My Ten Favorite Christmas Movies: Some No-Brainers & Surprises

"Yippie-ki-yay.... and Merry Christmas!!"

Watching movies -- at home and in a movie theater -- is just as much a beloved Christmas tradition in our house as drinking eggnog, kissing under the mistletoe, and shoveling reindeer poop off the roof. Wait, what? You don't shovel reindeer poop off your roof?  Eww....

Below, in no particular order, are my ten favorite Christmas movies of all time. Some of these you'll know, but some you may not. Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all! 

1) The Family Man - This was an instant classic, a new standard, when it came out in 2000. The modern Dickensian tale stars Nicolas Cage (right) as a hapless, hardened Wall Street titan and Tea Leoni as the long-lost love of his life. This hopeful fantasy is actually rooted in reality: It's all about evaluating your life, and learning the encouraging lesson that it's never too late to re-set, to start over and go after what you want rather than what you think you need.

2) Scrooge - This somewhat obscure 1970 musical is a hugely underrated take on "A Christmas Carol," with the great Albert Finney as Ebenezer. Finney is a masterful actor, and this for me is the finest screen performance ever of Scrooge, with terrific songs by Leslie Bricusse. Every bit as good as "Oliver," the Oscar-wining musical take on Dickens' Oliver Twist, Scrooge also stars Alec Guinness as Jacob Marley's ghost. 

3) Christmas Vacation - Another instant classic. Funny, and surprisingly touching, this movie undoubtedly resonates with every American father/husband who wants to give his family a perfect Christmas. This is Chevy Chase at his most endearing and vulnerable.

4) Holiday Affair - Another underrated Christmas film, this 1949 comedy/drama tells the story of a young mother (Janet Leigh) who lost her husband in World War II, and the charismatic stranger (Robert Mitchum) who befriends her and her precocious but likable son, eight-year-old Gordon Gebert. Gebert, who is still alive and was born in my hometown of Des Moines, Iowa, steals every scene he is in. This for me is the best Christmas movie no one knows about... unless you watch Turner Classic Movies. 

5) Die Hard - I mean, what's Christmas without “Yippie ki-yay, mother****er!” Bruce Willis at his beleaguered, charismatic best. And yes, it's a Christmas movie, there are lots of references to the holiday throughout. It begins, you'll recall, on Christmas Eve with Willis’s character John McClane arriving in L.A. to attend his wife’s work Christmas party with the hope of reconnecting with his kids for the holiday. "Winter Wonderland" and "Let It Snow" play during the movie, which may be a bit too violent for some folks’ taste on the holiday, but I find it cathartic. 

6) Bells of St. Mary's - Poignant classic about the goings-on at an inner-city Catholic school with Bing Crosby reprising his Father O'Malley role and Ingrid Bergman as the feisty, big-hearted nun. We watch it every Xmas, and here's some trivia: "Bells of St. Mary's" is the film that appears on the movie theater marquis in a scene from "It's a Wonderful Life," which was released a year later.

7) Just Friends - Ryan Reynolds plays to perfection a former chubby, high-school nerd and now svelte, big-shot Hollywood record producer who reluctantly returns to his hometown for Christmas after a "flyover" flight is forced to land nearby. He reunites with his high school dream girl, played by Amy Smart, who never let him get out of the “friend zone.” He tries to win her over by acting cool, and she rejects him. It’s funny, touching and real. 

8) Elf - Another immediate standard. I've seen this movie at least 15 times. Will Ferrell is a revelation as Buddy the, um, world's tallest elf. He’s pure joy, and freaking hilarious. What better way to explain the movie than to include a couple of lines from Buddy: "We elves try to stick to the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns and syrup.”    "I planned out our whole day: First, we'll make snow angels for two hours, and then we'll go ice skating, and then we'll eat a whole roll of Toll-House cookie dough as fast as we can, and then to finish, we'll snuggle."    "I'm sorry I ruined your lives and crammed 11 cookies into the VCR."

