For a college administration that prides itself on transparency and open communication, waiting until three days before the commencement ceremony to release an official statement about the graduation ticket mix-up was unacceptable. Several errors at the Admissions Office led to graduation guest tickets...

  Cartoon by Anthony Lazon/The Et Cetera The First Amendment guarantees Americans certain unalienable rights. So why are those rights currently being trampled merely to play big brother to one of Texas’ top trading partners? In 2017, Gov. Greg Abbott signed House Bill 89, also known as the Anti-Boycott,...

Cartoon by Anthony Lazon. Public perception of marijuana is changing fast, and it’s about time for Texas to keep up. With the 86th legislative session ending in less than two months, bills that would push cannabis closer to decriminalization, such as Senate Bill 90 or House Bill 63, should be carefully...

  About a week ago, tags marked “Siren” started showing up in some men’s restrooms throughout campus and in a stairwell in the C building. The tags, many of which have been removed or painted over, were done with a grease pen, which is a pain to remove. While The Et Cetera encourages...

Student homelessness is a major problem on American college campuses today, and with the resources available to the homeless community at large, as well as the resources available to students not related to housing, it’s astounding that we don’t have any methods to help relieve this specific problem. The...

Eastfield has doubled down on becoming the Subway conglomerate we all want it to be. On Jan. 22, Mama DeLuca’s Pizza opened next to the Subway in the Hive. Students thundered with applause as there was finally somewhere besides Subway to eat on campus. Granted, both Subway and Mama DeLuca’s Pizza...

After a recent proposal to the Dallas County Community College District board, the district is considering implementing a new “inclusive tuition” plan. While the proposal would cut the average DCCCD student textbook costs by more than 50 percent, it would do so by effectively raising the overall...

America’s political climate is in turmoil. Neighbors refuse to speak to others in their communities. Families are torn apart, brother to sister, cousin to cousin, and uncle to niece. Co-workers isolate themselves in fear of workplace hostility, all because political partisanship has commandeered...

The most criminally underused right we have as Americans, aside from the power to vote, is the usage of our free speech to open meaningful and intelligent dialogue. While there are many channels to express our right to freedom of speech, the right to a free press and free speech works hand in hand...

Eastfield’s knight in shining pantsuit, Jean Conway, is retiring after serving as president since June 2011. Lovingly referred to as the “queen bee” by Eastfield employees, Conway has worked tirelessly for the good of the school. While she is Eastfield’s VIBee and an incredibly busy person,...

American college students are constantly pestered by their schools and the media to exercise their right to vote, but many students still view their vote as worthless and ineffective. This sentiment, now more than ever, couldn’t be more wrong. When you have multiple polls showing the Texas Senate...

In the search for the next Eastfield College president, students should be playing a central role. But for the past two weeks, unless their professors informed them about the presidential candidate forums or they read about them on our website, students did not know the forums were taking place. Emails...

Eastfield administration has big plans for the campus’ future, and at The Et Cetera we believe that we can provide some valuable insight into how to further improve the quality of our campus. Instead of caving to the demands of having an expanded food court, Eastfield needs to double-down on its promotion...

Two-thirds of Americans, young or old, conservative or liberal, don’t place much faith in the Fourth Estate, according to a 2016 Gallup Poll. Considering that the press’ primary role is to inform and hold government accountable, it is shocking that so many Americans don’t trust what ethical, trustworthy...

In response to the deaths of 17 people in a school shooting, students who survived the attack on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, decided they would not let the issue fade out of the public eye. These students took to the media and to government officials to make their beliefs...

Voting is one of the most powerful ways Americans impact their government, but Texas voter turnout is abysmal, ranking third lowest in the nation. It’s up to our generation to be the ones who change that, and it starts with making our voices heard in primary elections. While more than half of Texas...

Those exhausted by Hollywood reboots and sequels will be really upset when they realize that the trend is making its way to Washington, D.C. The government shutdown that lasted from Jan. 20 to Jan. 22, a remake of the 2013 shutdown, is already headed for a sequel on Feb. 8. The future of immigration,...

Education is one of the most notable determining factors in a person’s future success. According to a Pew Research study released in May, 40 percent of employed millennials have a college degree. In order for Dallas County residents to effectively compete in the job market, they must have post-secondary...

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...

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...

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...

@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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

With seemingly unrelenting attacks on the judicial branch of government — both courts and individual judges — President Donald Trump has set an ominous precedent for the next four years. His comments on court decisions and judges show a lack of respect that bodes of an administration that will...