Skyline College ceramics students participated for the thirteenth year in the annual California Conference for the Advancement of Ceramic Art, from October 22^nd to 23^rd in Davis. This two-day conference draws ceramic art students from all over the region to put on a display of their colleges’ artwork, and to attend exhibitions by other colleges and universities from California. Each school is provided a space in downtown Davis to transform into a gallery for the weekend. There were also many wonderful lectures by professional artists that included slide presentations and clay demonstrations.

 

This year, Skyline’s exhibit space was adjacent to those of UC Davis, Delta College, and San Jose State University. Setting up the show took a full day on Thursday and included installing pedestals, arranging the artwork, and adding professional signage. Ceramics Professor Tiffany Schmierer selected functional pottery pieces as well as sculptures for the show from the Ceramics II and Glazing Techniques ceramics classes. Art Studio Lab Technician Ashley Asaro helped to curate the show and exhibited work as well. Participating students welcomed guests to our show and shared their inspirations and techniques. The large variety of school exhibitions presented an excellent opportunity for students to connect with potential transfer schools, their instructors, and fellow students.

 

Photo and article by Tiffany Schmierer, Professor of Art

The Bay Area Entrepreneur Center held several events this past October which included, How to Use Zoom for your Business, Tax Law Updates 2021, Understanding your Business Cost, and

Personal Finance w/ Charles Kusuma. If you were not able to make it to these workshops you can find them on our YouTube page by searching Bay Area Entrepreneur Center. Our last two events before the holidays are coming up!

 

Reducing Your Business’ Carbon Footprint hosted by Gabrielle Hildebran:

November 9th at 4 PM

RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/186290087667

 

How to Use Canva:

November 11th at 1 PM

RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/170075531493

 

These will be the last workshops of the year. We hope that you are able to utilize these services. Feel free to check out our YouTube channel and follow us on IG and Facebook for more updates.

 

 

Article by Olivia Vialau

Students, faculty, and staff engaged in a Model United Nations event on Wednesday October 27. They also created a #ClimateRibbon art project with help from Andrea Fuentes (CTTL) and Alvin Gubatina (Student Life and Leadership).

 

The Climate Ribbon Project is an arts ritual to grieve what each of us stands to lose to Climate Chaos and affirm solidarity as we unite to fight against it.  Folks create their own ribbon, tie it on the display and others can read and take to wear if they want.

 

Model UN (MUN) students spoke about climate change and social justice.  The Model UN discusses international relations, global politics, and practice parliamentary debate in the style of the United Nations and participates in conferences with other colleges.

 

The Model UN meets every Monday at 6 pm Building 6 (Room 214) with Faculty Advisor Timothy Rottenberg.  Please feel free to come see what it is all about.

Article by Andrea Fuentes

The Classified Senate is excited to kick off its 3rd Annual Skyline College Classified Senate Student Scholarship Drive.

Last year, we exceeded our goal, thanks to your tremendous support and generosity! It has never been more critical to leverage the power of our campus community to further support our students through unprecedented times. The pandemic continues to drastically impact students’ financial stability and ability to earn income needed for their education.

Through this drive and our combined efforts, we hope to once more meet our goal of $2000 and continue to supporting students. 100% of the donations will be used to cover students’ tuition, fees, textbooks, course materials, and other educational related expenses; lessening the financial burden for students and that of their families.

During this year’s fundraising drive, we’re asking colleagues for a one-time donation of $10.00 (minimum) to help achieve our goal. All those who donate will be entered to win a hydro flask from the Skyline College Bookstore.

In times like this, we’re reminded of how interconnected we all are. Thank you for being part of our community. Without you, none of it is possible.

Alternatively, you may make your contribution on the Foundation’s website. In the “Designation” drop down menu, please choose “Other” as the option and write in “Skyline College Classified Senate Student Scholarship.” This way, the funds will go to that fundraising effort. Thank you!

Questions? Contact Jeremy Evangelista-Ramos or Belinda Chan.

Article by Belinda Chan and Jeremy Evangelista

Going to college in the United States is a family tradition for Sophie Huang, a rising senior at UC Berkeley and an Alumni at Skyline College. While Sophie and her family are from Indonesia, both of her parents studied in the United States. They even met in San Francisco!

