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Clubs and Events Board discusses plans for future events

 

CAEB November 29, 2017
Student Senate President Deborah Hernandez, CAEB President Mariana Topich and CAEB Commissioner of Finance Jacob Kohl at the November 28, 2017 CAEB meeting. (Photo by John Ennis)

 

By John Ennis November 29, 2017
The Clubs and Events Board’s first focus of its November 28 meeting was to brainstorm and add to a list of ideas for Clubs Day during the spring 2018 semester.
Some of the ideas generated include a “spirit week” to celebrate school pride, a concert to raise funds for the Beaver Food Pantry, a faculty versus student game of dodgeball and a fun run.
In discussion about the upcoming Clubs Day scheduled to take place February 8, CAEB President Mariana Topich introduced a theme called “Quit Playing Games With My Heart” where students sit down at club tables and play different board games.
“So, I’m a fan of boy bands and the heyday of boy bands was the like the late 90s, early 2000s, right? And so for Club Day I was thinking from that famous Backstreet Boys song ‘Quit Playing Games With My Heart,’ we could do that as a theme and then we have a table where we have games, like board games,” Topich said.
Plans for future Clubs Days have yet to be finalized.
CAEB Commissioner of Finance Jacob Kohl suggested to the board that clubs use Canvas to notify students about upcoming events next semester.
Adviser Juan Blanco informed Kohl that club advisers can set up a Canvas page for clubs to use.
“Your adviser can create a Canvas page for you, you just have to manage that Canvas page,” Blanco said. “That adviser, if you send them a flyer or information, they can post that information on Canvas and then all the club members that have agreed to be on that Canvas page will receive those messages.”
The first new agenda item of the meeting was a correction from Kohl to allocate eight incentive points to the Progressive Democrats Club for a mistake made last year where they weren’t granted the correct amount of points.
Incentive points are given to ARC clubs that participate in CAEB meetings so that their club will be granted funds by the board the following year.
Student Senate President Deborah Hernandez announced that the ARC website would be getting a new look soon and that ARC Public Information Officer Scott Crow might possibly stop by Thursday’s Student Senate meeting to brief the board about it.
“He would like students there to give more input and say into how it’s going to work out and look. He says that he has a demo ready for us and he hasn’t confirmed to come in, but he’s trying to get out of a meeting to come in,” Hernandez said.
Thursday’s Student Senate meeting is scheduled from 10:30a.m. until noon.

https://www.arcurrent.com/news/2017/11/29/clubs-and-events-board-discusses-plans-for-future-events/

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Congressman Ami Bera visits American River College

 

Ami Bera November 21, 2017
Congressman Ami Bera speaks at American River College on Nov. 20. (Photo by Ashley Hayes-Stone)

 

 

By John Ennis November 21, 2017
On November 20, Congressman Ami Bera (D-CA 7th District) visited American River College to give a speech on education, immigration and President Trump’s harmful rhetoric.
The event was hosted by the Los Rios College Federation of Teachers. The LRCFT is a union of teachers that supports workplace rights for faculty members.
“How I look at Congress as well as how we move the country forward really is buried in my perspective and my life story,” Bera said
Bera described himself as the son of Indian immigrants who moved to the United States in the 1950’s and a product of the California’s public schools.
“I know I didn’t get here by myself. I got here because America gave my parents a chance to immigrate and to be part of that American dream. I got here because we invested in public schools and I think I had a great public education,” Bera said.
Bera said he believes that the affordable education he received when he was going to college should be something that his generation passes on to future generations so they aren’t burdened by high tuition costs and debt.
After graduating medical school, Bera said he had less than $10,000 in debt from student loans, which is significantly lower than it is today.
When it comes to the topic of immigration, Bera said he is opposed to the Trump administration’s ending of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival program and believes in changing the law to create certainty for the future of DACA recipients.
“We know the public opinion is on our side, so we will do what we can to try to get it done in December as best as we can,” Bera said in regards to passing a law to help DACA recipients.
Bera told a story about visiting schools where teachers told him about how DACA students worry that when they return home, their parents might not be there due to immigration enforcement.
“That shouldn’t happen. A third grader should be a third grader and they shouldn’t be worried about that. It’s not enough just to take care of the Dreamers,” Bera said. “We’ve also got to think of the parents of the Dreamers as well and how we start laying the groundwork to address that situation.”
Bera said he worries about the rhetoric that the president uses and how he changes how the rest of the world views the United States and harms our efforts at diplomacy, especially on the Korean Peninsula.
“Every time he tweets out ‘little rocket man’ or ‘fire and fury’, he closes the door on diplomacy because they won’t come to the table with that rhetoric,” Bera said.
Bera said he believes that in diplomacy.
“You don’t have to like the person sitting across the table from you, but you have to be willing to talk and engage to find a path forward.”

https://www.arcurrent.com/news/2017/11/21/congressman-ami-bera-visits-american-river-college/

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Photo Gallery: ARC moves to 7-1 record after defeating Feather River

 

football October 31, 2017
The American River College Beavers defeated the Feather River Golden Eagles 59-8 on October 28, 2017. (Photo by John Ennis)

 

By John Ennis October 31, 2017

The No. 1 ranked American River College Beavers beat the Feather River Golden Eagles 58-8 in their annual breast cancer awareness game.

