Dean resigns, still in district

Michaia

One of Pierce College’s academic deans has resigned from her position to work at East Los Angeles College.

Carol Kozeracki, dean of institutional research, planning and enrollment management, will begin her post as ELAC’s dean of Academic Affairs Monday.

“I’m so excited but so sad,” she said. “We have superb faculty and students here.”

At Pierce, Kozeracki controlled enrollment management analysis and institutional research, among other things.

As dean of Academic Affairs, on the other hand, she will help take care of all instructional aspects of ELAC.

“Usually, every five or six years, I get itchy to try something new,” she said.

In addition to once working as the dean of architecture, she has been the faculty adviser for Alpha Gamma Sigma and the Leadership Club.

“As a researcher, I don’t want students to just be a number to me,” she said.

It is still unclear whether or not the college will be hiring someone to replace Kozeracki.

Stay updated on all campus news at www.theroundupnews.com.

Right: Professor Emeritus of Geography/Meteorology and former Director of the Pierce College Weather Station William Russell stands under a 30-foot tall sensor array tower, known affectionately as the “Woodruff 1000” after station mentor and former Pierce College student Steven Woodruff Friday in Woodland Hills, Calif.

Bottom: Van Nuys Airport weather office manager and former Pierce student Steve Woodruff focuses early morning sunlight into a Campbell/Stokes Duration-of-Sunlight Recorder, instantly burning a hole through the data recording card under the large glass sphere.

At the Pierce Weather Station different generations of technology stand side by side, recounting a history of constant advancement.

For that reason, the station has dubbed its Oct. 11 event the launching of “the newest/oldest weather station in the country.”

Nestled behind overgrown bushes at the Southeastern end of the Mall, the Pierce College Weather Station has collected data for over 60 years, and students will be able examine its newest advancements at the upcoming dedication event.

The event will celebrate the installation of new technology that was funded by an $85,000 grant.

Finding money for the grant was facilitated by Congressman Brad Sherman, who has been invited to the event.

The station was founded July 1, 1949 by botany professor Lee Haynes when the college was still known as the Clarence W. Pierce School of Agriculture.

Throughout its history it has been directed by different professors of meteorology with assistance from student volunteers.

“We have quite a following here because we have a very old station compared to many in the United States,” said Bill Russell, professor emeritus of meteorology and a former director the station.

In addition to its history, the station prides itself on its consistency.

“Ever since it began, there hasn’t been any misreport to the National Weather Service,” Russell said.

With its long history comes a record of advancements that have changed how looking at the weather is done.

Steve Woodruff, who started out at the weather station as a student volunteer in 1997, has seen a number of those changes.

Woodruff is currently a manager at the Van Nuys Airport weather office, and he’s worked on the weather stations that collect data from the Mars rover missions.

Once a month though, he still returns to do maintenance at the

Pierce weather station, and he has implemented many of the upgrades the station has seen.

In 1997, it would take him fifteen minutes to record data manually and call it in to the National Weather Service.

The availability of more automated instruments and the internet has reduced that time dramatically.

“There’s no time now,” Woodruff said. “It’s instant.”

Beyond just keeping up with the times, the weather station has garnered a reputation for being

When

“We’re the front-runner for the all the new technology,” Woodruff said. Its reputable history had led it to receive attention from not only weather services but also the US Navy and academic institutions in Europe and Asia, Woodruff said.