Victoria P. Morrow, Ph.D. April 28, 2010 - Skyline College · Musicians from voice, guitar, choir, piano and band classes played, poets and actors presented, dance students and the

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SKYLINE SHINES Rock the School Bells 2010 inspires students

Photos by Berlin Tomas

Skyline College hosted its 3rd Annual Rock The School Bells Hip-Hop Conference and Concert on March 27. This event was funded through the President’s Innovation Fund. The conference is aimed to educate and empower youth and students about the importance of higher education, culture, and personal development. As one student said during the Hip-Hop Reflection workshop, “It gave a voice to the voiceless.” Other workshops included Hip-Hop Hieroglyphics which focused on Bay Area Graffiti History;, The Voice of the Hip-Hop Generation, and The Growth of the Culture, which provided thought-provoking insights about the different cultural elements of hip-hop. The workshops challenged participants to view the world through different lenses and explored how they can use hip-hop as a tool to promote change in their communities. This conference’s theme centered on women’s contributions to hip-hop and there was a dynamic keynote speaker, Dereca Blackmon, who is the creator of National Black Student Action Day and one of the lead organizers of the 2004 National Hip-Hop Political Convention. More than 100 students from local middle and high schools, colleges, and youth organizations participated in the conference. The workshops were led by hip-hop pioneers and educators from all over the country. In the evening concert, about 400 people enjoyed a night filled with live performances from local performers, live artists, vendors, and hip hop legends. The night was highlighted with the awarding of two scholarships to Skyline College students, Sergio Campos and Melanie Cuesta, who were awarded $500 each. As one educator put it, “It’s very important to view hip-hop as an essential tool to empower and inspire

Victoria P. Morrow, Ph.D.

April 28, 2010

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students to reach for their dreams.” Special thanks for all the faculty and administration that helped organize and support the conference, most particularly Adolfo Leiva and William Watson who also helped fund the event through the Career Technical Education Initiative. But most importantly, a big thanks to all the students in all the learning communities who committed their time and hard work to put on, yet again, an amazing and inspiring event at Skyline College. A 15-minute documentary of Rock The School Bells 3 is currently in production so keep an eye out for it! Beta Theta Omicron is a Most Distinguished Chapter

Beta Theta Omicron is the 2010 fifth finalist to the Most Distinguished Chapter in Phi Theta Kappa. The Phi Theta Kappa International Convention was held April 8-10 in Orlando, Florida. The convention celebrated 2009 accomplishments and kicked off the new honors study topic, The Democratization of Information. Beta Theta Omicron, Skyline’s chapter, worked on several projects in 2009 under the leadership of Chapter President Melba Madrigal. Melba and the other officers described their processes of development, implementation, and evaluation in a series of hallmark essays submitted to Phi Theta Kappa headquarters in February. The essays were judged in a competitive process. The chapter also earned the 2010 Beta Alpha

Continued Excellence Award for being a Distinguished Chapter three consecutive years. There are 1,250 Phi Theta Kappa chapters in the world, including 89 in California. Only 25 chapters can earn Distinguished Chapter and only six are awarded Most Distinguished Chapter. 2010 individual awards were won by the following Skyline students for their accomplishments during the previous year, and by a Skyline faculty member:

Derrick Hau, International Distinguished Chapter Officer;

Catherine Limcaco, International Distinguished Chapter Member

Professor Christine Case, International Distinguished Advisor

The chapter won the Service Hallmark for projects that included raising money to rebuild Edgewood Community Center (San Bruno), buy a biofuel plant for Bridge2Peace Montessori School (Sri Lanka), and sponsor two children (in Guatemala and Zimbabwe). Shown in the photo are Catherine Limcaco, Christina Eco, Ashley Good, Melba Madrigal, and Derrick Hau. The photo was taken by a kind Phi Theta Kappan at the conference, and superimposed by Chris Case on a photo of the big screen taken by Christina Eco.