https://www.arcurrent.com/sports/2017/10/31/photo-gallery-arc-moves-to-7-1-record-after-defeating-feather-river/

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Professor gives ARC recommendations to combat climate change

 

College Hour November 20, 2017
Geology Professor Glenn Jaecks delivers a speech on climate change during a college hour on Nov. 16. (Photo by John Ennis)

 

By John Ennis November 20, 2017
On Nov. 16, geology professor Glenn Jaecks gave a lecture during college hour about adapting locally and regionally to the effects of climate change, as well as what we can do to minimize its impact on campus.
“Human behavior, predominantly burning fossil fuels, but other things too like deforestation are affecting CO2 levels,” Jaecks said.
Jaecks claims that it is too late to stop climate change, but that we can mitigate it through adaptation.
“As sea levels go up, as drought increases in intensity and increases in geographical area, people are going to be moving around and they’re going to be leaving where they live now and they’re going to want to go somewhere where they can actually live,” Jaecks said.
Jaecks made the point that as individuals, changing to more energy efficient utilities is no longer sufficient, and that we need to act collectively on the issue of climate change, including by having a plan to combat climate change at American River College..
Currently, California and the city of Sacramento have climate action plans, as well as many colleges across the country, according to Jaecks.
Jaecks showed a slide during his lecture with a list of suggestions for ARC including reducing greenhouse gas emissions, better managed of food waste, improving commuting infrastructure and flood mitigation.
“We want to go all renewable by 2045, the City of Sacramento has a climate action plan. A lot of it has to do with improving infrastructure,” Jaecks said.
ARC has already planted more trees, installed smart thermostats and LED lighting and are building more energy efficient buildings to improve its infrastructure.
“Student government, faculty and staff have to find a way of implementing these sorts of things and making them central, not an afterthought,” Jaecks said.

https://www.arcurrent.com/scene/2017/11/20/professor-gives-arc-recommendations-to-combat-climate-change/

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ARC hosts college hour discussion on multi-religious literacy

 

college hour November 2 (1)
Interim Dean of Undergraduate Education at Chico State, Kate McCarthy, lecturing on religion in Twenty-First Century America during College Hour on November 2, 2017. (Photo by John Ennis)

 

By John Ennis November 6, 2017
During College Hour on November 2, the Interim Dean of Undergraduate Education at Chico State, Kate McCarthy, gave a lecture on religion in 21st century America.
“Essentially what we’ll be hearing about is how do we talk about something that most of us are not that comfortable talking about, which is religion,” Humanities Professor William Zengeneh-Lester said.
Much of the discussion was based on the concept of multi-religious literacy, the ability to understand the differences and nuances of different religions in society around you.
“Because we don’t talk about it, we end up not having a lot of information about it, or if we do we have particular types of information about it without having a sense of the nuance and complexity of the very diverse and complex country that we have,” Zengeneh-Lester said.
A description of the event on ARC’s main website listed it as a discussion on Diana Eck’s study titled, “A New Religious America: How A “Christian Country” Has Become the World’s Most Religiously Diverse Nation,” but the study was not what McCarthy said she intended to talk about.

 

college hour November 2 (2)
Professor William Zanganeh-Lester discusses multi-religious literacy during a college hour at American River College on Nov. 2. (Photo by John Ennis)

“True confession, I’m not going to talk about Diana Eck’s book. It’s a great book, everybody should read it. It started a conversation that developed very, very quickly following the publication of that book,” McCarthy said.
That conversation is the one surrounding America’s changing religious demographics, the makeup of our religious identities and the intensification of our interactions with one another.
McCarthy argues that due to our religious diversity as a nation, multi-religious literacy should be considered a critical competency.
“When we speak of religious literacy, I want to invite you to think of it in terms of language literacy,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy believes that in order to have religious literacy people need a knowledge of basic facts about religious beliefs and practices, awareness of the internal diversity of religions and how they change over time as well as a sense of the role of religion in history, politics and culture.
“You need to know that Islam is a monotheistic religion just like Judaism and Christianity, you need to know that not all Buddhists believe in a God, you need to know some basic historical facts about when these traditions emerged etcetera,” McCarthy said.
At the end of her lecture, McCarthy pitched a newly redesigned religious studies major program at Chico State.
“We are trying to reframe the study of religion in a way that makes sense for the world we live in now,” McCarthy said.
The degree will have an online completion program for the new religious studies majors and students will be able to livestream and participate in lectures from home or watch an archived video.
Chico State has also introduced a Certificate in Interreligious and Intercultural Relations for non-religious studies majors.
“This is for people who want to be journalists, who want to be healthcare workers, who want to be teachers, who are criminal justice majors wanting to go into law enforcement to develop these additional competencies,” McCarthy said.
Before taking questions, McCarthy held up a copy of The Current to point to an article about the opening of the Meditation and Reflection Space in the Center for Leadership and Development.
McCarthy praised ARC’s opening of the room as a “brilliant act of multi-religious literacy” for opening a religiously neutral space that “accommodates multiple religious and nonreligious purposes.”

https://www.arcurrent.com/scene/2017/11/06/arc-hosts-college-hour-discussion-on-multi-religious-literacy/