October Newsletter
- si6304
- Oct 1, 2024
- 10 min read
Updated: Oct 3, 2024
Find out about upcoming events on and off campus to look forward to in October
Read a student editorial about the budget cuts on campus
Learn about the upcoming election with easy to use resources
See this month’s themed book recommendations
Enjoy the comics
UPCOMING EVENTS
LatinXperiencia
Sept 30th- Ocxt. 25th, in the gallery under the library.
Cabrillo Gallery’s LatinXperiencia features LatinX artists and speaks to a wide diversity of themes, offering a platform to foster cross-cultural connections and generate meaningful conversations within our diverse academic community and beyond.
Hostile Terrain ‘94 Exhibit
Dr. Jason de Leon and the Undocumented Migration Project are bringing the Hostile Terrain ‘94 exhibitto Cabrillo. A participatory museum exhibition dedicated to representing the experience and culture of Mexican immigrants at the Mexican - American Border.
The Exhibition will be held in the Cabrillo Library between October 14th - December 6th.
Drop In Creation Workshops
Every Wednesday 1pm-3pm in the integrated learning center (Room A260) in Watsonville
Every Thursday 1pm-3pm on the 2nd floor hall of the library in Aptos (Building 1000)
Special lecture by Dr. Jason de Leon on October 16th at 5pm in room 450 (Uncovering the stories of the U.S./Mexico Border)
VAPA Events
Santa Cruz Symphony Recital: Saul & Friends
Samper Recital Hall, Sunday, October 13th 2pm
Soulful Music w/ Lapidus & Myles: Song for People of Conscience
Samper Recital Hall, Saturday, October 19th 7pm
Haunted Halloween!
Samper Recital Hall, Friday, October 25th 12:30pm
Candlelight Santa Cruz
Samper Recital Hall, Monday, October 26th, 5:30pm and 8pm
Learn more HERE
Cabrillo Athletics
Kickoff for Seahawks is at October 5th at 6:00 pm
Cabrillo Football Field Parking Lot K
Go SeaHawks!
To find out more about Cabrillo Athletics click HERE
Homecoming
Saturday October 5th at 3:30pm
Cabrillo Football Field Parking Lot K
Live music, games, BBQ, food trucks, a chili cook off
Undocumented Student Action Week
October 14 - 18, 2024
A week of collaboration and supporting students, faculty and those involved in advocating for undocumented students
College and Career Family Night
Monday, 6:00pm - 8:00pm Oct. 21st
Opportunities to meet college reps, 2 workshops, one dedicated to helping students with finical aid, located in the library. The other workshop is to help students transfer to a 4 year, located in the gymnasium.
Learn more HERE
Fresh Markets
In Watsonville Oct. 2nd 3pm-4pm
In Aptos Oct. 7th 12:30 - 1pm
Pumpkin Patch & Plant Sale
Cabrillo Horticulture Building is hosting a plant sale
October 12th from 9am-1pm
Farmer’s Markets
Sundays: Live Oak, 15th & East Cliff Dr. 9am - 1pm
Tuesdays: Felton, 120 Russel Ave. 1:30pm-5:30pm Wednesdays: Downtown, Cedar & Lincoln St. 1pm-5pm
Saturday: Westside, Mission St. Ext. & Western Dr. 9am-1pm; Scotts Valley, 5060 Scotts Valley Dr, 9am-1pm
Fun Things To Do In Town
RECURRING EVENTS
Sundays: Grateful Sundays with Mike Harle @ Felton Music Hall
Mondays: Comedy Night @ Rosie McCann’s
Tuesdays: $5 Movie Night @ Santa Cruz Cinema
Wednesdays: Hump Day Special (Half Priced) @ Boardwalk Bowl
Thursdays: Trivia Night @ 11th Hour
Fridays: Club 2000 Night @ The Blue Lagoon
Saturday: Karaoke Night @ The Catalyst
STUDENT VOICES
Did you know California Community Colleges recently changed economic systems?
Read this student editorial about how the transition has gone, how this new system has been affected by the pandemic, how Cabrillo is being affected by the change and the larger implications.
What The Student Centered Funding Formula Says About Institutional Education: Student Editorial
In the interest of increasing financial incentives for colleges to promote equity and increase graduation rates, California Community Colleges transitioned to the Student Centered Funding Formula in 2018. However, due to complications from the pandemic resulting in impending fiscal declines, departments are suffering great losses. While the focus on equity and student success is a virtuous goal, the implementation of the Student Centered Funding Formula is flawed in its execution because it incentivizes efficiency over enrichment, which is indicative of trends in ideological shifts within the institution of education at large.