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Skyline students, faculty and staff join the budget rally on the Capitol steps

On March 22, about 120 Skyline students, faculty, classified staff and administrators went to Sacramento for the annual March on March—the community college budget rally on the steps of the Capitol building. They were joined by their counterparts from colleges all over the state to express concern about the severe underfunding of higher education and the threat of rising student fees being considered by the Legislature. The Associated Students of Skyline College (ASSC) arranged for buses to carry most of the crowd from the college to the Capitol, and others drove there to meet at Raley Field. From there, they made the one mile walk across the Tower Bridge, up the Capitol Mall and onto the grounds of the Capitol building itself. Estimates of the crowd size indicate that many thousands of people were there. Here is what ASSC President Denisse Gonzalez said about the reaction of the student participants to the event:

Many students expressed feeling inspired to continue advocating on behalf of higher education. Several students were astonished upon realizing the magnitude of the budgetary crisis we face across the state. Students expressed gratitude for the opportunity to experience such a powerful scene. With the May revise around the corner, the ASSC is exploring advocating at both the local and state level. We realize there is still a lot of work ahead of us!

Above are a few glimpses of the event with the photographers in parentheses, including the crowd at the Capitol steps (Scott Lay); the students, led by ASSC President Denisse Gonzalez (a friendly passerbay); a Skyline banner, the biggest and most visible one at the event (Tadashi Tsuchida—photos copyrighted); Sue Lorenzo and me, with Sue’s husband Vince (Lori Adrian); the big Skyline banner with Nina Floro, Michael Hoffman and Lori Adrian (Tadashi); Rakefet Avramovitz (Tadashi); and Amory Cariadus and Maria Escobar (Lori Adrian).

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40th Anniversary Performing Arts Showcase fills Theater Skyline’s First Annual Performing Arts Showcase took place on Saturday, April 17. More than 130 student performers put on a wonderful show from all aspects of the performing arts. Musicians from voice, guitar, choir, piano and band classes played, poets and actors presented, dance students and the cheer team performed, and the Kababayan students did an excerpt from their Pilipino Cultural Night production. Many of the pieces were original work of the students. The Showcase was produced by the Skyline College Theater Club under the direction of Professor Jude Navari and Theater Manager Alan Ceccarelli using funding from The President’s Innovation Fund. Thanks to all the faculty and staff who contributed to this event: Liza Erpelo, Katharine Harer, Frank Markovich, Julia Hansen, Robert Conrad, Billy Robinson, Russ Ferreira, Amber Steele, Elizabeth Ingber, Sandy Irber, Caroline Ocampo, Donna Bestock and Rakefet Avramovitz. Thanks also to the students in the stage crew and to emcee Jeremiah Miller. The backstage photos are by chorister Virginia Ramos. Avramovitz wins scholarship for Leadership Institute Rakefet Avramovitz, President of Skyline’s Classified Council, was awarded one of two full scholarships state wide for the 2010 Classified Leadership Institute, “Taking the Lead: Tools 4 Rebuilding and Renovating.” The scholarship was created to identify California Community College Classified professionals with strong leadership skills and potential, and to provide them an opportunity to attend the annual Classified Leadership Institute. The conference focuses on the positive aspects of classified involvement in the shared governance process both state wide and at the local district and college levels. Participants will explore topics that develop the skills, confidence and encouragement to be stronger leaders on their campuses. Journalism students bring home honors Skyline College journalism students attended the Journalism Association of Community Colleges (JACC) State Convention at the Wilshire Grand Hotel in Los Angeles from April 8-11. Their successes included the following: Skyline View editor in chief Helen Tran and chief copy editor Antoinette Estigoy both won JACC scholarships; senior staff writer Jay Johnson won honorable mention for a news photo he took during the Skyline shooting; and staff got honorable mention for their editorials and a meritorious award for online photo essay. In the on-the-spot competitions that took place at the convention, online editor Stephen Benoit garnered an honorable mention for opinion writing and Helen Tran earned an honorable mention in

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broadcast news writing and a second place in copy editing. Helen also won the Twitter contest for best tweets during the convention; you can follow hers and other Skyline View tweets at theskylineview (on Twitter). Finally, Helen was elected NorCal student president (with outgoing student president, Anttwan Stanberry, being a former Skyline student) and advisor Nancy Kaplan-Biegel became the regional vice president for the organization. In the first photo, Antoinette Estigoy (left) and Helen Tran show off their scholarship checks; then the twelve Skyline College Journalism students who attended the conference smile for the camera; and finally we see former Skyline student Anttwan Stanberry and current Skyline View editor in chief Helen Tran who are outgoing and incoming JACC NorCal student presidents, respectively.

