FRIDAY, APRIL 27, 2012
Chinese College Officials to Study Mt. SAC Programs
WALNUT, Calif.—A delegation of five Chinese college officials will visit Mt. SAC May 6-19 as part of its U.S. tour to study community college vocational education. More specifically, the group will learn about best practices in the areas of teaching, curriculum design, and local business integration in order to enhance programs at their vocational and technical education colleges.A press conference will be held May 8 at 2 p.m. in Founders Hall. Parking is free in Pay Lot B, located off of Grand Avenue and San Jose Hills Road. A special reception for the Chinese delegation will follow at 4 p.m., also in Founders Hall.
Mt. SAC has been selected as one of the college hosts by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), which operates the Vocational Education Leadership Training (VELT) Program and partners with the China Educational Association for International Exchange program. Under the auspices of the Ministry of Education in China, the delegates include a college president, three vice presidents, a department chair and the exchange program coordinator/interpreter.
The group will spend nearly two weeks touring the campus and participating in presentations on various vocational and technical programs by Mt. SAC deans, department chairs, and program directors in Student Services, which is hosting and coordinating the delegation’s visit.
“In addition to learning about curricular development and design, specific career/technical fields and visiting those departments on campus, we will also be covering services—including the library and the various student support/tutorial services—touring facilities and IT, and discussing college governance,” said Student Services Vice President Audrey Yamagata-Noji.Mt. SAC Honors 19 Students of Distinction
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WALNUT, Calif.––– Mt. San Antonio College will honor 19 Students of Distinction at the college's annual awards ceremony and luncheon on Saturday, May 19 at 11:30 a.m. at the Royal Vista Country Club, 20055 E. Colima Road, in Walnut.This annual award recognizes students for outstanding service to the college, competitive, academic, and personal achievement. Recipients of this year’s Academic Achievement award, who earned a minimum 3.75 GPA, are Alexander T. Chen of West Covina, Brandon Thomas Milostan of Glendora, Xue Feiyang of Walnut, and Juan C. Madrigal of Pomona.
Recipients of the Service Achievement award, who earned a minimum 3.0 GPA and provided notable volunteer service to the college and community, are Jesus Alex Mendoza of Van Nuys, Zaekeya Wilson of Pomona, and Stephanie Sitacarini of Hacienda Heights.
Recipients of Personal Achievement award, who were selected based on a minimum 2.75 GPA and overcame personal hardship, are Carlos Lugo of La Puente, Martina Ann Tucker of Pomona, Analia Marinelli of Ontario, Lori M. VandenBosch of Chino Hills, Erick Rojas Gonzalez of Pomona, Maria E. Burboa of Azusa, Ramona Hurtado of Montclair, and Seleny Rodriguez of Pomona.
Recipients of the Competitive Achievement award, who earned a minimum 3.0 GPA and earned distinction as part of a competitive student group or team, are Ke’Nya J. Hardge of Fontana, Abraham Torres of Whittier, Alfredo E. Ontiveros of La Puente, and Bekah Penner of Alta Loma.
Tickets for the awards luncheon are $15 and must be purchased by May 8 through the Student Life Office: (909) 274-4525.
FRIDAY, APRIL 20, 2012
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Mt. SAC Students Advance to SkillsUSA Nationals
WALNUT, Calif.–––Mt. San Antonio College vocational education students Abdul Hameed and Leah Horowitz recently won gold medals at the SkillsUSA State Leadership conference competition held April 13-15 in San Diego and will advance to the national competition this summer.Hameed (Baldwin Park) won the gold medal in aviation maintenance, while Horowitz (Claremont) won the gold medal in electronic technology. Gold medal winners at the state competition advance to the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference on June 23-27 in Kansas City, Missouri.
Also at the state tournament, Mt. SAC’s Xiauqing Wu (La Puente) won the silver medal for architectural drafting, and Jeremy Gonzales (Pomona) took the silver medal in mechanical drafting.
The SkillsUSA championships are showcases for the best career and technical students in the country. Contests begin locally and continue through the state and national levels. Last year, more than 5,700 students competed and over 1,500 judges and contest organizers participated in the national event.
SkillsUSA is a nationally affiliated vocational club representing secondary and post-secondary students in the trade, technical and health fields. The vocational education organization represents more than a quarter million students in over 13,000 chapters nationwide.
THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2012
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Mt. SAC Forensics Team Captures Gold at National Speech Tourney
WALNUT, Calif.–––The Mt. San Antonio College Forensics Team recently won the overall gold medal at the Phi Rho Phi National Championship Tournament in Schaumburg, Ill., taking second place out of the 58 community colleges competing.Mt. SAC students won seven gold medals, five silver medals, and five bronze medals. As a team, the students also finished second in the individual events sweepstakes and third in the debate sweepstakes.
Student Simon Rhee (Fullerton) won the Bovero Award as the tournament’s top individual speaker. He won four gold medals in the extemporaneous speaking, impromptu speaking, parliamentary debate, and speech to entertain competitions. By claiming the tournament’s top speaker honors, he also becomes Mt. SAC’s first Bovero winner in nine years.
