focus on women 1-29-15

892019 FOCUS on Women 1-29-15

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Cour er il remon t

claremont-couriercom

January 2015

Women who work in

and are making the news

983156





Claremont COURIERFocusmdashWomen 20153

7

Fit to print by Sarah Torribio

Citrus College journalism professor makes her mark in Claremont

4

Girl power by Angela Bailey

Claremont Girl Scouts learn an important lesson in civic engagement

6

Opheliarsquos Jump by Beatrice Casagran

Local theater company jumps into new season

1420 N Claremont Blvd Ste 205BClaremont CA 91711

(909) 621-4761Office hours Monday-Friday9 am to 5 pm

Owner Janis Weinberger

Publisher Peter Weinberger

Editor Kathryn Dunn

Reporters Angela Bailey

Sarah Torribio

Photos Steven Felschundneff

Graphics Jenelle Rensch

Kathryn Dunn

AdvertisingMary Rose

Jessica Gustin Pfahler

Business Vickie Rosenberg

Dee Proffitt Tom Smith




Girl power

Discover connect andtake action Thatrsquos theframework for leader-

ship as taught to young girlsand women across the nation

who join Girl ScoutsDiscovering who they are and whatthey care about connecting with othersand taking action to make their com-munity a better place are values the GirlScouts of Claremont are displaying intheir own backyard

Girl Power comes in all shapes andsizes as evidenced by our local scoutswhomdashwith their leadersmdashhave takenaction against their own organization inan effort to save their beloved La Ca-sita a Girl Scout property put on thechopping block last summer by the GirlScouts of Greater Los Angeles (GS-GLA)

In its mission to align properties in a

ldquofiscally responsible mannerrdquo the GS-GLA assembled a Property StrategicTaskforce to determine the cost-effec-tiveness and affordability accessibilityto members capacity for utilization andbasic infrastructure needs of programcenters throughout the region withplans to retire and sell-off those proper-ties that didnrsquot meet the criteria

In July 2014 La Casita was placedon the retirement list with a ratificationvote scheduled in October It was a

COURIER photoSteven FelschundneffLocal Girl Scout leaders who have fought to keep La Casita from being sold are from left Catherine Cordes Tina Mann MelanieBarbee Kristen Fass Yvonne Murphy and Georgeann Spivack Also involved in the fight is fellow leader Leah Key Ketter

GIRL POWER next page

Some tenacious young women take matters into their own hands



move that didnrsquot sit well with the local gals who uti-lize the historic adobe structure that has served theGirl Scouts of the community for nearly 70 years

ldquoWe discovered there was aninjustice taking placeWersquove made the connec-

tions with the city the alumni with all

these people involved and now the girlsare trying to take actionrdquo said YvonneMurphy leader of Troop 964

Spearheading the efforts to change the minds of theTaskforce are current and former troop leaders LeahKey Ketter Catherine Cordes Yvonne Murphy TinaMann Kristen Fass Georgeann Spivack and Clare-mont Service Unit Manager Melanie Barbee Each of these seven women is the mother of a Girl Scout andhell-bent on securing La Casita for the enjoyment of Girl Scouts of Claremont and the surrounding areas

GSGLA ldquoinheritedrdquo the property through a mergerof legacy councils in 2008 which included Clare-montrsquos Spanish Trails Council and left the organiza-tion with many properties in certain geographical ar-eas and none in others Built in 1947 on land donatedby Lee Pitzer La Casita was born when the GirlScouts of Claremont rallied together to fund and builda local headquarters

ldquoItrsquos a redistribution of the wealthrdquo said Ms Spi-vack ldquoIn this case itrsquos a historical property and theybarked up the wrong treerdquo

Given the Taskforcersquos recommendation scouts andscout leaders were in agreement a call to action wasnecessary

ldquoWe just decided we needed to make some noiseand we got together a couple of times to try to figureout how we could do thatrdquo says Troop 5364 leaderMs Mann ldquoWe all bring different things to the tableand just brainstormed about what needed to be doneand started chipping away at itrdquo

The first of those steps would be a letter-writingcampaign Claremont Girl Scouts of all agesmdashfromDaisies to registered alumnimdashwrote letters pleadingwith the GSGLA Council and Board Members to re-consider their decision to retire La Casita

ldquoDonrsquot think of La Casita as four walls on a hillrdquowrote UC Berkeley sophomore and registered GirlScout Allison Spivack ldquoThink of it as a space wheregirls can come together in a unique place where theycan become closer to nature and each other Think of it as a valuable learning tool to teach young girls to becourageous and strong responsible for what they sayand do and to make the world a better placerdquo

The Girl Scouts and theirleaders then brought theirfight to Claremontrsquos CityCouncil in September2014 seeking the city lead-ersrsquo assistance in preserv-ing the property for pastpresent and future GirlScouts of Claremont Overa dozen impassioned GirlScouts and a few Boy