Skyline PTK students win state and national awards I reported in early February that two Skyline students—Derrick Hau and Ashley Good—had been selected for the 2010 Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) All-California Academic Team. PTK is the Honor Society for the community colleges and this particular PTK program recognizes these honorees through awards and scholarship opportunities. President Morrow attended the awards luncheon in Sacramento with them last Monday, after the budget rally. Both of them earned further honors: Derrick Lau was named a member of the Second Academic Team and Ashley Good was named a member of the First Academic Team. In addition, Ashley was selected as a 2010 Coca-Cola Gold Scholar, based on scores earned in the All-USA Academic Team competition. This program is sponsored by the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation and is administered by Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. She will receive an award of $1,500. Congratulations to them, and their PTK advisor, Chris Case. Thanks to Sarah Perkins for this photo at the luncheon—President Vicki Morrow, Derrick, Ashley, Chancellor Ron Galatolo, and the Canada award winners with President Tom Mohr.

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PROGRAMS 30th EYH Conference draws 900 girls This conference provides an opportunity for 6th through 12th grade young women and interested adults to learn about career opportunities in math, science and technology. The day was enjoyed by more than 900 girls and was filled with fun, hands on activities from a wide array of disciplines, all presented by experts who volunteer their time. The keynote speaker was Frances Dinglasan, Traffic Anchor for the ABC7 Morning News, and scientifically trained in industrial engineering and operations research. It takes a huge array of talent to pull this off every year, and the event is always extremely well organized. Thanks to Genentech Foundation for their sponsorship, as well as Wells Fargo and the Soroptimists of Northern San Mateo County. The people who put it all together were those on the Planning Committee: AJ Bates, Don Biederman, Shari Bookstaff, Pat Carter, Christine Case, Arlene Chang, Pat Deamer, Stephen Fredricks, Mousa Ghanma, Mike Hoffman, Nick Kapp, Wendy Kim, Christine Mann, Melissa Michelitsch, Julie Mooney, Vanson Nguyen, Cindy Parfet, Pat Tyler, Ron Van Brusselen and Mike Williamson. Take a look at these girls as they hold a human brain, learn about making drugs from rain forest plants, look through a microscope, make a peep explode and hold a whale vertebra. The first five photos were taken by Skyline student Rena Aiken and the last one by Shari Bookstaff. Transfer Fair brings 22 colleges to Skyline On Wednesday, March 17th, the Skyline College Transfer Center hosted its second annual Transfer Fair- A focus on private colleges and universities. Twenty two colleges from throughout the state participated in the event. Students had the opportunity to meet with the college representatives to ask questions regarding admissions policies, financial aid, majors, housing, campus life, and more. Overall, the event was a huge success, both from the student and college representative perspective. In evaluations, college representatives consistently give Skyline College high ranks for its transfer events, including the overall event organization, hospitality, and student preparation. Thank you to all who supported helped organize and