9) Scrooged - My favorite Christmas comedy/satire, with the inimitable Bill Murray inhabiting the Scrooge character as an insufferably self-centered TV executive. Admittedly, this is a favorite in part 'cuz I covered this film as a journalist for the Los Angeles Times Syndicate in New York in 1988. I got to spend the entire afternoon with Bill Murray. It remains one of the favorite days of my career.

10) It's a Wonderful Life - Last but certainly not least, there is the gold standard of Christmas movies. Frank Capra's heartwarming masterpiece never gets old. There has never been a film that I can name that resonates more deeply with more people. It has universal appeal. And for the record, the common narrative that this film was not popular when it was first released is actually not entirely true. It wasn't a smash hit like some of Capra's movies such as “It Happened One Night" and “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” but it did ok, and it was nominated for five Oscars, including Best Picture. It is now widely and deservedly considered the best Christmas movie of all time and, yes, one of the best movies, period.

On Election Eve, My Best Friend, A US Marine and Lifelong Staunch Republican, Denounces Trump and Defends American Journalism

Reno (left) and The Stauff

Michael Christopher Stauffer and I have been best buddies since we roamed the halls of Valley High School in West Des Moines, Iowa in the late 1970's. 

After high school, Mike joined the United States Marine Corps, where he was quickly shipped off to the Middle East while Iran held Americans hostage.  

Meanwhile, I headed to California to attend college.

Mike is a lifelong Republican. I’m a lifelong Democrat. Over the years, we've remained best of friends but we've had spirited debates over just about every issue you can name from war to welfare to healthcare.

But it has always remained civil and respectful between us. Mike and I know each other on levels that transcend political labels. We have a lot more in common than our political differences might suggest. 

Such as the kindness we both show not only to our family, friends and coworkers but to people we meet on the street, and the love we share for good music, sports, comedy, and so much more. 

No one makes me laugh harder than Mike, who I have affectionately referred to for the last 43 years as "The Stauff." And no one makes me think more about my own views. We challenge each other, positively. 

He's often said that no one makes him think more about his views or challenges him more than I do. But in the era of Donald Trump, our friendship has been challenged like never before. And what happened this week surprised me. 

Mike, who's defended Trump since he was elected, has finally seen and heard enough.

“Jamie, I will not be voting again for Trump in 2020,” Mike told me. "I want to share this for the sake of integrity. I have been vocal in my support of Trump on some issues and feel that on this one he is absolutely wrong.”

Mike, who noted that his opinion carries some weight amongst his circle of friends and professionals, noted that “these migrants are being protested as animals. It is simply wrong and is a falsehood. I want to speak up on this." 

On one level I was surprised to hear him say this. But when I gave it some more thought, I realized that this was right in line with Mike’s character. I know what he is made of.

"I would not vote for any of the current Democratic front-runners such as Booker, Harris or Warren,” he told me. "But I could definitely vote for someone like a Joe Manchin or Joe Biden. Regardless, I will not be voting for Trump."

Knowing I am a journalist, Mike also said that if I wanted to write a story about this, "I trust you and give you absolute unconditional freedom to write and communicate this how you see and think best."

In other words, he was giving me permission to tell the world what he had just told me. And in this divided, downright tribal era in which we live, that took courage.

Trump Fomenting Hatred

Mike Stauffer, Yankee Fan

Over the past few weeks , Mike said he has been reading in "very neutral media" sources about the migrant caravan of families from Central America that is making its way to the United States up through Mexico. 

He said he began to notice that, each day, the description of this caravan grew more threatening and inaccurate. 

Ultimately, Mike said, “The President fully embraced an ad that was in my opinion fomenting hatred and fear among Americans toward the people of Honduras."

Mike had turned off his Facebook account and stopped watching all cable news channels. 

Except for reading a couple relatively small written accounts, he said he was determined to come to his own conclusions regarding the migrants and immigration from south of the border in general.

