Other items in today’s column include:
House Foreign Affairs Committee Assignment for Sara Jacobs
*Sara Jacobs Attends Bipartisan Congressional Chanukah Party
*Israeli American Council Endorses Revised California Ethnic Studies Curriculum
*Camp Mountain Chai selected for family camping expansion program
*In Memoriam
*Mazal tov! Mazal tov!
SAN DIEGO — After being sworn in for his third term on the San Diego Community College Board on Thursday, Dec. 17, Bernie Rhinerson was once again designated as the board’s vice president for legislative advocacy, a position that often requires him to travel to Washington D.C. or to Sacramento to advocate in behalf of community colleges.
Perhaps emblematic of his penchant for intergovernmental connections, Rhinerson was administered the oath of office by Richard Barrera, who is a member of the San Diego Unified School District’s Board of Trustees. Rhinerson, an adjunct professor of public administration at San Diego State University, previously worked as a chief of staff at San Diego’s K-12 school district.
Sworn in along with Rhinerson was Mary Graham, who chairs the Communication Arts Department at Cuyamaca College in Rancho San Diego. Swearing her in for her fourth term on the Community College Board was Alicia Munoz, a San Diego County Board of Education trustee who also teaches English as a Second Language at Cuyamaca College.
The four-member board (with one vacancy due to the election of Sean Elo-Rivera to the San Diego City Council) reelected Maria Nieto Senour, Ph.D, as its president, a position she has held since 2015.
Rhinerson, who has a long background in public relations and governmental advocacy (lobbying), also is a board member of the national Association of Community College Trustees, a networking and lobbying group that trades ideas among members and with legislators. But Rhinerson’s reach even goes beyond that. While most San Diegans will be asleep at 1:30 a.m. PST Saturday, Dec. 19, he will be on a Zoom Conference call addressing an international conference sponsored by Amity University in Uttar Pradesh, India, on entrepreneurial opportunities and challenges in literature and communication.
In a prepared speech outlining programs in entrepreneurship offered by the San Diego Community Colleges — which includes San Diego City College, Miramar College, San Diego Mesa College, and the seven campuses of San Diego Continuing Education — Rhinerson made reference to the case of Krupa Karia, a recent immigrant to San Diego from India, who has learned to sew through the San Diego Continuing Education system and is planning to eventually open her own clothing store, fashion design having been a previous strength of hers. A video about her may be seen above.
In his remarks, Rhinerson related that “according to a 2017 survey by the San Diego-Imperial Center of Excellence for Labor Market Research: San Diego/ Imperial [Counties are] home to more than 26,000 startups and small businesses [and] in San Diego County, 95% of business establishments employ fewer than 50 employees. Small businesses are a primary driving economic force. … More than 1,800 San Diego/ Imperial County community college students who exited a Business and Entrepreneurship program experienced a 37 percent increase in earnings.”
In response, he said, San Diego Community Colleges are offering “a full range of degrees and certificates in Entrepreneurship and Small Business. Degrees range from a focused Associate Degree in Entrepreneurship at Miramar College, an Associate Degree in Entrepreneurial Small Business Management at City College, and a very unique Certificate in Cannabis Dispensary Operations from City College to serve that new and growing industry in California.”
All the degrees ‘include courses in soft skills or communication skills that are important for students to be successful in the workforce and the entrepreneurial environment,” Rhinerson said.
The San Diego Community College Board member concluded by saying, ” I look forward to continuing to be a passionate advocate for entrepreneurial education not only at our colleges but nationally and globally. I believe that in the post pandemic world, the workplace will be dramatically changed and that as educational leaders we have a responsibility to help our educational programs evolve to prepare students for that future. Independent ‘Gig’ work, small businesses, virtual online businesses will continue to grow even more after the pandemic and this will offer huge entrepreneurial opportunities for the students who are educated and prepared.”
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House Foreign Affairs Committee Assignment for Sara Jacobs
Congresswoman-elect Sara Jacobs (D-San Diego) has been nominated by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to serve on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. If confirmed by the House Democratic Caucus, she will be the only member of the freshman class of Congress to serve on the prestigious committee. The daughter of Gerri-Ann and Gary Jacobs, who created a Teen Leadership Institute that toured Arab and Jewish teens through Spain and the Middle East, the congresswoman-elect has long been interested in foreign affairs.
