholarship to the U of A, so
my mom was like, ‘no,’” Livio said. “I attended for a year, and after I was ready to
leave.”
As a 19-year-old living in LA, Livio paid
her bills by modeling, but found it difficult.
“I knew that I wasn’t gonna give up, and
I was looking for opportunity everywhere
that I went,” she said. “I was trying to meet
people and trying to figure out.”
She decided to forego representation.
“You can get a manager and agent, but
they are only gonna submit you if you are
famous,” she said.
“You have to get your own jobs and give
your manager 10 percent of something that
you did yourself.”
She modeled for Seventeen magazine
for two days and was treated like a superstar with her own trailer and people spoiling her. After that, though, she didn’t work
for six months.
“It’s just up and down,” she said.
Livio acted in commercials, movies and
Mishell Livio uses a name tag as her business card, and asks strangers to use it. “It’s just
for fun, but it’s nice when my friends say they saw my name in random places,” she said.
popular TV shows such as “Talent: The
Casting Call,” “Saccularius” and “Days of
Our Lives,” among others.
She received the most recognition from
“Talent: The Casting Call” and “Model Latina.”
“I was in LA for about three months
when I auditioned for ‘Model Latina,’” she
said.
“I was looking for ‘America’s Next Top
Model’ when I saw an ad for ‘Model Latina’ and I thought that’s pretty much the
same thing, but probably easier to get on,
and I got on.”
Livio was surprised by the recognition
she received because of the show. Popular celebrity news website TMZ once approached her at a karaoke bar.
After five years in LA, she decided to
take a break. She returned to Tucson with
her boyfriend, Brett Knickerbocker, a Chicago musician and aspiring TV writer.
“They say it takes 10 years to really be
successful at something and I was at the
five-year mark, so I just wanted to come
home and relax,” she said.
“That’s when I got a radio opportunity,
so I stayed.”
Livio has a one-year contract to co-host
a 6-10 a.m. show on KFMA with Fook, an
entertainer.
“I can relax on the radio, nobody sees
you, which is weird because I tend to be
pretty physical with my comedy,” she said.
Livio has found new opportunities in
Tucson, such as recording radio commercials and taking journalism classes at PCC.
“Graduating isn’t my No. 1 priority right
now, but eventually I’d love to have a degree for all the years I’ve put in,” she said.
Comedy is also a huge part of her life.
Last September, she joined Comedy Corner, a UA sketch and improvisation team.
A month later, she began doing standup
at Laff’s comedy club.
“Comedy has been a through line of everything,” Livio said.
“That’s probably one of the reasons I got
into ‘Model Latina,’ because I was silly. I
was funny and different.”
The actress, model and comedian is also
a talented singer.
“In 10 years, I hopefully will be touring
with some music and maybe a couple of
movies in my backpack,” she said.
For further information, visit Livio’s
Facebook page at facebook.com/ShellLivio.
The University of Arizona’s Spring Fling,
the largest student-run carnival in the country, features rides, games, food booths and
entertainment at Rillito Downs, located at
First Avenue and River Road. The fair will
run from 4 p.m.-midnight on April 11-12,
noon-midnight on April 13, and noon-8
p.m. on April 14. Admission costs $5, with
discounts available. Parking is $5.
Details: springfling.asua.arizona.edu
International Film Festival
April 12-28
This showcase of independent films has
exhibited more than 2,120 movies representing more than 80 countries to 132,000plus patrons in Southern Arizona over the
past 22 years. The opening screening takes
place April 12 at 7 p.m. at Grand Cinemas
Crossroads 6, 4811 E. Grant Road. Check
the website for a schedule of featured
screenings. Single admission tickets cost
$8, while admission for seniors, students
and military is $6.
Details: filmfestivalarizona.com
Barrio Hollywood’s
Fiesta Grande
April 14-15
The 10th annual street fair on Grande Avenue will celebrate Tucson’s westside culture and the history of Barrio Hollywood.
Highlights include a parade, color guard,
exhibit of historical murals, carnival rides
and games, live music, a car show, arts and
crafts, and food booths. It’s free and open
to the public. Grande Avenue is located
four blocks west of I-10 between Speedway Boulevard and St. Mary’s Road.
