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The network of USC grads living in the city has been described by locals as tight-knit.
Nearly 1,300 alumni live in the La Cañada area, according to the university. They attend football games together and socialize. Ask graduates to name another USC family in the city, and they'll name 10.
Alumni like Craig Steele, who had a parent working at the university, attended for a practical reason: His tuition was free.
Steele met his wife, Sue Wright, on campus and the two were members of the Trojan marching band. A room in the couple's home is filled with USC memorabilia.
The Gilmour family, which has several generations of USC alumni living in La Cañada, is also well known in the community for an affinity with USC.
USC is consistently one of the top choices for La Cañada High School graduates. Nearly 100% of the graduating class each year enrolls in college, with the majority choosing a four-year university. The senior class usually ranges from 300 to 400 students.
Scott Tracy, president of the La Cañada school board, said the top four-year college students attend rotates every year between USC, UCLA, UC Berkeley and UC San Diego.
But USC is consistently popular with students from La Cañada High, and is usually one of the top colleges that students both apply to and decide to attend.
In 2010, La Cañada High was the third-most-represented high school in the entering freshman class, according to USC Dean of Admissions Timothy Brunold. That number has fluctuated over the years, but students at the high school are usually well represented in the incoming fall class.
“LCHS consistently has a USC admission rate that is above the average than that of our overall pool,” Brunold said in an email.
In 2012, 36 students — 42% of the La Cañada High seniors who applied to USC — were accepted, according to Tracy. Nineteen students ultimately chose to enroll in the school.
Private high schools in the area also see seniors choose the downtown university, but more students at the public high school ultimately attend USC. Fifteen freshmen who listed their home address in La Cañada entered the university this fall, with eight from La Cañada High. More than 150 students from La Cañada enrolled in USC over the past five years as either freshmen or transfer students.
When walking or driving around La Cañada, it usually only takes a moment or two to spot memorabilia of the downtown university on cars or homes. But the biggest local reminder of Trojan influence may be La Cañada High.
La Cañada High's logo and school colors are nearly identical to those of USC.
Both feature a warrior — a Spartan for the high school, a Trojan for the university — as a symbol. La Cañada High's colors are red and gold; USC's are cardinal and gold.
Sheri Morton, who graduated from the high school in 1967, said she remembers students picking the colors over blue and gold, which are the colors of the rival campus in the west.
Morton was part of the first class that completed four years at the high school.
Today, a large illustration of a warrior's head is displayed on a building that overlooks Oak Grove Drive, where the campus is located.
For City Manager Mark Alexander, it was a USC education that brought him to La Cañada Flintridge.
Alexander started working for the city shortly before he earned his master's degree in public administration in 1990. The San Dimas native said the city was a desirable location for him.
La Cañada is a safe community close to L.A. with a strong educational system, all factors that could attract many USC alumni to the area, he said.
Alexander is still active at his alma mater. He sits on several boards, and chairs the school's City/County Management Fellowship Advisory Council. At City Hall, where several other members of the city staff are also graduates of USC, student interns from the university train to become future city managers.
And a new partnership between USC and a medical facility in the area excites him, he said.
USC acquired Verdugo Hills Hospital in July. The $30-million deal will give the emergency room a makeover and expand other departments. A smaller medical facility on Foothill Boulevard is also operated by USC.
Alexander is one of the more enthusiastic Trojans in the city. His office at City Hall is decorated with cardinal-and-gold memorabilia and he is always eager to talk about the school. His enthusiasm appears contagious.
During some of my forum lurking, I spotted a WebmasterWorld Thread on the topic of the nofollow attribute and RSS feeds. Basically the member asks if he is better off using the nofollow attribute to hoard pagerank or link out to "quality sites that provide the news."
I replied to that question in message number three stating that the purpose behind the nofollow attribute was to give control to the Webmasters. For a site like this, a forum, a guestbook and so on, people can come in and link to anywhere without immediate moderation of those links. We all have our spam filters and such, but we do not immediately control the outbound links until we have time to moderate them.
My point is, if you syndicate someone's content through an RSS feed - you must think that content has enough merit and quality for your visitors. If that is the case, then those sites you syndicate deserve a clean link back, that is how the Web works.
During this site's upgrade, the nofollow attribute was automatically installed, I will probably pull them now, since comment and trackback moderation here is almost 99% solid now.
