Locals Remember Policeman, Seek Justice

By: Corinne Speckert, The Spartan Daily

Posted: 10/29/08

About 300 people met at Jeffrey Fontana Park during Tuesday night's candlelight vigil to listen to Fontana's parents and lead prosecutor speak about the ongoing case against his alleged killer.

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Seven years to the day after a policeman was shot in the head at Calle Almaden off of Almaden Expressway, 300 people gathered on Wednesday night to remember him and bring attention to his slaying.

Jeffrey Fontana, then 24 years old and an SJSU alumnus, was on patrol when he was killed only two weeks after he began patrolling on his own for the San Jose Police Department, said his mother Sally Fontana.

"I don't think I'll ever have closure, but I'll be able to move forward," Fontana said. "I want to be able to wake up in the morning and know that I don't have this hanging over my head."

DeShawn Campbell, now 29, awaits trial in the case, which has been held up because defense attorneys have said he is mentally retarded.

"Last year we were in court for six months, four days a week for the mental retardation hearing and that was only one motion," Fontana said.

Friends, family, police officers and supporters of Fontana's also gathered for an 8 a.m. rally at the Santa Clara Superior Courthouse to raise awareness that no one has been convicted of the murder. The day ended with a march from Calle Almaden to Jeffrey Fontana Park on McAbee Road, where speakers talked about the injustice in the case so far.

Rob Davis, San Jose chief of police, said he was notified of Jeffrey's death when his daughter was 3 years old and that she is now 10.

"There have been high-profile cases in this state that happened after this homicide and have been adjudicated since that homicide and we feel like enough's enough," he said. "Let's get this thing to trial. We're not asking for anything other than a fair trial for this individual."

Nick Barry, a San Jose police officer who attended SJSU and the police academy with Fontana, said the delay in the case makes him feel like the judicial system isn't behind him.

"Why this has taken so long I have no idea," he said. "Personally for me, being a friend of his, it's unnerving. It upsets my family along with his to know that it feels like we're not being backed up by the system."

Fontana said the court process makes her feel like a victim of the justice system.

"The justice system is obviously broken," she said. "Because if you can't get justice for a police officer killed in the line of duty, I don't know who we can get justice for."

Chi Pi Sigma, the SJSU student criminal justice fraternity that has offered support to Fontana's case in the past, decided to help out in a personal way this year.

"This year we wanted to take a different approach and personally get involved with Sandy so we helped get more participation for the rally, where around 60 people showed up," said Antonio Tovar of the fraternity Chi Pi Sigma. "The main slogan Sandy choose was 'Justice delayed is justice denied,' so we were chanting that."

Rebecca Marquez, a San Jose police officer who knew Fontana casually ended the memorial by telling the Fontanas that she hopes justice will be served.

"It's a history in legend that has us believe that the number seven beholds luck and I told Sandy and Tony (Jeffrey's father) that I hope that holds true for them this year," she said.

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© Copyright 2010 Spartan Daily

Looking Through the Eyes of Local Businessman

Art show 'neighbors' in Silicon Valley

By: Corinne Speckert, The Spartan Daily

Posted: 12/10/08

About 100 pictures of small business owners from Silicon Valley fill the second floor exhibit room of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, as part of a photographic exhibition titled "My Neighbors."

Joe Claus, an SJSU alumnus and exhibitor, photographed small businesses to show that Silicon Valley is not only a technology-based area as some may think, but also one with small businesses.

At the beginning of the exhibit is a quote by Claus on the wall that gives his view of how people perceive Silicon Valley.

"I live in the heart of Silicon Valley - a 10-minute walk from Adobe, an 8-minute drive from Apple's campus, 14 miles from Google headquarters. This is Silicon Valley business, as the world sees it."

Spectators can see endless portraits of people hanging on the wall, including David Anson, the owner of Stonelight Tile Designer Showroom, Josh McGhie of 4th Street Pizza, Vikki Graham of Antique Market, Allen "Hooty" Gibson of Cinnabar and Frank Annino of the Spartan Barber Shop.

Among the photographs is Eddie from Downtown Snack Bar, which reads "out of business" underneath.

Claus said Eddie was being pressured from redevelopment agencies to move his store and it was difficult shooting the business, knowing that its fate wasn't secure.

"I took a photo of the business before and after and even going back and looking at those two photographs and seeing all the surroundings being the same, but his place gone, it's a little saddening," he said.

The exhibit is an ongoing project, he said, and he plans to take pictures of the outside of the businesses and add a text element, in case some of them don't make it.

"I have some questions I want to ask them, and then somehow include it in these exhibitions," he said. "Then if they are feeling pressured by certain organizations they can voice that if they wanted to, and it would make it that much more relevant."

All pictures are in black and white, ranging from 30 inches by 30 inches to 5 inches by 5 inches. Claus said these pictures represent a growing monograph and he arranged them hanging on hooks and wire to appear as if they're floating.

Claus shot all of his photographs with a film camera, he said, because the aging of the pictures through film is like a throwback to older times.

"It's the contrast, too, everyone being so busy in Silicon Valley," he said. "Having to work with film, you have to slow down and kind of nurture it in a way to get an image out of it."

Gebru Gebrekidan, the owner of G G's Barber Shop, which is featured in the exhibit, said he appreciates what Claus has done for the small businesses in the community.

"I was a very small business," he said. "But now I've grown a little bit more. I (moved) to a bigger space, he encouraged me."

Claus said 60 percent of the people he asked to photograph for the exhibit said no because they were skeptical of his intentions, unlike Gebru whose response was the complete opposite.

"When I approached (Gebru), he was just really receiving and really willing to do it," Claus said. "As compared to some of the other ones that thought there was some kind of other agenda there or like I was trying to sell them something."

Nataly Valencia, a sophomore nursing major, said she felt a sense of community among the pictures.

"It's interesting to see how all these small business owners come into one community," she said. "They're all alike. It's a big connection that I see through the pictures, they all connect to one thing, one community."