Details: facebook.com/pages/FiestaGrande/153900724674515
Pima County Fair
April 18-28
The county fair returns with new performers, rides, games and plenty of food. The
fairgrounds are located at 11300 S. Houghton Road, one mile south of I-10. Take
Houghton Road exit 275. General admission is $8, and parking costs $5. Main gate
hours Monday-Friday are 1 p.m. to closing; Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to closing. Carnival hours Monday-Friday are 3
p.m. to closing; Saturday and Sunday, 11
a.m. to closing. Until April 17, any Fry’s
Food Store will sell weekday coupons providing 10 rides for $10.
Details: pimacountyfair.com or 762-FAIR
12
A&E
April 4-17, Spring 2013
Horoscope
By CELESTE ORENDAIN
Aries (March 21-April 19)
I really like the fact that you’re
always wearing a smile. It makes
you look amazing. Never change,
because your personality will
take you to great places.
Taurus (April 20-May 20)
You don’t have to spend three
hours searching for the right
outfit. You look gorgeous with
anything you put on. Just a little
reminder: Always keep your eyes
looking to the front.
Gemini (May 21-June 21)
Stop being so nice! I really enjoy the things you do for everyone
in your life, but now is the time to
focus on yourself. Try following
your own dreams for once!
Cancer (June 22-July 22)
Love is closer than you think,
and happiness is in your future!
Be prepared for a big change in
your life, and be aware that you
have more to offer than you know.
Leo (July 23-Aug. 22)
Try having some patience. You
could discover a whole new world
if you took time to see the beautiful things that we all have. The
best thing is that they are all free.
Enjoy your day and be happy.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept.22)
Do not cling to the past and
the things that cause you suffering. All you need to do is let those
who love and appreciate you into
your life. Just accept what they
have to give.
Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)
No matter how badly your day
is going, you’re always ready to
help others. I’m not saying that
it is terrible, but you need to take
some time for yourself. You deserve it.
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)
I know you’re going through
hard times. No one said life will
be easy. Always wear a smile: It
will brighten your day and the
day of those around you. Positive
things await. Just be patient.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)
Someone doesn’t want to make
the same mistake with you again.
Don’t lose this great person. You
know that you can forgive and
start from zero. Give yourself a
new chance to believe.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)
You are a cube of sugar, Capricorn. If I stay close to you, I
might become diabetic. With you,
I’ll take the risk.
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)
Wake up! It’s time to change
your routine. I see you every
morning and it makes me think
of you all day; you are just so irresistible. But for some reason,
you just don’t seem to care that
I’m there.
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)
No matter what you do, Pisces,
I’m always glad to have you as a
friend. You are one in a million.
Please don’t forget that you promised to take me out for dinner. By
the way, did I mention that I want
to go to Acacia?
Aztec Press
STOMPING GROUNDS
Tavern breaks from ordinary
By JORGE ENCINAS
With an atmosphere of familiarity, even for
the first-time visitor, the District Tavern is a
welcome break from many of the swankystyle bars found in downtown Tucson.
The locally owned tavern reflects the flavor
of its clientele with a collage of photos on the
bar top, foreign posters and a vintage tabletop Pac-Man arcade.
While many patrons are regulars, the bartenders always welcome people who walk in
and quickly get to know them.
The tavern only accepts cash but you will
find that it does not take very much to enjoy
your evening.
You can buy $2 well drinks during the daily
happy hour special from 2-8 p.m. A popular
all-day every-day special offers a High-Life
and a shot of whiskey for $3. Note: No Budweiser or Pabst is available.
District also features live bands. To find out
who’s playing, just take a look at the front
window where the fliers are posted. Some
FYI
The District Tavern
Address: 260 E. Congress St.
Phone: 792-0081
Hours: Open daily, 2 p.m.-2 a.m.
Jorge Encinas/Aztec Press
Locally owned District Tavern offers a friendly
atmosphere in downtown Tucson.
bands are from out of town but there’s a good
chance you will find a local band playing on
the small stage.
A featured DJ plays every Saturday night.
In the absence of that or a band, an old-style
BEST BETS
Loft screens cult
‘Evil Dead’ trilogy
By BRUCE HARDT
The films of the “Evil Dead” trilogy will play at The Loft Cinema,
3233 E. Speedway Blvd., on April 13 starting at 9 p.m. The films featured will be “The Evil Dead,” “Evil Dead 2” and “Army of Darkness.”
