Page 2 January 10, 2019
El Camino Welcomes Back Brian
Wilson for Alumni Award Gala
By Rob McCarthy
El Camino College will honor four exceptional
alumni, including Brian Wilson of The
Beach Boys, at the 2018 Distinguished Alumni
& Gratitude Awards reception and dinner on
Feb. 1. The event is hosted by the El Camino
College Foundation, which has expanded its
annual awards with two new categories to honor
supporters of the two-year community college.
El Camino College Distinguished Alumni
have furthered their educational and career goals
and have shown outstanding achievements in
their chosen field in addition to philanthropic
and volunteer work, according to a press
release about the upcoming event. Over the
years, honorees have gained local, state, and
national recognition for their involvement in
the fields of art, medicine, politics, business,
and education.
“We look forward to recognizing the accomplishments
of former El Camino College
students at the 2018 Distinguished Alumni &
Gratitude Awards event,” said El Camino College
President Dena P. Maloney. “Our outstanding
alumni have made a positive impact on their
communities and beyond and continue to inspire
current students to succeed.”
This year’s honorees include Rocky Chávez,
former California assembly member, 76th Assembly
District; Sherry Kramer, director of
community affairs and government relations
with Continental Development Corporation;
Dan Keenan, senior vice president, Keenan &
Associates; and Brian Wilson, musician, singer,
songwriter, record producer and co-founder of
the Beach Boys.
Rocky Chávez joined the U.S. Marine
Corps after graduating from El Camino and
Chico State University. Chávez was a member
of the college wrestling team, qualifying for
the U.S. Olympic trials in 1968 and 1972. He
served in the Marines for 28 years, rising to
the rank of colonel. Chávez continued in public
service by founding the School of Business
and Technology, a charter high school in the
Oceanside Unified School District and served
as director from 2002 to 2008. His service
extended to the Oceanside City Council where
he was elected in 2002.
In 2009 he was appointed by then-Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger to serve as the undersecretary
of the California Department of
Veterans Affairs and later as acting secretary.
Chávez was first elected in 2012 to represent
the 76th Assembly District, which includes
Camp Pendleton, Carlsbad, Encinitas, Oceanside
and Vista. He has served on many committees
representing education, veterans, utilities and
energy. He helped his family during grade school
and college by working in agriculture, including
summers picking grapes in Fresno County.
Dan Keenan is senior vice president at
Keenan & Associates in Torrance and works
closely with public agencies and his company’s
benefit consultants to design and implement
retirement programs. El Camino College is
a family tradition for Keenan. He and his six
brothers all attended El Camino College. After
graduating from South Torrance High School,
Keenan attended El Camino from 1973 to 1975,
where he played football, wrestled and earned
an associate degree. He transferred to California
State University, Long Beach and earned
a degree in human resources management.
Keenan has served the South Bay in various
capacities since his youth. He has since
volunteered as a coach and is very active
at St. Lawrence Martyr Church in Redondo
Beach. Keenan has also been involved with
the American Youth Soccer Association Region
34 of South Redondo Beach as a coach,
referee, board member, regional commissioner
and referee administrator since 1991. He is
currently an executive member of Keenan &
Associates’ Corporate Social Responsibility
(CSR) Committee with emphasis on outreach
to the community and assisting youth with
mentoring and Right Start programs.
Since 2006, Sherry Kramer has been the
director of community affairs and government
relations for Continental Development Corporation.
The commercial real estate business
develops and manages office, hotel, retail and
medical complexes throughout the South Bay
Brian Wilson wrote the The Beach Boys breakout hit, “Surfer Girl”
while a student at El Camino College in 1961.
and San Francisco. She attended El Camino
College before transferring to California State
University, Long Beach where she earned a
degree in speech communications. Kramer is
active in several area chamber of commerce
organizations, including El Segundo, Torrance,
Palos Verdes Peninsula and Manhattan Beach,
serving as chairwoman several times.
Kramer is involved in many philanthropic
organizations, serving as a board member of
Torrance Memorial Medical Center, CSU Long
Beach, the South Bay Police & Fire Memorial
Foundation, and Torrance Cultural Arts
Center. She has also served on the Education
Foundation boards in El Segundo, Manhattan
Beach and Torrance. Among her numerous
community honors, she was named Switzer
Learning Center South Bay Woman of the
Year, and the L.A. County Board of Supervisors
and LA County Commission for Women
“Woman of the Year.”
