Internment

Charles Rich Forget about the national landscape. Trevor Bell needed to compete on the international stage. Bell, the reigning News-Press All-Area Player of the Year, received mixed results. Bell went hitless in four at-bats, but the Milwaukee Brewers Blue squad rallied to earn a 4-4 tie with the Area Code Team -- featuring players mostly from the Dominican Republic -- in an Area Code Game at Blair Field in Long Beach on Thursday. The game was called after nine innings because of a 2 1/2 -hour time limit.

Darleene Barrientos Glendale Community College this year bucked national trends by enrolling 530 international students, up from 504 students last year. Since 9/11, international student enrollment at schools issuing associate degrees declined about 10%, the steepest decline in enrollment at any type of higher education institution. But Glendale Community College resisted that trend, partly because of intensive recruitment and outreach effort, said Jewel Price, the college's dean of student services.

Those driving south on Interstate 5 to San Diego will know exactly what we mean when we say there just is no more spectacular ocean view than the one you encounter while making your way through San Clemente. On a clear, sunny day, and most of them are, it's hard to keep your eyes on the road as you take in a landscape that includes San Clemente's neatly terraced, palm tree-studded hills and the vast blue ocean with its distant horizon. These very same views no doubt influenced Richard Nixon in his decision to buy an estate in San Clemente that would become the Western White House during the early 1970s.

Mirjam Swanson GLENDALE -- Mark Rubio teaches math. And math, the 11th-year Hoover High boys' soccer Coach claimed, is a kind of universal language. But then, so is soccer. Or so say his Tornado players, all but one of whom were born outside of the United State and who all speak combinations of eight different languages. To those not in the know, it can sound like a cacophony of Armenian, Spanish, Persian, German, Swedish, Korean, Greek and English that's constantly surrounding Rubio, who, like this reporter, is proficient in only one language -- if you don't count algebra.

KATHERINE YAMADA Edward Weston, who later gained international fame for his photography, arrived in Tropico in 1906 to visit his sister and her husband. Just 20 years old, Weston was eager to sever family ties in his Chicago hometown and decided to stay. He purchased a camera and went door to door, taking pictures of families, children and even animals. For several years, he photographed elementary school classes in Glendale. "This was before he became famous.

Darleene Barrientos Glendale plans to take a closer look at complaints of discrimination, harassment and violence in the workplace with the approval of the city's first centralized investigative unit. During this week's City Council meeting, an annual expense of $135,000 was approved to pay the salary of a senior investigator, as well as set up an annual budget and hire contract investigator services when needed for the new unit, which will work out of the city's Internal Audit division.

Buck Wargo CITY HALL -- The Soroptimist International of Glendale will hosts its sixth annual Speak-easy Cabaret on Saturday. The event starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Hilton Glendale, 101 W. Glenoaks Blvd., and runs until midnight. There will be casino gaming, food, entertainment and a silent auction to raise money for the Gardens Senior Housing, YWCA domestic violence shelter, Salvation Army, Red Cross, Glendale Public Library, the Foundation for the Junior Blind and Youth Citizen Scholarships and high school mentoring.

After a tumultuous year in which it lost its director, the Glendale Symphony Orchestra is starting 2007 on a high note. It has been invited to perform with soloists from Japan on Feb. 13 at the new Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. Japanese concert promotion company Samon Promotion is underwriting the concert to promote its soloists and has chosen the Glendale Symphony Orchestra from the many highly qualified orchestras in the greater Los Angeles area to work with, said Olivia Tsui, music director of the Glendale Symphony Orchestra.

NORTH GLENDALE — Coming from all over the world, the scholars who comprise the International Academy for Philosophy have previously convened for international conferences in Yerevan, Armenia, and Athens, Greece. Now they can add Glendale to the list. The group opened its third international conference on philosophy and metaphilosophy — the study of philosophy itself — with a Wednesday night reception at the Glendale Days Inn that drew a crowd of curious academics and local dignitaries, said Glendale resident Artin Sagherian, deputy president of the conference organizing committee.

Charles Rich With improvements underway to several sports facilities at Glendale Community College, maybe there's a spare acre or two on campus to house the United Nations Headquarters. GCC women's tennis Coach Terry Coblentz wouldn't object to transporting the 39-floor building from New York to Glendale. There's good reason because six members of this year's GCC squad hail from different countries. The Vaqueros will look to capitalize with their international talent when they begin their season at 2 p.m. Feb. 8 with a nonconference home match against San Diego City College.