ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
Ceramics
From manufacturing to medicine to the mundane, ceramics are all around us

Turning Back the Clock
Jeffrey Wheat helps his older adult students stay young and limber

Plane Speaking
Aviation maintenance instructors build their own planes

Verbal Volleys
Larry Weiss coaches Mesa College debate team to lob the winning argument

Left Brain, Right Brain
Herald Kane is equally adept at analytical and creative pursuits

To Protect and To Serve
Police officer Diana Medero enthusiastically serves her college community

Online Biology
Cooking up experiments at home

Taking to the Streets
Faculty, staff and students march to protest governor's budget cuts to colleges

Chancellor’s Page
Chancellor and trustees wage battle for fair funding

Development News
Concerts fund music scholarships; Miramar College Foundation forms subcommittees

Factoids
Miscellaneous tidbits of information

NewsMakers
Faculty and staff accomplishments

Newsmakers

Faculty and staff accomplishments

Mesa College interior design professors Holly Hodnick and Mimi Moore were able to promote community colleges when they co-chaired the Interior Design Educators Council (IDEC) International Conference in San Diego, March 25-30. The organization is dominated by interior design educators from four-year colleges and universities throughout the U.S., Canada and several other countries. The conference featuring keynote speakers, tours, and paper presentations, took a full year to plan, according to Moore.

Miramar College’s automotive technology professor Ray Quon was featured in a Channel 8 “Car Maintenance Overkill” news special segment with Michael Tuck on Feb. 20.

Jackie Clark, senior secretary in the Office of Student Affairs, is Miramar College’s team captain for the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life. The event begins at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 17 and ends 24 hours later. Clark and her committee are busy recruiting walkers to span the 24-hour relay in increments of 30 to 60 minutes. Her co-captain is Michelle Pasag, and other committee members are college president Pat Keir, Kevin Alston, Loretta Rinderle, Ruthy Ofina, Lezlie Allen, Carol Murphy and CherryMae Lapis. Besides donations, Clark hopes to raise awareness of the importance of regular check-ups for early detection.

Madeleine J. Hinkes, forensic anthropolgist for San Diego and Imperial counties and Mesa College professor, was interviewed by the television program “America’s Most Wanted” about a February 2000 case she worked on for the local medical examiner. In April, she presented “Ladies and Gentlemen, Children of All Ages: Skeletal Indications of Age and Sex” at the San Diego Museum of Man’s 15th Seminar in the Forensic Sciences.

Charlene Schade, associate professor at West City Center, was a featured presenter at the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance Combined Conventions for Northwest District, Southwest District and the state of Nevada in February 2003. Schade also presented at the Southwest Dance, Movement and Acrosports Workshop in April, and in May for the Professional Dance Network Convention in Palm Springs. In June, she will be among the featured authors in the 29th Meet the Author Program for the San Diego County Office of Education.

Paula Sassi, long-time ESL instructor at North City Center, was selected as the best handwriting analyst in the annual Reader’s Best issue of The Reader, San Diego’s Weekly. Sassi went from an interest in handwriting analysis to a psychology degree and certification, and now heads the American Handwriting Analysis Foundation.

Mesa College psychology professor Jaye Van Kirk has been invited to join a select group of 35 psychology professionals from around the world at the Oxford Round Table in England. They will serve as a think-tank for educational policies for the United States and the United Kingdom, with an emphasis on women’s rights and gender discrimination. Round Table members will convene Aug. 10-15 at St. Anthony’s College, Oxford University. En route to Oxford, Van Kirk will present a workshop on leadership at the annual American Psychological Association convention, Aug. 5-10, in Toronto.

Myles Clowers, City College history and political science professor, is chairing one of the short courses, “Teaching about British Politics: Substantive Issues,” at the 100th Annual American Political Science Association (APSA) Convention this August in Philadelphia. With more than 13,500 members in 70 countries worldwide, the APSA is the world’s largest professional organization for the study of politics.

Zak Ruvalcaba, an instructor at Mesa Online and CET, recently finished writing a 1,100-page computer manual, Dreamweaver MX Unleashed, released by Sams Publishing.

An aspiring art teacher, Cathy Springs currently spends her days as a student services assistant in Mesa College’s Financial Aid Office, and after hours she’s co-chairman of the San Diego Chapter of the California Art Club. Founded in 1909, the club was a powerful force in the development of early California art. Springs drew from her recently completed master’s thesis on early California painter Maurice Braun when she wrote the cover story, “Maurice Braun and Alfred Mitchell: A Mentor and his Student,” for the club’s December 2002 newsletter. She is also curator of “Ode to San Diego and the Eucalyptus,” a show of paintings by eight California artists (including herself) that highlight the beauty of San Diego’s eucalyptus, which are falling prey to insects. The show runs through June 2 at the California Art Club’s Old Mill Gallery in San Marino near the Huntington Library.

