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- Written by: Mendocino College
The extremely emotional and heartfelt ceremony began with a traditional native blessing by prominent elder Lorraine Laiwa, a beloved spiritual leader from the Manchester-Point Arena Band of Pomo Indians.
In a powerful speech by tribal council leader Michael Hunter, chairman of the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians, he acknowledged Superintendent Reyes’ unwavering commitment to work collaboratively with the native community and his effort to recognize the important role of the Pomo Nation by bestowing this noble honor.
“Mendocino College is dedicated to creating a culture that embraces and strengthens the voice of all communities,” Reyes said. “Our commitment to equity and social justice at Mendocino College is built upon the relationships we’ve built with local tribes and in serving the many diverse communities in our district. Our trustees and the college community are grateful for the participation and support of the many tribal leaders in attendance.”
The renaming of the college square to Pomo Plaza and the monument dedication recognizes the longstanding presence of native people on local land and highlights the many contributions of the Pomo tribes.
Mendocino College acknowledges the Pomo’s concerted resistance, bravery, and survival against exploitation and hostility toward their traditional cultures and respectfully honors the resilience of the native people, their language, culture and sovereignty.
The prominent stone monument reflects both the district’s deep respect for American Indians, their cultures, experiences, and knowledge and the desire to strengthen mutually beneficial relationships with our American Indian communities.
The ceremony held on Wednesday, Nov. 7, included a traditional native dance, the presentation of a joint resolution from California Sen. Mike McGuire and Assemblyman Jim Wood; a certificate of honor from Governor-elect Gavin Newsom; and a certificate of recognition from United States Congressman, Jared Huffman. Vice President Velasco highlighted the successes of the Pomo Pathways program. The ceremony concluded with an official ribbon cutting ceremony.
The Mendocino College Ukiah campus is located at 1000 Hensley Creek Road, Ukiah.
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- Written by: Mendocino College Foundation
It’s a new, open-ended memorial endowment fund established to provide scholarships for graduating theater department majors and to supplement the theater department’s operational budget.
They invite you to support the fund today with a tax-deductible gift.
Jim Williams devotedly established the fund and named it after his first principal role, Elwood P. Dowd, in the Mendocino College production of Harvey, directed by Ellen Weed in 1992.
Williams is a retired educator whose life has been enriched by his participation in live theater.
He invites others to join him in providing a long-term sustainable legacy that will help theater majors complete their education while also supporting the ability of the department to provide an enriched educational experience.
Contact Katie Fairbairn, executive director of the Mendocino College Foundation, 707-468-3164 to be a part of the Elwood Fund.
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- Written by: Yasmin Anwar
Today, they’ve taken a major step closer to understanding how practicing the LSAT makes students smarter. They’re watching their eyes.
Their findings, published today in the Science of Learning, a Nature Partner Journal, make the case that eye movements, such as a fixed or shifting gaze, convey more information about the split-second computations we make during cognitively challenging tasks than neuroimaging technology.
“With eye tracking, we can literally watch the learning process in action,” said study lead author Silvia Bunge, a professor of neuroscience at UC Berkeley. “When the eyes dart around, the person is scanning for relevant information, and when the gaze is fixed on a particular image or piece of text, she or he is encoding information.”
Future applications of eye tracking include using computers, phones, tablets or other digital devices to record students’ ocular movements during learning activities.
“In this way, we could monitor their understanding and mastery of the materials, and detect whether they are having difficulty learning,” Bunge said.
Bunge notes that eye movements are closer to the speed of thought than any other behavioral indicators. By comparison, neuroimaging technology such as functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) cannot capture such speedy brain computations in real time.
For example, in the seven or so seconds it took students in the study to solve a logical reasoning problem, researchers recorded at least 23 eye movements. Among other clues, ocular activity indicated which data students absorbed, or disregarded, to arrive at their conclusions.
The study builds on previous findings by Bunge and fellow researchers that track cognitive changes in students during mentally challenging learning tasks. For example, a 2012 study found that a three-month LSAT course strengthened the circuitry in the brain’s frontoparietal network and boosted the reasoning skills of two dozen young adults, compared to pre-law students who did not complete the course.
To follow up, a 2015 study tested young adults on a broader range of cognitive skills, including spatial problems, while inside an fMRI scanner. It showed that students activated the prefrontal cortex less strongly and performed the tasks more quickly and accurately after LSAT preparation, suggesting that they had less difficulty with the reasoning problems.
“However, knowing that a particular brain region is active isn't enough to know for sure why a task got easier,” Bunge said. “So we developed a novel way to assess the brain mechanisms underlying learning using eye gaze patterns.”
In this latest study, researchers compared students training for the logic games section of the LSAT, which requires intensive reasoning skills, with students practicing the exam’s reading comprehension section. After 33 hours of practice, the logic games group showed stronger reasoning skills.
By tracking their eye movements during these exercises, researchers developed a set of measures that indicated when students were shifting their attention or engaged in reasoning, and which particular cognitive skills improved with practice.
“We found that the biggest change associated with reasoning practice was reduced time spent encoding and integrating relevant pieces of information,” Bunge said. “Notably, we showed this boost in performance efficiency for reasoning tests that bore no resemblance to the LSAT problems.”
More broadly, she said, “These results should interest psychologists and neuroscientists who study learning mechanisms and/or higher cognitive abilities, as well as education researchers studying learning in real-world contexts.”
Belén Guerra-Carillo, a Ph.D. student in psychology at UC Berkeley, is a co-lead author on the study.
Yasmin Anwar writes for the UC Berkeley News Center.
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- Written by: Mendocino College
In honor of this, Mendocino College will host its annual Native American Heritage Celebration in the Lowery Student Center and Pomo Plaza at the Ukiah campus on Wednesday, Nov. 7, from 3 to 6 p.m.
This free event is open to the public so bring your family and friends and join in an entertaining afternoon of traditional native dancers, crafts, games, food, and cultural activities, which will include a display of historical artifacts and photos that provide a history of the culture of Mendocino and Lake County tribes. Free Indian tacos will also be available.
The film screening of the documentary “More Than a Word” will also be played in the Little Theatre from 1 to 2:30 p.m. “
More than a Word” analyzes the NFL Washington football team and their use of the derogatory term “redskins.”
Using interviews from both those in favor of changing the name and those against, “More Than a Word” presents a deeper analysis of the many issues surrounding the Washington team name.
The documentary also examines the history of American Indian cultural appropriation. “More Than a Word” is an ideal classroom resource for clarifying what is truly at stake in contemporary debates about cultural appropriation and American Indian-themed mascots.
The Ukiah campus of Mendocino College is located at 1000 Hensley Creek Road, Ukiah.
For more information about the event, contact the Native American Student Resource Center at 707-468-3000, Extension 4603.