MONDAY, JUNE 9, 2014 - JUNE 15, 2014
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‘Unrealistic’ dreams in foster care come true for a UCR student
erside this year. He spent his adolescent years in the foster care system where adults called his dream of becoming a doctor “unrealistic.” He went from family to family and school to school, all the while fighting self-doubt about his academic abilities. When Ohan was just five years old, he was removed from the care of his mother. When he turned 13, his father
school in the Murrieta Valley Unified School District. She began her career as a teacher and administrator in the Long Beach Unified School District, but returned to the Please see page 4
Please see page 4
abandoned him and one of his two sisters, which placed them in foster care. More than 700,000 young people in the United States are affected by foster care each year. It is hard to know how many other students were also discouraged from their educational goals. The National Foster Care Coalition reports Please see page 2
Murrieta Middle School teacher announced as final 2015 Riverside County Teacher of the Year with surprise visit The multi-purpose room at Thompson Middle School in Murrieta Valley Unified School District was silent as more than 200 students, teachers, staff, administrators, and family members waited breathlessly for the arrival of Bar-
bara Everett, the final recipient of the 2015 Riverside County Teacher of the Year award. A 30-year veteran of public education, Mrs. Everett currently teaches language arts, speech, and drama at the 1,740-student middle
‘Campaign to Unload’ urges California Regents to examine endowments Students and faculty at the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) are understandably shocked by the hate-filled rampage of a UCSB student Friday night, in which six UCSB students were killed and 13 wounded just off campus. America mourns with the families and we embrace the responsibility to work together to stop this madness. “Not one more,” as Richard Martinez, father of 20-yearold Christopher, one of the students who was killed, heartbreakingly challenged us. We are up to the challenge. To that end, we call on the University of California Board of Regents to examine whether the system’s $88 billion endowment is contributing to more senseless destruction by being invested in companies that profit from gun violence, obstruct common-sense gun legislation, and fund the NRA. University endowments led the way in divesting from apartheid South Africa and should do so again in divesting from the gun industry. There have been 72 shootings on school campuses since the Sandy Hook massacre. We cannot afford to invest in gun companies. We are paying too high a cultural price to financially benefit from stock prices that climb even as our young people fall. The University of California, where this latest horror occurred, should stand with its community and ensure that it is not funded with the blood money from
-Photo by Carlos Puma
UC Riverside student Festus Ohan is headed to medical school with an all-expenses paid fellowship, an impressive achievement for any student. Ohan was admitted to some of the best schools in the country, including Cornell, Columbia, UCLA’s Geffen School of Medicine, the UC Riverside School of Medicine, and USC. It is no small miracle that he is graduating from UC Riv-
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U.S. exports reach $193.3 billion in April Export-Import Bank financing support helps create American jobs The United States exported $193.3 billion of goods and services in April 2014, according to data released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) of the U.S. Commerce Department. “The numbers show that the world’s consumers want U.S. goods and services for their quality and reliability,” said ExportImport Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg. “Made in America is still the best in the world, and the Ex-Im Bank is proud to play its part in boosting U.S. exporters abroad and supporting jobs here at home.” Exports of goods and services over the last twelve months totaled $2.3 trillion, which is 45.1
percent above the level of exports in 2009, and have been growing at an annualized rate of 9.0 percent when compared to 2009. During the same time period among the major export markets (i.e., markets with at least $6 billion in annual imports of U.S. goods), the countries with the largest annualized increase in U.S. goods purchases, when compared to 2009, were Panama (22.7 percent), Russia (18.9 percent), Peru (18.5 percent), Hong Kong (17.9 percent), Colombia (17.6 percent), Argentina (16.4 percent), Ecuador (16.1 percent), Chile (15.5 percent), Indonesia (14.6 percent) and China (14.5 percent).