The Student Centered Funding Formula (SCFF) allocates budget based on several factors, including the number of associates degrees acquired, transfers to four year institutions, students receiving financial aid, undocumented students and overall enrollment. Unfortunately, enrollment dropped exponentially with the COVID-19 pandemic, which had devastating implications on community colleges who now depend on enrollment for their budget allocation. In an attempt to adapt to these changes, the SCFF enacted a “hold harmless period,” which ensured an unchanging funding floor for districts based on their budgets before the pandemic. This budget would be held constant, and not be adjusted for inflation or cost of living increases. The “hold harmless period” is set to expire at the end of the Spring semester in 2025, at which point, districts could experience significant fiscal gains or declines. Cabrillo has already experienced the effects of these budget cuts.
The salary budget for faculty has been cut, a decrease in staff particularly affecting associate professors, with remaining faculty not receiving raises. Departments have been put under serious pressure and forced to make sacrifices. In order to protect core classes, required courses and popular electives, lifelong learning classes, such as non required courses or less popular electives have been cut.
Ultimately, these cuts will not affect most students, as Cabrillo’s priority is to maximize the amount of students who receive degrees or transfer into universities. An economics instructor at Cabrillo, when asked if he was worried about the budget cuts, stated “It’s a severity, it’s not a time of plenty. I definitely feel for other instructors who might have classes cut, I feel for the deans that are making hard decisions, and students that have a hard time finding classes. It’s part of the ups and downs of how things work, while it’s not something to be enjoyed, it is something that once every so often is to be expected.”
The philosophy department is among one of the more heavily affected departments. Professor Claudia Close, the department’s chair and only full time instructor, is expected to retire at the end of the spring semester. Her position will not be replaced. This will leave the department with only two associate professors, Rebecca Smith and Michael B. Jordan. Both are well respected, with a reputation for facilitating incredible in person lectures, conversations, and Socratic style classrooms.
Over the last year, the department has lost a significant amount of available credits. Many of the remaining classes are offered exclusively online, often asynchronously. Students and professors alike agree that taking philosophy classes in person is crucial for comprehension of the coursework, as well as applying philosophical concepts to the real world. The transition to an online environment is undoubtedly a devastating loss for the department, and for the students who are interested in philosophy.
As the pressure to produce results increases, community colleges are tending to prioritize efficiency rather than exploration. According to the California Community College Chancelor’s Office’s “Vision for change,” “Getting students to their individual education goals - whether a degree, certificate, transfer or specific skill set - should be the explicit focus of the CCCs. More than just offering courses, colleges need to be offering pathways to specific outcomes and providing support for students to stay on those paths until completion.” California Community Colleges are striving for equitable opportunity for students, while at the same time limiting the types of opportunities available to designated pathways.
Cabrillo has enacted incentives for students to follow this expectation. For example, students must create education plans, which outline their intended major and plan for achievement, ideally not exceeding two years. This plan is then tied to their financial aid application, which means if they wish to change their major or alter their plan they must reapply for financial aid. With the financial incentives associated with students receiving degrees comes the disincentivization of students taking classes to promote the enjoyment of learning for the sake of learning, rather than fulfilling a requirement. With increasing financial pressures on academic institutions and the idea that receiving a degree is a successful student outcome driving these changes, lifelong learning classes are being offered less frequently, and as a result students who are attending college for the purpose of exploring something new or exploring learning opportunities are losing opportunities to do so.
Professor Claudia Close reminisces about a time when attending community college was a very different experience. “You know, back when I was a community college student there was no pressure to get out. There was in fact active encouragement to take and explore as many courses as you wanted…that’s not the case anymore.” By increasing the focus on receiving degrees, transferring into universities, and preparing students for in-demand jobs, student suffer, along with the departments who provide elective programs. With fewer lifelong learning opportunities offered comes a reduction in opportunities for exploration for students, which is a pivotal part of education.
Clearly, the Student Centered Funding Formula leaves significant room for improvement when it comes to providing an enriching experience to students. Moving forward, it is imperative to modify these policies to support a wide array of student achievement goals, without compromising student support and equity. The switch to the Student Centered Funding Formula points to a larger issue with California Community Colleges, and raises questions about the foundational intentions of academia as an economic institution in general.
Editorial by Emma Spath
Do you think the Student Centered Funding Formula should continue to be upheld? Take this quick survey to let us know why or why not.
VOTER’S CORNER
IT’S AN ELECTION YEAR, AND YOUR VOTE MATTERS!