Claus said he didn't pose the subjects in his photographs because he wanted to capture their personalities and emotions at that moment.

"I basically wanted to take a photograph of what they wanted to give me," he said. "So if they look nervous then that's how I took the photograph, and if they look comfortable that's just kind of how it comes out."

This project began a year ago, Claus said, in an advanced black and white photography class at SJSU, where students photograph what American means to them.

"I thought to be American is the small businesses of our community and then it kind of morphed into comparing those to the big businesses of Silicon Valley," he said. "I feel like the small business owners make up a lot of the character of the community, because there's so many and they offer so many different services."

Claus said he's donating a handmade book to SJSU Special Collections in the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, as well as a smaller replica of his exhibit to History San Jose, a nonprofit organization operating both History Park and the Peralta Adobe-Fallon House Historic Site in downtown San Jose.

"It feels really good because that's part of the purpose too of this whole project, is to create an archive of the businesses that are here," he said.

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© Copyright 2010 Spartan Daily

Library Science School Goes Digital, Bringing Students Together from Across Country

By: Corinne Speckert, The Spartan Daily

Posted: 12/9/08

Students may not be familiar with SJSU's school of library and information science because there is no physical building.

There is, however, a virtual one.

Anthony Bernier, an assistant professor for the school, said students don't need to commute or move to receive the benefits of the program because all courses, lectures and seminars are available online through course management systems, where students can log in to watch videotaped lectures.

"We have students who are all over the country - in fact, all over the world," he said.

This school, which is primarily online, gives graduate students an American Librarian Association accredited degree in librarianship upon graduation.

Dale David, an instructional technology assistant for the library program, said the school is about 95 percent online, and is represented in at least 10 states and six to 10 countries. He said a lot of their students aren't based in San Jose, which is why they started working with online education in 2000.

"It's an online system, so it allows us to experiment and we kind of do everything in-house," he said. "We don't rely on a lot of the university-level services, so it's pretty much a home-grown and home-maintained program."

Jeremy Kemp, a lecturer of the school, said it has had students involved in distance education for about a decade and has multiple online resources to accommodate different students' learning preferences.

"We use all these different tools, and they all get mixed into the pot of distance education tools," he said. "Each one of these tools has different methods and a different set of people it serves."

Bernier said the school looks for new ways to technically reach students, which is why two years ago they used a $30,000 grant from the George Soros Foundation to create its own college on an island in Second Life. Second Life is a 3-D, virtual world used as a social network by its users.

"Most of us never see our students physically, face to face, except maybe at graduation. But otherwise, Second Life is an example of an immersive environment," he said.

Bernier said Second Life offers students the personal interaction absent in online courses because they can virtually attend seminars when the professors are actually giving them. Students create their own avatars, or virtual students, which attend classes and school functions in Second Life.

"We were the first library school in the country to have our own island on Second Life," Bernier said. "We had a Halloween party that drew 250 people."

Bernier said Second Life is increasingly being used as a form of instruction.

"I would appear on Second Life on a particular time and day and my students would show up on that day and I would deliver a lecture in Second Life, or we would do a group exercise or several," he said.

Kemp said Second Life is a good tool for students who do better in a class setting.

"There's a really rich community of people around us, so my students go out into the community and work with other people in Second Life," he said. "Having a place that you can go to is very helpful for some students. It has real teaching and learning benefits to feel like you're at a place, to feel like your present."

Kemp said there are about 150 universities and libraries on the island, which also has a theater, student union, info desk, tiki bar, stage and 11 faculty offices.

David said students' opinions on Second Life differ and it's hard to implement curriculum, he said, and it can't be managed or controlled when it's down.

"Some people like it, some people just really hate it," David said. "One of the things we emphasize is it's about finding who your users are and providing services, regardless of whether it's in a physical place or a virtual place."

The library school is broken down into two sessions: regular session for local students and special session for non-local students. David said their tuition, based on other library schools, is within the bottom 5 to 10 percent and is competitive because of its accessibility for students with families or careers.

"A lot of our students are working professionals," he said. "We have younger students, but also get a lot of older people in their second or third careers with families. It kind of gives them an opportunity so they don't have to move to a graduate school (and) allows students to work full-time, but also take care of their families and get an education in the comforts of wherever they live."

Along with lectures and seminars, the school also has a weekly colloquium series, where weekly interviews with professionals from the librarian field are videotaped and put on its Web site for students.

"(It's) put up on our Web site where our students from all over the country can look at the archive and at any point access our Web page and bring up the whole presentation," Bernier said.

Bernier said the popularity of the colloquium series, which started off averaging about 125 viewers, is growing - it now averages about 275 per presentation.

"If you can imagine 275 people in this room at different times, that's what would happen," he said. "So when you come expecting to see a big audience at the colloquium, it's a virtual audience."

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© Copyright 2010 Spartan Daily

A Cleaner Planet is Doubtful under the Obama Administration

By Corinne Speckert

Special to the Spartan Daily

By 2050, our over-populated planet is expected to continue this trend by reaching nine billion people, according to a recent New York Times article. This predicted increase is the equivalent of adding two populations the size of China's to our planet.


With an ever-increasing population soaking up our scarce natural resources, one may think, '”What's another 2.23 billion people?”


I'll tell you what a couple billion more people means. Not only does it ensure a constant depletion of natural resources, but it also guarantees more carbon footprints. That's right, the same footprints environmentalists have been working to decrease ever since the realization of global warming.


With numerous environmental protection laws such as the Clean Air Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, both implemented in the 1970s, you'd think we'd be on our way to a cleaner America – but that's not the case.


A recent New York Times article stated, “Since 1970, temperatures have gone up at nearly three times the average for the 20th century.” With overpopulation and glutenous consumerism, our country is a far cry from recovery.


A report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stated that the global climate is likely to rise between 3.5 and eight degrees Fahrenheit if atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations reach twice the level of 1750, according to the New York Times Web site. The site further stated that the climate panel predicts a seven to 23 inch rise in our planet's sea levels by 2100, and that these changes will continue for centuries to come.


