Desert Star Weekly 'Friday' Feb. 24, 2023 issue!

desert STAR

“Eye on Learning”

By Madeline Zuckerman

The Springs Country Club in Rancho Mirage recently hosted its 11th Annual Scholarship Luncheon, complete with an extensive silent auction and its highly-

anticipated Golf and Pickleball Tournaments, all for a very worthwhile cause! Emcee for the luncheon was the Valley’s own Patrick Evans, KESQ TV Meteorologist and Host of EYE ON THE DESERT.

Open to Springs Club members and the community, this not-to-be missed fun event commenced at 8:30 am with a Shotgun Scramble on The Springs’s renowned 18-hole Desmond Muirhead

Signature Golf Course, with its glorious mountain and lake vistas virtually seen from every hole. Simultaneously, play got underway on The Springs’ popular Pickleball courts, used daily due to the Club’s 200-plus Pickleball enthusiasts. Finally, members and guests gathered in the

stunning newly-remodeled Springs Clubhouse for the Scholarship Luncheon.

The following week, 166 members of The Springs community participated in the Annual Springs Home Tour, which showcased six

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‘Young Invincibles’ Fight for CA Access to Higher Ed

By Desert Star Staff

California’s young adults face significant barriers to accessing higher education, affordable housing, and health care - according to a nonprofit fighting to advance their interests. The group Young Invincibles has just released its 2023 policy agenda, and the top of the list is improving consumer protections around student debt.

Sarah Bouabibsa, west advocacy manager for Young Invincibles, said they are working to convince colleges and universities to stop withholding degrees or transcripts over small debts owed to the school, for example.

“We’re looking for schools to stop withholding diplomas

because students owe, let’s say, outstanding library fees. Because that is a natural barrier to students building financial security through finding jobs and applying for graduate school once they graduate,” she said.

The policy agenda also calls on schools to build more affordable student housing, increase the number of mental health professionals on campus, and eliminate premiums on standard silver Covered California health insurance plans.

The group also wants California to fully fund its Cradle to Career Data System, an online hub currently in development. Bouabibsa said the

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On Right From Scholarship Luncheon: (left to right) KESQ TV’s Patrick Evans, Emcee of The Springs Scholarship Luncheon, Jill Miller, Chair of The Springs Scholarship Fund, Frank Xavier, Committee Member of The Springs Scholarship Fund, and Kevin Mulligan, Committee Member of The Springs Scholarship Fund.

The Springs Country Club Community Raises Over $60,000.00

Ukraine Clean-Energy Plan Emerges as War Starts Year 2 see page 4.

Experts: Wildlife Crossings Can Help Adapt to Changing Climate

prioritize climate resilience as roads and bridges are built or repaired using the funds from the 2021 infrastructure bill.

Renee Callahan, executive director of ARC Solutions, cowrote the letter.

“Why don’t we take advantage of this oncein-a-generation window of opportunity to not only rebuild one of the world’s greatest transportation networks?” Callahan asked. “And why don’t we build it even better, so that it works for people, wildlife, and also in the face of our changing climate?”

director of U.S. public lands and rivers conservation for the Pew Charitable Trusts, said wider culverts would improve biodiversity by allowing animals large and small to migrate, from elk to toads. And the culverts would improve resiliency during extreme weather events.

By Desert Star Staff

Wildlife

move over or under roads and freeways instead.

Now a coalition of scientists, nonprofits and government agencies are

highlighting their potential to help us adapt to climate change. The partnership has just published an open letter, calling on policymakers to

Callahan said transportation projects should be engineered to add extra decks over bridges and to widen culverts under roads to benefit wildlife. The open letter called for greater cooperation between tribes and local agencies.

Matt Skroch, project

“We can design those structures to not only facilitate the passage of water as flooding continues to occur in the future, but we can also think about how these culverts and bridges can accommodate terrestrial wildlife movement as well,” Skroch explained.

Supporters broke ground last year on a state-of-theart wildlife crossing over the 101 Freeway in Agoura Hills, primarily to facilitate the movement of cougars. Data show properly sited and built wildlife crossings can reduce mortality by 97%.

‘Young Invincibles’ Fight for CA Access to Higher Ed

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site’s dashboard will give students the tools they need to succeed.

“This will help students plan out what colleges they want to attend,” she said.

“It’ll help answer questions around financial aid and

“Eye on Learning”

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extraordinary homes selected for their unique architecture and stunning interior design. 100% of all ticket sales to this Home Tour benefitted The Springs Scholarship Fund.

“This year’s Springs Scholarship Luncheon raised over $ 60,000 and celebrates this year’s outstanding Scholarship Award recipients,” said Jill Miller, Chair for the past five years of The Springs Scholarship Fund. “For most of these scholarship recipients, they are the first members of their family to attend college.”

The Springs Scholarship Fund was started in 2011 by a group of Springs Country Club members who would informally collect donations. It was a very informal grassroots effort in the beginning. Jill Miller and several other Club members endeavored to learn as much as they could about scholarship funding and donations. In 2019, they ultimately decided to collaborate with the Desert Community Foundation, a notfor-profit 501©3, because the Desert Community Foundation could handle all the vetting, reporting and investing of the funds raised for The Springs Scholarship Fund. It was then decided that half the funds raised from the

Golf Tournament would go to The Springs Scholarship Fund, with the other half of funds raised going to Volunteers In Medicine, a pet charity of The Springs Country Club and The Springs Woman Support Group.

