News

MESA COLLEGE BREAKS GROUND ON NEW
PARKING STRUCTURE AND POLICE SUBSTATION
Structure to Include Green Technology


SAN DIEGO, CA – San Diego Mesa College this week broke ground on a $29.3 million parking structure and police substation at the campus' east entrance on Mesa College Drive in Clairemont. On Wednesday, December 5, San Diego Community College District (SDCCD) executives joined Mesa College administrators, students, and distinguished guests to break ground on the structure that will provide much-needed parking to the approximately 22,000 students who annually attend Mesa, one of the largest colleges in the region and the nation.

Funding for the project was made possible through San Diego voter support of the 2002 Proposition S Construction Bond. The new structure will include a 7,000-square-foot police office building and an adjacent five-level parking structure for approximately 1,100 vehicles at 7250 Mesa College Drive. Approximately 50 percent of the parking structure will be positioned within an existing canyon, creating a much lower perceived height from the entrance drive.

Another key element expedites traffic flow into the parking structure by allowing for five entrance points at three levels of the structure. The single-story police facility will incorporate a reception lobby, staff office, conference areas, locker and exercise rooms and other secure areas for campus police.

San Diego-based architect Delawie Wilkes Rodrigues Barker was commissioned by the San Diego Community College District to provide full architectural services for the project. Contractor is Douglas E. Barnhart, Inc. The projected construction time is 14 months, with an estimated completion date of January 2009.

“Today's event is not just a groundbreaking, but a tilling of the ground,” noted Mesa College President Rita M. Cepeda. “It represents the first seed in what will become a modernized campus for the 21st Century.”

SDCCD Chancellor Constance M. Carroll, who served as president of Mesa College from 1993 to 2005, added that the project enables the college to “make major progress toward student access.”

Brief comments were also made by SDCCD Vice Chancellor of Facilities Management David Umstot; SDCCD Chief of Police Charles Hogquist; Mesa College Academic Senate President Terrie Teegarden; and Avery Ryder, President, Mesa College Associated Students Government. An engraved chrome shovel was presented to President Cepeda, Chancellor Carroll and Trustee Block by Arthur “Tex” Barnhart, CEO, Douglas E. Barnhart, Inc.


Structure to Include Green Technology

Guidelines set by the SDCCD call for all new construction projects to meet the highest Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification possible. The Parking Structure/Police Substation Project has already achieved Silver Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, but there is a real possibility that it may achieve Gold Certification.

"Green" aspects of the project include: use of low VOC (volatile organic compounds) paints for improved indoor air quality; access to natural light sources for building occupants; renewable and recycled materials for interior finishes; recycled materials used in structural items like concrete and masonry; highly energy efficient HVAC (heating ventilation and air conditioning), lighting, and hot water distribution systems; and low water use landscape planting materials and highly efficient irrigation systems.

In addition, the Parking Structure design incorporates provisions for a solar panel array on the roof (technically referred to as a photovoltaic system) that will augment the campus' electrical power system and will offset some of the power requirements not only for this project but also for the college's new Allied Health Building which is next in line for construction.
CONTACT:Lina Heil, Mesa College Public Information Officer
(619) 388-2759 lheil@sdccd.edu
******PHOTOS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST*****

Richard Dittbenner, Director of Public Information and Government Relations
San Diego Community College District
(619) 388-6914 rdittben@sdccd.edu

“Just the Ticket” Event Celebrates
NATIONAL KITCHEN & BATH ASSOCIATION (NKBA)
ENDORSEMENT OF MESA COLLEGE CURRICULUM


San Diego, CA. – The San Diego Chapter of the National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA) will host a reception on Friday evening, October 12, to celebrate the official NKBA endorsement of the San Diego Mesa College Interior Design Program. The celebration and endorsement ceremony will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Humanities Building Atrium on the grounds of Mesa College.

More than 150 industry professionals are expected to attend the event, including many interior design professionals who are graduates of the Mesa College Interior Design program. The local NKBA chapter presentation will be made by its president, Michael Borrelli, principal, Michael Borrelli Design + Cabinetry. The endorsement ceremony will be conducted by Al Pattison, immediate past president of the national NKBA association.

Welcoming industry representatives will be Mesa College interior design students, President Rita M. Cepeda, Ed.D.; Vice President of Instruction Elizabeth L. Armstrong; Jodi Corliss, Dean of the School of Social/Behavioral and Multicultural Sciences; Pam Chapman, Chair, Architecture/Environmental Design; Interior Design Professor Mimi Moore.

Refreshments and hors d'oeuvres will be made and served by students in the college's Culinary Arts/Culinary Management Program. A special video presentation will highlight interior design student projects and alumni achievements.