In December, Chips Richards’ Mesa College landscape construction class donated more than 1,200 pounds of non-perishable food to the Salvation Army.

CET career counselors Carrie Perez and Paul Hedley presented “Developing the Independent Personalized Internship, An Emerging Tool for Thriving in the Changing World of Work” at the International Career Development Conference last fall.

Kevin Cox, Mesa College journalism professor and contributing writer for San Diego Magazine, won a national award from the City and Regional Magazine Association for “To Catch a Killer,” his controversial article about the Danielle van Dam murder case published in the magazine’s October 2002 edition. Last October, the San Diego Press Club honored him with two first-place awards for magazine writing –– for “The Case of the Forensic Femme Fatale” about Kristin Rossum, the local toxicologist convicted of poisoning her husband, and “A Case of Foul Play” about Rick Post, a missing private investigator.

Rafael Alvarez, City College MESA (Math, Engineering, Science Achievement) program director, brought back to City College the MESA Calculator Olympics (10th annual) and the Robotics Challenge (2nd annual) on Saturday, April 26. Hewlett-Packard and Sony co-sponsored this event where students competed against MESA students from Southwestern and Cuyamaca colleges, SDSU, UCSD and local high schools in solving technical problems in math, chemistry, physics and engineering. Math professor Misael Camarena volunteered to coach City’s teams.
 
In March, City College MESA program director Rafael Alvarez and dean Armando Abiña, hosted a one-day institute focused on the effective use of technology in education. Utilizing the MESA Hewlett-Packard wireless mobile classroom, almost 60 people from k-12 schools throughout the U.S. participated in this institute conducted by the International Society for Technology in Education and hosted by Hewlett-Packard. 

Ram Gurumurthy, City College chemistry professor, hosted Nigel R. A. Beeley, vice president and chief chemical officer of Arena Pharmaceuticals as a guest lecturer at City on “The Role of Chemistry in Arena Pharmaceuticals” on March 17.

Mesa College philosophy professor Nina Rosenstand is active in a number of professional venues. She is on the American Philosophical Association’s committee for teaching philosophy in two-year colleges. Her paper, “What Does it Mean to Be Human?” was published in the British journal Dialogue in April. The fourth edition of her ethics textbook, The Moral of the Story, will be published this year by McGraw-Hill. And if that weren’t enough, she’s also a regular guest on Danish Public Radio, commenting on current events.

Assemblymember Shirley Horton presented Eileen Schwartz, ESL instructor for CET, with the California State Assembly Certificate of Recognition for founding Flags Across the Nation, which started as a post 9/11 exhibit of flag photographs, and has since become a national road show of patriotic exhibits and school projects.

City College English professors Jim Miller and Kelly Mayhew are collaborating with Mike Davis, a Southern California writer and UC Irvine history professor, on Under the Perfect Sun: The San Diego Tourists Never See, a book scheduled for publication this fall by The New Press.

Andrea Marx, Mesa College fashion design professor, was honored with the Education Style Award from the Fashion Group International of San Diego, Inc. in February. Marx has directed the college’s fashion program for the past seven years and has been directing its design courses for more than two decades.

In March, Diane Glow, articulation officer at Miramar College, co-chaired the statewide annual meeting of the California Intersegmental Articulation Council (CIAC) which includes all the two- and four-year articulation officers in California. She was co-planner of this first-ever San Diego meeting of CIAC and led breakout sessions on “The Role of the Articulation Officer in the Curriculum Process” and “How to Write Effective Resolutions.” Glow was also elected vice chairman of the southern group, the Southern California Intersegmental Articulation Council, for the 2003-2004 academic year

Angela Liewen, a computer science support staff supervisor at Mesa College, has earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration from San Diego State University. She is a 2000 graduate of Mesa College.

Rob Fender, Mesa College architecture professor, is staying very busy writing about computer technology in architecture. His first book, AutoCAD Architect published by Prentice Hall, is used in his Architecture 105 class. His next book and companion website are scheduled to be ready for this fall’s Architecture 106 students. Now, he is starting a third book on Revit, the newest 3D modeling program for architectural applications from the developer of AutoCAD, which he hopes to have ready this fall.

Mesa College’s Ann Heck received the California Community College Athletic Directors Association’s Athletic Director of the Year Award at the CCC Commission on Athletics convention in Reno in March.

