Higher Education

Ellyn Semler attended a community college herself, and today the retiree helps other students get a chance at higher education. Now president of the Glendale College Foundation Board, she began serving on the board six years ago and said she works to bring education to the community. "I can say that I'm sort of an early student of a community college, so I know that they can really change a person's life," she said. "I think joining the Foundation Board was a great way to get involved in the community, and I hope I can be helpful.

Alecia Foster NORTHWEST GLENDALE -- Higher education will be the focus of a Soroptimist International of Glendale luncheon on Oct. 18. The program, "Showing Kids the Way to Achieve Goals in Higher Education -- Neighborhood Academic Initiative," will be presented by James C. Fleming. Fleming is the founder and former executive director of the USC Neighborhood Academic Initiative. The luncheon will be at noon at the Hilton Glendale, 100 W. Glenoaks Blvd.

Gretchen Hoffman State Sen. Jack Scott (D-Glendale), chairman of the Senate's Subcommittee on Higher Education, will host an informational hearing on the nursing shortage in California and the role of higher education in addressing the problem. The hearing is from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Los Angeles Valley College's Monarch Hall in Van Nuys. "Experts predict that California will need 25,000 more nurses within the next five years in order to avoid a catastrophe within our health-care system," Scott released in a statement.

Tim Willert Unless funding and policy changes are implemented, thousands of students could be turned away from state community colleges and universities in the coming years, a new report warns. The study, released Tuesday by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education in San Jose, comes as no surprise to Glendale Community College officials lobbying Sacramento for more money. GCC President John Davitt is hopeful California legislators will approve $80 million in equalization money Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed for community colleges in the coming fiscal year.

Senator Jack Scott has been recognized with a "Lifetime Achievement Award" by the California Community Colleges for his commitment to education and his legislative accomplishments. In a reception held in Sacramento Monday night, Scott was recognized for his four-decade career in higher education and his support of bills boosting the community college. "I'm truly honored to receive this tremendous recognition," said Scott. "The California Community Colleges are embedded in the very fabric of California, and I continue to be one of their biggest fans.

139Politicians introduce a bill to establish long-range goals to improve access to higher education.SACRAMENTO -- State Sen. Jack Scott and Assemblywoman Carol Liu introduced legislation Wednesday designed to help more students get to -- and graduate from -- public colleges and universities. Responding to reports that California's educated job force is expanding faster than the higher education system can fill it, Scott, Liu and co-author Sen. Jeff Denham wrote "The College Opportunity Act of 2006."

California has a great tradition of excellence when it comes to higher education. According to a recent study by an economist with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, we are home to six of the world's top 20 universities, including the Foothills' California Institute of Technology. But with our dynamic, highly competitive economy, we cannot afford to become complacent. We cannot assume that today's education system ensures tomorrow's success. High school students must be prepared for college, and college graduates must be prepared for the rigors of our 21st century economy.

Darleene Barrientos An increase in tuition at Glendale Community College is to blame for the nearly 7% drop in enrollment this fall, college officials said Thursday. The number of students enrolled at the college was finalized Thursday at 14,591, a 6.8% drop from last year's enrollment of 15,648, Registrar Michelle Mora said. And although there are fewer students, they are taking the exact number of classroom hours they did last year, said Steve White, the college's vice president of instructional services.

The city's Commission on the Status of Women wants a younger perspective. The commission is accepting applications for two nonvoting student members. One of the student members must live in Glendale, and one must be attending high school or an institution of higher education in the city. The students must be able to attend the regular monthly meetings, on the second Monday of each month, and occasional special meetings. Students selected will serve a one-year term, beginning in June.

There are a lot of people out there who will think less of you if you use “impact” as a verb: A longer storm season will negatively impact tourism. Failure to study will negatively impact your grades. Technology will impact higher education. Those are wrong, wrong and wrong, according to certain people. Because they only recognize impact as a noun, some people would require you to say instead that a longer storm season will have a negative impact on tourism, failure to study will have a negative impact on your grades, technology will have an impact on higher education.