Directed by Sam Raimi (“Oz the Great and Powerful”), the Evil
Dead trilogy stands as one of the cult cornerstones of 1980s cinema.
As a whole these films are a perfect medley of gore and giggles that
chronicles the one-boomstick war between Ash (Bruce Campbell) and
the Deadites.
Deadites are people possessed by the supernatural Book of the Dead,
an ancient text bound in human flesh and inked in blood. When read
from, the book unleashes ancient demons whose bloodlust will put any
possession movie of the last 20 years to the chainsaw.
“The Evil Dead” (1981) and “Evil Dead 2” (1987) are classic “cabin
in the woods” trope, pitting Ash against his demonized friends and
eventual self in the setting of a remote mountain hideaway.
“Army of Darkness” (1992) raises the stakes and slapstick several
notches. Ash and the Deadites clash in a final, epic battle in medieval
Europe.
“The Evil Dead” will show at 9 p.m., “Evil Dead 2” at 10:30 p.m.
and “Army of Darkness” at midnight. Single film admission is $9 general and $5 for Loft members. All three films are $20 general and $13
for members.
For information, including tickets, visit loftcinema.com/film/deadby-dawn-the-evil-dead-trilogy-triple-feature.
No loopholes in ‘Looper’
2012 yielded a film trove of geeky goodness. We rejoiced at a sequel
to “The Dark Knight,” were wowed by “The Avengers” and celebrated
in unison with the long overdue death of “The Twilight Saga.”
“Looper,” one of the smaller gems from last year, is now available
on DVD and Blu-ray.
Its quality is surprising, given its ambition. “Looper” is easily one of
the best science-fiction films in recent memory. Director Rian Johnson
(“Brick”) threads genre into a masterful tapestry of time travel and all
of the mindfuckery it entails.
Meet Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), an assassin hired by mobsters to
kill targets sent from the future. A looper’s contract is closed when his
older self is sent back to be killed, effectively “closing the loop” and
covering the mob’s tracks.
One day Joe meets old Joe (Bruce Willis), who has a score to settle
with the elusive “Rainmaker,” a criminal warlord prematurely closing
loops, among other atrocities, in the future. A literal race against time
ensues that will challenge young Joe to the core of his very humanity.
“Looper” is a simultaneous wonder of action and thought, provoking your adrenaline and heartstrings. A self-aware screenplay deftly
juggles the film’s myriad plot points while injecting believability into
its characters and world.
This aspect is further enhanced by the performances, particularly
Emily Blunt as Sara, a single mother with an explosive secret. Savvy
sci-fi viewers will notice “Looper” influences, namely “The Terminator” and the works of manga artist Katsuhiro Otomo.
For information, visit sonypictures.com/homevideo/looper.
jukebox has a limited but good selection of
music you don’t typically find downtown.
Music isn’t all you find. There are also
traditional games like pool and darts, and a
variety of board games and dominoes can be
checked out with the bartender. You’ll even
find a Jenga set available.
For smokers, District provides a small shaded patio with chairs to relax and talk to your
friends. However, it’s also the back way out of
the bar so there is no smoking while drinking,
with the exception of electronic cigarettes.
If you’re downtown looking for somewhere
laid back to hang out and have a good time,
the District Tavern is a one place worth checking out.
SPORTS
Aztec Press
April 4-17, Spring 2013
13
TRACK AND FIELD
Aztecs rolling in conference meets
By DIEGO LOZANO III
With five qualifiers already set
for the national outdoor championship meet in Hutchinson, Kan.,
both Pima Community College
track and field teams are looking
to expand their roster of qualifiers.
PCC took a limited crew to a
three-day competition at Paradise
Valley Community College for
the Puma Outdoor Distance and
Multi-Meet on March 28-30.
Sophomore Esther Estrada had
a great showing in the 10,000-meter run, finishing first with a time
of 41 minutes, 12 seconds.
Estrada torched the nationalqualifying mark by nine seconds.
Sophomore heptathlete Kami
Humphrey battled her way to
fifth place at Paradise Valley after
racking up 3,391 points behind
top-tier talent.