Scouts stepped forward tothe podium during publiccomment to share their LaCasita experiences whileroughly 40 others cheeredthem on

ldquoI was very proud of themrdquo says Ms BarbeeldquoIrsquom impressed by howmany girls came outhellipcol-lege girls home for a breakretired leaders from thelsquo50s and lsquo60s that still havethe love and respect for theland They made signs andspoke so eloquently standing by what they believedin Without them we wouldnrsquot have gotten the sup-

port of the council and our seven leaders wouldnrsquothave been so motivated if they hadnrsquot had that devo-tionrdquo

On October 14 2014 city council responded byadopting a resolution supporting the preservation of the La Casita property The girls were beginning torealize that their voice was making a difference

ldquoItrsquos so special that the grown-ups are listening tousrdquo said 9-year-old Sky Wall of Troop 1314

ldquoThere are so many memories at La Casita Itrsquos anamazing place and we need to stand up for what welove The grown-ups are helping us do thatrdquo added 8-year-old Grace Whitney also of Troop 1314

Following the resolution the GSGLA pushed theOctober ratification date on the properties and sev-eral of the city council members met with the localGirl Scout leaders at La Casita to walk the property

While there the council offered suggestions to theleaders on how to move forward in their quest forpreservation The women went on to acquire letters of support from Sustainable Claremont ClaremontWilderness Conservancy Paula Pitzer Assemblyman

Chris Holden and Congresswoman Judy Chu as wellnumerous past and present Girl Scouts

Those letters in addition to the Claremont CityCouncilrsquos Resolution were hand-delivered to the GirlScouts of Greater Los Angeles headquarters earlierthis month The packet included a strategic plancrafted by the Claremont service unit with ideas onhow to increase the utilization and profitability of LasCasita

ldquoWe reminded the board that La Casitarsquos low usagedata isnrsquot a reflection of the propertyrsquos appealrdquo said

Ms Spivack ldquoItrsquos due to a combination of managerialfactors on GSGLArsquos part such as a drastic reductionin program activities held there and lack of marketingof the property to surrounding unitsrdquo

The girlsrsquo tenacity and determination paid offOn January 7 the GSGLA board held a meeting

and La Casita was removed from the ldquoretirerdquo categoryand placed in a newly-created ldquoreviewrdquo category Saleor transfer of the La Casita property will be reevalu-ated to determine if there are feasible opportunitiesfor funding or to better outline future use of the site

While the property has been removed from the re-tire category La Casita isnrsquot out of the woods just yet

A ratification vote by the registered Girl Scoutmembership (ages 14-plus) will be held SaturdayApril 18 at the GSGLA Annual Meeting and Volun-teer Recognition Ceremony in the City of Industry

Unfortunately online voting isnrsquot an option Regis-tered members must vote in person

ldquoWe all have to vote at that meeting Our votesmatter although the GSGLA will have the final saybased on the financialsrdquo says Ms Cordes ldquoYou mustbe a registered Girl Scout over the age of 14 Ourgirls canrsquot vote which is frustrating because theyrsquorethe ones using ititrsquos a place for themrdquo

The hope is that La Casita will remain a Girl Scoutproperty and that these girls who raised their voicesand have fought so hard to preserve it will continueto enjoy it for generations to come

ldquoThe Girl Scouts raised the money they broughtthe adobe bricks to build itrdquo says Ms Barbee ldquoTheGirl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles should considerLa Casita a monument not a burdenrdquo

Regardless of the outcome the Girl Scouts of

Claremont have exhibited tremendous leadershipskills and the tenacity that epitomizes what girl poweris all about Therersquos got to be a badge for that

mdashAngela Baileynewsclaremont-couriercom


GIRL POWER continued from previous page

We just

decided we

needed to

make some

noise and we

got together a

couple of times

to try to figure

out how we

could do that

Tina MannTroop 5364 leader

ldquo

rdquo



As a co-founder of Opheliarsquos JumpProductions I am often asked if OJP does ldquowomenrsquos theaterrdquo

Opheliarsquos Jump Productions was foundedin 2011 with a mission to produce theater

that challenges audiencesmdashthe kind of work that sticks with patrons beyond theclosing of the final curtain and makes forlively conversation on the way home

This mission does not mention gender and it is notour focus to do only ldquowomenrsquos theaterrdquo I am not cer-tain that any three women asked would agree what thatterm implies In fact my daughter and co-founder and Iwould probably find substantial divergence in our ideasabout what that term encompasses arising from genera-tional and experiential differences That being said thefact that this company was founded by two womendoes inform and affect our choices of repertoire as well

as our approach to individual worksWhile our shows deal with human issues rather than

ldquofemalerdquo issues we do tend to choose pieces withprominent strong and complex female characters Theworks can range from classics such as ShakespearersquosThe Merry Wives of Windsor to less performedworks such as Boston Marriage by David Mamet a

comedy whose title employs a Victorian euphemismfor lesbian relationships Other works have exploredthe baggage Americans deal with around race and lan-guage (Clybourne Park) what happens when some-one completely breaks with socially accepteddefinitions of love (The Goat or Who is Sylvia) andcorrosive yet bitingly funny family dysfunction (Au-gust Osage County)