Today, The Springs Scholarship Committee provides fund oversight, sets eligibility criteria, reviews and makes recommendations for grants, and oversees the management of investment funds. Since the start of 2019 of this valuable partnership with The Desert Community Foundation, The Springs Scholarship Fund has raised over $ 250,000.00. $48,000 has been awarded to eleven deserving youths within The Springs Country Club community.

PAST RECIPIENTS OF THE SPRINGS SCHOLARSHIP AWARD: ****

The Springs Country Club awards this scholarship every year to these students, as long as these recipients’ GPA is maintained year-to-year)

Angel Bernardo, an Education Major who attends California Baptist University Taylor Brown, a Sociology Major who attends California State University, San Marcos

Kianah David, a Nursing Major who attends

career opportunities they can pursue if they go toward a specific area of focus in their education. “ All California community

colleges must now have student “basic needs centers” that connect students with food, housing, and health care assistance programs. The

agenda calls for fully funding these centers and developing an assessment tool to identify trends in student needs.

California State University, San Bernardino Llyanah David, a Nursing Major who attends College Of The Desert Bianca Felix, a Child Development Major who attends California State University, San Bernardino Krystal King, an Education Major who attends California State University Fresno Matthew King, a Liberal Studies Major who attends California State University Fresno Daniela Ramirez, a Health Sciences Major who attends the College Of The Desert Joseph Xanitis, a Nursing Major who attends San

Bernardino Valley College

“Over the years, The Springs Scholarship Program started as a grassroots labor of love, and has

grown into a substantial Scholarship Program today, supporting education for the youth of our Coachella Valley, said Chair Miller.”

crossings save lives, both human and animal, by allowing migrating species to avoid oncoming traffic and

(left to right) David LaCharite and Laureen Ong, seen here competing in the Pickleball Tournament that day. Photos Courtesy of The Springs Country Club.

More CA Students Earn Degrees, Certificates, But Disparities Persist

population, and almost 2% for Black Americans,” said Brown, “you can see that incredible disparities continue to exist between Black Americans and Latino Americans on one end, and White Americans on the other end.”

Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom set a goal that 70% of the adult population should have some post-secondary education by 2030.

college students to transfer to a four-year school.

“The transfer rates from community colleges to our four-year universities and completion rates in general at the community colleges are meager, especially for Black and Latinx students,” said Siquieros. “So we’ve got to do a better job of supporting students to complete a degree and to transfer.”

By Desert Star Staff

Some good news to report on college attainment rates - the number of students who have earned a degree, certificate or credential has jumped 16% from 2009 to 2021, according to the new

“Stronger Nation” report from the Lumina Foundation.

The report finds a 55.8% attainment rate for Californians ages 25 to 64.

Courtney Brownvice president of impact and planning at Lumina Foundation - said. At the

same time, students of all races made progress; Latino attainment in California is just over 22%, compared to almost 60% for White students.

“Although we saw a 2.5% jump in attainment for the Latino and Hispanic

The top five counties with the highest percentage of students with an associate’s degree or higher are all in the Bay Areawhile rural Lassen County in the far northeastern part of the state has the lowest rate, at just over 18%.

Michelle Siquierospresident of the Campaign for College Opportunity, based in Los Angelessaid schools must make it much easier for community

The report also finds that to compete, California must significantly increase the number of people who enroll in programs and earn all types of credentials beyond high school.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.

Disclosure: Parents Anonymous contributes to our fund for reporting on Children’s Issues, Family/Father Issues, and Social Justice.

Ukraine Clean-Energy Plan Emerges as War Starts Year 2

By Desert Star Staff

As the first anniversary of the Ukraine war approaches, climate activists plan to rebuild Ukraine with clean energy once the war is over.

Groups of elected officials in both countries are holding informal talks about what they describe as a “Clean Energy Marshall Plan” for Ukraine.

Igor Tregub, a UkrainianAmerican and Leadership Council member of the nonprofit Elected Officials to Protect America and former Berkeley Land Board Commissioner, said

Russia makes $258 million daily in oil-and-gas profits to fuel its war machine.

“There is a clear nexus between divesting from fossil fuels and investing in a democratized renewableenergy supply, such as distributed solar and wind power,” Tregub pointed out.

The group is working with members of Congress on a bill that would help fund Ukraine’s reconstruction in a greener, more sustainable way, including doing away with Ukraine’s centralized power grid, which has proven to be an easy target for the

Russian army. Opponents cited cost concerns.

Alex Cornell du Houx, president of Elected Officials to Protect America, said renewable energy independence can contribute to global stability.

“Right now, we’ve created a system where there are several chokes

pointed around the world that are controlled by autocratic nations,” du Houx explained. “Other countries have no choice but to participate in this form of extortion.”

He noted oil and gas companies have used the war in Ukraine as part of their justification for raising

prices, which, in turn, has caused pain at the pump and led to higher natural gas bills in California.

Disclosure: Elected Officials to Protect America contributes to our fund for reporting on Climate Change/Air Quality, Energy Policy, and Public Lands/Wilderness.

15% Adjust sprinkler heads to not water sidewalks or streets

We’re in a drought. We all need to reduce our water use by 15 percent. That’s about 12 gallons per person per day.

It’s easier than you think. Adjust sprinkler heads to not water sidewalks or streets, and save on average 12-15 gallons each time you water.

For more ways to save, visit CVWaterCounts.com