Congratulations are in order to the 2011 graduating class

And graduation season begins this weekend, with the commencement ceremony of CSUMB and the graduation of 1,022 candidates.

This year, university officials are experimenting with a new kind of ceremony that includes no big-name commencement speaker. Instead, the graduates will get their sendoff from the winner of the President’s Award for Exemplary Student Achievement, Scott Bell, and President Dianne Harrison. About 8,000 people are expected to attend, university officials estimate.

New also is a program that will help students make sure they leave their dorms exactly as they found them. Today and Friday, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., personnel from the Monterey Bay Area Regional Recycling Program will be on campus to help students get rid of their waste. These experts will be able to help students decide whether to recycle, donate, or trash what they don't need anymore.

If you're concerned about the drop out rate among Latinos

perhaps you may want to see "Go for it."

It's the story of Carmen, a 19-year-old Latina who's facing daunting challenges but relies on her passion for hip-hop to keep going. It's a movie that's gotten good reviews, and is playing in very few theaters. One of them, Maya Theater in Salinas.

So, for those of you who bemoan the lack of positive representations of Latinos in the media, this is your chance to see something more complex. The story talks about how challenging it is for many young Latinos to stay in school -- in spite of their best intentions. Plus, you'd be supporting a Latina filmmaker -- there are not too many out there -- and show that these types of movies have an audience.

Unless a miracle happens between now and Thursday

looks like this is it for the dance, photography, horticulture, and other departments on the chopping block at Monterey Peninsula College. Trustees are scheduled to vote Thursday at a special meeting on whether to approve a final layoff notice for nine of its department chair/instructors -- two have since submitted letters of resignation, one could not be laid off according to the grant that funds the position.

In the final layoff list: A.J. Farrar, chair of Administration of Justice; head coach Daniel Phillips; Walter White, chair of the dance department; Sunshine Giesler, chair of the interior design program; Nancy Predham, head of the International students program; Kevin Bransfield, head of the photo department; astronomy teacher David Michaels; counselor Alethea DeSoto; Carolyn Hansen, American Sign Language; and counselor Kimberly Christoff-Mansfield

The affected teachers requested a hearing, but an Administrative Law Judged ruled in favor of the college last week, so the final layoff notices can proceed.

The college has until May 15 to issue final termination notices-- not time to wait for the governor's May revise.

The college could save about $1 million by eliminating these positions -- and the classes that go with them.