Nineteen-year-old Patricia Dominguez recalled that when she first arrived at Renaissance High School in Santa Paula last year, she was considered a freshman in her senior year of highschool.

"I thought to myself, 'There's no way I'm going to make it,' and I knew it wasn't going to be easy, she said. But "I knew I didn't want to be a 20-year-old and still in high school, let alone a high schooldropout."

She never gave up, completing all four years of high school inoneyear.

Dominguez graduated and received her diploma Tuesday night with the rest of the senior class during Renaissance High School's 42nd annual graduation ceremony held inside the Santa Paula High Schoolauditorium.

The school helps students short on academic credits, and 12 seniors from the school successfully transferred back at midyear to Santa Paula HighSchool.

Nine of the graduating seniors at Renaissance held academic honors. In addition, the students also performed many community-service projects, said the school's principal, RobinGillette.

"Many of our graduates are the first in their families to graduate from high school. They may be the first to go to college. Some, as young as they are, are already parents. Many have attended school by day, held down a job and worked on online classes to the wee hours of the morning," Gillettesaid.

Gillette noted that the students' journey "was not always smoothsailing."

"Along the way, they have encountered typhoons, whirlpools, and the occasional tsunami, all of which has taken a toll on their ship," Gillettesaid.

Along with the help of the school staff, members family and friends, she said, the students "navigated through the storm to achieve their first of many milestones tocome."

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In Santa Paula, Renaissance grads' success hailed

Friends and family are remembering three former Plainfield North High School students who were killed Monday when a semitrailer truck struck their car in unincorporated Kendall County.

On Tuesday, some of those mourners visited the crash site at Schlapp Road and Route 126, where Plainfield residents Tyler Montgomery, 19, and Brian Herrera, 19, were both pronounced dead following the crash. Alexis Banuelos, 18, of Naperville, was taken to Rush-Copley Medical Center in Aurora, where she died later Monday, authorities said.

Among the visitors were Alexis parents, Ricardo and Raquel, who said they hold no one at fault for the tragic accident.

Police said the truck hit the teens car after Herrera pulled in front of it from a stop sign on southbound Schlapp Road. The car entered the intersection where the truck driver, heading east on Route 126, couldnt stop in time to avoid the collision, police said.

The truck driver did not have a stop sign. He was not cited.

We have no ill will toward anybody involved, Ricardo Banuelos said Tuesday. We know the truck driver did everything in his power to stop. Were just hurting right now.

Tyler and Alexis, who friends said were a couple, attended Joliet Junior College. All three teens became friends several years ago while attending Plainfield North.

School officials said Tyler graduated in 2010 and Alexis graduated a year later. Brian was last enrolled in one of Plainfield Norths alternative programs in early 2011, but school officials said he did not graduate.

Plainfield North is on summer break, so officials said they will not launch the crisis plan that typically would go into effect in response to deaths of students or recent alumni.

But former classmates and friends still are grieving.

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Family, friends remember teens klilled in 'tragic accident'

In 1948, Alfred Sellers was 24 years old, a returned veteran of the Battle of the Bulge, and a handful of credits shy of completing an interrupted pre-med degree at Temple University when he was accepted to start immediately at Duke Medical School.

He went on to graduate first in his class and begin what would be a nearly 60-year career as a cardiologist and professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, retiring four years ago at the age of 84.

It always nagged at him a bit, filling out forms for the many professional organizations he would join over the years, that in the space for undergraduate degree, he had to write Incomplete.

As of June 1, though, that gap in his resume no longer exists.

In a special ceremony at his apartment at Waverly Heights in Gladwyne that afternoon, the longtime Penn Valley resident donned a cap and gown to receive a diploma presented by Dean Teresa Soufas of Temples College of Liberal Arts herself. Vice Dean Jayne Drake, also in full academic regalia, joined her to make Dr. Alfred Sellers Temples newest recipient of a bachelor of science degree in chemistry.

To be a full-fledged Owl delighted Sellers, who told his guests, My days at Temple were happy days.

It is Temples absolute honor to count you among our graduates and alums, said Soufas, as Sellerss two sons, Joseph and David, looked proudly on.

One of the things the dean and I do at every [graduation] ceremony is tell Temple stories: stories about the persistence of students, what theyve gone through to get their degrees, Drake remarked. Part of the legacy of Temple is persistence; the idea that youve done something worth doing and have done it through persistence.

It is hard to imagine a better example than Sellerss unique journey.

VIDEOPLAYSBELOW Continued...

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Persistence pays off, World War II vet gets his diploma

SKETCHBOOK

A couple of nurses are in hot pursuit of a medical history mystery.

It's their history and they want it found by the time they and their fellow nurses have their annual alumni association gathering in September.

