New Hopes for the New Year

Throughout the San Fernando Valley, preparations are being made to ring in the new year. Party hats are being pulled out of the closet, champagne is chilling. While some revelers wriggle into glittering dresses, others will settle in to watch the gala events on television.

No matter how you mark the birth of 1998, you will probably take a moment to ponder what the new year holds. ANNA MARIE STOLLEY talked with some Valley personalities--from a struggling actress to the president of a local community college--who shared hopes, plans and predictions for 1998.

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JOSEPH LOONEY, 17, a junior at Reseda High School; a resident of Canoga Park.

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I haven’t always had hopes or plans, but now I do. I can think of many dreams for the new year. I plan to improve my grades by studying and working hard. I want to be somebody in life, and you need a good education for that. I plan to get into the weight room and train hard so my school’s football team is even better than it was this year.

I’m a football player--middle linebacker and team captain. Next year maybe I’ll make tailback. I have goals and I try to keep focused for the team, but I didn’t used to be like that. A couple of years ago, I was getting into fights every day. I was just bad, hanging around the wrong people. I got kicked out of the school district, and committed a few robberies with my friends. We didn’t use guns or anything, but we took money from people by using force. I got caught, went to court and was put on probation.

I didn’t have good feelings about myself, I guess. But all that changed. The principal at my continuation school knew I wanted to play football. He introduced me to the coach at Reseda High. They told me that I could play if I trained hard, but I had to want it. These people believed in me and liked me, and that made me want to do better and keep away from trouble. I worked hard lifting weights and getting in shape, and that made me feel good about myself. Then I made it back to Reseda, and now I’m on the team.

I had this moment that made me understand why I was working hard.

It was homecoming game, with not much time left. We were beating the other team, 7-2, but their quarterback got the ball. If he’d been able to, he could have changed the score to 8-7, and they would have won the game. I sacked the quarterback, and they lost the game. Everybody started clapping, and I felt so good.

Next year, I hope, will bring a better football team for Reseda High. It will bring me a higher grade-point average. But I know that it’s up to me, that I have to get my mind straight, and that’s what I would tell other people to do if they want to achieve their goals.

PAMELA OLIVIA, 29, actress and cartoon voice-over artist; a resident of North Hollywood.

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I have faith now, deep inside, that I am going to achieve my dreams. I believe that the new year will bring me closer to my goal of being successful as an actress, particularly a cartoon voice-over artist. It’s going to happen. I know it. This is my season.

In the San Fernando Valley, everywhere you go, you meet hopefuls. I’ve run into screenwriters, actors, producers, everybody who wants to get into the industry. I thought it might be discouraging to be around others struggling the way I am. But it’s not. They are friendly and optimistic, and their attitude is inspirational. There are some people with so much passion for the industry that you have to try to make it. So if it’s really your dream, you go for it, otherwise you’ll always wonder and have to live with the “what if” for the rest of your life.

I moved to the Valley to pursue a singing career, but my band broke up after a compact disc and a couple of videos. I decided I liked acting better anyway. I go on auditions when I can, do the casting call thing, classes, all that. I work as an accountant for a real estate firm to pay the rent, and I have a telecommunications business on the side.

This past year I spent every penny in my savings account to get the 8-by-10 pictures with the cute little borders, and mass-mailed them. I got some response, but a lot of “we already have your type,” whatever that means.

Next year, I already have lined up a lead role in a play at my church. I’m hoping to become a permanent member of SAG, and I’m really hoping to somehow get the money to pay the fee--always a major starving-actor dilemma. I want a demo of my cartoon voices and I want to find somebody to produce a cartoon I’ve developed. I guess I’m not that different from everybody else who flocks to this area: I want an agent . . . and world peace is always good.

BILL NORLUND, 60, president of Mission College; a resident of Granada Hills.

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I’m predicting a good year for the college. Despite the budget cuts, we have so many exciting things happening. This past year, we opened up our new library research center, a 50,000-square-foot facility with 350 computers. We are concentrating on integrating technology into our educational system. Our students can spend the next year using and benefiting from the new facility. They will be up-to-date and ready for working in the technological work force.