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hoto by Leigh Anne Sippel

support this event: Nadia Tariq, Virginia Padron, Janet Weber, Counseling Interns Jessica Lopez and Lorraine Ferguson, Student Assistants Dina Valdelomar, Kelvin Cheah, Yee Ying Chan, Yamileth Verdin, and students James Rodriguez and Alex Sevhel. A special thank you to DeVry University and National University for their sponsorship of this event. Faculty Inquiry Network (FIN) Group shares insights The Faculty Inquiry Network group, composed of Leigh Anne Sippel, Luciana Castro, and Kate Williams Browne, is looking into Hispanic success rates in Early Childhood Education. They presented at the Vocational Education Leadership Conference in Napa on March 11th, the FIN Leadership Institute at Chabot College on March 13th, and the joint conference for CCCAOE/CCCCIO in San Francisco in March 18th. Using lesson studies and class surveys, the group is looking at the behaviors of successful students and those of less successful students and devising ways to heighten awareness of self, career, and learning habits in order to improve the success rates in ECE courses for heritage Spanish-speaking students. The team feels that while first and second language proficiency and literacy is a factor for many of these students, issues of identity, cultural “capital,” and awareness of American ideals of success and competition may be much stronger factors. The team hopes to expand its knowledge and work more closely with other entities exploring success for Hispanics. English Language Institute provides Career and Financial Aid Workshops for ESL Students One of the many benefits of being an English Language Institute (ELI) student at Skyline is taking advantage of the many workshops that are available. In February and March, Kenny Gonzalez hosted three workshops specifically targeting ESL students and focusing on Financial Aid and Scholarships. March also began the ELI’s Career Info series: Josie Glenn presented on careers in Cosmetology, Alice Erskine presented on careers in Surgical Technology, and Kate Williams Browne and Cece Rebele presented on careers in Early Childhood Education. In April, the Career Info series continues with workshops on careers in Criminal Justice, Respiratory Therapy, and Automotive Technology. At these workshops, ESL students learn not only the career’s options and requirements, but the level of language proficiency they need to work toward in order to be successful in the career. The ELI work study employees, Zena Tarasena and Claudia Paz, have been busy too; they will offer special help for their fellow students in basic computer skills and pronunciation. Special thanks to Peter Bruni for arranging the workshops, to the dedicated presenters and to Leigh Anne Sippel for her leadership for the ELI. In the photo, Kate Browne works with ESL students. Flex Days a success at Skyline Thanks to presenters, support staff, participants, and the Professional Enrichment and Development Advisory Committee (PEDAC), Skyline once again bustled with activity as employees participated in the March 10-12 Flex Day sessions. More than15 sessions were offered in addition to SLOAC training workshops, all of which were well-attended and received positive reviews. The enthusiasm of the presenters and the participants, the diverse range of

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the workshops offered, as well as the collaboration between campus departments in the Flex Day efforts reveal Skyline’s continued commitment towards professional growth in all areas. Thanks to coordinator Nina Floro for her leadership for the event, along with SLOAC Coordinator Karen Wong and the members of the SLOAC Committee, and to the many other presenters of excellent workshops. Eleven Skyline Honors students to present papers at Honors Symposium The Third Annual Community College Honors Research Symposium will be held Saturday, May 1, hosted by UC Berkeley and the Bay Honors Consortium. Eleven Honors students from Skyline College will present their original research projects at this year's symposium, joining 70 other students from community colleges throughout California. All students (not just honors students), staff and faculty are invited to attend the Symposium on May 1st. Go to www.losmedanos.edu/honors/research for registration and information. Skyline's presenters are:

Jason Robison, Young Park & Ezekial Ferguson: "Observing Jupiter Through Radio Astronomy". Mentor: Physics Professor, Greg Grist

Derrick Hau (two presentations): "Antibacterial Properties of the Kumquat" Mentor: Biology Professor Chris Case; "Wind Powered College" Mentor: Biology Professor Chris Case

Ashley Good: "Kombucha Tea: Bogus Health Elixir or New Scientific Discovery?" Mentor: Chris Case

Isaiah Lan: "Acai, an Amazonian Plant: A New Antibiotic?" Mentor: Chris Case

Matt Garza: "Protein Purification on a Budget" Mentor: Biology Professor, Nick Kapp

Pamela Rios: "Bug Strike Back: Antibacterial Activity in the Cockroach" Mentor: Chris Case

Christopher Burleson: "Higher Education for Latinos" Mentors: Math instructor Stephen Fredricks and Spanish Professor Luciana Castro

Abel Gomez: "Through the Gates of Samsara: An Exploration of Death in Buddhism" Mentor: Dean of Social Science/Creative Arts Donna Bestock

Stephanie Nale: "Conifer Encroachment in the Eastern Sierra Nevada" TriO Program holds lecture on “Meeting the Challenge of Uncertainty through Cross-cultural Perspectives” World-renowned cultural anthropologist, Dr. Angeles Arrien, presented an hour-long lecture to faculty, staff and students on April 14 and participants gained insights on how to navigate difficult times with composure and respect. Dr. Arrien’s work with multicultural issues, mediation, and conflict resolution has been used with the International Rights Commission and the World Indigenous Council. Her research and teaching have focused on the values and beliefs shared by humanity cross-culturally as well as the integration and application of multicultural wisdoms in contemporary settings. She teaches about the universal components of communication, leadership, health care and education. Her work reveals how indigenous wisdoms are relevant in families, professional lives, and relationship with the earth.

