April 03 2009
El Monte Union High School District Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services, Nick Salerno, has been appointed superintendent by the El Monte Union High School District Board of Trustees. Salerno becomes the first graduate of the district to serve as its superintendent.
After attending Citrus College, Salerno transferred to Cal Poly Pomona where he received his bachelor of science degree and secondary teaching credential. He went on to earn a master’s degree from Azusa Pacific University as well as a pupil personnel services credential and administrative services credential.
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Cal Poly Pomona alumna Hilda Solis has won confirmation from the U.S. Senate as President Obama’s Secretary of Labor.
She will manage an agency with an annual budget of $53 billion and about 17,000 employees. In her new role, she will focus on developing a prepared and competitive workforce, promoting safe and secure workplaces, and protecting and strengthening economic security for workers.
Solis studied political science at Cal Poly Pomona and graduated in 1979. Prior to Obama’s cabinet appointment, she was serving her fourth term in the U.S. House of Representatives, and her district included El Monte, South El Monte, Baldwin Park, Covina, West Covina and Azusa.
Elected to Congress in 2000, Solis has consistently supported measures to increase the minimum wage, make it easier for workers to organize and to preserve a ban on privatizing jobs at the Labor Department.
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WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama’s choice to be labor secretary, Democratic Rep. Hilda Solis of California, is expected to advocate greater union influence in the workplace and more “green” jobs.
Solis, the 51-year-old daughter of a Mexican union shop steward and a Nicaraguan assembly line worker, is in line to be the second Hispanic nominee in Obama’s Cabinet. Obama planned to announce her nomination on Friday, said a labor official who spoke on condition of anonymity because an announcement had not been made yet.
The lone member of Congress of Central American descent, Solis would replace Elaine Chao, the only original member of President George W. Bush’s Cabinet still in office.
Chao said her successor “will inherit a strong legacy on behalf of America’s workers, which includes record low fatality, illness and injury rates, record achievements in enforcement recoveries, and strengthened protections for union members.”
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Time Warner Cable’s news show, Local Edition, recently aired three spots featuring Cal Poly Pomona. The show is aired in conjunction with the cable company’s local broadcast of CNN Headline News.
Two of the segments feature the university’s launch of a new private label wine, Horsehill Vineyards. The inaugural vintage is now available for sale in the university’s Restaurant at Kellogg Ranch. Horsehill Vineyards is a new collaborative project between the College of Agriculture and The Collins College of Hospitality Management.
The first segment features Dr. Les Young, interim dean of the College of Agriculture. Young describes the process of taking historic Zinfandel cuttings and the long process of nurturing them into wine-ready grapes.
In the second segment, The Collins College’s Dr. Margie F. Jones discusses the process of creating the Zinfandel rosé and learning opportunities for Cal Poly Pomona students. Watch Young’s interview in low bandwidth or mid bandwidth. Watch Jones’ interview in low bandwidth or mid bandwidth.
In another five-minute segment, Glenn Shenker speaks about the university’s newly launched free shuttle service to and from the Pomona North Metrolink station, 205 Santa Fe Street, Pomona. Shenker, interim director of Parking and Transportation Services, says the program is another example of the university’s commitment to carbon neutrality. The Bronco Link shuttle will encourage the campus community to use public transportation and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The shuttles are also powered by compressed natural gas. Watch Shenker’s interview in low bandwidth or mid bandwidth.
The interviews are recorded each month in the company’s studios and are featured throughout Southern California. Time Warner Cable Inc. is the second-largest cable operator in the United States.
Instructional & Information Technology has made the video interviews available to the entire campus community.
A local pilot got the honor of delivering the last C-17 Globemaster III aircraft in production.
Air Force Lt. Col. Charlie Ohliger, a graduate of Cal Poly Pomona, flew the last C-17 from Boeing’s production facility in Long Beach to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware earlier this month.
Actually, Ohliger sat in the co-pilot’s seat, as Gen. Arthur J. Lichte, commander of the Air Mobility Command, symbolically piloted the flight across the country.
Ohliger, who graduated from North Torrance High before attending Cal Poly, said the huge transport aircraft has always interested him, growing up so close to where it was built.
“I think I was captivated initially by the appearance of the C-17 and its general purpose,” he said in an Air Force news release.
In the past 15 months, 12 C-17s have been delivered from Long Beach to Dover. They’ve been used to deliver material and crews to the Middle East, carried two giant squids for the Smithsonian Institution and assisted with delivering relief supplies after hurricanes Gustav and Ike.
“(The C-17) is a phenomenally successful aircraft that is well-suited for the requirements of our military forces today,” he said. “It is easy to operate, very reliable and exceptionally capable. We keep finding new ways that it excels.”
Ohliger said that while delivering the massive aircraft has been an experience, his most memorable flight was into Moscow in 2000.
“The Cold War had been over for some time and travel to the Commonwealth of Independent States was relatively normal,” he said.
“The notion of me landing an Air Force C-17 with an American flag on the tail at Russia’s international airport was still unbelievable.”
Before this month’s flight, Ohliger had said he was not nervous flying alongside a general, something he has done several times before.
“Frankly, although I’m excited to fly with him, I’m more excited to be involved with the delivery of the last C-17 to Dover,” he said. “That is the really significant piece of this trip.”
Original article: San Gabriel Valley Tribune
