September 11, 2023

Sheila Hudson doing the triple jump at Cal Berkeley- photo courtesy Cal Athletics

Sheila Hudson, above right, with her teammate Diana Wills-Orrange during the opening ceremony of the Atlanta Olympics.

A big shout out to Dr. Sheila Hudson, Dean, School of Health Sciences, who is being inducted into the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Athlete Hall of Fame this week.

The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced 14 names who will be in the 2023 induction class for the Collegiate Track & Field/Cross Country Athlete Hall of Fame.

The class will be enshrined on September 14, 2023, at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts in Eugene, Oregon.

This year’s class features some of the greatest names in collegiate track & field and cross country history. With 70 national collegiate titles, 39 world records, and eight Olympic/World Championships medals achieved while in college, these athletes have left an indelible mark on the sports.

SCC's Sheila Hudson is known for her remarkable jumping abilities. Over the course of her college career, Hudson earned six national collegiate titles, including a historic “double-double” at the NCAA Division I Championships where she became the first woman to sweep the horizontal jumps in both indoor and outdoor events. 

Hudson’s success on the national stage was marked by her record-breaking performances and ability to deliver in high-pressure situations. In the 1987 NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships triple jump, she held the lead through five attempts before being overtaken by Pac-10 rival Yvette Bates. Hudson responded with an incredible jump of 13.78m (45-2½), setting a world record and clinching victory. 

Hudson also competed in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, GA. Because the Games were on home soil, friends and family were able to attend. Hudson finished 10th, but that wasn’t even the point.

“That whole month (leading to the Olympics), I was walking on the clouds,” Hudson said. “It was just magical.”

Overall, Hudson’s remarkable performances and consistency at the highest level of competition have cemented her as one of the greatest jumpers in college track and field history.

Congratulations, Dr. Hudson!

On Wednesday, during the Governing Board meeting, the Solano Speech and Debate Team was presented with a Congressional Commendation sent from Congressman John Garamendi and presented by S-P Esposito-Noy. 

The certificate recognizes the team, led by professors Doug Mungin and Janene Whitesell, for their championship win at nationals in April. 

Pictured above are student members of the team, faculty who worked with the students, and Board members.

Images: Brian in front of full-scale mockup of PACE and working on the Roman Space

Telescope propulsion system

Brian Berryhill attended SCC in the engineering program with Dr. Melanie Lutz, and then transferred to UC Davis to double major in aerospace and mechanical engineering. He’ll be graduating this spring. He just returned from a summer internship at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.

He was originally hired to do CAD (computer-aided design) work for the Attitude Control Systems Engineering branch. That branch doesn’t currently have CAD experts, and Brian’s resume stood out because of his experience at Solano. While at SCC, he took all but one of the CAD classes offered, mostly with Karen Cook. His initial task was to simplify the CAD drawing of the PACE (Plankton Aerosol Cloud ocean Ecosystem) spacecraft. PACE is due to launch in January, and they needed a simplified drawing to use in the orbital simulation and telemetry visualization software. This proved difficult because the computer they assigned to Brian was ridiculously slow working with the original, 7000-part file. But his CAD experience enabled him to switch gears and just design the simplified drawing from scratch. He then did the same task

for the Roman Space Telescope, currently under construction.

Brian is a skilled machinist, having learned at The Crucible in Oakland, Doug Green’s CNC class at Solano, and working for the student machine shop at UC Davis. When word got out at Goddard about his skill, he was asked to machine some parts for a test of brazing techniques in a vacuum. The propulsion branch wants to see whether it would be possible to do on-orbit or lunar manufacturing using the brazing technique. Since this idea is experimental, it is actually difficult for them to get funding for testing it. Having Brian machine the parts gave them a quicker and cheaper way to test the idea.

Brian had the opportunity to tour a number of facilities at Goddard, including the Hubble Space Telescope Mission Operations Center (with Hubble’s Deputy Project Manager), and the Space Systems Development and Integration Facility (the world’s largest cleanroom, where the Roman Space Telescope is going through Integration & Testing). While visiting a smaller cleanroom

where the Propulsion Branch was working, Brian offered to help if they needed another pair of hands. They put him through a training program, and he was certified to work in the cleanroom.