Fortunately for us, the White House was recently presented with the Montreal Protocol, a 21-year-old treaty developed to regulate ozone-depleting substances. The only problem is the Obama Administration declined to sign it, reasoning that immediate action could decrease their amount of negotiating room in future climate and environmental talks, according to the New York Times article.


These ozone-depleting chemicals – that could account for as much as 30 percent of all atmospheric warming by 2040 – have been renamed as super-greenhouse gases because they can be thousands of times more lethal than carbon dioxide in heating the atmosphere, the article stated.


Don't worry about Obama's refusal to sign this protocol, because there is now more room for negotiating down the line. Despite the 195 nations that did sign the treaty, our government is confident that securing negotiating room is what's going to restore our planet for future generations, not actual action through the regulation of harmful gases.


That's right everyone, Barack Obama pulled a George Bush, Jr. He refused to sign a treaty designed to phase-out hydrofluorocarbons – a potent group of climate-warming gases – just as Bush refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol – an international treaty developed to bring greenhouse gas emissions down to 1990 levels, in 2005.


With the hype of a new president, expectations of actual “change”and “hope” were on the horizon and now it appears global warming may be the only thing we see.


With the expected nine billion mouths to feed and bodies to clothe, our government needs to think beyond the “negotiating” powers of today by taking measures to ensure a habitable world for future populations.


We need to take a step away from abundant trade and industrialization and prioritize the conservation of resources while reducing harmful gases if we want our planet to heal. Environmental protection is not only a matter of implementing bills designed to regulate environmental hazards, but it's also a matter of enforcing them.


If Obama's idea of “change” continues down this path, not only will our country's money trees fail to replenish, but we'll have a greater environmental debt that may never be balanced.

Source:
The New York Times, "Obama Not Seeking Quick Climate Action Under Ozone Treaty," by John Broder on May 4, 2009.

'Wacky Olympics' Celebrates End of Serious Summer School

Corinne speckert - Santa Cruz Sentinel corespondent

Article Launched: 07/19/2008 12:00:00 AM PDT

Students from Amesti and Ann Soldo Elementary schools celebrated the end of summer school Friday by participating in "Wacky Olympics."

The children were among 5,000 Pajaro Valley students who wrapped up summer classes at 17 schools. The elementary school summer program was designed to enable children with below-grade reading skills catch up.

At Amesti, where the Wacky Olympics took place, teachers added a little fun to the five hours per day students spent in class by centering the curriculum on the upcoming Beijing Olympics. Students were assigned a country to study during the summer session. As they worked on their reading skills they also learned about the world and its diverse cultures. Friday, they represented their nations in the Wacky Olympics, competing in games like chopstick chicken and Italian pasta relay.

Third-grade teacher Carmen Becerra said during the regular school year, teachers are focused on making sure students do well on the California Standards Test, which is used to determine pupils' and schools' success. So the summer school was a welcome break.

"You come in as a teacher because you have that creativity to be able to create lessons and have fun with them and be spontaneous," she said. "I think that has been taken away from us with all the demands from the state and with the kids, you don't allow them to be creative because you're on a schedule."

Mike Perez, the lead teacher at Amesti and Ann Soldo, came up with the idea for the Wacky Olympics.

"We just wanted to end the year in an upbeat fashion and instead of the traditional 'lets eat cake and ice cream,' this is a way to have structure for the kids, where they get to learn about what the Olympics are," Perez said.

Physical education teacher Christopher Harris said it was good way to teach about the Olympic spirit.

"We thought it would be a great representation for the kids on how we could come together, have a great time, show how the countries do it, and they may gain a greater appreciation for the Olympics and countries other than the U.S.," he said.

A staff of 23 teachers, parents, older siblings and high school students earning community service to graduate, all helped make this event possible in a year when money was short, Perez said.

Ben Lomond Family Helps All Students Receive School Supplies

Corinne Speckert - Santa Cruz Sentinel Correspondent

Article Launched: 08/03/2008 12:00:00 AM PDT

Ben Lomond student Autumn Bushard along with her sister and mother collected money outside Palace Arts on 41st Avenue Saturday to buy school supplies for San Lorenzo Valley students.

Autumn, 12, who helped provide 300 students with backpacks and supplies last August, is working with Valley Churches United Missions of Ben Lomond to buy everything from rulers to calculators for students who otherwise couldn't afford them.

The Bushard's, who worked with the Santa Cruz County Board of Education last year raising money for school supplies, made more than $600, and Saturday they hoped to beat that.

"It's for families that don't have enough money for supplies so they come to Valley Churches, fill out a form, and get a backpack full of goodies," Autumn said. "My little sister has a friend that doesn't have a lot of money to do stuff with, that helped urge me on."

Valley Church will divide the money by grade level, with elementary schools receiving $40 per student and middle and high schools receiving $60 per student. The money helps support students' for a year and Valley Church provides gift cards for new shoes with every $40 dollar donation made.

After spending about five hours collecting money Saturday, the Bushards went to several office supply stores, hoping to buy enough supplies at a discounted price, to ensure every student starts this fall with fresh supplies.

"Everyone feels good going to school with a new pack of crayons," said Autumn's mother, Anna Rawson-Bushard. "If they don't have the [needed] supplies, it's just doesn't work.

Redwood Pizza in Felton is also helping out by donating 33 percent of their Aug. 12 sales and donations are being taken at Luminous Threads in Felton.

"People just need to see that's it's not only them that needs this stuff but it's everyone. There's a lot of people worse off. If everyone donated a dollar that would be fantastic," Autumn said.

Nonprofit Fights Hunger, One Head of Lettuce at a Time

Corinne Speckert - Santa Cruz Sentinel Correspondent

Article Launched: 07/27/2008 12:00:00 AM PDT


Ag Against Hunger, a nonprofit that works to collect leftover crops from commercial harvests, worked with 30 volunteers at the Santa Maria Ranch in Watsonville, collecting 4,800 to 5,000 pounds of lettuce Saturday to help feed the hungry.