The Aztecs traveled to Coolidge
for the ACCAC Conference Meet
on March 23 for their first taste of
conference competition.
PCC had a fierce showing,
achieving victories over four
community colleges: Glendale,
Mesa, Paradise Valley and Scottsdale.
However, both squads fell to
Central Arizona Community College. PCC finished with an overall team record of 4-1.
Sophomore Alejandro Valencia, who is already set to compete
in Hutchinson, added another
race to his championship chase.
ON DECK
April 5: @ Mesa Classic
Invitational, 4 p.m.
April 6: @ Sun Angel, Tempe,
TBA
April 13: @ Glendale CC
Last Gasp, TBA
Valencia finished first in the
steeplechase, clocking a nationalqualifying time of 9:31.48.
The finish set Valencia atop the
collegiate ranks.
Sophomore Luis Gonzalez will
also be competing in the steeplechase in Kansas after finishing
fourth in 9:54.71.
Freshman Nikki Regalado,
another Hutchinson-bound competitor, qualified for an additional
event in the 1,500 after crossing
the finish line in 4:56.04.
Regalado’s time stands at number two in the nation.
In addition, Regalado took first
place in the 5,000, breaking the
tape in 19:54.48.
Sophomore Aly Haskell continued her blazing performances
after clocking a 57.73 in the 400
to claim first place.
Haskell will already be in
Hutchinson as part of the women’s 4x400 relay team.
Freshmen jumpers Eddie Wilcox and Deante Gaines continued
their steady improvement, as both
took second place in their respective events in Coolidge.
Leftrick Herd/Aztec Press
Jose Rojas, front, and Arcenio Trujillo compete in the steeplechase during a March 14 meet at West Campus.
Wilcox’s best mark in the high
jump came at 6-10, while Gaines
hopped, stepped and jumped to
46-5 in the triple jump.
Sophomore standout Aaron Orduno showed his versatility in all
three throwing events.
Orduno grabbed a first-place
finish in the hammer throw with
a personal best 149-5.
He also placed second in the
shot put with a heave of 48-11, as
well as in the discus, throwing it
140-11.
Humphrey leapt to second
place in the high jump with her
best jump measuring 4-11.
The Aztecs will have opportunities for more national qualifiers
during the Mesa Classic Invitational on April 5.
Former Pima athlete puts life back on track
By DIEGO LOZANO III
Diego Lozano III/Aztec Press
Jason Holley keeps a pit rake close as he conducts a track practice at Tucson High
Magnet School. The former Pima athlete is now a high school coach.
Former Pima Community
College track athlete Jason
Holley considers himself very
fortunate to still be involved
with the sport he loves.
Holley, a 2002 graduate of
Santa Rita High School, had
many prolific performances
during his two-year stint at
PCC.
They ultimately landed him
an athletic scholarship to Adams State University (Colo.).
An injury-filled season
at Adams State eventually
marked the end of Holley’s
days as a competitive jumper.
He came back to Tucson to
further pursue his education at
the University of Arizona.
With his competing days as
an athlete far behind him, Holley admitted the adjustment of
solely committing his time
and effort to school wasn’t a
feasible task.
“All I was doing was working and going to school five
or six days a week, and it just
wasn’t fun,” he said. “One day
I just wasn’t feeling it anymore.”
Holley said being out on the
track was all he had known
since junior high, and he felt
a void in his life. The feeling
eventually led to him tempo-
rarily dropping out of school.
“I look at it as a bad decision, but it kind of helped me
out in a way,” he said. “I had
to find something.”
That came in the form of a
former Pima teammate, who
caught up with Holley in a
class at UA before his decision to drop out.
Marcos Blanco, then an
assistant track coach at Sunnyside High School, strongly
urged Holley to join the staff
as a jumps coach. From there,
Holley was introduced to a
whole different life on the
track.
“I liked it, you know. It filled
the void of when I wasn’t going to practice,” he said.
“I was able to go help people out, but at the same time it
was hard for me to tell these
kids to go to college when I
dropped out, so that made me
go back and finish up.”
From there, Holley adopted
a new role on and off the track,
and he hasn’t looked back.
