Student Newspaper Oak Leaf Receives Journalism Awards

In San Jose on October 13, SRJC’s student newspaper The Oak Leaf received 14 awards at the Journalism Association of Community Colleges (JACC) Northern California convention, including two for General Excellence. In on-the-spot competitions, two staff writers Vanessa Wardwell and Max T. Redalia won second and third place respectively in the editorial cartoon competition; neither had published editorial cartoons before. Sports Editor Jonas Magana won fourth place in on-the-spot opinion writing. Cartoonist Max Scoville, who won first statewide last March in editorial cartooning, won first place in column writing and an honorable mention in photo illustration.

Oak Leaf Editor-in-Chief William Cooley had to present an award to himself during the ceremony, winning first place for inside page layout of a tabloid, second place in front page layout of a tabloid, and third place for a news story. Cooley is also the JACC State Student President.

Photographer Jared Wallace won first place for feature photo, second place for news photo, third place in sports action photo, and fourth place in photo illustration. The entire Oak Leaf staff won awards in General Excellence in both print and online media. The prize for Online Journalism General Excellence was unexpected, as the Oak Leaf has only recently gone live at http://www.theoakleafonline.com/.

Hundreds of SRJC Noncredit ESL Students Attend ESL Event

Over 350 noncredit ESL students from Cloverdale, Healdsburg, Windsor, and southwest Santa Rosa received a warm welcome in September on the Santa Rosa Campus.

Students were greeted by Assistant Superintendent /Vice President Academic Affairs Mary Kay Rudolph who reminded them that they are SRJC’s future and encouraged them to graduate from SRJC. Students toured the campus Dental Clinic, computer labs, College Skills, Re-entry Services, Admission and Records, Financial Aid, the ESL Learning Center, and new Doyle Library, plus other offices and classrooms. With so many SRJC staff members greeting students and handing out notepads, pencils, and treats, the event was greatly successful.

Civil Engineering & Surveying Highlighted in California Surveyor

Civil & Surveying Technology Program Coordinator and Instructor Jerry Miller published an article in the fall 2007 issue of California Surveyor titled “Choose Your Path: The Education of Future Surveyors at Santa Rosa Junior College” (access the full article online).

With many program photos, the comprehensive article describes SRJC’s top Civil & Surveying Program, including its outreach and enrollment patterns. Having earned the distinction as one of the finest programs in the state since its establishment over 40 years ago, SRJC has trained students for careers in civil engineering and land surveying professions and the program has become a model for similar programs nationwide. Students can now earn an associate in science degree and a career certificate concurrently, plus SRJC students who transfer to a four-year university typically graduate in the top 10% of their class.

California Surveyor also includes a photo of Jerry on page 43 with Santa Rosa High School student Ian Vonseggern who is the recipient of the California TrigStar Program Contest, an annual high school mathematics competition sponsored by the National Society of Professional Surveyors (based on the application of trigonometry). Ian was recognized as one of the best students from high schools across the nation, placing 6th in the national contest. Jerry is Chair of the California Land Surveyors Association-Sonoma County Chapter TrigStar program .

Deans Benoit and Forkum Attend ACCCA Leadership Training

Dean I, Arts, Humanities, Behavioral and Social Sciences Tyra Benoit and PE, Dance & Athletics Dean I Jim Forkum were among the 72 graduates of summer’s Admin 101 Program held at UCLA, a unique professional development program for community college administrators organized by ACCCA, Association of California Community College Administrators (ACCCA).

The five-day boot camp focuses on the nuts and bolts of community college administration in California, offering leaders the most crucial technical and legal aspects of administration. Now in its 7th year and designed to teach all facets of administration, the program was developed in response to the growing need for new community college leaders as retirements increase. Commenting on the enthusiasm of this year’s graduates, Susan Bray, ACCA Director of Operations, says “It gives me great hope for our future when I connect with more and more of these talented new professionals. ACCCA is a dynamic organization because of the energy of its members.”

Fall Robotics Classes Introduced

Computer and Information Science instructors Marc Helfman and Walter Chesbro introduced a new robotics class this fall that allows students to build robots from LEGO parts. While similar to those used in the LEGO Mindstorms kits, SRJC students use a much more advanced "brain" that incorporates a Game Boy and a custom circuit board to connect motors, sensors, and even a camera that locates and tracks colored objects.

Students use C programming language and a variety of sensors to get their bots to perform various actions, such as grabbing hold of objects, avoiding obstacles, following a wall, and deciding which way to go, depending on the direction a sign with a red arrow is pointed. Students put it all together for a culminating challenge where their robots navigated a game board and followed a wall into a simulated room, and then used the camera and a gripper to recognize and grab hold of objects, and remove them to designated areas.

Forensic Teams Compete Statewide

Between October 12 and 14, 2,000 students from over 20 California colleges and universities, including UCs, CSUs, private colleges, and community colleges, competed in over 11 forensic events that ranged from debate and persuasive speaking to poetry interpretation.

San Francisco State won the university division and Solano won the community college division. SRJC’s Forensics Team is made up of all new students who competed hard in the tournament and accomplishing exceptional results. Three of the four teams entered in the competition advanced to the elimination rounds.