The nonprofit has been providing produce to food banks in Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito counties for the past 18 years, keeping food banks such as Grey Bears and Second Harvest stocked, to ensure that every income level gets their five servings of vegetables and fruit a day.

"There are a lot of hungry people right here in our own area," said Ananda Jimenez, volunteer coordinator for Ag Against Hunger. "One in five families in this tri-county area is food insecure, which means they might have to make the choice of buying healthy food or mac 'n' cheese. This is helping low-income people to have a healthy diet."

About 77,000 pounds of produce were collected last year, and this year, Ag Against Hunger hoped to collect close to 100,000.

"This is such an important part of the nation's bread basket," said volunteer Chris O'Connor of Carmel Valley while pointing to a truck full of baskets of lettuce. "You get out and you pick in the fields and you have such a better appreciation for all the produce you see in the grocery store. I couldn't imagine that everything on that truck would be dirt on Monday. If this didn't get picked by the volunteers today then the machines would come over and harvest new [produce] over it."

Of all the produce collected, food banks within the tri-county have first dibs and the remainder is then distributed to surrounding counties and rural areas. About 300 volunteers with Ag Against Hunger make several trips a month to various farms to continue providing food to the needy.

"This should be a requirement for every kid that goes to school in Monterey County," O'Connor said.

Volunteers Bring New Life to School Garden

By Corinne Speckert - Santa Cruz Sentinel Correspondent

Posted: 08/09/2008 09:17:05 AM PDT

Family, volunteers and Rio del Mar Elementary School staff came together through good old fashioned hard labor Friday to expand the school's garden before school starts Wednesday.

Around 20 Morgan Hill, Watsonville and Soquel Home Depot employees worked with about a dozen family and staff members to paint, plant, dig and lay soil and gravel to get the school's Lifer Lab garden, which had remained unused for 10 years, ready to go and grow.

GATE resource teacher and project volunteer Ted Alternburg came up with the idea after reading a request for compost buckets from fifth grade Rio del Mar teacher Martin Sweet. After discussing possibilities for expanding the garden, Alternburg presented a proposal to Home Depot, and what started off as a small project grew into a total transformation of the property.

"This is a dream that I was able to put down on paper and now here it is. It's quite literally a dream that has become reality," he said. "Students are involved in the process of getting food scraps from the cafeteria kitchen to put in the compost, and after watching the compost go through its process and mixing it with the soil in the garden, they grow and eat vegetables the next fall. And [they] know that the compost that helped feed those plants came from their own kitchen. It's really [about] seeing the cycle of nature and being involved with it."

Staff plans for the garden to be finished around September and will use it to give students planting and growing demonstrations, in order to teach students about nutrition.

"This is a great opportunity to be able to bring the learning outdoors and be able to expand our children's learning and make hands-on science more available to our students. And that's where the learning really happens," Rio del Mar Principal Deborah Dorney said.

The school's garden expansion, which has been underway since March, has been a community effort. Home Depot, along with the support of their employees donated a $3,000 dollar gift card to the school for supplies to finish their project, and Graniterock and Paradise Landscaping donated more than $2,000 in labor and materials.

"Lack of funding affects a lot of projects that our children used to benefit from [so] when I got Ted's message we acted on that and formed what we call "Team Depot," Home Depot project coordinator Lynn Gainey said.

Alternburg said that he hopes to replicate this garden project at other schools and has started planning discussions with Lakeview Middle School in Watsonville.

Recipes from family and friends in Hospice cookbook

Corinne Speckert - Santa Cruz Sentinel Correspondent

Article Launched: 08/13/2008 12:00:00 AM PDT



The fundraising group, Friends of Hospice, put a spin on their usual efforts by introducing a cookbook, "Cooking With Friends of Hospice," providing family cooking and unique recipes, showing friends and family how to eat and live well.

Friends of Hospice started off as a group of 10 women in 1984 and has exploded with around 100 volunteers today, helping to contribute around $125,000 dollars annually to the Hospice of Santa Cruz County.

This year to celebrate Hospice's 30th anniversary, Friends introduced a cookbook comprised of recipes donated by more than 200 people in the community, ranging from volunteers, families of former hospice patients and Bittersweet Bistro chefs, to children in Hospice's grief programs.

"We get a lot of community support, which is wonderful because there are so many groups out there trying to raise money. We started off saying we need 300 recipes and then we had over 400," Friends of Hospice and cookbook committee member, Libby Alexander, said.

Hospice of Santa Cruz County doesn't only help people with a life threatening illness feel more comfortable but offers several programs to help people with family or friends in hospice through the grieving process. Among the support programs Friends of Hospice helps fund are Healthy Understanding of Grief HUG, a support group for children; the transitions program, for people with a life-limiting illness; and provides grief counseling in schools.

"Hospice is trying to get out in the community and educate and prepare people to get their lives together ahead of time. The work they do isn't just for the dying, it's for the living, too, through grief support programs," Alexander said. "Dying is something everyone can relate to. If they have had it in their family or not. It's something that touches everyone."

Libby, who became involved with Friends of Hospice after her husband was killed in a plane crash in 1980, leaving her to raise her four and eight year old children, has been working with hospice for 15 years and said that a lot of people have the misconception that hospice is only for the sick, when in fact it is for anyone in the community, working by helping the living deal with death.

"So many people use Hospice more and more everyday. They are trying to get out the word, and I think people are becoming more aware that it's for the living also," Friends of Hospice and cookbook committee member Betty Bly said. "

Through cookbook sales Friends of Hospice hopes to make $8,000 dollars and has already sold more than 200 copies in less than two weeks.

"Friends of Hospice is incredibly important to us, not only as fundraisers in the community but as ambassadors," said Cathy Conway, director of development at Hospice of Santa Cruz County.


Cookbooks are $15 and are available at Caress Day Spa in Capitola, Mint in Scotts Valley and online at www.hospicesantacruz.org.

