Baroque chamber music concert at Cuyamaca College

   

The members of the Windsor Hills Consort, a group dedicated to playing early music on period instruments, performed Sept. 27 at Cuyamaca College as part of the fall concert series. The group played baroque music composed by Georg Telemann (1681-1767), George Handel (1685-1759), Johann Quantz (1697-1773) and others.

You can watch a short video here.

The members of the group are: Cathe Sobke, recorder; Ulla Sinz, recorder; Elizabeth Rose, treble, tenor and bass viols; Taylor Smith, bass viol; Margaret Gaillard, harpsichord; and Andrew Peterson, harpsichord.



The next concert in the fall series will feature the Cuyamaca College Concert Band on Oct. 12. For more information, visit www.cuyamaca.edu/performingarts   Mark your calendar!

Assemblyman Marty Block says community colleges still provide a quality education

Assemblyman Marty Block and panel members at Grossmont College

      Assemblyman Marty Block gave his thoughts on California education and answered a wide range of questions about community colleges from students and faculty during a visit to Grossmont College on Tuesday.

        Block, chairman of the Assembly Higher Education Committee, was invited to the campus by Grossmont journalism professor Don Harrison.

         Block said that California community colleges still provide a quality education for students despite budget cuts that have limited the number of classes offered and raised student fees.

        “I think California in general, and Grossmont-Cuyamaca in particular, still manages to do an incredible amount with very little resources,” Block said. “Quality education is not a problem in California. I would put our community colleges up against any like institutions in the country in terms of quality.”

Assemblyman Marty Block to visit Grossmont September 27

Assemblyman Marty Block

Assemblyman Marty Block (D-78th), chairman of the Assembly’s Committee on Higher Education, will visit Grossmont College on Tuesday, Sept. 27 to participate in a special, on-campus panel and discuss the impacts of the state budget on Grossmont College. The hour-long meeting will begin at 11 a.m. in Building 26, Room 220. The public is invited to attend.

Block, whose committee oversees all legislation affecting colleges and universities, will be questioned by a panel that will include: Sue Gonda, president of the Grossmont College Academic Senate; Russ Lindquist, editor of the Grossmont College Summit, the student newspaper; and, Marc Arizmendez, news director for Griffin Radio, the campus radio station. The event was organized and will be moderated by Donald H. Harrison, an adjunct journalism instructor who has covered Block in various capacities over his career. Block will be welcomed by Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District Chancellor Cindy L. Miles and Grossmont President Sunita Cooke.

2011-12 theatre arts season at Grossmont College



 

Check out the plays being performed this season at Grossmont College! The first show is on October 6.

Dead Man’s Cell Phone

By Sarah Ruhl

Directed by Martin Katz

October 6, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 15 at 7:30pm October 8 & 15 at 2:00pm A café, a dead man, and a cell phone that won’t stop ringing. When Jean, a stranger from the next table, decides to answer it she sets in motion a chain of events that is, by turns, baffling, mysterious, comic, and grim. As Jean becomes involved with the dead man’s wife, mother, mistress and brother, she begins to suspect that her life will never be the same again.

Grossmont College to host novelist Cris Mazza on Oct. 12

Novelist Cris Mazza

Author Cris Mazza, a San Diego native whose writings have been reviewed nationwide, will be speaking Oct. 12 at Grossmont College as part of its Fall 2011 Semester Reading Series sponsored by the college English Department’s Creative Writing Program. The Oct. 12 event will be held at 12:30 p.m. in Building 26, Room 220, on the El Cajon campus. Admission is free and the public is invited to attend.

Mazza,, who now lives in Chicago, is a professor and director of the Program for Writers at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Mazza’s writings discuss the psychological and emotional complexities of life, as well as how a region’s society and culture impact the human experience, including sexuality, family, authority and gender. Her most recent novel, published in January, is “Various Men Who Knew Us as Girls,” is a story about a woman whose life changes when she decides to rescue a teenage Mexican prostitute.

A delightful evening of jazz at Cuyamaca College

The fall concert series at Cuyamaca College opened Thursday night with a jazz performance by the Chuck Walker Trio. Walker, an instruction assistant at Cuyamaca's performing arts department, played guitar. He was joined by: Daniel Jackson on piano and tenor saxophone; vocalist Kasey Coe; Don Shaffer on trumpet; Bryan Gambell and Joe Trujillo playing upright bass, and Mark Cooper on drums.

The audience, which included Cuyamaca College President Mark Zacovic, enjoyed a delightful evening in the main theater at Cuyamaca College's Communications Arts building. It's a beautiful venue with excellent acoustics.

Be sure to check out the next performance in the concert series on Sept. 22 at 7:30 p.m. Miles Shrewsbery and Rahul Neuman will be performing North Indian classical music for tabla and sitar. Tickets are $8 for the public, and $5 for students and seniors.



District board approves $179 million budget

The Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District approved a $179 million budget for 2011-2012 that anticipates a $6.3 million cut in state funding this year.

