Mountain Views News          Saturday, August 9, 2014

4

Mountain View News Saturday, August 9, 2014 


Pasadena 
News Briefs

By Dean Lee 

Although the Pasadena City 
College Board of Trustees 
announced Thursday that 
Dr. Mark Rocha, PCC 
Superintendent-President will 
retire at the end of this month; 
his decision to step down had 
been planned for months —
even before applying for the 
presidency of Kingsborough 
Community College in New 
York. 

 College Trustee Bill Thomson 
said the board had been 
working on the timing and 
terms of him retirement. The 
announcement comes suddenly 
after his contract was renewed 
in June and extended through 
June 2017. 

 Rocha said the decision was 
personal. 

 “I’ve started my tenth year as 
a community college president 
and that is a good long run in 
this kind of work. It’s time for 
me to spend more time with my 
family and return to my passion 
for teaching and writing.”

 Rocha was a finalist for 
president at Kingsborough 
Community College but did 
not get the job. Rocha’s wife also 
recently received a promotion 
that required her to move to 
New York. 

 Trustees said they will meet 
soon to appoint an interim 
president. The new fall semester 
starts Aug. 25.

 Under Rocha’s leadership 
the college’s accreditation was 
reaffirmed and an educational 
master plan was approved 
through shared governance 
that resulted in the First Year 
Experience Pathways Program 
that won for the college the 
Chancellor’s Award for Student 
Success in 2012. Rocha also 
successfully completed the 
Measure P bond construction 
program plan with the opening 
of the Center for the Arts and 
he led the transition to a new 
college-wide technology system 
and improved web-based 
services for students.

 “Together, we accomplished a 
great deal,” Rocha said. “But for 
me the most important changes 
are the smaller ones that make a 
difference in the everyday lives 
of people.”

PASADENA 
CITY COLLEGE 
PRESIDENT 
MARK ROCHA 
TO RETIRE

ART CENTER BUYS SOUTH 
ARROYO PARKWAY PROPERTY 

Largest Transaction in 
College’s 84-Year History, 
future plans include 
student housing 

Val Surf to Close

 The owners of the Southern 
California iconic surf and 
skateboard shop Val Surf have 
said they are closing the Old 
Pasadena location citing the 
high lease cost, record low 
snowfall and the economy —
this leaves the family-owned 
business started in 1962 in 
North Hollywood with just 
four locations.

 Val Surf co-founder Mark 
Richards told Californian 
Apparel News that “everything 
started to go out of control in 
2007,” the downturn in the 
economy. He said Pasadena 
relies on foot traffic, which he 
said it does not get anymore, 
and he said parking has always 
been an issue.

 Val Surf opened the 
5,500-square-foot store 169 
West Colorado Blvd in 2004.

Other locations include, 
Valley Village, Woodland Hills 
Thousand Oaks and Valencia.

Pasadena Car Chase 
ends in Highland Park

 A man wanted for shoplifting 
led police on a chase Tuesday 
through Pasadena before 
crashing a van and running 
into a motel in Highland Park. 
The incident started in the 
parking lot of a Target store 
on East Colorado Boulevard 
around 5:20 p.m. police said.

Shavar Alexander of Highland 
Park was arrested for 
alleged robbery after police 
surrounded, at gunpoint, a 
motel at York Boulevard and 
Avenue 49 in Highland Park. 
Pasadena police could be seen 
on the roof clearing out rooms 
before Alexander was arrested.

 Another female suspect was 
arrested in connection with 
the robbery. Police followed 
Alexander by helicopter to the 
motel where he crashed into a 
car and tree before running.

Mother Arrested after 
2 Children Found Left 
in Car 

 Two children, a 3-year-
old and 7-year-old, were 
hospitalized last week after they 
were found left in a car on Fair 
Oaks Avenue –their mother, 
Corina Lopez, was arrested at 
the scene on suspicion of child 
endangerment.

 Pasadena Fire officials said 
they were called to the 1800 
block of North Fair Oaks 
Avenue Aug. 1 around 2:30 
p.m. after the children were 
found in the vehicle “for an 
undetermined period of time.”

 The children were transported 
to Huntington Memorial 
Hospital. An investigation is 
ongoing.

