DVCRA Spring Zoom Social

Friday, April 23, 2021

2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Mark your calendars!

We hope you will join us for our Spring 2021 DVCRA Zoom Social. With our annual luncheon again off the table because of Covid-19, we are looking forward to connecting and catching up with everyone while staying safe and healthy, using last fall’s Zoom event as a model.

WHERE: Your home, your computer, smart phone, or iPad – all via Zoom

WHEN: Friday, April 23, 2021, 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

WHO: DVCRA Members

COST: FREE

If you haven’t been able to attend the luncheons before—because of transportation, mobility issues, or you live out of state—this is the perfect opportunity for you to join us. We miss you.

Come and enjoy the fellowship of our DVC retirement community.

The goal of the Zoom Social is to keep our DVC Retirees Association vibrant. We have enjoyed the camaraderie at our luncheons and have been very successful at raising funds for scholarships for DVC students. We hope this event continues those community-building and fundraising efforts. Zoom is a platform used to bring people together (and DVC is using it to conduct live classes).

Go to this link for the ZOOM SOCIAL website to find out more. On the website, you will find information on the Zoom event, including

• how to get started on Zoom

• how to RSVP

• the Schedule of the Event

• the Rooms you can join

• how to contribute to the Scholarship Fund

• how to participate in the Silent Auction

If the above link doesn’t work, cut and paste:

https://sites.google.com/view/dvcretireesassociation/home

The actual Zoom link for the event will be emailed to you after you RSVP.

Email Irene Menegas today to RSVP: imenegas@comcast.net

Submitted by Ellen Kruse

DVCRA Board Member, Luncheon Coordinator

DVCRA Welcomes New Members

Concern that Numbers Slip Again

We would all like to welcome these recent retirees who joined DVCRA in 2020-2021: Tom Barber, Jessica (Inclan) Barksdale, Lupe Dannels, Martha Dixon, Andy Kivel, Michele Krup, Becky Marr, Tess Perko, and Fred Wood. We are very happy to have you join us, stay connected to friends and colleagues, and continue to support students at DVC, particularly through our scholarship fund.

With our new members, our paid membership currently stands at 146 for 2020-2021, a slight drop from the previous year. Unfortunately, this decrease continues the downward trend our organization has experienced over the past several years-- see the chart below for details. We’re always looking for ways to keep DVCRA strong, and if you have any suggestions for ways to do that, please share them with any member of the DVCRA Board. Also, please check with your friends and colleagues to make sure everyone who wants to be a DVCRA member has joined.

It’s too early to renew your membership now, but watch for a renewal reminder this June with instructions for how to pay your dues and make a contribution to the scholarship fund. Gentle reminders to your friends at renewal time will really help.

If you have questions about your membership status, please contact Sue Shattuck at sshattuck@earthlink.net or 925-855-5534.

DVCRA Membership

2015 - 2016 173

2016 - 2017 161

2017 - 2018 156

2018 - 2019 143

2019 - 2020 148

2020 - 2021 146

Submitted by Sue Shattuck

Membership Coordinator

Let’s Begin

By Tom Barber (retired 2020)

Let’s begin. I began teaching in 1973 at Christian Brothers High School in Sacramento where I was a student four years earlier. The summer I graduated from college (1973), the principal from CBHS called me and asked if I was interested in teaching. I had no plans except to continue working at Del Monte Cannery. Summer in Sacramento meant, and still means, tomatoes, and you can see them littered all over Highways 50, 80, and 5 from June to October. Trucks filled with tomatoes spew them along the freeways as they lumber from the nearby fields, headed to one of the canneries.

I quit the Del Monte cannery job before the tomato season was over, so that I might begin my teaching career as a religion and English teacher as well as freshman baseball coach. I was 21, had a bachelor of arts degree in English, and no experience teaching anything. Since CBHS is a private school, I did not even need a teaching credential.

Forty-seven years later on March 11, 2020, I taught my last face-to-face class. I knew I was going to retire at the end of the spring 2020 semester, but not many others knew. I imagined announcing it towards the end of the semester to my students. I imagined my last class, and what I would say. I even imagined a giant party in which I would invite former and present colleagues to dance, eat, drink, talk, and laugh. Maybe a speech or two. But mostly just exulting in the moment.

