Chairman of Assembly Higher Education Committee to hold news conference on campus

By Kellen Brauer

Marty Block

GROSSMONT COLLEGE- Marty Block, chairman of the Assembly committee on higher education, will be participating in a campus news conference at 11 a.m. Tuesday ,  Sept. 27,.

“A  panel of questioners will include Russ Lindquist, editor of the GC Summit; Marc Arizmendez, news director of Griffin Radio; and Sue Gonda, the president of the Academic Senate,” said the organizer,  Journalism Instructor Donald H. Harrison.  “He will be welcomed to the campus by both the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District Chancellor Cindy Miles and Grossmont President Sunita Cooke.”

The first half hour of Block’s presentation will be questions from the panel while the second half will open up questioning to the floor.

Block, a Democrat representing San Diego, chairs the committee in the Assembly to which all legislation concerning colleges and universities is initially referred.  Before his election to the Legislature, he served for eight years as the chairman of the San Diego City College Board.   Prior to that he was a member of the San Diego County Board of Education.

“I will be asking questions that either I came up with or that the Jounalism class (MCOM 132) crafted together and decided,” said Lindquist. “I figure that I will get a whole lot of information from him that is useful for me but also useful for our readers.”

“I am going to be asking basic general questions,” said Arizmendez. “Hopefully I am going to get together with Russ and Mr. Harrison and come up with some good hard hitting questions.”

“I am looking forward to it [the conference] because the economy is shaky in general, so I look forward to getting some real practical advice from this legislator for the sake of making the right choices upcoming as I move onto a University,” said Lindquist.

Gonda was not immediately available for comment.

Arizmendez said the press conference will be a good way to present Grossmont College’s problems to Block, whose role is key to higher education in the state.

“Hopefully we get the answers that people want to hear,” said Arizmendez.

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Brauer is a student in Media Comm 132.  He may be contacted at kellenb@gcsummit.com

ASGC board seeks new members

Chris Foskett at work in ASGC office (Photo: Kellen Brauer)

By Kellen Brauer

GROSSMONT COLLEGE- The Associated Students of Grossmont College, which coordinates many events on campus, is chaired by ASGC President Cheryl-Anne Phillips and is run by a board of directors who want more colleagues.

“We want all of the students to know that we are here for them,” said ASGC board member Tina Howell. “If there is any suggestion that any student has, we want to know about it. It’s very important to us that we represent our students.”

“We have over 20,000 students, and at the moment we only have 13 board members,” Howell continued. “We would love to have a board member for every 1,000 students.”

ASGC meetings are open to all students and applications for board membership are available in both the Student Affairs office and the ASGC office.

“If you have above a 2.4 GPA, time available between 8 a.m to 9::30 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, four hours available to give to office hours, six credit hours and your student benefit card, then you can apply to be on the board,” said Howell.

“We also want to promote our student benefit card,” said Howell. “We’re working really hard to get different benefits within the community and not just at Grossmont and Cuyamaca.”

Items obtainable with the student benefit card include unlimited popcorn, a prize drawing ticket, and savings at Ross Books and the Grossmont Bookstore, according to Howell.

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Brauer is a student in Media Comm 132. He may be contacted at kellenb@gcsummit.com

9/11 Memorial Olive Tree planted on campus

Sept. 11 remembrance tree planted Tuesday, Sept. 13, by left column, from front: Grossmont President Sunita Cooke, ASGC President Cheryl-Anne Phillips, Christopher Foskett and groundsman Martin Hipwell, and right column, from front, Tina Howell, Arianna Nevins, Samantha Elliott, Danielle Ramirez and groundsman Jack Newman.

By Kellen Brauer

GROSSMONT COLLEGE- An olive tree was planted Tuesday, Sept. 13,  in remembrance of the victims of the  September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

The tree was planted in front of Building 55. Messages written by students about the attacks dangled from its branches.

Due to last Thursday’s countywide power outage, the campus was closed Friday which was when the ceremony had been originally scheduled. This meant that the ceremony had a small turnout due to students not knowing about the date change.

“The ceremony took place at 9:30a.m.,” said ASGC member Chris Foskett. “There were not a lot of people there.”

