Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Groundbreaking Ceremony Celebrates Solar Panel Project


The San Mateo County Community College District held a special groundbreaking ceremony for a new solar project at Cañada College that will help cut the school's energy costs in half.

Dignitaries including Redwood City Mayor Jeff Gee, San Mateo County Community College District Board of Trustees President Karen Schwarz, Karim Allana, principal at Allana Buick & Bers Inc., and SMCCCD Chancellor Ron Galatolo were invited to turn the "first shovel of dirt" on the project. A large crowd was welcomed by Cañada College President Larry Buckley, who also took part in the groundbreaking.

This is the first renewable energy project undertaken by the district.

The project, approved by the Board of Trustees in January, includes installation of ground-mounted solar panels on a 3.5-acre vacant project site located adjacent to the school’s athletic fields and just above the Farm Hill Boulevard entrance to campus. Jose Nuñez, vice chancellor of facilities planning and operations, said Cañada was chosen for the site because it has the greatest exposure to the sun year-round and is the least visually obtrusive to neighbors.

The timing for the project was ideal since Proposition 39, the California Clean Energy Jobs Act passed in 2012, allocates revenue to local education agencies to support energy efficiency and alternative energy projects. Prop 39 gives the district $554,000 in funding and the California Solar Initiative will provide about $870,000 in rebates over a five-year period.

A ribbon cutting ceremony will be held upon completion of the project sometime this summer.

Cañada Welcomes 200 High School Students to Campus March 28

Cañada College will roll out the red carpet for more than 200 high school students on Friday, March 28 as part of Preview Day.

Cañada College Preview Day is the major outreach event of the spring. Students from the Sequoia Union High School District and Half Moon Bay High School will learn about different academic majors, how to apply for financial aid, and Cañada's popular Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Center.

"This gives our faculty and staff the opportunity to meet with hundreds of students on one day to explain their programs," said Noel Chavez, Cañada's college recruiter and a former Cañada student. "High school students will learn about our academic and support programs."

Chavez said students will about different degrees offered at the college, student support programs, extracurricular activities and more.

For more information, visit Cañada's Preview Day website or call Chavez at (650) 306-3444.

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Latin American Studies Program Prepares Students for Changes in California


As the Latino population in California becomes the single largest ethnic group in the state it changes the political and social dynamics. Latin American and Latino/a Studies at Cañada College is a unique interdisciplinary program that examines these changes and prepares students for careers in this new environment.

“We combine courses from multiple academic departments to give students a broad understanding of historical, political, social, geographic and cultural aspects of Latin America and Latino/a communities,” said Alison Field, Professor of History at Cañada. “Coursework in social sciences, literature, music, drama and Spanish language provides a uniquely comprehensive approach to historical and contemporary issues as well as questions of identity, heritage and creative expression.”
Yolanda Valenzuela, professor of English and Reading at Cañada, said the Latin American and Latino/a Studies Program opens the door to a range of career opportunities for students. “The continuing importance of Latin America for the U.S. and the growing Latino/a population have produced an increasing need for trained persons with a knowledge of Latin American and Latino/a communities to work in social service, government and foreign service, non-governmental organizations, law, teaching, business and other fields.”

 Valenzuela said students can transfer to UC Santa Cruz, UC Berkeley, San Jose State, San Francisco State, Santa Clara, Notre Dame de Namur and other universities to pursue degrees in Latin American and Latino/a Studies.
Cañada’s Latin American and Latino/a Studies Program is the only one of its kind at a community college in San Mateo County. Students can also double major in Spanish.

For more information, contact Professor Field at fielda@smccd.edu or Professor Valenzuela at valenzuelay@smccd.edu.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Lauren Rankin Named to National Community College Academic Team

A Cañada College accounting major who enrolled in college as a high school freshman and currently lives in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood helping people with drug and alcohol dependency has been named to the Phi Theta Kappa Coca-Cola Community College Academic Team.


Lauren Rankin, who grew up in San Carlos and was home-schooled until she enrolled at Cañada, said she is honored by the $1,500 scholarship and designation as a Coca-Cola Gold Scholar but will not be traveling to Orlando, Florida in April for the convention because of her volunteer work. “I believe the best leaders are those who serve others. Being ahead several years in school allowed me to take some time off from academics and really focus on my leadership and spiritual growth by serving others.”