After coaching at Sunnyside for six years, he moved
to his current position training
kids at Tucson High Magnet
School.
Holley also credits the lack
of a coaching figure during his
high school days as a stimulus
for him guiding younger ath-
letes through their everyday
tribulations.
“I was used to not having
coaches around; nothing went
through my head,” he said. “I
was just lucky I was naturally
gifted. I got by on athleticism
alone.”
Holley doesn’t only aim for
his athletes to improve on the
track. More importantly, he
places emphasis on developing their character away from
the sport.
“You want them to come
out of the season a better
person, not just an athlete. I
mean, anyone can develop
an athlete,” he said. “Having
them the same person as the
beginning of the season, in my
head, that’s not making much
progress.”
Holley attributes his personal development to his
coaching experiences.
“It helped me learn to deal
with different people,” he
said. “I can’t just be set on my
ways and expect everyone to
jump on-board with me.”
Coaching or not, Holley
says his passion for the sport
will never die.
That serves as a testament
to his character and his genuine, heartfelt dedication to
teaching the young athletes of
tomorrow.
14
SPORTS
April 4-17, Spring 2013
Aztec Press
GOLF
Briefs
Teams place
in tournaments
By JAIME HERNANDEZ
The Pima Community College
men’s golf team had a strong performance on April 1-2 at the Toka
Sticks Golf Course in Phoenix.
The Aztecs totaled 571 strokes
to place second in a nine-team
field, one stroke ahead of South
Mountain Community College.
Scottsdale Community College
took first-place honors with a
combined 567.
Sophomore Joe Courtney finished in third position with a twoday total of 140 (73-67).
Freshman Tyler Cooper shot a
1-under-par 69 on day one, and
placed fifth overall with a 143.
Fellow freshman David Chung
took sixth after carding a 144
over both days.
On the women’s side, PCC
placed second in a six-team tournament at Hillcrest Golf Course
in Sun City on March 25-26.
Mesa Community College took
first-place honors. For the Aztecs,
it was the third time they’ve finished second in their five tournaments this season.
Freshman Josie Trapnell finished third overall with a twoday total of 162 (81-81). She has
medaled in four tournaments this
year.
Sophomore Abriana Romero
totaled 174 for the tourney, while
fellow sophomore Shelby Empens shot 175.
“We played steady both days,”
head coach Bill Nicol said.
“We’ve been a solid second for
the year, and we hope that continues.”
Hall of Fame
banquet April 5
The Pima Community College
Athletics Department will host
a ceremony and dinner for its
inaugural class of Hall of Fame
inductees on April 5 at the West
Campus gymnasium.
The dinner will begin at 6 p.m.,
with the ceremony to follow immediately after.
Individuals to be honored:
• Larry Toledo, first athletics
director
• Horacio Llamas, men’s basketball
• Abdi Abdirahman, track and
field
• Eddie Urbano, wrestling
• Yuliana Rodgers, track and
field
• Stacy Iveson, softball coach
• Maureen Murphy, women’s
basketball coach
• Rich Alday, baseball coach
• Jim Mielke, cross-country
and track and field coach
• Ben Carbajal, head athletics
trainer
Teams to be honored:
• 2003-2004 softball, national
champions
• 1980 men’s cross-country, national champions
The cost to attend is $45 per
person or $400 for a table of 10.
For more information, call JoAnn Cattaneo at 206-6005.
ON DECK
WOMEN’S GOLF
April 10-11: @ Estrella Mountain CC, Phoenix, 11 a.m./10
a.m.
MEN’S GOLF
April 14-15: PCC hosts,
Silverbell Golf Course, 11
a.m./10 a.m.
Nicol said one more secondplace finish would make Pima
a lock for the NJCAA national
tournament in Mesa on May 1316.
Pima next tees it up at Toka
Sticks in a tournament hosted
by Chandler-Gilbert Community
College on April 22-23.
“I think we’ll do very well,”
Nicol said. “We’ve been getting
better every week.
“The girls have been working
very hard and improving, so I’m
very glad to see that.”
The men’s squad will host a
tournament at Tucson’s Silverbell
Golf Course on April 14-15.
“I feel pretty good about getting our first victory this week,”
head coach Grant Waltke said.
“This is our home course, and
we know it better than anyone
else.
