ON-THE-JOB TRAINING: Nurse Elisabeth Anderson of Ventura...

ON-THE-JOB TRAINING: Nurse Elisabeth Anderson of Ventura spent 11 days in Oregon, where she served as a Red Cross volunteer in the tiny town of Vernonia, helping residents cope with the aftermath of recent floods. . . . Anderson, who went to St. Thomas last year to help out after Hurricane Marilyn, is one of about 20 such volunteers. The Red Cross’ Richard Rink says the nurses’ missions help more than the affected communities: “They return with more experience, so when something happens locally, we have more experienced personnel here.”

PICKING SIDES: The opponents of a plan to balance enrollment at Ventura’s high schools have been vocal, but there are also supporters (B1). “The hardest part for the kids is that they have been Bulldogs and now they’ll be Cougars,” said Ventura High football Coach Phil McCune, who thinks students will adjust just fine. . . . If the plan goes through, 300 of Buena High’s hounds will become felines at Ventura High next year.

GOING HOME: Thousand Oaks student Helena Pokorny was on her way to Brno, Czechoslovakia, to apprentice with the ballet troupe there. But when she heard the Prague ballet was auditioning, she tried out--and was instantly offered a place in the 65-member troupe. . . . The 19-year-old Pokorny, who lived in Czechoslovakia until her family moved to Thousand Oaks when she was 6, was accompanied by her older sister, Marketa, a CSUN graduate who will also live and work in Prague for a few years.

EMPTY VICTORY: Community college trustees are thrilled about new buildings going up at the district’s three campuses. But that jubilation is mixed with the fear that the brand-new facilities may have to be filled with antiquated furniture and equipment (B1). . . . The problem is a lack of state support. “How can you not fund us?” asked Floyd Martin, head of Moorpark College’s math, science and engineering department. “How are we going to educate the future scientists with such obsolete equipment?”