These nurses are the alumni of the Hotel Dieu Hospital School of Nursing and what they're hunting for are 10 irreplaceable photographs of their graduates and of the hospital where they trained.

Alma Hebert, 87, is a member of the class of 1945. Mercedes Pierson, 85, is a 1946 graduate. (Her friends just call her Mercy, which is a fine name for a nurse.)

Hebert and Pierson attended a time capsule opening for Christus St. Elizabeth Hospital's 50th anniversary on Friday. During the ceremony, they held an artist's rendering of their four-story red brick hospital that occupied a bluff on the banks of the Neches River near the Port of Beaumont for more than 80 years.

"Hotel Dieu is the mother of St. Elizabeth Hospital," Hebert declared.

And of St. Therese as well, where Pierson worked as an obstetrics nurse.

The Hotel Dieu's nurses' association holds its alumni meetings at Christus St. Elizabeth and the historic photos were kept there to keep them safe from damage.

The photos might have been put someplace else during a cleanup, Hebert theorized. And then someone might have taken them because they were interesting, perhaps to save them from being thrown out.

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Hotel Dieu nurses hunt for old photos

Penn State President Rodney Erickson is a former geography professor, not a medical doctor.

But he sees his greatest legacy in his presidency as that of a healer.

In many ways I think we are continuing to heal, and thats one of the things that I want to help us do over the course of the next two years while Im in office, Erickson said during a one-hour interview with The Patriot-News Editorial Board on Thursday.

Erickson said he wants to make sure Penn State continues to move ahead after the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.

It is too early to tell what kind of a lasting mark the Sandusky scandal will leave on Penn State.

Prosecutors say Sandusky allegedly sexually abused 10 boys between 1994 and 2008. Sandusky, the former Penn State football defensive coordinator, maintains his innocence.

Sanduskys trial is scheduled to begin Tuesday in Centre County, and it is sure to put Penn State back in the crosshairs of the media microscope.

Other ongoing investigations might result in additional criminal charges. In addition, independent investigations by outside entities such as the National Collegiate Athletic Association could rain unprecedented sanctions on a school that once had a pristine image.

And there is still the internal civil war playing out among alumni and fans of legendary head football coach Joe Paterno who are angry with the current board of trustees.

Many alumni blast Paternos firing in November as unfair. Paterno died of lung cancer Jan. 22.

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Penn State President Rodney Erickson sets out to heal university

UW School of Medicines 63rd graduating class oath and hooding ceremony

Doctor of Medicine degrees will be awarded at 10 a.m. this Saturday, June 2, in the Hec Edmundson Pavilion, to 2012s UW medical-school graduates. The Hippocratic oath will be given by Paul Ramsey, CEO of UW Medicine and dean of the School of Medicine.

WWAMIs 40th Anniversary Celebration

Sunday, June 3, marks the final culminating celebration of the Washington Wyoming Alaska Montana Idaho (WWAMI) medical-education program at the Metropolitan Ball Room in the Sheraton Seattle Hotel. Held from 5:30 to 9 p.m., the event will include keynote speakers such as Dan Evans, former governor of Washington. Faculty, residents, students, alumni, and guests are all welcome.

All-WWAMI Academic Retreat for Education (AWARE)

AWARE, held every other year, will occur June 3-4 this year with workshops on active learning, clinical reasoning, competencies across a variety of skills, minimizing stress, and providing feedback to interns and students. The AWARE website has details on registration.

10th annual Alvord Lecture in neuropathology

Dr. Hannah Kinney, professor of pathology at Harvard Medical School and associate in medicine at Childrens Hospital in Boston, will deliver a talk on June 6 at 4:30 p.m. at the Foege Auditorium in the UW Genome Sciences Building. Focusing on the legacy of Ellsworth C. Buster Alvord Jr., professor of pathology and chief of UW Medical Center Neuropathology from 1960-2002, the talk will focus on the neuropathology of SIDS. The UW Medicine Pathology website has more information regarding the event.

Reach reporter Garrett Black at news@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @garrettjblack

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Campus pulse

John Caldwell, UCLA alumnus, Los Angeles attorney and longtime leader in the UCLA Black Alumni Association, died May 18 of cardiac arrest at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, after fighting kidney failure since August. He was 52.

Caldwell was seen as a student leader and mentor early on in his college career. He would frequently reach out to first-year students from the black community and encourage them to maintain strong academics and equally strong connections to their hometowns, said Mandla Kayise, the university relations chair for the UCLA Black Alumni Association and one of Caldwells friends.

Though Caldwell was only one year older than Kayise, he was already seen as a legendary peer counselor who was the epitome of a well-rounded student. He was thriving in his history major, developed good relationships with the administration and knew many of the undergraduate student government leaders all at a huge public university.

