By Daniel Montaño
Senior Reporter
Learning and doing are two very different things, and students enrolled in service learning are finding out that doing can be rewarding in many ways, Sharon Gordon-Moffett, director of service learning, said.
Service learning takes students out of the classroom and puts their knowledge to work at local non-profit organizations with credit toward a class, she said.
Gordon-Moffett said that most students say they find the experience rich and meaningful, and that it can sometimes even land students a job.
“It’s a great, great experience. This is real life, real world experience. Close to forty percent of the students stay on to volunteer once they complete their hours, and several years ago it was estimated that 20 percent of our students are offered jobs,” she said.
Instructors can choose to offer service learning as an additional teaching method for whatever course they plan to use it in, and students will receive a grade based on a reflection of what they learn, Gordon-Moffett said.
Cynthia Griffin Ediger, Math, Science and Engineering instructor, for example, gives her students in her geometry for teachers class a service learning option to volunteer with the Boys and Girls Club, actually teaching math to kids in an after school program, and then present their experience in lieu of a research paper, she said.
Griffin Ediger’s students get the real world experience that can prepare the would-be-teachers for what teaching children can actually be like at the Boys and Girls club with all sorts of different types children, she said.
“They’re not just ideal students. There are kids who are homeless, there are kids that come to school hungry and that type of thing,” Griffin Ediger said.
Service learning works with more than 20 different organizations around Albuquerque and Rio Rancho, with representatives for each that are trained in the goals of service learning so that these reps. can engage students in the sorts of activities that will teach them the things that are relevant to the student’s course, Gordon-Moffett said.
“I like to call it academics in action. You’re actually applying the theory,” she said.
Linda Fuller, Shelter Director at St. Martin’s Hospitality center, said the real learning happens when students get exposed to things that cannot be fully understood inside a classroom.
St. Martin’s, a day shelter for the homeless, is one of the many service learning agencies available, and caters to Child, Youth, and Family Development majors who want to go into social work, Fuller said.
Students often feel overwhelmed for the first few hours they work at St. Martins because they get exposed to the reality of homelessness, substance abuse, mental disorders, and much more, Fuller said.
“This is an eye-opener, this is the real world, and I think people really need that,” Fuller said.
Service learning students also get the ability to test the waters in their chosen field, which is beneficial to knowing if a certain career choice is best for that student, Gordon-Moffett said.
“It’s a great opportunity for students to kind of get their feet wet. Some think they want to work with kids, and then they get done and find out they can’t stand kids,” she said.
Service learning is offered by many instructors for many different types of courses, including psychology, social work, hospitality and tourism, communications and health sciences, Gordon-Moffett said.
Gary Peoples, CYFD Social Work major, is service learning at St. Martins Hospitality Center for his intro to social work class, and has learned just how important his chosen career will be, he said.
“I’ve learned there’s a tremendous need out here. There’s a problem in our society for those who have and those who don’t have,” he said.
Peoples’ experience at St. Martins has motivated him to get more involved with and set him in his career path, he said.
“There was no doubt before, but definitely this has solidified it. Absolutely,” he said.
In contrast, another student who volunteers at St. Martins, CYFD Social work major Johnel Reddic, said his experience at St. Martins has changed his career path — he now wants to work directly with people who need assistance, he said.
“I wanted to work in administration but I think I’ll probably be bored. This’ll probably be a bit more interesting, probably be a bit more fulfilling,” Reddic said.
Month: September 2013
Disbursement goes off without a hitch
By Jonathan Baca, Staff Reporter | Photo by Jonathan Baca
Disbursement is always a logistical challenge, and CNM had made several changes to the process this year to make things more efficient, and are discussing even more options for the future, Lee Carrillo, Vice President of Student Services said.
CNM disbursed $21 million to 11,777 students last week, and things went smoother than ever, thanks to less paper checks and a new office at the West Side campus, Carrillo said.
“I’ve done this for 23 years, and I think over all, this is probably the best,” he said.
For students with part-of-term or short term courses, their funds may be split and disbursed in two or more parts, with subsequent checks going out ten days after the start of their late starting classes.
This is an optional federal rule that CNM opted to comply with, mainly to discourage students with short term courses from receiving all of their disbursement, and then leaving school before the end of the semester, Carrillo said.
“This was a way of keeping the student in the classroom, and hopefully making them successful,” Carrillo said.
