Governing Board Meeting Wednesday! and other news . . .

Wednesday, October 13, is the last regularly scheduled Board meeting before the November 2 election.

The meeting will be held in Room 214 on the main campus and begins at 7:00 pm.


On the agenda will be approval of the college's first accreditation progress report (due October 15). Also planned is an Academic Senate resolution protesting the administration's multiple delays in securing an SLO coordinator--one of the conditions of accreditation.

For more details and reasons why YOU should attend, please see this post at SWC Board Must Go! As that blog states, "You want to address them about their attack on the Southwestern College Sun? You want to know why your children can’t get into classes? You want your chance to speak your mind and make them listen? This is it."

Perhaps, too, someone can ask Yolanda Salcido why her campaign web site refers to her as "The Honorable Yolanda Salcido" (plug for meet and greet event). Salcido is a not a judge; never has been. In fact, according to a search of the State Bar of California, she is not a licensed attorney and never has been. Perhaps she's confused her gavel at Board meetings with that of a judge? Or maybe she's taking cues from Nicholas Alioto, Not-a-CPA in bogus self-promotion? Either way, the college deserves far better governance--ethical, experienced, and not beholden to countywide construction interests.

Jesseca Saenz-Gonzalez is one of those contenders. Going up against what SWC Board Must Go! calls "a has-been opponent who couldn't be bothered to show up at an impartial candidate forum at Southwestern College," Jesseca has a new commercial coming out.



The ad will be airing on Animal Planet, FX, Lifetime, MTV2, SyFy, TLC, Travel Channel, Tru TV, The Weather Channel, and VH1. Watch for it!

Finally, if you want to revisit some of the issues that brought us to this point, Katherine Sweetman's mini-doc, Trouble at Southwestern College is a good starting point.

By the way, as part of the current art exhibition: CONTROverse: Contemporary Visions of the US-Mexico Border, Sweetman's latest microdoc, Living in Tijuana, along with Gustavo Vazquez's Que Viva la Lucha, will be shown on campus this coming Thursday, 6-8 pm, in Room 750. These are perfect examples of what is right with the college. Please help us fix what's wrong.

Please help us Save Our Southwestern College.

TONIGHT: Student-hosted Governing Board Candidate Forum

In light of the upcoming Governing Board elections, Southwestern College's Associated Student Organization will be hosting a “Student Candidate Forum” this Thursday, October 7, from 6:30 P.M. to 8 P.M. in Student Union East.

This event has been designed for the student body to ask their own personal questions of the Governing Board candidates pertaining to their education at SWC, and in turn, allow them to formulate their own opinions about who they vote for on November 2.

Please note: Only currently registered Southwestern College students will be permitted to submit questions at this event. However, college staff and the public are welcome to attend.

Event flyer

Thunder, Lightning, and the Sun Is Out!

Not to be silenced by an oppressive administration, The Southwestern College Sun releases an independent issue of the newspaper today. Read more at The Sun Goes to Press!

Also on the illumination menu today is the Governing Board Candidate Forum, on campus tonight. See our previous post for details.


Come out of the dark; see the light. Save Our Southwestern College.

SWC Governing Board Candidate Forum This Thursday!

REMINDER: This Thursday, CSEA and SCEA (classified and faculty unions) are sponsoring an open forum for all SWC Governing Board candidates on the November 2 ballot.

Invited candidates, listed in ballot order

Seat #2
Terri Valladolid
Jesseca Saenz-Gonzalez

Seat #4

Yolanda Salcido

Norma L. Hernandez



Seat #5
Tim Nader
William “Bud” McLeroy
Jaime Mercado
Jorge Dominguez

Where: Southwestern College, main campus, Room 751
When: 7:00 p.m. (doors open at 6:45 p.m.)
Cost: FREE; free parking available in Lot J
Campus Map

Format: The format will include a short statement from each of the candidates present and then questions from the public. Questions must be submitted in writing and be directed to the entire panel. Jordan Mills, SWC Speech and Debate coach, will moderate.

Also keep in mind these upcoming opportunities to meet, greet, and support our candidates: Have You Met These Candidates Yet?

All Are Invited: Meet and Greet for Norma L. Hernandez This Friday

As many of you know, Norma Hernandez, former Superintendent/President of Southwestern College, is running in the current SWC Governing Board election.

Here is another opportunity to meet her in person, ask questions, and gather with like-minded folks who are seriously concerned about the future of our college!

The event will be held on Friday, October 1, 5:00-8:00 pm, at the home of Chuck and Patti Charter in Coronado. The address is 442 I Avenue.

Wine and cheese are on the menu, and I know that Patti and Chuck have been cooking up other tasty delights as well.

Step up and eat the hors d'oeuvres. Talk, make friends. Sounds silly, and yet, ultimately, that's the only thing that works when it comes to real change. . . .

More info on the event.

Meet Candidate Norma Hernandez at Bonitafest!

Today only, the annual Bonitafest: food, crafts, and fun!

Norma Hernandez, running for Seat #4 on the SWC Governing Board, will be there from 10 am to 4 pm. Look for the Hernandez for Southwestern College Board booth on Bonita Road, and stop by and say hi!


Bonitafest takes place along Bonita Road, approximately two miles east of the 805 Freeway, between Willow Street and Otay Lakes Road. The booths are located in the Bonita Village Shopping Center, McMillin Realty parking lot, and the Bonita Plaza Shopping Center. Bonita Road will be open all day. Parking: Kaiser Permanente (Bonita Road & Willow Street) and Bonita Valley Community Church (4744 Bonita Road).

Award-winning SWC Sun Shut Down

Twenty-six press awards, and what does the college do to the Southwestern College Sun? Cancel the first issue.





As reported in Southwestern Board Must Go!, twenty-six reporters just received San Diego Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. The administration has responded . . . well, it hasn't responded. Nothing. No press release. No "way to go." Nada. (And given that faculty union president Andrew MacNeill sent an email informing SWC Superintendent/President Raj Chopra and PR man Chris Bender at 6:40 this morning, there's really no excuse.)

Shortly afterward, The SWC Sun released the statement, "Publishing Crisis Update: Issue #1 Canceled." The statement points out that district PR claims that they were working to quickly resolve the crisis were "misleading or false."

Also revealed in the statement are four areas of concern:

(1) Suspension of the printing of the Sun.

(2) The threatened arrest of Branscomb [faculty adviser to The Sun] and three students who were stopped by campus police for removing a journalism computer from the journalism lab.

(3) The district's plan to remove the Sun's link from the home page of the college's website.

(4) An administrative prohibition of campus employees from talking to Sun journalists without the permission of district spokesperson Christopher Bender.

By now, the first three are still shocking but familiar to most. The fourth is downright flabbergasting.

How many times does the administration and Board of Southwestern College have to be taken to task for First Amendment violations? And how can they be stopped?

Step 1: VOTE IN A NEW BOARD THIS NOVEMBER!

Watch for mailers that should be arriving soon, and please share and display. Let's Save Our Southwestern College!