So you love taking photos with your iPhone, and Instagram filters just aren’t cutting it for you anymore? Check out this lens filter kit from Holga, built specifically for iPhone photographers.
The lens kit slips onto your iPhone like a case, and brings you photography special effects that no app can give you. It’s stylish too, coming in red, blue, white, black or silver.
Here’s a list of the nine filtering effects and features this $24.99 kit will bring to your iPhone camera.
Unfortunately, the Holga lens kit is only available for iPhone 4 and 4S users, but if you’re serious about your “iPhoneography”, you already have one.
Our editors are getting their hands on one for a more-thorough review, as we have several camera buffs on the team.
English speakers have a unique chance to peek behind the Iron Curtain of the world’s most secretive country. North Korea has introduced a new program, which will see foreigners providing training for local tourist guides.
Over a month, specialists will teach English and the basics of working with tourists at the Pyongyang Tourism College.
The North Korean travel company, Juche Travel Services (JTS), which launched the project, said it’s interested in foreigners with a Tefl (teaching English as a foreign language) qualification, or English speakers with experience in tourism management.
North Korea has recently begun investing in tourism, with Masikryong ski resort and the ‘tourist city’ of Wonsan becoming one of the Communist state’s top prestige projects.
Western interest in North Korea has been on the rise since 2009, with an estimated 6,000 tourists annually visiting the country through accredited travel agencies.
The company says it’s operating on a non-profit basis, which means foreign teachers won’t receive a salary in North Korea.
On the contrary, they will need to fork out €1,000 to participate in the program, which includes travel, accommodation and tourist excursions.
JTS plans to invite up to five English-speakers to the country’s capital Pyongyang this year, with trips preliminarily scheduled for May and November.
According to Thompson, volunteers will face the same restrictions as other tourists in North Korea.
“To my knowledge there will not be the opportunity to wander freely,” he said.
Foreigners arriving to the country are usually closely monitored by the secret services, and are only allowed to interact only with specially selected members of North Korean society.
UK student, Ben Griffin, one of the first to take part in the program, said he was surprised to find his students “were just real people,” with the same worries and interests as young men and women their age anywhere in the world.
Griffin added that he showed his class the British sitcom Only Fools and Horses, and the movie adaptation of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, both of which went down well with the audience.
Thompson stressed that JTS maintains “tourism has a positive impact” on North Korea and its relations with the outside world.
“By building bridges and engaging with the country, you are helping to break down mistrust and preconceptions that have persisted for the past 60-odd years. That can only be a good thing,” he said.
The Mad River Community Veterans Honor Guard will present a flag-folding ceremony Friday at 11 a.m. at the Humboldt Senior Resource Center, 1910 California St. in Eureka. This will be followed by a Veterans Day lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. The menu includes pot roast, mashed potatoes and gravy, Pacific-blend veggies, roasted garlic sourdough and pumpkin custard. The suggested donation for lunch is $3.50 for folks 60 and older, though no senior will be denied a meal if unable to donate. There is a fee for those under 60.
A Veterans Appreciation Dinner will take place Friday at 6 p.m. in the Great Hall on the Humboldt State University campus in Arcata.
The United Bikers of Northern California Humboldt County will hold a Veterans Day ride Saturday, leaving at noon from Arcata Veterans Hall, 1425 J St., and heading to Ocean View Cemetery in Eureka, where a ceremony will take place. This will be followed by lunch at the Elks Lodge in Eureka. For more information, call Vince at 707-834-4826 or Jeff at 707-498-0698 or visit www.ubnchumboldt.com.
The Marine Corps Ball will be held Saturday at Arcata Veterans Hall, 1425 J St. This event marks the 243rd birthday of the U.S. Marine Corps. Cocktails start at 6 p.m. and dinner is at 7 p.m. There will be live music as well. Tickets are $45 for veterans and $55 for civilians. For more information, call 707-822-1552.
The Rotary Club of Southwest Eureka, partnering with the city of Eureka, will present the annual Veterans Day program Sunday at 11 a.m. at the Adorni Center, 1011 Waterfront Drive in Eureka. The program is free and handicapped-accessible.
Every Veterans Day is special, but this year’s Veterans Day is unusually significant, said event coordinator John Ennis. This Nov. 11 marks the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, he said.