4,676 students opted for direct deposit this term, having their money sent directly to their bank accounts. This is a 10 percent increase from last semester, and a trend that CNM hopes will continue, Carrillo said.
“It is something we’ve worked towards for forever. Go direct deposit if you have a bank account,” he said.
Students who signed up for direct deposit got their money two days before students who received a paper check, and this has made the process easier and faster for both the Cashiers office and the students, Bursar Christine Duncan said.
“The less paper checks we have to handle, the faster it is,” Duncan said.
Financial Aid and the Marketing and Communication Office teamed up to encourage students to switch to direct deposit, using emails and social media to let students know about the option, Duncan said.
The other big change this semester was the start of disbursement at the West Side campus, which lessened the load for Main and Montoya campuses, Duncan said.
With more staff and resources this year, the West Side campus gave out checks to over 600 students. Montoya campus handled disbursement for over 900 students last week, and this has meant more convenience and shorter lines for everyone, Duncan said.
“We tried to make it a little more convenient for those students at the other campuses, so people didn’t have to drive as far,” Duncan said.
An email was sent out to students, letting them know which campus to go to in order to get their checks. Checks were sent to whichever campus the majority of a student’s classes were held, Duncan said.
Disbursement is a joint effort between Financial Aid, the Cashiers office, and Accounts Payable, and is a team effort, Duncan said.
“This term we changed a couple of things, so we had meetings, talked about it, and made decisions together,” Duncan said.
Financial Aid processes a student’s award eligibility, and the Cashiers office cuts the checks, once a student’s tuition and fees have been paid, Carrillo said.
“We work very well together,” Carrillo said.
With the success of the direct deposit option, CNM has begun discussion about another possibility for disbursement; replacing paper checks with plastic credit cards from a bank, Carrillo said.
The cards would be free to students, and would work like a gift card, with no possibility of overdrafts or further debt, Carrillo said.
The main issue with this option is that many banks would charge a transaction fee every time the card was used, Carrillo said.
Carrillo said the school has received presentations from several banks, but they have not made a decision to go with a particular one yet, and are waiting for the best possible deal, one that would work best for the students.
“We just need to make sure that whichever bank we choose to go with has none, or the minimal fee, so it doesn’t affect the students’ money,” he said.
Carrillo said it would most likely start out as an optional program, like direct deposit, but that it might become mandatory at some point down the line.
No decisions have been made yet, and it is ultimately up to the Executive team whether CNM will implement these cards in the future, Carrillo said.
Most of the student problems with disbursement last week were about confusion over whether they would be getting the full amount of money, and when, said Duncan. According to Carrillo, students get their money ten days after the start of their classes, but for Freshmen and first time borrowers of loans, there is a thirty day wait before their funds are disbursed.
“We want to make sure that they are here and they are doing well before we disburse those loan moneys to them,” Carrillo said.
Carrillo said that many students at times get confused about disbursement because of attending hours, short term courses, ineligibility because of repeat courses, and other issues.
The Financial Aid office tries to communicate with students as much as possible through emails throughout the year, including award letters, schedules, and deadlines, so hopefully students will be less confused if they read these emails carefully, Carrillo said.
“We always have the student in mind when we are sending out these emails, to make them as simple as possible so they understand them,” Carrillo said.
The library’s best kept secret
Stacie Armijo, Staff Reporter
For students who cannot afford to buy laptops, iPads, textbooks and other materials they may need, the Reserve program in the library is set up to help, Main campus Library Manager Olivia Baca said.
Students are able to borrow items for a three hour interval, although not all text books are available and often there is only one copy of each, Baca said.
“We feel that the three hours gives students enough time to take it to class and not have to race to the library or race to class. There is that window to accommodate whether it is a study session or a class session, but it is also reasonably brief,” Baca said.
The three hour check out policy is set in place to ensure that an item will soon be turned back in for another student to use, she said.
“With the three hours’ time frame the library is committed to maximizing resources for the most number of students,” Baca said.
Business Administration major Irving Ramos said that he likes the fact that laptops are available for students to borrow.
“I can do my homework here instead of looking for one in the computer lab,” Ramos said.
The library recently added the availability of 20 laptops and 10 iPads to the reserve program, which helps adhere to the different types of tools students may need, Baca said.
“We are really excited about the I-Pads. Because it is the touch interface it mimics a desktop computer in a lot of ways and a tablet operates completely different so we want all students that are so inclined to be able to try that out,” Baca said.
Baca said the collection of items is available through donations and loans.