Lasagna Santa Cruz

Recipe donated by Libby Alexander

1 14.5 oz can, Mexican style stewed tomatoes

1 15 oz can tomato sauce

1 4 oz can diced green chiles

1 Tbsp. chili powder

1 tsp. cumin

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbsp. water

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

2 cups cooked, roughly chopped chicken a rotisserie chicken works great.

9 oz. no-cook lasagna noodles.

2½ cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese.

Sour cream, cilantro and avocado slices for garnish

Combine tomatoes, tomato sauce, chiles, chile powder, cumin, garlic, water, salt and pepper. Cook uncovered for 15 minutes. Stir in chicken. Spread thin layer of sauce in a 7x11 inch, two quart baking dish. Put three noodles over this layer. You will need to break them somewhat to fit the dish. Spread with 1/3 sauce. Top with 1/3 cheese. Repeat twice. Bake at 375 degrees for around 25 to 30 minutes, or until heated through and noodles are tender. Garnish each serving with a dollop of sour cream, chopped cilantro and a avocado slice if desired. Serves six.

Lifelong Pen Pals Meet Face to Face for the First Time

Corinne Speckert - Santa Cruz Sentinel Correspondent

Article Launched: 08/05/2008 12:00:00 AM PDT

Exciting, mysterious, different and unique are the words Martha Cepress of Santa Cruz used when talking about meeting her lifelong pen pal, Vangelis Papoudakis from Piraeus, Greece, for the first time Friday.

Papoudakis, also known by Martha as Angelo, the translated version of his Greek name, came to the United States for his honeymoon with his wife, Elini, and took the opportunity to finally meet his pen pal face-to-face, after writing their first letters 26 years ago in 1982.

Cepress and Papoudakis, who spoke to each other for the first time only a couple of days before Papoudakis' arrival, talked about how it wasn't easy staying in contact during a time when phone cards, instant messaging and text messaging weren't available.

"It was hard because there was no Internet. It's hard to connect through letters. How do you arrange plans through letters?" Cepress said. "Through e-mail it's almost like taking away the mystery of a pen pal. The mystique is gone, going to the mailbox and seeing the letter, but e-mail lets us have more of a conversation."

Cepress and Papoudakis, who both had numerous pen pals from around the world, became correspondents through a company that matched people based on interests and countries. Although they both lost touch with other pen pals, they managed to maintain their relationship through letters filled with pictures, newspapers, tourist brochures, post cards and voice messages taped on cassettes.

"I had to first think in Greek, translate to paper, and then record [messages] on tape," Papoudakis said.

Papoudakis said his friends and colleagues in Greece couldn't understand why a 42-year-old man would want to maintain such a long-distance relationship, and that he had to explain to them why it's important for him to spend his honeymoon in America.

"The majority of my colleagues [made fun of me]. A traditional honeymoon is to go to the islands. No one ever thinks to go to the States. [But] we have common thoughts. [Cepress] knows all my previous affairs and I know hers," Vangelis said, while laughing. "You can't erase history."

Cepress was 14 when she first started writing 16-year-old Papoudakis. Now in their early 40s with families of their own, they can reminisce about their past conversations about politics from the Cold War era and the years of Ronald Reagan's presidency and discuss future meet-ups.

Sitting with Cepress' husband, Jimmy, and Papoudakis's wife, Elini, the friends at the Walnut Street Cafe on Monday, joked about when they'd see each other again. Cepress said they can't wait another 25 years, when they'd be retirement age. "Our next meeting would be in Miami," Papoudakis quipped. "In a wheelchair with blankets and wet socks," Elini chimed in.

Scotts Valley festival provides art, fun with a cup of wine

Corinne Speckert - Santa Cruz Sentinel Correspondent

Article Launched: 08/10/2008 12:00:00 AM PDT

Thousands of people turned out to enjoy art and drink local wine at the ninth annual Scott's Valley Art and Wine Festival on Saturday.

Organizers say that the lively festival with around 140 booths full of food, crafts and booze draws around 10,000 people over the weekend. It was started by the Scotts Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Scotts Valley Art Commission in 2000.

"There's gorgeous stuff here and a great variety of arts and crafts. I think the selection process is really working because I haven't seen anything I don't like," said Jim Jolly of Scotts Valley, who was attending this event for the second year in a row.

Around 250 volunteers helped make the two-day festival -- it continues from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today -- happen in SkyPark. One volunteer, Karen McNamara, said that this year's festival is the largest one yet, with more booths than ever.

"This is my only weekend to give to Scotts Valley," she said of why she volunteers. "I feel it's good to give back to the community, whether you like your community or not, and I happen to love this community."

Local wineries such as Bargetto Winery and Domenico Wines from the Santa Cruz Mountains, and breweries such Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing and Santa Cruz Ale Works, filled the booths along with a large display of crafts, ranging from paintings, sculptures and hand-blown glass.

"I like this show because it's relaxed. It's on the grass, in a park setting and I think people just like to walk around," said Lorinda Bechtel, who has been sculpting animals from high-fire clay, under the name, "Wild Earth Sculpture," for the past 30 years. "Although I'm not selling as much as I would at a bigger show, I think this is the way it's intended to be, with music and outdoors."

Two bands, "Trusting Lucy," playing an acoustic rock style of original songs and the cover-band, "The Original Wise Guys," along with students from Scotts Valley Performing Arts, provided a variety of music and entertainment for festival spectators.

"We play everything from AC/DC to Black Eyed Pees," Original Wise Guys member Harvey Chaffin said. "We do something by Lionel Richie, Tower of Power and Wilson Pickett."

Festival proceeds go toward the Scotts Valley Chamber of Commerce and help to fund nonprofits such as Lions and Kiwanis of Scotts Valley by giving them a chance to have booths and raise money at the festival.

Air Force Food Reaches New Heights

Corinne Speckert - Santa Cruz Sentinel Correspondent

Article Launched: 07/09/2008 12:00:00 AM PDT

Ted Burke, co-owner of the Shadowbrook and the Crow's Nest restaurants and National Restaurant Association board member, completed a 35-day quest in February to find the U.S. Air Force base serving the best institutionalized food in the world.