Eureka’s Veterans Day observance will also include music by the Eureka High School Symphonic Band, EHS’ Limited Edition, the Humboldt Harmonaires and Humboldt Highlanders Pipe Band. Also participating are members of the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Color Guard, Mad River Community Veterans Honor Guard, Humboldt Bay Fire, Teen Challenge and the U.S. Coast Guard, which will provide a flyover and present the “Missing Man” ceremony. U.S. Navy veteran Michael McLimans will play “Taps” and the Daughters of the American Revolution will provide refreshments after the program. For more information, call 707-572-4104 or go to swrotary.org.
The Fortuna Senior Center will present a program, “PTSD and Veterans and their Families,” Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Fortuna Veterans Memorial Building, 1426 Main St.
The speaker will be Sgt. Casey Stephens, a Eureka High School graduate who battled Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after serving in Iraq. According to a press release from the Fortuna Senior Center, Stephens was medically retired from active military service as a sergeant in 2009. He said that during his nearly six years of service in the U.S. Army, PTSD was treated as a “copout” and “not a real thing.” But, he said, when he returned home, he found that he was not able to cope with civilian life, including looking for a job and interacting with people. He subsequently spent a week at a Veterans Administration facility, where he was officially diagnosed with PTSD.
Stephens currently spends his time giving back to veterans, building and working on cars, supporting Humboldt County foster families and serving as an officer with Eureka Elks Lodge No. 652. He is married and has two children.
While in the Army, Stephens served as a non-commissioned officer and had a variety of duties, including mechanic, firefighter, equipment and hazmat operator, squad leader and ammo handler.
Fortuna’s Veterans Day observance will also include patriotic music, recognition of veterans and their families and refreshments provided by the Eel River Valley Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. There will be a presentation of colors by the Mad River Community Veterans Honor Guard and an opportunity drawing with prizes donated by local businesses. Former Fortuna Senior Center president and Vietnam veteran Gary Markegard will serve as master of ceremonies.
For more information, go to fortunasenior.org or call 707-726-9203.
The Sequoia Park Zoo and Foundation will celebrate Veterans Day Monday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with free admission to zoo for everyone.
“We are pleased to open the zoo to everyone free of charge on Monday in honor of our veterans for their service. Veterans and active military also receive discounted admission to the zoo every day,” said Zoo Director Gretchen Ziegler.
The zoo is located at 3414 W St. in Eureka. For more information, visit www.sequoiaparkzoo.net or call 707-442-5649, ext. 201.
A Veterans Day program will honor the 19 World War I veterans buried at Myrtle Grove Memorial Cemetery in Eureka. The 11 a.m. program on Monday will include the presentation of colors and the laying of a memorial wreath by the Redwood Veterans Honor Guard. Musical selections will be provided by the Humboldt Accordionaires.
Brief biographical sketches of the World War I veterans will be provided and the lives of several of the veterans will be featured.
The graves of all 210 veterans at Myrtle Grove will be decorated with American flags beginning Saturday. Cemetery historical information and docent services will be available on Veterans Day. The cemetery is located at Myrtle Avenue and Cousins Street in Eureka. Limited parking is available within the cemetery grounds. Additional parking is available on adjacent streets and at the Cooper Gulch Recreation Area.
If you have ever visited your local electrical retail chain only to discover that you know more than the salespeople do, get ready for a whole new era of dissatisfaction.
Internet of Things buzz at the Consumer Electronics Show reached fever pitch this month. Smart home and wearable gadgets like thermostats, kettles and watches represent the first new product categories technology retailers have seen in years.
Interested customers will expect retail staff to be knowledgeable experts, able to educate us and answer questions that guide us through purchasing decisions. Their managers will expect them to have sufficient knowledge to make the sale.
But, while buyers nowadays are arming themselves with highly detailed product information found online to ask ever-more complex questions, busy sales staff often only seem knowledgeable about a few characteristics of each of a store’s wide product offering.
Because smart home gadgets are entirely new product sets that don’t solve familiar consumer problems but which tantalise with unimagined new possibilities, consumers will need educating and convincing about key benefits. Put simply, IoT is a harder sell than a washing machine. This means salespeople have a crucial role in the segment reaching its promised heights.
But the parlous state of retail training plus the quickening pace at which these new devices are being launched poses a big risk to IoT uptake.
According to a recent report by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES), 45 per cent of retail employees already receive no training whatsoever.