The Endorsed Programs currently recognizes 39 schools of higher education in North America for teaching approved kitchen and bath curriculum. Mesa College is the only college in San Diego County and one of only four in California to earn this distinction. The others are Cañada College and West Valley College in the San Francisco Bay Area and Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, California.

“This is truly a cause for celebration, said Mesa College President Cepeda.” The NKBA endorsement cements our program's premier status and its reputation for providing superior Interior Design education in San Diego and Southern California.”

"This is a particularly special honor for Mesa, but the region benefits as well,” said Borrelli. “The industry demand for skilled workers specific to kitchen design is high," said Borrelli. "This endorsement will clearly give Mesa College students an edge in the workforce, and it will provide the industry with the skilled and highly trained employees it needs."

Mesa College earned its endorsement by demonstrating that it meets NKBA's educational requirements. These requirements represent the basis of a program the NKBA considers essential for quality education. Each student must complete classroom work and supervised internships, which will enhance and extend the classroom experiences and ensure that they have fulfilled the minimum student competencies. Students that graduate from an NKBA Endorsed Program are uniquely qualified to earn an NKBA certification designation.

Mesa College has had an Interior Design major since 1974. The college offers a two-year, 63-credit Associate in Science Degree, and a one-year, 33-credit Certificate of Achievement. The programs combine theory along with the practical aspects of pre-professional interior design practice.

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About the National Kitchen & Bath Association
The National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA) is a non-profit trade association that has educated and led the kitchen and bath industry since 1963. With nearly 28,000 members and growing, NKBA owns the Kitchen/Bath Industry Show & Conference (K/BIS). The mission of NKBA is to enhance member success and excellence, promote professionalism and ethical business practices, and provide leadership and direction for the kitchen and bath industry.

For more information, please visit the NKBA Press Room at www.nkba.org/press or to become a member please call 800-THE-NKBA or visit www.nkba.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Lina Heil 619-388-2759
linaheil@sdccd.edu

Dutch Educators to Tour The Met High School at Mesa College Model Practices to Be Introduced into Netherlands Schools

(San Diego, Calif.) -- On September 24 to 26, 2007, the San Diego Met School, a high school located on the campus of San Diego Mesa College, will host a group of Dutch educators and policy makers who are visiting the U.S. to study innovative education models created by the US-based Big Picture Company.

Officially the Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical High School, the Met is one of only two schools in the nation that will be visited by the KPC Groep, an educational consulting organization in the Netherlands, who plan to introduce Met schools in that country.

According to principal Mildred Phillips, KPC Groep is very interested is seeing the success of the partnership created between San Diego Unified School District, Mesa College and the San Diego Community College District.

“Many Big Picture Schools are near college campuses, but our school is actually on the grounds of Mesa College,” said Phillips.

The Met, which opened in 2004, is located in the heart of one of San Diego and the nation's largest community colleges. Met students take college classes at Mesa starting in the 10th grade and accumulate enough college credits to enter college at the sophomore level.

“The support our school receives from Mesa College is unparalleled in any Big Picture school in the country,” adds Phillips.

Key to the Met program is unpaid internships that the students complete twice a week in the business community. According to Phillips, the school's internship program is considered the most successful Met model in the country.

San Diego business partners hosting Met internships include: the La Jolla Playhouse; the San Diego Police Department; KUSI/Channel 9 News; Ronald McDonald House; several law offices; US District Court interpreters office; Family Health Centers of San Diego; the Midway Museum and the Mesa College Library Resource Center. Many students turn their unpaid internships into a paid summer jobs.

The San Diego Met is one of two stops for the Dutch educators, who will visit the Big Picture's flagship school in Rhode Island following their San Diego tour. The group includes the management team of the KPC Groep, including Johan van der Hosst, General Manager, and a team of 12 assistant managers and senior advisors.

CONTACT: Lina Heil, Mesa College, 619-388-2759 (Photos available upon request)
Mildred Phillips, The Met, 619-388-2299
Jack Brandais, San Diego Unified School District 619-725-5570

CONSTITUTION DAY
HONORABLE JUDGE M. MARGARET MCKEOWN, US COURT OF APPEALS 9TH CIRCUIT, TO ADDRESS MESA COLLEGE STUDENTS


In celebration of Constitution Day, San Diego Mesa College welcomes the Honorable Judge M. Margaret McKeown, U.S. Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit, to the campus for a discussion on “The Internet and the Constitution: Frontiers of Constitutional Law.” The discussion will be held from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Humanities Lecture classroom G-101.