"I came across a picture in which a young migrant mother was collapsed from weariness and sleeping on the dirt,” he said.

"Her two young children were close by her. I asked myself how bad it must be in her homeland that she would uproot and walk thousands of miles across sun scorched land to escape it. I heard Christ’s words ring clear and unmistakable in my heart: 'In all things do unto others as you would have them do unto you’.”

Mike looked at the mother’s despair and that’s what turned him against Trump for good.

"I knew beyond all doubt that if I were in her shoes, I would want to be welcomed and received in a better, safer land,” he said. "I then thought again about how the President has been describing an entire people as dangerous and a threat to us, when in reality it is probably an extremely minute percentage."

At that point, Mike said his faith could no longer align itself with the words coming from the Presidents mouth.

“The active duty troops I've talked to this week, most of them, say off the record that Trump is abusing his power as commander in chief for purely political purposes. No one considers these families as an actual threat,” Mike said. 

He also read this past week how the President has called the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution insane, and that also was too much to take.

"Calling for change to the Constitution through the orderly process of ratification is one thing,” he said. "Attacking any part of our Constitution as being ‘insane' as a sitting President is downright dangerous."

Mike has been a staunch defender of our Constitution his entire adult life. 

"To ignore such a remark simply because I am a Republican would, for me, be hypocritical,” he said.

Mike has justified some of Trump's words and deeds as President, he explained, because there are some of his policies he does agree with and he still has a strong aversion to some parts of the Democratic platform.

But he can no longer do so. 

"I will not be voting Democratic in the 2020 election, but I also will not be voting again for Donald Trump,” he said.

Questioning Your Tribe

Mike Stauffer, Marine

One of the lessons I believe we should take away from hard decisions like the one Mike made this week is that we all have corners of ourselves that we do not reveal for fear of being booted out of the tribes we join.

Historically, political scientists have attributed such rigid political loyalty to the way we are raised and by our experiences. 

More recent research suggests there may be a genetic component to why we cling so tightly to our views. 

Whatever the case, the truth is once we pick and join a "tribe," most of us permanently subscribe to the tenets of that tribe and find it very difficult to outwardly question it, no matter how disdainful it gets.

I suspect this behavior has everything to do with our most primal instinct for survival. Don't step out of the herd and risk the chance of getting eaten by a T-Rex.

I've never had any problem stepping out of the tribal line. I guess that's because, as oxymoronic as it sounds, I am a fervent centrist, a passionate moderate.

I have strong views and can argue with the best of them, but I don't follow any party or ideological lines. 

I am a liberal, but I have never been a knee-jerk liberal or a knee-jerk anything. I have always had some conservative views.

I believe, for example, that if they are physically able, welfare recipients should have to prove that they are looking for a job to continue receiving welfare.

I have also always been a staunch supporter of the military and our veterans, as anyone who has read my journalism over the last 30 years will attest.

And I am a capitalist who strongly believes that free-market competition is a good thing -- as long as it is kept in check by, yes, the government.

But I am, at the beginning, middle and end of the day, a proud liberal. I have been all my life, and it is because I care about the less fortunate. This is why I call myself a liberal. 

Mike, too, has always had a few left-leaning views, though he would probably never admit it.

Probably his most liberal position, he said, is that he supports a “robust Medicaid system and strong federal aid toward Medicaid."

And he is of course an unabashed supporter of expanding our military. But in 2005, during the Iraq War, he said against the wishes of his party and many of his fellow Marines that the war should end and that we should bring our troops home.

But make no mistake: Mike is a classic conservative. I guess you could say he is a conservative in the Reagan model and I am a progressive in the Joe Biden model. 

But the friendship between us is bigger than politics. It actually works in the way it is supposed to work in Congress. Our debates have always stayed civil, and we always manage to find common ground.

That is, until Trump was elected.

Since then, while Mike has generally stood by Trump, I have grown increasingly outraged with Trump’s lack of moral compass, his thousands of blatant lies, dog whistles to racists, unprecedented divisiveness, systematic destruction of the environment, destruction of our relationships with our allies, and just his profound corruption.