Rankin is a volunteer at San Francisco City Impact in the Tenderloin, a ministry dedicated to helping intervene on behalf of the people in one of the city’s most impoverished neighborhoods. “Initially, I wanted to serve in a Third World country but after visiting the Tenderloin I realized there was far too much need locally,” Rankin said.


As an intern with City Impact, she works at the organization’s thrift store which aids customers who struggle with alcoholism and drug addiction. She also attends two different classes designed to better her leadership, deepen her faith, and improve her communication skills. “Several times a week I go to the Jefferson Hotel which houses some of the neighborhood’s poorest residents. At the hotel, I go door-to-door creating relationships with the residents by handing out food, encouragement, and prayer. During the week I also lead volunteers into the low-income hotels for meal deliveries and on prayer walks and street ministry at night. It is my responsibility to keep my team safe.”


Lauren’s sister, Rachel, was also a Cañada College student and named to the PTK Coca-Cola Community College Academic Team.


“They were both wonderful students and deserving of the honor,” said Paul Roscelli, economics professor and faculty advisor for Cañada’s award-winning PTK chapter. 


Rankin has applied to UC Berkeley, UCLA and UC Santa Barbara and hopes to become a certified public accountant and work in a major firm. “Eventually, down the road, I would love to use my knowledge of leadership, finance and management to keep serving people because that is where I find the most joy and fulfillment.”

Monday, March 17, 2014

Cañada Captures the Golden Horseshoe Trophy

A dominating three-hit shutout by Cañada pitcher Sam Alton lifted the Colts to a 4-0 victory over San Mateo County rival Skyline and gave the inaugural Golden Horseshoe Trophy to the Colts.

The Golden Horseshoe is a new trophy awarded to the winner of the annual home contest between Cañada and their two San Mateo County rivals – Skyline College and the College of San Mateo. The Colts alternate hosting CSM and Skyline each season.
Supporting Alton's sensational pitching performance was shortstop Kyle Zirbes, who went 2 for 3 at the plate and stole two bases. Right fielder Cody Barden went 1 for 2 and drove in a pair of runs for Cañada.

The Colts have now won seven of their past eight games and are 12-5 overall and 6-2 in conference play.Cañada will try to extends its winning streak when it travels to the College of San Mateo on Tuesday, March 18 at 2:30 pm.



Five Cañada Grads Start Design Group

Five Cañada College Multimedia Art & Technology graduates have started a new design group called The Think Tanks and hope to improve their portfolios while helping to meet the artistic needs of the Peninsula and South Bay community.

“We all missed working on projects together after we left Cañada,” said Amanda Newlove. “It’s rough finding jobs in this economy so we decided to make our own work. The goal is to get some real world experience while improving our portfolios and resumes with some up-to-date projects.”

The creative talents behind the project include:

Alan Wong – Wong has a degree in fine art from Academy of Art College and specializes in many aspects of fine art but is most passionate about character animation. His ultimate career goal is to work for an animation studio or gaming company.

Amanda Newlove – Newlove earned a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences from UC Davis and returned to school to earn a degree in 3D Animation and Video Game Art at Cañada. She is interested in project management for creative teams.

Mike Smith – An Eagle Scout from Belmont, and graduate from UC Davis with a BA in Rhetoric and Communication and a minor in Dramatic and Fine Arts. He has been a Realtor for the past 11 years and is currently taking multimedia courses at Cañada to earn a degree in 3D Animation and Video Game Art. His career goal is to make movies, TV shows, video games, or digital graphic novels.

Spencer Hollingsworth – Hollingsworth has three art degrees from Cañada: Studio, General, and Multimedia. He has always enjoyed drawing, especially comics, and has a great sense of graphic design and visual storytelling.

Steven Johnson – Johnson has an extensive background in the video game industry. He is currently creating the artwork and animation for an independent mobile game to be released later this year.

Paul Naas, the Multimedia Program Director at Cañada College, said the students have a good opportunity to succeed in their new venture. “They are all extremely talented and driven,” he said. “I have no doubt they’ll produce great work for clients.”