Sophie’s elder sister is also a Skyline College Alumni, “some of our family live close to Skyline [College], and so they introduced Skyline [College] to my older sister, and my older sister introduced it to me.” Her sister told Sophie that it would be “quite challenging at first.” Nevertheless, she also said that studying in the United States, “makes you think bigger and have a different perspective,” and that Skyline College “provided a lot of resources,” something Sophie would later experience first-hand.

Sophie initially faced cultural, academic, and linguistic barriers. However, she had a lot of support, especially from the International Student Program (ISP). The ISP helped with everything from registering for classes to assisting with finding transportation and managing American bank accounts. In addition, Sophie met friends at the ISP’s events, and found useful information, for example, she got information about how to transfer to certain universities. She is still in contact with staff at the International Student Program, from whom she still gets support.

After a semester, she adjusted and began to dive headfirst into college life. Sophie majored in Business Administration, which allowed her to understand marketing, “think bigger,” and “gain interpersonal skills.” She says Economics Professor Masao Suzuki was especially helpful. He acted as a “support system” for her and gave advice on transferring to UC Berkeley. She still talks to him to this day.

Besides academics Sophie also became very involved with campus life, “I wanted to make my family proud, so I always [found] resources that allow[ed] me to strive further.” Sophie eventually became the president of the International Student Club, an executive at the Phi Theta Kappa Academic Honor Society, and the co-president of the Kappa Beta Delta Business Honor Society.

At the International Student Club, she planned academic and social events. Sophie also got to “work closely with the college president and the college administration,” while creating a sustainability project for the Academic Honor Society. She helped students find scholarships, planned networking events, and provided professional/academic resources at the Business Honors Society.

Sophie learned a lot from working with fellow club officers and members, “I would really suggest students to be part of these organizations because communication and collaborative skills are very important.” She’s had many professionals tell her these skills are must-haves.

Sophie also found jobs at Skyline. She was a Student Ambassador for a Semester. There she helped create the new orientation and was able to share her experiences as an International Student. She was also a business tutor, a job in which she learned how to work with a variety of learning styles, “​​it’s really rewarding to be able to… utilize your skills, to actually help other people and give back to the community.”

Sophie will soon graduate from UC Berkeley with an economics degree, and she plans to work in the United States before heading back to Indonesia. Sophie hopes to one day open her own business in Indonesia. She plans to center it around sustainability, as she believes the environment isn’t emphasized enough in Indonesia.

Sophie notes, “I really enjoyed my college experience at Skyline,” and she found that the smaller size of the campus allowed her to get involved and build relationships. People should “try something new, discover new things.”

 

Article by Evelyn Rossi

 

 

 

nEXO student trainees Shannon Hoang, Jiries Kaileh, Madeleine McSwain, Brendan Murtagh and physics professors Emilie Hein and Kolo Wamba represented Skyline College nEXO group at two national conferences in October.

 

The Skyline nEXO team attended a number of sessions at the Fall 2021 Meeting of the American Physics Society (APS), Division of Nuclear Physics (DNP) taking place October 11-14, 2021. Some of the sessions focused on recent developments in Nuclear Physics, including many updates from nEXO collaborators. Other sessions focused on diversity and inclusion in Nuclear Physics.

 

Professor Hein was honored to represent the Skyline nEXO group during a session entitled The Next Generation Nuclear Workforce. Other presenters also reported on their work done under the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Undergraduate Research Traineeship to Broaden and Diversify Nuclear Physics (TBD – NP), but Skyline College was the only community college represented. We seized this opportunity and used it to showcase the amazing, important and complex work that our students have been able to accomplish, and make the case  for community college students to be considered  more often for internship programs at other institutions as a way of diversifying in the field.

 

An important takeaway from the final town hall meeting of the conference was the importance that the U.S. DOE is now putting on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). It was acknowledged that an endemic problem of discrimination against women exists in the Nuclear Physics community, with offenses ranging from micro-aggressions to criminal sexual assault. In addition to the pointed warnings of  grave consequences for anyone who continues to engage in the offending behaviours or witnesses them without reporting them, it was also announced that the DOE is considering amending its program funding application process to require applicants to outline a DEI plan as a compulsory component  of every submitted proposal.  All of these developments are most welcome, and long overdue.

 

The Skyline nEXO group also participated in the 2021 SACNAS National Diversity in STEM (NDiSTEM) Digital Conference October 25-29. Shannon Hoang, Jiries Kaileh, Madeleine McSwain, Brendan Murtagh received scholarships from SACNAS to attend the conference and present posters on their work on nEXO.

