The Dallas County Promise, an extension of the Rising Star scholarship, looks to provide free college tuition for Dallas County seniors of select high schools. The Dallas County Community College District will offer students from 31 area high schools free tuition for up to three years to complete...

By JAMES HARTLEY @JamesHartleyETC October 16-22 is Free Speech Week, an annual non-partisan celebration of the freedoms of speech and the press. In recognition, The Et Cetera staff examined the five freedoms, including speech and press, guaranteed by the First Amendment. “Congress shall make...

By SYDNEY ABBAS and MACKS PREWITT @TheEtCetera The Biloxi, Mississippi, school district has pulled “To Kill a Mockingbird” from its eighth grade curriculum. It’s not the first book to be challenged or banned in American school districts, and “To Kill a Mockingbird” has been challenged...

By JAMES HARTLEY @JamesHartleyETC When students have the number for campus police saved in their phones and know safety procedures, police say they can do their job more efficiently. Sgt. Kevin Levingston, an officer with the Dallas County Community College District police, said people are accustomed...

By ALE PENA @alepenaETC The same stars that have existed for billions of years are diminishing visually due to light pollution, said night sky advocate Gary Carter. Light pollution, which is the excessive and inappropriate use of light, is a phenomenon that affects every living organism on the planet...

By MACKS PREWITT @MacksPrewittETC Freshmen planning to transfer to the University of North Texas at Dallas are eligible for a dual enrollment program that offers scholarship money, mentoring and a smooth transition from two-year college to four-year university. Participation in the Dallas Connect...

By MACKS PREWITT @MacksPrewittETC With the study of experimental genetics making great strides in recent years, projects like chickensaurus hope to bridge the gap between birds and non-avian dinosaurs. The chickensaurus project started in 2011, when the book “How to Build a Dinosaur” by American...

By DAN LUNA @TheEtCetera People deserve an absolute right to free speech, even if their words anger or hurt others, speech professor Nick Vera said at a Sept. 21 panel discussion on the subject. “There’s nuance here, but I will always err on the way of free speech,” he said. “Bullying is a reality,...

By BRYAN PEREZ @TheEtCetera During National Suicide Prevention Month, mental health advocates, allies, survivors and community members come together to promote suicide awareness. Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S., according to American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, About...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SodlVarfW9Y By KATY HIGGINS @KatyHigginsETC For Luz Ibarra, Sept. 5 began like any other day. The humdrum of her pre-work routine filled her morning with a soothing sense of familiarity. Then, without warning, the television blared the news: The Trump administration...

By JAMES HARTLEY @JamesHartleyETC Students at Eastfield will begin taking the majority of their classes in two eight-week terms per semester under a new scheduling plan that goes into effect in fall 2018. The college plans to make 80 percent of all classes as eight-week term courses. The change is an effort...

Dallas County Community College Chancellor Dr. Joe May released a statement on Sept. 5 commenting on President Trump's decision to end DACA. Read his full statement below: With the discontinuation of DACA and the six-month period during which the President has charged Congress to pass a legislative...

By KATHRYN HIGGINS @KatyHigginsETC A new change in maternity leave policy gives employees of the Dallas County Community College District four weeks off work instead of one day for the birth or adoption of a child. The Board of Trustees unanimously approved the change during its Sept. 5 meeting. Under...

By DAVID SILVA @DavidSilvaETC It’s the first week of the fall semester, and history professor Mike Noble’s lecture for the day for his Western Civilization II course revolves around false narratives. The topic entails the Nazi propaganda machine during the Third Reich, the gospel of the Nazi...

By JAMES HARTLEY @JamesHartleyETC As Hurricane Harvey made landfall on the Texas coast, Houston resident Erin Jones was waiting on a friend from Galveston to arrive at her home to evacuate. Jones, 32, has lived in Houston her whole life and has never had to evacuate before. “I’ve kind of been...

President Donald Trump's administration has announced that it will end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, a Obama-era executive action that has allowed young undocumented immigrants to work, attain drivers licenses and shielded them from deportation. The administration will begin...

By DAVID SILVA @DavidSilvaETC Students, whether seeking a two-year or four-year degree, have increasing resources available through the continuing education department for workforce skill certificates and new programs that fit their interests. According to Workforce Development and Community Education...

By JAMES HARTLEY @JamesHartleyETC The “gun free zone” signs that adorned doors before Aug. 1 are gone and the “gun free” portion of the “drug free, gun free, alcohol free, tobacco free” signs leading into campus has been covered with duct tape. With the controversial campus carry law going...

An avalanche of new laws passed during the state Legislature’s biennial gathering will hit Texas on Sept. 1. Lawmakers banned texting while driving and sanctuary cities, but high-profile campaigns to freeze property taxes and designate bathrooms for transgender people died Aug. 15 with the end of a special...

By JAMES HARTLEY @JamesHartleyETC The budget for the Dallas County Community College District will be brought to a vote in September along with several policy issues including maternity leave and vacation days for employees. The Board of Trustees tabled a set of policy amendments until the September...

By MACKS PREWITT and DAVID SILVA @TheEtCetera The buzz is out: Eastfield’s new mascot is the bee. The college keep the Harvester name and blue and orange colors, but ditch the long unused image of a farmer for that of a pollinator. Suggestions to adopt the bee were presented to faculty and staff...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsSK7IDsivI The moon will cover the sun Aug. 21 in the first total solar eclipse to touch the continental U.S. since 1979. The eclipse will glide from Oregon to South Carolina, , passing through a total of nine states and casting a partial shadow over the rest of the nation. Physics...

By SAM KILLENBERG The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) (TNS) RALEIGH, N.C. — With the solar eclipse arriving on Aug. 1, eclipse viewing glasses are in high demand among people hoping to get a glimpse of the rare event. But NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, warns that...

By JAMES HARTLEY @JamesHartleyETC A potential change to Dallas County Community College District maternity leave policy has been delayed until September. The proposed change would give mothers four weeks of maternity leave, extending the current one-day cap. After the one day of maternity leave,...

El Centro College Friday honored the five Dallas police who were slain on July 7, 2016. The college hosted a memorial that included speeches from the college president and police chief and an art exhibit for the fallen officers. The five officers were killed and more were wounded a year ago by Micah...

By JAMES HARTLEY @JamesHartleyETC Texas’ developmental courses in higher education will see reform in remedial education models that will increase the number of co-requisite courses offered at colleges and universities. HB 2223, which outlines the reform, uses co-requisites, which combine remedial...

By JAMES HARTLEY @JamesHartleyETC The Dallas County Community College District Board of Trustees approved campus carry restrictions yesterday in the last meeting before the law goes into effect on two year college campuses in Texas. Starting August 1, concealed handgun license holders will be allowed...

By JAMES HARTLEY @JamesHartleyETC  One woman and a shooter are dead in a murder-suicide that sent North Lake College into intruder lockdown Wednesday. Janeera Nickol Gonzalez, 20, was shot at North Lake by Adrian Victor Torres, 21, who Gonzalez’s family said was stalking her before the incident. Torres...