“Hopefully a lot of people will see the tree now that it’s there,” said ASGC member Sicarra Devers. “I guess the plans for the ceremony got a little bit messed up due to the power outage.”

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Brauer is a student in Media Comm 132.  He may be contacted at kellen.brauer@gcccd.edu

Campus display begins Sept. 11 commemoration

Student passerby photographs campus 9-11 memorial (Photo: Kellen Brauer)

By Kellen Brauer

GROSSMONT COLLEGE- A remembrance for the 10-year anniversary of the September 11 attacks on New York City’s World Trade Center, went on display on campus Thursday, Sept. 8

The display was set up by the Associated Students of Grossmont College and featured two tall black boxes with American flag colored banners that listed the names of all the victims. The display also had an olive tree. Students were encouraged to write a memorial note on a card and hang it on the tree.

“Most people know the olive tree to be a symbol of peace,” said ASGC President Cheryl-Anne Phillips. “We wanted to set up this display as a healing process for the campus.”

Landscaping to replace campus grass

By Kellen Brauer

GROSSMONT COLLEGE- Three sections of grass near the campus cafeteria were recently killed to make way for displays of drought- tolerant indigenous landscaping.

Each section or zone will have its own unique landscaping: coastal sage, oak woodland, and mixed chaparral. according to Tim Flood, Grossmont’s vice president of administrative service.

The landscaping was designed with help from faculty members in the biology, botany, and geology departments to serve as educational demonstration areas.

The dead grass areas are “safe to sit on and use,” Flood said. “The herbicide used is a systemic herbicide. The plant takes the herbicide in through its foliage and brings it down to its roots and then it kills the plant from the roots up. Once the herbicide is dry to the touch (after spraying) it can be used.”

The areas will be replanted in November or December and until then the dead grass will remain, according to Flood.

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Brauer is a student in Media Comm 132. He may be contacted at kellenb@gcsummit.com

WOW showcases clubs and special programs

Tables and booths covered mainquad during Week of Welcome

By Kellen Brauer

GROSSMONT COLLEGE- As part of Grossmont College’s WOW–Week of Welcome–many clubs and programs were recently on display to enable incoming students to get a little taste of life on campus beyond the classroom.

Such programs as the International Club, the Visual Arts and Humanities program, and the Associated Students of Grossmont College were among the organizations that took their messages to tables and booths at the Main Quad and other campus locations.

The International Club  “is for both American students and International students,” said International Club adviser Barbara Clark. “About 30 or so different nationalities are represented in the club.”

“We have barbeques and bus trips as well as game nights and sports day,” Clark explained. “The club tries to do a number of activities on and off the campus to provide an opportunity for the American and International students to meet each other and get to know each other.”

Hyde exhibits master art works, manuscripts

Nick Clawson Taking int the images in the Hyde Gallery (Photo: Robert Sanchez)

By Kellen Brauer

GROSSMONT COLLEGE- In celebration of the 50^th Anniversary of Grossmont College, the Hyde Art Gallery is exhibiting works by some of the most famous artists ever to live. Multi Media Works ‘Selections from Our Permanent Selection’ has an assortment of paintings, pictures, and sculptures from such artists as Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, and Pablo Picasso.

The current exhibit will be on display until September 15. Many students around campus have visited the Gallery to see the classic art works for themselves. “I have always enjoyed the work of Lichtenstein and Ansel Adams,” said art student Nick Clawson. “I also enjoy Herbert Fink, his stuff is great.”

Some of the art works may be unfamiliar to many gallery visitors. However, says Clawson, “checking out other art pieces is always a good way to improve my own work.”

Gallery Curator Ben Aubert  said that the exhibit “ represents probably about 20 percent of our permanent collection… I personally really love the manuscripts from the monasteries; it’s just amazing how well they’ve held their color.”

“I tried to get as broad of a scope of artwork as I could and picked the pieces I felt were very influential,” Aubert said. “There are even pieces in here that were painted by the founder of the gallery Marge (Marjorie) Hyde.

 The galley hours are  Monday-Wednesday 10a.m to 6:30 p.m.; Thursday 10 a.m. to  8 p.m. The gallery is closed Fridays through Sundays and legal holidays.

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Brauer is a student in Media Comm 132; contact him at KellenB@gcsummit.com