 

Shannon has continued working on her project with assisting the SLAC Rn-still by calibrating a scale to help monitor the liquid Xenon for any changes in activity. She has also made a poster detailing themes in DEI using her podcast platform (@badatm4th) by interviewing team members of nEXO at SLAC and Stanford.

 

Jiries’s poster was about the investigation of electronic technology to be used for benchtop data acquisition systems at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. His poster overviewed the tests of the technology and what they indicated about their effectiveness for potential neutrinoless double beta decay capture.

 

Madeleine presented her work developing a more reliable and precise control setup for the XPM laser shutter, including the recorded experimental results as well as the theoretical results predicted in her further research.

 

Brendan’s poster was about his research on restoring the performance of damaged quartz optical fibers. His poster covered the theory behind the experiment, the experimental process, the results, and what further testing needs to be conducted.

 

In addition to the poster presentations, the Skyline nEXO team participated in many of the parallel breakout sessions.  The topic covered included exploring the universe with NASA, science communication and DEI, communicating science to diverse audiences, and lifting up the voices of individuals with disabilities in STEM.  A major highlight of the conference was the excellent presentation by theoretical astrophysicist Dr Chanda Prescod-Weinstein who gave one of the keynotes.  In their talk they discussed the intersections between STEM and social justice and explained how their own research and teaching align with this theme.

 

We are very proud to report that Brendan Murtagh was one of the undergraduate poster presentation awardees. “The Student Presentation Awards recognize the next generation of scientists and STEM leaders from historically excluded populations, while giving visibility to their research and home institutions. The awards also encourage students to continue pursuing the STEM fields,” said SACNAS President Dr. Pamela Padilla. “As a multidisciplinary scientific society, the opportunity to present research to a general scientific audience fosters the science communication skills needed to not only build public support for science, but also ensure that science is accessible to everyone.”

 

This material presented is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Structure & Nuclear Astrophysics, Pathways to Improved Representation in Nuclear Science under Award Number DE-SC0021954.  Prof Wamba and Prof Hein have applied to the District for professional development funds to pay for their participation in the SACNAS NDiSTEM conference.

 

Article by Shannon Hoang, Jiries Kaileh, Madeleine McSwain, Brendan Murtagh, Emilie Hein, and Kolo Wamba

Photo credit: Shannon Hoang, Jiries Kaileh, Madeleine McSwain, Brendan Murtagh

The Transfer Center hosted, “Student Breaking Barriers,” a virtual student alumni panel on Tuesday, October 26, 2021. Over 80 Attendees got the opportunity to hear from Kaelyn Malani who is a Business Administration major with a minor in Engineering Management at San Jose State University, Morelia Karina Cruz, a Mathematics major at UC Berkeley, and Mark Estrada an Asian American Studies major at San Francisco State. The panelist shared personal narratives of their educational experiences that inspired and motivated the audience. The conversation centered around ways in which Skyline helped them prepare for transfer and their careers, and advice they had for students considering transfer.

Our panelist Mark mentioned that what assisted him prepare for college was “Joining a learning community such as CIPHER” and the importance of connecting with people who went to his future ideal transfer school. Mark also suggested that students explore any extracurricular activities to build leadership and a network. Mark shared with the audience, that growing your network and connecting to others is essential as you prepare for your transfer journey. What some in the audience really responded to was how Mark was able to change majors and the power of his decisions to be able to follow his interest. Selecting a major can be challenging for many and his ability to share how he went from Psychology to Asian American Studies and the work he is doing in his community was refreshing.

Additionally, student got to hear what they can do now to be prepared for success at the university. While the college admission process can be competitive, Morelia shared that challenging yourself while at the community college was important. She explained that looking back on her experience she realizes that the, “professors that are hard, are the ones that helped me prepare the most for UC Berkeley,” and encouraged students to challenge themselves personally and academically. In addition, Kaelyn added that students seeking to transfer should also, “tak[e] higher requirement courses to make you look competitive.”  Lastly, Morelia encouraged students to really own their experience sharing, “it is your life, your journey, this is your chance to grow as a person, do not compare yourself to others.”