 

 Art Center College of 
Design President Lorne 
Buchman announced last 
week the acquisition of 
1111 South Arroyo Parkway 
and plans to build student 
housing on South Raymond 
Avenue in Pasadena.

 The largest transaction in 
the College’s history, the 
$27.4 million purchase 
of the building at the 
gateway to Pasadena was 
made possible in large part 
due to the reallocation 
of an unprecedented $15 
million gift to Art Center 
from Southern California 
philanthropists and classic 
car enthusiasts Peter and 
Merle Mullin. 

 A prominent feature of the 
new Mullin Building will be 
a street-level gallery, open 
to the public, showcasing 
work created by students 
along with vehicles from the 
Mullins’ extensive vintage 
automobile collection. 
The facility will include 
classrooms, a “making” 
workshop and studio spaces, 
as well as administrative 
offices. The purchase provides 
much needed square footage 
for the transportation and 
industrial design shops and 
programs for the college.

 “It’s about great education,” 
said Peter Mullin, an Art 
Center trustee. “We want 
to help provide first-rate 
facilities for what is clearly 
the leading institution 
of art and design higher 
education.”

 Mullin continued. “It 
doubles the space a newly 
built facility would have 
afforded the College and 
it is simply in the College’s 
best interest—and in the 
best interest of Art Center 
students—to take advantage 
of this unique opportunity.”

Buchman also announced 
Art Center’s plan to provide 
students with housing. The 
College hopes to break 
ground in 2017 to build its 
first residential complex for 
approximately 250 to 300 
students.

 “We’re thrilled with the idea 
of offering students a place 
to live on campus, which 
will dramatically enhance 
campus life and contribute 
to our students’ overall 
success in class, on campus 
and in the world,” said Ray 
Quirolgico, associate provost 
for Student Affairs. 

 San Diego-based Studio E 
Architects will design the 
student housing facility, 
and local urban planners, 
Symphony Development, 
will build the complex.

President Mark Rocha Photo D.Lee/MVNews

Altadena 
V.I.D.A. 
Program 

to Begin

Free Lecture – Curiosity 
Two Year Anniversary

 
Open Enrollment for the 
Altadena VIDA program 
ends Monday at 5pm. It's 
the last chance to enroll 
for the program. The 
application can be found at 
http://vida.la/ 

 The V.I.D.A (vital 
intervention direction 
awareness) program 
is currently accepting 
applications for their at-risk 
youth program. The goal 
of V.I.D.A is to put at-risk 
youth back on the right track 
through military structured 
activities that promote 
integrity, confidence, and 
self-esteem. The program 
will be a total of 16 weeks 
starting from August 13th 
and will go until December 
16th. We will meet two 
times during the week, once 
on Wednesday from 7-9pm 
involving the child plus the 
parent and once on Saturday 
from 8am-4pm involving 
only the child. If you have 
a child form the age of 
11-17 who has problems 
with drugs, alcohol, and or 
disobedience, this program 
may be just what they need 
to break their habits and 
get them 2on the right 
track to success. If you have 
any questions about our 
program, contact Deputy 
Walters at (661) 753-6293 
and she will be happy to 
assist you.


The entire NASA Curiosity Mars Rover team poses for a picture 
at JPL on the second anniversary of the mission landing on Mars. 

 NASA’s most advanced roving 
laboratory on Mars celebrates 
its second anniversary Tuesday 
since landing inside the Red 
Planet’s Gale Crater on Aug. 5, 
2012.

 During its first year of 
operations, the Curiosity 
rover fulfilled its major 
science goal of determining 
whether Mars ever offered 
environmental conditions 
favorable for microbial life. 
Clay-bearing sedimentary 
rocks on the crater floor in an 
area called Yellowknife Bay 
yielded evidence of a lakebed 
environment billions of years 
ago that offered fresh water, all 
of the key elemental ingredients 
for life, and a chemical source 
of energy for microbes, if any 
existed there.

 “Before landing, we expected 
that we would need to drive 
much farther before answering 
that habitability question,” said 
Curiosity Project Scientist John 
Grotzinger of the California 
Institute of Technology, 
Pasadena. “We were able to 
take advantage of landing very 
close to an ancient streambed 
and lake. Now we want to learn 
more about how environmental 
conditions on Mars evolved, 
and we know where to go to do 
that.”