“Professors loan us a copy of a text book or if a department has extra copies they will loan or donate it to us so we are able to make it available to students,” Baca said.
A year ago the library put a policy into practice that deals with the consequences of returning materials late, she said.
“If a student returns it late than they are not denied access to the resource but they are restricted. At the main campus library that means using it at the big silver help desk on the first floor,” Baca said.
The Main campus library currently has many text books on file. In addition to the laptops and iPads they also loan headphones, computer mouse, and other resource material.
“I think it’s important to know that library staff is always willing to help them,” Baca said.
All students are encouraged to call, email CNM.edu/libraries, or stop by for any help they might need, she said.
“We are here to help them, so we can help them find a resource for a project so that it doesn’t take those three frustrating hours,” she said.
If you have any questions regarding this valuable resource please contact the CNM libraries at 224-4278 or email Olivia Baca at obaca9@cnm.edu.
Instructors object to lack of parking
By Martin Montoya, Staff Reporter
For some teachers, a paid parking space is just not a possibility as the majority of CNM faculty and staff that are part time have other jobs and just cannot afford the extra fees, American and Native American History Instructor Dr. Benay Blend said.
Blend said the biggest problem is that teachers have to show up nearly two and a half hours early just to get a parking space for a 10:30 a.m. class at Main campus. As a part time instructor with a salary that has gone down with the decline in the number of classes to teach, Blend said she just cannot find a way to budget for a convenient parking space.
“I’m not going to be paying out of my measly salary for the privilege,” Blend said.
If the value of faculty members was a high priority, people in charge would really understand that part time faculty does not make enough money to afford a permit, Blend said.
“I would like to get here at a normal time,” she said.
Unable to afford paid parking on an adjunct professor’s salary, Political Science Instructor Bob Anderson said that for two to three years at the beginning of his teaching career he hauled all his books and supplies from the far end of the parking lot on Montoya campus, where parking was available.
“That really wiped out my back,” Anderson said.
After going to the doctor’s office with pain, thinking being out of shape was the problem, Anderson said the doctor found that the pressure from the book bag he carried everyday had resulted in a ruptured disk in his lower back.
Anderson said that he now has permanent damage to his lower back which is irreparable.
“It just goes out on me and I go through a lot of pain,” Anderson said.
Anderson said that he now has a handicap placard that enables him to park closer, which he qualified for after being forced to use a walker and other painstaking tasks since his injury.
Stephen Andrews, History Instructor and Chair of History, Economics, Political Science, and Communications said that there has to be a way to solve this parking situation and the impact it has on not only faculty and students, but the part time instructors who do not have a significant amount of job security.
This is the case if teachers are traveling from campus to campus to try to get enough classes to teach to survive, he said.
“I have been part time, I have taught out of the trunk, I know what it’s about and it’s tough,” Andrews said.
CNM clearly does not have enough parking spaces to ensure every faculty member gets a guaranteed or reserved parking space, and at the same time the part-timers are expected to simply deal with these conditions, he said.
Director of Marketing and Communications Brad Moore said that as of yet there are no procedures in the works for instructors to be able to get set up with preferential parking permits, and that there are no immediate plans to change policies regarding instructor parking issues.
“I am not aware of anything in the works that would change the parking situation for employees,” Moore said.
CNM and NMSU partner to bring degree program to Albuquerque
Nick Stern, Staff Reporter
Students who are unable to leave Albuquerque and who are working towards an associate’s degree at CNM can now consider getting a bachelor’s degree in Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Management (HRTM) from New Mexico State University without leaving Albuquerque, thanks to the collaboration between both CNM and NMSU, Program Coordinator for culinary arts and hospitality and tourism, Scott Clapp said.
What Clapp refers to as the “two-plus-two” program allows CNM students to receive their associate’s degree in two years with CNM’s Hospitality and Tourism program and then transfer to NMSU for a bachelor’s degree in HRTM without having to go to Las Cruces, Clapp said. NMSU has a small campus right here in Albuquerque located at 4501 Indian School Road NE, so students will be able to take their classes at this facility or through online classes, as well as labs that can be taken at CNM, Clapp said.
“What is really exciting about this relationship between CNM and NMSU is that they can do the whole program here in Albuquerque. For students wanting to get their bachelor’s degree, whether they have family, a job here, or whatever reason moving to Las Cruces is not really an option for them,” he said.
