Good multicultural vibe at the "Learning Center" celebration/lunch

It was in that whizz-bang room on the top floor of the Library.

The student at left demonstrated his Japanese speaking and bowing. Others told tales of Center wonderfulness and fabulousness.

Irvine Valley College's Learning Center held a "multicultural" celebration and lunch in that wacky whizz-bang room up on the second floor of the Library today. The Chancellor, the college President, the Dean, and the people who run the center (Bob Kopecky and Larisa Sergeyeva--see above) made brief presentations, as did various faculty and students who regularly use the center.

Japanese language instructor Fumiko Ishii had lots to say about the Center and its usefulness.

Karima, Larisa, and Bob (formerly "Park Ranger Kopecky").

Judging by the turnout and smiley faces, the event was a huge success. I had to leave half way into it (to teach), and, by then, there were lots more attendees than seats. A crowd had squeazed together in the hallway outside the room, creating a dynamic that threatened to tear down the back wall and initiate a domino effect that, no doubt, would have resulted in the end of civilization as we know it.

Yeah, but that didn't happen, as far as I know. A good time was had by all.


MEANWHILE, over near B200, I noticed that yet another sculpture had materialized on campus. It would seem to be part of IVC's "First Bi-Annual Outdoor Sculpture Invitational."

The good news: I like it

The bad news: I'm told that a really nice tree had to be removed to locate the sculpture in this prime location. D'oh!

There will be an "Open Gallery Reception & Meet the Artists Walking Tour" on Wednesday, May 13, at the IVC A Quad.

Bean packing plant in Irvine (Tia Juana's)

A few weeks ago, I posted the above picture of an "Irvine bean packing plant," which I found in the OC Almanac (OC Public Library). It seemed to me that this is the structure one finds today along Sand Canyon and interstate 5 and houses, among other things, Tia Juana’s Long Bar and Restaurante. So, I dropped by there today and took this pic:

Looks like a match to me. (The train tracks are on the other side of the building, which is unaccessible.)

I Googled Tia Juana's and found the site for the restaurant. There, we're told:

Tia Juana’s was the perfect fit for the 1885 lima bean warehouse. Once the center of the vast Irvine Ranch, the warehouse was originally built to process the lima beans which were grown on what is now El Toro Marine Base. At harvest time, as many as 200,000 hundred-pound sacks of lima beans would be shipped all over the world from the rail line at the back of the building.

As agriculture gave way to the high-tech urban Orange County, the warehouse was restored and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Tia Juana’s Long Bar and Restaurante moved in that same year [1986], using great care to preserve the original character of the building. Even when new touches, such as the murals that are painted on the walls, were added, they were installed on new wood, which overlays the old, leaving the walls intact. Most of the original equipment is located throughout the building and stored in the loft overhead.

While the ranch hands of a hundred years ago would indeed be surprised at how the building is being used today, we believe they would approve and would enjoy Tia Juana’s, as we hope you are.

Elsewhere on the site, we're told that the "bean and grain storage warehouse" was built in 1895, the blacksmith's shop was built c. 1916, and the hotel was built c. 1913. The site includes the following photos:

Old Town Irvine, across from Tia Juana's, this afternoon

Community colleges go prime time

This morning’s Inside Higher Ed reports on a new NBC comedy about lovable losers at a fictional community college. (Poking Fun at Community Colleges.)

…Monday, NBC announced its fall lineup, including “Community,” a comedy about a lovable group of "losers" at Greendale Community College, a fictional two-year institution. The show comes from the creative minds of Joe and Anthony Russo, who won Emmy Awards for directing several episodes of the now-defunct Fox sitcom “Arrested Development.”

“It's been said that community college is a ‘halfway school’ for losers, a self esteem workshop for newly divorced housewives, and a place where old people go to keep their minds active as they circle the drain of eternity,” reads a network description of the show. “Well, at Greendale Community College ... that's all true.”

The show will star Joel McHale (of “The Soup”) and Chevy Chase (of nothing). Chase plays a perpetual student.

Naturally, many community college leaders are pissed about this. But some aren’t. Betty K. Young, President of Houston Community College’s Coleman College for Health Sciences, declares

“It could be a great statement about the role that community colleges play in society,” Young said. “A few years ago, people pretended that we didn’t exist. Now, we’re going to become a prime-time television show. That’s amazing, and it’s recognition that community colleges are a uniquely American institution.”

Drat! I guess NBC didn’t like my idea about a loveable bunch of community college instructors struggling to rid their district of a ruthless and incompetent chancellor and the clueless right-wing board that perpetually supports him.

Too real, I guess.

End of Semester Follies

It's the end of the semester.

This means that students are rustling through the hallways, searching for instructors whose last names they can't remember ("Mac, Mac, Mac - something," sputtered one. "He's an old guy.") and faculty offices they've never visited before ("Can I walk in here?" asked another, pointing to the general office area.)

The flurry of celebration invitations and announcements has become an avalanche in the virtual email box (jazz picnics! banquets! retirement parties! retirement receptions! transfer celebrations! art walks! multicultural menus! dance concerts! fairs! commencement!) What's a girl to do?

Ah yes, the signs of the season are here.

Along with the season, some questions have come our way.

Rebel Girl can't answer them but maybe you can.

Number One: A quick search of the college website reveals no announcements about the ever popular end-of-the-semester Scholarship Awards ceremeony where a parade of our best and brightest receive big checks. It could be that the announcement was lost in the previously mentioned avalanche but now more than a few student applicants have asked Rebel Girl about it. It could be that all of Rebel Girl's students are losers and the losers along with their instructors aren't told about the ceremeony. Harumph. But faculty who have written a dozen of so letters of recomendation deserve to know if they need to arrange for childcare or other plans in order to attend. When is the shin-dig scheduled?

Number 2: For some faculty, questions remain about the efficacy of the college's Early College Program at neighboring high schools. There are special concerns and questions about the teaching of particular biology courses to such a young audience.

Number 3: Some people remain curous about the reasons the flag was flown at half-mast for about a week in mid-semester. Any ideas?

Number 4: Will shrimp be served at the faculty reception before commencement?

Number 5: Will the chancellor's commencement speech be its usual stew of Bartlett's Quotations meets Hallmark? Rumor has it that someone is running a pool about the number of quotations Raghu will use in his speech. Rebel Girl heard that last year's winner walked away with $175 - not bad for a five dollar investment. The winning number last year? 15!


UPDATE:

I think it is only fair to note that a notice regarding the Scholarship event (see below) did in fact go out on Fri 3/27/2009 @ 11:01 AM. This has been verified. See below. --RB