While these works do not fall within a traditional un-derstanding of womenrsquos theater our approach has beensomewhat different than a male directorrsquos might havebeen As a director I am interested in the complexitiesof female characters their crags and wrinkles andblemishes as well as strengths I am not hesitant to de-pict women in funny unglamorous or ldquounfemininerdquoways My experience as a woman gives me a differentinsight into characters and perhaps a greater comfort

level asking female actors to do certain things than amale director might have However the stories we tellare universal and if we do anything t is hopefully towiden the focus of the concept of humanity from a tra-ditional male-centeredness to an approach that recog-nizes individuals with the myriad perspectives genderidentifications and experiences that comprise humanity

Our 2015 season continues to view the worldthrough divergent intriguing and often hilarious lensesWe open the year paying to the gallows humor and sen-suality of the Weimar Cabaret with our Valentinersquos DayKabarett der Liebe OJP rarely produces musicalsbut when it does they are often quirky satirical and hi-larious This March we are presenting Ruthless The

Musical a parody mash-up of movies such as TheBad Seed All About Eve and Gypsy The cast fea-tures all female characters with one female role beingplayed by a male actor

In May we will present a second cabaret night cele-brating Iberian music and literature Espiritu Gitanowill feature Flamenco dance and guitar and the worksof Spanish playwright Federico Garcia Lorca served upwith tapas and wine Our Midsummer ShakespeareFestival returns this summer with productions of Antony amp Cleopatra and Twelfth Night running inrepertory at the Sontag Amphitheater The festival willalso include booths and entertainment and a nightlygreen show by The Mechanicals-Shakespeare Impro-vised It will run in tandem with Claremont RestaurantWeek festivities

The 2015 season closes in November with the up-

roariously funny race satire Honky by GreggKalleres which points out some of the absurdities of race relations in the United States Tickets and informa-tion are available at wwwopheliasjumporg or by call-ing our box office at (909) 624-1464


Opheliarsquos Jump by Beatrice Casagran founding artistic director of Opheliarsquos Jump VIEWPOINT




Citrus journalism professor has made a big impact

Citrus College professor MegOrsquoNeil may not live in Claremontbut she helps shape the cityrsquos news

every day Three of the COURIERrsquos fiveeditorial staff members went through her

journalism programEditor Kathryn Dunn and reporter Sarah Torribiowere on the Citrus College Clarion staff in the earlylsquo90s COURIER page designer and calendar editorJenelle Rensch honed her skills from 2006 to 2008 onthe Clarion staff and through the now-defunct studentmagazine Logos

ldquoYou learned there are strict rules about good jour-nalism like using multiple sources writing a goodlead where to include informationmdashand you learnedto get it rightrdquo Ms Dunn said

Eryn OrsquoNeal was on the Clarion staff from 2004 to2006 serving two terms as editor-in-chief and is nowpursuing a doctorate in criminology and criminal jus-tice at Arizona University Her scholarly interests in-clude intimate partner sexual assault (IPSA) and shehas had her research published in numerous peer-re-

viewed journals She gives Ms OrsquoNeil who wouldreturn her story drafts bleeding with red-ink correc-tions much of the credit for her success

ldquoMeg single-handedly taught me the importance of the written word and its power to facilitate discussionand change She also taught me how to writerdquo MsOrsquoNeal said

Ms Rensch likewise benefited from Ms OrsquoNeilrsquosmentorship ldquoBecause Meg had such high standards Iwas always surprised she believed in merdquo she saidldquoIt made me think maybe she was on to somethingrdquo

What Ms OrsquoNeil has been onto from day one is afierce love of newswriting and reporting

ldquoI think journalism is a force for good or can be aforce for goodrdquo she said ldquoThe interplay of reportingnews is essential to an informed voter base and there-fore a democratic societyrdquo

Ms OrsquoNeil came by her love of journalism hon-

estly Her grandfather was a German immigrant whopublished German-language newspapers across theUnited States Still Ms OrsquoNeil didnrsquot set out to be a

journalism teacherShe was an Air Force ldquobratrdquo whose father was a B-

17 navigator during World War II She lived in Guam

COURIER photoSteven FelschundnefJournalism instructor Meg OrsquoNeil works with students before the start of a COMM 101 class on Monday at Cit-rus College Ms OrsquoNeil was hired by Citrus in 1990 to teach English and journalism but due to increased en-rollment in the journalism program she eventually moved to that department full-time

NEWS next page



and Germany growing up as well as on various mili-tary bases across the United States She attended StMaryrsquos College majoring in French and after graduat-ing began teaching French at a Catholic girls highschool

Ms OrsquoNeilrsquos husband Rob earned a journalism degreefrom Syracuse University and began teaching journal-ism first at Valley College and then at Harbor CollegeIn 1987 he came to LA Pierce College where he still

teaches Ms OrsquoNeil had begun teaching at the commu-nity college level as well starting as an English instruc-tor at Glendale College She decided to take Mr OrsquoNeilrsquosnewswriting class and later worked on the staff of The

Harbor TideldquoWe always joke that she slept with her teacher but

we were already marriedrdquo Mr OrsquoNeil saidShe was hired by Citrus and in the spring of 1990 she

took over advising the Clarion In 1998 she was namedCommunity College Journalism Professor of the Year bythe California Newspaper Publishers Association

