Category: Education

By Arturo Castañares, Editor-At-Large, La Prensa San Diego

The Mayor of Imperial Beach made a false claim against the Mayor of Chula Vista as the two city leaders face off in a special election to fill a vacancy on the County Board of Supervisors.

Paloma Aguirre posted on social post this week that  John McCann was “at the center” of a school district political corruption scandal that saw 18 people indicted in 2012, including six school board members, but McCann was the only sitting Board member not charged with any crimes in the investigation that included three school districts.

McCann, who had previously served two four-year terms on the Chula Vista City Council before being elected to the Sweetwater Union High School District in November 2010, later returned to the City Council in 2014 and was elected Mayor in 2022.

In early 2012, San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis charged 15 individuals in a years-long corruption ring that included the Superintendents of three school districts, school board members, and a private company executive who conspired to direct lucrative construction contracts to companies who had provided campaign contributions and expensive dinners to officials.

But the majority of the corrupt acts occurred before McCann was even elected to the school board.

By Madison Beveridge / Pt Loma-OB Monthly SDUT / May 25, 2025

Three students at Point Loma’s Correia Middle School were rewarded for short documentary-style films they made for the C-SPAN network’s 2025 StudentCam competition.

Students, parents, teachers, administrators and C-SPAN representatives turned out to honor the young filmmakers at a gathering May 21.

The trio’s works were among nearly 1,700 student entries from across the country.

For the 21st edition of the competition, C-SPAN asked contestants to focus their films on the issue most important to them or their community as though they were presenting it to the president of the United States.

Harper Haden and Helena de la Houssaye, seventh-graders at Correia Middle School, won second prize and $1,500 for their video titled “One Pill Can Kill,” a look at the fentanyl crisis and how the San Diego-Mexico border plays a role in fentanyl and other drugs entering the U.S.

On May 10, 1970, a 23-year-old UCSD fourth-year student burned himself to death in Revelle Plaza to protest the Vietnam War.

Editordude: I was at UCSD when George Winne burned himself to death — and wrote about it in my new book, The May 1970 Rebellion. The Rag has published a number of articles about George and those times (see here) and Patty Jones and I from the OB Rag were at UC San Diego in 2014 when a memorial for him was unveiled.

By Alex Reinsch-Goldstein / The Guardian — UCSD / May 12, 2025

It was just past 4 p.m. on May 10, 1970, when George Winne Jr., a 23-year-old UC San Diego fourth-year, strode out into Revelle Plaza.

Ten days earlier, then-President Richard Nixon had drastically expanded the Vietnam War by sending American troops into Cambodia. Four days after that, National Guard troops opened fire on a crowd of anti-war protesters at Kent State University in Ohio, killing four students. Massive anti-war demonstrations were taking over Revelle Plaza every week.

However, on Sunday, May 10, in this tense atmosphere, Winne walked alone. He held a sign that read: “In the name of God, End this war.”

Winne stood at the northeastern corner of the plaza, in front of what is now Galbraith Hall, and began to douse himself with gasoline. Then, he lit a match.

Recent Die-Off Very Apparent at Campus of Point Loma Nazarene

By Angelica Moser / The Point / May 4, 2025

The raccoons on Point Loma Nazarene University’s campus have turned into the center of a wildlife conundrum as a recent die-off has led to concerns over illegal poisoning and the spread of disease among the animals.

The poison found is a rodenticide that causes internal bleeding and neurological disorders in animals, and it was banned in California by Governor Gavin Newsom on Jan. 1 due to its serious risks to wildlife. Photo courtesy of Brad Lally.

Brad Lally, resident and volunteer with the San Diego Humane Society, first noticed something was wrong in late January when a neighbor found a suspicious teal blue substance in the brush by the cliffs after a heavy rainstorm.

“It was really fresh looking and still kind of soft,” he said. “We’re sure that lot was spread around Jan. 26 and 27.”

The substance was later identified as a banned rodenticide by the San Diego Humane Society, which became illegal in California on Jan. 1 this year due to its harmful ecological effects.

By Amita Sharma / KPBS / April 22, 2025

With head-spinning speed, President Donald Trump has targeted and reoriented key areas of American society through a barrage of executive orders and other administrative actions in his first three months in office.

Trump denied during his presidential campaign last summer any connection to the Heritage Foundation’s conservative policy agenda Project 2025 and ridiculed some of its proposals. But now, many of his early directives echo or are outright lifted from the 900-plus page plan.

In fact, Project 2025’s director Paul Dans recently told Politico the president and Elon Musk’s moves to shut down programs that combat climate change, encourage diversity, equity and inclusion and eliminate the deep state through mass federal worker firings are “actually way beyond my wildest dreams.”

By Kate Callen

Community college students running an underfunded newspaper in Chula Vista have just taught the nation a lesson about the power of diversity.

The Southwestern Sun of Southwestern Community College has won the Gold Crown award from the Columbia University Scholastic Press Association for being the top collegiate newspaper in North America.

The Sun’s multi-cultural staff are student reporters from working-class and immigrant families. They surpassed peers who attend prestigious universities and grew up in privileged surroundings.

If you badly need a ray of hope in a dark time when journalism and equity are under siege, this might do the trick.

Sun reporters have had plenty of reason to give up. For many, English is a second language. They juggle full courseloads with jobs of 25 hours a week or more to support themselves and their families.

But they are unyielding. “These students do journalism the right way for the right reason,” said Max Branscomb, professor of journalism at Southwestern and a decades-long Sun adviser.