The award-winning Mesa College Olympian Speech and Debate Team will also host a demonstration of snapshots of historical speeches related to the U.S. Constitution. The demonstration will be held from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in Room H-117/118, next to the cafeteria. Both events are open to the public.

Judge M. Margaret McKeown was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit by President Clinton and confirmed in 1998. She is also an adjunct professor at University of San Diego Law School.

“Judge McKeown is distinguished in the issues of intellectual property and First Amendment rights,” said Mesa history Professor Jonathan McLeod. “We are honored to have her present a lecture and discussion on the issues of the internet and constitutional law.”

Most Americans recognize that the 4th day of July marks our nation's birthday. Only a few are aware that September 17th is the birthday of our government. On that date in 1787, 39 of the 55 original delegates to the Philadelphia Convention completed and signed the U.S. Constitution.

On December 8, 2004, President George W. Bush signed a bill, proposed by Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia that designates every September 17th as Constitution Day. As a result, any educational institution that receives federal funds is mandated to celebrate Constitution Day by offering an educational program, on or around the holiday.

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To view the language of the entire U.S. Constitution, visit:
The U.S. Constitution Online

Enrollment Up: Students Converge on Mesa College for Fall Classes Mesa Ranks Among Top 100 Community Colleges Nationwide in Degrees Awarded

Earthmovers Ready for Construction of New Parking Facility

The campus is bustling, classes are filled, and parking is (almost) a breeze at San Diego Mesa College. The largest of three colleges in the San Diego Community College District enters its third week of classes with an enrollment increase of two percent over fall 2006. Mesa has an average annual student count of more than 21,000 students.
“Mesa continues to be the college of choice for traditional students who successfully transfer to four-year institutions,” said Mesa College President Rita M. Cepeda. “We are also seeing a great demand for our expanded career and technical training programs –Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Radiologic Technology, Allied Health careers, and Hospitality programs – that respond to industry needs.”
Among the largest community colleges in California and the nation, Mesa College is a fully accredited, two-year college offering 160 Associate Degree and certificate programs.
According to an annual survey of the national 1,200 community colleges conducted by Community College Week, Mesa College ranks second in the region -- and 100th in the nation -- in the number of students graduating with an associate degree. Mesa College also ranks 33rd in the nation in the number of Asian American students graduating with associate degrees.

Earthmovers Ready for Construction of New Parking Facility

Students entering the Mesa College campus this fall encountered construction equipment and earthmovers as the campus realigns the entrance of Mesa College Drive to ready for groundbreaking of a new parking structure and police substation. Directing traffic and leading students to open parking spaces were trained ACE parking attendants.
Many students opted for the free parking and shuttle service available at Kearny High School. “It's going even better than expected,” said Vice President of Administrative Services, Ronald Ballesteros-Perez. “Students are using the free shuttle service, getting to class on time, and construction is running smoothly and on schedule.” Construction of the parking facility is expected to be completed in January 2009 and is made possible by the Proposition S bond measure passed by San Diego voters in 2002.
Applications are still being accepted for fall semester. A second 8-week session of late-start classes is scheduled to begin mid-October. For more information or to register, go to www.sdmesa.edu or call 619-288-2682.

Mesa College Professor Jaye Van Kirk Receives
2007 Distinguished Professional Mentor Award


San Diego, Calif. (Aug. 8, 2007) -- San Diego Mesa College Professor Jaye Van Kirk has received an award from the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS). The national SACNAS organization annually recognizes individuals who have dedicated themselves to science, education, and mentoring. Professor Van Kirk was honored with the society's 2007 SACNAS Community/Tribal College Mentor Award. She will be receive the award at the 2007 SACNAS conference in Kansas City in October.

To be selected for this Distinguished Mentor Award, Jaye was nominated by faculty, staff, and students, and was selected based on her commitment to teaching and mentoring students, particularly students from underrepresented backgrounds. She is also honored for her commitment to minority education activities at the local, national and global levels.

In his nomination letter, Mesa College Professor Emeritus Yoshito Kawahara reflected on Van Kirk's ability to motivate students from working class poor ethnic families where academic success was seemingly not an option. “She is immensely talented as a teacher….She not only educates her students in scientific pursuits, but she does it in the context of the need for more ethnic perspectives and discoveries. She educates her students to understand their ethnic identity and to be proud of their roots.”

Professor Van Kirk has taught Psychology in the Behavioral Sciences department at San Diego Mesa College since 1990. She is program director of the National Institute for Health funded Bridges to the Baccalaureate program and is faculty advisor for the college's psychology honors club, Psi Beta.