“The guys are starting to think
better and use better course management. We should win this
one.”
The first day’s competition is
slated to begin at 11 a.m. Day two
is scheduled for a 10 a.m. start.
Women’s basketball
hosts signing party
Jaime Hernandez/Aztec Press
Sophomore Joseph Courtney smashes the ball down the fairway during a
recent practice round at Tucson’s Silverbell Golf Course.
The Madness continues
By ROSE VALENZUELA
The three most exciting weeks
in NCAA sports are under way:
March Madness.
The NCAA men’s basketball
tournament, better known as
March Madness, has been around
for 75 years. The tournament is
exciting for all who love college
basketball and who are ready to
see anything and everything that
basketball has to offer.
The madness begins with 68
teams, then is whittled to the
round of 32, the Sweet Sixteen,
the Elite Eight, the Final Four
and finally, the championship
game.
This tournament is always full
of surprises. Colleges that people
least expect to win – and perhaps
have never even heard of – get
the chance to prove what they
can do.
College students cheer on their
schools throughout these three
weeks and join in the madness,
whether from their campuses or
in person at the tournament venues.
With the University of Arizona
being part of the Sweet Sixteen
Athletic
Voice
this year, people in Tucson, and
especially UA students, were
excited to continue watching the
tournament.
Sadly, the Wildcats were eliminated before they could move
on to the Elite Eight, suffering a
heartbreaking 73-70 loss to Ohio
State.
I doubt Buckeye forward LaQuinton Ross, who won the
game on a 3-pointer with 2 seconds left, will want to look for a
job in Tucson after he graduates
from OSU.
Just like a lot of other Arizona fans, I was heartbroken after
witnessing the Cats lose the way
they did. They fought until the
final buzzer, but Ohio State had
luck on its side.
People take these weeks to
make bets, call upsets and show
their basketball knowledge.
Even President Obama predicted an upset in the first tour-
nament game the UA played,
against Belmont University
(Tenn.). Like plenty of other people, he messed up on that one.
For some Pima Community
College students, the tourney is
a relaxing annual ritual.
“I’ve been a basketball fan my
whole life, and I’ve been watching March Madness ever since I
can remember,” PCC student and
basketball player Joseph Monreal said.
“March Madness to me can be
kind of like a holiday.
“Week to week, it gets more
intense as the teams battle each
other out one by one, leaving the
best teams in the end to go at it.”
Just like Monreal – and me,
coincidentally – there are many
students who obsess over the
tourney like nothing else.
“I don’t even concentrate
at work because I’m too busy
checking my ESPN app,” Pima
student Karyme Valencia said.
The tournament is now down
to the Final Four, with Wichita
State, Louisville, Michigan and
Syracuse still standing.
Only one will earn the right to
be called “champion.”
The Pima Community College
women’s basketball team will
hold a signing party for its incoming freshmen on April 9.
The event will take place at the
Arizona Riverpark Inn, 350 South
Freeway. Doors will open at 6:30
p.m., and the class will be introduced at 7 p.m.
MARCH MADNESS
BY THE NUMBERS
Compiled by Jaime Hernandez
33*
Percentage of workers who spend at least three
hours per day following the NCAA Division I
men’s basketball championship tournament during work hours.
$134 million*
Estimated amount that March Madness costs
American companies in lost productivity during
the first two days of the tournament.
693,000**
Number of brackets filled out within the first two
hours after the selection show.
31***
Percentage of people who enter at least two
betting pools.
Sources:
*Challengeratwork.wordpress.com/tag/march-madness
**m.npr.org/story/175132163
*** http://theweek.com/article/index/225506/how-marchmadness-distracts-workers-by-the-numbers
Aztec Press
SPORTS
TENNIS
April 4-17, Spring 2013
15
SOFTBALL
Ortiz powers Pima sweep
By ROSE VALENZUELA
Larry Gaurano/Aztec Press
Sophomore Vivian Pierson strokes a forehand.
Pierson on
a win streak
By STEVE CHOICE
The Pima Community College women’s tennis team (12-4, 5-2 ACCAC) dominated Mesa
Community College at the Tucson Racquet
Club on April 2, winning 8-1.