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Senior Exhibit - June4-15 La Sierra University’s Brandstater Gallery will hold its final season exhibit with a multi-media show featuring graphic design, ceramics, paintings, fabrics and more created by seven graduating senior artists. Brandstater Gallery is located at La Sierra University at the Visual Art Center 112, Building 1. Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.,
Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and Sunday from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Admission is free. When: June 4 – 15, 2014 | Reception: June 4, 2014 | 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Where: Brandstater Gallery, La Sierra University, 4500 Riverwalk Pkwy., Riverside, CA 92515 For more information please call 951.785.2170
Foster child success story Continued from page 1
that one-fourth of youth who age out of foster care are incarcerated within two years and only half graduate from high school. In this light, this academic achievement deserves much recognition. In a UCR Today web article, the senior associate Dean of Student Affairs at the UCR School of Medicine said, “It is quite impressive to have received nine acceptances. Only exceptional students would receive this many offers.” Dr. Neal Schiller further praised the student for being a unique, gifted individual who has overcome incredible obstacles to achieve his dream. This coming August, Ohan will attend UCLA. He is the recipient of a David Geffen Medical Scholarship that provides full financial support. For many students, scholarships only include tuition; however, the Geffen also covers room and board, books, supplies, and offers a living stipend. This directly influenced Ohan to enroll. The young man said, “I’m looking forward to medical school and learning how to heal patients.” He graduates this June with a degree in neuroscience. “I will miss UCR. People here were excited about my dreams and believed I could do it. I had mentors who supported me and inspired me to believe in myself. ” This is what believ-
ing in students does for them: help them make their dreams a reality. The article also stated that only two percent of children who age out of foster care graduate from a four-year college, according to Tuppett Yates, a UCR associate professor of psychology and director of the Guardian Scholars Program (GSP). The GSP provides various kinds of support for students who age out of the foster care system. Like other college students, Ohan had a difficult first year, but he switched to a neuroscience major, earning a 4.0 grade point average after enrolling in the FastStart program, a five-week summer program for incoming freshmen interested in science-based careers. Ohan attributes part of his success to that program. “Before FastStart I hadn’t realized I could do this.” His activities include attending the Harvard Summer PreMedical Institute, volunteering at Loma Linda University Medical Center, and helping to establish a student organization that raises awareness about disparities in health care. He wants others in similar circumstances to know there is hope. “Have confidence in your abilities. Try to meet several mentors along the way who are positive influences. Don’t give up.”
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West Coast leaders applaud Obama administration’s proposal to cut carbon pollution The leaders of California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia today applauded the Obama Administration’s newly released proposal for reducing carbon pollution as a welcome sign that the federal government is stepping up as a partner in the fight against climate change. The three West Coast governors and the Premier of British Columbia, representing the Pacific Coast Collaborative (PCC), said the proposal would achieve meaningful greenhouse gas reductions from existing power plants, the nation’s largest source of heat-trapping emissions. At the same time, they said, it will allow the states flexibility to build on programs and partnerships that are already protecting public health, saving consumers money and spurring innovation in cleaner, safer energy. “President Obama and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy are to be congratulated for accelerating a national response to the costs and risks of climate change,” said Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber. “These standards will protect the health of citizens across the country while supporting our growing renewable energy economy on the West Coast. I am particularly pleased to see the Administration recognize the important role of regional partnerships, like the Pacific Coast Collaborative, in meeting the objectives of this new effort to curb carbon pollution,” he said. The proposed U.S. EPA regulation, under Section 111(d) of the federal Clean Air Act, complements the goals of the Pacific Coast Action Plan on Climate and Energy, a comprehensive and far-reaching agreement signed by the leaders in October 2013. The agreement commits the three states and British Columbia to align climate and energy policies, link programs where feasible to create consistent and cost-effective solutions, and grow the region’s clean energy economy. “President Obama today announced historic federal policy action to address climate change,”
said Washington Governor Jay Inslee. “The EPA’s new carbon pollution standards will also encourage and empower ongoing state and regional climate action, such as our collaborative efforts to grow the Pacific Coast’s clean energy economy. The risks of inaction on climate change are too great to ignore, and threaten grave damage to Washington’s communities, economy and way of life. I commend the President for taking this bold climate action.” The PCC leaders pledged to cooperate with governments around the world to press for action on climate change. “While others delay and deny, the Obama Administration is confronting climate change headon with these new standards,” said California Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. “Clean energy policies are already working in California,
generating billions of dollars in energy savings and more than a million jobs. Bold, sustained action will be required at every level and this is a major step forward.” Under the PCC Action Plan, California and British Columbia will maintain their existing carbon pricing programs, while Oregon and Washington will commit to moving forward on similar policies. The leaders will further commit to “meaningful coordination and linkage between states and provinces across North America.” “I congratulate President Obama and the U.S. EPA for taking the next step on the path to not only reducing carbon pollution in the United States, but also in driving investment in new clean technology and clean energy for years to come,” said British Columbia Premier Christy Clark.