Knowing Right From Wrong

I take no credit for my best friend’s change of heart. And with all respect for his religious beliefs, which I believe is a positive aspect of his life, I don't personally credit Christ for this decision.

I credit Mike’s own sense of goodness. I credit his own deep understanding of the difference between right and wrong, which he knew even before he embraced Jesus. 

"Thank you for doing your job as a journalist through thick and thin,” Mike told me this afternoon in an email. 

It meant a lot to me in this era in which The President of the United States calls any journalist who does his job honestly and writes anything negative about him “fake news” and an “enemy of the people.”

I am undeniably pleased that my best friend recognizes that Trump's ugly, racist fear-mongering over the non-threatening caravan of Hispanic families seeking a better life, and Trump's preposterous take that American journalists are enemies of the people, are both unAmerican.

"I was very wrong and completely off base when I joined in piling on the media,” Mike said. "There are .001% agenda-driven wackos in any part of life. But 99.99% of journalists are doing the job we as a democracy need them to do.”

Unlike so many people these days on the right and the left, Mike has a rare ability to re-carve a personal political view that seemed cut so deeply in stone. 

He, like most of us, typically sees the world through a narrow political prism. But this week, to my amazement and his credit, his courage and common sense overcame his stubborn inner machinery and he adjusted his sights. Again.

He did it with the Iraq War 13 years ago, and he did it again this week with Trump. Which is not to say that he is suddenly a liberal. He isn't. I don't expect that nor do I want that. He sticks to his guns. Literally.

I also don't expect a bunch of people to read this story and suddenly change your position on Donald Trump. 

But one can hope.

There's no shame in changing one’s mind. There is, in fact, great honor and courage in doing so. My best friend did it. So can you.

John McCain, American Hero: The People You Respect The Most Are The Ones Who Frustrate You The Most

John McCain was without question both a good and great man, a complex man, a brave man, a one-of-a-kind American hero. And, too, he was a powerful paradox. As kind as he was irascible, as humble as he was arrogant, McCain was often willing to reach across the aisle for the good of the country. He was an unpredictable but truly decent man who was a master of cutting through the bullshit.

And he was someone who demonstrated rare, and in this day and age virtually extinct acts of true decency in the political arena. The day he respectfully scolded a woman at one of his presidential campaign rallies who called Barack Obama a "liar" and an "Arab" is one for the ages.

"No ma’am, no ma’am,” McCain said forcefully but calmly to the nonplussed crowd of mostly Republicans. "He is a decent family man citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues, and that’s what this campaign is all about."  

It's the kind of thing that positively and profoundly distanced McCain from the beltway pack. He was indeed a maverick, a rebel. He thought for himself, he was an independent in the truest sense, and usually for good.

He could also be a loose-lipped, dangerous macho hawk far too eager at times to send troops to Syria and various other hot spots around the globe.

But that's who he was. A warrior. A fighter. An admiral's son and admiral's grandson. 

I’ve covered John McCain throughout my career, and I must admit I have decidedly mixed feelings about his political legacy. But not the man. I liked him. Always have, always will. He did much good while in Congress, and his overall positive legacy is unbreakable. 

But for me the biggest frustration and curiosity about John McCain during his public life by far was that he did not do nearly enough for his fellow veterans. 

His legacy on taking care of his own was greatly and inexplicably flawed. It is indisputable, disappointing, and hard to understand or reconcile. But the people who frustrate you the most in life are the ones who you love and respect the most.

When someone does things so courageous and kind, your expectations rise. And then you find yourself even more surprised and disappointed when that person does something that seems out of character.

I have always had a theory about John's mixed record on veterans issues. I think it is all about the trauma he suffered in Vietnam. I am of course not the only one who thinks Sen. McCain had Post Traumatic Stress (PTSD) from his years spent in a Vietnam prison.