Karen Schneiter, Mesa College computer business technology professor, is a contributing author of the 2003 edition of Your Career: How to Make It Happen, a textbook used in professional development classes taught in the community colleges, private career colleges, and adult education programs. Schneiter revised seven of the 20 chapters.

This is the third year that Robyn Taylor will be co-creating a summer day camp for girls, Sacred Traditions, June 16-27 at the YMCA Surf Camp in Imperial Beach. Girls, ages 7-13, are taught about earth-based spiritualities from around the world. Participants create gourd drums, clay rattles, dreamcatchers, spirit dolls, talking sticks and many other spiritually centered crafts. Visit www.sacredtraditions.org for more information. When not at camp, Taylor is an administrative technician in the district ABSO office.

CET business information technology instructors Karen Owen, Dea Brite and Nancy Seamster presented “An Introduction to Microsoft’s MCSE Certification” in one of the hands-on lab training sessions at the 18th League for Innovation in the Community College 2002 Conference on Information Technology. This conference is a showcase for state-of-the-art information technology applications and new delivery skills and techniques that enhance teaching and learning. Owen also co-presented with City College on “Articulation and Collaboration Between Adult Education and Community College IT Programs.”

Georges Merx, Mesa College computer information science professor, presented his doctoral dissertation, “A Critical Modeling Methodology for Parent-School Interaction at the High School Level,” at the Hawaii International Conference on Education, which was held in January in Honolulu. Merx receives his Ph.D. in education this month in a joint program of San Diego State and Claremont Graduate universities.

Jane Newcomb, a teacher in the interactive media certificate program at the Centers for Education and Technology, received an award from the California Community Colleges’ Economic and Workforce Development Network (ED>Net). ED>Net sponsors an annual competition for community college students, and Newcomb was honored for nurturing one of the award-winning students.

Doug Elliot, workforce development counselor at the Career Center, has been appointed to the board of directors of EUREKA, a career planning tool used throughout California public education.

Liane De Meo, administrative analyst in Student Services, will receive her bachelor’s degree in public administration from San Diego State University this month.

Rita Sanchez, Mesa College Chicano studies professor, published a research article, “Embracing Our Indian Ancestry: Two Antonio Gurules –– One French and One Indian,” in the January 2003 New Mexico Genealogical Society Journal. She also presented excerpts from a research paper, “The Five Sanchez Brothers in World War II: About Civil Rights and World Peace,” at the National Association of Chicano Studies Conference held in Los Angeles in April. The paper is the story of soldier brothers who collectively won more than 25 medals. The article will appear in Latinos in World War II, scheduled to be published later this year by the University of New Mexico Press, which chronicles the important contributions made by Mexican Americans, as evidenced by their receiving more Congresional Medals of Honor than any other ethnic group.

Three City College classified employees have earned their master’s degrees in educational technology through National University this semester: Lori Oldham, instructional program placement specialist; Majeda Nasrawi, instructional program supervisor; and Deanna Louis-Balintec, instructional assistant.

Kelvin Branom, a college service officer with the College Police, received a commendation from Chief Dave Worden for heroic efforts to rescue the occupant of a burning home on Dec. 27, 2002. Branom radioed for paramedics then worked with passers-by to pry off the window security bars. “With disregard to your own safety, you assisted in grabbing the trapped elderly gentleman and pulling him out of the burning house,” the award says.
         
Besides working at Mesa College as a computer technician, Mark Stone is an artist specializing in whimsical metal-welded sculptures using found (recycled) metal parts. Stone was among a small group of artists invited by the City of San Diego to participate in its third annual “Dare to Reuse” exhibition, March 18-April 11 at the City Administration Building downtown.

Vuong Nguyen, instructional lab technician at Miramar College and research technician at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, spent Feb. 15-March 11 at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) as part of an international group of Mars Society volunteer scientists, engineers and support crew who lived in a domed habitat in the Mars-like desert of southern Utah. In this analog environment, Nguyen collected and analyzed soil samples as an example of the kind of work explorers to Mars may one day perform in their search for signs of life and to understand more about the elements of the planet.

Charles Kovach, City College English professor, served as volunteer referee at the Special Olympics Southern California Floor Hockey Championship January 18-19, 2003, at the San Diego Convention Center.

Katie Rodda, drama professor at City and Mesa colleges, is directing “Bobby Gould in Hell” at the Lyceum Theatre in Horton Plaza. The play runs through May 10.

Elizabeth Hamilton, Mesa music professor, announces that the CD “Instruments of Peace II” celebrating Rosa Parks’ 90th birthday has been released. The meditation music features the soothing tones of the harpsichord, Apache flute and bass. CDs are available in the Mesa music office, C109, for a minimum donation of $7. Call 619-388-2811 or 388-2218 for more information.