Sophomore Vivian Pierson continued her
stellar season for the seventh-ranked Aztecs,
winning her 12th consecutive match at No. 6
singles.
“I’m excited about it; it feels really good,” the
Tucson native said of the streak. “I feel like I’m
playing my best tennis right now. I love coming
out here every day, so it’s a lot of fun.”
Pierson was quick to attribute her success to
good mentoring.
“I owe a lot to Gretchen (Schantz, Pima’s
head coach). She’s really been there for me,”
Pierson said. “Also, my coach in high school
really motivated me.
“He brought me out here to the racquet club,
so that’s how I met Gretchen. I did a few summer camps here that helped me a lot. I think it’s
paying off now.”
PCC swept the singles matches against Mesa.
Other Aztec winners included sophomores Helen Altieri and Julienne Cananea and freshmen
Helena Meyer, Torie Wake and Amy Beeston.
Sophomore Kari Emery missed the match
with an injury.
The Aztecs shut out Glendale 9-0 on the road
on March 26, as Altieri and Emery teamed to
win their seventh doubles match in eight attempts.
On March 21, PCC fell for the second time
this year to No. 6 Eastern Arizona College,
again by a 5-4 score.
The Gila Monsters took four of six singles
matches in the encounter at the TRC.
On the men’s side, the Aztecs (3-6, 2-5 ACCAC) dropped a 5-4 match at Mesa on April 2.
Sophomore D.J. Campas and freshman Brian
Soto won their No. 2 doubles match 8-4. Both
players also won their singles matches.
Sophomore Dylan Vo was PCC’s other victor, beating Marco Navarro 6-1, 6-1 at No. 2
singles.
The Aztecs fell 8-1 to Scottsdale Community
College on March 28 at the TRC.
Freshman Landon Trejo was Pima’s only
winner, as he took his No. 6 singles match 3-6,
7-5, 12-10.
On March 26, the Aztecs got their first victory
under new head coach Brian Ramirez, downing
Glendale 6-3 at the TRC.
Pima took two of the doubles matches, as the
No. 1 duo of sophomores Joe Owen and Vo beat
Tommy Sertich and Rylan Mills 8-5.
At No. 6 singles, Trejo defeated Enrique
Ledesma 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).
ON DECK
WOMEN’S TENNIS
April 4: Paradise Valley CC, West Campus,
1:30 p.m.
April 15-16: @ Regionals @ Glendale
MEN’S TENNIS
April 4: @ Paradise Valley CC, Phoenix,
1:30 p.m.
April 15-16: @ Regionals @ Glendale
The Phoenix College softball team
was probably happy to see Aztecs player
Alejandra Ortiz board the bus to head
back to Tucson on April 2.
The sophomore was a one-person demolition crew for the Pima Community
College squad (28-16, 20-12 ACCAC),
as it easily swept Phoenix.
Ortiz went 6 for 8 on the day with
eight RBIs, five runs scored and a pair
of homers.
The Aztecs took game one 9-0, as
sophomore pitcher Yvette Alvarez tossed
five innings of no-hit ball to improve to
13-11 on the campaign.
PCC pounded the Bears 13-8 in the
second game. Ortiz nearly hit for the
cycle, collecting a double, a triple and a
home run in the contest.
Freshman hurler Corrie Ward picked
up the victory to run her season mark to
4-1. Freshman Stephanie Vejar earned
the save.
The team split a home doubleheader
against South Mountain Community
College on March 30.
Pima won the first game 7-2, as Alvarez pitched a complete game with four
strikeouts and no walks.
Sophomores Noelle Medina and
Shawna Comeaux contributed RBIs to
help the Aztecs open the lead in the sixth
inning.
Medina hit a two-run double, and
Comeaux had an RBI single to make it
6-2. Freshman Danielle Stensby then
knocked in Comeaux on a sac fly to account for the final run.
The Aztecs fell 11-4 in the second
game. Vejar took the loss after pitching
3 2/3 innings, giving up three runs on six
hits with one strikeout and one walk.
Pima took a pair from Glendale Community College on March 26.
Alvarez picked up both wins on the
hill in the road sweep.
After Glendale had swept the Aztecs
in a February doubleheader, Pima didn’t
waste any time in taking its revenge.
