Around Town: OCC professor wins diversity and equity award
Orange Coast College kinesiology professor Robin O’Connor received the Dr. John W. Rice Diversity and Equity Award on Tuesday for her leadership and efforts to include a campus facility for students with disabilities.
The award, given by the California Community Colleges chancellor’s office, honors staff members in community colleges who have contributed to faculty and staff diversity or student equity.
O’Connor was first hired to teach full time at OCC in 2004. She led the development of the campus’s Adapted Kinesiology Program for Students with Disabilities. The program enrolls about 70 students annually, with disabilities including traumatic brain injuries and schizophrenia. The program offers exercise regimens to improve the students’ strength, flexibility and cardiovascular endurance.
Each year, O’Connor recruited about 100 student volunteers to aid program enrollees.
UCI centers seek artist in residence
UC Irvine’s Beall Center for Art and Technology, Newkirk Center for Science and Society and Center for Complex Biological Systems will co-sponsor an artist in residence to complete a synthetic biology work of art. The work will be installed in “Traces in Vitality,” an exhibit at the Beall Center that will run Feb. 6 to May 7.
A synthetic biology artwork can incorporate biological or computational materials.
“When you mix art and science, you’re experimenting and you never know what you’re going to get,” said Samantha Haug, the Beall Center’s director of programs. “Some have made artwork out of food or big murals out of Petri dishes.”
The selected artist will have a two-week residency period anytime from October through November this year. He or she will work with science professionals on campus to develop the artwork.
The Beall Center, the Center for Complex Biological Systems and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts will provide a stipend of up to $10,000 for the artist’s expenses, which can include travel, living and production materials.
Interested artists must send a proposal by Aug. 24, including a resumé, a biography of up to 300 words, a project draft of up to 500 words, a website and/or PDF portfolio of previous work, possible dates of the two-week period available and a list of materials and equipment required to develop the work, if known.
School bus driver wins first place in competition
Victor Garza, a delegated behind-the-wheel trainer for the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, won first place in the transit bus category at the 45th annual School Bus Driver International Safety Competition last weekend at the Dakota County Technical College in Minneapolis. The event invited top school bus drivers from the United States and Canada to present their knowledge and skills.
The first day of competition included a written exam on the rules of the road. The following day, the drivers got behind the wheel of a school bus and maneuvered it through a road course.
Garza has been a delegated driver in the district for about seven years. He is responsible for operating school buses and training new drivers.
Hotel Irvine hosts Movie Nights
Hotel Irvine is hosting a series of Movie Nights on its 10,000-square-foot lawn for visitors to view cinematic classics on a 20-foot screen.
Popcorn, tri-tip sandwiches, bratwurst, hot dogs, hamburgers and salads will be available for purchase, and guests can bring picnic blankets and low beach chairs.
The series was scheduled to kick off Friday night with “Top Gun.”
Other screenings will include “Back to the Future” on July 31, “The Goonies” on Aug. 14 and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” on Aug. 21.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. at the hotel, 17900 Jamboree Road. Movies begin at 8:30.
Admission is $5 per person; children 5 and younger get in free. Tickets are available at the door or at HotelIrvine.com/movienights.