Illustration by : Milton Henderson

Christine Hervey

My five and a half years at Del Mar College are finally coming to an end and I couldn’t be more ready.

It all started in 2003 when my parents forced me to take classes during the Fall semester. As a high school dropout, I was attending DMC at age 17 during what would have been my senior year of high school.

I thought going to college a year ahead of schedule would result in my graduation from some university with my bachelor’s degree super early. I would be some sort of College prodigy.

Obviously, that didn’t work for me. This was due to my inability to choose a major, and ahem, dropping some classes here and there. Okay, more than a few classes. My majors included undeclared, prearchitecture, English, business administration and finally journalism.

At first, I was an undeclared major because I didn’t know what I wanted to do. Then I was a pre-architecture major because I love old houses (as a child, going on home tours in Heritage Park was my idea of a good time), but I didn’t realize that creating them requires a lot of math.

Then I was an English major because I love to write, but realized that I didn’t want my career options to be limited to being a teacher (kids scare me) or a novelist.

I became a business administration major after throwing up my hands and thinking, “Well, if I’m not going to be happy in my career, I can at least make good money while being miserable, and be a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) like my mom.”

So, I was well on my way to getting my business administration degree, but after I took my second accounting course and hated it just as much as the first one, I started to panic.

I realized one day that I should look into journalism while reading the newspaper, which I have been doing almost every day since I can remember.

I thought, “People are paid to write the articles. They get to write every day and they have a decent amount of job security. I should try this.”

By this point in my college career, however, I had already been attending Del Mar for far more than the standard two years and was tempted to just get my almostcompleted business administration degree and be miserable for the rest of my life.

My Aunt Theresa encouraged me to pursue journalism anyway, so one day I walked into Journalism Instructor Robert Muilenburg’s office to be advised and to sign up for journalism classes. The next semester I found my purpose in life.

That’s not to say that I didn’t need some fine-tuning. I still remember the horrible article I wrote for my first newsgathering and writing class assignment.

I was super nervous for the interview, which was my first. I couldn’t get the voice recorder to work, so I had to remember quotes off the top of my head. The article was about the DMC Drama Department’s annual summer trip to New York City. I ended up including irrelevant details in the article, like the cost of the plane tickets and departure times.

Muilenburg, who is not one to give false praises, read it and told me that it looked more like a travel brochure than a newspaper article.

Fast forward to this semester and I couldn’t be happier with my final decision to become a journalism major. As editor-in-chief, I was lucky to have the opportunity to design front pages for the Foghorn covering the presidential primary. Images of Senators Hilary Clinton, Barack Obama, Ted Kennedy and former president Bill Clinton filled the pages of the Foghorn.

I’ve made more than a few mistakes in my life, but deciding to be a journalist was definitely not one of them.

Christine Hervey is Editor in Chief for the Del Mar College Foghorn. Readers may contact her via email: editor@delmar.edu

Life or death: people should pick one

By: Justin Umberson | Foghorn

Justin Umberson

The Harvin Student Center is the hub of student activity and it is safe to say that this is the students’ building, housing student service offices.

I have spent many wonderful hours working up in the Foghorn office on the second floor of the Harvin Student Center. However, I’ve noticed there is a significant problem with the building — the Harvin Student Center is bursting at the seams.

The student service providers in the building are extremely cramped. There simply is nowhere near enough adequate space. Most people are forced to work in small cubicles.

The space needs for student service providers has far outgrown the capacity of this building.

The immediate idea that I’ve frequently heard is to add another floor, which is major building construction that must be deliberated and voted on by the Board of Regents. However, several in administration have squashed the idea repeatedly, their reason being the building is not built for vertical additions.

How about going sideways?

That would be rather impossible, since it would take up parking space that is more valuable than gold.

There is no obvious solution for adding onto the building so the only viable solution left seems to be a new building. Students would be inconvenienced for an extended period of time, but it’s the only possibility left.

This seems like a last resort option. The people who are charged with dealing with the foresight matter, which is to plan and approve new buildings, are the Regents. Thus, I think they should be held at least partly liable for this situation.

I’m not sure the Harvin Student Center is even on the radar of priorities for the Board. I’ve heard only limited discussion on the building, and the discussion I’ve heard has been fights over who should and shouldn’t be in the building.

