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V O l u m e 4INSIDE THIS ISSUE••Honors Academic••Conference••Student Profile••Building Bridges••Conference••Fall 2009 ClassesHONORSPROGRAMCONTACTSRiversideDr. Kathleen Sell222-8681kathleen.sell@rcc.eduMoreno ValleyDr. Chris Rocco571-6244christopher.rocco@rcc.eduNorcoDr. Carol Farrar372-7160carol.farrar@rcc.eduAssociate ViceChancellor ofInstructionSylvia Thomas222-8620sylvia.thomas@rcc.eduNewsletterStudent Editors:Nicolette RohrSierra LapointeGail SuchoklandFaculty Editor:Dr. Kathleen SellRCCD Hosts First Student AcademicBy Nicolette Rohr andGail SuchoklandConferenceOn Friday, November 14,2008, the Honors Program wasproud to host the first RiversideCommunity College DistrictHonors Student Conference.Honors students convened onthe Riverside campus to presentpapers they wrote in Honorsclasses.The day began with adisplay of chemistry postersinspired by Exposed, the bookMoreno Valley students havebeen reading as a part of theOne Book / One Collegeprogram. Dr. Kathleen Sell,Honors instructor and Riversidecoordinator, opened theprogram and we were honored tohear a few words from Dr. LindaLacy, who expressed her supportof the Honors Program.The conference wasorganized into three sessions andfive panels, divided between theHall of Fame and the Citrus Room.The difficult decision was decidingwhich essays to hear and whichroom to attend! Essays coveredtopics ranging from poetry topolygamy to apple pie. T.S. Eliot’s“The Waste Land,” which Honorsstudents read in Dr. ThatcherCarter’s English 1BH class,provided many paper topics.Nicolette Rohr wrote on Eliot’sreferences to the Upanishads,Michael Ngyuen discussed Eliot’sreference to the Cumean Sybil.“Eliot would be so pleased,” Dr.Carter commented.Presenters began their workearlier this fall by submittingpapers they had written for one oftheir Honors classes. StudentsS p r i n g 2 0 0 9Honors students Michael Ngyuen, Kameron Straine, Corey Savage, andNatalie Reid at the Honors Student Conference.then worked with their facultymentors to refine the papers andpractice their delivery. “The bestpart of the conference was gettingready for it,” Dr. Carter said.“Students and faculty workedtogether for weeks ahead of time,ironing out the wrinkles.”All presenters—CoreySavage, Sierra LaPoint, MaxineNanthavong, James Ryan, T.Hosea, Ammanda Moore,Kameron Straine, Michael Nguyen,Darrell Chasteen, Nick GoodyHazardous, Natalie Reid, ChristianDuran, and Nicolette Rohr—deserve a mighty hurrah! Thefaculty moderators—KellyDouglass, Nick Sinigaglia, JeffRhyne, Tucker Amidon, andRhonda Taube—also deserve ourthanks, as do all of the facultymentors and Honors staff.Lunch was served after themorning session followed bypresentations by Dr. PatSchwerdtfeger and Lana Vizueteon RCC programs that mightinterest Honors students.After presenting their papersat such a successful academicconference this fall, RCC Honorsstudents got excellent practice forpresenting at the spring BuildingBridges conference withcommunity college students fromaround California.RCCD’s first annualacademic conference was a greatsuccess! Thanks to all whoparticipated, and here’s to nextyear!Honors student James Ryan(right), with his faculty mentor,Professor Kelly Douglass.