For the remainder of his internship, he spent every day helping to install the thermal systems on the Roman Space Telescope’s propulsion system.

What an exciting experience for Brian!

Ants can excavate through soil using methods that are 1000 times more energy efficient than any man-made tunneling machine. There are self-sensing and self-healing tree root structures that are ten times more efficient than any mechanical soil reinforcing/foundation system yet devised by man. The Center for Bio-mediated and Bio-inspired Geotechnics (CBBG) is a multi-university project, funded by the National Science Foundation, that aims to harness and learn from these natural systems and processes, in order to create more sustainable and efficient geotechnical materials.

This past summer, SCC engineering student Chad Autry did an internship at UC Davis, as part of the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program within the Center for Bio-mediated and Bio-inspired Geotechnics. Chad worked under the direct supervision of a PhD student, on a project that took inspiration from the scales of snakes, to create high-strength surfaces for use in geotechnical engineering.

Chad reports that “The beginning of the program was focused on learning the basics of geotechnics. After that, I tested the strength of the surfaces with a specific kind of soil. To collect my data, I used a neat machine called an interface shear tester, which moves the surface against the soil and records the stresses involved. The work I did provided useful information for the future of the project. During my time at UCD, I was also able to meet a lot of brilliant graduate students, and learn about their research. It was an amazing learning

experience, and it was all thanks to Professor Melanie Lutz that I had the

opportunity to participate in this program.”

Chad plans to transfer to UC Davis as a Civil Engineering major in Fall 2024.

The Center for Educational Excellence is hosting a series of workshops this semester focusing on mindfulness and wellness. 

The goal of these workshops is to offer insight and practice in the areas of stress and worry management, mindfulness practices, meditation, breath work, body and emotional awareness development, Yoga-Pilates, and practical journaling.

Workshops will be held monthly on the following dates: Sept. 14, Oct. 12, and Nov. 9.

Please join us: 

Thursday, September 14^th

3:30-5:30

LRC #113

or Zoom option if you absolutely can't make it in person:

https://solano-edu.zoom.us/j/89865285576?pwd=ZVhoUGhJVDcrd3JSdkNnMGltRkgzQT09&from=addon

Join us Friday, September 15 from 1:00-2:30 pm on Zoom for a thoughtful and informative presentation on the recent Supreme Court decision regarding the United States Constitution’s 14th Amendment and the use of Affirmative Action in higher education admissions.

Constitution Day honors the document that guarantees Americans their essential rights. This July, the United States Supreme Court decided hotly-contested litigation on the constitutionality of the use of Affirmative Action in higher education admissions. While Cal LAW is disappointed with the Court’s decision, we believe it is important that our partners, teachers, and students understand the actual ramifications of the ruling, the likely impact on law school admissions in California, and most of all that there is still a place for impactful discussion about race and other diversity issues in higher education admission applications.

Our three distinguished presenters will provide valuable information and insights on the Court’s decision, the anticipated ramifications on the admission process in higher education, including law school, and give practical guidance for how our partner schools might react to this development and assist our students in making the best case they can for admission to higher education institutions.

The Solano Puente Project is kicking off Hispanic Heritage Month with an extra special guest! Jaime Cortez is and author, artist, and educator who grew up in a farm-labor community in Central California. He has written poetry and short stories, but he is also an artist who works in multiple mediums, including painting and sculpture. I am attaching one of his short stories, “Ofelia’s Last Ride,” that is particularly popular among my students and I encourage you to check out his website (https://jaimecortez.org/home.html) to take a look at his artwork. Please share these with your students, too, and join us for his visit in a couple of weeks. This is open to the entire community for free, including parking in lots 4 & 6. Spread the word!

A certified arborist visited the Fairfield campus to assess the condition of the large “logo” oak tree that recently went through a natural transformation, by shedding some of its branches. 