Had I known on that day in March that I would never see my students in the flesh again, I’m not sure I would have done anything differently. I still would welcome each student with a fist bump (remember the days before Covid?) and write the agenda on the board. The roll sheet would work its way around the room, and we would begin with some talk, some writing, some sharing, and lots of encouragement.

“Okay, who’s first and what are we working on today?"

Some days we would cheat. I would find a passage from that day’s assignment, and we would write imitations of that section. Students would eventually read their imitations, and we would finger snap or “golf clap” their efforts. Students who had read always looked slightly stunned. No one had ever clapped or snapped for something they had written.

At the end of the last class, I would not have made a speech or climbed on my desk a la Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society to make a culminating address. I imagined doing what I always did: walk to my office and be slightly surprised by the number of students waiting outside my door.

Then the spring training baseball game on March 12 (Dodgers v White Sox) was cancelled, and everything changed. That morning my friend, Laury Fischer, and I took the 6:15 a.m. flight from Oakland to Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, where, annually, we indulge in our passion of all-things-baseball. It’s a pilgrimage we’ve made for many years.

But this year was different.

We were ambivalent about going because of the news regarding a particularly virulent virus spreading around the world. Still, at 4:00 a.m., I showed up at Laury’s house and within minutes we were on our way to the airport, where no one was wearing masks, and no one was socially distanced. (At this point in the pandemic, I have a hard time imagining that world.) Soon we were Phoenix bound, but not until we traveled through turbulence so bad that I took out my phone and scrolled through pictures of my loved ones. We went up and down violently, then the pilot’s door banged open and the lurching left and right began. The pilot looked like the Wizard of Oz, when it is revealed that the powerful one is only a human with a knack for the dramatic.

Eventually after thirty minutes (which was probably five) we landed in Phoenix, picked up our rental car and found a place for a pre-game breakfast. We had two games scheduled on that Thursday, so we finished our meals and headed out to Camelback Ranch, home of the Dodgers (boo) and White Sox (yay). We might even be early enough to watch some batting practice.

At the parking lot entrance, the attendant just shook his head as we tried to enter.

“All games have been cancelled,” he said.

Did he mean all games or just this game? That’s when I received a text from my son informing me that all of Spring Training had been cancelled; he hoped he caught me before I left for Phoenix.

We eventually booked a flight home for that night, which entailed going through the terrifying turbulence twice in one day (again, I scrolled through pictures), and landed in Oakland at 8:30 p.m. We had basically spent $600 for breakfast in Phoenix. It was a pretty good breakfast.

I didn't return to DVC until July 6, 2020 to clean out my office. That day, I saw no one. As I ruthlessly threw stuff away, the only living things I saw during my stay that afternoon were wild turkeys. One would come up to the sliding glass door and peck at the glass. I felt so alone. Just me and the turkeys.

This was not going according to my retirement plans. My office used to hum with activity since I encouraged students to revise their essays. They would read to me, and I would suggest revisions or just ask them questions about the content of their papers. Students would work on their papers at the empty desk in my office while I read another student’s essay. Students would revolve around me writing, revising, complaining, and writing some more. Office hours became fluid. When no more students were in the revising carousel, office hours were over.

When I finished cleaning out my office, when I had packed up my beloved cow bell and some other unique gifts from students, I was finally staring at the bare walls of the office. It wasn’t my office anymore. Just me and an occasional turkey pecking the glass. I expected to see a tumbleweed roll pass on the hot windy July day.

My career was over; I was done. My father would have said, “You put in a good shift.”

Not what I had imagined. For 47 years from mid-August to the end of May, I taught or did something close to teaching. (Okay that first year there was no teaching, just survival.) Sometimes in those early years when my wife and I had little money, I taught in the summer.

I was a teacher. Now what was I? Would I sit on my front porch and yell at the kids letting their dogs pee in my front yard? Would I learn how to play the ukulele? Would I work on my Spanish? I’m still trying to figure that out.

What I hadn’t expected to do was to fall in love.

