June birthdays were announced, although their ranks were not entirely filled today. GENE PRINDLE was first, on June 2nd, and of course in Los Angeles. PP GEORGE DEA liked Hong Kong on the 4th. RAY ZICKFELD elected the 8th, in far away Chicago, while WARREN DODSON settled on the 14th in nearby Pasadena. PP STEVE SCHERER chose the 21st, in Rochelle, IL, and last was Dr. FLOYD DEWHIRST, also in Illinois, but from Harvard, and his date was the 25th. Since only RAY and STEVE were present, they got to sign the Library Books, plus enjoying the serenade.
Platoon A Captain Ken Miller came forward to introduce the recipient of this year’s Firefighter of the Year Award. Station #37 covers Westwood, Brentwood, WLA and Bel Air, and they are located at 1090 Veteran, just north of Wilshire. The selection of Firefighter David Arrelano was based on his excellent performance as a member of the team, and he is a relatively new member, having joined the LAFD in September of ’03. He is also a Marine reservist, and had a yearlong tour in Iraq during the ’05-‘06 period. PP STEVE DAY, speaking as Chair of our WVRC Foundation, briefly outlined what a Paul Harris Fellowship means, since the $1,000 donation funds all of our charitable activities. We then presented Firefighter Arrelano with his Certificate of Membership, plus lapel pin and Paul Harris medal. He received a well-deserved Standing Ovation.
A quick editorial here – this is a lovely ceremony, and having the entire Platoon attend sends a message of Community support to everyone who is present. We have a long record of honoring these brave Firefighters – but sad to relate, on our last visit to the Station, I didn’t win the prize for being the oldest WVRC member to slide down the pole – LENNY did!
PP DON NELSON is collecting any corrections that should be inserted into the new WVRC Directory, which will come out in July. He can’t be responsible for checking with every last member, so please take responsibility for your own listing, and call him right away with any changes.
SHANE WAARBROEK is gathering names of those who will be participating in our new Angel Flight Program. I’d like to list everyone who has volunteered in next week’s Windmill, so please be sure SHANE has your information.
PDG ANDY ANDERSON came forward with this week’s joke. When NASA first started sending up Astronauts, they quickly discovered that ballpoint pens wouldn’t work in zero gravity. To solve this problem, NASA Scientists spent a decade, and twelve billion dollars to produce a pen that writes upside down, underwater, in zero gravity, in temperatures ranging from below zero to plus 300 degrees – you get the idea. They then asked the Russians what THEY were doing with this problem. The Russians replied: “We use a pencil”.
SHERRY DEWANE is our incoming Vocational Service Chair, and she introduced our Speaker, President Warrick Carter of Columbia College – the largest Arts and Communications College in the US. Prior to joining Columbia in 2000, he was Director of Entertainment Arts for Walt Disney Entertainment for four years. The twelve years before that he was with Berkeley College of Music in Boston. His PhD in Music Education is from Michigan State University. In addition to his teaching and administration duties, he composes and performs himself. He is listed in three different categories in Who’s Who in America. – and is an active member of Chicago Rotary Number One.
Columbia College Chicago has over 12,000 students. It was founded in 1890, and has three schools within its structure. They feature seven disciplines – Art and Design, Entertainment Management, Fiction Writing, Dance, Music, Photography and Theatre. They have Departments of English, and Poetry, and are housed in eighteen buildings in Chicago’s South Loop. Their economic impact shows in their annual $160 million budget. They also have worldwide centers of specialized study. Their public performances total over one thousand events each year, attracting over 300,000 patrons to their campus.
Columbia College also has a satellite campus here in Los Angeles. They are the only college with a working instructional program on a CBS Sound Stage. He pointed out that neither UCLA or “that other school” has such a facility. They also have a cooperative arrangement with Second City. They provide on-site instruction in Florence, Prague and Dublin, among other locations. Six members of their Photography Department are Guggenheim Scholars. Their Fiction Writing Department has been named the best in the country in 17 of the last 25 years. They were among the twenty-five best entrepreneurial Programs in the US last year.
Why is he telling us about a college based in Chicago? 30% of their students now live on campus, and almost 50% of all freshmen are included. 40% of their students are from out of state. Present alumni of 80,000 are scattered over the US. The LA campus has 3,800 students. They have 300 full-time and over a thousand part-time instructors. Because of the incredible speed of changes within the entertainment/communication industry, the new opportunities opening up will demand flexible planning, and a school the size of Columbia College is well-placed to move with the flow. The Harvard Business Review has noted that the MFA – Master of Fine Arts – is the new MBA.
Their motto is “Create Change”. Media and Communication specialists are saying that today they can spend 50 to 60% of their time just keeping up with the changes. Columbia College is teaching their students not only how to do it, but how to learn new things to keep up with these changes. The retirement of the Baby Boomers will create a demand for leisure-time activities, while amazing improvements in technology will continue to come on line. Columbia College is well positioned to fully participate in this expanding field of activity. His presentation ended with a video that highlighted the strengths of Columbia College.