We were shocked to hear the estimated age of the tree is about 300 years old! The certified arborist mentioned that this is a normal occurrence, and can happen for larger trees that have branches extending further than their trunks can support. 

Their visual assessment of the tree was that it’s still healthy, but will require some pruning of existing limbs to make it safer. While we wait for their formal assessment and recommendations for pruning of the existing branches, please continue to stay away from this area.

Vanya Paopao

The volleyball setter is currently helping to run a 6-2 offense. In the first six matches she leads the team in hitting percentage and assist per set. Her total for the three classics: 92% serving (68-74), 99 assist (5.2 per set), 38 kills - hitting .369% and 51 digs.

At the first match of the season (Hartnell) she led the team with 17 assist, 8 kills and added 12 digs. The first Solano Classic against COS she added 8 kills, 3 aces and 15 assist. Next up with Folsom Lake she added 7 kills, 14-14 serving with 22 assist. Lastly, at the Modesto Classic Vanya totaled 11 kills, 32 assist, and serving 21-22 on the day.

Lexi Vasquez

The volleyball Libero is all over the back court. After the first six matches she is leading the team in digs and is the top passer on serve receive. Her total for the three classics: 80 digs (4.2 per set), our top passer at 2.2 and serving 94% (63-67).



At the first classic of the season, she started off with 18 and 19 digs consecutively (Hartnell & Delta College). For the first home Solano Classic Lexi continued with 12 & 13 digs, passing at her best of a 2.6 and serving 28-29. Lastly, at the Modesto Classic Lexi added 18 digs and served 20-21 on the day.

Did you know that in addition to full Library Services offered on the main campus, services are also offered at the Vallejo and Vacaville Centers, including an instant messaging chat service? 

"Ask Your Librarian Chat" is available 24/7. Librarians staff the chatroom (Yes! A live person!) M-TH until 7pm, Friday mornings, and Sunday afternoons. During these times anyone at Solano College can ask questions about Library services and get help with SCC Library resources/research. 

Our platform allows us to video conference, share screens, or help via chat.

Outside of these hours, chat is available and is staffed by non-Solano College librarians. In this case, you will receive assistance from a librarian at a different school & a SCC librarian may follow up via email.

When the chat session ends, you can request a transcript of the chat be emailed to you.

Visit us at: www.solano.edu/library or click on the SCC Digital Library button in Canvas.

Thanks to everyone who participates at the Wellness Center. It continues to be a safe place where everyone can destress, build community and have fun! We are excited to expand to the Vallejo and Vacaville Centers twice a week and hope to see some of you there.

Stop by anytime for:

• Games

• Karaoke

• Paint

• Poetry

• Movies

• Puzzles

Dear SCC colleagues- Writing this is bittersweet, as I have made the decision to retire effective June 30, 2024. After much thought, I believe it’s time for me to step down and make room for a new, energetic leader who can guide this college through the next phase of growth. I notified the Governing Board of my decision and, in September, the Board will begin interviewing search firms to assist with hiring the next Superintendent-President.

Since I arrived in January 2016, I have been impressed by and grateful for our collaborative efforts to address issues and improve SCC for our students and our community. We have done great work and I hope you feel proud of what we have accomplished. The past eight years have been filled with challenges and opportunities to make significant improvements. The hard work and commitment of the faculty, staff, managers, students, alumni, and the Governing Board has been instrumental in shaping the college’s success. I am grateful for having shared this time with all of you.

As for the next steps, the Governing Board, in collaboration with a selected search firm, will draft a schedule for recruiting, interviewing, and hiring the next Superintendent-President. Board Policy 2045: SELECTION OF SUPERINTENDENT-PRESIDENT provides specifics regarding the process including the composition of the interview committee. I am confident that there will be excellent applicants who would be honored to serve and continue the good work that has become the hallmark of our college.

It has been an incredible honor to serve as the Superintendent-President of SCC. This college will always hold a special place in my heart because of your dedication, support, and friendship. In the time remaining, I will ensure a smooth transition for the next S-P and for the college. Thank you for making these past eight years some of the most enjoyable times of my professional career.