Graffiti vandalism common says Campus PD

Graffiti on the stall door in the women's bathroom (Photo by Brenda Arce)

By Brenda Arce

GROSSMONT COLLEGE-Graffiti is being found on campus inside random restrooms. Campus Police Supervising Officer Dave Peralto says he doesn’t believe its gang related–he thinks its just a tagger.

Someone has has vandalized both male and female restrooms with graffiti.  It is unclear whether it is the same person or people.

I interviewed a few fellow students,  as a result…about half really didn’t care the other half were strongly against it. I asked maintenance how often are they having to remove it and they said a few times a week. They are cleaning it up as quickly as possible.

The quicker they have it removed the less the tagger will tag, said Officer Peralto, who stated that the longer graffiti are left up on the walls or stalls, the more it will occur.

 

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Arce is a student in MediaComm132; email her at brendaA@gcsummit.com

Muslims seek an area on campus for prayer

Mohammad Sabir Abbassi stands in front of a hallway of the tech-mall where Muslims have been asked not to pray for the sake of public safety. (Photo: Russ Lindquist)

By Russ Lindquist

GROSSMONT COLLEGE–Mohammad Sabir Abbassi, a Grossmont student aimed at a career in Public Health and Social Work, is advocating for his fellow Muslim students on campus to have a comfortable place to pray throughout the day.  Abbassi is petitioning with flyers, promoting the cause.

Previously, complaints had arisen about Muslims praying in the corridors of the tech-mall. To be clear, no one, including Abbassi, finds the complaints to be directed towards Muslims for their being Muslims but rather the issue was one of public safety: The area where they currently pray leads to an emergency fire exit, the blocking of which is considered a fire hazard, school officials who received the complaint told Abbassi.

Arabic Instructor Dr. Sonia Ghattas-Soliman suggested that Muslims consider finding many separate areas as options for their daily prayer.  Agustin Albarran, associate dean of Student Affairs, suggested that Muslims perhaps hold a fundraiser to build a (non-denominational, religiously open) peace garden for the Muslims to pray in.

Muslims pray five times a day; typically each prayer lasts from five to ten minutes.  Dyari Qadir said she feels it is unfair for Muslims to be prohibited from praying in that hallway.

Qadir,  a member of the Muslim Student Association at Grossmont, stated that if an emergency were to arise that she would stop praying and vacate the building.

In response to suggestions that Muslims simply pray outside, Abbassi stated that some Muslims report having been harassed when they prayed outdoors.  Specifically, Abbassi told of a time when a Muslim woman was praying and approached by a woman who presumably was not Muslim, and the non-Muslim woman reportedly insisted, “You cannot pray here.”

When told of this incident, Dean Albarran assured: “Students–Muslim and otherwise–can pray anywhere on the campus that they want,” as long as it does not directly and adversely affect the learning of other students.  Students who feel they are being treated unfairly–in religious matters or otherwise–may call Dean Albarran at Grossmont’s Office of Student Affairs at 619-644-7600, or email the Dean at agustin.albarran@gcccd.edu.

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Arce is a student in MediaComm 132; contact her at brendaA@gcsummit.com