SRJC’s team of Jonathon Grose and Mario Rosso had a record of 5-1 and were the third seed out of 32 teams heading into the medal rounds. They won their first elimination round before being upset (1-2 balloting) in the quarter final round. During the preliminary rounds they defeated the Chabot team that was the top seed and eventually won the competition. SRJC’s team of Elizabeth Eoff and Bryan Hennigsen also had a record of 5-1 and were the fourth seed. They were also upset in their first elimination round on a 1-2 balloting. SRJC’s third team to advance included Brian Doty and Mathew McDonald, who went 4-2 in preliminary rounds, were seeded 12th. However, once the medal rounds started, they upset two teams before losing the semi-final round. SRJC’s fourth team of Nicole Klein and Jessie Schawrtz had a record of 3-3 and just missed advancing to the medal rounds.

Humanities Creates Global Program

For the first time in the fall 2007 semester, Humanities implemented an innovative instructional approach that offers classes that very few colleges in California provide, including Humanities 21, Humanities in the Middle East. Humanities Instructor Jill Kelly-Moore notes that the program was launched three years ago with two sections of Human 5 World Humanities on both campuses: “I wrote Humanities 20: Humanities in Asia, then Humanities 21: Humanities in the Middle East, and this summer I submitted Humanities 22: Humanities in Africa to complete the cluster.” The classes are intended to attract diverse faculty, including university people with specialties in these areas.

Inspired by this trend, Religious Studies Instructor Eric Thompson is developing an Islam class and an eastern religions class to broaden the Religious Studies curriculum: "I was inspired to move our department in a global direction by my colleague Judith Thorn's class Intdis 4, Latin American and Caribbean Studies,” he says. “Human 22 will be submitted this fall.”

Women’s Soccer Make Big 8

Alex Fisher, Women’s Soccer goalkeeper, won Big 8 “Defensive Player of the Week” for the week for September 24-28 Alex is an inspirational leader and athlete who plays 90-minutes in goal every game.

Bear Cub Niki Poole won Big 8 “Offensive Player of the Week” for October 8-12. Niki scored two goals in a 3-2 win over Modesto on October 9, plus scored three goals and had an assist in a 6-1 win over Diablo Valley on October 12. In SRJC’s match against Diablo Valley, Niki scored her first goal just :08 seconds into the game and her second goal one minute later.

Vanessa Nieto won Big 8 “Defensive Player of the Week” October 29- November 2. Vanessa had one goal and one assist in a 4-0 win over Sacramento City on October 30, plus one goal and one assist in a 4-0 win over Modesto on November 2. What is amazing about those numbers is that she is a center back (defender). She is third leading goal scorer on SRJC’s Bear Cub team and leads the team in assists.

Alum Tarnay Appointed University Athletic Trainer

SRJC alumnus Lorena Tarnay is Assistant Athletic Trainer on the Chapman University’s clinical athletic training staff, a position that’s the culmination of years of pursuing an education and career appointment. Long interested in becoming a sports medicine physician, while attending SRJC Lorena fell in love with athletic training: "One of my first days at SRJC, I attended an Introduction to Athletic Training class taught by retired Head Athletics Trainer and Instructor Byron Craighead," Lorena recalls. “His enthusiasm was so overwhelming, I was hooked." Lorena played college soccer for two years at SRJC, and is now training for Olympic distance triathlons.

Bookstore’s Anthony Martinez Playwright

Assistant Manager of SRJC’s Bookstore’s Anthony Martinez is an accomplished author, playwright, and equity actor and singer. Last year he first became a playwright when his play was performed at the Fringe of Marin Festival at Dominican University in San Rafael, for which he was awarded “Best Play.” Another work by Anthony was performed in June at Los Medanos College titled Profile, a one-act drama about the impact of current events on individual freedom. Switching Teams, a baseball comedy of errors, premiered in October 2007 at the Fringe of Marin Festival at Dominican University, with performances during the first two weekends in November and the first weekend in December. Anthony anticipated the production of another play at Dominican, Bad Coffee, a one-act dark comedy of revenge and consequences, a play that was also awarded “Best Play” by a panel of judges from the Bay Area Theater Critics Circle. Anthony was identified as the “Best Director” for Bad Coffee and Profile. Contact our in-house playwright at amartinez@santarosa.edu.

Shown: Anthony Martinez, left, and actor Ken Bacon perform in Anthony’s new one act play Switching Teams that opened November 9.

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SRJC Host Station To Astronauts

On July 17, SRJC was the host ground station that connected young hospital patients in Orlando, Florida to Astronaut Clay Anderson on board the International Space Station. The link was made via ham radio as the station made a 9 ½ minute pass over the U.S. Just before the pass, several ham radio experts and SRJC’s Tim Bosma, Director, Purchasing, coordinated the telebridge connection between the space station and the Child Life Department at Arnold Palmer Hospital in Orlando. The eager children experienced a lively nine minute question and answer session with Astronaut Anderson for a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Director DuVernay Award Recipient

The Association of Small Business Development Centers, a national association representing the 1,100 SBDC offices throughout the U.S., honored SRJC’s Director of the Redwood Empire Small Business Development Center Lorraine DuVernay at an Annual Conference in Denver. She was presented with the 2007 Northern California “State Star” by the national Association of Small Business Development Centers (ASBDC) for exemplary performance at the Santa Rosa SBDC. Lorraine was selected for the award from among the 10 other SBDCs in the Northern California region “for consistently exceeding annual goals, developing and sharing resources within the network, and for fiscal and programmatic excellence.”

