thecollegian Issue 7 • Friday, Dec. 7, 2012 • deltacollegian.net
INSIDE
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A shining remembrance
San Joaquin County Hospice lights trees in honor of family and friends
by james striplin
jstriplin@deltacollegian.net
Reaping the rewards of thrifty shopping Page 5
Mustangs host tournament Page 7
Collegian writers’ writes about his love of Twinkies Page 5
UPCOMING Stockton Symphony’s Holiday Pops Atherton Auditorium 2:30, 7:30 p.m., Dec. 16
The moon wasn’t the only light in the sky on Nov. 27. Instead, small specks of blues, reds and greens, among other colors, dotted the night sky in front of Delta College as the Hospice of San Joaquin lit it’s annual Tree of Lights. More than 5,600 people donated to hospice in honor of a loved one to have a gleaming spot on one of the various trees found throughout San Joaquin County during the holiday season. The lighting held in front of Delta College is the largest in the valley. “It means so much to the people that show up,” said Stephen Guasco, executive director of Hospice of San Joaquin. “You’ll find people right now pointing at lights saying, ‘That red one, that’s for grandpa’ or ‘ That yellow one there, that’s for mom or dad. It’s very much apart of their grieving process for dealing with the dead.” A wall lists off those being honored, with the color bulb representing them next to their name. Two new colors were introduced this year, orange and purple. It cost the Hospice roughly $800 to house one patient every day, which is subsidized by events such as the tree lighting. “The last couple of years have been tough, we’ve been hit with hard economic times, and we haven’t been able to generate as much as we would like to. That said, the community does
TREE OF LIGHTS: Top, the Hospice of San Joaquin tree on the corner of Pacific Avenue and Burke Bradley Drive. Bottom, family and friends look for the names of loved ones remembered with a light. PHOTOS BY JAMES STRIPLIN
what it can do. This year I’ve seen an uptake in donations,” said Guasco. Even while financially struggling, the Hospice of San Joa-
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and donated a thousand dollars each giving them the ability to get a grant to start the Hospice. Hospice continues to aid
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College adding classes after passage of Prop. 30 by sean mendoza news@deltacollegian.net
‘A Little Christmas’ Atherton Auditorium 5:30 p.m. Dec. 9
quin continues to aid those with terminal illnesses, based on the organization’s founding principles 32 years ago when 12 community members got together
Delta College has struggled to keep classes for students in recent years, which resulted in some students enrolling to other community colleges. With the passing of Prop. 30, about 60 sections have been added to the list of classes since the Nov. 6 election. “After the Prop. 30 passed there is more access to students for courses that are in high-demand especially transfer required courses such as English, Math, social sciences, the humanities and some career technical courses as well,” said Delta College
Interim Vice President Of Instruction Dr. Matt Wetstein in an email interview. Wetstein added that students should keep logging in to the system if they are searching for a particular high-demand course, and that they will be making an important announcement about summer school in coming days. Most students have registered for next semester since the passing of Prop. 30. Fourth-year student Rashbir Singh got in three classes that he needed to transfer out. “I already finished the classes I needed for my major but I still needed three more that’s transfer required, so I just took photography, music and astronomy,” said
Singh, who wants to be a correctional officer. Another student who was successful at picking his classes was Miguel Maciel who is looking to a medical career. “It was crowded during my registration time and I didn’t get all the classes I needed but I got some of it” said Maciel. Second-year student Xavier Jimenez had a different experience registering for next semester. “The registration was horrible, I didn’t really get in any classes I wanted but good thing it’s only my second year and I’m halfway done,” said Jimenez, who is trying to
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