Q&A with Foo Fighters’ Taylor Hawkins
Photos & Interview by Lynn Levitt
The late 1990s was a special time for drummer Taylor Hawkins. He had landed a gig with Canadian singer Alanis Morissette. And soon after, Dave Grohl, the former drummer of Nirvana and founder of the Foo Fighters, asked Hawkins if he knew anyone who could fill his recently vacant drummer spot in his new...
Knowledge lights the way
Perhaps you missed his office because it was obscured behind a brick wall with a sign reading Platform 9 3/4. Maybe you weren’t looking for a train station leading to a magical institution, but the entrance to English instructor Mickey Harrison’s office bears an uncanny resemblance to the place.
Harrison has only been a full-time instructor at Pierce College for...
The Great Escape
Story By: Ashley Walton
For running back Joshua Mathis and defensive back Amir Muhammad this is more than just a quote from their head coach, it’s a promise to themselves.
Both hailing from Philadelphia one may think that they have been lifelong friends. Muhammad, originating from North Philadelphia, and Mathis from Olney merely 15 minutes away, could make this assumption more...
Pursuing The Sport With A Passion
Nabil Mardini worked diligently in his office dressed in his signature heather gray Pierce College volleyball shirt and khaki pants to match. Accompanying his relaxed appearance was a welcoming grin.
Mardini is the women’s volleyball coach at Pierce College who has been coaching for the past 15 years. Having had experience in the game in Lebanon, he moved to the...
David Ayala
Working in the Pierce College bookstore warehouse since 2007, David Ayala unpacks the shipment of boxes he receives and separates the materials into different sections for the sales people to pick up and put on display.
“I used to be a equipment manager and locker room attendant for West L.A. College,” Ayala says.
Ayala is a father of two boys...
A Hero’s Journey
Story and photos by Ava Weintraub
Brain surgery couldn’t keep this dedicated teacher away
The diagnosis was dire. The doctors said he had about a week to live and to get his affairs in order.
It was a type of brain tumor called a “schwannoma,” a benign tumor that grows around the sheath of the cranial nerves. But this was a big...
Dig in, let your voice be heard with Loy
As professor Robert Loy’s students trickle into his small group communication class, they are greeted with upbeat and colorful music playing from his laptop speaker.
The eclectic playlist includes music from diverse genres which he uses in his regular karaoke performances.
As a new full-time faculty member, Loy is the assistant director and advisor of the Pierce College Communications...
Communications professor helps students overcome fears
Being 10,000 feet in the air, to the sight of a hairy, eight legged tarantula to speaking in front of a crowd of people, these ideas define some of peoples greatest fears.
Helping students overcome the fear of public speaking, Communications Professor Bill Buchynski, has worked on LACCD campuses for 12 years, teaching for 20.
Wearing a plaid shirt, khaki pants...
From business to babies
Professor Lila Snow outside the Child Development Academic Department at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif., on Monday, March 28, 2022. Photo by Vincent Denoga.
The sun slowly sets on the verge of twilight, but some classes are just getting started. A projector warms up, an OWL hoots...
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...