He was a model for how a student could come into that environment and maximize their ability to take advantage of those resources, Kayise said. He tried to share that example with African American kids and students from all backgrounds any students who were finding it really hard to find their place, students looking for more.

Part of his advice to younger students was getting involved with politics. In line with his love of history, Caldwell had a strong sense of politics and was adamant that black students run for undergraduate student government. He threw his hat into the race during his first year with a homemade sandwich board announcing his candidacy for general representative.

Though his campaign was unsuccessful, he put his energy into helping others political aspirations by creating the Third World Coalition, a campaigning group that supported minority student candidates.

In 1981, Caldwells coalition helped elect Sam Law, the first Asian American USAC president. A few years later, the organization helped Bobby Grace, now a current candidate for Los Angeles District Attorney.

John was the most brilliant political strategist for student government that USAC has ever known, Grace said. He was UCLA to me because he was such a dynamic figure. He shaped my world as to my cultural view and political view.

This political activity was closely tied to his passion for history. Caldwells diligence in academics was rewarded with the UCLA Center for African American Studies award for achievement in history, according to an obituary in the Los Angeles Sentinel. However, he was always able to localize his knowledge, and he often connected historical events to current issues in the community.

One of these issues was the apartheid movement, which was a system of legally enforced racial segregation in South Africa from 1948 to 1994. Though Caldwell had already graduated by the time the issue came to the forefront, he encouraged current students to take a stand, said Van Scott, UCLA Black Alumni Legacy Scholarship chair and one of Caldwells friends.

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UCLA alumnus and community leader John Caldwell dies

Robert F. Hagans, 85, of Overland Park died May 21 at Overland Park Regional Medical Center.

He was born Sept. 4, 1926, in Augusta to Frank A. and Velma Morris Hagans. He attended school in Marion and graduated from Marion High School in 1944.

He served in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific Ocean for two years and graduated from Kansas State University in 1950. His working life included a wide variety of jobs and finished as chairman and CEO of Unitog Company in Kansas City.

He married M. Joanne Wright on Dec. 26, 1950. She preceded him in death in 1993. Hagans later married Marcia Naughton.

He is survived by his wife, Marcia; two daughters, Robin Maupin and Karen Reyes; one sister, Jean Case; two stepchildren, Cathy Holefelder and Marc Naughton; four grandchildren; three step-grandchildren; two nieces; and one nephew.

Hagans funeral was Thursday in Kansas City. Burial will be at a later time in Marion Cemetery.

Funds have been established for Rotary Youth Camp in care of Rotary Club of Kansas City, 1219 Wyandotte St., Kansas City, MO 64105, and the KSU Alumni Association, 1720 Alumni Center, Manhattan, KS 66506.

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Robert F. Hagans

TRENTON A critical group of Essex County lawmakers will present a laundry list of demands to Senate President Stephen Sweeney tomorrow that must be satisfied before they will support a controversial overhaul of the states higher education system, The Star-Ledger has learned.

The potentially long and expensive list which includes granting Rutgers-Newark unprecedented autonomy and pumping millions of state taxpayer dollars into Newarks University Hospital and medical school was laid out in a conference call today headed by Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-Essex) and Newark Mayor Cory Booker, according to sources familiar with the demands.

The sources requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak for the delegation.

The last-minute demands add yet another layer of complexity to a political drama that was already beset with uncertainty and a deadline of July 1 that was imposed by Gov. Chris Christie, who is intent on rearranging the structure of several hospitals, universities and medical institutions in the state.

Oliver told the group of lawmakers that if the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark were going to lose revenue-generating assets, it must not be left to wither and die.

Under the current proposal, Rutgers University would absorb UMDNJs Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, public health school and cancer institute in New Brunswick-Piscataway. Most of the remaining pieces of UMDNJ would be renamed New Jersey Health Sciences University, while University Hospital would remain tethered with UMDNJ but come under control of a public-private partnership.

Oliver also told the group today that UMDNJ is saddled with debt that must be lightened or else the institution is doomed for failure, sources say. She said Rutgers University must pick up some of the debt service along with state taxpayers in the form of annual appropriations, sources say.

She also said a portion of UMDNJs debt also must be refinanced through the budget or as part of a broader higher education capital plan currently under consideration and the state must also boost its subsidies to University Hospital, sources say.

Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak said, There is wide spread support across New Jersey for education centers of excellence and it is our hope that we can work for all of New Jersey, not just northern New Jersey in getting the reorganization accomplished.

He added, We can not just consider parochial interests.

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Essex County lawmakers to present demands regarding N.J.'s higher education overhaul