The conference was held September16-19; she received the award during a ceremony on the 19th before the closing banquet. SBDC currently serves businesses throughout Sonoma and Marin counties.

Health Sciences Dean Jen Honored

SRJC’s Dean Health and Life Sciences Ezbon Jen was honored by the Northern California Center for Well-Being at the first Celebration of Dreams event. A major annual event to raise funds for the Center’s scholarship program and special initiatives, the event was held at the Santa Rosa Country Club in support of the community-based nonprofit. Ezbon was selected because he is so “passionate about determining ways to be more effective in addressing early-stage community health issues,” and for his leadership at the college, in the community, and in partnerships with many regional health-care organizations. Logistics coordinator of the event, Director Student Health Services Susan Quinn indicated that 250 people attended to spotlight Ezbon as one of six prolific community honorees. “We raised over $40,000 at this great event,” Susan said.

Instructors Misner & Beeson Publish

Expert in business networking, BAD Instructor Dr. Ivan Misner published a number one best selling book in August titled Masters of Sales. Ivan is also the founder of over 12 chapters of Business Network International (BNI) in the county for the North Bay. Other BNI members have contributed articles to the new book, including 20-year SRJC Business and Marketing Instructor Denise Beeson, SRJC Adjunct Faculty member. The North Bay Business Journal featured Denise and the book in a recent issue. For the review, contact Denise at www.denisebeeson.com.

Instructor Thompson Performs The Bible

Religious Studies Instructor Eric Thompson starred in the Sonoma County play “The Bible” July 6 through 22 in Sebastopol. Reportedly “hilarious, clever, and brilliant,” The Bible: The Complete Word of God (abridged) (by the Reduced Shakespeare Company), focused on three actors who played all roles that covered the entire Bible in two hours (it's a comedy, of course). Eric’s roles included singing, dancing, playing God, Goliath, Joseph, John the Baptist, among many others. “Everyone I know who has seen the play says their face hurt from laughing; one woman told me she thought she cracked a rib from laughing so hard,” Eric reports.

Petaluma Alum Graff Successful Winemaker

Winemaker Todd Graff first became interested in winemaking when he took an introductory wine course at SRJC. After graduating from SRJC and earning a degree in plant science and viticulture from UC Davis, he worked in the cellars of Joseph Phelps Vineyards and the wineries of Weingut Klaus in Schweicher Mosel, Germany, Chateau Yon Figeac in St. Emilion, France, and Arrowfield in Australia’s Hunter Valley.

For over 20 years, Todd traveled extensively and worked in wineries in Europe, Australia, and California before becoming a winemaker in Napa less than 50 miles from his native Petaluma. Todd was the winemaker for Sonoma Creek Winery, where he was able to cultivate strategic relationships with grape growers and was a key member of the winery’s executive management team. Under Todd’s leadership, Sonoma Creek’s production increased by 30 percent. Todd assumed the position of winemaker for Frank Family Vineyards in 2003. Click here for more about Todd’s success.

Library Tech Rau Delivers Philosophical Commentary

Library Technician David Rau from the Doyle Library Reserve Desk, participated in the American Philosophical Association’s 81st annual meeting in San Francisco on April 6 as an independent scholar, delivering a commentary on the paper, “Philosophy of Gene-being and the Encompassing: a Prolegomenon” by Dr. Gregory Walters of St. Paul University, Ottawa. David’s commentary attempted to acknowledge the problematic nature of the question of Being, addressing the apparent dilemma of free will vs. determinism. David credits SRJC’s instructors George Freund and Everett Traverso for helping him understand Walter’s paper he responded to. For a copy of the paper and David’s response, please visit the Web site or call (707) 527-4546.

Student Receives Coca-Cola Scholarship

SRJC student Lisa Albertson was awarded a $1,000 scholarship from the Coca-Cola Foundation. Through the Coca-Cola Two-Year Scholarship Program, the Foundation awards 400 scholarships annually who demonstrate a commitment to academic success and to community service. Awardees are selected for successfully juggling school, work, and family responsibilities while also giving back to their communities through volunteer service. Lisa is a second year transfer student, a single parent living in Sebastopol who currently works as an intern for the Center for HIV Prevention and Care. She plans to earn an associate degree and transfer to UC Berkeley as a double major in social welfare and public policy to ultimately earn a Ph.D. Her career goal is to become a license social worker.

For free copies of SRJC Occupational Programs Handbook 2007-2008, contact (707) 521-7987 or lormond@santarosa.edu.

Occupational Programs Handbook 2007-2008

Call (707) 527-4766 for an electronic copy of the CalWORKs Student Planner 2007-2008.

CalWORKs Student Planner 2007-2008