Clapp said that the goal is to allow students to be able to bring the full program to Albuquerque by next spring of 2014, when it will begin as a cohort, which means students will start as a group and go through the entire program together to receive their bachelor’s.
As of now CNM is in contact with previous graduates that might be interested in the program as well as contacting current hospitality and culinary students who ,ight be interested in a bachelor’s degree through the “two-plus-two” program, Clapp said. The hospitality classes teach things like event planning, understanding the processes in different areas of hospitality, general accounting, and a lot of leadership classes, Clapp said.
“Hospitality touches on everything because basically when you walk in a room, there is some hospitality going on,” he said.
Clapp said that there are many leadership classes because Human Resources (HR) is very important in Hospitality, and that leadership management in the associate’s degree program is for students who want to be in the management level of hospitality, including job titles like food and beverage manager, general manager, and head of housekeeping.
While an associate’s degree can take someone far in the culinary side of hospitality, a bachelor’s degree is what is really important in the corporate setting of hospitality, Clapp said.
The corporate side is usually looking for someone with a four year degree for catering directors, HR people and management positions, jobs that are highly sought after, Clapp said.
“An associate’s in hospitality will benefit in some ways but to really get to the management positions a bachelor’s will take them a lot further. What we have been able to do here with NMSU is provide that avenue,” Clapp said.
CNM’s Dean of School of Business and Information Technology, Donna Diller said that New Mexico State’s HRTM is a great program because they get to work with employers from all over the country for internship opportunities, and that this program works as a very effective way for students to be exposed to their desired field, and to place them around the country to work.
“New Mexico State has the most robust of the degree programs because they work with employers around the country. One of my son’s friends just graduated from there and is working in San Diego at a resort hotel,” Diller said.
Hospitality is not a small and precise study but rather covers a very broad area, Diller said.
There is the food service side, bed and breakfast, hotels, travel agencies, event-planning, catering management, and a sales side of hospitality, just to name a few, she said.
The two colleges have collaborated since 2007 and the transfer degree program was in the 2009-10 catalogs but has not been offered until now, Diller said.
“Part of what we are doing this fall is reaching out to students that are close to finishing the degree or maybe even have finished and are interested in pursuing this,” Diller said.
For more information on the Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Management program, students can call the NMSU Albuquerque campus at 830-2856.
Be part of the future endeavors of CNM
Stacie Armijo, Staff Reporter
President of Fellow of Innovation David Valdes said he is holding focus group sessions to invite students to give their ideas for the next big accomplishment at CNM.
Focus group sessions will be held on Wednesday Sept. 18 and Friday Sept. 20 at Main Campus, and all students are welcome to participate, Valdes said.
Two sessions will be offered both days starting at 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., with Valdes cautioning that limited space will be available for students to voice their opinions. For more information or to sign up for the focus group meetings students can email Valdes at dvaldes1@cnm.edu.
Valdes said he has a number of ideas to improve the quality of what CNM has to offer by getting the perspective of students and faculty, and by making the campuses better overall.
“I would like to emphasize that I want students to be part of what I am doing. I have jotted down a million ideas for innovations at CNM, a lot of them revolve around parking,” he said.
Many students, staff and faculty have voiced their concerns regarding problems with parking, he said.
“Something I would like to explore and look into as what we could possibly do about all of the parking issues,” he said.
Students can voice their opinions on what needs to be developed upon and how those ideas can be implemented into school programs, he said.
“It’s important to me to generate and narrow ideas for topics of innovation,” and that is where these focus groups come in, Valdes said.
There are 30 participants of CNM faculty that have signed up to be a part of this new group idea, with faculty being a separate entity from the student groups, Valdes said.
“The program of innovation is to try to find a way to accomplish something tangible. I can generate a decent amount of ideas on my own but I want more brains involved,” Valdes said.
New ideas for the school are welcomed and are to be shared at one of these mentioned sessions, he said.
“There are several types of innovation; cultural, technological, academic and economic,” he said.
Valdes hopes these focus groups help students become more involved in volunteer programs where students can learn to help the community through the school.
“I would like to see every graduate of CNM having been involved in a charitable organization before they leave. It sounds like a great cultural shift that I would like to see for the future of our state, and our nation. I hope that students focus on how they can help the people next to them,” Valdes said.
Valdes said that after the focus groups he will continue with applying what ideas are really going to help students and faculty and how these new innovations can be incorporated into the school.
“I am trying to build research, then implementation and evaluation groups as well.” he said.
