Chaffey's military helicopter is missing in action. Back in the mid-1990s, the National Guard unit in Rancho Cucamonga had four helicopters to donate. What better timing than having an adjunct aeronautics instructor from the National Guard take one of the flyable "Huey" birds off the hands of the local military unit.
With gas prices on the rise, Chaffey is exploring ways to help students get to class on a budget - including year-round bus service, free of charge. The idea is certainly ambitious, but negotiations with the San Bernardino-based bus provider Omnitrans are already underway.
There's a new bookstore vying for student dollars at Chaffey College this summer. The bookstore, called Off Campus Textbook, is located at the Chaffey Plaza at the corner of Haven and Lemon avenues. It is run by a Whittier-based privately held corporation that has targeted colleges in the Los Angeles region over the past 15 years, according to Meena Amin, manager of Off Campus.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is back as the Terminator once more. It's not in a feature film this time but as the trigger of impending budget cuts in California education. His proposed budget is expected to hit education hard with a 10 percent reduction in funds.
Chaffey's Football program has high expectations for the upcoming 2008 season. Head coach Carl Beach and his coaching staff are excited about this year's turnout, in spite of the obvious obstacles that face the team. The Panthers have a strong group of returnees, along with a pack of hungry freshmen battling for a place on this great team.
Director and writer Ruben Amavizca-Murua is a native of the industrial town of Mexicali, Baja California. His mother was a seamstress who worked at one of the first maquiladoras in Mexicali decades ago. So it was no wonder when Amavizca-Murua stumbled across the news of a mass "femicide" occurring to Mexican maquiladora females along the border, it struck an emotional chord within him.