Many, many veterans with PTSD have a curious psychological tendency to keep a safe distance from their fellow veterans. Too much of a reminder, perhaps, of the horrors of war. 

For 25 years I've been proudly covering the plight of Vietnam veterans and their exposure to Agent Orange, the toxic herbicide from Monsanto that was used by the US government in Vietnam to flush out the enemy.  

After Sen. McCain was diagnosed with glioblastoma, I was the first reporter to show a likely link between his cancer and exposure to Agent Orange while in Vietnam. After that story ran at Healthline, several other national news organizations jumped on the story, which we addressed in my follow-up story on the fallout from the diagnosis.

Glioblastoma is not yet on the VA's presumptive list of cancers caused by Agent Orange, but it should be, say brain and cancer experts nationwide.

McCain had a golden opportunity to do something positive for his fellow vets who were suffering with the same type of cancer. He could have addressed Congress. He could have said something about it in his poignant final book. 

He could have simply written a letter on behalf of his fellow Vietnam vets who are fighting this obviously devastating type of cancer. He could have done something. But he chose to do nothing.

I believe it was difficult for him to deal with his fellow Vietnam veterans. It is an explanation that I think helps us understand his incomplete-at-best record on helping his warrior brothers and sisters. The bigger point is that he has done so many great things for so many people.

He spoke his mind. He didn't suffer fools. He had a brilliant and sardonic sense of humor. I will forever have great respect for him, and my heart goes out to his family. 

And needless to say, anyone with an ounce of insight and decency can see the glaring differences in character between John McCain and Donald Trump, the man who kept putting McCain down. There is no comparison. 

One is a great American, a brave American who fought for his country and worked with political opponents to find solutions and compromise. The other is a con man, a two-bit hood, a clueless degenerate, pathological liar and chicken hawk who lied about bone spurs in his foot to avoid fighting in Vietnam.

Rest in Peace, John. You are the hero. 

Fast Times in San Diego -- Heart's Nancy Wilson Makes Rare Solo Appearance in San Diego

Nancy Wilson, co-founder and guitarist of the iconic rock band Heart, has for the last 44 years been overshadowed, somewhat, by her sister Ann Wilson, the band’s lead singer. While that’s not unusual -- lead singers typically get the most ink -- the reality is that Nancy and Ann are equally responsible for the commercial and artistic triumphs of Heart, which is easily the greatest rock and roll band ever led by two women.

The Wilson girls kicked off their esteemed music careers inauspiciously in 1966 with an all-girls band called The Viewpoints. They did mostly Beatles covers. Heart came to be in 1974. And it didn’t take long for stardom to follow.

Ann’s inimitably haunting vocals were of course a staple of the Heart sound from the beginning. But the sensibility of the band, which has always brought a winning combination of hard, electric Led Zeppelinesque rock with acoustic, introspective Joni Mitchellesque soft folk, comes largely from Nancy.

One might say that the heart of Heart is Nancy's soul. Both yin and yang, tender and tough, her physical beauty is complemented and even surpassed by her musical depth. Nancy, who appears Friday night in concert on the Grandstand Stage at the San Diego County Fair, sans Ann, is so much more than a pretty face.

She's a warrior. An innovator. A pioneer. She made a name for herself as a female rock-and-roll guitarist when you could count them on one hand. The lead guitar is of course historically the domain of men. Talk about shattering the glass ceiling!

Nancy just never appeared the least bit intimidated by the boys. Talent will give you that confidence. And she can rock out with the best of them. A rocker to the core (“Barracuda” “Kick it Out”), she is also an intuitive and sensitive songwriter (“Dog and Butterfly” “Dreamboat Annie”). The two are not mutually exclusive. 

Nancy's Connections to San Diego and 'Fast Times' 

Many of my fellow San Diego fans of Nancy Wilson know that there is a whole other dimension to her legend. Do the words “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” ring any bells?