Burke, representing the association, was part of the Hennessy Awards evaluating team; he and three others evaluated six national and two international bases -- Incirlik, Turkey, and Dakota, Tokyo.

Among the eight Air Force bases judged, Tyndall Air Force, outside Panama City, Fla., came out on top, due to top leadership and food service, Burke said.

After three days of training in San Antonio, Burke and the others spent a half-week at each base evaluating criteria such as how closely recipes were followed, measuring, ingredients, food, sanitation and quality.

Breakfast items ranging from French toast, pancakes and eggs to dinner items such as stuffed peppers, liver, fish, pasta, chicken, turkey and sometimes steak.

Evaluations started around 5:45 a.m. and went through 6 p.m., starting again at 10 p.m. for the midnight meal. Scoring generally took about two days to complete. Committee members averaged four and a half to five hours of sleep a night with one day off a week to travel.

"Institutional food can absolutely be good, even great," Burke said of the challenges the military faces. "The stereotype of institutionalized food used to be old ladies in hair nets with metal trays. That day is long gone. Today it is very top notch. In fact, some of our Fortune 500 facilities and prestigious educational institutions use food service as a recruitment tool."

The differences, Burke noted, between institutionalized and restaurant food are that institutionalized food is more formalized and less artistic because most cooks don't have a culinary background. Much of the food is pre-prepared in bulk, then brought out to serving lines.

"The Air Force has requirements more strict than in our homes. For example, if leftover food can't be re-used within 24 hours, it's thrown out. My home refrigerator has much different rules. However, the Air Force cannot take any chances because they can't afford to have an entire wing go down that's in charge of defending our country."

Burke said he would gladly represent the National Restaurant Association on the mission again. "First, the people I met were just fantastic, from the highest in leadership ranks to the people who had been in the service for less than a year. Second, each place I went to I got a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I could never duplicate again. Things such as getting to put my hands on an F-22, America's newest fighting plane, while standing on the tarmac alongside the base general, to sharing a two-hour luxury bus ride in from the Tokyo airport with Miss USA." To learn more about the Hennessy awards or how to join an evaluation team go to www.hennessyaward.org.

High School Students in Watsonville Pick up Long-Awaited Diplomas

CORINNE SPECKERT - Santa Cruz Sentinel Correspondent

Article Launched: 07/19/2008 12:00:00 AM PDT

They missed their chance to graduate in June, but about 40 students from Watsonville and Pajaro Valley high schools stuck with their studies over the summer.

Their work paid off Friday as they picked up diplomas during a ceremony at the Henry J. Mello Center. "It feels good to graduate," said Nadia Noriega, dressed in her gold cap and gown.

Though they didn't get to join in the June festivities, the second-chance graduation ceremony was just as sweet.

June graduates came to show support, screaming friends' names and spinning noise makers. Families applauded as the black- and gold-gowned graduates walked across the stage to get their diplomas.

The students weren't able to graduate in June because of missing credits or failure to pass the California High School Exit Examination. Some still had more work to do, and couldn't participate in Friday's ceremony.

"Some students are so far behind in credits they're going to have to finish up at adult school. The ones that graduated this summer are the ones that had only one or two classes they had to make up," said Terry Eastman, district curriculum director. "By coming back this summer they have that 2008 as their graduation date and that's really important to them."

Noriega, who didn't graduate earlier because she didn't pass the state exit exam, said she knew of five other students who didn't graduate for the same reason.

"You want to graduate with your friends and class, but because of [the exam] you can't," Noriega said.

After the ceremony, the band JCA of Watsonville played what they called "romantic rock" to signify the student's last day of high school.

Volunteers Work to Restore Soquel Creek

Corinne Speckert - Santa Cruz Sentinel Correspondent

Article Launched: 08/17/2008 12:00:00 AM PDT

Volunteers worked with the Resource Conservation District Saturday to help beautify the forest around Soquel Creek by plucking invasive plants that had taken over the habitat.

Bill Lovejoy/Sentinel Steve Kennedy of the Soquel Neighbor's Alliance roots out some invasive plant life near Soquel Creek Saturday morning. 1 2

The conservation district started the volunteer cleanup in 2004, when volunteers helped restore native plant ecosystems by pulling invaders like ivy and reeds. They planted 50 native plant species in 2005.

"[Volunteers] are really essential because we have very limited grant funding to get work done on these sites each year," restoration ecologist Jennifer Stern said. "So any help we get is really critical to the success of the project."

Stern taught volunteers which plants to pull so that they can apply what they learned to their own yards.

"I started off here and couldn't find any of the bad [plants] but now realize they're all bad," volunteer Steve Kennedy said. "Soquel Creek is a tremendous resource for our community and it's really not utilized. We would just like the creek to be in better shape. Anything we can do for Soquel."

Since 2004, volunteers have helped by planting berries for birds and saving trees that provide nesting habitats and shade for steelhead trout in the creek.

The conservation district has about five volunteer days per year throughout the county. They also provide education, technical assistance and outreach to land owners and land users through multiple programs, teaching them how to restore, conserve or enhance natural resources.

Stern said that it takes at least five years of maintenance to build a strong plant community.

"We're hoping to shift to 100 percent volunteer efforts at these sites next year. So it will be even more important that people come to these volunteer days," she said.

People who want to be added to the volunteer list can contact Jennifer Stern at 464-2950, ext. 24.

Car Show Aims to Raise Money for Watsonville High Sports Programs

Corinne Speckert - Santa Cruz Sentinel Correspondent

Article Launched: 07/27/2008 12:00:00 AM PDT

Students and educators tried Saturday to reclaim some money for Watsonville High sports programs after the Pajaro Valley school board cut 25 percent from all high schools' athletics budgets in May.

Kelly Mano and his dog Taylor of Watsonville arrive at the car show in Mano's 1957 Ford Thunderbird

Students, educators and supporters joined together Saturday at Watsonville High School for "Wily's Hot Rods and Hogs" car show and flea market to help raise money for the school's athletics department, which lost $86,000 due to the budget cuts.

