SAC Scores printed on heavy textured cardstock for $150.
By Cynthia M. Herrera
cherrera151@student.alamo.edu
Those in attendance at the SAC Scores Data Day Jan. 13 received a printed agenda and a flier promoting the Top 14 SAC Brags of 2014.
Some of the brags for 2014 included:
• This college made the Top 100 Associate Degree Producers list in Diverse Magazine.
• This college’s Facebook page exceeded 17,000 likes, the second-largest audience base among local colleges and universities.
• The Gnome Ranger spirit figure debuted in the fall semester.
Top 14 printed on regular cardstock for $62.
More than 750 agendas and 400 fliers were distributed.
The college spent almost $150 to print the agenda on a heavy textured cardstock, which is used for business cards at this college, the director of public relations said.
Regular cardstock at half the cost was used to print the Top 14 for a total of $62.
In an email, Vanessa Torres, director of public relations, explained the heavier stock is used for high-profile events, such as SAC Scores Data Day, to emphasize the importance of the event.
The college may have placed a great deal of emphasis on the agenda, but a great many attendees did not and discarded the agenda at the end of the session opening the spring semester.
Some discarded it before getting to the lobby.
Jackie Dorton, customer service representative at UPS for the Alamo Colleges, said printing the agendas on regular copy paper would have cost $90, but because the agendas were printed on the heavier textured cardstock, the cost was $142.50.
Dorton said Torres uses the paper regularly. “Everyone (at UPS) knows she prefers it.”
English Professor Jane Focht-Hansen, writing center director, said with a tight budget she can’t do much. The writing center is a pay-for-copies lab.
The lab also has few work-studies but because pay rates have increased there is not enough money to pay for extra work hours.
“There is less access for tutors,” Focht-Hansen said. “Rather than expanding, now salaries mean students will get less.”
Focht-Hansen grew up recycling and stated that she would have written notes had she been able to attend the event.
Education sophomore Jazmine Limon said there could be other ways to show the importance of a high-profile event.
“That’s not cool,” Limon said. “At my workplace, we recycle. If you don’t need it, don’t use it. Be mindful of what you’re using.”
That would be something to brag about.
