Local News Articles

Campora springs back at Sierra

After backing out of TCU scholarship, Placer grad wins state title for Wolverines

By Ray Hacke, Auburn Journal Sports Writer

Nikka Campora was ready to take a break from diving when she enrolled at Sierra College earlier this spring. …
…Campora won the California Community College Athletic Association’s 3-meter springboard title last Saturday at the state championships in Mission Viejo. Campora also placed third in the 1-meter springboard at the state meet.
More importantly, Campora’s passion for her sport has been re-ignited. She has her diving coach at Sierra, Rowland King, CCCAA’s Diving Coach of the Year, to thank for that. … Read the article.

For Sierra, triple-word tagline scores big

from the Auburn Journal

A trio of well-chosen verbs spelled quite an accomplishment for two members of the Sierra College campus community. … Rink, a Sierra College piano instructor, and Myers, a design student, submitted the inspiration for the tagline – “Dream. Learn. Do.” – independently. The new saying, which will appear on billboards and marketing materials, “embodies a journey every student at Sierra College goes through,” Michaels said. The new saying, which will appear on billboards and marketing materials, “embodies a journey every student at Sierra College goes through,” Michaels said. … Read the article.

Exercise simulates shooter at Sierra College

Rocklin Police Department heads up mulit-agency operation

By Michael Althouse, Placer Herald

At 9:25 a.m. Wednesday, a messenger with an ominous directive arrived at the door of room 101 in Sewell Hall at Sierra College’s Rocklin Campus.

Lockdown.

Although the lockdown was only part of a drill, the Mass Casualty Incident (MCI) scenario played out on campus had the look and feel of the real thing. … Read the article.

Sierra College seeing funding squeeze as facilities age, needed repair work mounts

Students, faculty make the best of the situation as waiting list grows

By Jenifer Gee, Auburn Journal Staff Writer

When Dave Kenyon took a trip in sixth grade to the Sierra College planetarium, he had no idea that 20 years later he would be the man behind the projector.

It’s been more than two decades since the college’s astronomy professor’s first visit to the planetarium and nothing’s changed. … Read the article. Some photos.

Sierra College grant to boost solar-based economy

By Nathan Donato-Weinstein, Roseville Press Tribune

Hoping to secure a position at the center of the growing “green economy,” Sierra College officials announced Wednesday a new program to train workers in the field of solar panels.

The photovoltaics technician program will use a $470,000 grant from the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office to get off the ground over two years, officials said. The program, a partnership among private industry, the city of Roseville and Sierra College, will provide instruction in solar panel installation and maintenance. Officials envision up to 150 students enrolled in the program within several years. … Read the article.

Saukko swinging a hot bat for Sierra baseball

By Scott Johnston Special to the Journal

…“ I really wanted to see what the competition was like at this level,” said Saukko, who credits his parents, Colleen, a former track star at Hiram Johnson High, and Andy, who played football at Sacramento State, for his athletic prowess. “After Sierra I really want to go a Pac-10 school and get a degree and then hopefully play professionally after that.” …“ Read the article.

Teens exposed to technical careers at Auburn academy

By Darrell Smith, Sacramento Bee

… Auburn's Alder Grove Academy and Sierra College are exposing teenagers to careers in designing, fabricating and repairing the technical systems that run such modern-day electronic necessities as automated teller machines, gas pumps and hybrid cars. …

… "These are bright students, many of whom excel when they can learn by doing and see how the academic theory is applied," she said. "The CACT Tech-Explorer catapult project is perfect for our students because they'll … be introduced to careers that they may not have considered." Sierra is looking for industry sponsors to replicate the program. Want more information? Call Sandra Scott at (916) 781-6245. … Read the article.

Familiar faces spark Sierra baseball

Moneypenny coaching former prep rival Miller as Wolverines quickly return to winning ways

By Todd Mordhorst, Journal Sports Editor

The coach-player relationship has taken some getting used to for Loren Moneypenny and Seth Miller this spring at Sierra College.

The two were high school rivals when Moneypenny was a star pitcher at Placer and Miller a hard-throwing right-hander at Bear River in 2002. Then they carpooled to Sacramento City College together when both were redshirt freshmen in 2003. … The Sierra baseball team is off to a 7-2 start. The Wolverines looking to add to their growing tradition, which includes a trip to the state’s final four in 2006 and a return to the final eight last spring. … Read the article.

Sierra player in Sports Illustrated

Women's basketball player, Tamar Gruwell has been published in the 12/31-1/7 issue of Sports Illustrated’s Faces in the Crowd. You can read about this Sierra College athlete at http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/scorecard/faces/2007/12/31/.

