d-mail March 2008

The Journey Continues

Planning today for a successful tomorrow

Friday, May 2, 2008

Best Western Golden Sails Hotel
6285 E. Pacific Coast Highway
Long Beach, CA 90803

Guest Speakers
Dr. Minh-Ha Pham
Dr. Tracy Kemble
Dr. Ted Boehler
Ms. Vangie Meneses

Registration Fee
AAWCC members, $50
Non-members, $60

Register online
Registration deadline: April 28

OCC to Induct Three Alumni into Hall of Fame

OCC Sells Rabbit Island for $2.19 Million

OCC to Induct Three Alumni into Hall of Fame

Orange Coast College inducted three graduates it will induct into its Alumni Hall of Fame on March 13.

This year’s inductees included Scott Lay, president and chief executive officer of the Community College League of California; Roseanne Tellez, co-anchor of CBS 2 in Chicago; and Bill Wood, former president of the Pacific Care Foundation.

Scott Lay took the helm as president and chief executive officer of the Community College League of California (CCLC), the nonprofit association serving California’s 72 community college districts, in 1996.

After dropping out of high school, Lay attended Orange Coast College. He credits OCC faculty and the community college system for providing him with the skills and knowledge he needed to succeed at UC Davis, where he received a B.A. degree and juris doctorate.

Lay earned his A.A. degree in political science in 1994. He was actively involved in student government on campus and was a member of OCC’s student board of trustees. He was co-founder of the campus’ Democratic Club.

Roseanne Tellez, who received her A.A. degree at OCC in 1983, serves as co-anchor for Chicago’s morning news and midday news on CBS 2.

Tellez originally planned to study business, but her experience as a writer for Coast Report, OCC’s student newspaper, launched her career in journalism.

“It was a great time,” Tellez says of her two years at Coast. “Thanks to OCC, I was able to transfer to USC. I never would have gotten into USC with my high school grades!”

William “Bill” Wood, former president of the Pacific Care Foundation, is the third former student to be added to the Alumni Hall of Fame.

While many of his peers were heading to universities after graduation, Wood was thankful for the community colleges.

“Without the community college, I would not have been able to get an education,” he said. “I not only didn’t have the grades, but I lacked the finances. Even though community colleges were free in those days, we still had to buy books and pay some fees.”

Wood especially remembers two people who helped him succeed in college. Mary Andrus, a former teacher and his friend’s mother, took him under her wing. “She tutored me while I was at Orange Coast College, showing me what it took to raise my grades from a D+ to A’s and B’s.”

Lloyd Thompson, OCC anthropology and sociology instructor, “was one of the first teachers who had ever reinforced feelings that I could be a good student,” Wood said.

In addition to serving on OCC’s Foundation Board of Directors, Wood has worked extensively with the Boys and Girls Clubs, the Cypress College Foundation Board and numerous nonprofits.

The Alumni Hall of Fame is cosponsored by the Orange Coast College Alumni and Friends Association and The Associated Students of Orange Coast College.

OCC Sells Rabbit Island for $2.19 Million

The Orange Coast College Foundation has sold Rabbit Island for $2.19 million to a privately held British Columbian corporation. The buyers, three individuals from Alberta, plan to use the island as a vacation retreat.

The 36-acre island is located approximately 50 miles north of the city of Vancouver, BC, at the top of the Strait of Georgia. Southern California yachtsman, Henry Wheeler of Downey, donated Rabbit Island to the college in December 2002. OCC has offered classes at the island during the past four summers.

After the sales commission, legal and accounting fees, Canadian capital gains taxes and other transfer fees, net proceeds from the sale will be approximately $1.86 million, said Doug Bennett, Executive Director of the OCC Foundation.

The proceeds from the sale will benefit the OCC’s School of Sailing and Seamanship in Newport Beach. The majority of the funds will be used to purchase land for additional classrooms and provide much needed parking.

Since 2002, the Foundation has spent about $550,000 on capital improvements, instructional programs, property taxes, maintenance and other expenses related to the ownership of the island.

In February 2007, consultants conducted a feasibility study to examine the viability of Rabbit Island as an academic, economic and environmental resource. The team determined that the continued operation of Rabbit Island as a proper field station would require an annual on-going commitment by the college of $150,000. Because of cost concerns, the team recommended that the college sell the island.

In March 2007, the Board of Directors of the Orange Coast College Foundation voted to move ahead with the sale of the island. The island was listed for sale at an asking price of $2,495,000 (CAN) by Landquest Realty of British Columbia in June 2007.

The island went into escrow in July 2007 at a price of $2,410,000 (CAN). The buyer, a businessman from Vancouver, B.C., failed to arrange the necessary financing and the island was placed back on the market in November 2007.

D-Mail Staff
Editor Martha Parham | Assistant Editor Amy Wheeler | Web Designer Max Vorathavorn
Graphic Designer Michael Likens |Contributing Writers CCC; Michelle Ma GWC; Margie Bunten OCC; Jim Carnett
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