V O l u m e 4P a g e 2Honors News Briefs by Kathleen Sell, Program CoordinatorThe Honors Program offers students whocomplete the program transfer agreementswith UCLA TAP, UC Irvine, San DiegoState University, Pomona College, CSUSan Diego, and Cal Poly Pomona amongothers. To take advantage of theseagreements, students must completethe program. This can be done in twoways. For the majority of students, thismeans completing Track A—completing6 honors seminars. For students inMath and Science, Track B is available.These students must complete 4 honorsseminars and complete any two of thefollowing courses with a B or better:Chemistry 12A, 12B; Math 1C, 2, or 3;Physics 2B, 2C, 4B, or 4C. All studentsshould know that transfer agreementsoffer a definite advantage, and in somecases this advantage is significant! UCLAadmissions rates for transfer students aregenerally around 40%, but for studentsapplying through the TAP agreement,the admissions rate is typically around85%. With that said, though, transferagreements are no guarantee, and sostudents need to consult early with theirHonors coordinator and counselor to helpplan how to best and most competitivelyprepare for admissions to a particularschool (or comibination of schools!), andfor a particular major. All Track A honorsstudents should plan on completingIGETC and all their major prep in additionto their honors classes. All Track B honorsstudents should plan on completing alltheir major prep and work carefully witha counselor on managing the requiredgeneral education classes and honorsseminars in addition to this. Takingadvantage of all the resources availableat RCC can help ensure a smooth andsuccessful transfer process.Student Profile—Donté Hightower by Sierra LaPointDonté Hightower is an ambitious anddynamic student who is self-motivated andloves to have fun. After a hiatus of nearly10 years, Donté returned to school with arenewed love of learning and dedicated tohis goals.So Donté, what Honors classes haveyou taken so far?English 1AH and 1BH, Art 6H, History 7H,Speech 1HWhy did you join the RCC HonorsProgram?I like the challenge of the Honor’sProgram. I always liked to surround myselfwith the best, and to me, school shouldbe taken seriously. I appreciate that inthe seminar style honors classes, peopleare more focused on their academicendeavors.What are your educational goals?I hope to transfer to Cal Poly Pomona toget a degree in Environmental Biology withan emphasis in Conservation. Ideally, I willalso earn a Master’s in Education and aDoctorate in Environmental Studies, withthe hope of becoming a secondary schoolteacher one day.What advice would you give to otherHonors students about how to besuccessful?A successful Honors student needsperseverance and creativity. Strive forperfection but accept and learn fromimperfect experiences. Just be yourself;only you know what will work for you.Don’t be afraid to have fun learning!That’s good advice. Sounds like youlike to have fun. What other interestsdo you have?I’ve always loved basketball and football,and hopefully I can coach one day.Also, I am president and founder of TheEnvironmental Earth Society on campus,and I love the arts, especially music. I’mworking on a mixed-media project thatincorporates elements of music, poetry,literature, visual design, and drawing.It’s an ambitious project, but it keeps meinspired.Donté plans to transfer in the Fall of2010.“I knew Dante would be amemorable student when,on the first day of class,he told me that I shouldcall him Dontizzel. Everyspeech he delivers givesthe audience a glimpseinto his unique, thoughtfulinner world.” -MicherriWiggs Speech 1H Teacher

