Month: March 2017

Campus, Community

Dozens of employers set to visit DMC for job fair

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Natalie Murphy nmurphy@foghornnews.com @foghorn_murphy It’s time again for Del Mar’s resume clinic and job fair. The Office of Career Development will be hosting both events on each campus. The “clinics” will be held first so that students have a chance to have the most professional resume possible when meeting with prospective employers. “This is the first time we’re doing the resume clinics,” said Vanessa Adkins, career development coordinator. “A lot of students don’t feel prepared. They don’t feel confident handing their resume to employers.” The clinics will have representatives from employers on hand to help students tailor their resumes. Each…

Campus

“Bathroom Bill” could affect students at DMC

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Natalie Murphy nmurphy@foghornnews.com The Texas Legislature is considering Senate Bill 6, commonly known as the bathroom bill, as part of this year’s legislative session. The bill, if passed, would require people to use the bathroom that matches their “biological sex” as determined by their birth certificate. “Senate Bill 6, should it move forward in its present form, could have administrative and financial implications for the college,” said Del Mar President Mark Escamilla. The bill passed through the Senate Affairs Committee with favorable results. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has been an active supporter of the proposed bill. In recent weeks he…

Community

The rise and fall of Hillcrest

Travis Pettis

Tpettis@foghornnews.com You’re going to get two things before you walk out of Sam’s Barber Shop. First, you’re going to hear “the good news,” and second, you’re going to get a great haircut. The rust-red building located in the middle of Hillcrest has long been a hotspot for the community. “Thank you Lord for giving us another day on this earth,” says Sam Johnson, also known as Sam the Barber. Johnson is the owner of Sam’s Barber Shop and has been cutting hair on the Northside since 1953. He has seen all the changes — from the good to the bad.…

Community, Texas

Texas continues to push abstinence-only education, regardless of results

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Mia Estrada Collegiate High School “When I first told my parents I was pregnant, they were upset about it and some stuff happened so I cried for three days straight and didn’t go to school,” said Miranda Nava, 17, a junior at Collegiate High School. As Nava would walk down the hall, she always noticed familiar faces staring at her. She felt shamed. “When I started showing, everybody just stared and people would literally call me fat,” Nava said. Along with schoolwork, Nava could hardly keep up with her courses. “It’s hard to focus knowing my baby isn’t with me…

Community

DMC professor tapped to lead FBI group

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Del Mar College’s David Abarca continues to climb the ladder of success, being recruited by the FBI to lead a special interest group for the Coastal Bend. Abarca, who has been teaching computer science at Del Mar College for 15 years, was asked by the FBI to lead the Coastal Bend Special Interest Group, a branch of Houston’s Infragard chapter. “Being selected by the FBI, being asked by them to lead this group is a bit of a natural progression,” Abarca said. Infragard is a partnership between the FBI and the private sector, working with businesses, academic institutions and law…

Editorial

Del Mar shouldn’t raise tuition

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  It is unfair to increase the financial burden on the students of this community when the school moves in directions that will only increase spending. During the February Board of Regents meeting, a measure passed with an 8-1 vote to increase tuition for the 2017-2018 school year by $5 per credit hour. This may seem like a nominal amount of money to spend each year, however many students and their families already struggle to pay for college and many graduates struggle to pay back students loans. Student loans are key here. The school knows that the aid provided will…

Community

Lincoln-Reagan Dinner draws dozens of protesters

Mark Young

  Mark Young myoung@foghornnews.com   There were two events happening at the Holiday Inn Marina on March 9. Inside was a fundraising dinner, called the Lincoln-Reagan Dinner, which was supposed to feature Gov. Gregg Abbott (he was not able to attend the event because of bad weather, but did address the crowd over Skype). Outside was a protest geared toward Abbott and his recent support of Senate Bill 6, the so-called “bathroom bill,” and Senate Bill 4, which aims to ban sanctuary cities in Texas. Nueces County Republican Chairman Mike Bergsma, and the president of Nueces County Republican Women, Jeanne…

Campus, Staff

Gender stereotypes addressed by faculty in workshop

Mark Young

Mark Young myoung@foghornnews.com   While society has become more progressive in the past decades, there are a lot of traditions and notions still present. Gender roles are one. “How do you define success?” That’s how Jerry Dugan, an education consultant at Christus Health and former Women’s Shelter community educator, began the March 9 faculty workshop called Breaking Out of the Gender Box. The workshop was aimed at helping faculty understand how gender roles affect students and how to help nontraditional students. The workshop went over common roles that men and women are “boxed” into and how it affects their future…

Community

Veterans to tell stories of Vietnam

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Colby Farr cfarr@foghornnews.com @colby_farr   Local Vietnam veterans will tell of their experiences during the war at an upcoming roundtable at Del Mar College. War and Remembrance will feature Ram Chavez, a local decorated combat veteran, who will share his own experience with the war. “The Vietnam War had a great impact on the United States and the world including thousands in the Mexican-American community,” said DMC professor Derek Oden. “Hearing the accounts of local Vietnam veterans will undoubtedly deepen students’ understanding of the history of the conflict in Southeast Asia.” Oden, who teaches history, said he has had a…

Opinions

OPINION – Students only learn what they want to

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Nomaan Khan In the pursuit of a college degree, people forget to actually learn. Ultimately, it’s a student’s responsibility to learn in college as much as it is a professor’s to teach them, but it seems too many students are relying on the institution to pass them and “teach” them, so they stop being proactive in the process. A college professor’s main job and concern is to give students the resources and methods so they can learn on their own; instructors are supposed to teach you to fish instead of giving you the fish, so to speak. The majority of…