We’ve just started a service learning program, and we plan to expand it next year. Students get credit for volunteer work in the community. For example, many of our students will be tutoring children in local schools. This is a great idea because it links the college with the younger generation, the future of the Valley, and gets them focused at a young age on their education.

This past year we had to cut course offerings because of budget constraints. We eliminated about 15% of our classes. We are looking for and finding other sources of revenue to augment the state budget, including grants and foundation money.

We are also finding ways to meet our students’ needs with more efficiency. We have increased class size to allow for more students. We are developing our Internet classes and building mini learning centers throughout the Valley. We are instituting a program that allows students to register for core classes in semester blocks, to ensure they get the classes they need to graduate.

The economy is turning around in the Valley, and we need to produce a competitive labor force for the companies in our area. We have to train and educate our own population, and we hope we are doing a good job of that here. The new year, I think, will bring good news for the economy in the Valley, and for our college. The Valley is an exciting place to call home.

SUSAN NG, 26, executive director, Asian and Pacific Islander Council of the Valley; a Winnetka resident.

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The council has a lot of plans for the new year, many different ways to serve the Valley’s Asian American community. First of all, as always, we will serve as an information hub. We try to hook people up with whatever they need. A big question is, “Where can I find a physician who speaks my language?” We can answer these questions and guide people.

We will continue our usual events, including the annual health fair. But we are also starting some new outreach services--including a youth cultural awareness program that we hope to eventually spread to local schools. We’ve started a pilot program at Northridge Middle School. Performers come to the school and explain different ethnic cultural events or they discuss what it is like to be of a particular ethnicity in a particular industry. For example, what does it feel like to be a Japanese actor, and what stereotypes does he face? This way, we hope to expose Asian and non-Asian children to role models of different cultures and also to the diversity of ethnicity in the Valley.

We are also planning a February event to get the Asian Pacific community leaders together to recognize their hard-working volunteer efforts. These are the people who help at churches and temples and community centers and rarely get recognized outside of their own ethnic community.

The Valley has a large population of Asian Americans. The Korean, Vietnamese and Thai communities are growing rapidly, while the Japanese community is staying at the same high level. We are an important presence in the Valley, a fast-growing and diverse population. Last year was a difficult one for our organization. We moved from Van Nuys to Northridge and expended much of our energy on building our new home. Next year will allow us to pursue new ways of reaching out to the people of the Valley.

CHRIS PINNICK, 44, guitarist and recent heart-transplant recipient; a resident of Encino.

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I smoked regularly, ate poorly and took life for granted before I had my heart attack on New Year’s Eve two years ago. Most of my heart was ruined, and they told me I needed a transplant. They put me on a waiting list at UCLA, and I was a nervous wreck wondering when I would get the call that there was a new heart there for me. On Aug. 17 of [1997], I received my new heart.

They kept my chest open for about a week and a half, and they kept me in the hospital for longer. By the time I got home, I could basically care for myself, but I do things very slowly. I have time to think, and what I think about is this: Now I can make the next 40 years of my life different. I have, as they say, a new lease on life, and I am going to take advantage of it.

Of course, I thought it would never happen to me. I was a guitarist, usually worrying and moving quickly from gig to gig. Like most people, I thought I was indestructible. Since I’ve got a new heart pumping for me, I’ve changed. I no longer look at the ground when I walk. I look around, noticing how fast everyone else is moving. It seems ridiculous to me. What’s the hurry?

[In 1998], I hope to slowly recover. I want to play music again, but I want to do other things too. I hope to camp in the woods and take vacations, which I never did before. I want to go surfing and kayaking. It’s so strange, but everything is suddenly new. I would advise everyone to stop and think about next year, and plan to slow down and be happy every moment that you are alive.

I know a guy who also had a transplant and put his old heart in a jar. But I don’t need that to remind me, and didn’t ask to keep it. In the coming year, I will continue to take care of my body. I no longer drink alcohol. I will not smoke. I eat a low-fat, low-salt diet. I realize now that life is a little more fragile than I had thought.