WOODBURY UNIVERSITY : Veteran Architect Louis Naidorf to Head Program

Woodbury University’s architecture program will take on a new staff design with the appointment of veteran architect Louis Naidorf as chairman.

The architect, whose work ranges from architecture and urban design to research and design methods, succeeds Donald Conway. Naidorf, 61, who will take over the post June 18, is an architect at the Santa Monica architecture firm Ellerbe Becket and will continue working there part time.

Jacqueline Powers Doud, vice president of academic affairs at the college, said: “We are delighted that a professional of such distinction will be leading the architecture program. His distinction speaks for itself, including the 40 years professional experience at Ellerbe Becket, his academic background . . . and his extensive teaching experience.”

His principal architecture projects include the Hyatt Regency in Dallas, the Capitol Records Building in Los Angeles, the restoration of the California State Capitol in Sacramento and the Naval Medical Center in San Diego.

During the past 18 years, Naidorf also has become increasingly interested and involved in the education of architects.

He has been an instructor, guest critic, seminar coordinator and lecturer at architecture and design programs at UCLA, USC, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, the Southern California Institute of Architecture and the Otis Art Institute of Parsons School of Design.

“I want to give students the confidence to provide both art and function without compromise in the design of their buildings,” Naidorf said.

Naidorf has won numerous professional awards and is widely published in professional journals.

COLLEGE of the CANYONS Neighbors Protest Board’s Plans for Swap Meets Neighbors of College of the Canyons in Valencia have gathered more than 500 signatures on a petition protesting a recent decision by the college’s governing board to allow a swap meet to use the campus on weekends.

A contract between the Santa Clarita Community College District Board of Trustees and swap meet organizers has not been signed, but the meets were to begin the first weekend of July. The trustees had requested minor changes in the proposed contract when they endorsed the on-campus swap meets recently.

Thirty homeowners attended a trustees meeting last month, and many said the swap meets would bring additional traffic, noise and trash to their neighborhood and would cause the value of their homes to drop.

Trustee Michele Jenkins said the audience was the largest she had seen at a meeting in five years.

“I believe a swap meet would cause a severe environmental impact,” said Alan Zada, director of the Valencia Summit Homeowner Assn. He said post-swap meet trash would line the area’s streets.

Nazareth Chobanian, one of the swap meet organizers, said the area would be cleaned up after each week’s event. Residents whose homes face the college said they paid up to $30,000 more for their homes because of the view they have of the campus. Several said locating a swap meet there would decrease the value of their homes.

The homeowners acknowledged that the college needs to raise money and offered to develop alternative sources of funds.

College Supt.-President Dianne Van Hook assured homeowners that their views would be considered before trustees decide whether to sign the final contract with the swap meet organizers.

PIERCE COLLEGE Rodeo Back in the Saddle Again After 4 Years The 34th annual Pierce College Intercollegiate Rodeo, which last month returned to Pierce after a four-year absence, came off virtually without a hitch, according to its organizer.

“This has been, without a doubt, the finest rodeo in the 19 years I’ve been here,” said Ron Wechsler, an animal science instructor who is in charge of the rodeo.

A small protest by about a dozen animal-rights activists didn’t affect the two-day rodeo, attended by 10,000 people. The rodeo was held May 11 and 12. The rodeo’s hiatus had resulted because the college had been unable to secure liability insurance for the event.

Five college teams, from as far away as Nevada, competed in eight events during the weekend. West Hills College of Coalinga, which is ranked first nationally, won the meet. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo finished second.

The Pierce team placed third overall and was led by saddle bronc rider Richard Bucher. Bucher, who is ranked second in the West Coast Intercollegiate Rodeo Assn., won a second place on one of the rodeo’s two nights and placed fourth overall. Pierce’s Michelle Morrison won second place in the Girl’s Barrel Race and also placed fourth overall.

Though he characterized the rodeo as a success, Wechsler said he is unsure whether it will become an annual event.

“It’s not easy to get funding with all the cutbacks” at Pierce, “but we did it and it worked well,” he said.

The rodeo grossed about $30,000, but the net profit from the event is not yet known. Profits will go to support agriculture programs at Pierce.