Orange Coast College spring enrollment drops...

Orange Coast College spring enrollment drops

Orange Coast College began its spring semester Monday with about

3.2% fewer students than last spring.

The school typically sees increases in enrollment, but had to

reduce its classes 15.4% this spring to cut costs, OCC spokesman Jim

Carnett said Monday.

The college made about $2.8 million in midyear budget cuts as a

result of the state’s cutbacks this year.

The semester started Monday with 404 fewer course sections. While

registration is still open, the school reported 22,503 students, or

about 749 fewer than it had last spring.

The school expects even less students in the summer and 2003-04

school year as it plans to slash another $6 million and about 1,000

course sections, Carnett said. This semester, there are 2,225 course

sections. California students pay $11 per unit at OCC.

By comparison, enrollment in the fall increased 4% from fall 2001.

It increased 6.1% in spring 2002 from spring 2001.

Registration continues at the school through the admissions

office, which is open from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through

Thursday and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday.

The class schedule can be picked up at the office or can be found

online at www.orangecoastcollege.com. For more information, call

(714) 432-5072.

Costa Mesa accepting nominations for award

Although Costa Mesa’s leadership has changed, the traditional

Mayor’s Award will be given out this year.

The award honors a person in the community who has performed an

outstanding service or a good deed or has a long history of community

service.

The program is open to all Costa Mesa residents and those who work

or volunteer in the city. Mayor Karen Robinson will select a person

based on nomination letters sent to her office. Recipients are

acknowledged every three months at the City Council meetings.

To nominate someone, please send a letter to the mayor’s office,

including your name, address and phone number, as well as the name of

the nominee and a brief explanation of his or her merits.

Letters may be sent to Mayor’s Award City of Costa Mesa, P.O. Box

1200, Costa Mesa, CA 92628-1200; faxed to (714) 754-5330; or log on

to www.ci.costa-mesa.ca.us/council/mayorawd.htm. Information: (714)

754-5327.

Sons of American Legion to donate $1,000

The Sons of the American Legion Squadron 291 will make a $1,000

donation to the Orange Coast College Women’s Crew at the group’s

regular meeting on Wednesday.

The donation will bring to $2,000 the amount the sons’ Donations

Committee has give to help the women’s crew achieve its goal of

buying a new boat.

The group is an arm of the Newport Beach-based American Legion

Squadron 291, which assists local charities.

Film festival support group needs members

The Premiere Cinema Guild, a nonprofit that supports the Newport

Beach Film Festival, seeks new members.

The guild sponsors an annual gala that fund-raises for the film

festival.

It also supports the festival through programs such as Host a

Filmmaker, which asks members to host visiting filmmakers during the

weeklong festivities. Members are also offered the opportunity to

prescreen film festival entries.

The 2003 festival, which will include feature films, short films

and documentaries from around the world, as well as seminars and

workshops with featured artists, is scheduled to be held from April 3

to 11.

For more information, call Cathy Kroopf at (949) 720-0528.

Costa Mesa real estate firm receives award

Costa Mesa’s Torelli Realty has received the Gift of Giving

community award from L.A.-based The Wave radio station (94.7 FM).

The award was given in appreciation of Torelli Realty’s

sponsorship of Snow Hill 2002, an annual holiday event at Belearic

Park in Costa Mesa.

The event features 50 tons of snow for sledding, cookie

decorating, a visit from Santa in a helicopter and hay wagon rides.

The prize included an office party at Outback Steakhouse.

Torelli’s next community event is the upcoming Easter Egg-citement

2003, to be held on April 19 at Tanager Park. Activities include an

Easter egg hunt, pony and train rides and a petting zoo.

For more information about this event, go to the company’s Web

site at www.torellirealty.com.

Costa Mesa program helps home buyers

The city of Costa Mesa will help home buyers by offering them down

payment assistance of up to $40,000 in the form of a deferred second

mortgage to households earning no more than 120% of the county’s

median.

The home buyer must provide at least a 5% down payment, have

sufficient income and good credit to qualify for a first mortgage

with a private lender. Purchase price limits have been increased to

the area median of $419,000.

Applicants will be assisted on a first-come-first-served basis

because of limited funds.

For more information, call the Housing Hotline at (714) 754-4892.

Subsidiary purchases herbicide business

Newport Beach-based American Vanguard Corporation announced last

week that AMVAC Chemical Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of the

company, has acquired Evital 5G, a cranberry herbicide business owned

by Sygenta Crop Protection Inc.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The company expects to begin marketing the herbicide in the

spring.

Evital 5G is used when planting in the key cranberry-growing

states of Massachusetts, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Michigan and Oregon.