Glendale Community

Joyce Rudolph NORTHEAST GLENDALE -- Glendale Community College Theater Arts Professor Ken Gray is preparing his students for a theater festival at Cal State Hayward. But Gray is in charge of more than his students. He is the chairman of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Region VIII. For six days beginning Feb. 11, about 1,000 theater students will arrive in Hayward from nearly 175 colleges and universities in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah.

Alecia Foster NORTHEAST GLENDALE -- Music is in the air at Glendale Community College as students from several different departments and groups plan recitals for the coming weeks. On Friday, a seven-member jazz combo will perform at 7 p.m. A piano recital featuring students from the advanced piano classes will perform at 7:30 p.m. Monday. Students also will perform chamber music from the baroque period to the 20th century at 1 p.m May 16. Students from Glendale Community College's Applied Music Program will perform May 18. Both vocalists and instrumentalists, all of whom auditioned and received recommendations from their instructors, will participate.

Whole Foods Market is serving a barbecue lunch to celebrate 20 years in the Glendale community and their first year in their new location at 331 N. Glendale Ave. in Glendale. There is a $5 minimum donation with proceeds going to support Whole Planet Foundation, a global non-profit organization dedicated to fighting global poverty. Being served up is an "all natural" barbecue lunch including a beverage and a slice of anniversary cake. The event is taking place at Thursday, June 28 from noon to 3 p.m. at the Whole Foods Market.

Iva Carrico, winner of the News-Press Woman of Achievement in 1992. In my opinion, she should win the News-Press Woman of Bigotry in 2002. After reading about her ignorant opinion at the recent City Council meeting, I, being an Armenian, born and raised in America, am appalled by her words of ignorance. Armenians make up a great part of the Glendale community, and make it the beautiful city it is. Carrico said that "Armenians are the evildoers"? It seems as though she's the evildoer in many people's eyes now. I'm very happy that Rafi Manoukian is the new mayor, and I'm sure that he'll make a lot of great contributions to the Glendale community.

It is a well-known understanding in the Glendale community that the Greggs qualify as entrepreneurs. The definition of an entrepreneur is: "A person who organizes, manages and assumes responsibility for a business or other enterprise." Why would the city of Glendale be obligated in any way to compensate the Greggs for having chosen to develop something that clearly is not for the good of the community or area and expect the taxpayers to pay them a "profit" for not developing it. As entrepreneurs, they "bet on the come and the come never came."

Sandra Kraisirideja, People GLENDALE -- Glendale Community College Alumni Assn. will honor three individuals for their service to the school and community at the 14th annual Alumni Awards Banquet Thursday. "The recipients were unanimously chosen by the Community College Alumni Board for their conscientious efforts and support of the alumni association," said Glady Kabateck, director of the association. Carole Jouroyan of Glendale has been involved in community organizations for 20 years.

TODAY GLENDALE The Glendale-Foothill Division 11 of the California Retired Teachers Assn. will meet at 11:30 a.m. for lunch at the Elks Lodge, 120 E. Colorado St. Cost is $11. The program will feature a presentation of four $1,000 scholarships to future teachers. For reservations and more information, call 841-1460. The annual student art exhibition will be in the Glendale Community College Art Gallery through June 4 at Glendale Community College, 1500 N. Verdugo Road.

Alecia Foster NORTHEAST GLENDALE -- Tickets have gone on sale for Father's Follies. The Follies is an annual fund-raising event for Verdugo Woodlands Elementary School where dads at the school dress up as women to entertain the audience. This year's show, themed "2001: A Father's Odyssey," will be made up of a series of comical skits. The show will be at 7:30 p.m. on May 25 and 26 at Glendale Community College. The college is at 1500 N. Verdugo Rd. General admission is $5. For more information or to purchase tickets, call Verdugo Woodlands Elementary at 241-2433.

Alecia Foster NORTHEAST GLENDALE -- Tickets have gone on sale for Father's Follies. The Follies is an annual fund-raising event for Verdugo Woodlands Elementary School where dads at the school dress up as women to entertain the audience. This year's show, themed "2001: A Father's Odyssey," will be made up of a series of comical skits. The show will be at 7:30 p.m. on May 25 and 26 at Glendale Community College. The college is at 1500 N. Verdugo Rd. General admission is $5. For more information or to purchase tickets, call Verdugo Woodlands Elementary at 241-2433.