New Answers for E-Learning

By Kim Clark, U.S. News & World Report

… Matt Kerr signed up for an online art history course last year just to satisfy a general education requirement at Sierra College, a community college outside Sacramento, Calif. He was so inspired by teacher Michelle Pacansky-Brock's audio lectures, "VoiceThread" demonstrations, and assignments that opened his eyes to the art around him that he ended up creating an extensive art blog and did "a lot more work than if I was just sitting in a classroom, listening to her," he says. "I really liked it." …
… Sierra College's Pacansky-Brock, who was named 2007's best online professor by the Sloan Consortium, posts her lecture notes, provides audio podcasts, and uses VoiceThread—a new program that allows students to hear her talk and see her draw on and annotate slides of artwork—to get her lessons across. … Read the article.

Local JC players reach big time

Carl Moore signs with Florida

By Joe Davidson, Sacramento Bee

Carl Moore of Sierra College is off to the warmth and national championship glare of Florida to be a Gator. …

… According to a number of recruiting publications and online services, Moore, a 6-foot-4, 220-pound wide receiver out of Cordova High School, was the most heavily recruited community college player in the country. Florida coaches deemed him the nation's No. 1 recruit. …

… Two other Sierra players who keyed a 9-2 season, a national ranking and a berth in the Hawaiian Punch Bowl/Northern California championship signed with Big Sky Conference schools. Offensive linemen Clint Lessard of Rocklin is off to Sacramento State, and Anthony Patterson of Oakmont is headed to Montana State. Sierra safety Dan Hart of Del Oro is headed to UC Davis. … Read the article.

Sierra's Moore is one coveted recruit

Pac-10 coaches try some late-game heroics

By Joe Davidson, Sacramento Bee

Almost immediately after winning the Heisman Trophy, Tim Tebow, holding firm on the hardware on a New York stage and the sporting world watching his every move, was handed a cell phone. It wasn't his mother on the other line, or any of his hometown buddies. It was Carl Moore.

"Carl!" the Florida quarterback practically yelled to the Sierra College receiver planted on his mother's couch near Placerville, "I just won the Heisman! Come on down here, and let's win a national championship!" … Read the article.

Sierra wrestlers win NorCal title

Regional Digest, Sacramento Bee

The host Sierra College wrestling team won the Northern California Community College Regional Championship on Saturday.
The Wolverines had five champions and qualified 10 wrestlers for next weekend's state championship in Fresno.
It was the third NorCal title in five years for Sierra, which scored 177 points. Fresno City College was second with 135 points. Sacramento City College was sixth with 73 1/2 points. … Read the article.

Sierra falls short in NorCal title game

San Francisco ends hope of a state title for Wolverines

By: Eric J. Gourley, Auburn Journal Sports Writer

Sierra College punter Eric Brest and his special teams players couldn't have made it any more difficult for City College of San Francisco in the NorCal championship game.
Thanks to Brest's pinpoint punting and heads-up special teams play, the Rams started drives from inside their own 15-yard line six times, including four inside the 10. …
"What a year," said Sierra head coach Jeff Tisdel. "It's been phenomenal. We played them tooth and nail the whole way. (San Francisco) just found the seams in the zone to put together big drives." … Read the article.

Another article from the from the Sacramento Bee.

Two former Cordova players star at Sierra College

By Joe Davidson, Sacramento Bee

Carl Moore and Lamon Muldrow did not expect to start their college football careers in Rocklin.
They were high school blue-chippers who, like many others, built great athletic reputations without keeping their studies up to snuff.
But there they have been, making the most of the alternate route, being unleashed by Sierra College every Saturday as perhaps the state's best one-two community college offensive punch. … Read the article.

College jump-start

$500K from Gates foundation funds program that leads some high school students to earlier college degrees

Some Truckee and North Tahoe High School students are advancing their academic career by taking college courses at nearby Sierra College. …
… Dean Rick Rantz of Sierra College said the only problem with the dual-enrollment program is its popularity.
“[That’s] because we’ve got so many students wanting to come to take our courses that it has funneled a lot of the brightest students to Sierra College,” Rantz said. If the program admits students from district schools, Rantz said that would only be an advantage to the high school.
“It provides an opportunity to those teachers to bring the skill level up of the remaining students,” Rantz said. … Read the article.

The Long Road Home

Written by Bill Martin for the Auburn Sentinel

… Sierra is gaining a reputation among veterans as a good place to start a college career, because it is one of the few colleges which employs a full-time veteran’s counselor. Sierra’s veteran’s counselor is Catherine Morris, who is herself both a community college graduate (Sacramento City College) and a former Marine. … Some actually tell Catherine that coming back to try to succeed in college is more frightening than going into combat. Others, including Kyle, find it easier. He says that “any other job than being a soldier is a better paying, easier job.” … Read the article.

