The United States of America-The Land of the Free. It’s impossible to argue that these words aren’t an inseparable part of this nation’s heritage. Many Americans have stood for freedom, and it comes as no surprise that our leaders have constituted some of the loudest voices in its favor.

Just being a student at RCC can be stressful. Not for me though, because I’m perfect. For all you less perfect people out there, I’ve noticed a lot of strange things that people do in order to have the worst semester of their lives. First off, please do not take 20 units if you know you cannot handle it.

“God hates homosexuals; you’re all going to burn in hell. REPENT!” This was the kind of nonsense that was being spouted April 20 by Paul Mitchell, who just so happened to pull this stunt last year. He drew quite the crowd this semester. All who heard him speak, went from peaceful to irritated to just plain angry.

President Castro wants the RCC “family” to be like Disneyland and designed with the Nordstrom’s atmosphere. Loosely translated, Castro wants RCC to be a warm and happy place, without snobby attitude. He wants this kind of environment developed just in time for RCC’s accreditation.

The 39th Annual SkillsUSA conference took place April 6-9 in Riverside for its eighth year. More than 800 students participated in 70 skill competitions and 20 leadership competitions for a chance to go to nationals in Kansas City in June. “The competition consisted of two phases: a leadership phase where students heard speeches, had interviews and quiz bowls and a skills phase where students participated in skill competitions,” said President/CEO Trent Munsey.

The Wheelock Gymnasium’s floor was painted in vibrant colors during the 2006 Winter Guard performances March 30. Schools from Pomona, Palm Desert, Riverside, Placienta, Redlands and Demante put on spectacular performances with their high flying flags and amazing props.

Imagine being thrown into jail because of your beliefs and told by the government to keep quiet. You would be known as a “prisoner of conscience.” “A prisoner of conscience is an activist, environmentalist, etc., who is thrown into jail by their government to be kept quiet,” said club member Sacha Amry.

Student enrollment has dropped 3 percent since this last semester according to Riverside City College president Daniel Castro. This decline may have been the result of some of the changes that were made to the spring schedule this semester and the 165 classes that were canceled.

“First of all I wanted to say good afternoon to the RCC family. I want you to look around and we have just about all sections of this campus assembled here. I think that’s really exciting because we are starting to move as a campus and as a family. Families usually come together in times of crisis; funerals. Or in times of celebration; birthdays. But today we are here to do a little of both. We are here to prevent or advert crisis and celebrate the greatness of our college. Yes, there is a crisis going on. Let me explain it to you. There are colleges throughout the state are not growing. At a time when just about every new job is created is attached and has some need for training or education. Currently we are 3 percent less than we had on this campus last year. Many of the colleges throughout the state are saying ‘well we did not grow.’ We have a unique situation here and that excuse will not work here. We have the fastest growing community in the state and the second fastest growing community in the nation. What’s happening to this community and what do we have to do different to reach out to that community. They need to be here.