 During its second year, 
Curiosity has been driving 
toward long-term science 
destinations on lower slopes 
of Mount Sharp. Those 
destinations are in an area 
beginning about 2 miles (3 
kilometers) southwest of the 
rover’s current location, but 
an appetizer outcrop of a base 
layer of the mountain lies much 
closer -- less than one-third 
of a mile (500 meters) from 
Curiosity. The rover team is 
calling the outcrop “Pahrump 
Hills.”

In related News 

Two free lectures, “Curiosity’s 
Second Year: The Epic and 
Occasionally Bogus Journey 
to the Foothills of Mt. Sharp,” 
will be held one at JPL and the 
other at Pasadnea City College. 
This talk will reveal some of the 
latest results from the last two 
years of work on the surface of 
the Red Planet. Lectures are on 
a first-come, first-served basis.

 August 14 at JPL; The von 
Kármán Auditorium at JPL 4800 
Oak Grove Drive Pasadena.

August 15 at Pasadena City 
College; The Vosloh Forum 
1570 East Colorado Blvd. 
Pasadena.

Both start at 7 p.m.

1111 South Arroyo Parkway

PASADENA ANTIQUES SHOW 
TO BE HELD THIS WEEKEND 

 

 The Pasadena Antique Show 
will feature rare treasures, 
antiques, fine art, decorative 
arts, jewelry, and vintage 
collectibles this weekend. 

 Quality licensed antique 
dealers fill the Pasadena 
Center’s Exhibit Hall B 
with every type of antique 
imaginable, all on display, 
and, all for sale. Select from 
a wide range of top quality 
antiques, furniture, heirloom 
jewelry, vintage time pieces, 
porcelains, bronzes, silver, art 
glass, crystal, folk art, quilts, 
rugs, linens and many other 
unique antique treasures. 
The seasoned enthusiast, 
beginning collector or simply 
someone browsing should 
not miss this extraordinary 
opportunity to experience so 
many fine collections all in 
one location.

 Established in 1975 by 
Bustamante Enterprises, 
this is one of Pasadena’s 
finest events of its kind. 
Bustamante shows are a 
pleasant experience for both 
customers and exhibitors 
alike, brought to yhe public 
in a comfortable and pleasant 
environment. Exhibitors 
must abide by an established 
code of ethics, one of the 
highest in the industry. With 
this assurance, customers can 
always shop with complete 
confidence.

 The Pasadena Antique Show 
generally opens to the public 
Saturday from 11 am to 7 pm 
and Sunday 11 am to 5 pm. 
General admission $8.00, 
Seniors (62+ years) $5.00, 
and Children under 12 are 
admitted free. The Pasadena 
Center, 300 East Green 
Street, Pasadena, CA, just 
one block east of Old Town 
and directly across from 
The Paseo Colorado Mall. 
Ample parking is available. 
For more information visit 
bustamante-shows.com.

Pet of the 
Week


Schiff Votes 
to Declassify 
Benghazi 
Report

FREE SENIOR EVENTS

 There is something for 
everyone in August at the 
Pasadena Senior Center, 85 E. 
Holly St. You do not have to be a 
member to attend. Some events 
require advance reservations as 
noted. 

 Reverse Mortgages – Thursday, 
Aug. 14, at noon. The Federal 
Housing Administration’s 
reverse mortgage program has 
undergone recent modifications 
to ensure continued viability as 
a retirement cash flow planning 
tool. Learn about the changes 
and whether a reverse mortgage 
might be right for you. A boxed 
lunch will be served to the 
first 50 people with confirmed 
reservations. RSVP to 626-
795-4331. Presented by Senior 
Funding Associates.

 Friday Movie Matinees 
Fridays, Aug. 15 and 29, at 1 
p.m. Movies can take us to other 
places and times like nothing 
else. Aug 15: “Seven Brides for 
Seven Brothers” (1954) starring 
Jane Powell and Howard Keel. 
Aug. 29: “Still Mine” (2012, PG-
13) starring James Cromwell 
and Geneviève Bujold. 

 Health Fair – Friday, Aug. 
15, from 9 to 11 a.m. Glucose, 
blood pressure and hearing 
screenings are among the 
servicers offered. Health fairs 
take place the third Friday of 
every month.

