Higher Education

Judy Seckler HOOVER HIGH SCHOOL -- When students Cindy Paladines and Mercedes Gonzalez from Hoover High and Karen Barbery from Glendale High participated in a college orientation for Latino eighth-graders in February, they had no idea what they were starting. The orientation, a collaboration between members of the Glendale Hispanic Business and Professional Assn., Hoover High and Toll Middle School, paved the way for incoming Latino freshman to focus on the college requirements needed at the universities of California and the state colleges.

Students have to work harder to find funds to pay for continued education beyond high school.Counselor Michelle Sparks spends much of her time ensuring that Burbank High School seniors make the right decisions when it comes to college -- from where to apply to how to pay. But when it came time for her own two children to apply to college, the difficulty of those decisions hit home. "I told them Cal States or UCs," Sparks said. "For me finance was a huge consideration." In order to fund school for both children at the same time, Sparks decided to take a second job, and her children looked for ways to earn money toward their room and board.

Karen S. Kim LA CRESCENTA -- Assemblywoman Carol Liu (D-La Crescenta) has been named the chairwoman of the Assembly Higher Education Committee. Liu has been serving as the vice chairwoman of the Select Committee on Community Colleges/School to Career and as a member of the Joint Committee to Develop a Master Plan for K-16 Education and the Higher Education Committee. Liu said her priorities for the committee were to ensure access to higher education for all Californians, maintaining the Cal Grant program, strengthening faculty recruitment and retention and improving the transfer process for community college students.

WASHINGTON, DC - Congressman David Dreier (R-San Dimas), Chairman of the House Rules Committee, has voted to maintain the United States' competitive edge by making higher education more affordable, more accessible, and more rigorous in the areas of science, math and foreign languages. An amendment he co-sponsored on math and science education was included in the College Access and Opportunity Act of 2005, H.R. 609, which was approved 221-199. "Our world-class higher education system has led our country to great prosperity, groundbreaking discoveries and global competitiveness.

Darleene Barrientos Enrollment at Glendale Community College is down 2.9% since spring as a result of an $8 hike in tuition, college officials said. Enrollment dropped by more than 1,000 students in the fall, about 6.8%, but students continued to take the same number of classes, officials said. There are 13,885 students enrolled at Glendale Community College this semester, 400 fewer than this time last year, said Sharon Combs, the college's dean of admissions.

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.

I’ve been working with a private college, Mt. Sierra College in Monrovia, for the last 2 1/2 years. For the first two years, my involvement was consulting on marketing. For the last six months, however, I’ve been immersed in admissions as the department’s director. I wear the marketing hat as well. It’s been an interesting and challenging period in my life. I’ve probably learned more about life and people during this time than any other. I’ve been exposed to different personalities, a cross section of cultural backgrounds, as well as students and colleagues in different age groups.

Jack Wright has always had a soft spot for young people who strive for a higher education. Wright, a retired teacher, counselor and college financial aid specialist, is responsible for helping more than 130,000 high school students achieve their goal of attending college, he said. For 26 years, the 69-year-old La Crescenta resident dedicated himself to assisting immigrant students at Franklin High School in Los Angeles apply for financial aid and scholarships. He spent countless hours writing letters of recommendation and helping students fill out college applications.

Dozens of new Glendale Community College students milled about or clung to the shade in the El Vaquero Plaza area Tuesday eating free hot dogs and talking about schedules, the lack of parking and the heat. They were taking advantage of the college's annual New Student Welcome Day, during which more than 200 incoming students got everything from a tour of the campus to information about careers and student aid in preparation of the fall semester, which starts today. The college's Office of Outreach and School Relations sponsored the third annual event in an attempt to increase and maintain student enrollment, Program Manager Susan Dougherty said.

Gohar Khechumyan’s father is supportive of her education and wants her to go to college. But because of his limited English and the differences in the college application process in the U.S. versus Armenia, navigating the process is foreign and bewildering to him, she said. Gohar and her father, Vigen Khechumyan, attended the Path to College community forum organized by the Glendale chapter of the Armenian National Committee on Wednesday night to learn about the details of finishing high school and heading to college in the U.S. “I’m trying to get every little bit of information about college,” Gohar said.