Pima College – Page 3

12Dec

By Pima Post Editorial TeamNo Comments

News

No cuts to Pima sports programs – yet

By JOE GIDDENS No additional sports programs will be cut for the next three semesters at Pima Community College, according to Athletics Director Jim Monaco at a Dec. 9 press conference at the District Office. However, major changes for the Pima Community College Athletics Department are on the horizon. New sports also may be entering the college. Monaco and campus president Morgan Phillips are discussing bringing competitive video gaming “esports” to Pima as well as lacrosse and beach volleyball. The golf, tennis, track and cross country programs may be terminated to make up for a potential budget shortfall that may reach $200,000. “If enrollment doesn’t increase it means there would be cuts,” Monaco said. “With the money we’re bringing in right now, we’re just covering shortfalls.” ...

12Dec

By Pima Post Editorial TeamNo Comments

Features

Digital film czar Dakota Pollard set to graduate

By CELINA MORENO Being a good student can be fairly easy. However, the stress of classes, working and making sure you can survive can be very stressful. Dakota Pollard, 22, juggles all three with pretty much no issue. Pollard is a person with many skills. From time management to workload management, he also is skilled in retouching and color correction, presentation and animation design, screenwriting, musical instruments and landscaping. According to his resume, his hobbies include film, animation, playing the drums and spending free time hanging out with his friends and family. Pollard is about to graduate in December from Pima Community College with an associate degree in Digital Film and Animation. Of course, it surely isn’t just drawing and coloring; there’s coding, 2D anim...

12Dec

By Pima Post Editorial TeamNo Comments

News

Trump lays out 2020 Arizona strategy

Story and photo by JOE GIDDENS While impeachment proceedings were going on in Washington, locally President Trump’s campaign manager Brad Parscale and daughter-in-law Lara Trump held a rally Nov. 21 at the Hotel Tucson City Center in support of the embattled president going into the 2020 election. Trump won the state by 3.5 points in 2016 in the former conservative bastion, but 2018 has seen several Democrats win statewide offices for the first time in nearly a decade. The event hit all the Trump signature platform planks of his 2016 campaign and administration: fanning resentment against migrants, Trump’s outsider status and his campaign’s infrastructure to bypass media and political establishments. Parscale opened with his concerns about Democrat presidential candidates running on ...

27Nov

By Pima Post Editorial TeamNo Comments

Sports

Aztecs earned a second chance at NJCAA Division 1 Nationals

By COREY McMULLEN The Aztecs were given a new life with receiving one of four at-large bids to get into the NJCAA Division I National Tournament. In the second chance game, the Aztecs fell 1-0 to Eastern Florida State in double overtime. The Aztecs were eliminated from the regional tournament Nov. 2 to Arizona Western in a shootout. Thinking the season was over for the Aztecs, they received one of the four at-large bids for the NJCAA Division I National Tournament in Tyler, Texas. The tournament went from Nov. 18 to Nov. 23. The Aztecs entered the tournament as the 9 seed. This was the Aztecs’ third straight year to the NJCAA tournament and their sixth appearance in nine years. Aztec sophomore goalie Nils Roth made some early game-saving stops. Roth made a diving stop in the first 1...

Women’s team nets 3-1 record; men’s team struggles

27Nov

By Pima Post Editorial TeamNo Comments

Sports

Women’s team nets 3-1 record; men’s team struggles

By COREY McMULLEN Women’s Basketball After opening the season with a dominant win over Park University, the Aztecs headed to Thatcher for the Eastern Arizona Classic. The Aztecs were overpowered in their first game of the tournament by Odessa College, falling 76 to 47. The Aztecs were quick to bounce back, and put a 69-point beat down on Southwestern College. The Aztecs got going early with the help of sophomore Haile Lawson, who put up 22 points, was 10 of 12 shooting and had 6 rebounds. Fellow sophomore Marlena Arroyo-Plata had a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds. She went 5 for 6 from the field. The Aztecs would dominate every quarter of the game, outscoring the Southwestern College 53-10 in the second and third quarters. The Aztecs’ third game of the tournament was canc...

