Month: February 2019

Pima pitching leading way in fast start to season.
Sports

Pima pitching leading way in fast start to season.

By ANGEL CANEZ Feb.26 The Aztecs hosted the Phoenix College Bears in a double header. Pima would sweep the Bears 12-2 in game one and 4-1 in game two. Details not available at time of print.   The Pima Community College Aztecs continued the strong start to their season. Being led by the sophomore combo of Philp Skies and Austin Bryan. Both players took home Arizona Community College Athletic Conference Players of the Week honors. Austin Bryan the Sahuarita southpaw went 3-0 in four starts racking up 32 strikeouts over 22 innings. While Skies batted .333 over eight games adding one homer, to go along with eight RBI and 11 runs scored, Skies also tacks on two saves. As the Aztecs prepare to suit up and start conference play.   Feb. 24 The Aztecs were rained out the Satu...
Helping others find their peace of mind
News

Helping others find their peace of mind

Story and photos by ANGEL CANEZ Self-care and mental health aren’t issues that are subtly brought up.  The number of college students who have reported depression has more than doubled since the year 2000, according to the American College Health Association in October. These are stressful times for students right now around midterms.  However, Pima Community College offered a helping hand to those in need. A self-care event took place on Feb. 19 at the Downtown Campus to address these concerns. The event was directed by sophomore student senators Cindy Leonard and Casey Hohbein.  “We wanted to give back to the students because we were selected to help the students and we felt this was the best way to do that,” Hohbein said.  The wellness event was targeted to students going throug...
Letter from the Editor
Opinion

Letter from the Editor

By AMARIS ENCINAS Starting this semester, I was not sure I was going to have the ability to be the editor of the Aztec Press.  But after much thought and consideration, I threw myself into it.  This is mostly due to the support of my amazing friends, including Josh, Erik, Andrea and the support that I have found here in this newsroom by my fellow Co-editor Joseph Giddens, my adviser Valerie Vinyard and the Aztec Press’ business manager, Joshua Manis.  These people stand tall behind my efforts, and I am eternally grateful for everything they have done for me.  To most people, becoming editor of their college newspaper isn’t a big deal, but it is to me. I have never done anything like this before, so I thought it was only appropriate to make my first letter to the editor a list of grati...
Gov. Doug Ducey won’t say “climate change.” “Drier future” is his preferred phrase
News

Gov. Doug Ducey won’t say “climate change.” “Drier future” is his preferred phrase

Gov. Ducey visits Pima College Story and multimedia by JOE GIDDENS Gov. Doug Ducey has repeatedly refrained from referring to climate change in his pitch to get the Drought Contingency Plan passed, instead branding less water in the Colorado River as part of a “drier future.”  This rhetorical device also was used by Budget Director Matthew Gress during his Budget Roadshow meeting Jan. 23 at Pima Community College’s District Office. The Aztec Press asked the governor about his use of the phrase “drier future” rather than climate change during his visit to Pima’s Aviation Technology Center on Feb. 15.  “We’ve been specifically talking about water. So when you have less water, what that means is that it will be drier,” Ducey said. “It’s also a way for us to bring the public along in terms...
News

Bonds away, PCC pays for expansion

By KYLE KERSEY Coming on the heels of exceptional credit ratings from Fitch Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service, two of the big three credit rating agencies in the country, Pima Community College issued revenue bonds for the funding of the Centers of Excellence Projects on Jan. 16. Fitch awarded Pima the default rating of AA and the revenue bonds at AA - both with a stable outlook - Moody awarded Pima an equivalent rating. According to Moody’s, “The Aa3 reflects Pima County Community College District's (PCC or the district) excellent strategic positioning given its prominent role as a low-cost provider of higher education and vocational training in the increasingly economically vibrant Tucson, Arizona, metropolitan area.” The revenue bonds are to generate no more than $65 million, wit...
Ducey submits a water and flight plan
News