That’s how serious the issue is; the building has become a source of heated contention and divisive fights over space. Different departments fight over obtaining breathing room.

Again, my disappointment in this is the Board not taking up serious discussion on how to remedy the situation. I’m asking for them to look at the broad picture, which is the inevitable expansion or replacement of the building.

While looking at the broad picture, the Board needs to keep in mind what is best for students. This is the students’ building and it is not a place for administration.

The Student Government Association-East Campus (SGA-East) is supposed to have an office in the Harvin Student Center; however, they do not. There is no space for SGA-East in the Harvin Student Center. They are the students’ main voice to administration, yet they have no office.

Just as it is inevitable that an expansion will need to be undertaken, it also is inevitable that before that occurs there must be some shifting of space in the building. I know that the Vice President of Student Development is responsible for this and I have the highest confidence in him.

I walk by the Isensee Board Room at least four to six times a day, and it has almost always been unoccupied. At the last Board meeting, though, Board President Chris Adler said the opposite, saying she’s stopped by several times when it was in use.

However, on non-Board meeting days, I’ve only seen the room being used at the most five times. My next suggestion will most likely be unpopular with the Board, but it’s just a suggestion.

If the Board of Regents did what is best for the students, they would offer their Isensee Board Room in the Harvin STUDENT Center to the students and their service providers.

This would be a kind gesture towards students and is the right thing to do. The Regents have a new technologically advanced Boardroom at the South Campus they could utilize more.

My purpose in writing about this is not to stir anger, but to catalyst the appropriate officials into doing the right thing.

Brian Silva is a student reporter for the Del Mar College Foghorn. Readers may contact him via email: editor@delmar.edu

Harvin Center needs a space solution

By: Brian Silva | Foghorn

Brian Silva

As a transplant to Texas, I’ve never fully grasped the “Don’t mess with Texas” attitude that so many Texans seem to convey, that is until November of 2007.

I was an active part of a milestone for cancer research and programs in Texas: Proposition 15 that will authorize up to $3 billion in state general bonds to fund cancer research, prevention, early detection and control programs.

As a 17-year cancer survivor, I am ecstatic about this bond. As an advocate for cancer issues, I am concerned that the U.S government wants to cut funding for cancer research, prevention and early detection and control programs.

According to the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF), in 2008 alone, more than 95,000 Texans will be diagnosed with cancer and more than 37,000 will lose their lives to the disease.

There are over 650,000 Texans with a history of Cancer and 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women will develop cancer during their lifetime. The cost of cancer to Texans is an extraordinary $30 billion a year in direct and indirect costs.

However, these numbers are a mere fraction of the national statistics. According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), there will be an estimated total of 1,437,180 new cancer cases (745,180 in men and 692,000 in women) and 565,650 cancer deaths (294,120 among men and 271,530 among women).

The progress in reducing the mortality rates, stabilizing incidence rates and improving survival is substantial. For the first time in decades, the ACS has seen a decline in the mortality rate.

In the 1950s, only 10% of children diagnosed with cancer survived, now 90% survive. Further progress can be accelerated by supporting new discoveries and by applying existing cancer control knowledge across all segments of the population.

The Susan G. Komen Foundation, the ACS and the LAF have made significant contributions to the progress of unraveling the mystery of cancer. These three foundations depend primarily on volunteers and grass roots campaigns to raise money to continue their missions.

What has the government done? Officials have continually cut programs and made significant cuts in the amount of money used to fund the same projects volunteers all over the U.S donate their time and money to.

In August of 2007, the LAF invited all the presidential candidates to discuss the cancer burden in our country. Every candidate agreed that funding needed to increase. I hope this remains this case when the new president takes office. I’m proud to have been a part of a huge advocacy campaign that helped to pass Proposition 15.

I will be more proud of our government when they decide cancer is a major issue and will stop the funding cuts. While thereare people that will continue to raise money and advocate for more money, the government needs to step up its responsibility to the American public.

“There’s a big difference between what we know and what we do about cancer in this country.”- Lance Armstrong

Justin Umberson is a student reporter for the Del Mar College Foghorn. Readers may contact her via email: editor@delmar.edu