After a day of selling raffle tickets and baked goods, Watsonville High will still be around $83,500 short of its goal.

Saturday's event took on added urgency in light of the city of Watsonville's decision to ban fireworks sales for the Fourth of July, a fundraiser that provided some sports such as track and field with around 60-70 percent of their budget, according to Brad Hubbard, Watsonville High's athletic director.

"It's causing a hardship for wrestling and other sports that benefited off firework sales," Hubbard said. "We've done these fundraisers before, but this year they take on added importance because of the cuts. We have some nice donations but we have a ways to go."

Hubbard said Watsonville High School Principal Murry Schekman hopes to eventually make up the $86,000 that the district cut from their school, but for some schools, it's out of the question.

"I think a lot of departments took some pretty heavy hits. From my understanding, middle school athletics aren't receiving any funding at all," Hubbard said.

For athletic programs that don't benefit from firework sales, students and staff are trying to stay positive, in a time where funding is tough to find.

"I think we're more successful with the car show," Watsonville High School freshman cheerleader Mariah Wilkins said. "A lot of people came and we sold a lot of stuff. We're grateful that a lot of people came today. We just want to raise enough money so that we can hopefully make it to competition."

Hubbard said proceeds from Saturday's event will be put into a general fund, expected to go to all sports, as well as to help pay official fees. The money could also be used to pay additional coaching stipends to replace the 20 stipends that were cut in May. The athletic department hopes to continue the same programs from last year for this coming school year through fundraisers such as Saturday's. But at this point, they don't have enough money. "I think with the spirit that goes on in Watsonville High School, that they're going to bounce back pretty well," Tracy Wimber of Watsonville said. "I think everyone has been pretty aware of what kind of circumstances that the fireworks had on losing money and I think we're all here to pitch in as a community to help our high school."

Japanese Cultural Fair brings a taste of the Far East to Santa Cruz

Corinne Speckert - Santa Cruz Sentinel Correspondent

Article Launched: 06/22/2008 12:00:00 AM PDT

The annual Japanese Cultural Fair was back in Santa Cruz Saturday with traditional Japanese music, performances, food and textiles to give residents a taste of the Far East.

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The event at Mission Plaza Park kicked off with a martial arts demonstration by Aikido of Santa Cruz and ended around at 5 p.m. with the Watsonville Taiko Group performing a dance comprised of drumming and folklore.

The day was made up of 20 different events, including raffles, workshops, music and dance, a tea ceremony, storytelling and a meditation stage. Children had a chance to participate as the San Francisco Taiko Dojo taught them how to play drums.

"This form of drumming is a very traditional form, originally done to accompany religious ceremonies and other high performance art forms," San Francisco Taiko Dojo member John Rochelaeu said.

Taiko, regarded as sacred since ancient times, uses drumming to ward off evil spirits. It has exploded in popularity with around 200 groups.

"It's just great for everybody to see it, once you hear the drums you just kind of fall in love and you want to try it. That's mainly what we're here for, just to spread it around and let people experience something that they don't normally get to see," Rochelaeu said.

The fair featured an abundance of Japanese food along with shops filled with Japanese goods such as fans, kimonos and flying carp flags.

"The dancing and the music is very authentic but the food not so much, it's more Americanized and elaborate than you find in Japan," said Penny Duncan, who has been attending this fair for 20 years.

The fair, which is supported through donations, sponsors and grants, is made possible by a crew of 50 volunteers. Planning starts in September and continues all year long, taking six to seven months alone to recruit the performers.

"We just wanted to provide the opportunity for the community people to understand Japanese culture and this is the only chance that they have to come close to Japanese culture and we never charge admission because how many people can go to Japan?," said event director Chieko Yoshikawa. "Most people think the Japanese culture is just sushi, and sake or geisha and that's what we want to change, little by little."

Fabled Brookdale lodge holds "spirits" tour

Corinne Speckert - Santa Cruz Sentinel Correspondent

Article Launched: 07/15/2008 12:00:00 AM PDT

Music about death, a ghost hunt and psychic readings filled the rooms of the Brookdale Inn and Spa on Saturday night when psychics Faye the Tattooed Artist, Miss Oblivious and Vinsantos performed in the Ill Famed Spirits Tour.

Corinne Speckert/Sentinel Vinsantos Defonte performs as part of the Ill Famed Spirits Tour at the Brookdale Inn and Spa on Saturday

Brookdale Lodge has a history of being haunted, since its opening in 1870, with employees claiming they have seen spirits roaming, particularly one of a little girl who drowned in the creek running through the dining room. Others say they can hear a baby crying, which supposedly was drowned by its mother in the lodge's swimming pool. With so much reported paranormal activity, what better place for two psychics and a death worshiper to try and talk to spirits?

Cheyanne Payne, who goes by Miss Oblivious, started off the night by sharing her knowledge of Victorian death and displaying her creative hand-made dolls, depicting devils, skeletons and human characters from the Victorian era.

Next Vinsantos Defonte, known for his underground performances and as the former Miss Trannyshack, sang theatrical tunes on the piano from his "A Light Awake Inside" album with a focus on death.

"I would wake up and go on the balcony and there would be a funeral with everyone dressed in black and carrying caskets through the streets," Vinsantos said describing his childhood. "I just write what I feel and I have a heavy spiritual influence, especially when it comes to the other side, and I have a fascination with death. A lot of my songs are about getting there because it's so interesting."

Faye Okaba, also known as the Tattooed Artist, closed the night with psychic readings of the crowd, followed by a ghost hunt where guests were encouraged to take pictures in attempts to catch a glimpse of orbs, which they say are spirit energies visible as a stream of light on cameras.

As a psychic, Faye works to filter information for people, saying that most don't recognize spirits or ghosts because they're afraid of becoming crazy. While attempting to communicate with guests' mothers and fathers, Faye said that connecting with spirits is a way to overcome the fear of death.