Attendees were able to fully engage with our panelist and ask many deep diving questions. A student attendee shared that they, “loved how real they [panelist] kept it with us. Telling us their own personal experience and the way they felt. Also, expressing their vulnerability at those times and the depth they had grabbed my attention. They were all very lively which I admired overall.” In an effort to build community the panelists were able to share their contact information with student attendees in hopes of providing them a support network. The virtual Transfer Student Panel would not have been possible without the support of students, faculty and staff. The Transfer Center is appreciative of the continued support that allows us to create spaces for students to share their stories. If you were unable to catch the event you can watch the recording here.

Article by Jackie Flores & Lucy Jovel

Skyline College Dance, Drama, and Music Departments invite you to audition for our 2022 Spring Musical production of Pippin. In Pippin, the magical and mysterious circus performers tell the story of a young prince in search of fulfillment while living within the darkness of both real and illusory internal and external pressures.

2022 is the 50^th anniversary of this classic Fosse musical masterpiece. The Skyline College production will blend modern and classic elements to illustrate universal themes and timeless struggles – love, war, politics, plague, and more.

Find out more about the Spring Musical Pippin and SIGN UP for AUDITIONS at: skylinecollege.edu/springmusical

AUDITION DATES:                

November 18, 2021

November 19, 2021

Callbacks in early December.

All who audition will be cast.

QUESTIONS?

skymusical@smccd.edu

SIGN UP TO AUDTION TODAY!

The Veterans Resource Center (VRC) at Skyline College collaborates with campus, district, and community partners to provide services and resources for veterans and the military-connected community each semester.

November is a special month for Veterans programming in honor of Veterans Day on the 11th.

We invite you to join the Veterans Resource Center, Associated Students of Skyline College, and Center for Student Life and Leadership, for a special College Hour celebration on Wednesday, November 10th from noon-1pm in the Fireside Dining Room in Bldg. 6.

We are also excited to launch the newly designed faculty and staff veterans resource page.

Discover tools for faculty, staff, and administrators supporting veterans and the military-connected community, including an animated video series created in partnership with the SFVA Student Veteran Health Program and the office of Marketing, Communications and Public Relations.

Article by Gina Ciardella Palmer

The Library is pleased to announce that all members of our Skyline College community can enjoy access to a variety of new academic article databases, research guides, books and e-books. For all online resources, when prompted, use your OneLogin credentials to get started. 

To start, here are four databases you may not be familiar with. (You’ll find all of the Library’s databases here: A-Z Databases).

Ethnic Newswatch is an interdisciplinary, bilingual (English and Spanish), full-text database of the newspapers, magazines and journals of the ethnic, minority and native presses, designed to provide the “other side of the story.” Articles in this database are useful for students in disciplines like anthropology, communications, business, fashion, government, history, sociology, education and more, and especially for assignments comparing and contrasting news perspectives.

The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) e-book database contains e-books in the areas of Asian American Studies, Women’s Studies, Black Studies, Latino Studies and much more. This database was also developed to represent all voices with a focus on gender, race, sexual orientation, physical ability and religious beliefs. The “DEI” database has thousands of timely books you can include in your syllabi or embed in Canvas for easy access. If you’re retooling your Spring course reading lists, it’s definitely worth your time to explore this resource.

Coronavirus Research database. While it’s unfortunate that we need it, this new database including up to date research articles is an important new resource. This database is rapidly expanding as we learn more about the virus. 

Kanopy. If you’re not familiar, Kanopy is a streaming video database also available through many public libraries. Our college subscription includes only films currently or recently acquired for Skyline College courses, however all the films in our collection are accessible by all of our students and employees. 

Beginning this Fall, the Library’s book collections were updated to include more than one hundred new titles, many with a focus on administration of justice or ethnic studies. If there’s something you checked for last year and did not find, we encourage you to take a second look using the OneSearch catalog or by contacting a librarian.

Also new in 2021: A number of new library research guides have been created for students and faculty alike. Here are four we think you’ll find useful, all located on the Library’s Research Guides page. 

Anti-Asian/Asian American Racism: A Resource Guide guides.skylinecollege.edu/AAresources

Ethnic Studies Resources for Students and Faculty guides.skylinecollege.edu/ethnicstudiesresources/books 

Free College Movements guides.skylinecollege.edu/FreeCollege

Sustainability Resources for Faculty and Students guides.skylinecollege.edu/sustainabilityresources 

Lastly, remember that all employees can subscribe for free to the New York Times and take advantage of easy digital access to favorite news and popular magazines on Flipster. Questions? Please chat, text email or call. We look forward to hearing from you.

 Article by Jessica Silver-Sharp