Brian Wilson is widely known as the cofounder
of the Beach Boys, which he started
in Hawthorne in 1961 with his brothers Brian,
Dennis and Carl Wilson; their cousin Mike
Love; and friend Al Jardine. An accomplished
musician, singer, songwriter and record producer,
Wilson is a Grammy Award winner and
a member of the Rock & Roll Hall Fame. He
enrolled at El Camino College in 1960, majoring
in psychology while continuing his music
studies. In 1961 he wrote his first all-original
melody, which was eventually known as the
hit song “Surfer Girl.” Band members drew on
the music of jazz-based vocal groups, 1950s
rock ‘n’ roll, and rhythm and blues to create
their unique sound. Wilson often incorporated
classical elements and unconventional recording
techniques in innovative ways. He is widely
regarded as one of the most innovative and
significant songwriters of the late 20th century.
His style and techniques have continued
to influence producers and musicians through
the decades.
New this year, the El Camino College Foundation
will also honor one area philanthropist and
one local corporate partner with the inaugural
Gratitude Awards. This award recognizes longtime
support of El Camino College students
to help ensure they have a successful and
productive educational experience.
Frances Ford is the 2018 Community Gratitude
honoree. Her passion for helping El Camino
students spans decades and was inspired by
her late husband’s commitment to the college.
Warren Ford, a chemistry professor for 36 years
at the school, was extremely dedicated to El
Camino College and the students. Professor
Ford started teaching when he was 28 years
old, after a short career at Warner Bros. He was
known for always finding the time to see one
more student, answer one more question, or
work on one more problem. It was his desire
Entertainment
Cinemacy’s Top Films of 2018
about my adolescent experience. I laughed,
I cried and I felt nostalgic for my younger
self, but mostly wished I could go back in
time and whisper in my ear, “You are cool
enough!” The film is a poignant reminder
that every second spent doubting yourself are
seconds wasted! And while confidence and
personal growth will always be relevant to
our coming-of-age journey, watching Eighth
Grade for the first time offers the realization
that I truly wasn’t alone. Growing up can be
tough, but Bo Burnham just made it cool to
be a misfit…and to that I say thank you from
all the former misfits who are now adults who
have found and embraced their uniqueness.
Minding the Gap-Both
The story of young skateboarders who
seek to escape their dysfunctional family
upbringings by goofing off together was
brought to the big screen this year in Jonah
Hill’s semi-autobiographical directorial
debut Mid90s, but it was the Hulu original
documentary Minding the Gap that proved to
be the deeper and more affecting examination
of the same subject. What starts off as a skate
video following the fun hangouts within a
group of Illinois kids slowly takes shape into
something much bigger -- an examination
of issues like employment insecurity, racial
tensions and domestic abuse are experienced
first-hand. Most impressive is this captivating
story (of which comparisons to Boyhood have
been attributed) that is portrayed by one kid
in particular, Bing Liu, who applies his oneman
movie-making skills to write, shoot,
direct, edit and interview all of his friends
in what was one of the most unexpectedly
affecting films of the year. •
Film Review
By Morgan and Ryan Rojas
for www.cinemacy.com
The films we consider to be among the
top picks of 2018 represent a combination
of genres that had the greatest emotional
impact on us, coupled with movies that felt
innovative or groundbreaking. Here are three
films that we consider to be the best of this
past year. For our complete list, visit www.
cinemacy.com.
Roma-Ryan
It seems like the best film in any given
year ends up linking to the present climate
of social politics and culture. The film that
had the most profound effect on me that
stands in dignified defiance to the loud,
shouting discourse leading American politics
today is a story about a quietly humble
and sympathetic Mexican maid whose sole
purpose is to tend to her family. Alfonso
Top 10 Films of 2018, Images Courtesy of Netflix, A24, Hulu.
Cuarón, whose previous work is the spacesurvival
film Gravity, is the vision behind this
visually rich autobiographical film. Roma is
also a triumph for breaking from traditional
narrative film style in a liberating way. Shot
in black and white 65mm film, there are a
number of striking images that transcend the
movie. Roma emerges like a flower, blooming
throughout its duration until it finally reaches
a beautiful emotional catharsis. Credit the
streaming giant Netflix for putting stock in
this auteur director’s original film.
Eighth Grade-Morgan
How did Bo Burnham get access to my
middle school journal? Without a doubt, Eighth
Grade is the film that hit closest to home
with so many relatable moments that I had to
remind myself that this is not a documentary
Ryan Rojas Morgan Rojas
“It is only when memory is filtered
through imagination that the films
we make will have real depth.”
– Louis Malle
See Brian Wilson, page 6