The growing efforts to limit or ban disagreeable speech on college campuses is a dangerous path that, if successful, could spell the end of the First Amendment as it is written in the Constitution. The Et Cetera stands by the rights of all people, no matter how controversial their views, to speak...

By Karol Kilgore Plaid for Women is a digital media platform that utilizes tools such as educational, informational, and inspirational blogs, podcasts, and videos submitted by member contributors to encourage and empower women to be kind to and love themselves and to implement a healthy regimen of daily...

My psychiatrist smiled while giving me a diagnosis. “Major depressive disorder,” Dr. Shipe said. But I did not smile. All I could think about were the CNN headlines branding Adam Lanza the same. That same year, the Connecticut State Attorney’s Office concluded that Lanza, the Sandy...

More than 3 million American citizens have been living without food, clean drinking water, shelter, medical assistance and communication with the outside world in the wake of a disastrous hurricane that leveled the majority of Puerto Rico. An island just over 1,000 miles from Florida, Puerto Rico waited...

By Karol Kilgore “Visions that can change the world trapped inside an ordinary girl. She looks just like me, too afraid to dream out loud.” These are the opening lines to one of my favorite songs, “Don’t Give Up,” by Gospel artist, Yolanda Adams. I relate to the song so much because I often...

By Aldahir Segovia What do we millennials care about? Do we care about children not having a childhood anymore? Kids learn to read, write and do basic math problems at the age of 4 for a standardized test they don’t have to take for another couple of years. Do we care about exams like STAAR being...

By Dan Luna Robert Jeffress, President Trump’s Evangelical adviser and pastor of First Baptist Dallas, used the Bible to justify ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which protects from deportation young adults who entered the country illegally as children and allows them to work. He...

OUR VIEW President Donald Trump made close to a million people susceptible to deportation by ending Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, otherwise known as DACA, with a six-month delay. Only four years ago, 800,000 undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children­— otherwise...

OUR VIEW @TheEtCetera The plan to transition 80 percent of classes to an eight-week format by fall 2018 will undo the work Eastfield has done to make higher education more accessible to lower income students and those who have not had strong educational foundations. Eight-week terms, while beneficial...

I disagree with the generalization, “Jesus does not exist in the Republican Party, nor will he ever,” (“Conservatism and Christianity don’t mesh,” Sept. 6). Because Jesus is in the hearts of any who have received him (see John 1:12), no matter what party they belong to. Also Jesus didn’t...

By NICHOLAS SINGLETON The removal of statues honoring Confederate war heroes has stirred a national conversation  about racism and honoring history. The Confederacy is the shameful history of the United States. Local governments – including the city of Dallas, which last week removed a statue of Robert...

By CAROLINE CEOLIN It’s not surprising that the mere uttering of the word “feminist” is equivalent to nails on a chalkboard for some Christians. Many of them associate the movement with radical notions and abortion-pushing man-haters. In reality, true feminism is similar to Christianity in the sense...

@TheEtCetera In the wake of any disaster the size of Hurricane Harvey, there are tremendous needs throughout the community that last beyond the current news cycle. As winds and rain tore across Southeast Texas, it was immediately clear that Texans have a long road ahead of them. While some have...

By Dan Luna With actual racists making their ideologies public in the political arena these recent months, it has been painfully obvious that accusations of racism have lost their power. Recently that reality has been clouded by accusations of racism where none exists. It’s an attempt to distract...

By Alejandra Pena White wrinkled hands press on the back of an aged man. The men and women surrounding him are all white and affluent. Their suits are tailored. Their fingers adorned. Their hands clean and manicured. The white men have their eyes closed in prayer. One is smiling, and another has his brows...

With more than 4,000 classrooms in need of qualified teachers, Eastfield and the Texas Legislature are taking steps to improve the quality and availability of pre-k through third-grade education in Dallas County. In three to four years, Eastfield will begin offering a bachelor’s degree in early...

With fringe, white supremacist groups that make up a tiny fraction of the “right wing” population in the U.S. becoming bolder and more public, a comparison between conservatives and Nazis is being drawn. That is a mistake. Conservatism is not Nazism. They are polar opposites. The roots of American...

As the semester draws to a close and another academic year ends, we have seen many programs introduced, cut or altered both throughout the district and within our campus with varying levels of success. A decline in extracurricular activities and lack of accessible resources for students struggling...

By ESMERALDA OLGUIN All my family gathered up for my sister’s birthday dinner, something that never happens. From the moment we sat down, I buried my face in my cellphone. As our server came to take our order, I looked up only to see my family ignoring her because like me, they were all on their...

By JASMINE OLIVA When I got my first news writing assignment, I was terrified. I was told to interview professors and Eastfield students about an event on campus. Easy, right? I’m an adult. I should totally be able to interact with other adults and ask them basic questions, right? Not exactly. Having...

By BRAULIO TELLEZ The spring semester is almost over. Students are in full study mode, crawling through the last leg of final exam preparation and making plans for the longest break of the academic year. Some of us can already smell the sunscreen and chlorine from the pool. Before you commit to lounging...

Transparency in crime reports is integral in keeping the public informed and safe. The media regularly uses such records to confirm information for news stories and presentations, and ordinary citizens have the option to consult these reports directly. Unfortunately, the Dallas County Community College...

The article “District prepares for campus carry” (Feb. 8, 2017) not only misquotes me, but does so in a way that radically distorts the meaning and intent of my words. Further, my remarks were obtained through a recording made by the Student Publications Manager, a recording which should not have...

This last election cycle, I felt less represented and understood than ever before. I felt more isolated, saw more hypocrisy from both Republicans and Democrats and lost virtually all faith in our current political system. I’m a Libertarian. That means that I fundamentally believe in liberty as an inherent...

With a new executive dean presiding over Eastfield’s Office of Student Engagement and Retention, change is to be expected. The recent implementation of the Puente Project and the revamped advising system are only two examples of improvement brought on by the switch in management, but other changes...

By DAVID SANCHEZ I am a 26-year-old deaf student. I have been at Eastfield since I graduated from North Lake College in 2014 with a computer graphics certificate, and now I’m studying digital media. I want to tell you a story about the deaf life and community at Eastfield College. First of all,...

For an addict, one is too many, and a thousand is never enough. When you hit the pipe, shoot up, smoke or drink a beer for the first time, you’re ruined because the cycle of your addiction begins. This is an everyday battle. We tell ourselves to take it one day at a time. We can capture the opportunities...

By KATRINA BOND As American women, we’ve come a long way from not being able to vote or go out in public when we were on our periods. But despite the advances of modern feminism, we still have a lot of work to do. Now more than ever, women must stand together in solidarity. One of the major issues...

In the chaos of campus life, students are especially susceptible to drug and alcohol addiction. Whether they’re popping pills to stay awake through finals, smoking to calm their nerves or drinking alcohol for the first time, college is where many people are introduced to addiction. A support...