Under the direction of Van Kirk and Kawahara's direction, the two-year-old Mesa College/UCSD Bridges to the Baccalaureate program has achieved a level of success that is unmatched by similar programs across the country. The majority of Bridges scholars come from disadvantaged backgrounds and many are first-generation college students that Van Kirk has personally mentored, and continues to mentor.

Her passion for mentoring students is also reflected in the success of the Psi Beta scholars Professor Van Kirk has worked faculty advisor for Psi Beta for the past 15 years. Her students have won national awards for their research and all the students gain by the variety of activities planned for the honors students. More than 200 Psi Beta members have gone on to attain four year degrees. Three have gone on to M.D. programs, and 21 students have gone on to pursue Ph.D. programs in Psychology/Neuroscience/Cognitive Science or other science areas. One former mentee is now a post-doctoral fellow.

She has served as president and other leadership roles in the national Psi Beta National Honor Society organization, and has won the faculty advisor of the year award on two occasions.

Professor Van Kirk is also active in professional organizations such as the Asian American Psychological Association, the Western Psychological Association, the American Psychological Association and the Association for Psychological Science organization. She was named in the 2006 list of Who's Who of American Women and in the 2004-2005 list of Who's Who Among America's Teachers. She was named Mesa College “Teacher of the Year” in 2000-2001.

CONTACT: Lina Heil 619-388-2759
lheil@sdccd.edu
NOTE: Photo available upon request

Mesa College Offers Free College Orientation Student Success Day Gives Students a Head Start on College Life

San Diego, Calif. -- San Diego Mesa College is helping students and families get a head start on college life with Student Success Day. Two free one-half day orientations will be held Friday, July 27 and Saturday, August 11. The sessions will offer all newly enrolled students, their parents and families a free orientation to college ace academic programs and student support services. The day includes sessions for parents and families, workshops for students, an information fair, registration and financial aid information, a free barbeque and drawings for prizes. Student Success Day is open to all newly enrolled students at Mesa College. To register, call 619-388-2896.

MESA COLLEGE STUDENT AUTUMN HAYS RECEIVES PRESTIGIOUS
$60,000 JACK KENT COOKE SCHOLARSHIP
SECOND CONSECUTIVE AWARD FOR SAN DIEGO MESA COLLEGE

San Diego, Calif. (June 21, 2007) – Autumn Hays, a San Diego Mesa College student who excelled in academics and art despite lifelong struggles with dyslexia and a bipolar disorder, is one of only 51 community college students nationwide, and the only student from San Diego County, to receive a scholarship worth up to $60,000 from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. The award was announced by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation today.
This is the second consecutive year that a Mesa College student has received this prestigious scholarship, one of the largest and most competitive available to undergraduates in the entire country. Last year, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation awarded a scholarship to Mesa College student Quang Phung. Phung is now a studying molecular biology at University of California San Diego (UCSD).
Hays, a 32-year-old resident of University City, was one of 51 selected from 723 nominees from two-year colleges nationwide. She will be transferring to UCSD to study Studio Arts. Her dream is to eventually obtain a Ph.D. and to create art that is "about experience rather than something you look at."
Diagnosed with dyslexia at a young age, Autumn Hays was placed in special education classes until the seventh grade. Inspired by a teacher, Hays outperformed her own expectations. But while in middle school, she began to experience the symptoms of bipolar disorder. Counseling helped her to manage her illness, but she was also prescribed medications that almost destroyed her life. She has managed her illness without medication, and is dedicated to educating others about the danger of over-prescribed or poorly prescribed medications. In her 1-1/2 years at Mesa College, Hays achieved a 3.8 GPA and excelled in the Honors Club and as a student leader.
The nomination to the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation was made by Dr. Alison Primoza, Spanish Professor and District Honors Transfer Officer from Mesa College. “Autumn's intelligence and creativity are truly astonishing, and demonstrate an iron will to succeed,” said Dr. Primoza.
The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is a private, independent foundation established in 2000 by the estate of Jack Kent Cooke to help young people of exceptional promise reach their full potential through education. It focuses in particular on students with financial need. The Foundation's programs include scholarships to undergraduate, graduate, and high-school students and grants to organizations that serve high-achieving students with financial need. www.jackkentcookefoundation.org
Among the largest community colleges in California and the nation, San Diego Mesa College is a fully accredited, two-year college offering 160 Associate Degree and certificate programs. The college's excellent academic and career preparation programs cover a wide range of disciplines, making Mesa an important economic development catalyst and the number-one transfer institution in San Diego. Mesa's premier programs include seven allied health fields, fashion design, architecture, GIS, multimedia, hospitality and event management, animal health technology, American Sign Language, and interior design. Situated on a sprawling, 104-acre suburban campus in the geographic center of San Diego, the college's small classes, outstanding faculty and reputation for quality is well established regionally and statewide. www.sdmesa.edu.

