Monday, September 15, 2008 Issue 1
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Enrollment, property purchase highlight Regents meeting

by Jason Hartline, staff writer

Fall enrollment and the purchasing of new property for the South Plains College Plainview Center were among the main issues discussed during the September meeting of the South Plains College Board of Regents.   

As of the 12th day of classes, enrollment across all SPC campuses is 9,265. This number is only 32 students less than the Fall 2007 count.

“Over 9,000 students is a good, strong enrollment for us,” said Dr. Kelvin Sharp, SPC president. “Of course, you always wish you were up. But knowing that we are still competitive with the job opportunities in the region versus going to college, I feel better knowing that we were down by just 32.”

South Plains College’s total enrollment for fall 2007 was 9,297.

“We are pleased to see enrollment remaining relatively unchanged from last fall,” said David Jones, vice president for student affairs at SPC. “Our goal this year was not to increase tuition and fees, and we have been able to do that. We are very aware of the increased cost of living and its impacts on our students as they attempt to balance their educational needs with their income needs.”

Another concern of the Board of Regents was the assumption that gas prices would affect the enrollment numbers. Because a large number of SPC students commute, it would be difficult to make a trip to any SPC campus at least twice a week, if not more often. However, commuting students have come together to find ways around the burden of high gas prices, though they have recently decreased.

“We are seeing students become increasingly creative in adapting an efficient class schedule that accounts for delivery method and location,” Jones said. “We are also witnessing students come together in informal ‘learning communities’ as they partner with classmates to car pool, and we applaud them for that.”

 

  

U.S. Border Patrol expands enforcement since Trade Center attacks

by Caroline Basile, editor-in-chief

 

MARFA - National security has been an ever-present concern for the United States, especially since the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.


Since then, one of the hardest working departments of our government, the U.S. Border Patrol, has been working diligently to protect our nation’s borders and ports of entry.


The U.S. Border Patrol, which employs 16,000, is currently a branch of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and was once a part of the U.S. Labor Department.
The Border Patrol was created in 1924 to cease illegal entry into the United States. Until 2003, the agency was part of  the Immigration and Naturalization Services until INS and the Dept. of Agriculture were combined to form the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
 

"Our primary goal is to protect the public against terrorists,” said Bill Brooks, public affairs officer for the U.S. Border Patrol’s Marfa Sector. "Our job is to protect the nation."


The Marfa Sector headquarters, which is located on the edge of the small Texas town of Marfa, currently employs about 400 agents and stretches over 118 counties in Texas and Oklahoma, including Lubbock and Hockley counties, with a total area of 165,154 miles. In the desolate area Marfa is in, they are the largest contributing law enforcement agency for miles.


"We are the largest law enforcement agency in the area," said Dan Harris, assistant chief patrol agent for the U.S. Border Patrol, Marfa Sector.  "Highway patrol is second, but we all work together, especially in this vast area where the nearest hospital is more than a half hour away in Alpine."


Since the fiscal year began on Oct. 1, 2007, the Marfa Sector has apprehended about 4,900 illegal aliens and more than 59,000 pounds of marijuana. Nationally, there have been more than 577,000 apprehensions and more than 1.3 million seizures of marijuana.
"It's a glorified game of cat and mouse," said Agent Harris. "But the stakes are much higher."



 


 
  
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