Cabrillo College is a public community college in Aptos, California. It is named after the explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo and opened in 1959. Cabrillo College has an enrollment of about 12,000 students per term.
Amid record global displacement and increasingly politicized migration discourses Afghan refugee women entering U.S. community colleges often navigate multiple challenges that extend beyond language adjustment and academic integration, including legal-status complexity, compressed resettlement timelines, and caregiving responsibilities. Although refugee learners experience complex life situations, they are frequently misrecognized within institutional systems, limiting access to culturally responsive support. Using critical participatory action research (CPAR), this study examines the implementation of a five-module support program to foster psychological empowerment and a sense of belonging among 10 Afghan female community college students. Students engaged in critical self-reflection, storytelling, co-teaching, narrative therapy, and artistic expression. Developmental outcomes derived from engagement in the program included greater self-confidence, emotional awareness, community building, and sense of belonging. The group environment allowed for participants' expression of their vulnerability, relational development, and the construction of a creative and action-oriented self. These students' experience reaffirms the need to create culturally responsive programming that protects their psychological wellbeing and fosters a sense of community among minoritized populations in the community college context. Findings from this study encourage community college leaders to embrace three high leverage practices: a) understanding that equity requires psychosocial support, not only formal access to programs and resources, b) engaging in experiences of co-creation with students is a way to practice equity, c) fostering retention and sense of belonging through contextualized culturally sustaining practices.
Recent observations of a stellar occultation have revealed the presence of a previously undiscovered small satellite around Quaoar. Orbiting near Quaoar’s unusual ring system, this new satellite has the potential to provide significant insights into the formation and evolution of Quaoar and its ring system. In this Letter, we characterize the orbit of this newly discovered satellite, finding that it is likely on a 3 . 6 − 0.3 + 0.5 day orbit, plausibly placing it near a 5:3 mean motion resonance with Quaoar’s outermost known ring. Examining the possibility of observing the newly discovered satellite with further stellar occultations, we estimate that ∼hundreds of observing stations are required for recovery, since phase information about its orbit was rapidly lost after the lone detection. We also attempted to recover the satellite in JWST NIRCam imaging of Quaoar, but find no convincing detection. This nondetection is limited by the accuracy of the available NIRCam point-spread function models, as well as the satellite’s extreme faintness and close-in orbital separation. Therefore, current-generation telescopes will likely struggle to directly image this new satellite, but near-future 30 m class telescopes should prove capable of detecting it. Discovery of such a satellite provides evidence that the rings around Quaoar may have been part of an initially broad collisional disk that has evolved considerably since its formation. To further explore this hypothesis, we encourage follow-up observations of the rings and satellites with stellar occultations and direct imaging, as well as updated hydrodynamical, collisional, and tidal modeling of the system.
Jupiter Trojans preserve primitive formation characteristics owing to their collisionless, stable orbits. Determination of their shapes and size-frequency distribution helps constrain the collisional evolution of their parent population, which also originated the Kuiper Belt. We started a programme to find precise sizes/shapes for Trojans, combining stellar occultations and the Database of Asteroid Models from Inversion Techniques (DAMIT) three-dimensional shape models. We report results for Diomedes, by fitting its unit dimensionless three-dimensional model to three chords of a stellar occultation observed in 2020, using iterative χ 2 procedures. The pole coordinates, rotation period, volume-equivalent radius and geometric albedo were λ = 153.73° ± 2.5°, β = 12.69° ± 2.6°, P = 24.4984 ± 0.0002 h, R e q = 59.4 ± 0.3 km and p V = 0.030 ± 0.004, respectively. A precise position was also obtained. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Major advances in planetary sciences thanks to stellar occultations’.
This chapter explores the journey of a Latina leader committed to fostering equity and social justice in education. Drawing from personal experiences and deeply rooted cultural values, it highlights how familial teachings shaped her leadership approach, emphasizing cultural humility, relational leadership, and advocacy. The chapter examines transformative initiatives such as revising expulsion policies, introducing Ethnic Studies as a graduation requirement, and forming partnerships to support marginalized communities. Additionally, it underscores the role of mentorship and community collaboration in breaking systemic barriers. By integrating theoretical frameworks like Community Cultural Wealth and Cultural Humility, this narrative offers practical insights and strategies for leaders dedicated to equity. The chapter concludes with a reflection on the enduring impact of authenticity, empathy, and commitment to creating inclusive educational systems that empower all students.