As a result of the state budget cuts, the spending plan passed by the governing board Tuesday night includes the elimination of 600 class sections this year at the district’s two colleges, Grossmont College in El Cajon and Cuyamaca College in Rancho San Diego. The class section cuts – part of a state-mandated “workload reduction” -- mean that about 2,300 students will be turned away this year at the colleges. The district has already cut 1,000 class sections over the past two years because of reductions in state funding.

Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges remember 9/11

Grossmont College students and President Sunny Cooke (far left) remembered the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks by planting an olive tree on campus on Sept. 13. Before the tree was planted, students wrote their thoughts and feelings on small cards and then tied the cards with ribbon to the branches of the tree. The students wrote about such topics as bravery, resilience, faith and freedom inspired by the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. and Flight 93. Grossmont College’s 9/11 memorial activities were planned by the Student Affairs Office and the Associated Students of Grossmont College, Inc.

At Cuyamaca College, students and staff remembered 9/11 by planting 2,998 small American flags in a space on campus -- each flag representing a victim of the attacks. Cuyamaca College President Mark Zacovic led a moment of silence in a ceremony on Sept. 12.

(Both ceremonies were delayed because of the power outage that caused campuses to close on Sept. 9.)

Donald Walker obituary

Donald Walker, who served as chancellor of the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District from 1983 to 1992, died Aug. 12 in Los Angeles at the age of 90. Read the Union-Tribune's obituary describing Walker as a brilliant educator who left his mark on the field.

Grossmont College scholarship winners honored at breakfast

Sixty-one Grossmont College students were honored at the Fall Scholarship Awards Breakfast Sept. 10, with a total of $44,000 awarded. Recipients included 27 students who got Osher scholarships, and 34 other awards totaling $17,000.

Each student has overcome adversity to reach their success -- including single parents, physical challenges or immigrants who have had to learn the English language.

The event was presented by the Foundation for Grossmont and Cuyamaca Colleges and the Grossmont College Scholarship Department. These scholarships are competitive and based on a selection process established by the Grossmont College Scholarship Advisory Committee and any additional criteria established by the sponsor.

Power outage forces closures at Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges

Because of the power outage, all classes and student activities are cancelled Friday, September 9. Offices at the District and the Grossmont and Cuyamaca campuses are also closed on Friday.

All student activities resume on Saturday, September 10. Offices will be open on Monday and classes will be held as scheduled.

Public forum set for college district's educational master plan

Want to have a voice in the future of East County’s community colleges?

The Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District is in the midst of a yearlong effort to craft its educational master plan and wants to hear from the public it serves.

A community forum is set for 7:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 22, in room I-207 of the Cuyamaca College Student Center to provide the public an opportunity to contribute to the long-range blueprint for the future of Grossmont and Cuyamaca Colleges, which together serve almost 30,000 students each year. The topics and ideas that crop up during the discussion will help shape the future of higher education in the East County in the next 15 to 20 years.

Grossmont College to celebrate 50th anniversary with fundraising celebration on Saturday, Oct. 22

“Fifty and Fantabulous” is the theme of the fundraising celebration that will be held Oct. 22 to celebrate Grossmont College’s 50th anniversary. Guests are encouraged to dress in the attire they may have worn as a college student, whether it’s the peace beads of the 1960s or the acid-washed jeans of the 1980s.

The party will be held at Grossmont College’s Health and Sciences Complex, the newest building at the school’s El Cajon campus. The event is hosted by the Foundation for Grossmont and Cuyamaca Colleges, the recently-formed fundraising organization that supports students and educational programs at Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges. The event starts at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 22, and tickets cost $175 per person.

A new foundation for Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges

A new foundation that will strengthen fundraising for East County’s two community colleges has been established to better connect with alumni and broaden the sources of money coming in to support the schools.

The Foundation for Grossmont and Cuyamaca Colleges continues the work of the two separate foundations at Grossmont College and Cuyamaca College to raise money for scholarships, facilities and college programs.

“This foundation will make the best use of our resources and avoid duplication in the community as we expand our efforts to raise money for our students and provide them with a better education,” said Cindy L. Miles, chancellor of the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District.  

Grossmont College marks 9/11 anniversary

To mark the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on
the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington,
D.C. and Flight 93, students at Grossmont College will plant an olive
tree of remembrance on the El Cajon campus. The tree planting ceremony
will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 9 at a lawn area adjacent to
building #53.

The date before the tree planting, between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. on
Thursday, Sept. 8, students will have the opportunity to write their
thoughts and feelings on small cards and then tie the cards with string
to the branches of the olive tree, which will be located on that day
along a walkway between classroom building #55 and the Learning Resource
Technology Center (LTRC) building.

Grossmont College's 9/11 memorial activities are being planned by the
Grossmont College Student Affairs Office and the Associated Students of
Grossmont College, Inc.