This election is especially controversial with a lot of information and claims being thrown around whether online, in person from peers, at the family dinner table etc. It is difficult to know what to trust, who to listen to, and how to know where this information even came from. To help simplify this overwhelming situation, we’ve attached some reliable sources at the bottom of this segment. There are so many reasons to vote. As a citizen of the United States, you have the right to exercise your voice in the form of voting. You may feel as though your vote doesn’t hold much power, but there is always power in numbers. When being able to get young people, the future of America, to take the time to vote and voice their needs, we as a community can grow. It is a right to vote, one that America still allows majority of people the access to, and something you want to act on to attempt to bring our country to a place of equality, freedom, and representation. This election is especially controversial with a lot of information and claims being thrown around whether online, in person from peers, at the family dinner table etc. It is difficult to know what to trust, who to listen to, and how to know where this information even came from. Next to this segment is a list of links with reliable, valuable, multifaceted information. There are so many reasons to vote, you as a citizen of the United States have the right to exercise your voice in the form of voting. You may feel as though your vote doesn’t hold much power, but there is always power in numbers. When being able to get young people, the future of America, to take the time to vote and voice their needs, we as a community can grow. It is a right to vote, one that America still allows majority of people the access to, and something you want to act on to attempt to bring our country to a place of equality, freedom, and representation.
Cabrillo’s Voter Information Forum
Voter Information Forum: experts provide nonpartisan information relevant to upcoming ballot
October 15th, 12:30pm-2:00pm
Horticulture Building, Room 5005
Everyone is welcome! Free Lunch! RSVP
Open Secrets
Top Resource for clear and unbiased information about finance in politics!
League of Women Voters
A organization that provides resources and information about nationwide to local elections.
Check it out HERE
Ballotpedia
A well respected non-partisan source of information which makes the complex issues presented on the ballot much more accessible.
Check it out HERE
REGISTER TO VOTE!
Cabrillo provides resources for students who wish to register to vote.
Check it out HERE
Remember to register to vote BEFORE NOVEMBER 5th!
Book Recommendations
These titles will be featured at the front of the library, available for check out.
HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH (09.15-10.15)
2016
Arce, Julissa
2016
Navarro, Sharon Ann
2023
Just like us : the true story of four Mexican girls coming of age in America
Thorpe, Helen
2011
Chicana tributes : activist women of the civil rights movement : stories for the new generation
2017
Grounds for dreaming : Mexican Americans, Mexican immigrants, and the California farmworker movement
Flores, Lori A.
2016
Everyone who is gone is here : the United States, Central America, and the making of a crisis
Blitzer, Jonathan
2024
Breaking in : the rise of Sonia Sotomayor and the politics of justice
Biskupic, Joan
2014
Sotomayor, Sonia, 1954- author.
2014
College student self-efficacy research studies
2014
We are Americans : undocumented students pursuing the American dream
Pérez, William
2009
The Latinx guide to graduate school
Negrón-Gonzales, Genevieve
2023
Wise Latinas : writers on higher education
2014
Marching students : Chicana and Chicano activism in education, 1968 to the present
2011
Transforming Hispanic-Serving Institutions for Equity and Justice
Garcia, Gina Ann
2023
The bilingual advantage : language, literacy and the US labor market
2014
Medina, Meg
2018
Latin American women filmmakers : production, politics, poetics
2017
Larraquy, Roque
2018
The house of broken angels : a novel
Urrea, Luis Alberto
2018
The Tijuana book of the dead : poems
Urrea, Luis Alberto.
2015
Fajardo-Anstine, Kali
2019
Henríquez, Cristina
2014
Medina, Meg
2016
Pérez, Ashley Hope
2015
Becoming Dr. Q : my journey from migrant farm worker to brain surgeon
Quiñones-Hinojosa, Alfredo
2011
Spare parts : four undocumented teenagers, one ugly robot, and the battle for the American dream
Davis, Joshua
2014
Latinx photography in the United States : a visual history
Ferrer, Elizabeth
2020
HALLOWEEN (10.16-10.31)
Ellis, Warren
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft
The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Stevenson, Robert Louis
The bloody chamber, and other stories
Carter, Angela
Moreno-Garcia, Silvia
2020
Ghosts by gaslight : stories of steampunk and supernatural suspense
2011
The turn of the screw ; The lesson of the master
James, Henry, 1843-1916
1957
The complete tales and poems of Edgar Allan Poe.
Poe, Edgar Allan
Jackson, Shirley
2013
Butler, Octavia E
King, Stephen
Palahniuk, Chuck
Matheson, Richard
2006
Soto, Gary.
2003
Dunkle, Clare B.
2010
Emerson, Ramona
2022
Comics
By Andre Albanese
Professor Close is a wonderful teacher, and her intro to ethics class changed my future. She has a reputation of getting more students to graduate as philosophy majors- and I was one of them! Now I am a Sociology and Philosophy major at UCSC and competed on the 2024 UCSC Ethics Bowl team, along with another one of Claudia's previous students named Juan who is preparing to take the LSAT soon and plans to pursue a career in law. I wouldn't be here without Claudia's riveting lecturing skills and work on the Cabrillo Ethics Bowl team. You will be greatly missed in the Philosophy department! It is so upsetting to know she will not be replaced with another full-time teacher.…
What an impactful article, and a hilarious comic to go along with it! Andre you couldn't have said- or drawn- it any better.
Great article, Emma. Well done!