Saturday, March 29, 2025

Seeing Pierce through Varozian-colored glasses

It’s been said that some of the hardest workers one will ever find in a production are the ones working behind the scenes. The saying couldn’t be truer of Shant Varozian, who works as an administrative aide in Pierce College’s office of Academic Affairs. Varozian first came to Pierce in 2004 as a student. He was taking general education courses...

Mini Profile: Ken Windrum

Ken Windrum. Photo by Tyler Hale. His love for cinema started when his father took him to see a double feature of Lawrence of Arabia and Marooned at an early age. Most children would be restless watching the former movie—clocking in at over three hours and forty minutes—but Ken Windrum remembers being mesmerized...

Pierce’s resident “surfer dude”

Most weekend mornings, second generation surfer Sean McDonald arrives at Malibu State Beach at 6 a.m. in his wetsuit to carve waves on one of his 38 surfboards. The quiet time on the mostly empty beaches soothe him and give balance to his life. “The feeling...

Computer science, let’s talk about IT

  Eyes fixed to a monitor, mind in total focus, Alex Chen works attentively tapping away with all 10 fingers on a keyboard. Chen, an instructional assistant for Information Technology (IA-IT), has worked at Pierce College since 2001. He has about six-to-eight different duties in his current position which he says he enjoys. Chen has converted old Novell network technology within the...

Persistence makes perfect

A Spanish professor walks into the Pierce campus to begin teaching every day on time, without fail. Even though some Pierce professors can relate to this experience, many may not relate to the two hour commute this professor has taken for the last four years.  Ever since Spanish professor...

Helping students transfer one step at a time

Wearing a warm smile framed by primly-styled sandy blonde hair, Norine Fine, 61, waits patiently behind the reception desk for early appointments. Fine is a general counselor in the Transfer Center at Pierce College. Her job is not only to help students find their majors, but also to assist and advise them if they are considering alternative options. “I connect students...

Finding culture through Anthropology

Erin Hayes holds a Russian nesting doll, surrounded by other cultural items in her office on Mar. 16, 2019 at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif. The saying is to always take the road less traveled. This mantra is often found on coffee cups and bumper stickers with good intentions that are rarely...

Mini Profile: Michael Sande

Michael Sande. Photo by Icy Smith. Since starting at Pierce college 21 years ago, Theater Department Managing Director Michael Sande has guided more than 100 productions. "I also find that often the most fulfilling to work on when you see they have sort of sparked in interest in...

Finding the micro in the macro

Shannon DeVaney poses with a dissected frog model outside the Center for Sciences building at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif., on Feb. 27, 2020. Photo by: Chelsea Westman While many scientific observations happen in a laboratory, the most fascinating discovery for Shannon DeVaney is a few inches long, neon orange and lurks within...

An Out of this Galaxy Professor

Dale Fields holds a 3D globe at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif., Photo by Natalie Miranda A science professor comes gliding into campus on his bicycle every day, unless it is a rainy day. On this day, he is wearing a white T-shirt with the words, Earth first, before the other planets....
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