Tim Lynch was the newspaperrsquos previous adviser jug-gling his guidance with a job at the LA Times Now as-sociate vice president of communications and publicaffairs at Cal State University Stanislaus Mr Lynch callsMs OrsquoNeil ldquoa great keeper of the flamerdquo

ldquoThere are so many students in this program who Meg

has mentored and mothered and who have gone onto ca-reers in communicationrdquo he said ldquoShersquos been that con-fidante or role model and a fan But she is someone whocan speak with candor about students too Shersquoll callthem out which is importantrdquo

Chris Urso a staff photographer with the Tampa Trib-une vividly recalls being called out He came to MsOrsquoNeilrsquos classes and the Clarion staff as a young manwith a baby daughter and plenty of personal stress andalmost lost his focus ldquoAt one point Meg told melsquoYoursquore never going to make it in photojournalismrsquordquo

It was the kick in the pants he needed Today Mr Ursouses techniques and concepts he learned at Citrus everyday ldquoOne thing Meg always told me is photojournalismis about people doing thingsrdquo he said

Stacie Galang a senior editor at the Ventura Star saysMs OrsquoNeilrsquos strictness is an invaluable precursor to atough industry

ldquoI tell people that this business isnrsquot for wimpswhether itrsquos the pay the work or the hours we put inrdquoshe said ldquoIt ainrsquot easy but itrsquos interestingrdquo

Ms OrsquoNeil is anything but a wimp A perfectionist ora workaholic depending on how you look at it she com-mutes to Glendora from her home in La Canada-Flintridge six days a week heading out as soon as The

Daily News New York Times and Los Angeles Timesaredropped on her driveway She is one of the first people toarrive on campus and among the last to leave

Once in her office she pores through the papers whichshe uses to inform students about current events andnews coverage norms trends and conundrums She totesa cart laden with assignments and newspapers aroundcampus and regularly provides snacks for starving stu-

dents who spend long hours in her newsroomCitrus College is the number-one destination among

Claremont High School graduates so students on Clare-mont High Schoolrsquos Wolfpack newspaper may well findthemselves working on the Clarion Though she is step-ping back her hours a bit if they are lucky they will haveMs OrsquoNeil as a journalism teacher

Along with an associatersquos degree in journalism Cit-rus students can now obtain an Associate Degree forTransfer (ADT) in journalism Earning an ADT ensuresthat students will be admitted to a Cal State Universitywith junior status and be given priority admission to thelocal CSU which is Cal Poly Pomona Motivated stu-dents can also leave Citrus armed with clips and awards


COURIER photoSteven FelschundneffMeg OrsquoNeil lectures about the Associated Press Stylebook on Monday during a COMM 101 class at Citrus Col-lege For most of the students this was their first introduction to the standards of journalism style

NEWS continued from previous page

NEWS continues on the next page




which are not just confidence-boosters buthelpful in nabbing a job

From the start Ms OrsquoNeil has encouragedher students to enter their work in contests of-fered by the Journalism Association of Com-munity Colleges She has boldly takendelegations of Citrus students to JACC con-ferences held at Cal State Fullerton in down-town Los Angeles and for many years at

Fresno StateldquoI know she really instills in her students a

love of journalism because they win awardsall the timerdquo Sue Keith who representsClaremont and portions of Pomona and LaVerne on the Citrus Community CollegeBoard of Trustees said

Ms Keith who reads the Clarion reli-giously is a bit of a newspaper junkie herselfhaving worked for both her high school andcollege papers

ldquoIf yoursquore going to have a journalism pro-gram itrsquos really important to have a publicationrdquo shesaid ldquoHaving a newspaper they can work on really givesstudents the opportunity to build their skillsrdquo

It takes some courageStudent journalists are ldquoamong the few students who

share their homework with the entire communityrdquo ac-cording to Mr Lynch

ldquoPeople judge the quality of the adviser by the qualityof the paper and thatrsquos wholly unfairrdquo he said ldquoYouoften work the hardest and are the most effective withstudents who are producing a weak newspaper becauseyou are working your tail off to know that what they pro-duce is accurate and of some quality and that theyrsquoregrowing as studentsrdquo

Ms OrsquoNeil believes her students should be triple-

threats able to write lay out pages and shoot photosAlong with nuts-and-bolts journalism instruction team-building is one of Ms OrsquoNeilrsquos talents She has coaxedmyriad alums from her classroom to the newsroom andfrom the newsroom into the world of journalism

ldquoShe will look at someone and identify their strength

in her classroom and then she will bring that talent inand cultivate itrdquo said Ada Guerrin who is creative di-rector for the entertainment news site The Wrap

Cherise Rudy is an example For the past 17 years shehas worked for ABC most of them as a producer for thenetworkrsquos affiliate news service NewsOne When MsRudy enrolled in Ms OrsquoNeilrsquos COMM 101 class shewas struck by her enthusiasm The next semester she

joined the Clarion staffldquoThough it was more than 20 years ago I have the

clearest picture of Meg driving into the staffparking lot in her Vanagon out of sorts fromdropping her four kids off at school and preg-nant with her fifthrdquo she said ldquoShersquod whisk intothe newsroom and without hesitation switchgears and get into news moderdquo

