ON CAMPUS AT OCC:New student services building opens

Construction has been progressing at a rapid pace on Orange Coast College’s sprawling 164-acre campus since the passage of Measure C on the November 2002 ballot.

OCC’s new four-story, $28-million, 56,000square-foot Watson Hall opened last week. The striking aluminum and glass structure, which serves as the college’s new student services building, is an elaborately renovated and refurbished update of OCC’s 38-year-old Norman E. Watson library. The building was completely gutted and modernized.

Watson Hall contains the college’s enrollment center, counseling department and transfer center as well as a host of other student services and programs.

In 2000, OCC’s library moved into a temporary facility on the northern perimeter of the campus. Construction is under way on a new 88,777-square-foot campus library/learning resource center. The impressive $33-million structure will be completed in the fall of 2007. It’s being funded through both Measure C and state capital outlay funds.

This summer, the college dramatically upgraded, enhanced and improved 29 existing classrooms at a cost of $1.5 million. The classrooms were repainted and re-carpeted, and were refitted with new ceilings, lighting, data projectors and screens and white boards.

The finishing touches are being applied to OCC’s Frank M. Doyle Arts Pavilion, funded jointly by Measure C and the Orange Coast College Foundation. The arts pavilion, which contains two public art galleries and a student cafe, is set to open shortly after the first of the new year.

OCC’s fitness center is slated to open in early spring. The center includes a weight training and fitness facility, football and baseball locker rooms, and a gymnasium and classroom. Improvements have also been made to OCC’s LeBard Stadium, soccer field and baseball field.

Additionally, campus utility infrastructure has been substantially upgraded.

Construction will begin this spring on a renovation and expansion of Robert B. Moore Theatre, the Drama Lab, the Drama Lab Studio and the Music Building.

Exciting changes are taking place all over OCC’s beautiful campus, thanks to the generous support of the citizens of coastal Orange County.

OCC hosts Latin music, dance and food fest Sunday

A festival that celebrates Latin music, dance, crafts and food will be staged Sunday on campus.

Titled “Dia de la Raza,” the fest will run from noon to 6 p.m. in front of the Arts Center. The event is free and open to the public.

“It will be a family day, geared for the entire community,” said Jose Costas, an OCC dance professor and coordinator of the event. “We’ll spend the afternoon celebrating the diversity of Latin culture.”

Featured performers will be the Susie Hansen Latin Band. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the band serves up red-hot Afro-Cuban, Latin jazz and salsa music. The band will perform from 3:30-5:30 p.m. A floor will be set up for dancing.

Members of the famed Ballet Hispanico of New York will perform duets and trios from 2:45-3:15 p.m. Ballet Hispanico has been widely recognized as the foremost dance interpreter of Hispanic culture in the United States. Also on the program, from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m., will be the Mariachi Divas. The all-female group is making big waves on the Los Angeles music scene.

OCC’s Fiesta Latina Dancers will perform from 12:30-1:15 p.m.

Crafts and food booths will be set up on campus, and guests are invited to bring picnic lunches.

For information, call (714) 432-5040.

Community Science Night for families to be held Oct. 27

Approximately 3,000 elementary-school children and their parents are expected to attend OCC’s seventh annual “Community Science Night” on Friday evening, Oct. 27.

Admission is free, and activities will run from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m.

This year’s event will attract elementary-school children from school districts including Newport-Mesa Unified, Fountain Valley Unified, Huntington Beach City, Ocean View and Westminster.

The students and their parents will visit labs and view demonstrations representing a host of OCC programs and departments. Science labs, staffed by professors and OCC students, will offer displays and demonstrations throughout the evening. Several short NASA presentations will be offered in the Science Hall and in Science Lecture 1. The programs will introduce attendees to the solar system and outer space.

Telescopes will be set up for viewing. The college’s Marine Science Lab and large aquariums will also be open to the public.

A free barbecue meal will be served.

Symphony and chamber singers offer ‘Wonder of Bach’

OCC’s Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Singers will celebrate “The Wonder of Bach” on Saturday evening, Oct. 28, in Robert B. Moore Theatre.

The concert, sponsored by OCC’s Friends of the Library, is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. The Symphony and Chamber Singers are under the direction of music professor Ricardo Soto.

The concert will feature J.S. Bach’s Cantata No. 4, Christ lag in Todesbanden and Concerto for Oboe d’Amore in A major.

For ticket information, call (714) 432-5880.