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Campaign to Unload Continued from page 1
these killings. The UCSB community is grieving, but there is a way to stop the madness: divest. Congress—the “craven, irresponsible politicians,” Richard Martinez labeled them—has failed its constituents, 85% of whom support a bill to make every potential gun purchaser go through a background check. So we must use our wallets to take a stand. Divestment is a new front in the war to end the epidemic of gun violence. Its focus is on the corporate elements that are profiting from readily available and barely regulated firearms that are responsible for more than 30,000 American deaths every year, including the 20 first-graders and six educators massacred with a military-style assault weapon at Sandy Hook Elementary. “Our communities, and especially our young people, are bearing the brunt of gun violence while corporate executives reap the financial rewards. Lately, gun deaths— homicides, suicides, and accidents— make up the second-highest cause of death among young people aged 15-24. If this trend continues, gun violence will become the No. 1 cause of death for millennials next year. We have to stop the madness; these students are our future. “In the wake of last week’s tragedy, we must call on the University of California Board of Regents to divest from the gun industry,” the Campaign to Unload says. Meanwhile, the gun industry— led by Remington Arms Company;
Riverside County Teacher of the Year Continued from page 1
Sturm, Ruger & Co.; and Smith & Wesson—has profited even as more Americans are killed by the products it manufactures and aggressively markets. The value of these companies has grown significantly just as the rate of mass shootings has increased. Luckily, some institutions have already begun divesting. Occidental College started the movement in February by becoming the first higher-education institution to pledge to avoid any investments in companies that manufacture military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines for the general public. Universities should lead on this issue to ensure that they do not further the epidemic of gun violence by financially supporting the companies that profit from the devastation of young peoples’ lives. Schools are supposed to be sacred places for learning, but our campuses have become battlegrounds. Help us cut off the supply and make our campuses safe again. Sign this petition to stand with the UCSB community and call for divestment from the gun industry. This change depends on you. Want to support our work? MoveOn Civic Action is entirely funded by our 8 million members— no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. http://petitions. moveon.org/sign/university-ofcalifornia-1?source=mo&id=9654720688398-4MRTY7x
classroom in 2005 at Thompson Middle School in Murrieta. “Whether it’s organizing a school-wide fundraiser, or having her drama class perform an antibullying play for the entire school, Barbara is always connecting with kids in a positive way,” said Dale Velk, Principal at Thompson Middle School. Colleagues note that her car is often the last in the parking lot— a testament to her tireless effort to stay current in instructional pedagogy and classroom technology. Her involvement spans a wide variety of campus activities including organizing campus events, serving as a club advisor, leading student council groups, establishing diversity activities, and recruiting speakers from the community to engage the student population. Mrs. Everett described being “gifted with dyslexia” as a child and having to study long hours just to earn average grades. She believes this contributed to a fundamental belief that every child can and will learn. “Every child is a gem and some just need a little polishing for their gifts to be discovered. I have high expectations for every scholar and champion in my classroom and teach my students to dream no small dreams,” Mrs. Everett said. “After working over thirty years in educational jobs, I have enjoyed them all. However, the classroom has held my heart. There is no place more purposeful and it is where I proudly remain today.”
Mrs. Everett earned her bachelor’s degree in English/speech communication with a minor in dance from California State University, Long Beach. She proceeded to secure a teaching credential and a master’s degree in school management and administration from Pepperdine University. In three separate surprise presentations earlier in the week, Riverside County Superintendent of Schools Kenneth Young announced the selection of Eleanor Roosevelt High School science teacher Mary Neimeyer, Orange Grove High School language arts teacher Diana Twiss, and Ramona High School credit recovery teacher Deborah Parr as the first three teachers of the year from among the nearly 18,000 teachers in Riverside County. The Riverside County Teachers of the Year completed an arduous application process requiring the candidates to spend time reflecting on and carefully defining their teaching philosophy. The county teachers of the year are selected on the basis of nominations by teachers, principals, and school district administrators throughout the county. Applications are then submitted to the County Office of Education, where an outside selection committee reviews the applications on each district candidate and selects the four finalists. The selection committee then conducts on-site classroom visitations for each finalist before the county superintendent announces the Riverside County Teachers of the Year.
(From L to R) Murrieta Valley Unified School District Superintendent Patrick Kelley, 2015 Riverside County Teacher of the Year Barbara Everett, Thompson Middle School Principal Dale Velk, and Riverside County Superintendent of Schools Kenneth Young celebrated with hundreds of Mrs. Everett’s students after the surprise visit in the Thompson Middle School multi-purpose room. -Courtesy Photo