My son and daughter-in-law work, mostly at home, which can be impossible with a 3-year old running around and all the pre-schools closed. Grammy (my wife’s grandmother name) and Pops (you guessed it) live close by, so soon we had Izzy (the 3-year old) first for two, three, and then four days a week.

Slowly, I learned to be a grandfather or rather I learned a new identity: Pops. Pops has learned how to make tents out of blankets and camp in the living room. Pops has learned that a special collection of stuffed animals are really babies that we have to take care of, spoil, teach, and even send to “timeout.” Pops has revived the Skull Mountain stories he used to tell his own children many years ago. (Although the names of the characters have changed, the villain has remained the same: Evil Dr. Tommy Lasorada.)

Sometimes we stare into space, pretending to watch a movie that I narrate. When it was safe enough, we went to playgrounds, state parks, and the beach. One long afternoon, we gathered sticks, grass, and dandelion flowers and made a bird’s nest. We spent a long time waiting for a bird to accept this free gift from the universe. We talked, adjusted the nest, and waited. And waited. It was my moment of Zen.

And in this way I fell in love.

So when the preschools opened again a month ago, Izzy enrolled and began attending. Regularly. She needs to be around other kids, she needs to learn to share, she needs to learn to take turns, and she needs to make friends with kids her age. I know that.

But who is going to take care of the babies? It’s been weeks since I set up camp in the living room. I still have many Skull Mountain stories to tell her. Well, they’ll have to wait for the occasional weekend gathering.

Where is that ukulele?

Teaching and Creating Theatre Under and Through Covid and Other Conditions or What I do During Retirement

By Ed Trujillo (retired 2015)

Editor’s Note: In February 2021, our colleague and fellow retiree, Ed Trujillo was honored with the Kennedy Center Medallion given to individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to the teaching and producing of theatre and who have significantly dedicated their time, artistry, and enthusiasm to the development of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF). The award is the most prestigious regional award bestowed by the Festival and is considered “one of the great honors in theater education.” In addition, Ed was selected as the first Chair of the Festival’s Representation, Equity, and Diversity committee. I invited Ed to contribute a piece about teaching Drama during this pandemic, and here he gives us snapshots of three different experiences. ~~ Laury Fischer

At the beginning of last year, I was teaching the History of Chicano/a Cinema at Los Medanos College for the third time. In person.

And then the monster arrived.

I was thrown into the Zoom world; I was not prepared.

One of the lighter moments happened when I thought I was engaging well with the students. Then I heard all of this racket of clanging and banging, and found out one of my students was making posole for her father’s birthday -- right in class! I was not so much angry for her behavior, but because I probably would never be able to taste it.

I was lost for a while, but things did get a little better. By the time the semester was winding down, it hard for me to institute any creative techniques that I was developing. The technical staff were absolutely supportive, but it was too late for me.

I missed real eye contact, roving around the room, and strolling about when the students were in small groups. I missed the unmuted laughter and the sound of guffaws at blunders I would make each session.

But in addition to my regular teaching at DVC and LMC, I have been a member of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival for most of my professional life. Each year we put on a festival and up to 1200 students and faculty attend, compete, and participate in all aspects of theatre: acting, directing, dramaturgy, stage management, lighting, set design, costume design, props, sound design, playwriting, musical theatre -- and everything else that we do.

Then two things happened: Covid hit and George Floyd was killed. We had to decide what to do. First we said yes to having an all virtual festival, and second, we had to respond to the George Floyd death, Black Lives Matters, and all of its tributaries.

All of the disciplines of theatre usually require hands-on involvement. Using Zoom and other platforms proved daunting and frustrating, but we did it and almost 600 people attended the Kennedy Festival Regional Festival this past February.

You can imagine how it was: I taught an acting/audition workshop and had to keep saying: “Can you move your bed out of the way?” “Please step back.” “You don’t need to shout so loud.” “Would you wear that to an audition!?”

On the other hand, schools were able to bring fully mounted productions on streaming platforms with masks and other protocols. We had many guests/presenters and the good news was that we did not have to pay for travel and hotels. We theatre people are very “touchy feelie” but none of that happened! Air hugs, how stupid.