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Career Networking Night serves 120 students

The Career Network Night held on Wednesday, March 17, provided an engaging evening of career exploration and networking for the over 120 students who attended the numerous career panels represented by over 30 professional presenters. The presenters participating in the Career Network Night represented the following career clusters: Technology/Science, Business/Administration, Education/Human Services, Health/Medicine, Arts/Communication and Law/Public Service. Vice Chancellor of Human Resources, Harry Joel kicked off the event by sharing his own personal career ladder and encouraged students to take advantage of the

opportunity to network with the numerous professional panelists attending the Career Network Night. At the end of the numerous career panels, students attended "Pizza with Professionals" where they had the opportunity to make further connections and relationship building with any of the thirty professional

presenters attending the event. Thanks to the over 30 career presenters, student volunteers, and the Skyline Cheer Team. Thanks also to the faculty and staff facilitators: Karen Wong, Carla Campillo, Imelda Hermosillo, Lucia Lachmayr, and Kent Gomez. The Career Career Networking Night Coordinating Committee made it all come together: Virginia Padron, Lavinia Zanassi, Melanie Espinueva, Nadia Tariq, Sandra Rodriguez, Lorraine Ferguson, and Jessica Lopez. Adolfo Leiva was the photographer. Children’s Center kids get into literature Skyline celebrated National Library Week from April 12-16 with a variety of activities, including a Story Hour on April 14. Children from Skyline’s Child Care Center participated and here is a photo from their April 14 Story Hour.

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Ceramics students to participate in the 2010 California Clay Conference Skyline students will participate for the second time in the annual California Clay Conference next weekend April 30th - May 2nd in Davis. Skyline ceramics instructor Tiffany Schmierer is

organizing the Skyline show. Skyline will be 1 of 50 Colleges participating. The conference is hosted by the John Natsoulas Center for the Arts and features professional ceramic demonstrations, lectures, and exhibitions. Skyline participation in the conference is co-sponsered by the Skyline Ceramics Club and Associated Students of Skyline College. Student images (from left to right) include: Linda Fahey, Victoria Vargas, Matt Brown, Celso Cabauatan, Jeff Richards, Sheila Loggan, Ramses De Guzman, Ingrid Dela Rosa, Zan Truman, Kay Guralnick, Jennifer Christiansen, Barbara Frauman, Stephanie Clemons, Mehran Ghaffari, and Ryann Murrin-DeSouza.

OUTREACH Cal-Pass hosts College Day for Jefferson High School and Westmoor High School March 24th was College Day for Jefferson and Westmoor English Learner students. Sixty students came to the campus to learn about Skyline, and Skyline never looked better than on that day. An inspiring talk by Pablo Gonzales started off the day; students then completed a portion of the ESOL placement test and were given tours and visits to classes by Skyline students. They were treated to the campus Health Fair, the Rock The School Bells promotion, and a panel of students talking about how to get the most out of college. The event was coordinated by the Skyline Cal-PASS (California Partnership for Achieving Student Success) ESL/EL Professional Learning Council, chaired by ESL professor Cheryl Hertig and Westmoor teacher Vicky Day. Also working on the event were Garry Nicol, Leigh Anne Sippel, Lucia Lachmayr, and high school teachers Tony Press, Shannon Paras and Mary Bennett-Heeb. Campus tours were conducted by tutor Alicia Frangos and Skyline students Razan Alawamaleh, Fadi Alhor, Rasmia Alhor, Mary Rondon, Lisette Carpio, Jarrod Feiner, Jose Garcia and campus ambassador Astrid Berrios. Student panelists were Christelle Etienne, Jonah Lu, Jonathan Gulingan, Francis Vinas-Reyes, Liza Siordia, and Claudia Valle. Thank you to teachers Tony Jackson, Rick Hough, Garry Nicol, Alice Erskine and Anthony Swanson for opening up their classrooms to the high school students. The Council would like to extend an especially big thank you to Daly City Gateway Lions Club for their generous contribution towards this event.

