Schools Roundup
tudents at De Anza College have one less excuse this week for not getting in shape - the Cupertino campus opened a new fitness center Tuesday that will operate in conjunction with the school's new Wellness Program.
The Lifetime Fitness and Wellness Center features all of the usual gym equipment -treadmills, stationary bicycles, stair climbers and weight machines - as well as professionals who assess each student's fitness level and help establish a personalized exercise regimen.
"We want everyone to have a good knowledge base of how to properly use the equipment ... You don't get that kind of attention in a health club," said Ronald Warnock, dean of physical education/athletics and founder of the program.
Students who join the wellness center must initially enroll in the two-unit class, "Orientation of the Lifetime Fitness Center," a one-hour weekly lecture that orients students on the use of proper training techniques and fitness assessment. After they complete the orientation, they may use the gym on their own time, just like a private health club.
Warnock said he established a similar wellness program in Miami during the 1970s, which was extremely popular. Believing there was a strong need here for such a program, he proposed the idea of a wellness center to the De Anza student body last year, he said. The student body helped raise $200,000 to purchase equipment and to renovate one of the auxiliary gyms that houses the new center.
"In this particular area, this (program) should be extremely popular," Warnock said.
The Lifetime Fitness and Wellness Center is scheduled to be open weekdays from 6:30 a.m. through the evening and on Saturday mornings.
St. Francis grad stars in NBC series
If going through high school the first time wasn't tough enough, try going back as a geek. That's exactly what Linda Cardellini will do this fall. The 1993 St. Francis High School graduate stars as Lindsey Weir, a less-than-popular high school student on the new NBC series "Freaks and Geeks" this Saturday. "Freaks" is set in Michigan in 1980, a time when Cardellini was just a toddler.
Cardellini has received national attention for her role in major newspapers and magazines including Time and Elle, where she was described in the latter as "... the brunette love child of Marcia Brady and James Dean" in Elle Magazine. She was also included in the magazine's "Elle 25" list of "people and things you'll be talking about this fall - and into the next millennium."
Cardellini was involved in several drama productions while a student at St. Francis. She starred in the school's production of "Rebel Without a Cause," "Bye Bye Birdie" and "Grease."
Cardellini has had guest appearances on several TV shows including "Third Rock From the Sun" and "Boy Meets World." She also had a small part in the movie "Dead Man on Campus."
Cardellini studied theater at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.
"Freaks and Geeks" will air Saturday nights beginning Sept. 25 on NBC.
Water contamination false alarm
Routine tests of two hose water sources Sept. 9 at Los Altos High School showed possible contamination and spurred school officials to shut down the water supply, the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District superintendent confirmed last week.
Rich Fischer noted two of three spouts tested were "suspicious," prompting workers to shut off all the water on campus even though the tested sources were not connected with the campus tap water.
Even so, Fischer said handwashing stations and bottled water were brought in. Another test conducted Sept. 10 on "a much wider area" showed the water was fine. Fischer said that perhaps the initial test that showed contamination was faulty.
"Our testing company gave us a clean bill of health," Fischer said.
He said the district sent out 1,300 letters to parents informing them of the testing.
Fischer added that the school's water supply is not mixed with surrounding residents' supply.