Our region has for many years been committed to inclusion and diversity, but this time around we asked lots of questions: What does that mean and what have we really done to make profound and necessary changes for a true seismic shift? We had to ask ourselves: Who has been at the table? Are course curriculum and syllabi inclusive? Are our seasons really diverse and representative of our communities or are they just examples of tokenism? Who can afford to go to festival and to theatre in general? Are staff, faculty and administration representative of BIPOC, LGBTQ+, the disabled, and the economically challenged? Are students adequately being served and are their voices being heard? Is casting fair, equitable and open?

Sadly, many of the answers were not what we wanted to hear, so we made some changes that will make us proud of this important art form. Some of the workshops and changes included: Sonya Renee Taylor's "The Body is Not an Apology,” “Storytelling in Times of Hate - A Verbatim Approach,” “Be Free: Black Engaged Fundamental Racial Equity Everyday, “Trans* Theatre: A Roundtable Conversation,” “Disability and Fatness: An Affinity Space,” “Coraźon Of A Latina,” “Equitizing Theatre History: Rethinking Our Approach as Educators,” “ Media Representation: A Conversation with the National Hispanic Media Coalition,” ”Crafting Theatrical Art in Indigenous Spaces,” “ We See You White American Theatre Panel,” and many more.

This was a start and an important one.

This past March, from my basement office in Martinez, over a six-week period, I just finished directing En las Sombras (In The Shadows) by Jordan Ramirez Puckett for Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington. It was entirely virtual.

The play tells the story of two young siblings in a mythical, pre-Hispanic underworld where they are trying to defeat terrible gods and to become gods themselves. They fight for their freedom by performing tasks laid out by the gods. We then see them shift to the present, and they are now in a detention center on the border, being forced to separate forever. The play reveals the brutality of separation and asks the audience, What can we do? What will we do?

For the first five weeks, all of the actors and tech staff were in their dorm rooms or apartments. Except for one person, I did not know any of them. Sometimes the Wifi connections were bad; I had frozen images of the actors staring at me with half-closed eyes, like something out of “The Twilight Zone.”

In the olden days, when I directed at DVC or around the Bay, I would kiss my wife good-bye after an early dinner and head back to campus. Now, we kept the same ritual but I went downstairs to the basement for rehearsal.

But guess what happened? I just got into the rehearsal mode and so did the actors; we worked hard, I gave lots of feedback, they listened, collaborated, got exhausted and made some wonderful character discoveries. I said stuff like “Could you move stage right and then move down stage, and try not to run into your bed?” and it worked. I actually had an actor fall asleep because there was a large gap between his next lines. I thought it was funny.

I had excellent stage managers who gave notes and called all rehearsals. We had production meetings every Friday morning with about 15-20 people.I was worried about the human connection, but their humanity came through, warts and all. Mostly without the warts.

Then “we” moved into the theatre. Rather all of them moved into the theatre. Mind you I’m still Martinez. They followed Covid protocols for inside and were six feet apart with masks in their own designated areas on stage. We presented the production via Readers Theatre; scripts on music stands, with simple costumes and props with stage projections, set pieces and lighting. The challenge was not to make it a video but a visual representation of live theatre.

We tried to keep it simple avoiding extreme close-ups and switching cameras back and forth. It was a juggling act. We had trouble miking me because the cast and crew were on a different streaming platform than I was on at home. Eventually, we presented three live-streaming events. We had to cancel one event because of glitches in one of the platforms. It was incredibly frustrating, but the crew and actors were professional, and we were happy with the final results.

We told the story, made it live; it was effective theatre. I would not give up the experience in hindsight, but the challenges were daunting.

Seeking Auction Donations from DVCRA Members

First of all, a big thank you to our colleagues who have donated items for the silent auction in the past.

• Clark Sturges and Chris Leivas have donated Giants baseball tickets for many years.

• Ginny Horner donated a quilted bag.

• Elisabeth van Bavel donated a necklace.

• Barbara Sawyer, Dick Shoemaker, Nancy Zink, Jerry Cross, Marge Lasky, and Katrina Keating (though not even retired yet) donated books.

• Chuck Cottril has donated bowls, wine stoppers, and covered containers at every luncheon since 2015.