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Jefferson Adult School visits Skyline A group of enthusiastic students from Jefferson Adult School’s ESL program visited Skyline campus on March 26 to learn about ESOL classes, application, registration, and financial aid. EOPS / CARE / CalWORKs Services Coordinator Pablo Gonzalez organized the event; he met the group and issued a warm welcome as well as a tour of the campus afterwards. Counselor Nate Nevado talked about the registration process, Financial Aid coordinator Jocelyn Vila talked about financial options, and English Language Institute director Leigh Anne Sippel spoke about the ESOL course sequence and how to get the most out of college. The students asked many questions and were impressed by Skyline’s friendliness and helpfulness. Instructor Francisca Wentworth was pleased to learn about all the services that counseling, the ELI, and the campus provide to students. The photo is by Leigh Anne Sippel.

EVENTS

Skyline’s spring Student Art Exhibit is open! Just to whet your appetite, here is a peek at some of the student art on exhibit at Skyline. Gallery Hours: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 2-7 Wednesday 6-9 Saturday 11-3 and by appointment. For more details check the Gallery website at http://www.smccd.net/accounts/skygallery/.

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6th Annual Pilipino Cultural Night coming April 29 and May 1 —State of the Art Skyline College continues its annual tradition of Pilipino Cultural Nights with its latest production, State of the Art, on Thursday, April 29 and Saturday, May 1, 2010 in the Main Theater at Skyline College, 3300 College Drive, San Bruno. Doors open at 6 pm for both shows and the show will begin at 7 pm. Pilipino Cultural Night (PCN) is a student-run event that is open to the community to celebrate the Filipino American experience, showcasing the cultural dances and traditional music from the Philippines as well as elements of the Filipino American culture. The show is based upon the work of students enrolled in English 104: “Applied English Skills in Cultural Production,” who are responsible for the writing, directing, producing, advertising, acting, singing, dancing, stage/technical crew, and prop/set design and construction of the show. The dances are performed by members of the class as well as the Kababayan Dance Troupe of Skyline College. In this year’s story, State of the Art, Deejay Sanchez is looking for the answer to the age-old question, “what are you going to do with your life?” To his mother Corazon, Deejay is already on his way to becoming a nurse, but to his cousin Mae and his best friends Ano and Nico, Deejay’s real talents lay in his artistic abilities as a painter. His life seems so clear to everyone—well, everyone except for Deejay, who decides to enter into an art contest to prove to his mother and himself, that art is what he should pursue. The contest seems simple enough; create three art pieces representing struggle, love and the Martial Law period in the Philippines. But as Deejay begins, his paintings bring him more than he bargained for, revealing to him the struggles of his mother, his cousin Mae, what his true heritage is, and healing of the old wounds that have haunted Deejay’s family for quite some time. At the college, students in the Kababayan Program and Filipino Student Union, along with advisors Liza Erpelo, Melanie Espinueva, Marisa Mariano, and Nate Nevado and counseling intern Kent Gomez, have been hosting events and fundraisers to help pay for the costs and expenses of the production. Proceeds from this year’s PCN will benefit future productions and go toward scholarships for the students in the Kababayan Program and Filipino Student Union.

For tickets, contact Francis Reyes at: [email protected] or [email protected].

STUDENT NIGHT Thursday April 29, 2010: $5 presale/$7 at the door.

GALA NIGHT Saturday, May 1, 2010: $10 presale/$12 at the door.

For more information, please visit http://www.smccd.edu/accounts/skypcn/

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Diversity Inquiry Event to be held May 6 Skyline speech faculty member Jennifer Mair is planning a forum event on Thursday, May 6 from 12 noon-2 p.m. in Building 6, second floor, on campus focusing on diversity and how Skyline is doing in achieving its stated goals and commitments to diversity. The event is funded by a grant from the Associated Students’ vending commission. Ms. Mair will provide food from several different cultures and invite students for a meal together and a round table discussion on diversity. The discussion will be facilitated by a group of Skyline trained by Ms. Mair as dialogue facilitators. The participants will then break out in smaller groups for further discussion, and report back together. Ms. Mair will also be gathering feedback from the participants and developing a summary report. The event is free. Skyline celebrates 40th Anniversary with a “Taste of Skyline” on May 6 Skyline invites the community to join the college for a 40th Anniversary celebration on Thursday, May 6 when a number of things will be going on that are worth celebrating. There will be a ribbon cutting for the new Automotive Technology Building 11, unveil two new art projects, see the student art exhibit in the Gallery, experience Dance and Athletics performances in the Gym, and enjoy a food tasting in the Main Quad. Thanks to Skyline’s President’s Council for their leadership in making this all come together!