Ms Rudy went on to study broadcast jour-nalism at Cal State Fullerton and interned withKABC News before landing a job with ABCShe says Ms OrsquoNeil is why she took a chanceon journalism

ldquoThe rules of journalism were taken seri-ously but she never failed to take a minute totalk to each of us and learn more about ourhopes and dreams encouraging us in her liltingvoicerdquo Ms Rudy said

Ms Guerin is another Clarion success storyBefore coming to The Wrap she worked forThe Hollywood Reporter for 14 years Neverone to sugar-coat things she said Ms OrsquoNeilrsquosexacting ways and adamant demeanor initiallyrubbed her the wrong way

ldquoMeg intimidated me and I thought she was an ass-holerdquo Ms Guerin said ldquoShe was tough But what I iden-tified with in Meg is that female strength that strengththat allows you to be a mother or a fighter Thatrsquos whatmade me think about becoming an editorrdquo

Even students who didnrsquot pursue journalism remem-

ber Ms OrsquoNeil fondly including Michael James whowas a Clarion and Logos staffer in the early lsquo90s

ldquoHer sense of fairness and ability to be circumspect isof her essence In her world right truly is might and thepolitical melts away in favor of meritocracyrdquo he saidldquoThe values I learned from Meg taught primarily by ex-ample inform me daily Those two years with her taughtme how to be a human I can now share Megrsquos valueswith my childrenrdquo mdashSarah Torribio

storribioclaremont-couriercom

COURIER photoSteven FelschundneffStudents in Ms OrsquoNeilrsquos COMM 101 class help distribute an assignment at Cit-rus College The class is mostly entry level however some of the studentsexpressed an interest in pursuing careers in journalism




During the 2014-2015academic year the Pil-grim Place community

will offer two $12000 NapierAwards for Creative Leader-

ship to graduating seniors atthe five Claremont CollegesThe awards were established as a me-

morial to Davie and Joy Napier long-time residents of Pilgrim Place who inearlier years had remarkable careers asprophetic advocates for a just peacefuland sustainable world

The $12000 awards will be given totwo graduating seniors who demonstrateoutstanding leadership promise in the ar-eas of social justice peace and environ-mental sustainability Each of the fiveundergraduate Claremont Colleges nom-inated up to three students for theawards All students nominated by theschools will be named Napier Fellows

and will have the opportunity for a one-year mentoring relationship with PilgrimPlace residents creating a significant vo-cational affinity with the nominees

Following their nominations the stu-dents met on several occasions with Pil-grim Place mentors and on February 21all nominees will be joined by othersfrom the Colleges as well as by PilgrimPlace and community members for a re-ception and a festive banquet at whichthe two Napier awardees will be an-nounced

To reserve a spot at the dinnermdashto beheld Saturday February 21 at 6 pm atDecker Hall in Pilgrim PlacemdashemailViki Battaglia at vbattagliapilgrim

placeorg or visit pilgrimplaceorgThere are 14 nominated projects this

year led by a total of 16 students Of those 16 Napier Fellows for 2015 animpressive 13 are women We wish allof the students well on their endeavors

Zoe Brown Pitzer CollegeMs Brownrsquos pro-

posed project is toimplement writingand storytellingworkshops in pris-ons and transitionalhomes for womenin Seattle creating aspace that fosters

the womenrsquos self-

empowering critical thinking and mech-anisms for creative expression and facili-tating successful reintegration into soci-ety She will develop these workshops inpartnership with the Womenrsquos Wellnessand Integrative Social Health program inSeattle At Pitzer Ms Brown created a

major in ldquopublic health the social deter-minants of healthrdquo especially incorpo-rating courses with a community-en-gagement component She has workedwith writing and wellness programs in a

juvenile detention center and two pris-ons and with Crossroads in Claremont

Priyva Donti Harvey Mudd CollegeMs Donti proposes to spend one year

designing and implementing an after-school educationalprogram thatteaches middleschoolers abouttechnology throughhands-on problems

in environmentalsustainability Thisproject with stu-dents from Claremont and Pomona willhelp increase engagement in STEM andenvironmental sustainability and also en-courage cross-cultural interactions be-tween students in the two cities Theplan is to produce curricular and teach-ing materials that can be used in othersettings as well as to run the programduring her Napier year

Hong Deng Gao Pomona CollegeMs Deng Gao has developed a proj-

ect called Health Bridges envisioning aworld in which im-

migrantsmdashregard-less of their linguis-tic skills incomelevel or legal sta-tusmdashface no barriersto timely health serv-ices The pilot proj-ect would be with Pomona Valley Hos-pital Medical Center which has a largelow-income immigrant patient popula-tion and limited translation capacity MsDeng Gao proposes to give extensivetraining to bilingual volunteers from theClaremont Colleges to assist non-Eng-lish speaking patients to obtain health re-sources for which they are eligible MsDeng Gao herself speaks several dialects

