October 22, 2013 (El Cajon) – A passerby who witnessed a woman being abducted at knifepoint in the Grossmont College parking lot today scared off the assailant by honking his horn. Sheriff’s deputies located and arrested the suspect, Anthony Washington.

“Washington later confessed he was going to rape the student and do whatever he had to in order to get his way,” said Sergeant Vic Perry.

story courtesy Grossmont College

October 17, 2013 (El Cajon) -- With a statewide earthquake drill known as the "Great California Shakeout" planned for 10:17 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 17, panelists in Grossmont College's Griffin Center told students last week, where to expect earthquakes to repeatedly happen, how to best be prepared for them, and what it is like to experience their devastation.  Many of these tips are included in the story below.

The panel was a precursor to the Oct. 17 drill in which students, faculty and staff will be advised that in the event that they are inside a building during a real earthquake, they should drop to the floor, get under and hold onto a desk or a table, and cover their heads to prevent materials shaken loose from falling on them.  The Oct. 17 drill will last approximately two minutes after which normal classroom activities will resume.

August 29, 2013 (El Cajon) –  Dr. Chris Hill, geology professor and former president of the Academic Senate who filled in last college year as acting Vice President for Academic Affairs, was honored as Grossmont College's Distinguished Faculty Member of the year at an academic convocation held on the campus Monday, August 12.

In announcing the award, Sue Gonda, current president of the Academic Senate, said that Hill had created a course studying natural disasters, and had re-instituted courses on California geology and California natural parks. Additionally, Gonda noted, Hill had written numerous articles, papers and abstracts in the field of geology, including those studying landslide movements in California and geologic processes in the Sierra Nevada.

By Janis Mork

August 26, 2013 (El Cajon) - On August 12, Brian Castner, author of  The Long Walk, delivered a speech to faculty and staff at Grossmont College on how to reach out to military veterans.

His book, The Long Walk, tells the story of Castner’s outward struggle of serving in combat and inward struggle to find himself again after he had been home for a couple years.  

August 15, 2013 (El Cajon)—The Grossmont College Library will put on its reserve bookshelf this Fall Semester a special collection of 25 books and three films on “Muslim Journeys,” made available through a grant provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

August 8, 2013 (El Cajon) – In an effort to keep textbook prices in line with student budgets, Grossmont College Bookstore has introduced a new money-saving option.

Michael Gilchrist, the manager of the bookstore operated by Barnes & Noble, said the new option is called "dynamic pricing for rentals," which allows flexibility in price setting.

“Whereas before there were set prices for rentals – such as 50 percent of the new book price – prices can go even lower to meet competition from online retailers,” Gilchrist said.

July 12, 2013 (El Cajon) --Colleagues on the Grossmont College campus are planning a special blood drive in conjunction with the Bloodmobile’s regular visit to the campus on Sept. 10.  They are urging blood donations in memory of Prof. Curtis Stevens, who was such a regal man that in joking awe they called him "His Royal Highness, The Emperor Curtis Stevens."

Blood donations in Dr. Stevens’ memory may be made not only on campus, but also at any of the six San Diego Blood Bank donor centers throughout San Diego County by mentioning his name and reference code C42.

June 25, 2013 (El Cajon) – Grossmont College will offer a “family-friendly” schedule of theater productions in the 2013-2014 season, starting Oct. 3-12 with Pygmalion, the George Bernard Shaw play that was converted into the musical My Fair Lady, and ending May 8-17 with “a new spin” on Alice in Wonderland, according to Beth Duggan, chair of the Theatre Arts Department.

In between those two offerings, students will also act in, design costumes and build sets for such productions as To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday by Michael Brady (Nov. 14-23); Follow Me by artist Dominic Pangborn (Dec. 6-7, followed by a tour of local elementary schools); Inside the Actors Process by Grossmont faculty member Jerry Hager (Feb. 7 and 8, followed by a tour of local high schools); and You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown (March 13-22).

June 3, 2013 (El Cajon) – When nursing students participate in Grossmont College’s traditional “pinning” ceremony Tuesday afternoon, June 4, more of them will be men than ever before—a sign of changing societal attitudes towards what once was considered a profession for women only.

Debbie Yaddow, dean of Allied Health and Nursing, says eight men, or 20 percent of the graduating class of 40 students, are males, compared to what it was like just 30 years ago, when Yaddow graduated from Grossmont’s nursing school, and there were zero males in the class.

May 16, 2013 (El Cajon) – Grossmont College is an official pit stop for “Bike to Work Day 2013,” a nationally recognized event celebrated on the third Friday of May.

Some 50 to 60 riders are expected from 6 to 9 a.m. May 17, in parking lot No. 1 at the intersection of Highwood Drive and Grossmont College Drive on the Grossmont College campus.

Refreshments and support will be available, along with free T-shirts for the first 30 riders. Cyclists needing a break can ride free on any transit system operated by the Metropolitan Transit System or the North County Transit District if space is available. For more information, go to icommutesd.com

April 27, 2013 (El Cajon)--An award winning short-story writer and an Iraqi poet will headline Grossmont College’s Literary Arts Festival April 29 through May 2.

Tobias Wolff, a Stanford professor, won The Story Prize in 2008 for his collection of short stories, “Our Story Begins.” He has published several novels and memoirs, and his work regularly appears in magazines and literary journals, including “The New Yorker,” “The Atlantic” and “Harper’s.” Wolff will read and sign his books from 7 to 9 p.m. on Wednesday, May 1.

March 12 at Lincoln High,  March 13 at Grossmont College

March 12, 2013 (San Diego)  -- You’re invited to come feel the pounding of American Appalachian clogging, hear the melodies of Scottish highland song, and see the array of color in Indian dance with BYU’s International Folk Dance Ensemble. Brigham Young University’s critically acclaimed folk dance team brings the world’s cultures together in their energetic performance, The Gathering.

The show takes stage tonight at Lincoln High School Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, March 12 at 7:30 p.m.  Dancers  will also perform at Grossmont Community College on Wednesday, March 13 in the outside quad area to help enhance cultural awareness on campus.

Lutefisk - will it produce an Edvard Munch’s Norwegian scream out of you? 

By Rebecca J. Williamson

February 16, 2013 (San Diego’s East County) -- “Strange, one of a kind, unique; a very different kind of food,” said a native Norwegian and former President of the House of Norway in Balboa Park—Eugenie King. 

King, a Spring Valley resident, laid out the fundamentals of this Nordic delicacy. “It’s a fish, cod, which is soaked in lye.”

November 13, 2012 (El Cajon) – The Grossmont College English Department is holding a Write-A-Thon, an all day creative writing fundraiser for the Department’s Creative Writing Program.  To participate you must raise a minimum of $50 in pledges to support literary arts programs and events.  Check-in is at 9 a.m. at 8800 Grossmont College Drive, El Cajon.