Author: Andrew-Pól Clements

Campus

DMC board unanimously approved property tax decrease

Andrew-Pól Clements

Property owners within the Del Mar College tax district can expect a decrease in their property tax rates for the coming fiscal year. At the board’s Sept. 12 regular meeting, regents unanimously approved a property tax rate of 0.237, down from 0.266 from the previous year. Though property evaluations are expected to be higher than last year, the change in tax rate is expected to lead to a decrease of $2 in the average per household property tax. Overall, the college is expecting total tax revenue to be around $85.9 million, a 2.58 percent decrease from last year. The college…

Community

Coffee Show Review: Coffee Waves

Andrew-Pól Clements

Coffee Waves on South Alameda Street offers a cool, relaxing atmosphere and a variety of space that makes it ideal for any college or university student seeking a place to escape the stress of academic life. Of course, environment isn’t everything, if you’re looking for a cup of joe, here is what to expect: DRIP; BLACK It is to my understanding that drip coffee is the baseline for all other coffee beverages. This is because it is by far the simplest form of coffee, the quality of which being determined more by the equipment at hand and the quality of…

Campus

Del Mar prepares for Hispanic Heritage Month

Andrew-Pól Clements

Several events planned for monthlong celebration With the start of the fall semester, Hispanic Heritage Month is right around the corner. Del Mar plans to offer several events and activities for students to celebrate Nueces County’s largest and oldest cultural community during the month, which runs from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15. Here are some upcoming Hispanic Heritage events at Del Mar College: CMAS KICK-OFF The Center for Mexican American Studies has a full lineup of events beginning with a kick-off on Sept. 13. The kick-off event will take place at 11:30 a.m. in the Coles Building, Room CB 133.…

Campus

Local author reads from new book at MAS seminar

Andrew-Pól Clements

Chef, others also take part in Mexican American Studies program event Del Mar College’s Mexican American Studies program held its ninth annual summer seminar on July 29. The six-hour event took place in Heritage Campus’ General Academics and Music Building, with a keynote by Alberto Rodriguez, director of the Mexican American Studies Institute at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. The event also hosted special guest and local author Diana López as well as multiple performances by folklorico dancer Teresa Saldivar. Local artists, writers and organizations filled the halls with booths, selling their work and merchandise to attendees. Paintings and handmade informative posters…

Campus, Education, Technology

Coding and competing

Andrew-Pól Clements

Youth program robots during weeklong camp Del Mar College held a five-day programing and coding camp for sixth- through eighth-graders, concluding in a robotics competition on July 21. Starting on July 17, 24 middle school students from West Oso ISD and other Corpus Christi schools met at the Oso Creek Campus. Over the next five days, the students began receiving instruction and getting the chance to grow familiar with the various types of programable robots the camp uses. According to Korinne Caruso, an assistant professor of computer science at Del Mar College, those first days can be difficult for some…

Campus, Education, Technology

Summer of science

Andrew-Pól Clements

Middle schoolers learn robotics, more at Del Mar camp For most middle school students in Corpus Christi, the start of summer vacation is spent at the beach, by the pool, or simply enjoying life beyond the classroom. But for 40 Corpus Christi middle schoolers, their first month of summer vacation was spent learning about robotics and engineering at Del Mar College’s Oso Creek Campus. On July 18, Del Mar bookended this year’s TexPREP camp with competitions covering robotics, architectural design and structural engineering. For six weeks starting on June 5, the students undertook rigorous instruction and coursework five days a…

Campus

Doctor of Toxicology, DMC Alumnus to give keynote address at May 19 commencement ceremony

Andrew-Pól Clements

The end of the semester is here, and with it, graduation and commencement. To kick off the beginning of a new chapter in the lives of the approximately 782 graduating students, Del Mar College has invited Doctor of Toxicology and Del Mar College alumnus Natividad Roberto Fuentes Jr. to give the keynote address at the commencement ceremony this Friday. Fuentes graduated from Del Mar College in 2011 with an associate degree in biology and a certification in biotechnology. From there, he would go on to earn his bachelor’s degree in cellular and molecular biology from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, and…

Campus, Technology

Studying anatomy in a virtual space

Andrew-Pól Clements

Student Success Center unveils new virtual reality headsets for student use Students studying anatomy and physiology got some high-tech help on April 26. The Student Success Center on Heritage Campus introduced five new virtual reality headsets for use as study aids. The set consists of five color-coded Oculus Meta Quest 2 headsets with two wireless controllers each. Each headset includes a program known as the 3D Organon Platform, which provides access to multiple life-like anatomy models for students to manipulate and examine at a fraction of the cost of physical models. The virtual models also include built-in labels and an…

Entertainment

‘Airness’ hooks viewers early on

Andrew-Pól Clements

Del Mar College’s Drama Department held five showings of “Airness: The Air Guitar Comedy” from April 7-15. A loud and proud comedic performance following Nina, played by Mia Dobbins, and a band of colorful and charismatic air guitarists, “Airness” is a show about pretend, but serious pretend. I had originally chosen to attend the Student Appreciation performance on April 13 after a somewhat long day of designing the newspaper with the Foghorn staff and getting it ready for print. Stressed, tired, and having just finished a rather nasty argument with a family member, by the time I had sat down…

Editorial

Desalination takes salt from Corpus water

Andrew-Pól Clements

Anyone who has lived in Corpus Christi for the past half decade is all too familiar with the city’s water problems. If it is not some industrial spill or sanitizer shortage causing a citywide water boil, it is instead Texas’ famous weather engaging the city’s drought contingency plan. In fact, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center, Nueces County has not had a single twelve-month period without some level of abnormal dryness since April 2005. As of March 14, most of Nueces County has been in a state of severe drought according to the NDMC, and Corpus Christi is once…