Other gold medal winners were Hishaam Siddiqi (Walnut) in extemporaneous speaking, Jennifer Lee (Hacienda Heights) in informative speaking, and Mike Drake (Rancho Cucamonga) in extemporaneous speaking and as part of a duo in parliamentary debate.
Silver medalists were Matthew Guest (Victorville) in dramatic interpretation, Yvonne Ramos (Montclair) in communication analysis, Naseem Akramian (Upland) in speech to entertain, Akramian and Charles Norman (Chino Hills) in parliamentary debate, and Siddiqi in informative speaking.
Bronze medal winners were Aida Ghorbani (Walnut) in prose interpretation, Kelley McDivett (Rancho Cucamonga) in persuasive speaking, Siddiqi in communication analysis, Ramos in oral interpretation, and Guest, Jannelle Hill (Walnut), Swaim Guetling (Walnut), and Stephanie Stopani (Chino Hills) in interpreters theater for “Silence.”
The team is coached by faculty members Jeff Archibald, Danny Cantrell, and Mei-Ling Hsieh.
MONDAY, APRIL 09, 2012
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Students Experience the Real World of Reality TV in New Class
WALNUT, Calif.–––The pace, production, and popularity of today’s crop of television reality shows may seem a bit unreal to some. But to Mt. San Antonio College Professor Dan Smith, it’s all part of the industry that is growing by leaps and bounds and is the reason for the debut of Mt. SAC’s new Reality Show Production class, the only one of its kind in the state and maybe the nation.“As far as I can tell, there is no other educational institution in state—perhaps the nation—that offers a reality show production course like this,” said Smith, who has been teaching television production at Mt. SAC for 14 years.
While there are other colleges that offer reality show survey courses, the Mt. SAC class is the only one that offers students hands-on production training for what it would be like to work on one of television’s reality programs like Big Brother or Survivor.
Offered for the first time in the spring 2012 semester, the course affords students the opportunity to learn an array of skills that include camera work, using lighting, pitching a show, music editing, creating “sizzle reels,” and finally serving as a producer to create an eight-minute reality show.
“It’s really fortunate to be part of the first of anything, to be part of history, and this is the first reality show production class in the state,” said 21-year-old Radio and Television Broadcasting student Jazmine Marquez.
But most of the time, you won’t find the students in the classroom studio. That’s because they’re outside shouldering remote video cameras and learning the hands-on approach to television production.
“Reality TV is the newest phenomenon in the industry and it’s has the most job openings,” said Television Broadcasting student Nick Vargas, 32, who has already worked for the Spanish-language network Telemundo. “You learn a lot in this class by doing and working a lot with the cameras.”
The course’s genesis came as the result of a recommendation by an advisory committee for the department.
“It became obvious that these were unique skills that nobody was teaching,” Smith said.
Thanks to a successful grant project, he was able to purchase enough HD video cameras and equipment for the class so that every student has the firsthand opportunity to experience the real world of television production. But the phenomenon of the reality show has had its drawbacks for Smith and the class.
“Already I’ve lost a student assistant and two part-time faculty members who were hired to work on reality shows,” he said.
The concept behind reality shows and what makes them work are nothing new, according to Smith.
“It’s the everyman aspect that is the appeal of reality programming,” he explained. “We want everyday people to be able to be heroes, and for people to overcome obstacles whether it’s losing weight or being becoming a star a la American Idol.”
Reality shows got their start with programs like Cops and the William Shatner-hosted Rescue 911, which began airing in 1989. Then came the European version of Survivor, and eventually the concepts and methodology of reality shows began to crossover.
“Reality show techniques are bleeding over into the motion pictures,” said Dan. “Most recently, think of Cloverfield.”
Basically, the big difference between reality shows and most television programs is that reality shows are, first of all, unscripted. The writing portion of the job is usually done after shooting the video. Reality programs can also have as many as 15 cameras shooting simultaneously, and producers will most likely won’t be dealing with professional actors.
And once students learn the skills they need, their prospects are fantastic. Very quickly, they move from work behind the camera to producing segments. Already, former students have gone on to work on reality programs such as Project Runway, The Bachelor, and Ice Road Truckers.
One of his former students, Chris Rehnke, advanced so quickly he might have wished he hadn’t. Working on a segment for Ice Road Truckers, the former student was dropped off in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean on a Coast Guard ship with three anvil cases in minus 40-degree weather and told to produce a segment.
Smith’s own beginnings in television were somewhat less dangerous. Originally a film school student, he started working on sports segments for KDOC in Orange County. With 15 years in the entertainment industry, he’s done a little bit of everything from Sizzler commercials and music videos to public access television. He also wrote screenplays before the teaching bug bit him and started teaching full time at Mt. SAC in 1998. Since then he has been dedicated to providing an authentic, hands-on learning experience for his students.
“Once our students finish the course, I want them to feel comfortable on the set with the pace of job and the expectations of that job,” he said.
Smith knows the course will catch on––and so do the students.
“People come from out of state to go to Mt. SAC,” said student Clint Wampler, 22, who is from Texas. “Now with this new class, there will be even more of a reason to come here.”
THURSDAY, APRIL 05, 2012
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