During the administration of President Barack Obama, she served as a conflict and stabilization officer in the U.S. State department, and later worked at the United Nations in the Department of Peace Keeping Operations. In 2016 presidential campaign, Jacobs served on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s foreign policy team, and later became a scholar in residence at the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies at the University of San Diego.
In response to her nomination, Jacobs commented: “I am honored to serve California’s 53rd Congressional District on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. I look forward to bringing my experience in U.S. foreign policy and international organizations — and my voice as a millennial who has never known a day in my adult life that the United States has not been at war — to the committee as we work to rebuild America’s standing in the world.”
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Sara Jacobs Attends Bipartisan Congressional Chanukah Party
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Congressional Chanukah Party hosted by Democrat Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and Republican Lee Zeldin of New York had to be held on Zoom. It drew not only Jewish members of Congress and members-elect like San Diego’s Sara Jacobs and North Carolina’s Kathy Manning, but also non-Jewish members as well. Among the MOT’s in attendance were Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland and Democratic House Members David Cicilline of Rhode Island; Elaine Luria of Virginia; Andy Levin of Michigan, Jamie Raskin of Maryland, Brad Schneider of Illinois; and Kim Schrier of Washington. Among non-Jews in attendance were Florida Democrats Val Dennings, Darren Soto, and Donna Shalala and Republican Mario Diaz-Balart; New Jersey Democrats Bonnie Watson Coleman and Mike Sherill; New York Democrat Tom Suozzi; Georgia Democratic Rep.-elect Nikema Williams; Hawaii Democrat Ed Case, and Massachusetts Democrat Katherine Clark. Also in attendance was Eileen Filler-Corn, who is simultaneously the first woman and the first Jew to serve as Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates.
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Israeli American Council Endorses Revised California Ethnic Studies Curriculum
The Israeli American Council (IAC) said on Friday that it is happy to “stand by” the model Ethnic Studies Curriculum proposed by the state’s Instructional Quality Commission. The organization added, “While we are happy with the current curriculum, we know the CDE (California Department of Education) will face pressures from other organizations with opposing goals. It is important that we reach out to them [CDE members] to thank them for their work thus far and reiterate the importance of our demands.” The organization encouraged supporters “to send an email to the CDE thanking them for understanding our worries and acting to ensure that our needs are met. We ask them that they include the link to the IHRA definition of antisemitism in the glossary, so that educators have a clear understanding of how to teach the term. In this final push we ask that the CDE approve this BDS [anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions campaign]-free curriculum for all school districts.”
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Camp Mountain Chai selected for family camping expansion program
Buddy Voit, executive director of Camp Mountain Chai, has shared the news that his camp will be one of seven in an inaugural program financed by the Maimonides Fund “to provide meaningful and exciting Jewish experiences for families with young children.”
Currently Camp Mountain Chai holds one family camp weekend per year, in which parents and children spend time together in the San Bernardino Mountains. Under this grant, providing up to $280,000 over five years, Camp Mountain Chai will sponsor three additional weekends per year, according to Dan Baer, the camp director.
Information on how to apply to attend these camps will be promulgated over the next year, Baer said.
“We’re looking forward to bringing new immersive camp experiences to our San Diego and southern California community,” Voit said. “In addition to allowing us to create new opportunities for families to share meaningful and exciting Jewish experiences, this funding also will help us expand our reach through partnerships with other Jewish organizations in our community.”
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Mazal tov! Mazal tov!
Rabbi Rafi and Rebbetzen Chaya Andrusier celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary, corresponding with the eighth night of Chanukah. Noting that he was 24 and she was 21 at the time of their marriage, Rabbi Andrusier contrasted their union with young couples who choose to be in a relationship but don’t want to be married. Although that may sound good, the rabbi said, “what it really means is he/she is stuck in him/herself. They are looking at what he/she can gain from the relationship, but aren’t willing to make themselves vulnerable. That’s not love, that’s convenience.”
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In Memoriam
Alice Bertha (Lowzimmer) Feldman, 89, died Thursday, Dec. 17, Am Israel Mortuary reported. Graveside services officiated by Rabbi/ Cantor Arlene Bernstein were held on Friday, Dec. 18, at El Camino Memorial Park, 5600 Carroll Canyon Road.
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Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com. Free obituaries in memory of members of the San Diego County Jewish community are sponsored on San Diego Jewish World by Inland Industries Group LP in memory of long-time San Diego Jewish community leader Marie (Mrs. Gabriel) Berg.
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