The Jetsons Age

“I know absolutely nothing about it, but I know it’s the future. In fact, it’s here right now,” enthuses Albert Marley, superintendent of the Las Virgenes School District. He is speaking of the robotics program at Calabasas High School’s department of industrial technology.

Explains department Chairman (and instructor) Sharony Berger, “What we are attempting to establish here is called CAD/CAM/CIM Robotics. It means computer-assisted design and drafting, computer-assisted manufacturing and computer-integrated manufacturing.”

OK, what does it really mean? “Industrially they use robots for welding, painting or picking and placing items, for example. We teach the elements of programming the computer, which in turn will control the robot. Ultimately the robot will be used to perform certain operations. So you learn sequencing and timing systems to allow this to happen,” Berger elaborated.

Robot instruction began last year at Calabasas High, but this fall the school will be using a new and larger teaching robot. “Student interest is very, very high,” Berger reported, with 42 students enrolled in the program.

The program is two years away from being fully developed. The next robot to join the family will be a computer-controlled, pneumatically operated one for about $3,500. Part of the proceeds from the Calabasas Chamber of Commerce tournament Oct. 16 at the Calabasas Golf and Country Club will be donated to the robotics program, and the school should be able to buy the new robot after that.

Construction, a Growth Business

“Anyone who is in the construction business should just have ‘Two Weeks and $1,000’ printed right on their business card,” jokes Bob Petrilak, owner of Reliable Custom Plumbing in Canoga Park.

Homeowners who want a little work done on their house soon find out that “two weeks and $1,000” is usually what it takes to get a small job done. Invariably, two weeks stretches to four, and the $1,000 doubles to $2,000. Complaining about the contractor has been elevated to an art form by some homeowners.

It isn’t always the contractor’s fault for missing the deadline. Small jobs have a way of multiplying around the house. “People start saying, ‘Well, while we’re at it, we might as well do this too’ and projects spread like crabgrass,” Petrilak noted. “I’ve worked on jobs that started out as a bathroom remodel and the people ended up gutting the whole house.”

This, of course, makes the contractor late for the next job. “I always try to accommodate people if they ask for extra work while I’m there because I don’t want to have to come back later. It’s easier to get it all done while you’re set up there,” explained finish carpenter Erik Sydow, of Erik Sydow’s Wood Specialties in West Hills. “Then I explain it to my next customer and they usually understand--especially later on when I start their job and then they want extra work done.”

The majority of people, Sydow noted, want to do more work after he starts a job. “I had one $8,000 job that grew to a $40,000 job,” he recalled. “I’d like more jobs like that!”

Adults With Class

Adults in the San Fernando Valley are going back to school in droves this fall, taking non-credit classes that run the gamut from “The Diabetic Family” (Pierce College Community Services) to “Being Single or Divorced in the San Fernando Valley” (Los Angeles Valley College), “Introduction to Mountain Biking” (The Learning Tree) to “Traditional Bookbinding” (UCLA Extension, San Fernando Valley).

Administrators at these schools agree that enrollment is highest during the fall semester--Pierce will have 10,000 to 12,000 students in adult classes alone. Many schools add the bulk of their new classes at this time. “We brought in over a hundred new courses for September,” said Christy Wilson, program director at The Learning Tree, Chatsworth campus. “This is when we try to get them going for the year.”

Many people take classes to explore new business or career opportunities. A popular course at The Learning Tree teaches studio makeup to students. Among the 375 non-credit classes at Pierce College are “Civil Service Preparation to be a Postal Worker” and “How to Become a Balloon Artist” as well as a class in assembling gift baskets, said spokeswoman Virginia Miessner.

Among Pierce College’s offbeat classes are “Strollering” (in which mothers with babies meet to walk around the campus) and “4-Wheel Drives: What’s Perfect for You?”

Schools select class offerings based upon interest. Valley residents appear to be keen on courses covering interior design, writing, dance, languages and personal relationships.

“We’re getting very good enrollment in a class called “Cities of Destiny: Moments of Glory in Western Civilization,” noted UCLA spokeswoman Beth Hill.

Chambers of Change

“Chambers of commerce have evolved into being business-advocate groups. They’re not so service-oriented as they used to be,” observes Sandra Dack, executive director of the Northridge Chamber of Commerce, one of about 26 chambers in the Valley.

“They may spend 40% of their time on public-policy issues--including legislative matters--and 35% on business and economic development matters, and only 25% on community kinds of things,” Dack continued.

Because local issues frequently traverse community boundaries, the various chambers communicate more intensively with one another nowadays. “Before, the chambers stood as islands. Now we have a much bigger view on every issue--from transportation to waste management, for example--that we have to ask how we can work together to solve the problems,” said Louise Marquez, manager of the Granada Hills Chamber of Commerce.

The public still clings to the old idea of the chamber as an information clearinghouse, even if their question is not specific to the community. “I had a woman call asking me what was the safest car seat to buy for her infant,” recalled Barbara Scruggs, executive manager of the Calabasas Chamber of Commerce, with a laugh.

Overheard

“Her name should be Zsa Zsa the bore.”

--A woman at the Sherman Oaks newsstand on Van Nuys and Ventura boulevards