Sierra College: Greenest building in Truckee?

As new Sierra College structure meets green building standards, McIver Hill campus eyed as an 'Institute for Sustainability'

By Andrew Cristancho, Sierra Sun

If the designers of the new Sierra College have their way, the campus will feature the greenest building in Truckee.

“I do think this building will be the highest level [of LEED certification] in the town,” said Senior Associate Wesley Ploof of Beaudin Ganze Consulting Engineers. …Read the article.

Muldrow carrying the load for Sierra College

Home Cookin': By Joe Davidson, Sacramento Bee

… Tisdel, the Sierra College coach, looked to Lamon Muldrow a ton Saturday night, and the Cordova High School product carried 53 times for 245 yards in the Wolverines' stirring 20-17 win at Fresno City College, a milestone victory for the program. … Sierra had never defeated a team as highly ranked as the Rams, who entered the game as the co-No. 1 team in Northern California with Foothill College, according to a community college coaches poll. For Muldrow, more achievements. The Bee's Offensive Player of the Year last fall leads the state in rushing this season with 1,219 yards, including a state-best 152.4 yards a game. He has 11 touchdowns. … Read the column.

Sierra College analysis makes a case for funds

By Bill Lindelof - Sacramento Bee Staff Writer

Not since Sierra College was built 46 years ago in the tranquil Sierra foothills have residents of Placer County voted in favor of a bond to maintain or expand it. …
… In a 40-page document that he calls "Sierra College: Community Impact and Funding Shortfall," Sierra board member Bill Martin spells out just how much money he figures the college district could have gotten over the years and just how tattered the campus has become without it. …
… By Martin's analysis, Sierra College generates $5 in tax revenue for every $1 spent on its operation. He estimates that with an annual total cost of $100 million to run Sierra, $520 million returns to the public as tax payments. … Read the article.

The war at home

Returning vets talk of struggles fitting back in to society

By Kel Munger, Sacramento News & Review

… Shad Meshad, a Vietnam veteran and the president of the National Veterans Foundation, and Patrick Campbell, the legislative director for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, had come to town to speak at a Sierra College Veterans-sponsored forum, “The Road Home: From Combat to College and Beyond.”

They were joined by two people from Sierra College who have made that journey. Student Kyle Williams did two tours as a Marine in Iraq before a wound sent him back to civilian life. Catherine J. Morris, a Sierra College veterans counselor, served in three branches of the military. … Read the article.

Veterans face tough transition to college

By Bobby Caina Calvan - Sacramento Bee Staff Writer

Cody Conway, a combat Marine in Iraq, envisioned a lifelong career in the military. If not, perhaps a return to civilian life as a mechanic. … "I want to move on with my life," Conway said Thursday between classes at Sierra College in Rocklin. "But I'm disabled, and I can't work. I've been a mechanic all my life. When I got back, I couldn't do that anymore." …
…Sierra College counts more than 200 Iraq war veterans attending classes, and school officials say more are on the way. … Read the article.

The Sierra Nevada Now and Then: Revisiting the Grinnell Survey

“The Sierra Nevada Now and Then: Revisiting the Grinnell Survey” is an event sponsored by the Institute for Sustainability at the Sierra College Tahoe-Truckee Campus, and UC Berkeley’s Sagehen Creek Field Station. The event will include both an informative afternoon presentation by Dr. Craig Moritz and Dr. Stephen Long from UCB’s Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, and a workshop that will focus on the Sierra Nevada habitat, human impact, and change through time. … Read the article.

Sierra College report: An economic eye-opener

Written by Joe Carroll, Auburn Sentinal / AuburnBuzz

Sierra College has a huge positive economic impact on the district it serves — especially in Placer County — and generates at least $5 for every $1 spent on its operation.
Why, then, has Sierra been forced to operate its main campus in Rocklin with at least $300 million less than statewide averages for community colleges? …
Read the article.

Wolverines all the way!

Written by Bill Martin, column in Auburn Sentinal

Quick! Name a college that recently had a 37 game winning streak in football; was judged the nation’s strongest athletic program in its division; sent 16 of its teams to post-season play last year; and won two recent overall championships in basketball and tennis, all while maintaining an excellent record of advancing its student athletes. Surely these are achievements worthy of the Universities of Texas or Tennessee or Michigan. But in fact, they have all been achieved by Sierra College. … Read the article.

Age of discovery

90-year-old student at CSUS has lived much of the history she studies

By Cynthia Hubert - Sacramento Bee Staff Writer

… And so, after earning an associate's degree last spring at Sierra College's Grass Valley campus, she enrolled this fall at Sacramento State through the university's Sixty Plus program, which allows senior citizens to take classes virtually for free. … Read the article.