Ducey submits a water and flight plan

Potential return of state funds to Pima Community College Story and photos by JOE GIDDENS   Doug Ducey won his second term for governor in November over Democrat challenger David Garcia by nearly 15 points.  Ducey was inaugurated for his second term on Jan. 7 and presented with the State of the State Address from Phoen on Jan. 14. He took his message the next day to the Tucson Convention Center for the State of the State luncheon presented by the Tucson Metro Chamber.   “I told him, it was a good speech, a bipartisan speech, and I hope that he can accomplish, at least part of what he wants to; his action with regard to gun safety in schools is commendable,” Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild said.  Drought Ducey opened his State of the State by making water and the drought his fi...
5 great albums you probably missed from 2018
Arts & Entertainment, Opinion

5 great albums you probably missed from 2018

By KYLE KERSEY Car Seat Headrest – “Twin Fantasy” Will Toledo’s reimagined masterwork on romantic teenage angst is stunning in its sheer scope. To think that Toledo crafted this hour-long indie-rock behemoth at only 19 is absurd, let alone that he had this vision all along – simply without the tools to make it a reality. Seven years after its original run, Toledo, now 25, has finally done it properly. At times overwhelmingly dense – as is the case of 10-minute-long tracks like “Beach Life-In-Death” and “High to Death” – and at times short and sweet – as is the case of “Stop Smoking (We Love You)” – Twin Fantasy is exciting and then it’s funny and then it’s breathtaking and then it’s heartbreaking – sometimes all at the same time – and then it’s over. Just like a failed relationship. A...
The gospel of Kenneth Vorndran
Features

The gospel of Kenneth Vorndran

By KYLE KERSEY Kenneth Vorndran has been an instructor at Pima Community College for 15 years, but in the mid ’90s, he found himself at a crossroads. A veteran Maryland high school English teacher of over a decade, Vorndran had come to realize that it wasn’t a job he wanted to do for the rest of his life. “It wasn’t about the students as much as it was about the systems,’” Vorndran said. ‘“A teacher’s day at the high school level is consumed by hall duty and lunch duty and parent teacher conferences and pep assemblies and, ‘Oh, can you check the bathroom closest to your room between classes to make sure people aren’t smoking?’ and principals reading a book in the summer and deciding ‘We’re going to do everything different this year’… It’s not really a heartfelt thing.” He needed to mak...
Pima takes off, starts season 9-3
Sports

Pima takes off, starts season 9-3

Game 1 and 2 of the Coyote Classic vs. tournament host Col- lege of Southern Nevada (Feb. 8)The Aztecs played two double headers in Henderson, Nevada, on Feb. 8 and 9. The first game of each serieshad seven innings, and the secondgame had nine. The first twogames of the Classic didn’t favor the Aztecs. They got swept away as they had trouble scoring any runs against the Coyotes. After scoring 4 hits and scoring one unearned run, which meantlosing 5-1 in the first game. Thesecond game, with a score of 6-2,Aztecs hit 2 outfield singles in the fifth and ninth innings. Game 2-2 of the Coyote Clas- sic vs. Southern Idaho College (Feb. 9) The Aztecs fared better in the second half of the Coyote Classic on Feb. 9, in a high-scoring slug- fest for the Aztecs and Southern Idaho Colleg...
The lost art of sports card collecting
Sports

The lost art of sports card collecting

By KYLE McDANIEL   The world of sports card collecting is an ever-shrinking market, as more and more children have less interest in them.   Matt Mortenson from Mountain View Sports, a sports collectible shop at Speedway Boulevard and Wilmot Road spoke about his thoughts on card collecting today.   “The biggest factor I think is kids have phones, iPads and so many other avenues besides cards, so it’s not as cool as it was when I was a kid,” he said.   With the increased awareness about how some sports will leave you with health issues later on in life, parents are enrolling their children in other activities.   Over the last seven years, children ages 6 to 12 that participated in team sports was about 56 percent, according to the Aspen Institute, an edu...