Fifteen units, weekly quizzes as well as biweekly deadlines—that made up the load of work I carried just for school. Between that, a new job and helping my family, I also had to find time to squeeze in 15 hours of volunteer work for a service-learning project I dreaded.

When I was assigned my service-learning project for a psychology class, I added it to my list of things I did not look forward to doing. However, when I arrived to start in October as a first-time volunteer at Meals on Wheels’ Skyline site and found the coordinator prepping to feed 80 seniors alone, I was more than eager to step in and help.

Meals on Wheels is a nonprofit organization dedicated to delivering nutritional meals to seniors across the nation. According to the Meals on Wheels Association of America website, the service provides millions of meals to seniors experiencing hunger and challenged by limited mobility.

Today, many nonprofit organizations are overwhelmed and understaffed. According to the National Center for Charitable Statistics, there are over 1 million nonprofit organizations in the United States. That number is drastically disproportionate to the 62,000 active volunteers who were accounted for in the 2010 census,…» Read More

City College geography professors will host the 25th anniversary of Geography Awareness week event Monday Nov. 8 from noon-1 p.m. in Learning Resource Center 105.

Geography professors Craig Davis and Michael Hunter have hosted Geography Awareness Week for the past seven years. Davis and Hunter invited Central Geography Information Systems Manager of Sacramento Maria MacGunigal to City College to explain and discuss a recent redistricting process the city underwent.

According to Davis, MacGunigal will be discussing the redistricting process that Sacramento underwent upon completion of the 2010 Census.

“I’ve known Maria for quite some time,” Davis said. “She’s definitely a product of this area.”

Davis said the event takes place every third week of November and encourages students, families and community members to focus on the importance of geography. The goal of the event is to invite and offer information to students as well as people in the community.

“We also would like to let students know that there are jobs in geography,” Davis said.

Eric Alston, a student at City College, wasn’t informed of the event or awareness week, but is familiar with the redistricting process of City Council boundaries.

“This would give students a good…» Read More

City College water polo Head Coach Steve Hanson was left with a yellow card and a 7-14 loss in the match Oct. 12 against Modesto Junior College.

According to Hanson, a lot of calls were made inconsistently for both sides prior to the card.

The water polo team assistant coach Jon Gullone said the yellow card given to Hanson was a warning from officials for too many complaints.

City College’s water polo team was slow in recognizing how the players needed to facilitate for the offense during gameplay, Hanson said, which resulted in forced bad shots.

Athlete Lauren Ficarelli, 20, environmental studies major originally from Hawaii, said she dealt with the excessive aggression coming from the opponent as just another thing she had to let blow over her head.

“If that affects you, you’ve already lost,” Ficarelli said about the aggression during the match.

“The refs weren’t doing their job very well at all for either sides,” said Carson Hicks, a fan in attendance at the game.

The water polo athletes will continue to work on fundamentals during practices and face difficulties in infiltrating full-game scenarios with nine players, Gullone said.

Hanson said he saw progress…» Read More

City College’s Voices of Hope club plans to hold an anti-bullying event Oct. 12 in the Cultural Awareness Center to raise awareness, understanding and commitment to stop bullying.

“I think it’s important for students, staff and faculty understand what bullying is,” said Jan Lee, faculty adviser of Voices of Hope club. “It’s something that does go on in all walks of life.”

The first half hour of the event will consist of spoken word poetry pieces and will be followed by a panel of faculty prepared to speak on the issue of bullying, according to Lincoln Scott, vice president of Voices of Hope and the main organizer of the event.

“This was an event that Lincoln Scott pretty much took on his own shoulders,” said Lee.

According to Scott, he was inspired by Phoebe Prince, a high school student who committed suicide in January 2010 as a result of bullying at her school in Massachusetts. He said he was further compelled to take action after hearing and witnessing his friends and classmates’ bullying experiences.

“Students on this campus have been bullied for their sexual orientation or disability,” said Scott. “Some students have even said they’ve been bullied…» Read More

The City College water polo team was defeated 6-20, Sept. 28 by Sierra College.

Steve Hanson, head coach of the water polo team, said his expectations against Sierra’s team this season is for the women’s water polo team to improve and progress in techniques against the opponent.

“I knew it was going to be a tough game,” Hanson said. “We gave them a little more of a game than we did last year.”

An apparent challenge for the Panthers is in the number of players on the opposing team, which almost doubles that of City College.

“Their team is so small,” said Kim Ficarelli, a fan in attendance at the match. “They did the best they could.”

Athlete Holly Conn, child development major, said she recognized a missed opportunity when the Panthers should have slowed their power passes down to get shots off while they were up six players against five in the pool.

“Even though we didn’t capitalize on them, our scoring was consistent,” Hanson said.

The team now has to bring what they have learned from this game back to practice sessions and from there apply the techniques that were successful against themselves [during the match against Sierra…» Read More

Last season the City College volleyball team took second place in the Big 8 Conference trailing close behind Santa Rosa.

This year with an inexperienced team, head coach Laurie Nash said she is confident and will keep a victory momentum.

“My entire team will be key role players who will make huge contributions this year,” head coach Laurie Nash said.

Bumping, setting and spiking remain basic fundamentals the athletes focus on during practices, however tactics against each opponent differ and are catered to the rival’s strengths and weaknesses, Nash said.

“We always go over the same passing techniques,’‘ said Megan Pollock 19, a biological science major. “But our strategy about where we place the ball is different.”

Freshmen athlete, Brittanie McKenzie, 18, undecided major, said the prior teams she played for had different drill techniques than City College.

“It is very important to me, that these players understand that they improve everyday in practice,” Nash said about being proud of the athletes’ work ethic.

“Creating a hardworking practice environment usually breeds a very competitive team,” Nash said.

Members of the volleyball team said they are also excited about their offensive and defensive attributes that can make the 2011 season better…» Read More