including Chinese Spanish and Japan-

ese as well as English

Claire Hirschberg Scripps CollegeLast summer Ms Hirschberg

worked as an intern with CaliforniansUnited for a Re-sponsible

Budget (CURB)a statewidecoalition fight-ing mass incar-ceration She fo-cused especiallyon opposing theincrease in plans for ldquogender respon-siverdquo prisons and jails At Scripps sheis organizing a program to visit immi-grants in confinement and is writingher honors thesis on ldquoCarceral Human-ism and Ethics of Care in Gender Re-sponsive Incarcerationrdquo For her Napierproject she proposes to return to workwith CURB to fight gender responsive

jail expansions across the state

Molly Luftus Claremont McKennaMs Luftusrsquos proj-

ect relates to envi-ronmental sustain-ability and positivesocial mobilityWhile studyingabroad in DakarSenegal last summershe noticed an ex-

cess of fruit that vendors were not sell-ing Her goal is to educate a communityto create a solar dehydrator composed of recycled materials in order to preservefruit that would otherwise be wastedOnce the fruit is dehydrated the com-munity can learn how to package and

sell the salvaged fruit providing a busi-ness to be run predominately by womenMs Luftus will partner with two organi-zations in Africa Tostan and SenEcoShe hopes to locate her project in thetwo villages she previously visited

Yi Luo Claremont McKennaMs Luo a documentary filmmaker

believes that in theUS and China en-vironmental poli-cymaking shouldbe enacted througha humanitarianlens For herNapier project Ms

Luo proposes to make documentaries inChina and submit them to film festivalsin the US and China to raise publicawareness about how economics andscientific data have dominated policy-making One will be the story of the fewremaining nomadic Mongolians in InnerMongolia of China a second film willfocus on a rural peasant woman who hashelped her community prosper while


Women make a strong showing in the Napier Awards

NAPIER AWARDS next page




maintaining a traditional lifestyle and athird will explore development in Shen-zhen where she grew up

Joyce Nimocks Pomona CollegeAn environmental analysis major Ms

Nimocks proposes to create a series of alternativesustainable

cosmeticworkshops forAfrican Ameri-can women onthe south sideof ChicagoShe is experi-enced in mak-ing cosmetics from natural ingredientsavoiding the toxic potentially carcino-genic cosmetics Ms Nimocks will useNapier funds to secure local spaces topromote dialogue among women in low-income communities about potentialdangers in commercial cosmetics and theuse of non-toxic ingredients Ms Ni-mocks hopes to evoke conversation

about self-love self-care and educationas tools for empowerment and social jus-tice

Sarah Han Scripps CollegeMs Han a human biology major with

an emphasis on public health callsHumboldtCounty homeHumboldtCounty is amedically-un-derserved ruralarea with highincidence of poor health andthe highest

death rates in California She proposes to

work with Open Door CommunityHealth Centers a safety-net healthprovider for the North Coast of Califor-nia to encourage health-care reform to-wards holistic patient-centered healthcare focusing on increasing communityaccess to the social determinants of health Open Doorrsquos program called RXfor Wellness encourages health-careproviders to prescribe treatment planssuch as visiting the community garden

on foot and harvesting produce whenpatients suffer from inactivity and poornutrition RX for Wellness has been im-plemented at one of Open Doorrsquos sitesMs Han will work to deploy this pro-gram at the other sites

Mari Pettibone Pitzer CollegeAlready an experienced health educa-

tor for underserved communities MsPettibone pro-poses to expandthe WellnessCenter for theCostanoanRumsen OhloneTribe members

living inPomona In herrole as commu-nity health liai-son for Claremont Colleges and WesternMedical School it is her job to assist thedirector of the Native American Pipelineto College and members of the tribe inreviving the Wellness Center which haslanguished from lack of personnel Sheis already teaching classes on nutritionwellness diabetes and exercise Aftergraduation Ms Pettibone hopes to helpthe Wellness Center to serve the greatneeds of the tribal members She hasworked in health clinics in MexicoCosta Rica and San Francisco

Jennifer Renick Pitzer CollegeA major in community mental health

with an empha-sis amongschools andyouth MsRenick proposesto organize amental healthinterventionprogram in the

Pomona areabased at publicmiddle and high schools especiallyGarey High School Its main compo-nents would be a summer education se-ries focused around family dinners thecreation of mental health libraries andfostering sustained collaboration be-tween local mental health agencies andpublic school workers She particularlyhopes to provide culturally-sensitivemental health education in the Latinocommunity

Laurel Schwartz and Meghan Gal-lagher Scripps College

Ms Schwartz and Ms Gallagher in-

tend to create a media institute for mid-dle schoolgirls For amonth dur-ing summergirls willlearn aboutcritical me-dia theorywhile pro-ducing shortfilms The goal of the institute is to putcreative control into the hands of youngwomen to give them the tools for self-representation Through the combinationof classes workshops and productionthe girls will create a short film in

groups of three The summer workshop

will give teenage girls the opportunity todevelop public-speaking skills in addi-tion to helping them gain budgeting andteamwork experience The Napier Fel-lows will partner with IndependentFilmmaker Project MN in St Paul Min-nesota and the Scripps College Academyin Claremont

