EL VAQUERO G L E N D A L E C O M M U N I T Y C O L L E G E S T U D E N T N E W S PA P E R
Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017
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Volume 110 | Issue 3
#HillStrong: Defeating the Odds Beloved dean talks about his heart and kidney transplants, and the will to make a difference
believes that we are better people when we get along with each other. “I know that’s a difficult concept for people, especially right now,” Hill said. “I get up every morning and think The one thing that inspires him to keep goabout hope, because I come here to play ing is hope. “The American culture is nothas hard as I can, I give it everything,” ing without courageous people, you know. said Robert Hill, the dean of student serHate will never, ever, ever, be the platform vices at Glendale Community College. that stands. Any nation built on hate can “I go home exhausted. When I walk in never last. We got to have hope and we that hallway, it’s game day. Every singot to have love. We got to find a way to gle day.” The dean exemplifies the idea love one another, without tearing each of service in his day to day job, which other apart. And that’s what I believe in. I he says is a calling. The desire to help wake up every day saying you know what, comes from his parents. I got the most important job in the world, Hill grew up in Orange County, Cabecause you know what I got to do? I got lif. “I got two all-star parents, I don’t to teach people how to love one another.” come from the typical black, broken As the dean of student services at GCC, home, single parent, you know,” said Hill’s primary focus is academic counselHill. “I didn’t have that, so I don’t have ing, and he believes that the key to success any excuse but not to be successful.” is to create a good relationship with the stuAfter he came back from military, dents, and to be someone that inspires and he went to community college. motivates them to keep going. He explained that he found I’m not “Do you know how to tie your his love for working at a comshoes? Have you ever tried to ever going to munity college because as a teach a three-year-old to tie student he was so inspired by be that pera shoe?” Hill asked. “Think the people at his college who always treated him with love son that gives about it, think about how comand respect. He figured that if that up. That’s plex that is of a skill. See here’s the thing, I don’t care what he could replicate the treatment what I do the color you are, I don’t care what he got, he could make a “powgender you are, OK? If you can best. I get to erful difference in the world.” Hill came to Los Ange- the soul and tie your shoes, you can learn. Who is going to inspire you les 20 years ago. He came to to learn how to tie that shoe? the core of the GCC three years ago and has 17 years of community college human spirit. That’s the critical thing, that’s the core. We are so worried experience under his belt. about planning this and that, When he’s not trying to we don’t get to the core soul of people. I’m make a difference at GCC, his seven not ever going to be that person that gives daughters and volunteer work keeps that up. That’s what I do the best. I get to him busy. Family, friends, and relationthe soul and the core of the human spirit.” ships are a big part of who he is, and he By Vendela Lindblom Staff Writer
Photo by Carmen Fernandez
A STORY OF TRIUMPH: Dr. Robert Hill speaks candidly about his experiences as an organ transplant recipient, and what that means to him.
Hill lives a hectic life, he explained, where he only gets two hours of sleep per night. “My mother always told me ‘you’re so nosy, you’re afraid you’re going to miss out on something,’ and that might be true,” he laughs. “[But] lately, it might be because I’m happy to be able to wake up.” Twelve years ago, Hill was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, a condition that affects the heart muscle. He was told he only had the functionality of half a heart, and his attitude was to take a couple of drugs and keep it pushing. In the beginning of this year, he started having complications more frequently than he has ever had, and went in and out of the hospital. In February, he developed a stomach pain that never seemed to go away. Then, one day, the pain started to take
over and he started considering if he should go to the hospital or just take some PeptoBismol and go to bed. [See Hill, page 2]
IN THIS ISSUE News. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5 Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-11 Entertainment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-14 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
GCC Featured in Glendale Tech Week Event runs through Friday, Oct. 13 and includes participation from Robotics Club and campus faculty By Ken Allard Editor-in-Chief
Photo by Scarlet Galvez
MAKE ME A ROBOT: GCC Robotics Club students unvel a project at the San Diego Maker Faire on Oct. 7 and Oct. 8. The small semi-autonomous robot which was made by students.
Glendale Community College’s Robotics Club and engineering department is being featured at Glendale Tech Week, which runs from Oct. 9 to Oct. 13 throughout the city of Glendale and surrounding areas. The Robotics Club at Glendale will have their own booth on Tuesday, Oct. 10 during the Montrose Tech Walk from 3 to 7 p.m., where students will give talks and present student-built robots, drones and other projects. On Wednesday Oct. 11, GCC members can be found at the Oktoberfest at the Maryland Paseo, from six to 10 p.m. The following day, Glendale College will be participating at the Innovation Market at the Americana from noon to 2 p.m. “We want to raise awareness about engineering, not just on campus but in general,” said Scarlet Galvez, who is a sophomore mechanical engineering major at GCC and a member of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers.
SHPE’s mission is to serve as role models and to empower those in the Hispanic community in regards to STEM awareness, which is what Galvez and fellow engineering student Enrique Cernas-Aguilar try to help accomplish, too. “Latino students specifically don’t feel the connection to STEM,” said CernasAguilar, a mechanical engineering major in his second year. “Almost everyday I talk to those students about opportunities that are available.” Indeed, the opportunities are there. The engineering and other STEM professors have real-world experience, connections, and do their best to get students into internship programs, including local, highly-coveted places like the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and with NASA. Glendale Tech Week is hosted around downtown Glendale, including venues like the Alex Theatre, historic Central Library, and the Maryland Paseo. The event is meant to highlight the booming technology sector of the Glendale area. [See Tech Week, page 2]