Newlove said The Think Tanks is not a full-time job for any of the team members at this point. “We all have crazy, busy lives but we are making time to work on some awesome projects.”

She said the team’s strengths include illustration and animation and that will be the initial focus for the new group. “Our clients can expect great customer service and professional results,” she said. “We’ve just started the group but we already have a website and we are currently working on the artwork for a zombie-themed board game. It’s very exciting.”

Anybody interested in contacting The Think Tanks can reach them through their website at thinktanksart.com or contact Project Manager Amanda Newlove at amandanewlove@gmail.com.

 

Monday, March 10, 2014

Dreamworks Animator to Discuss Careers in Computer Animation

Milana Huang, character technical director at Dreamworks Animation, will discuss careers in computer animation at this week’s Cañada College STEM Speaker Series.

Huang’s lecture is titled, “Paper to Performance: Careers in Computer Animation.” The lecture will be held on Wednesday, March 12 from 5 to 6 pm in Building 6, Room 102. It’s free and open to the public.

Held in both the fall and spring semesters, the STEM Speaker Series features professionals from various science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields who discuss their careers, research, and educational paths. The speakers also provide academic and career advice to current and future college students.

Huang has worked at Dreamworks Animation for the past 14 years in the Character Technical Director group. She has collaborated on films such as Shrek, Madagascar, Rise of the Guardians, and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa.

Huang earned a master’s degree through the Electronic Visualization Laboratory, Electrical and Computer Science Department of the University of Illinois at Chicago. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin at Madison with a double major in Art and Computer Science.

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Cañada College Student Invited to Debut Short Film at Cannes



A chance meeting and a simple sneeze led a Cañada College multimedia student to produce a five-minute film that will be featured at the Cannes Film Festival in May.

Sir Wade Neistadt was notified by email last week that his short film, KERFLOOEY, is one of 26 student-produced films that will be featured in the Short Film Corner, one of three main sections of the famous French film festival. In addition, Neistadt’s film will be featured at Universal Studios in Hollywood in June as part of a three-day red carpet event where industry professionals host workshops and network with student filmmakers from around the country.


The idea for KERFLOOEY came from Neistadt and Cañada College classmate Melissa Loi, an aspiring writer. They met in a psychology course section. “When I met Wade he was trying to add the psychology class I was already registered for. He came into class and sneezed, I said ‘bless you,’ and we ended up doing ice breaker work in class. We paired up and became friends,” Loi said.

Neistadt, who grew up in Apple Valley and attended Granite Hills High School, transferred to Cañada from CSU San Marcos because he wanted to be in Silicon Valley to pursue his dream of making films. “I researched community colleges in the area and Cañada was the only school with both a good computer science program and multimedia program. When I visited the school last spring, I met Paul Naas, program coordinator for the Multimedia Art & Technology Program, and he convinced me Cañada was the right place for me.”

Neistadt began refining his video editing and special effects skills under the tutelage of Cañada faculty, many who have worked at major studios such as Disney, Pixar and Wildbrain. “The storytelling the faculty has done over the years for those studios is experience that a motivated student can draw from,” Naas said. “It’s pretty unique among community college animation and multimedia programs. Wade’s the kind of student who digs deeper into a subject – asking questions, incorporating feedback, and leveraging the knowledge and experience of faculty to make his projects better.”

What Neistadt couldn’t foresee was the simple sneeze that led him to meet Loi would be the catalyst for the creation of Manly Man, the protagonist in KERFLOOEY.

When Neistadt learned last November that Campus MovieFest, the world’s largest student film festival and a premier outlet for the next generation of filmmakers, would be at Cañada to host a competition, he was determined to enter. He ran into Loi, a graduate of Carlmont High School, at the Cañada College Learning Center and they talked about the competition and began reviewing five-minute films on YouTube created by their favorite stars. That’s when Loi had an idea.

“I thought it would be cool to make a movie about a superhero, since everyone seems obsessed with comic book characters…but maybe a superhero that can’t quite save the world at the moment.”