Emma Zang-Schwartz HarveyMudd College

Ms Zang-Schwartz a global healthmajor proposes a project to expand afood-related mi-crobusiness inJinotegaNicaraguaJinotega is amountainous re-gion isolatedfrom resourceswith serious mal-nutrition of chil-dren Two non-profit groups Esperancaheadquartered in Phoenix and Associa-tion of Volunteers for Community De-velopment (AVODEC) a local partnerin Nicaragua have begun a program in

Jinotega to provide families with fivechickens and a rooster along with infor-mation on how to care for them MsZang-Schwartz has worked in thePhoenix office of Esperanca and nowshe would like to work with Nicaraguato expand this program She will be re-sponsible for initiating the next stepwhere families will pass along chickensto other families and provide informa-tion on how to care for them

Jacob Shimkus Claremont McKennaMr Shimkus intends to help lead a

team of students at the College of theMarshall Islands in tailoring climateadaptation curriculum to local youth

NAPIER AWARDS page 14

NAPIER AWARDS from previous page



Find your treasure Y-Artsale returns to Claremont

Once a year local artists band to-gether to offer great collections tothe public These include art and

art materials collectibles antiques deli-cious junk Hawaiian shirts ethnic cloth-

ing quilts boxes books pottery glassfabric yarn beads buttons creative cre-ations and tons of fun things

The participating artists need room to work and col-lect more and so they pass their treasures on to you atvery low slashed pricesand so the world turns Thisyearrsquos Y-Art sale will take place tomorrow SaturdayJanuary 31 from 8 am to 4 pm at 506 Yale Ave atthe corner of Harrison Avenue If itrsquos raining pleasecheck back on Saturday February 7 This is a fun expe-rience and a fairly-priced adventure for people wholove to discover great artistic items

Tribute to Courage Galafor Casa Colina to feature

actress Bonnie Hunt

Casa Colina Hospital and Centersfor Healthcare will host its annualTribute to Courage gala on Satur-

day February 28 at the Sheraton FairplexHotel and Conference Center

The gala which annually honors some of CasaColinarsquos present and past courageous patients will behosted by film actress and television personality Bon-nie Hunt with guest speaker Aron Ralston fearlessadventurer amputee and best-selling author

ldquoWe are thrilled to announce Casa Colinarsquos annualTribute to Courage gala a special event that honorssome of the most courageous of Casa Colinarsquos pa-tients Felice Loverso president and CEO of CasaColina said ldquoThese patientsrsquo stories are full of tri-umph determination and an exceptional will to livelife to the fullest despite setbacks It is an honor to bein their presence and celebrate their achievementsrdquo

Mr Ralston this yearrsquos guest speaker is the best-selling author of Between a Rock and a Hard Place

and the inspiration behind the Oscar-nominated film127 Hours In April 2003 Mr Ralston survived acanyoneering accident in southeastern Utah duringwhich he amputated his own right forearm to extricatehimself from a dislodged boulder under which he hadbeen trapped for 127 hours

After rehabilitation Mr Ralston continued his ad-ventures and in 2005 he achieved his goal of climb-ing all 59 of Coloradorsquos ldquofourteenersrdquo (peaks morethan 14000 feet high) solo and in winter conditions afeat that had never been recorded

The Tribute to Courage gala is Casa Colinarsquos pri-mary fundraising event each year All proceeds fromthe event benefit Casa Colinarsquos free and uncompen-sated care fund which helps provide care for under-re-sourced patients and in some cases temporary housingfor patientsrsquo families so they may be near their lovedones during the often-lengthy rehabilitation processThis fund allows Casa Colina to support its missionstatement of ldquoproviding individuals the opportunity tomaximize their medical recovery and rehabilitation po-tential efficiently in an environment that recognizestheir uniqueness dignity and self-esteemrdquo

The Tribute to Courage black-tie-optional receptionbegins at 530 pm and is followed by dinner a pro-gram and dancing at 7 pm For information on theevent including sponsorship donations and ticketscontact the Casa Colina Foundation at (909) 596-7733ext 2223

Any one of us words fromprison performance

We invite you to the dramatic reading of Any Oneof Us Words from Prison by Eve Ensler Combinedwith stories by the Women of Crossroads these writ-ings are raw and truthful The purpose of Any one of Us Words from Prison is to impact public policy andthe treatment of women caught in the criminal justicesystem Performances are by community members

and Crossroads graduatesThe performance will take place Sunday February

22 at the Padua Hills Theatre Doors open at 1 pmthe performance begins at 130 pm Sweet and savoryhors drsquo oervres will be served following the perform-ance Tickets for general seating are $60 VIP seatingtickets are $75 For reservations call (909)626-7847

These stories are filled with hope and inspirationbut the content may not be suitable for children

HumanNature exhibit at AMOCA features work of Claremont student

AMOCA is presents ldquoHumanNature High SchoolScholarship Exhibitionrdquo featuring the 2014 recipients

Alicia Dionne and Mayahuel Rosado who graduatedfrom Claremont High School last year Ms Rosadowas a student in Anne Mumperrsquos AP ceramics class atCHS The show will be on display through February 7at the Artistsrsquo Gallery in the Studio at AMOCA

The show a culmination of a scholarship she re-


OUR TOWN continues on the next page



ceived while in Ms Mumperrsquos class included an op-portunity for Ms Rosado to study at AMOCAthrough the summer