San Diego Mesa College Professor Yoshito Kawahara is Honored
by Indiana University and American Psychological Association

San Diego Mesa College Professor and Chair of the Department of Behavior Sciences Dr. Yoshito Kawahara received the Distinguished Asian/Pacific American Alumni Award from his alma mater, Indiana University. In March, the American Psychological Association (APA) announced that it would place a videotaped interview of Kawahara's personal history in its archives.

Kawahara received the Distinguished Asian/Pacific American Alumni Award during a dinner held at the Indiana University's campus Virgil T. DeVault Alumni Center on April 27. He earned a doctorate in physiological psychology from IU in 1978.

In December 2006, Kawahara's personal history was recorded by APA historian Dr. Wade Pickren. In the interview, Kawahara reflected on his many years service to the Asian American and other ethnic communities and time spent with his family in a concentration camp in Heart Mountain, Wyoming.

Kawahara is a third-generation Japanese American who overcame time spent in a World War II internment camp to become a successful scholar and a leader of the Asian American Psychological Association (AAPA). His family was among the 120,000 people who were forcibly relocated to camps after the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941.

“We were housed in tar paper barracks where the burning hot summers and freezing winters of Wyoming could be felt,” reminisced Kawahara, “I spent almost three years behind barbed wire fences and guard towers with American soldiers pointing their guns into the camp.”

After the camps closed down in 1945, Kawahara's family moved to the “destitute area” of Los Angeles, which was the only housing affordable to them after having suffered personal financial and property losses.

Kawahara studied as an undergraduate at San Francisco State University and graduate school at Indiana University. In 1975, he began teaching at San Diego Mesa College after spending time as a faculty member at City University of New York. He will retire from Mesa College in June 2007.

In the late 1970s, Kawahara became a member of the AAPA. This organization strives to identify the needs, improve the understanding and develop the strategies to best guide the Asian American Communities. Currently, he is also co-director of the Bridges to the Baccalaureate program at Mesa College, a National Institute of Health funded initiative to help underrepresented students strengthen their scientific and life skills backgrounds so they will be highly likely to succeed at a highly competitive university.
The Distinguished Asian/Pacific American Alumni Award recognizes outstanding achievements of alumni of Indiana University. Kawahara was selected as the recipient based of his many years of community service and research on culturally based values.

Mesa College Olympian Selected to
Sports Hall of Fame

(San Diego, Calif.) -- San Diego Mesa College Track and Field Coach Arnie Robinson has been selected to the California Community College Sports Hall of Fame. It is the highest honor bestowed in California community college athletics. The induction ceremony will take place during the Commission on Athletics (COA) Convention on April 5th in Ontario, California. Robinson, a physical education professor at Mesa College, is a former 1976 Olympic Gold Medalist and 1972 Olympic Bronze Medalist in the long jump competition.
Born and raised in San Diego, Robinson attended Morse High School, where he was the first four-year letter-winner in school history. Robinson competed for San Diego Mesa College in 1967 and 1969, setting impressive marks in the high jump (6'-8"), long jump (25'-6"), and the triple jump (48'-5"). His efforts at San Diego Mesa earned Robinson a scholarship to San Diego State University, where he won a NCAA title in 1970 in the long jump with a mark of 25'-10" and was selected as an All-American in both his junior and senior seasons (1970 and 1971).
Following a two-year stint in the U.S. Army, Robinson embarked on his Olympic career. In the 1971 Pan Am Championships, he won the long jump with a mark of 26'-2". At the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Robinson earned a bronze medal with a long jump of 26'-2 ¾". Four years later, in Montreal, Robinson captured Olympic gold with a long jump of 27'-4 ¾". In 1977, Robinson won the World Cup Championship with a leap of 26'-9".
Robinson was enshrined into the San Diego Breitbard Hall of Fame in 1985, the USA Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2000, and the California Community College Cross Country and Track Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2005.
Following his athletic success, Robinson retired after the 1979 season. He has spent 23 years as the Head Track and Field Coach at Mesa College. His track program has produced numerous Olympic athletes, including the latest, Felix Sanchez. The “Super Felix” victory in the 400 intermediate hurdles at the 2004 Summer Games brought the Dominican Republic its first Olympic Gold Medal.
“Arnie is very deserving of this prestigious honor,” said Dave Evans, Dean of Physical Education, Health Education and Athletics for Mesa College.“He has given so much of his time to change the lives of so many student athletes throughout the years.” I call him ‘Mister Outreach,'” added Evans.