 

Nine Big Mistakes Retirees 
Make – Thursday, Aug. 
21, at 10 a.m. Explore the 
consequences of not planning 
for unexpected health care 
expenses, neglecting the effects 
of inflation on investments 
and other common mistakes. 
Presented by Flow Financial 
Partners. 

 Book Club at the Center – 
Friday, Aug. 22, at 1 p.m. Read 
“Caleb’s Crossing” by Geraldine 
Brooks and then join members 
of the Senior Center Book Club 
for a discussion. A young girl in 
1660s America makes friends 
with a Native American boy. 
They forge a bond that draws 
each into the world of the other. 
For more information call Judy 
Starlight at (626) 685-6706.

 Estate Planning Part Two – 
Thursday, Aug. 28, at 10 a.m. 
Learn the basics about estate 
taxes, conservatorships and 
durable power of attorney. 
Presented by the Law Office of 
Geoffrey Chin. 

 Founded in 1959, the Pasadena 
Senior Center is an independent, 
nonprofit organization that 
offers recreational, educational, 
wellness and social services to 
people ages 50 and over in a 
friendly environment. Services 
are also provided for frail, 
low-income and homebound 
seniors.

 Rep. Adam Schiff, a senior 
Member of the Intelligence 
Committee and Member of the 
Benghazi Select Committee, 
released the following 
statement last week after the 
Intelligence Committee voted 
to approve its investigative 
report on the Benghazi attack, 
which will now go through 
classification review for public 
release:

 “The Intelligence Committee 
report adds to the body 
of investigative work now 
completed by numerous 
committees in Congress, 
and reaches the same 
noncontroversial conclusions 
– that the initial talking 
points provided by the 
intelligence community were 
flawed because of conflicting 
assessments not an intention 
to deceive, that there was no 
stand down order, that the 
diplomatic facilities lacked 
adequate security, and that our 
personnel at the scene acted 
bravely and appropriately. 

 “This bipartisan report should 
be declassified quickly, so that 
the American people may 
know what we have learned 
behind closed doors, and how 
it concurs with other analysis 
already made public.”

Learn How to Produce 
Your Own TV Show

 Luke is a is brown and 
white, young adult rabbit. 
He enjoys being petted and 
nibbling on wooden blocks.

 Luke’s adoption fee is $30, 
which includes his neuter 
surgery, a microchip, the first 
set of vaccinations, as well 
as a free follow-up health 
check at a participating vet. 
New adopters will receive 
complimentary health and 
wellness exam from VCA 
Animal Hospitals, as well 
as a goody bag filled with 
information on how to care 
for your pet. 

 Call the Pasadena 
Humane Society & SPCA at 
626.792.7151 to ask about 
A361088, or visit at 361 S. 
Raymond Ave. in Pasadena. 
Adoption hours are 11-4 
Sunday, 9-5 Tuesday –
Friday, 9-4 Saturday. Pets 
may not be available for 
adoption and cannot be 
held for potential adopters 
from phone calls or email. 
Directions and photos of all 
pets can be found at www.
pasadenahumane.org.

 New Citizen Journalism 
training starts Wednesday 
nights, learn how to report 
news using social media 
skills.

 With the opening of the new 
Pasadena Media studios at 150 
S. Los Robles Ave, they are 
offering free television-training 
programs for producers. Plan 
to attend an orientation to 
discover the right classes for 
you. Producers’ Training 
teaches how to produce shows 
for The Arroyo Channel. Studio 
Production/Equipment training 
is also offered to volunteer 
crewmembers. In addition, 
on-going training will soon be 
available in citizen journalism 
and digital film groups. Call the 
office (626) 794-8585 or go to 
PASADENAMEDIA.ORG and 
explore what Pasadena Media 
has to offer.


Class Offerings 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm Nightly

Station Schedule 

Producers’ Training

Monday Aug. 11 at 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

PCAC Board of Directors - Special Meeting

Tuesday Aug. 12 at 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Orientation & Tour

Wednesday Aug. 13 at 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Citizen Journalism Training

Wednesday Aug. 13 at 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. 

Basic Editing

Thursday Aug. 14 at 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.