• Gary Goodshaw has donated hand-crafted pens made of various woods and metals.

• Leon Borowski donated 3 bottles of fine wine. (Many DVCRA members raved about the high quality of Leon's wine.)

• Tim Murphy donated 3 stays at different condos at 2 different luncheons and at our last Zoom Event.

• Judy Myers donated her expertise and family recipe for making toffee.

• Barbara Sawyer donated wine.

• Joy Broom donated a brooch.

• Ellen Kruse has donated treats from Crispian Bakery in Alameda, wine, and assistance at Judy Myers’s Toffee Workshop.

If you have something you’d like to share and donate for the silent auction coming up on April 23, 2021, please contact Ellen Kruse at enkruse@comcast.net.

Submitted by Ellen Kruse

Luncheon Coordinator

DVC News and Information

Are Classrooms Re-opening?

DVC is still in the process of deciding how many classes will be held live on campus in the fall; the final decision has not been made and departments are preparing for a variety of different situations with the likelihood that we will mostly be teaching online in the fall. Summer classes at DVC are almost all going to be online -- some taught synchronously (live), some taught a-synchronously (no live component of the class).

In contrast, the UCs, CSUs, several private universities, and many unified school districts throughout the Bay Area have announced plans for reopening nearly fully in-person for fall semester, 2021. As you have been reading in the papers, local school districts all over northern California are starting to re-open, if hesitantly, in March and April. Community colleges throughout the state, however, seem to be more cautionary on their reopening plans. Of course, so many things are in flux, so stay in touch with public information about all school openings, K through College.

DVC Speech and Debate Team Wins State Championship

DVC’s Speech and Debate team won first place at the California Community College Forensics Association (CCCFA) State Championship Tournament, held virtually March 10 – 14^th. This is the first time in DVC history that the Speech and Debate team, also referred to as Forensics, has won a state championship, and the first time in 45 years that an institution in Northern California has taken the top spot.

Fifteen DVC students competed in head-to-head debating, public address, limited-preparation speaking, and dramatic performance. This year’s State Championship addressed issues that ranged from anti-Asian discrimination and Black culture in art, to the objectification of people with disabilities and other socio-political issues.

DVC's team was coached by Blake Longfellow, DVC’s Director of Forensics, who joined forces with the college's Forsensic coaches: Paul Villa, Andrew Morgan, Robert Hawkins, and Sasan Kasravi. Congratulations to faculty, students, and their families.

Want to see the full list of awards? Head to the CCCFA State Championship site.

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Repatriation Of Native American Remains

College President Susan Lamb updated the community regarding the DVC's efforts to repatriate the Native American remains donated to the DVC’s museum in the 1950s and 1960s. The college has submitted notice to the national Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) program which has 90 days to review and return final approval. After that, the list is published in the Federal Register within 30-60 days. Once these legal requirements are completed, the college will begin working with local tribes and college constituencies to form a President's Advisory Council to address the next steps in the local repatriation process.

•••••••••

DVC’s New Telehealth Program, TimelyMD, Helps Students in Need of Health Services (from Jenny Orme, DVC Inquirer)

After a year of negotiations and planning, the Associated Students and administration of DVC have launched TimelyMD, the college’s first-ever student health service. As the impact of the coronavirus continue to pose severe health and economic challenges, this free day-and-night telehealth service is now accessible to all DVC students via cell phone or computer. This is something students, administration, faculty, and staff have been working on for years - and it's finally arrived.

DVCRA BOARD MEMBERS

Association Coordinator - Karen Castle

Immediate Past Association Coordinators - Judy Walters and Diane Scott-Summers

Treasurer - Chris Leivas

Secretary - Irene Menegas

Membership Meeting/Luncheon Coordinator - Ellen Kruse and Rachel Westlake

Scholarship Coordinator - Mary Ulrich

Newsletter Editor - Laury Fischer

Member Directory Maintainer - Nancy Zink

Membership Coordinator - Sue Shattuck

New Member Recruiter and Newsletter Sharp-eyed Proofreader - Linda Robbins

Unions, District, Benefits Liaison - Nancy Zink