A year ago Grace Graham-Zamudio settled for runner-up, third- and fourth-place finishes at the state championships. The Glendale Community College women's track and field star wouldn't settle for anything less that first in 2013. It resulted in Zamudio leaving the California Community College Athletic Assn. Track and Field State Championships, which was held at the College of San Mateo, and Glendale college with a triple crown. “The last race was definitely special, I know during the last lap I was thinking, 'This is my last lap as a Vaquero,'” said Zamudio, who capped off an incredible two-year career with the team by winning the 1,500-meter race in four minutes 36.13 seconds and the 5,000-meter in 17:41.

In beginning her quest Friday to win a triple crown at the California Community College Track and Field Championships, Grace Zamudio didn't change her racing strategy. With a light breeze blowing, the Glendale Community College women's distance runner broke past the starting line in the 10,000-meter event and paced herself before breaking away from the pack in the final mile. Zamudio cleared the first hurdle in her quest to win three state championships, as she clocked 37 minutes:22.19 seconds to win the event at College of San Mateo and earn her first state title in track and field.

Looking to jump start his career, Angel Rodriguez left Cal State Northridge for an opportunity to join the Glendale Community College baseball team. Rodriguez, who spent last season as a redshirt at CSUN, sought the chance to receive more individual attention while looking to improve his overall pitching skills. Turns out things worked fine for Rodriguez, who helped the Vaqueros win their third Western State Conference South Division championship in a row and was tabbed the division's pitcher of the year.

After building up the Glendale Community College men's and women's teams and leading each to appearances in the California Community College Athletic Assn. Golf Championship, Greg Osbourne resigned his post as coach to become Cal State Bakersfield's director of golf. Osbourne recently accepted the position with Bakersfield and will replace the retiring Dave Barber, effective June 6. He will coach both programs at Bakersfield, which will be joining the Western Athletic Conference next season.

FULLERTON - Timely hitting throughout the order and reliable relief pitching have been staples of Glendale Community College baseball success this season. On Friday afternoon, however, they were the Vaqueros' undoing. GCC stranded 13 base runners and its bullpen allowed two runs, as the Vaqueros lost to Palomar, 3-2, in the opening game of the Fullerton Super Regional of the CCCAA tournament at Fullerton College. "We really didn't play our game," said Vaqueros Coach Chris Cicuto, whose team will now play either El Camino Compton Saturday morning at 10 a.m. at Santa Ana College, hoping to move on and into another elimination game Saturday afternoon at Fullerton.

Success is quickly becoming synonymous with the Glendale Community College baseball program in its current three-season run to unprecedented heights. For a third year in a row, the Vaqueros will ride into the super regionals and for a second straight year, that journey will take them south to Orange County. "Guys are excited. Guys are less nervous than they were this time last week," said Vaqueros Coach Chris Cicuto, whose squad opens up play at the Fullerton College Super Regional at 11 a.m. Friday against Palomar.

Grace Zamudio likely won't have any trouble getting motivated with another trip to the California Community College Track and Field Championships at stake. Zamudio will lead a group of Vaqueros scheduled to compete in the Southern California Championship on Saturday at Antelope Valley College. The field events begin at 11 a.m., followed by the running events at 1 p.m. Zamudio, who has already advanced to the state meet in the 10,000 on Saturday after clocking 39 minutes 15.48 seconds for a victory at the Southern California Regionals prelims at Antelope Valley College, will attempt to win the 1,500- and 5,000-meter races Saturday.

Glendale Community College's award-winning cheer program will likely be dropped from the school catalog this fall in an effort to save $25,000 annually, officials said. The program has been put on the chopping block as college officials scour the 2013-14 budget for cost savings. Although the cheer team has been sponsored by the college's athletic funds, it is not an official intercollegiate sport. And during tough times, Glendale Community College can no longer afford to keep it on the books, said Paul Schlossman, dean of student affairs.