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ACCJC visit could booststatus

JONATHAN ROISMANEditor-in-chief

The school may be able to breathe a sigh of relief as soon as its accredita-tion issues come under the microscope again.

On Oct. 15, DVC completed and submit-ted a follow-up report to the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges in regard to determining their status as an accredited college, Interim President Peter Garcia said in a campus-wide e-mail.

He said the commission could take DVC off “probation” and make it fully ac-credited again as early as January 2011.

“The commission will review both our follow-up report and the report from the visiting team during their semi-annual meeting in January 2011,” Garcia said in the e-mail. “The college will be notified of the commission’s action, in writing, in late January or early February 2011.”

The commission will be visiting DVC Nov. 18.

“I am confident that DVC has made, and continues to make, considerable

STATUS, Page 8

INQUIRERThe

Volume 77 No. 5 Copyright © 2010 The Inquirer - Diablo Valley College Thursday, November 18, 2010www.TheInquirerOnline.com

S T U DE N T VOIC E OF D I A BL O VA L L E Y C OL L E G E

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY JULIUS REA

Teachers, administrators and students are working togeth-er in a new group, the College Success Inquiry Project, to try to bridge the gap in achievement levels between black and white students.

Annual data has repeatedly shown that black students at DVC have lower rates of achievement when compared to other racial groups, said Emily Stone, academic and student services manager.

According to the 2009 DVC Fact Book, the most recent edi-tion, black students represent 5.5 percent of DVC enrollment while white students represent 47.2 percent.

ANNIE SCIACCAEditor-in-chief

Group works to improve success of black students

GAP, Page 8

MIND THE

GAP

A new law requires DVC instructors to post textbooks and prices by the earliest registration time.

CHRIS CORBIN / THE INQUIRER

Textbook posting law creates tension KEVIN HAYES

Staff writer

When it comes to textbooks, you can’t please all of the people, all of the time.

A new law went into effect July 1 requir-ing colleges to post prices and textbooks by the earliest registration time. Section 133 of the Higher Education Opportunity Act is intended to give students advance notice of what they’ll need for the next semester.

But teachers want more time to review textbooks and students want more time to buy them.

“There is a tension between helping stu-dents and allowing faculty the freedom to create curriculum,” English professor Keith Mikolavich said.

For spring 2011, registration starts Nov. 22. In order to have time to prepare, the

BOOKS, Page 8

BRIAN DONOVANStaff writer

GERARDO RECINOSStaff writer

With gas prices on the rise and the cost of public transit becoming steeper every year, getting to school has become increasingly difficult for many DVC stu-dents.

First-year student Sarel Avila com-mutes from Clayton, which is only about 15 minutes away from DVC by car, but said because the buses are less depend-able, they take triple the amount of time.

“It’s about 45 minutes to get to school and it ends up costing me a lot of mon-ey,” he said. “The cost of riding the bus to and from school costs students between $40 and $50 a month.”

DVC’s attempt to solve this problem has been to sell bus passes on campus. The college sells passes to students at a discount, but it pays full price to Contra Costa County Transit Authority, while only receiving about half the revenue. In 2008, they were sold to students for $20,

College can’t paybus passsubsidy

BUS, Page 8

Features | 2 Entertainment | 4

‘Black Ops’ isBULLETPROOF

can’t take The HEAT?