ON CAMPUS AT OCC:Wright Brothers play to lift off for laughs

“Air Born — The Story of the Wright Brothers,” an original play by Orange Coast College theater student Sean Engard, opens Thursday on campus.

The play’s setting is Kill Devil Hill, N.C., Dec. 17, 1903 — the dawn of an exciting new age.

Engard, 23, of Costa Mesa, has been an OCC student for five years. He has applied to attend the playwriting program next fall at the Juilliard School in New York City.

During his time at the college, Engard has written, directed and acted in many productions, and has also done technical work. Though his new play deals with history, science and things that are motorized, it is anything but mechanical — it’s a comedy.

“I sort of wanted to bring a Rosencrantz and Guildenstern flavor to controlled, motorized flight,” Engard said with a twinkle in his eye. “Wilbur, the elder brother, is the one who got hit in the face with a hockey stick when he was a youngster and had to have reconstructive surgery. He’s a bit out there … slightly scattered.

“Orville is the stable one who manages all the details. The show has many humorous moments,” he said.

Engard began writing his play more than two years ago.

“I know it’s an unusual topic, but I wanted to write a historical piece that had strong educational overtones,” he said.

That’s not surprising; Engard is the product of a family of educators. His parents and two older sisters are teachers.

“There were other teams around the world at the time of the Wright Brothers that were attempting to be the first to achieve sustained powered flights in heavier-than-air machines,” Engard said. “I think it was significant for this country that the inventors of flight turned out to be Americans.”

Orville and Wilbur made four power-driven flights at Kill Devil Hill on that cold and blustery North Carolina day. The brothers made their flights in the Wright Flyer, a wood-and steel-frame airship, covered with muslin.

“The four flights were flown by Orville, Wilbur, Orville and Wilbur, in that order,” Engard said. “Actually, the pilot for the last flight was decided upon by a coin flip.”

The fourth flight was the longest, covering 852 feet. The Wright Flyer traveled at a speed of 31 miles per hour.

Directed by theater professor Alex Golson, the production runs Thursdays through Sundays, March 15-18 and March 22-25, in the Drama Lab Theatre. The curtain rises at 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 2:30 p.m. on Sundays.

For ticket information, call (714) 432-5880.

MORE THAN 4,000 EXPECTED FOR SENIOR DAY

More than 4,000 high school seniors are expected to attend OCC’s 24th High School Senior Day next Tuesday, March 20, in the quad.

Activities will run from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Admission is free.

Every senior in attendance will receive early registration materials for fall 2007 classes. Counseling, orientation and financial aid materials will be available. Information about the college’s transfer program and occupational programs will be distributed. Campus and departmental tours will also be conducted.

Several OCC Preview Sessions will be held in the Robert B. Moore Theatre. Each senior attending a presentation will receive a free Senior Day T-shirt. Students will be served a free barbecue lunch, and musical entertainment will be provided.

The college’s SOAR (English and mathematics) placement tests will be administered between 2 to 5 p.m. for interested students.

OCC is a leader in transferring students to four-year colleges and universities. Last year, the college ranked third out of California’s 109 community colleges in the number of transfers it sent to four-year institutions.

For Senior Day information, call (714) 432-5726.

OCC DEDICATES FITNESS COMPLEX

The college will unveil its beautiful new state-of-the-art, 49,000-square-foot Fitness Complex on Thursday afternoon.

The ceremony and reception will begin at 1 p.m. The program will also include the dedication of OCC’s newly renovated Wendell Pickens Baseball Field, which is next to the Fitness Complex. A barbecue lunch will be served. Reservations may be made by calling (714) 432-5707.

The ceremony will be followed by a baseball game featuring OCC’s Pirates hosting the Cypress College Chargers.

The Fitness Complex, which is just north of LeBard Stadium off Monitor Way and Fairview Road, includes a large multipurpose room that can be used as a gymnasium or large-group instruction facility. The building also includes two locker rooms to be used by the college’s football, baseball, soccer and softball teams. It has a training facility for sports medicine, an equipment room, men’s and women’s bathrooms, and coaches’ offices.

The second floor features a 6,000-square-foot Strength Lab, a 2,600-square-foot Cardio Lab housing 57 pieces of equipment, an Exercise Science Testing Lab, and a fitness studio and classroom.

“Our Exercise Science Testing Lab is the finest community college lab of its type in the nation,” said Barbara Bond, the college’s athletic director.

CAMPUS CRIME DROPS 33.3%

Crime statistics for OCC’s campus for the 2006 calendar year dropped 33.3% compared to 2005 and 50% compared to 2004.

The college’s official 2006 crime figures were recently released in a brochure published by the Campus Public Safety Department. The report is issued annually in compliance with the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990.

A total of 24 campus criminal offenses were reported in 2006 compared with 36 in 2005 and 48 in 2004.

Motor vehicle thefts on campus dropped 53.8% in 2006 (from 13 to six); aggravated assaults were cut in half (from two to one); and burglary of personal property dipped 44.4% (from 18 incidents to 10).

There were no murders, rapes, forcible sexual assaults, nonforcible sex offenses, robberies, hate crimes or arsons on campus last year. Campus Safety officers patrol the campus 24 hours a day, 365 days per year.