There are currently three fellowships here at CNM and Valdes said that each one hopes to better the school for the students in new ways.
“There is also a fellow of distance learning and there are two people working on curriculum. There are several areas to look at; talking about technological innovation in particular I know that the fellowship of distance learning is really looking on how they can ramp up technical help for students,” he said.
Students need to be able to voice their opinions of what can be improved at the school and focus groups will be the first of many new ideas that will help the school to become better with the benefit of many perspectives, Valdes said.
Security’s use of force questioned by students
By Daniel Montaño, Senior Reporter
Link to Video of the incident: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aGBev8VshI
Security’s detention tactics have been called into question by students who witnessed three security officers apprehend and detain a skateboarder for riding in a dismount zone, said Immanuel Colbert, liberal arts major who witnessed the incident.
The skateboarder, who asked to remain nameless until the matter is settled with CNM administration and security, had his skateboard taken and thrown to the ground by officers before they wrestled the skateboarder himself to the ground and began choking him, Colbert said.
Colbert watched and recorded the incident, which took place on Sept. 11 just before 9 a.m. in the parking lot south of Ken Chappy Hall, and believes security officials used excessive force for such a minor violation, he said.
“It just wasn’t appropriate. It wasn’t necessary to do it, but the guard brought the contact and the violence into it. There wouldn’t have been any if he would have just explained to (the skateboarder) why he was coming at him like that. But he didn’t. It was overly aggressive. I’d say completely unnecessary,” Colbert said.
Colbert’s video can be viewed at the CNM Chronicle’s website: thecnmchronicle.wordpress.com.
Colbert is ex-military, so he has been trained in intervention techniques and knows how security and police officers are supposed to deal with a possibly volatile situation, he said.
After stopping the skateboarder, security officers spoke to him and had the chance to resolve the situation without physical force, but the officers escalated the situation to a physical level by pushing the skateboarder in the chest repeatedly before attempting to detain him, Colbert said.
“They’re supposed to assess the situation and calm it down, and this CNM security guard did none of that. He accelerated the situation to physical contact. He didn’t try to use his words to bring it down,” Colbert said.
The security officers were on scene responding to a medical emergency — a faculty member, who also asked not to be named because of the ongoing investigation, had fell and hit her head — when the skateboarder rode by, William Duran, Chief of Security, said.
Duran would not comment on the incident’s details, or whether or not the guards’ actions fell within policy guidelines, because the investigation is ongoing, but did say that initial reports from staff indicate that the officers’ actions were appropriate, he said.
“I’ve had staff, I’ve had faculty members, I’ve had health staff tell us ‘Hey, your officers did what they had to do. She needed to be protected, and that’s what they were doing,’” Duran said.
The faculty member in question was sitting on the east side of KC receiving care from officers for the injury to her head when the skateboarder rode “about as fast as you can go on a skateboard” towards the scene of her accident, she said.
Officers yelled at the skateboarder to dismount, but he continued skating, she said.
“He just kept coming and the security guard treating me said ‘get off that board!’ and the kid yells ‘I’m late!’ and just kept going faster and faster,” she said.
The skateboarder did not hit any of the guards or the faculty member as he went by, she said.
Officers ran after the skateboarder, following him to the south side of KC, which is where he finally dismounted and started speaking to officers, Colbert said.
After repeatedly asking for his skateboard, the security officer took it from the skateboarder’s hands and threw it to the ground, then started pushing the skateboarder’s chest and threw him to the ground, Colbert said.
“Right after they grab him and the initial physical contact happens, and they start tussling around, he slams (the skateboarder) down and starts choking him,” Colbert said.
Colbert recorded the incident and sent it to the skateboarder as evidence in case the skateboarder wished to pursue legal action, Colbert said.
The skateboarder declined to comment on the situation or whether he will be pursuing legal action, because he has been advised “not to talk about anything that has happened,” he said on Monday, Sept. 16.
The faculty member has some bumps and scrapes as well as the cut on her head from the fall, but is fine now after receiving attention from officers and a trip to the hospital, she said.
“Security was the bomb in treating me and kind of securing the scene and all of that. So I really gave them props for being responsive in helping me,” she said.
Free childcare program goes unnoticed
By Daniel Montaño, Senior Reporter
There is no question: being a parent and going to school is difficult, Christine De Lette, Center Specialist at Youth Development Inc., said.