27Nov

By Pima Post Editorial TeamNo Comments

Sports

Tippins takes the long way to Tucson

By COREY McMULLEN For most athletes to make it to the collegiate level, it took a lifetime of practicing their craft. Kaylon Tippins isn’t most collegiate athletes, however. At 6 feet, 8 inches, the Aztecs starting forward didn’t start playing basketball until his junior year of high school. Born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas, Tippins was a football player who never thought about playing basketball. Tippins started high school in Fort Worth at North Crowley High School. He was 5 feet, 5 inches. By his sophomore year, he was standing 6 feet tall, and when he graduated, he was 6 feet, 5 inches. Tippins and his family moved to Tucson his junior year of high school to be closer to his mom’s side of the family. Tippins says the transition from Texas was a tough move. He d...

PCC starts its engines, breaks ground on new automotive center

21Nov

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News

PCC starts its engines, breaks ground on new automotive center

Photo and story by JOE GIDDENS The idea for Pima Community College’s Centers of Excellence model was formulated less than three years ago. On Nov. 14, Pima saw that begin to take physical shape with the ground-breaking for the Downtown Campus’s new $12.5 million Automotive Technology and Innovative Center. The construction marks the first of several major expansion projects for the college across the district. The ground-breaking happened on the eve of Gov. Doug Ducey touting the city of Tucson’s tech jobs increasing 90% over the last five years in an op-ed to the Arizona Daily Star. PCC is aiming to help educate those workers. “We will also be opening up a number of other centers throughout the upcoming year,” Chancellor Lee Lambert said. “Where we’ll be breaking ground in advanced ...

Women in Industry Summit convenes Downtown

24Oct

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News

Women in Industry Summit convenes Downtown

Photo and story by JOE GIDDENS Christina Koch and Jessica Meir made history Oct. 18 with the first all-female space walk to replace a power controller on the International Space Station. Some 254 miles below at the Downtown Campus, Pima Community College hosted its first Women in Industry Summit. The goal of the event was to promote women in STEM fields and in fields that have been historically male-dominated. The event was organized by Pima program adviser Anthony Hinckley. He had several female students inform him of difficulties they’ve faced and their concerns about entering into these types of fields. “It all kind of boiled down to ‘Am I going to be OK in a male-dominated industry?’ ” The students’ issues were not so much about breaking into these fields. Instead, they were a...

23Oct

By Pima Post Editorial TeamNo Comments

News

Arizona starts to eye the 2020 election

Photos and story by JOE GIDDENS The national spotlight has come to Tucson as both parties compete for Arizona’s potential swing state status in the 2020 election. Mike Pence Arrival Vice President Mike Pence, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and Sen. Martha McSally arrived at Tucson International Airport Oct. 3 to stump for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement. The USMCA is the successor to the North American Free Trade Agreement. The agreement hasn’t yet been put to a vote in Congress because of the Democrats’ concerns with its enforceability and on labor matters. Pence’s other objective for this visit was to campaign for McSally ahead of her expected matchup next year against Democratic frontrunner candidate Mark Kelly. The most recent poll by OH Predictive Insights in August had M...

Veteran writing instructor was born to teach

17Oct

By Pima Post Editorial TeamNo Comments

Features

Veteran writing instructor was born to teach

Story and photo by ELLIANA KOPUT Mic Denfeld is a writing instructor at Pima Community College’s West Campus. She’s one of the oldest, most experienced, most lively and compassionate faculty members. She is held near and dear to the hearts of many. Denfeld leads her classes through a series of assignments that aim to encourage metacognition and personal growth. I sat down to discuss with her to discuss her experiences and inspirations. Q: How long have you been teaching at Pima and in what area of study? A: “I teach Writing 101. I’ve been at Pima 27 years. I was a teacher for most of it and a dean for a couple of years. I can even tell you the date… from ‘91 to ‘91, but I always come back to the classroom.” Q: What inspired you to become a writing teacher? A: “I just wanted t...