Retailers run on tight margins, so it is not hard to see why training often takes a back seat. Those companies which do try educating staff typically rely on old-fashioned techniques that won’t equip salesforces with the knowledge needed to sell the Internet of Things with confidence.
Today, retail staff training often means employees travelling to a hotel or supplier headquarters, where, locked in a room together, they receive a day-long indoctrination in every aspect of a product’s operation, or are burdened with a huge handbook to read from start to finish.
The problem is, this is no longer the way people consume information effectively. Humans today are conditioned to read and digest in short bursts. Training delivered in lengthy sessions, whether in-person or in-text, will not arm staff to understand the smart home. Always-on and constantly-connected; this is how we now read our news, browse our social networks and educate ourselves - and that is how training should be delivered.
This goes especially for technology retail salespeople. A young gadget enthusiast who reads tech blogs, participates in forums and follows Pinterest boards on the bus to work is highly engaged in a uniquely modern modality - she can’t be expected to fully take in hours-long monologues from training managers. So bosses should craft training content that fits the audience.
The best training materials will not only be delivered online but will match the rhythm of modern content consumption, presented in small, sequential chunks that can be comprehended individually but which, taken as a whole, add up to super-knowledge.
The pace of change is accelerating. Not only is new hardware being debuted every week - Internet of Things devices typically also come with mobile apps that, themselves, undergo constant update, whilst many gadgets now also update their own firmware remotely. All of this can improve the consumer experience - and means even the products staff have been trained in change before their very eyes.
Retail training is typically delivered infrequently, in big, unwieldy blocks. But this does not match the rhythm with which developers ship their products - constant iteration. A staff training session about internet-connectable lightbulbs delivered once every half-year is likely quickly out-of-date.
As OEMs refresh their offerings with new key benefits every day, salespeople must be kept constantly informed about changes, so they can communicate all the latest and best selling points to buyers. So it is vital that retail chains deliver small, frequent training updates to staff on a super-regular basis.
If smart home gadgets pile up, unsold, in the corner of your local electrical store, will it be because the products are substandard, or because your staff didn’t know enough to sell them? Who knows - if a tree falls in the woods and no-one is around to see it, did it really make a sound?
Knowledge is power. Knowing which staff have which product competencies will allow retail managers to identify any linkages between training deficiencies and sales patterns. A modern training system should allow staff to complete simple product awareness tests that indicate abilities to managers.
When training is effectively delivered in a particular product category to a particular staff cohort, retail stores should record the event. If, when looked back on, this data shows underperforming sales despite sufficient training, retailers can justifiably point the finger back at OEMs, and adjust stock levels accordingly.
This kind of processing will allow both maker and seller to intelligently identify reasons behind smart home sales flow - or lack of.
Doing is learning. Customers want to buy their products from staff with thorough understanding - and a passion for the product.
Technology retailers should already be employing curious gadget heads who soak up all the latest information about newly-stocked items.
Today, stores should be encouraging staff to go home to test the heck out of all the latest Internet security cameras, fitness trackers and smart locks, becoming category experts and sharing their findings with colleagues.
REGINA — Mike Reilly lives for November football.
His CFL resume proves it.
On a cold and snowy night in Regina, with turf that felt more like concrete, Reilly shone brightly and led his Edmonton Eskimos to their fifth consecutive win, a 28-13 triumph over the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Reilly’s touchdowns all were of the rushing variety. His second score of the night, early in the fourth quarter, extended a one-point lead to eight at 21-13. On the ensuing kickoff, Edmonton forced a fumble and recovered on Saskatchewan’s 27-yard line. Five plays later, Reilly was in the end zone again after a one-yard run.
Reilly rushed for 29 yards, and his 294 passing yards made him the Eskimos’ all-time leader in that category.
Edmonton (12-6) will stay in the West Division and travel next week to take on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the West semifinal.
The Riders (10-8) will cross over to the East Division to battle the defending Grey Cup champion Ottawa Redblacks in the East semifinal.
Reilly is no stranger to playoff football. He has played at a high level in November before and in 2015 led the Eskimos to a Grey Cup title. He was the MVP of that game.
The Eskimos enter the CFL playoffs as the league’s hottest team. A month ago, there was doubt the team would contend for a post-season berth having lost six straight after a 7-0 start to the season.
But the Eskimos feel they’re playing their best football now and will be a tough out.