Tag: Tucson

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.” ...
Digital film czar Dakota Pollard set to graduate
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...
Trump lays out 2020 Arizona strategy
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 ...
The Regina Romero Era begins
News

The Regina Romero Era begins

Disclosure the writer was paid to canvas for Regina Romero in the primary Story and photos By JOE GIDDENS A 144-year drought was broken on Dec. 2 with Regina Romero’s inauguration as mayor of the city of Tucson.  Romero is Tucson’s first Latina mayor and the first Hispanic to hold the office since Estevan Ochoa’s term ended on May 1, 1876. “There’s a lot of responsibility because there’s never been a ‘woman mayor’ leading a town like Tucson and I think a lot of people will be observing,” said Romero in Spanish during the Dec. 2 press conference. “I’ve been in politics for over 24 years, so I know it's difficult for women to be in positions as leaders.” City council positions also were changed at the ceremony in the Leo Rich Theater before a full house of attendees.         L...
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
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...
The Pima College Foundation has big anniversary plans
News

The Pima College Foundation has big anniversary plans

By JOE GIDDENS Two years ago, Pima Community College and the Pima Foundation separated. “The most important difference between the old foundation and this one is that the new foundation is not essentially part of Pima,” Pima Foundation Board member Pat Houston said. “It’s its own entity external to Pima.”  A major reason for this amicable divorce is to have 501(c)(3) status in order for charitable gifts to the foundation be recognized when people file their taxes. Donations can go from small gifts up to very large contributions with this new setup.   “That same separation happened at the UA about 30 years ago,” Pima Community College Foundation President Marcy Euler said. “It’s just the right way to manage the philanthropic arm of the college versus the business and academic side of the...
PCC starts its engines, breaks ground on new automotive center
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 ...
News

University bears ridicule for creating UArizona

By ELLIANA KOPUT The University of Arizona has been referred to by an array of nicknames since the dawn of time … or at least since it was founded in 1885.  Among those, “UofA” and “UA” have reigned most popular.  However, the UA recently has sought a change in nicknames in hopes to increase search engine optimization, or SEO.  So, the old abbreviations have been booted and replaced by “UArizona.”  The school also didn’t want any mix-ups with other UA schools (think University of Arkansas, University of Alaska and University of Alabama).  We don’t know about you, but we could think of worse things than being confused with a winning football program such as Alabama’s. Then again, at least UArizona has a football team.  Upon doing a quick observational experiment, we found that the p...
Immerse yourself with art and music at Dusk Music Festival
Arts & Entertainment, Stomping Grounds

Immerse yourself with art and music at Dusk Music Festival

  By ELLIANA KOPUT Dusk Music Festival will return Nov. 10 and 11 to Tucson at Armory Park.  The gates will open at 2 p.m. both days, and the event will end at 11 p.m. Saturday and 10 p.m. Sunday. The eclectic music lineup is primarily a combination of electronic, indie and pop music.  General admission two-day passes can be purchased for $109 plus fees. Single-day passes are $59 plus fees. For information on VIP passes, or to make a purchase, go to https://wl.seetickets.us/RelentlessBeats/Dusk2019  To avoid online service fees, all Bookman’s locations are selling hard copy tickets as well.  Here’s a look at the following acts that will perform at the two-day festival. SATURDAY DJ and producer Kaskade is one of the biggest names in EDM. His music encompasses a wide array of house,...