Trio picked for annual classified employee excellence award

Veronica Nieves-Cortez

Tiffany Hungerford

Dave Steinmetz

A tutoring specialist, an audio-visual equipment tech and a campus parking staffer are this year’s picks as the top non-instructional employees in the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District.

Cuyamaca College Tutoring Center Specialist Veronica Nieves-Cortez, District Services Campus and Parking Services Specialist Tiffany Hungerford and Grossmont College Senior Instructional Media Services Technician David Steinmetz received trophies and warm praise at this month’s Governing Board meeting as the 2015 recipients of the Chancellor/Classified Senate Award.

Bill Garrett returning as Governing Board president

From left, Bill Garrett, Mary Kay Rosinski, and Edwin Hiel

Bill Garrett was unanimously selected Tuesday night to lead the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District Governing Board for the ninth straight year.
Garrett, a retired El Cajon city manager, has served since 2008 as board president for the East County college district, which enrolls about 28,000 students at Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges.

District's parking cops give more than tickets

Terria Bridgeford takes inventory of the
 latest batch of  unclaimed
lost-and-found items.

The Campus and Parking Services folks at the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District may not be known for spreading holiday cheer, given that, among other things, they’re the parking enforcers at the two East County campuses.

But far from being Christmas Grinches or parsimonious Scrooges, the department is involved in charitable efforts benefitting students of modest means, medical clinics in developing nations, and military veterans who have returned home wounded from the Middle East conflicts. Items collected through Lost and Found that go unclaimed for 90 days are donated to such worthy causes, instead of being tossed into the recycling bin.

Grossmont College student a seasoned musician taking the stage at Cuyamaca’s Winter Wonder Jam

Ilya Shatov will sing at Friday's Winter Wonder Fest

 Grossmont College student Ilya (pronounced “ill-ya”) Shatov can’t decide what he wants to pursue more – a career in medicine or a future in music.

So for now, he’s chasing both.

The Russian-born singer/songwriter--one of six acts taking the stage Friday at Cuyamaca College’s Winter Wonder Jam--is a former guitarist and vocalist for the pop punk band, A Dull Science, which toured the western and Midwestern United States and put on about 400 shows during its seven-year existence. Winning numerous Battle of the Bands awards and songwriting competitions, A Dull Science captured    “Best Punk Artist” honors at the Hollywood Music Awards in 2008, and played with the likes of P.O.D., A Flock of Seagulls, Lou Gramm of Foreigner, and the Ataris.