The bullet train boondoggle is looking more like a bullet bull's-eye. But one big question lingers: Where are the bucks? And even if the state can find the bucks, should it spend them on building a high-speed rail line, a cool choo-choo? Especially when higher education in California is such a train wreck? Education - kindergarten through college - should be our No. 1 priority, for both moral and economic reasons. Producing an educated, skilled workforce for the increasingly competitive global economy is even more important than creating temporary track-laying jobs.

Lois Neil-Sambar, a prominent local educator and philanthropist, died Tuesday at her home in La Cañada Flintridge. She was 76. The cause of death was cancer, her husband Chuck Sambar said. Born on October 30, 1934 in Hoboken, New Jersey, Neil-Sambar graduated as valedictorian of her high school class before earning her bachelor's degree in history at Colby College in Maine, and her master's degree in education at Cal State Los Angeles. She worked as a substitute teacher at Glendale Unified before being hired full-time in 1971, teaching English and journalism at Hoover High School.

Ellyn Semler attended a community college herself, and today the retiree helps other students get a chance at higher education. Now president of the Glendale College Foundation Board, she began serving on the board six years ago and said she works to bring education to the community. "I can say that I'm sort of an early student of a community college, so I know that they can really change a person's life," she said. "I think joining the Foundation Board was a great way to get involved in the community, and I hope I can be helpful.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — When Hayk Rostomyan applied to UCLA after graduating from Glendale High School last year, the response put him on a different track. A letter informed him that admissions staff recommended he further his education elsewhere and reapply. They didn't mention that there'd presumably be fewer admissions due to fewer dollars spent on higher education. Rostomyan was among the hundreds of Glendale Community College students who took home fliers and information from more than 50 colleges and universities from across the country Tuesday during the college's Transfer Fair.

Ongoing statewide protests against proposed education funding cuts continued Tuesday when scores of Glendale Community College students held their own march and budget rally. Students and professors alike spoke of reforming the legislative budget-making process, where California is one of three states that require a two-thirds majority to pass a budget. Students staffed booths to register voters and collect signatures for letters to elected officials. Together with representatives of the California School Employees Assn.

GLENDALE — Local education administrators on Friday reacted warily to initial budget proposals from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. School districts would collectively lose $2.4 billion under the plan, but higher education would see a boost of $225 million that Schwarzenegger said would hopefully offset future fee hikes. “At least at the higher-education level, you can raise fees,” Glendale Unified School District Supt. Michael Escalante said. “At the K through 12 level, we can’t charge anybody for anything.

Local legislators reacted with optimism to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s final State of the State address Wednesday, but said they were eager for specific solutions to California’s laundry list of structural problems. State Sen. Carol Liu (D-La Cañada Flintridge) said she was encouraged by the governor’s calls to action for solving a revenue shortfall he estimated at nearly $20 billion, but said solutions would not be easy to come by. “We got the message about ‘Kumbaya’ and working together and all of that, but like everything else, the devil’s in the details,” Liu said.

As the first lay president of Mount St. Mary?s College, Jacqueline Powers Doud promotes the idea that everyone has the ability to receive an excellent education if they want it badly enough. She thinks even those individuals with low income can come up with different ways to pay for college if they do their research and apply for scholarships. Once students get to Mount St. Mary?s, she wants the college to provide them with the best education possible, she said. ?I?ve been in the education field my whole life,?

Rain didn’t stop couples from dancing to live salsa music Friday night outside Damon’s Steakhouse as dozens of people contributed to a student scholarship fund through the Glendale Latino Assn. Salsa dancing, margaritas and carne asada tacos added to the festive vibe at the event, also sponsored by Glendale Arts, “Salsa for Scholarships,” a fundraiser in which all proceeds were channeled to 20 student scholarships. Student Sonia Zelezny, 17, sang at the event with the Hoover High School Jazz Band, which played salsa and Afro-Cuban music.