There's a fun and fascinating connection between Nancy, San Diego and the legacy of “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” the acclaimed book and movie that are spot-on depictions of California high school life in the late 70s/early 80s.

If you’re a longtime San Diegan, and perhaps even if you aren’t, you probably know at least some of the details of the back story behind Fast Times.

The book and film were written by Cameron Crowe, who grew up in San Diego and was married to Nancy Wilson for 22 years before Nancy filed for divorce in 2010. They have twin boys.

Crowe, as depicted in his own masterpiece film “Almost Famous,” was a young rock journalist, a literary wunderkind who was penning wise-behind-his-years prose for the underground paper the San Diego Door and other rock pubs when he was still wet behind the ears.

As a still young-looking twentysomething writer for Rolling Stone magazine, Crowe re-enrolled “under cover” at Clairemont High School in San Diego and got to know a lot of the kids.

Cameron then changed the names of the kids to protect their identities, and changed the name of the school from Clairemont to Ridgemont, and wrote about the experiences he witnessed at the school. The rest is history.

The movie, which contrary to popular belief Cameron wrote but did not direct, touched a deep chord. It was an enormous hit. And it was controversial because it was honest about teenage sex, drugs and rock and roll.

The book and movie are about real people: the Clairemont High Class of 1979. Next year the real people depicted in the book and film celebrate their 40th reunion, for real.

One of the kids depicted in the book and move is my old friend Andy Rathbone. The “Rat” character in the movie was based largely on Andy, who was known since grade school as "A. Rat." He and I were on the Daily Aztec student newspaper together at San Diego State in the mid 1980s and he is now a very successful writer of computer books. 

Andy was not happy that Cameron used Rathbone’s nickname “Rat” in the movie, because that identified him, so Andy filed a defamation lawsuit against Cameron. But Andy dropped the lawsuit after Cameron called him and apologized. They remain friends to this day. Cameron, a genuinely nice guy who I have interviewed several times, felt bad about it all and gave Andy one of Nancy Wilson’s guitar straps.

In “Fast Times,” Nancy plays the hot blonde in the corvette that Brad (Judge Reinhold) spots and flirts with. Problem is, Brad forgets he is wearing a goofy fast-food delivery boy hat. When he realizes that she is actually looking at his silly hat, he throws the hat out the window, and the blonde (Wilson) laughs and drives away.

It was the best movie depiction of a sexy blonde in a cool car since Suzanne Somers drove up in that '56 T-Bird in “American Graffiti,” and Curt (Richard Dreyfuss) spends the rest of the film trying to find her.

I’ve written about the Fast Times/San Diego saga for years, because it fascinates me and seems to fascinate readers. Here are just a few of my Fast Times-related stories, several of which are now posted on Cameron Crowe’s personal website: 

San Diego Union (now on Cameron’s website):
http://www.theuncool.com/press/fast-times-san-diego-union/ 

Premiere Magazine (now on Cameron’s website):
http://www.theuncool.com/press/fast-times-premiere-magazine/ 

The Reno Dispatch (the publication you are currently reading):
http://therenodispatch.blogspot.com/2015/06/loving-and-defending-aloha-filmmaker.html 

People magazine (my byline at the bottom):
http://people.com/archive/geek-god-vol-43-no-10/

But back to Nancy… Her musical gifts and contributions to the music world are well known. Heart has sold more than 35 million records. She co-wrote most of the band’s biggest hits, including the classic “Magic Man,” “Crazy on You” and “Straight On” among many others. 

Nancy, who’s also written and performed songs for a number of films, is of course a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And she is a hugely underrated rock guitarist.

She rarely ventures out on tour without Ann. It will be interesting to see what her solo show looks and sounds like. Ann is also venturing out on her own this summer, appearing as an opening act for guitar hero Jeff Beck and Paul Rodgers 0f Free/Bad Company fame.

Nancy, a guitar virtuoso from the age of 10, is a creative and clever musician and fine singer in her own right. She’s also built a successful career as a film composer.  

