February 2014                                                                                          Volume 6, Issue 2
 Upcoming events at Grossmont
and Cuyamaca colleges  
  
Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District Newsletter
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Cindy Miles     
 Dear
 ,
 
We recently received the magnificent news that both Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges were reaffirmed for accreditation by the Accreditating Commission for Community and Junior Colleges.  It's wonderful to see that all of our efforts to promote student access and success were acknowledged by the commission.
 
One way we help our students succeed is by offering a variety of educational and cultural events that broaden their perspective and enlarge on the lessons they learn in the classroom.
 
I encourage you to visit our campuses and attend our public events. It's another way we show our pride in being part of the East County community.  
  
Sincerely,
Cindy L. Miles, Ph. D.
Chancellor, Grossmont-Cuyamaca
Community College District

  


Sustainable Turf and Landscape Conference

 

Cuyamaca College's 6th Annual Sustainable Turf and Landscape Seminar set for 7:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Thursday, March 6, explores the world of sustainable turf management in golf courses and elsewhere.  

 

The speakers for the seminar, put on by the college's Ornamental Horticulture program, include:

  •   David Phipps with the Golf Course Superintendents Association: Sustainability in Golf Course Operations
  • Nancy Wickus / Kara Roskop Waters  with the County of San Diego County: Update on Pesticide Laws and Regulations
  •  Kimberly Gard with Syngenta Corporation:  Is the Future of Pesticides Sustainable?
  •  Luke Yoder, head groundskeeper, Petco Park: Plant Growth Regulators on High Maintenance Turf
  • Joe Vargas, plant pathology professor at Michigan State University: Pesticides: Perception versus Reality

 In addition to the seminar to be held inside the performing arts center, an outdoor trade show is planned, with typically sizable industry and vendor representation.

The registration fee is $65 -- $75 after Feb. 28 -- and includes a continental breakfast and lunch.

For more information and online registration, click here 

 

  
Alumni spotlight: Star Bales
When Star Bales, El Cajon's newest council member, came to America from Iraq, one of her top goals was to get a college education.
 
Although she spoke little English at the time, she started to take classes at Cuyamaca and Grossmont colleges in the early 1990s. She attended classes through the years, while taking care of her husband and two children and running her hairdressing business.
 
"I just wanted to go to college. I liked learning and meeting quality people," Bales said. "Every class I took, I enjoyed it so much that I took another one. It's like magic when you learn something new."
 
She said her classes helped hone her art talent, in particular a class taught by Diane Weintraub, a Cuyamaca College instructor, who encouraged her artistic creativity. "Diane was the first person who pushed something in me that even I didn't recognize in myself," Bales said.
 
Bales graduated from Cuyamaca College with an associate degree in visual arts in 2006. She now pursues her artistic bent in murals she's painted in El Cajon, at Edwards Air Force Base, the Lakeside Fire Department and Flying Hills Elementary School in El Cajon.
 
"Cuyamaca and Grossmont are the heart of my art career," Bales said. "I am very proud of my degree."
  
      
You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown
on stage at Grossmont College

You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown,
a play based on the  classic Peanuts cartoon characters of Charles Schultz, will be performed at Grossmont College March 13 through March 22.  

 

The award-winning musical is full of fun and laughter, with songs like
The Kite,
The Baseball Game and
Suppertime. This play is sure to delight the whole family. Will Charlie Brown have the courage to finally speak to the little red-haired girl? Will Lucy finally convince Schroeder to leave his piano? Will Snoopy find contentment and happiness with a full supper dish? Enjoy watching your favorite characters come to life in this heart-warming musical.
  
Performances will be held on March 13, 14, 15, 20, 21 and 22 at 7:30 p.m., with performances at 2 p.m. on March 15 and 22. 
  

Tickets are $15 general admission; $12 for faculty and staff at Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges, seniors and military; and $10 for Grossmont and Cuyamaca students with ID. Buy your tickets online or call (619) 644-7234 for more information.

 

Diversity Dialogue workshops at Cuyamaca College 


Cuyamaca College offers a series of Diversity Dialogues each semester that focus on a variety of diversity awareness and social justice issues. All events are held in I-207 at the Cuyamaca College Student Center and are free and open to the public.

"The Diversity Dialogue program reflects Cuyamaca College's commitment to respecting and recognizing the needs and challenges of our diverse campus population," said Mark Zacovic, president of the approximately 9,000-student college in Rancho San Diego.

The March seminars are: 
   
  • March 4 1:30-2:30 p.m.: Facilitating Success for Men of Color in Community Colleges. Presented by Frank Harris and Luke Wood, both assistant professors at San Diego State University.
  • March 26 12:30-1:30 p.m.: Leader versus Leadership. Presented by Grace Bagunu, a higher education professional who teaches leadership studies at the University of San Diego.
   
Hyde Art Gallery:Artists for Healing 

 exhibition

 

Nearly 100 local artists, including Grossmont College art faculty, have donated their own artwork to "100 x 100 - Artists for Healing," a benefit to raise money for the American Cancer Society that takes place from 7 - 9 p.m., March 14, in the Hyde Art Gallery on the campus.   

 

Event attendees will be able to select a piece of art to take home after donating $100 to the American Cancer Society.

 

"There probably isn't a person alive today who hasn't been touched by cancer," said Suda House, an event organizer and professor of art and photography at Grossmont College.     

 

The special event is part of the ongoing "One Campus, One Book" study of Siddhartha Mukherjee's Pulitzer Prize-winning book, "The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer."  With 100 pieces solicited at $100 each, House hopes to raise $10,000 for cancer research.

    
Faculty from the Visual Arts and Humanities Department will also be presenting talks related to "The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer," including "Art, the Body and Cancer" by San Diego artist and Sculpture Program instructor Stephanie Bedwell, accompanied by documentary work by Grossmont College student Ernest Carter, from 1:30 - 2:30 p.m., March 12, in Griffin Gate, and "Art as an Agent of Healing" by Art History Professor Malia Serrano, from 12:30 - 1:45 p.m., March 18 in Room 26-220.
  
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