PCC scored 10 runs in the first inning
of game one, and cruised to a 14-1 victory in five innings.
Ortiz had a pair of two-run hits in the
first inning as PCC batted around.
Sophomores Gemma Contreras and
Aubre Carpenter each had a pair of RBIs
in the frame as well.
Medina launched a three-run home run
in the third inning.
PCC won the second game 8-0 in six
ON DECK
April 6: @ Chandler-Gilbert CC,
Chandler, noon
April 9: Central Arizona College,
West Campus, noon
April 13: @ Yavapai College, Prescott,
noon
April 16: @ Eastern Arizona College,
Thatcher, noon
innings. Alvarez had a great game, recording six strikeouts and one walk.
She also hit a solo home run in the
fourth inning, finishing 3 for 4 with two
RBIs and two runs scored.
Comeaux and freshman Stacey
Ramirez also contributed RBIs to help
the Aztecs pull out the win.
On March 23, PCC split a road double-dip with Mesa Community College.
Pima won game one 3-0, as Alvarez
threw a complete-game shutout. Mesa
took the second contest 6-2.
The Aztecs will be on the road to face
Scottsdale Community College on April
4. First pitch is scheduled for noon.
BASEBALL
Cochise silences Aztec bats
By ROSE VALENZUELA
The Pima Community College baseball team (19-19-1,
9-13 ACCAC) had a tough
time getting its offense on
track against Cochise College
on April 2.
Cochise took both games of
a doubleheader at West Campus, winning 5-1 and 4-0.
Sophomore pitcher Keith
Zuniga absorbed the loss
in game one, as his mark
dropped to 5-2 on the year.
Sophomore Bryant Muñoz
went 3 for 3 from the dish in
the contest.
The Apaches held PCC
to five hits in game two, as
freshman pitcher Hyrum Formo took the loss.
Pima lost a doubleheader
at home against Scottsdale
Community
College
on
March 30.
The Aztecs again had trouble producing runs, falling
4-1 and 6-1.
In the first game, sophomore Zach Schira knocked in
freshman Alvaro Flores, but
Scottsdale put it away with a
four-run sixth inning.
Sophomore pitcher Jake
Cole was the hard-luck loser,
going the distance and giving
up only three earned runs.He
stands at 2-4 on the year.
In game two, sophomore
pitcher Will Holbrook took
the loss and is now 2-3 this
season.
Schira and freshman Luis
Robles each went 2 for 4 in
the contest.
Pima swept Glendale Community College at home on
March 26.
ON DECK
April 4: @ Scottsdale CC,
1 p.m.
April 6: @ Paradise Valley
CC, Phoenix, noon
April 11: @ GateWay CC,
Phoenix, 1 p.m.
April 13: Central Arizona,
West Campus, noon
April 16: @ Eastern Arizona
College, Thatcher, noon
The Aztec bats were alive
during the two games, and
they took full advantage.
PCC defeated Glendale 5-4
in the first game, as Muñoz
came through with a pinchhit, bases-loaded single in the
bottom of the eighth.
With only one out, sophomore Dylan Dyson hit a
single and sophomore Andre
Porterfield got hit by a pitch.
A wild pitch then moved
the runners up a base.
After freshman Juan Gamez was walked intentionally, the stage was set for Muñoz’s heroics.
Cole pitched 1 2/3 innings
with no runs, no hits, two
strikeouts and two walks to
get the win for Pima.
The Aztecs won the second
game 7-1.
Formo gave up one run in
seven innings with no walks
and seven strikeouts to pick
up the win.
The Aztecs were down 1-0
until they scored five runs in
the third inning, helped along
by sophomore Alec Beyersdorf’s RBI triple.
Rose Valenzuela/Aztec Press
Freshman Hyrum Formo pitches in a March 26 home game.
Freshman Luis Robles
had a run-scoring single in
the same inning to make the
game 5-1. The Aztecs tacked
on two more in the sixth.
Pima split a home twinbill
with Paradise Valley Community College on March 23.
Cole pitched a gem in game
one, as PCC won 3-2. The
sophomore went the distance
and surrendered no earned
runs while striking out 14 and
issuing a single walk.
Paradise Valley took game
two 14-3.
16
Aztec Press
April 4-17, Spring 2013
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