Robinson was the USA Track and Field Youth Chairman from 1994-2004, and continues to serve as the association's Vice President. He continues to host annual track and field meets in San Diego and involve the area's youth in the sport.

Three other individuals are being inducted into the Hall of Fame with Robinson. They are Zelda Bolden, track star at Mt. San Antonio College; legendary college basketball coach Denny Crum, who began his collegiate coaching career at L.A. Pierce College; and James Newman, men's college basketball coach at Compton Community College.

Mesa College Events Celebrates the Life of Cesar E. Chavez
Film Screenings, Discussions, Guest Speakers and
Student Performances Scheduled for March 28 and 29

San Diego Mesa College will host a two-day celebration of the life and spirit of Mexican American labor activist and leader of the United Farm Workers Cesar E. Chavez on March 28 and 29, 2007. This year's theme focuses on labor rights and environmental justice. Activities include film screenings and discussions; guest speakers, Director of Education for the Chavez Education Institute Sonia Hernandez, and Mesa College Professor Emeritus and award-winning author Cesar Gonzalez; a silent processional; and student performances. Chavez would have turned 80 on March 31, 2007.

The celebration begins on Wednesday, with an on-campus screening of the Academy Award-nominated documentary, “Fighting for Our Lives,” at 8:00 a.m. in LRC 435, followed at 9:30 a.m. by an eye-opening documentary entitled “Wrath of Grapes.” The day concludes with an early evening screening of “Bread and Roses” starring Oscar -winning actor, Adrien Brody, that begins at 6:30 p.m. in Building G-107. Panel and/or group discussions will follow each file.

On Thursday, March 29, speakers and entertainers will fill the day. The festivities will begin at 9:30 a.m. in LRC 435, as guest speaker, Sonia Hernandez, Director of Education for the Chavez Education Institute. The Institute addresses the needs of students in elementary and secondary schools by providing them with after-school services in all academic areas.

From there, the celebration will move outdoors as participants will lead a silent procession from the Learning Resource Center to the Associated Student Stage. Various speakers and performances will follow on the stage including: an audio/video recording of the movement speech by Cesar E. Chavez, guest speaker and founding chair of the Mesa College Chicano Studies Program Professor Emeritus Cesar Gonzalez will speak and a group of Mesa College students will perform an “acto” entitled “Los Vendidos.” Actos are dramatic skits designed for classroom use in studying Hispanic American history and contemporary themes. The skits will highlight the issue of identity and stereotypes given to the Chicano community by society and how the community reacts to them.

On Saturday March 31, Mesa College students, faculty and staff will participate in the Cesar E. Chavez Community Parade and the following celebration at Cesar E. Chavez Park. The Community Parade will begin at 10:00 a.m. on the corner of Cesar E. Chavez Parkway and Harrison Avenue and concluding at Cesar E. Chavez Park. The Community Celebration will last from 12 noon until 4:00 p.m. The last scheduled Chavez celebration event is the commemorative breakfast at the San Diego Convention Center on Monday April 2, at 7:00 a.m.

The Mesa College Cesar E. Chavez celebration and events are sponsored by the college's Chicano Studies Program. For more information, contact Cesar Lopez at 619-388-2368 or clopez@sdccd.edu. Community events are sponsored by the San Diego Cesar Chavez Committee; www.sdchavezcommittee.org.

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Film Descriptions:

“Fighting For Our Lives” is Glen Percy's acclaimed portrayal of the UFW's 1973 strike where grape workers made history by walking off the job from Coachella to Fresno to fight for a UFW contract. It is a moving testimony to the bravery of the farm workers in their non-violent struggle against police brutality on the picket lines.

“Wrath of Grapes” is a widely–distributed advocacy documentary that describes the dangerous business of producing grapes, which are sprayed with more restricted pesticides than any other fruit or vegetable in the United States. The documentary also highlights the plight of farm workers and their families who suffer greatly from the after-effects of the pesticides. Discussion led by Lideres Campesinas, California women's leadership organization.

“Bread And Roses” is Ken Loach's 2000 drama about two sisters from Mexico who work as nighttime cleaners in a downtown Los Angeles building that look to unionize the janitorial workers with the assistance of a lawyer.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE LOG ON TO:
http://www.sdmesa.edu/chicano-studies/pdf/chavez-events.pdf

Mesa College Leadership Summit a Success for Area Youths

(San Diego, Calif. – March 28) -- On Friday, March 23, 2007, San Diego Mesa College campus hosted the inaugural African American/Latino Male Summit, a one-day forum that focused on improving self-awareness and personal growth skills, as well as examined the cultural issues that impact and affect the success rate for this community. This leadership workshop is believed to be one of the first of its kind offered for this age group.

