IF YOU WERE NOT ABLE TO ATTEND THURSDAY'S EVENTS...

If you were not able to attend Thursday's events, please provide here feedback on the whole experience with the The Soloist and the activities related to it.

STEVE LOPEZ @ LA VERNE: EVENING EVENT

The evening event started with an Introduction from the Dean of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, Dr. Jonathan Reed, followed by the President of ULV, Steve Morgan. Dr. Jolivette Mecenas, the Director of the Writing Program, provided the best introduction to Steve Lopez's talk. Her words were so accurate, and spoke volume about her own attachment to the city of Los Angeles.
Steve Lopez took to the podium and summarized his own book/experience. There is no doubt that he knows how to entertain his audience.
The Q&A that followed was quite short as Mr. Lopez had to attend another event (the opening of the L.A. Philarmonica at Disney Hall).

If this was the event you attended, please leave a comment here about this experience.

STEVE LOPEZ @ LA VERNE: LUNCH EVENT

For those of you that attended the Q&A event today at lunch time, please leave a comment here about the event. We look forward to read your opinions.

TODAY'S EVENT

I was very impressed with our class discussion this morning. Watching the video clips that Alex put together, and engage into meaningful conversation, showed me the level of engagement with this challenging topic. I thought Alex did an excellent job with his DVD. I have received requests for copies already!
It was very helpful to have Dr. Rogers, Albert, and Annie (and later Ashley) from the Counseling Center. Dexter and Matthew H. asked very good questions. I could see their interest in this topic. Thank you to Annunciata and Teresa as well.
The day ended with the screening of the movie. I was able to watch part of it, and I did not think much of it. I also overheard other people commenting on it, and they were not impressed.
We are now left with two more events on this coming Thursday.

CLASSICAL MUSIC AT LA VERNE

This evening, in the Campus Center, we were treated to some of the music discussed in the book "The Soloist." The music was exquisit. The Q&A at the end of the performance was very educational as well. I thought the students that attended asked very good questions.
If you attended the event, please post a comment on your experience.

GETTING READY FOR THE EVENT ON MONDAY, OCTOBER 4 2010

This morning, the students in my writing classes (WRT111 CRN1404 & CRN1405) started working on the poster boards for the event. I was proud of the information they were able to gather on the mental illnesses assigned: bipolar disorder, OCD, GAD, schizophrenia, social phobia, eating disorders, depression, postpartum depression, bipolar disorder, panic disorder, borderline personality disorder, PTSD, body dysmorphic disorder, dissociative identity disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, and paranoid personality disorder.
The students edited their notes to put on the poster boards. Each poster board will have a brief description of the mental illness, a short list of symptoms, a list of possible treatments, and it will also have a fact or a statistic about the illness. Students are also looking for famous people diagnosed with mental illnesses to list on their poster board.
On top of these posters, there are also students working on posters that will provide a list of famous athletes, writers, musicians/singers, actors, and politicians who have been diagnosed with a mental illness. These posters will help the visitors to our event to put these illnesses in context.
Other posters will have information on "what is a mental illness," and on treatments for mental illnesses. Students are looking at both medical and alternative treatments.  There will also be two posters that will detail hours of operation, phone numbers, and services provided by the ULV Counseling Center. The Counseling Center will have staff on hand to answer questions as well, and we are very appreciative of their making time to join us on this special occasion.
There are also two groups of students working on putting together movie clips from movie that have featured a mental illness. For example, OCD can be clearly seen in the movie The Aviator; this movie portrayes the billionaire Howard Hughes.
Today, we also received our banner for the event from CTL. I would like to thank Bryan Best and Nubia for their excellent work.
A special "thank you" to CAB for providing us with poster boards and markers.
We will be wrapping everything up by Friday, as everything needs to be ready by 7:00 am on Monday.
I will post another update on Friday.

"The Soloist" and our event on Monday, October 4 2010

We've all been reading "The Soloist." Comment on what you have learned so far about Mental Illnesses, and how do you think this event can help you raise awareness in your own community, church, neighborhood.

What do you expect to get out of this event?

Why do you think it is important to have such an event on our campus?

How are you preparing for our event?

Tell us how you are preparing for this event. Also, tell us how important it is to you to be an active participant in this event.

MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS DAY @ ULV ON MONDAY, OCTOBER 4

Welcome to the blog dedicated to our "Mental Health Awareness Day @ ULV." This event will take place on Monday, October 4 2010 on our campus.
We are going to use this blog to comment on the preparation for the event; however, we are going to use this blog also to post comments after the event.
We are asking that you sign up with your First Name and Last Name, so that we can recognize who you are, and also to make sure you get the extra-credit you were promised by your instructors.
I would like to start by thanking all the students in my Writing classes for their enthusiasm in regard to this event. Their ideas played a big role in the organization of this event. I expect to read several postings from them.
Now, let's get the conversation started!