"I think after tonight I believe a little more. Everything she said about my mother was correct," said Mary "Missy" Sjostrom of San Bruno. "What was interesting, too, was she mentioned about a brother, and I did have a brother that passed on about four years ago. And he was very close to my mother and so it sounds like they're together."

Others, such as Mike Morris from Maryland, was told he is too self-critical, and he is still uncertain about whether the entire psychic-reading deal is legitimate.

"I don't [believe in psychic powers], but it doesn't mean that other people shouldn't. It just doesn't feel right to me, but it could be true to other people," he said.

Parking Problems Persist

Packed lots and permit prices continue to frustrate students

By: Corinne Speckert, The Spartan Daily

Posted: 8/27/08

Despite SJSU's 19 campus parking lots, three garages and a free shuttle going to and from campus, students are having trouble finding parking.

"Parking is definitely a problem," said Steve Hardin, a freshman business marketing major. "It's an issue that needs to be addressed."

Hardin said finding parking is possible, but it's difficult and students have to be willing to take their chances by parking on streets.

"I was here at quarter to 7 a.m. and was already on the third floor," said Debbie Walde, a junior business major. "I heard if you get here at 9, just forget it."

With a record number of freshmen attending SJSU this fall, university police has been out in full force, trying to manage the overflow of students.

Sgt. John Laws of the University Police Department said traffic control has been lighter this year compared with others and to help accommodate SJSU's 32,000 to 33,000 students, the department is directing students to parking lots, encouraging the use of the Park and Ride lot and hiring more staff.

"We just hired one new bus driver, so we're hiring staff and making sure we have bus drivers to get people where they need to be," Laws said.

Students who manage to find parking may be hit with a fine for violating parking restrictions, said UPD Sgt. Mike Santos.

"There is no such thing as a free two-week period where no one gets cited," Santos said. "Generally, when students are cited, they just have to pay the fine but risk the chance of getting a hold placed on their record (if they don't pay)."

Tony Valenzuela, associate vice president of Facilities Development and Operations, said that to help accommodate students the school plans to increase student housing, which would decrease the need to drive, and leave more parking for commuters.

Valenzuela also said the extra freshmen may help turn SJSU into a residential campus because of the higher demand for housing. The school plans to increase student housing in Hoover, Royce and Washburn Halls from 600 beds to 2,200 by 2010, and until then, he hopes the school's 7,846 parking spaces will be sufficient enough.

"We need to prove (that campus housing) has demand, and this year we can say we're full," he said. "We want to be a residential campus and can only do that with more students coming in. The waiting list to get into housing is showing that we do have demand. Because of the size of our campus, as of this time, we don't have any solutions except increasing residential campus."

Although increasing student housing may save some parking spaces, students currently living on campus are struggling to find parking themselves.

"I live on campus, and they don't have any parking," said Erin Ellis, a sophomore psychology major. "They're sold out, and I'm on two wait lists, and everyone says they can't do anything. I have to pay $8 every day, but that doesn't guarantee nights, and a parking pass is over $300 a semester. I talked to some of my friends at different universities and they don't pay half of what we pay."

Ellis said she's weary about using the Park and Ride lot because she would need to leave her car there overnight, and she can't guarantee that it would be safe.

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© Copyright 2010 Spartan Daily

Rap Artist 'Wobbles'

By: Corinne Speckert, The Spartan Daily

Posted: 9/15/08

The album "Beast" by V.I.C., which debuted last spring, seems to have a sexual animalistic theme with a pop of religion and some hard beats.

Throughout the album, V.I.C. makes references to being "a beast" and several of his songs focus on getting girls and "the beautiful mating ritual," which he talks about in his songs "Bop Skit" and "Wobble," saying to "notice how the female wombat sprays her pheromones."

In the song "Duck Off Skit," in which he talks about "the lions and the lionesses, she likes to claw," V.I.C. sounds like an African tour guide on a safari. This is perhaps an accent he learned to mimic from his father who emigrated from Ghana.

From the fast-paced "I'm The Shit" to the slower "Flawless" and "Wifey Type," in which he tries to sound tough by repeating "V.I.C. is hard," he comes off sounding unoriginal.

"Wobble" and "Bop Bop Bop" both have great rhythm, making for a great workout on the dance floor, but are by no means PG-rated. The lyrics, again, sound generic with V.I.C. focusing on being "the man" and chasing women.

"Wobble" has a great beat and makes you want to dance in your car until you listen to the lyrics, which relate to the notion that few rap songs can refrain from mentioning women, "shakin' their boobies like congos" and telling them to "wobble it, and I'ma gobble it."

The song, "Beat It," takes the degradation of women in rap music to a whole new level with the lyrics, "I don't let the pussy beat me up, I beat that pussy. I'm a man and can beat my wife up." The song continues by talking about men rubbing their "nuts" on women's chests.

"Get Silly," which features lyrics from Soulja Boy, is V.I.C.'s self-proclaimed hot single. It's catchy by rhyming lyrics with silly, dealy, willy and philly but in essence is about getting high and stealing women from their current boyfriends. "I'm da reason why you wanna loose ya man girlfriend. The fellas in the back and they twissin' up a philly."

As soon as you thought you couldn't listen to one more song about women and mating rituals, V.I.C. throws a twist in the mix with "By Faith." In this song V.I.C. raps about religion, violence and politics, talking about the denial of the right to pray in schools. "World filled with darkness, how a man can kill his wife and leave her heartless. No God in the schools, let us pray. All I know in this world is to live by faith."

V.I.C. strays away from the traditional rap style of music by including the easily recognizable "na na na na" Batman theme in "We Ridin" and making a reference to the popular '60s TV show "Gilligan's Island" in "Get Silly": "I be wildin' on a island somewhere just like Gilligan."

Overall, this album seems to lack a concise theme and has some offensive lyrics but provides a diverse balance of music through "By Faith" and has a nice variety of jiving dance beats, pop culture and hard and soft lyrics in the songs, "Beat It" and "Flawless."

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© Copyright 2010 Spartan Daily