In her State of the County speech last week, San Diego County Supervisor and acting chair Terra Lawson-Remer took on the Trump administration and all his cut-backs to local programs that benefit a lot of vulnerable residents.

She declared:

“Right now, the federal government is slashing programs we rely on for health care, housing, clean air and water, public safety and disease prevention. Every decision Washington makes impacts our ability to serve you.”

Yet her solution was to propose a new tax ballot measure that could raise $1 Billion a year. The San Diego U-T reported:

Lawson-Remer said she will propose a local tax ballot measure to offset federal cuts and boost services.

“We can raise the money ourselves, right here at home,” she added, “not by waiting, or begging for D.C. to do its job, but by taking the wheel of our own destiny and steering our own San Diego County ship through this storm.”

This funding, she said, would help the county adhere to an ambitious plan, introduced last month, to double behavioral health and substance use disorder treatment slots from 16,000 to 32,000 by 2030. …

Lawson-Remer had floated the idea of a ballot measure in February but pulled the discussion from the board’s agenda.

A supervisor-led tax increase would require the support of two-thirds of county voters, but there are ways to structure a ballot measure so as to require only a majority vote, she said.

In her address, Lawson-Remer said such a measure could generate $1 billion a year.

What? What was she thinking? Was she here when city voters rejected Mayor Gloria’s tax measure last year? (And Gloria has been punishing San Diegans ever since with high trash fees, increased fees for parks and facilities, higher parking rates and now cut-backs to police, libraries and rec centers and the arts.)

This is NOT the answer, Terra! It’s absolutely DOA – dead on arrival.

By Roberto Camacho / Times of San Diego / April 7, 2025

A controversy about an op-ed in The San Diego Union-Tribune by a student at UC San Diego in the wake of violent responses to pro-Palestinian protests has stirred a conversation about free speech, its limits, and who has a right to speak — and about what.

For decades, universities have held themselves out as boundary-pushers at the forefront of societal metamorphosis and have served as conservatories for challenging ideas and conversations.

However, some ideas appear to be more palatable than others.

When “Mia,” a 21-year-old anthropology major at UCSD and a member of Jewish Voice for Peace, was invited to contribute an op-ed to the Union-Tribune to share the perspectives of Jewish students in support of Palestinians, she was elated.

However, a few days later Mia’s op-ed was removed from the U-T’s website without explanation, sparking a local outcry from educators, activists, and community members.

KPBS / April 7, 2025

At least five UC San Diego students had their F-1 visas “suddenly” revoked by the federal government, and a sixth student was allegedly detained at the border, denied entry and deported, Chancellor Pradeep Khosla said over the weekend.

Khosla said the university received the notification “without warning,” and that the federal government has not explained the reasons behind the terminations. The students have been notified and the school is working directly with them to provide support, he said.

By Amen Etefa / The Point – Pt Loma Nazarene University / March 26, 2025

Point Loma Nazarene University’s Civil Rights Pilgrimage is a part of the SOC 3035 class field trip to the South. This year, alongside a group of 25 students, staff and faculty, we traveled to Selma, AL, Birmingham, AL and Atlanta, GA. The trip, which lasted from March 6-12, was one of the most transformative experiences of my life. Though it was only a week long, I have never learned so much history or felt such a whirlwind of emotions in such a short time. From heartache to hope, every step of this journey stirred something in me that I will carry forever.

Our first few days were spent in Selma, where we visited several museums and historic homes. One of the most powerful stops was the Legacy Museum, which displayed the harsh realities of American history – from slavery to mass incarceration. Walking through the exhibits, I couldn’t help but cry. The sound of crashing waves, symbolizing the millions of lives lost at sea filled the room. The voices of enslaved people singing spirituals, pleading for deliverance, echoed in my ears. It was haunting. This museum didn’t just teach history – it made me feel it. It shook me to my core.

by Lynne Miller

Love dogs, or don’t, tolerate dogs or don’t?  ‘Dog Love’ ranges from strongly dislike, through tolerate, to love dogs more than people. You know where you mark your territory on this doggy scale.

I love dogs, some more than people.  Having lived in OB my entire life I have watched dogs run free, unleashed, in the 40s and 50s, to today’s walks on tight leashes based on new laws.  Still, Ocean Beach is dog-friendly partly because  of local activism. Dogs and their humans have Dog Beach, a Dog Park, and not far away, Fiesta Island Dog Park. There are also many schoolyards that allow responsible owners to bring their dogs to play on the dirt and grass.

Things are about to change again.  Every time the city gets involved in our lives you can almost guarantee new restrictions are being seeded–new laws that, if disobeyed, will place you in the doghouse!

Here is the latest bite into your dog’s freedom, and yours. 

By Kristen Taketa / The San Diego Union-Tribune / March 16, 2025

San Diego college faculty and students say they fear the Trump administration’s plans to investigate UC San Diego and other universities, and its attempts elsewhere to deport student activists and assert control over academic programs, mark the start of a broader erosion of civil and human rights.

Last weekend, federal agents detained and tried to deport a Columbia University student for his role organizing pro-Palestinian protests. On Monday, the U.S. Department of Education said it was investigating 60 universities for alleged antisemitism amid such protests. And on Thursday, the Trump administration threatened to withhold all future funding from Columbia unless it cedes control of its Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies department to the government, on top of other demands, and  intensified an ongoing effort to deport student protesters.

To many academics, students and free-speech advocates in San Diego and beyond, more than individual free speech is at stake. They say such moves by President Donald Trump and his administration represent an attack on everyone’s academic freedom and First Amendment rights.