News

News

On the issues: Pima Governing Board candidates Ethan Orr and Catherine Ripley

 By Kyle Kersey With sitting board member Mark Hanna retiring at the end of his term, the election for a seat on Pima Community College’s Board of Governors is a race between former Arizona state legislator Ethan Orr and retired naval officer Catherine Ripley.  Background Governing Board members are elected in a non-partisan election, which means that you won’t see a “D” or an “R” next to the candidates’ name on the ballot. However, the two have represented opposite sides of the political spectrum in the past. Orr served as a Republican representative from district 9 in the Arizona state legislature from 2013 through 2015. During his tenure, he said he worked across the aisle to secure $50 million in education funding to the Tucson community, and managed to sneak in $8 million to finish...
News, Opinion

Covid-19 vs mental health

By NOOR HAGHIGHI A few weeks ago, my dad came home from Walgreens where he picked up some Zinc supplements for me. Many of us, myself included, have developed a keen sense of hypochondria during the pandemic. The slightest tickle in the throat scared me into believing that the virus was coming for me. He told me that all the supplements like Ashwagandha, which helps your body relieve stress, other nerve relaxants and stomach relaxants were quite scarce. When I stopped by Target later on, his claims were verified, as the sleeping pills and Vitamin Cs had also been wiped out. It feels like everyone is on edge; that this nervousness in the air is not confined to any particular age group. It’s taken a toll on my friends and I as high schoolers; I’ve seen it ripping families apart and it’s har...
News

Arizona’s Minimum Wage set to Increase

Photo by Gage Skidmore By Kyler Van Vliet At the start of 2021, Arizona’s minimum-wage will rise to $12.15 an hour, a jump of 15 cents from the current minimum wage of $12.00 an hour. The rise in pay is due to a 1.3% increase in the cost of living over the past 12 months through August, as reported by the Arizona Republic.  The Industrial Commission of Arizona oversees the state’s minimum-wage and announced the uptick earlier in September. Arizona already has one of the highest minimum-wages in the nation after passing the Fair Wages and Healthy Families Initiative in 2016. With increase in pay, Arizona will be tied with Maine for the ninth-highest minimum-wage in the country.  As for Flagstaff, their minimum-wage will increase from $13 an hour to $15 in January.  Some workers and bus...
PCC names Jim Monaco permanent athletic director
News, Sports

PCC names Jim Monaco permanent athletic director

By Nate Martinez On Monday, October 5, Pima Community College named Jim Monaco their permanent athletic director.  The move comes after Monaco served in an interim capacity since November of 2018. He succeeded Edgar Soto, who was the AD since 2009.  Monaco has been active for many years in Pima sports, starting out as an assistant coach for Jeff Scurran. He helped the Arizona Football Hall of Fame coach to a 26-17 overall record between 2000 and 2004 and even made a Bowl game in his last year.  He returned to the Aztecs in 2011, working as the Defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator under Pat Nugent until 2013.  Monaco was named head coach of the Pima football team following the 2013 season and fulfilled that role until the program was cut to accommodate the school’s budget.  ...
News

McSally and Kelly discuss climate change, public land management in online forums

Photo by Gage Skidmore By Joe Giddens Posted with permission from Tucson Weekly. Original story can be found at: https://www.tucsonweekly.com/TheRange/archives/2020/10/05/mcsally-and-kelly-discuss-climate-change-public-land-management-in-online-forums?fbclid=IwAR3tttQkKYOkpQ74hz8e_t5SXFA1FeJNx9NW8UyeYiso5QeP_04uXXfosJM Senate candidates Martha McSally and Mark Kelly laid out their visions of public land management for Arizona on Friday in two separate online forums hosted by the Arizona Trail Association. The online forums took place ahead of their only scheduled debate on Tuesday and today’s voter registration deadline (which has since been extended to October 23). Climate change starkly contrasted the candidates. McSally continued her rhetoric of qualifying the scientific consensus th...
News

Register to Vote by October 5

Every election, voter turnout among college students is poor, despite the fact that the youngest voting generation is the one that will be most affected by the decisions of our current leaders.  However, if you aren’t registered to vote yet, there’s still time. The registration deadline to vote in Arizona is Monday, October 5. You can complete your voter registration online through the Arizona Department of Transportation website here. At the end of the registration process, you will be able to decide if you want to vote in person or by mail. If you don’t know for sure if you’re registered, you can check here.  If you decide you want to vote by mail, we recommend that you drop it off to a drop-box location rather than mail it in, as ballots must be received by 7pm on Election Day to cou...
TUSD introduces hybrid model
News

TUSD introduces hybrid model

By Kyler Van Vliet On September 22, the Tucson Unified School District approved the decision to go to a hybrid model for its classes by a 3-2 vote. The vote came four days after TUSD released a video via their YouTube page, TUSDMedia, discussing their plans to bring students back on campuses. Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo discussed his plan for a hybrid model that was proposed to and approved by the TUSD Governing Board. Trujillo’s hybrid model consists of a two-day in class and a three-day remote learning schedule. With the help of the Pima County Health Department, Trujillo has suggested that October 19 be the targeted startup date. However, there has been no confirmation as to when in-person classes will start back up. The Governing Board has their eyes set on October 6 as the dat...
And I learned how to get along (with Covid)
Features, News

And I learned how to get along (with Covid)

By Nate Martinez Fall is right around the corner, and you know exactly what that means: it’s time to bust out those new shoes, strap on that overpriced JanSport backpack and make your way from your bed straight to the couch to log on to your zoom class. In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, there will be no face-to-face classes at Pima for the rest of the year. Many of us will miss seeing our old friends to study with and the face to face time with instructors that many students utilize to ensure they get the best grade possible. But is the absence of face to face classes at Pima Community College such a bad thing?  A survey was given by the Aztec Press to three randomly selected students. They were asked if the transition to fully virtual learning was either positive of negative and w...
To ban or not to ban: what’s going on with TikTok?
Arts & Entertainment, News

To ban or not to ban: what’s going on with TikTok?

By Lanissa Patterson You just might actually be living under a rock if you haven't heard of TikTok, the viral application where individuals post videos ranging from 15 seconds to a full minute. Originally called Musical.ly, the app has been compared to Vine and Triller. In 2017, Chinese owned company Byte Dance bought Musical.ly for $1 billion. Thus, TikTok was born. Tik Tok has been downloaded over 175 million times in the United States and over one billion times globally since its launch. There is room for every type of video on TikTok, which is part of what makes it so popular.  When scrolling down your TikTok feed you are bound to see DIYs, skits, and infamous dance videos with way too much choreography. TikTok has a little bit of something for everyone, but it is the humor that att...
Pima to host virtual Career Café
News

Pima to host virtual Career Café

By: Kyler Van Vliet On Tuesday September 29, 2020, the First Year Experience Program will be hosting a virtual Career Café via Zoom. The event is free and open to all PCC students who are looking for advice on job searching and career exploration skills. The Café will be led by college faculty and staff volunteers from multiple departments. Students can login (via link: https://pima.zoom.us/j/92861472069) and participate anytime between 11 am-1 p.m., visiting one, some or all of the featured breakout rooms focusing on: Resume Tips  Cover Letter Tips  Interview Skills Pima’s Online Career Resources    FYE will be giving out prizes to encourage students to login and interact and will be selecting winners based on attendance and participation. They also encourage the tradition of ...