The good news is CNM has – and has had for 14 years – a program that assists student-parents by providing childcare, but the bad news is students are not signing up, De Lette said.
“Currently it’s a really low number,” she said. “I believe we have about three or four right now.”
YDI is a non-profit company that provides free childcare, education and much more to low income families, and YDI has a location on the South Valley campus, De Lette said.
CNM and YDI have struck a deal so that YDI gets to lease CNM’s land and students get first dibs on the 40 spots that are open every year for children aged three to five, as long as the students applying meet the guidelines for enrollment, she said.
This sort of deal should have people clamoring to get in, but the student response to enroll children has been less than overwhelming, and De Lette thinks it is because students do not know the program exists, she said.
“They’re not aware of it. It’s not on the map, it’s not in a brochure, it’s not in the catalog for the new school year, it’s not sent out on flyers, we’re not posted on CNM’s website as an option,” she said.
De Lette is looking to change that in the upcoming semesters by getting word about the program out to students, she said.
Because YDI is independent of CNM, De Lette has not had any direct control over the lack of advertising, but she has been reaching out to various departments within CNM, and has been trying to place ads to bring in more students, she said.
“We understand that students do have the need for childcare, and our goal is to make sure that students know that we’re here for them,” she said.
Even though the school year is already under way, YDI is still accepting applications and their waitlists tend to move quickly, De Lette said.
Because families move or have a change in status, there is usually a good chance children can get in regardless of the time of the year, and De Lette is still encouraging students to apply, she said.
The south valley YDI location can be reached at 873-0905 for specific information.
“We rarely, rarely turn people away,” De Lette said.
YDI serves over seventeen thousand children and their families and has over 20 locations in Albuquerque, and even more in Taos and Rio Arriba counties, all of which offer a head-start program, De Lette said.
The south valley location is the only YDI facility that holds onto spots specifically for CNM students, but there is a transfer program available so kids can move to a location that is closer to home once they are fully enrolled in the program, she said.
“The way head-start works, and this is kind of a bonus, once you’re in, you’re in for good,” she said.
The south valley YDI location is a head-start program, which means they specialize in helping underprivileged children get an education before entering elementary school, De Lette said.
The kids follow a regular school schedule, have a curriculum planned out for them and get the benefits of a traditional daycare, such as meal programs, and even wipes and diapers, at no cost to the parents, she said.
“Everything in our program is free. It’s completely covered,” De Lette said.
In order to be eligible, Students must be below 100 percent of the federal poverty line; however, YDI will accept applicants up to 130 percent, but those parents are put on a waiting list, De Lette said.
Once in the program, children receive early education focused on preparing them for school, which includes fostering social skills through a special teaching approach called “nurturing hearts,” she said.
“So the relationships, the friendships, the closeness, how to share, how to follow rules, how to build and develop relationships with people, all of it is developed so we focus on the whole child,” she said.
De Lette’s YDI location is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and she encourages students to call if they need help with childcare, she said.
“…Please, please come. Call me. Let me know and we will go over everything you need to bring. Our waitlist is very low right now,” she said.
Everybody, just cool your jets
Editorial, By The Chronicle Editorial Board
After finding out about the incident that occurred on the morning of Wednesday Sept, 11 when a student rode by security on a skateboard and was tackled and detained until APD arrived on the scene, one has to wonder what constitutes excessive force when it comes to the men and women that secure our campuses.
Students should not be riding their skateboards where there is high foot traffic on campus, and some students can be seen maneuvering and skating their way through crowds of people up to the doors of buildings such as the Student Services Center, which can be a hazard or could potentially hurt someone that is just trying to get to a class on the walkways.
Campus security used force last week on a student that heard security telling him to get off of his board, but kept skating anyway. This resulted in officers throwing the student’s board across the parking lot, tackling the student, pinning him to the ground, and witnesses say choking him before cuffing him.
Security does so much for the school, from helping students with medical needs and issues, to stopping the assaults and thefts on campus, but to the Chronicle, this particular incident seemed to include excessive force that could have been avoided. Security should have made themselves clear in their intent to detain this particular student, instead of throwing him to the ground for not listening to them and allegedly choking him before cuffing him, because he had no idea why they had grabbed him in the first place.
Students on skateboards need to be aware of where and when they are skating, and if there is a congested group of people ahead on a walkway, they should stop and get off the board, because it really is not worth being even later to class for being detained by security.
Editorial Cartoon, Issue 15 Volume 19