The summit brought together nearly 150 seniors from the college's feeder high schools, including Patrick Henry, Mission Bay, Clairemont, Point Loma and Mark Twain high schools, Jackie Robison Community School, the Kearny High School fourplex and the Mesa-based MET middle school.

Alex Macias, an eleventh-grader from Mission Bay High School, enjoyed the event to its fullest.

“The summit gets me motivated to achieve more in life. Going to college was always in the back of my mind…but now its moves to the front,” Macias said.

Macias goals are to earn a business degree and help his father in the family's automobile repair business in Pacific Beach.

“I'm understanding the whole commitment to attend college and I hope to demonstrate what I have learned today in the near future,” said Hugo Vaquera, Mission Bay High School student.

The summit was organized by the Mesa College Matriculation and Student Services Department as a direct response to the startlingly low success rate of African-American and Latino males in post-high school life. The number of African American boys who said they hated school rose 71% between 1980 and 2001. African American and Latino males have a higher rate of not completing high school, and incarceration. The numbers show that fewer seek post-secondary education, and those that do have a higher fail rate.

“Young African-American and Latino males are falling behind in almost every measure compared to other ethnic groups,” said Joi Blake, Dean of Matriculation and Student Services.

The keynote speaker of the summit was Doug Luffborough, Executive Director of the Turning the Hearts Center Program in San Diego. Luffborough overcame a speech impediment early in childhood, and gang involvement as a teenager, to graduate from three academic institutions, Northeastern University, Harvard University and Stanford University.

He reminded the audience that you must become a ladder holder in life before you can climb the ladder of success. He declared all the students that attended the summit were college eligible and full attendance as a group to institutions of higher learning would deem this summit as a success.

MESA COLLEGE STUDENTS TURN SOUS CHEF
FOR SAN DIEGO'S TOP CHEFS
Culinary Course Work Heats Up KPBS Fundraiser

Ten Mesa College students will get a taste of what it is like to work side-by-side with San Diego's top chefs when they serve as sous chefs for the KPBS and Saks Fifth Avenue Celebrate Coast to Coast Fashion fundraising event on Thursday, March 15.

As patrons revel in an evening of fashion and sample the hottest trends in cuisine, the students, who are enrolled in the San Diego Mesa College Culinary Arts/Culinary Management program, will experience what it is like behind the burner in a "kitchen stadium" atmosphere.

As sous chefs, they will take command of actual production of plates created by top chefs including Chef Bernard Guillas, The Marine Room, La Jolla; Chef Riko Bartolome, Asia-Vous Restaurant; Chef Beryl Ann Byrd, Just Fabulous Pastries; and Chef Vincent Dangler & Frank Busalacchi, Alfiére Mediterranean Bistro.

The idea to involve the students was the brainchild of one of the event's featured chefs, Peter Barabas Robson, who teaches in the Mesa College/Culinary Arts, Culinary Management Program. "It's a great way for students to experience the thrill and pressure of a high-profile event, and to work side-by-side with San Diego's top culinary masters," says Robson.

Robson received his formal training at The Academy of Culinary Arts in Mays Landing, New Jersey. Chef Peter has over 25 years experience in the culinary field as an executive chef, manager of restaurants and a catering company, culinary consultant, and professional educator.

The ten Mesa College/Culinary Arts Program students participating in the event are Sindy Saentz, Tony Morgan, Chris Frost, Cynthia Nakagawa, Ashley Flick, Patrick Marquilly, Heather Hocking, Dereck Thomas, Rene Espinosa, and Angel Sotelo. Another student, Ashley Marinangeli, who is enrolled in the program's Special Event Management class, will also participate in the event management side of the fundraising event.
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For more information on the Mesa College Culinary Arts/Culinary Management Program, go to www.sdmesa.net/culinary/index.cfm.
The KPBS Celebrate Coast to Coast Fashion event on Thursday, March 15, at the Saks Fifth Avenue store in the Fashion Valley Mall. For more information, go to www.kpbs.org/arts_events/celebrate.

SAN DEIGO MESA COLLEGE SALUTES WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH
Art Exhibit, Lectures and “The Vagina Monologues” Performance Slated
College Announces New Women's Studies Program to Begin Next Fall

(San Diego) -- San Diego Mesa College will salute Women's History Month for the seventh consecutive year, with on-campus events scheduled for the entire month of March. Activities including a student art exhibit, lectures on leading topics in women's issues, and a performance of the stunning phenomenon that has swept the nation, “The Vagina Monologues.”

