Archive for October 2nd, 2010

Volleyballers have much to celebrate

Grossmont cheers its 3-0 victory over Imperial (Photo: Andy Wilhelm)

GROSSMONT COLLEGE — Who can blame the Women’s Volleyball team for feeling exulted after polishing off Imperial Valley College in three straight sets on Friday, Oct. 1?  The victory brought the team’s overall record to 7-4.

Purple and pink ribbons on campus foster awareness of domestic violence, breast cancer

GROSSMONT COLLEGE – The student health services department will be handing out pink and purple  ribbons this month as reminders that October is  both “breast cancer awareness month” and “domestic violence awareness month.”  

“Be sure to get a pink ribbon from the nurse and remind the women in your life to get their mammograms,” a campus circular urges.

Meanwhile, the Student Health Services, located in the modular village, is providing seasonal flu shots, which fights against H1N1 and other strains of flu, on this schedule: Monday and Tuesday 8 a.m. – 7 p.m; Wednesday and Thursday, 8 a.m.-5p.m., and Friday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.  Fee to students is $10; to faculty and staff $20.

Student Health Services also has available shots for whooping cough, as well as booster shots for  Pertussis/ Tetanus. 

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Preceding based on materials provided by Student Health Services

Michael Golden wins Peabody Bridges Award

GROSSMONT COLLEGE — Michael Golden of Grossmont College’s Biology Department has been named the recipient of the 2010 Homer Peabody Bridges Award. Dr. Peabody, who died in 2005, was executive director of the Rees-Stealy Research Foundation, and an activist for youth advancement in tennis and education. He was instrumental in the Bridges to the Future program at San Diego State University, which assists under-represented students in obtaining degrees in the biological sciences.

Michael Golden received this year’s Bridges honor, “for excellence in mentoring and teaching,” for guiding so many Grossmont students onto the Bridge to jobs and careers in the biological sciences. 

“I have been told by SDSU that we have provided the most students to the Summer Enrichment Program than any other community college in the area,” Golden said. The Summer Enrichment Program is “a major portion” of the Bridges program, Golden said. “Monday through Thursday, students take classes to help prepare them for chemistry, physics, microbiology and scientific writing,” he said.

“On Fridays, the students work in a research lab where they may have the opportunity to not only participate in research, but often present at national conferences.” The students are also paid for the duration of the summer program, Golden said. The program is funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health.

Golden said he and retired counselor Claudia Thompson began Grossmont’s participation in the program 12 years ago. Golden was and is the program coordinator at Grossmont, and working with him over the years have been Craig Milgrim, Janice Johnson, Gopa Patnaik, Michele Perchez and Arturo Milan.

“Here at Grossmont,” he said, “we identify the students and advise them along their path toward transferring. We also get the students together as a group a couple of times a year for both peer and faculty support.”

Grossmont students in the summer program just concluded were Amira Abdullah, Mark Flores, Kevin Kinyanjui, Sandra Mairena, Sara Roldan, Fernanda Sanchez, and Alexandria Valadez.

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Preceding provided by Grossmont President Sunita V. Cooke in “The President’s News Burst” for October 2010.

Governor signs bills assuring community college transfers to state college

SACRAMENTO — To increase access to the California State University (CSU) system, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed last  Wednesday SB 1440 by Senator Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) and AB 2302 by Assemblymember Paul Fong (D-Cupertino).

These two measures will tremendously streamline the transfer process, providing a clear pathway to transfer for tens of thousands of community college students each year.  This simplified process will save students significant time and resources as they transfer from a community college to a CSU campus and will create greater efficiencies for both the CSU and the community colleges. 

Senate Bill 1440 guarantees admission to a CSU campus for any community college student who completes the newly established associate degree for transfer.  This associate degree will be in every community college and will be limited to 60 units. 

In turn, the CSU will admit each holder of this transfer degree with junior standing and require no more than 60 additional units for graduation.  It further provides students who earn this degree with priority consideration for admission into a similar major and to their local CSU. 

Assembly bill 2302 requires that the California Community Colleges work collaboratively with the CSU to inform students and the general public about this new opportunity and encourages the University of California to examine what it would take to join in this new transfer reform effort. The bill calls for the UC to examine the development of a transfer pathway for students which would result in a transfer associate degree and system admission, and it provides a framework for student notification of the new transfer pathway created in SB 1440.

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Preceding provided by Grossmont College President Sunita V. Cooke in “The President’s News Burst” for October 2010.

Egads! A dinosaur drank our water!

CUYAMACA COLLEGE (Press Release) — The Jurassic period ended approximately 145 million years ago, but it still holds valuable lessons about natural resources in use today, as the Water Conservation Garden at Cuyamaca College reveals in its new Jurassic Garden exhibit.

The new exhibit reminds visitors that the fossil fuels used to satisfy our modern day energy demands were created from extinct dinosaurs and other animals, and that the planet’s water supply is the hallmark of recycling–we drink and use the very same water used by living things millions of years ago.

Cycads (palms of the period) are planted throughout, and both life-sized and interactive elements make it fun to learn about a period when giant dinosaurs roamed the earth. The exhibit includes a dig pit filled with fossils to be uncovered by budding scientists, a dinosaur research station, and dinosaur cutouts that compare the size of humans to dinosaurs. Actual sized footprints of an Allosaurus dinosaur, spaced out to its genuine length of stride, give the impression that the giant reptile just ran through the exhibit.

The Jurassic Garden is the brainchild of the Water Conservation Garden’s educational mascot, Pam Meisner, a.k.a. Ms. Smarty Plants, a former employee of the Natural History Museum with extensive experience in experiential education.

Under her direction, Eagle Scout Justin Atkins, and his family, constructed the new exhibit as part of a scout project. Opened in 1999, the Garden is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting water conservation in the landscape through excellent exhibits and programs that educate and inspire the public. Over 15 educational exhibits and gardens demonstrate the beauty and practicality of drought tolerant gardening for the San Diego region.

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Preceding provided by the Water Conservation Garden