The High School Scholarship program began in2013 with a donation from an anonymous patron toAMOCA to help post-high school youth who wereinterested in ceramics and building their portfolio

During the summer Ms Rosado and Ms Dionnewere enrolled in a specially designed studioclassworkshop and were supplied clay glazes andfiring services Additionally each student was given asummer-fall membership to the AMOCA CeramicsStudio to work on their craft up to six days a weekoutside of class The students received mentoringfrom Heidi Kreitchet studio director Bobby Freestudio manager Gary Lett instructor and the artists

that participate in the AMOCA Studio They also re-ceived frequent formal critiques by a varying panel of accomplished ceramic artists

HumanNature is a two-person exhibition showcas-ing these two emerging artists Ms Rosado is inspiredby the human form and the interplay between humananatomy and clay with their similar organic proper-ties She is especially interested in the way clay de-forms or cracks and how that informs her humanforms Her Aztec and Mayan ancestry and their rela-tionships to nature and humanity also inspired this

work Ms Rosado is continuing her study of art atCalArts

Give back to the ClaremontSenior Program

The Claremont Senior Program provides neededhighly-valued services and opportunities for olderadults Without the support of the community meet-ing the needs of Claremontrsquos senior population wouldbe difficult The Claremont Senior Foundation isholding its annual Friends Campaign to raise monies

to support opportunities and services which includethe meal program and activities at our local seniorcenters

Funds received are used to enhance programs forseniors at Joslyn Blaisdell and Hughes as well asthroughout our community The most popular classesoffered to seniors revolve around fitness but there aremany others More than a dozen activities take placeeach week including pilates aerobics genealogysewing art classes Philosophy 101 silk paintingChinese language study and card-making

Senior Excursions travel to such destinations as theHollywood Bowl Catalina Island and JPL

More than 250 seniors take advantage of the CALLProgram and audit classes at the Claremont Collegeseach year at no cost The popular After Work pro-grams offer speakers and tours of local places of in-terest

The Claremont Senior Program has a creative andinvolved staff 275 volunteers and many partner or-ganizations Gifts may be made by check to theClaremont Senior Foundation Inc and submitted tothe Joslyn Center 660 N Mountain Ave ClaremontCA 91711


Image courtesy of AMOCA




(ages 10-14) and supporting them in re-fining and presenting an environmentaleducation pro-gram through-out the MarshallIslands As a se-ries of smalllow-lying is-lands the Mar-

shall Islands areon the frontlines of climatechange Drawing on Mr Shimkusrsquoswork with Living Islands the US-Mar-shallese nonprofit development organi-zation this project aims to create a direct

link between Marshallese youth andolder Marshallese students encouragingthem to engage one another in these im-portant issues and to become commu-nity leaders in sustainability and climateadaptation

Matt OrsquoConnor and Don SwanPomona College

Mr OrsquoConnor and Mr Swan proposecreating a mentorship program between

student-athlete mentors from Pomona andPitzer Colleges and high school athleteleaders from the Pomona Unified SchoolDistrict (PUSD) It would be called 3-P 3-D 3-P for Pomona College Pitzer Collegeand PUSD 3-D for core values of desirediscipline and dedication

Both men have extensive experiencetutoring PUSD students and believe thatyoung athletescan be impor-tant role mod-els within theircommunitiesThey strive tohelp kids learnthat academicachievement is

just as ldquocoolrdquoas success on the field These highschool students can then transform thesports culture of the high school

The model proposed would bring to-gether five athlete leaders at each PUSDhigh school with two college athletes bi-weekly with the entire group gatheringmonthly Academic achievement wouldbe regularly monitored and higher edu-cation strongly encouraged

NAPIER AWARDS from previous pageBronze sculptorDeanna Rae to showat Square iGallery

Open Studio for Deanna Raebronze sculptor is to be held atSquare i Gallery in Claremont Villageduring the month of February Anartist reception is set for Friday Feb-

ruary 6 and Saturday February 7from 6 to 8 pmMs Rae will be on hand to share

her step-by-step sculpting processldquoBy using Eacutecorcheacute an age old

technique for studying anatomy I findmy work expresses a tangible com-plexity gone unnoticed when viewingthe living creaturerdquo she said

Square i Gallery is located at 110Harvard Ave For information visitwwwsquareigallerycom










7



4



6







Editor Kathryn Dunn


Sarah Torribio



Kathryn Dunn








Girl power


















































We just

decided we

needed to

make some

noise and we

got together a

couple of times

to try to figure

out how we

could do that


ldquo

rdquo






































NEWS next page






































































































































actress Bonnie Hunt































































Girl power


















































We just

decided we

needed to

make some

noise and we

got together a

couple of times

to try to figure

out how we

could do that


ldquo

rdquo






































NEWS next page






































































































































actress Bonnie Hunt



































































































We just

decided we

needed to

make some

noise and we

got together a

couple of times

to try to figure

out how we

could do that


ldquo

rdquo






































NEWS next page






































































































































actress Bonnie Hunt

































































































NEWS next page






































































































































actress Bonnie Hunt

































































































































































































actress Bonnie Hunt




























































focus on women 1-29-15

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