But I think it's fair to assume that rock and roll guitar remains her first love. Nancy has always been a performer at heart, a people pleaser who seems most comfortable on a stage or in a recording studio. You are in for a treat Friday night. This promises to be one of the most interesting and enjoyable shows of this 2018 San Diego concert season. Fast times, indeed.

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Santa Barbara City College Named #1 Community College in America by Value Colleges

Santa Barbara City College, my first alma mater and a school that I've publicly stated changed my life, has been named the number one community college in the nation for 2018 by Value Colleges, an organization that provides prospective students with a practical guide to the most financially sound investments in higher education.

There are more than 1,700 community colleges in the U.S. offering associates’ degrees, certificates and diplomas. SBCC received its impressive number one ranking after Value Colleges collected data from a number of sources, including U.S. News & World Report and the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System.

“Santa Barbara City College continues to excel in the educational programs we provide to our community. We are proud to be recognized for the work our faculty and staff do every day to support the academic success of our students,” said Dr. Anthony E. Beebe, the school’s Superintendent and President. 

In their analysis of SBCC, Value Colleges concluded that the school is dedicated to building the region’s workforce in services, technology, education and government. After an analysis of the data, SBCC emerged at the top of Value Colleges' list for quality, affordability and reputation.

Santa Barbara City College is in fact a shining symbol of what a school can mean to a community. SBCC is Santa Barbara's gem. As fine a school as nearby University of California Santa Barbara is, Santa Barbara City College is a source of great pride to the locals.

Just read some of the coverage of Santa Barbara's recent wildfires and mudslides. Santa Barbara City College transformed from a college to a community center, temporary school, animal shelter, and much more. It became  a real focal point, a central gathering center, a safe zone during this crisis.

It's amazing what we can do with our lives with two simple tools: information and hope. That's what SBCC gave me. Every school matters. But this school is special. The unrivaled natural beauty of its seaside campus, which makes you want to learn and literally makes you want to spend all your time on campus, is exceeded only by the dedication and compassion of its teachers. The best educators I've ever had were at SBCC. Ask anyone who attended. They'll tell you the same thing.

They not only taught me, they inspired me. They showed me I was capable of doing and being just about anything in this life that I wanted to do and be. They also taught me the bitterest pill I ever swallowed: You have to study and work in a class even if the subject matter doesn't interest you. 

In truth, only a few classes didn't interest me, but I excelled in those, too. Because I discovered that life really is about working hard and doing your best even if you're not always fired up about what you are learning. It may sound trite, a cliche', but it still has to be learned. I took that another step, though, and forced myself to find something interesting in every lecture, in every class. I even dug deep to find something of interest in my micro-economics class! Who knew!

I recently signed a contract with the SBCC Foundation to write a book about the school, with a focus on the students, teachers and faculty who have made it great. We're looking far and wide for alumni. If you are reading this and went to Santa Barbara City College, or know anyone who has, please email me at jreno@san.rr.com, or call me at 858-397-4950. I would love to hear your story. 

My days at SBCC: Rebel With A Cause?

When I enrolled at SBCC in the early 1980's, I had ambition, but no real direction. I had goals, but no real plans. The professors recognized my potential, and my frustration. If anything, my problem was that I had too many interests and thus could not focus. 

Everyone who attended, taught at, worked at SBCC is a part of a large family. And I'm especially proud of the school's national reputation for the demonstrably positive impact it has had on minority and low-income students.

SBCC gives students from disadvantaged communities the opportunity to move forward in careers as diverse as music, medicine, and engineering. In recent years, SBCC has expanded its online programs significantly, as well, developing more than two dozen fully online degree and certificate programs in areas ranging from business and marketing to information management and medical coding. 

Value Colleges went through an evidently exhaustive study of America's community colleges before giving Santa Barbara City College the nod. But they didn't have to go to all that trouble. If they'd asked me, I could've told them without hesitation that SBCC is #1. If you think I am biased, well, then you didn't go to school there.