PROFESSOR VISITS INDIA AS CITY'S AMBASSADOR.Byline: Bhavna Mistry Staff Writer VALENCIA - Bruce Pelkey took his first trip to India in early April, acting not only as a recruiter for College of the Canyons College of the Canyons is one of the fastest-growing community colleges in the state. According to the National Junior College Research Association, College of the Canyons consistently ranks in the top 50 community colleges in the nation. , but an ambassador from Santa Clarita Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, . Pelkey, the director of the International Students Program at COC See chip on chip. , got the red-carpet treatment in Santa Clarita's new sister city. ``I was treated like a king,'' said Pelkey, who met over lavish feasts with the Indian city's mayor and other dignitaries. ``Normally I just go representing the college, but this time I was also representing the city.'' Seeing Navi Mumbai  This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone and/or spelling.You can assist by [ editing it] now. firsthand first·hand adj. Received from the original source: firsthand information. first , Pelkey thought it was a perfect sibling sibling /sib·ling/ (sib´ling) any of two or more offspring of the same parents; a brother or sister. sib·ling n. for his hometown. ``Navi Mumbai has a chance to create something better,'' Pelkey said. ``The municipal government has some people that are really concerned with making things better.'' While Navi Mumbai deals with problems from its larger municipal neighbor, Mumbai - formerly Bombay - the emerging city is trying to create a higher quality of life. ``Navi Mumbai by western standards, you can see there is a tremendous amount of poverty,'' Pelkey said. ``They need all the assistance we can give them.'' The city has its share of problems, Pelkey said. ``The biggest problem I see is a ring of chemical factories all around Navi Mumbai,'' Pelkey said. ``They need to have more safeguards.'' But Navi Mumbai has a lot to offer its California sibling, he added. ``India is a country rich in ancient civilization,'' Pelkey said. ``Any country that could produce a person like Mahatma mahatma (məhăt`mə, –hät`–) [Sanskrit,=great-souled], honorific title used in India among Hindus for a person of superior holiness. Mohandas Gandhi is the best-known figure to whom the title was applied. Gandhi, we can learn a great deal from.'' During his four-day visit, Pelkey stayed in a Days Inn and toured municipal facilities, health and water agencies and many of the local schools. He met with a Syrian orthodox bishop who is in charge of a K-12 church school in Navi Mumbai. The bishop will make a stopover Wednesday in Santa Clarita and speak to a COC political science class during his brief stay. On the last day of his trip, the city manager of Navi Mumbai took Pelkey on a tour of Mumbai, including a trip to the Gate of India and to do some shopping. ``We can learn a lot of things by having sister cities all around the world,'' Pelkey said. ``This is just the beginning; now we need to establish more liaison.'' |
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