The college's Women's History Month celebration will kick off on Thursday, March 8, with an early evening lecture entitled “All About Eve-The First Feminist” given by Mesa College English Department Professor Sondra Frisch in the LRC-435, beginning at 5 p.m. A series of lectures, hosted by Mesa College faculty, will follow: “Women, Power and the Media in South Asia” on Friday, March 16 at 12 noon, “Leading the Way to Peace: Four Women Peacemakers” on Tuesday, March 20 at 12 noon and “With Her Own Eyes: The Story of Julia Smith” on Thursday, March 22 at 12:30 p.m. The site for all of the lectures will be LRC-435. San Diego Mesa College Nutrition Professor Elizabeth Chu will close out the lecture series with a discussion on Current Issues in Women's Health on Tuesday, March 27, at 3 p.m. in H-117/118 and Wednesday, March 28, at 1 p.m. in G-102.

The highlight event of the month-long celebration will be three performances of "The Vagina Monologues” that will take place on Friday March 23 at 7:30 p.m. in G-101 and Saturday March 24 at 2 & 7 p.m. in G-102. Celebrated as "the bible for a new generation of women," The Vagina Monologues has been performed in cities all across America and at hundreds of college campuses. It has inspired a dynamic grassroots movement, V-Day, to stop violence against women. Witty and irreverent, compassionate and wise, Eve Ensler's Obie Award-winning masterpiece gives voice to an assortment of women from diverse backgrounds and social standings talk to about their deepest secrets, hopes and sexual experiences. The ticket prices are $10 for each performance.

A student art exhibit on Women's History will be on display throughout the month of March at the Mesa College Learning Resource Center on the Second Floor Art Corridor.

The public celebration of women's history began in 1978, as a weeklong tribute in Northern California. In 1981, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Representative Barbara Mikulski (D-Md) co-sponsored a joint resolution proclaiming for a national week saluting women's history. Later, Congress expanded the celebration to a month, in 1987.

All campus events are sponsored by the San Diego Mesa College Women's Studies Program and the Women's Union and the Humanities Institute.

MESA COLLEGE BEGINS SPRING SEMESTER SMOKE-FREE
CLASSES START FEBRUARY 5

Students will be breathing easier this spring as San Diego Mesa College begins its first semester under the campus smoke-free directive. On January 1, 2007, Mesa College became the third community college in the state of California and the first in San Diego County to become a smoke-free environment. The Mesa College directive is intended to prevent the serious health risks associated with exposure to second-hand smoke. Those who choose to smoke must now do so outside the campus perimeter.

On Monday, February 5, the first day of classes, the campus will host a Health Fair in the Cafeteria Quad. The noon event is intended to educate the campus community about the harmful effects of second-hand smoke and to provide information on the smoke-free directive. Speakers will include Mesa College President Rita M. Cepeda, Ed.D., Kendra Jackson, the student who began the campaign for a smoke-free campus, and Associated Student Government representative Annjeri Skarposzewski. Nurse practitioners will be on hand to offer “Quit Kits” and information on smoking cessation programs.

The college began its transition to a smoke-free campus last June, when smoking was restricted to six designated smoking areas positioned in parking lots around the campus. On January 1, the smoking areas were eliminated and new smoke-signs installed across campus. Campus officials report that the transition to a smoke-free environment has gone smoothly and the campus health center has seen a dramatic reduction in the number of students reporting asthma attacks related to second-hand smoke.

The student-led campaign for a smoke-free campus began in October 2005 when freshman Kendra Jackson, a severe asthmatic, expressed her concerns about second-hand smoke to the San Diego Community College District Board of Trustees. Following the meeting, she rallied with Mesa College staff and fellow students to begin a campaign to ban smoking on campus. In December 2005, the Smoking Investigation Committee (SIC) was born. The SIC group hosted a student health fair and gave educational presentations to the campus' shared governance bodies, which voted to ban smoking following a seven-month transition period.

On January 9, 2007, Mesa College was recognized by the San Diego Tobacco-Free Communities Coalition as one of four “Smoke-Free Stars” in San Diego County.

San Diego Mesa College is a fully-accredited two-year college offering more than 150 Associate degree and certificate programs. Mesa consistently ranks among the top statewide in transferring students to four-year colleges and universities. Students can choose from more than 1,200 classes for spring semester and registration is open through February 16. Day, evening, weekend and online courses are offered in a variety of four-, eight-, 12-, and 16-week formats. Course fees are now $20 per unit. For more information go to sdmesa.edu or call 619-388-2682.

Mesa College is the largest of three colleges in the San Diego Community College District, which includes San Diego City College, San Diego Mesa College, San Diego Miramar College and San Diego Continuing Education.