Manly Man, Sub City’s local superhero, was born but, unlike most superheroes, he wasn’t invincible. He was fighting a cold at the same time he was saving Sub City from the fearsome Madame Mayhem. As the story unfolds, every Manly Man sneeze brings Madame Mayhem closer to defeat while giving Neistadt an opportunity to display the special effects skills he refined in his Cañada classes. “I remembered that sneeze from our first meeting,” Loi said. “I began thinking about how people love comic books and they love to laugh. Comedy is a popular genre because it makes people happy and sometimes making people happy means purposefully falling on top of a garbage can several times.”

“Melissa wrote the story and it was brilliant,” Neistadt said. “I couldn’t have made this movie without her.”

They entered their film in the Campus MovieFest competition at Cañada and received a Silver Tripod Award for “Best Special Effects,” a Best Actor Award for Neistadt’s portrayal of Manly Man, and, to their amazement, the Best Picture Award.

“At the campus awards ceremony, we were told that Campus MovieFest has the opportunity to send about 30 student films to the Cannes Film Festival,” Neistadt said. “I was shocked to find out our film was chosen.”

Naas said having a film at Cannes is a major accomplishment for any filmmaker. “For a student filmmaker to achieve this is spectacular. I’m thrilled Wade’s hard work is being acknowledged. He has a very cinematic eye and several of the shots in the film are quite innovative.”

Loi said the movie’s success has surprised her. “I honestly didn’t expect this much attention to come out of our little movie, but I guess because I’m one of the film’s creators, all I see are the little things that went wrong.”

Manly Man’s sneezes will lead Neistadt to the Villa Maupassant Hotel in the south of France May 12-26 where KERFLOOEY will be featured at the film festival.

“While I’m there, I will be walking the red carpet with actors, directors, producers, and all sorts of celebrities,” he said. “I’ll be watching the world premiers of the Cannes Official Selection, going to workshops and Q&A sessions and making connections with a bunch of amazing and talented people. I still can’t believe this is happening.”

KERFLOOEY can be viewed at http://youtu.be/M2Osdbg1Vt0

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Colt Classic Baseball Challenge Set for March 15


Cañada College is hosting an “Old Fashioned Day at the Ballpark” on Saturday, March 15. The Colts will be playing their San Mateo County rivals, the Skyline Trojans, for the Golden Horseshoe trophy in the first-ever Colt Classic Baseball Challenge. The event starts at 11 am with the first pitch scheduled for noon.

The Golden Horseshoe is a new trophy that will be awarded to the winner of the annual home contest between Cañada and their two San Mateo County rivals – Skyline College and the College of San Mateo. The Colts alternate hosting CSM and Skyline each season.

To enhance the ballpark atmosphere, fans can purchase $1 hot dogs, hamburgers, sodas, and popcorn. Additional food, souvenirs, and spirit items will also be available for purchase.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Middle College Applications Due March 7

Applications are due March 7 for all students planning to enroll in the Cañada Middle College program this fall. Prospective students can fill out their applications online.

Cañada Middle College is a nontraditional high school collaboration between Cañada College and the Sequoia Union High School District. Through this unique alternative high school program, students have the opportunity to explore new challenges that are not available in a traditional high school. Students complete the requirements for high school graduation while enrolled in college courses. All courses are held at Cañada College. Students in Cañada's Middle College program quickly discover the joy and benefits of self-directed learning in a stimulating and diverse college atmosphere.

To learn more, visit the Cañada Middle College website.

Monday, March 3, 2014

College District to Not Renew Parcel Tax

The College District Board of Trustees voted unanimously on February 26 not to renew the District's parcel tax.  Board President Karen Schwarz expressed the Board's deep appreciation to San Mateo County voters who agreed four years ago to tax themselves to help the District through a fiscal crisis brought on by years of state budget reductions.

"The parcel tax--the first ever for a community college district in California--allowed our Colleges to offer hundreds of classes to tens of thousands of students who otherwise wouldn't have been served," she said.  At the time, the Colleges were facing unprecedented demand for classes, due to the recession and widespread unemployment.  At one point, President Schwarz said, there were more than 13,000 students on wait lists for classes.

"Our  fiscal situation has stabilized and improved," President Schwarz said, attributing it to a rebounding economy.  Therefore, she said, the College District will not ask voters for a renewal of the tax, which will expire in June.

President Schwarz again thanked voters for their support which helped the District "weather the storm" of fiscal exigency four years ago.

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