V O l u m e 4Honors students present papers at BuildingBridges Conference By Nicolette RohrThe RCC Honors Program madeanother strong showing at the HonorsTransfer Council of California’s StudentResearch Conference, hosted by UC Irvineon February 28, 2009.Students and faculty convened at theUC Irvine campus on Saturday morningwith community college Honors studentsfrom throughout southern California. 23colleges were represented. Three senttwenty students, and RCC sent nineteen!In just three years of attending theConference, RCC student participation hasgrown a great deal.RCC Honors student presentersincluded Tara Mae Singh, Sierra LaPoint,James Ryan, Nausheen Sheikh, CoreySavage, David Estrada, Natalie Reid,Maereen Sheikh, Rebekah Silva, SophieNoriega, Nicolette Rohr, AmmandaMoore, Michael Nguyen, Anna Campbell,Christian Duran, Jordan Rodriguez, andDonte Hightower, who presented threepapers throughout the day! Four of thestudents had presented at previous years’conferences, and eight presented atRCC’s Student Conference in November.Paper topics ranged from art andliterature to gay marriage, environmentalissues and media representationsof the war in Iraq. Honors studentJordan Rodriguez presented a papercomparing Frederick Douglass’s “Whatto the Slave is the Fourth of July” andPresident Obama’s speech on race, “AMore Perfect Union.” Several students,Jordan Rodriguez, Kelly Douglass, Christian Duran, and Thatchermyself included, presented papers onT. S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land” writtenin Dr. Thatcher Carter’s English 1BHclass. All student presenters were placedon panels of three community collegestudents from throughout the state. Thequestion periods after the presentationsoften lead to interesting conversationsamong the presenters and with theaudience. Maereen Sheikh discussedwomen in Islam, drawing on her personalexperiences and contributing to afascinating panel on women’s issues indifferent cultures.For me, I know that presenting apaper sounded quite intimidating when Ifirst heard about the Conference two yearsago. But after presenting at the StudentConferencein the fall andparticipatingin the practicesessionswith Honorsstudents andteachers, I feltcomfortableand confident.The hardwork andpreparation ofRCC studentsand facultyreally showedoff; RCC students were clearly among thebest!It was an exciting day for all of us,although the large number of presentersmade it difficult to choose which sessionsto attend. Family members and friendsjoined in the day, and of course, teacherswere there to cheer us on, including facultymentors Thatcher Carter, Kelly Douglass,Kathleen Sell, and Rhonda Taube.We enjoyed lunch together in the UCIcommons and were able to get a feel forthe Irvine campus.Building Bridges is a great event andall Honors students are encouraged toconsider participating next year!Nausheen Sheikh presenting her paper.P a g e 3

Moreno ValleyEng 1AH MW 2-4:12 RhyneEng 1BH MW 2-4:12 ZapataChem 1AH TTH 8-12:55 Marsh(includes Lab)Hist 6H TTH 10:30-12:02 PfeiflePhil 10H TTH 2-3:32 SinigagliaNorcoEng 1AH MW 11:40-1:52 BaderHum 5H MW 2-3:32 PavlisSpe Com 1H TTH 10:30-12:02 OlaertsFall 2009 Honors ClassesGive Yourself an Edge!RiversideEng 1AH MW 11:40-1:52 DouglassEng 1BH MW 11:40-1:52 CarterArt 6H TTH 10:30-12:02 TaubeHist 6H MW 8:45-10:17 WoodsHum 4H TTH 8:45-10:17 Yoshino &SellPhil 10H TTH 2-3:32 MastersonFind Honors Classes Listed in the Schedule of Classesoron WebAdvisor under Honors.Check out Quad 15, the Honors office at City! You can use thecomputer, have some coffee, sit on the couch and read, andmeet up with other Honors students! Make appointments withKathleen to use the space for study groups.Check out the Honors Program on Facebook! Stay in touch andkeep up to date with Honors events. For alums or those of you movingon to your transfer institutions, an honors student exit surveywill be posted by the end of June. Be sure to log on here or on ourwebsite to complete the survey! Find us at http:// rcc.edu/honors/••Katie Bicher, UC Davis, UCLA, Cal Berkeley••Anna Campbell, UC Santa Barbara••Michael Freeman, UC Irvine, UCLA, Cal Berkeley••Nathan Goodland, University of Redlands••Andreas Havadjias, UC Irvine, UCLA, Cal Berkeley••Ammanda Moore, UCR, UC Davis, CSU Sacramento••Sophie Noriega, UCR and winner of Loly Scholarship••Onyekachim Okpo, UCLA••Nicolette Rohr, UCR and RCC 2009 CommencementSpeakerCongratulations to our Transfers!Alumni••Maereen Sheikh, UC Irvine, UCR••Nausheen Sheikh, UCR, UC Davis, UCLA••Rebekah Silva, UCLA, Cal Berkeley, StanfordNausheen and Maereen SheikhIan Lemle Julia Luster Samantha Rollinsgraduating UCLA graduating UCLA and attending NYU this fall! graduating CBU