Women

Alex Coolman You can get any kind of shoe you want at Women Helping Women -- as long as the kind you want is sensible. The Costa Mesa nonprofit group helps women put together a professional look after they've been in difficult situations -- abusive relationships, substance abuse habits, welfare or jail. Part of getting the image right, say the women who run the organization, is learning what exactly it means to look confident, poised and polished after a long time of looking down and out. Shoes -- smart, conservative designs with low heels -- are part of it. What's more difficult, said Stella Gerk, the group's executive director, is rediscovering the internal sense of strength that situations like abusive relationships can destroy.

An Irvine man received a 45 years to life in prison sentence Friday for raping and forcibly sodomizing three women he met through a millionaire matchmaking website. Joseph Raymond Garcia, 51, was convicted last month of six counts of forced sodomy and two counts of rape with a sentencing enhancement for attacking multiple women. Between March 2005 and October 2006, Garcia met two women who contacted him on http://www.MillionaireMatch.com , where he claimed he made more than $200,000 a year and was "strikingly handsome.

Submitted by Helen Chade Mahshi Women Helping Women (WHW), a United Way nonprofit agency in Costa Mesa recently received the Tanner Legacy Award of $5,000 from Doncaster, a division of Tanner Companies.  Women Helping Women’s mission is to empower low-income individuals to achieve self-sufficiency through employment success. Susie McCollom, the District Business Leader for Doncaster in Orange County, presented the check to Jeanne Flint, Executive Director for WHW. The award will help WHW continue to provide funding for their support services and programs.

Women Helping Women will hold its annual fund-raising breakfast next month in an effort to gain support for programs that help women make the transition from dependence to economic self-sufficiency. The organization serves needy and abused women by offering clients free program services that include personal improvement classes, computer training, job search and business-readiness workshops. Women Helping Women is also the largest full-time provider of professional clothing and accessories for women in Orange County.

I got a taste of what women must go through when they enter the mostly male-dominated world of golf. I was invited to an event at Fleming’s Steak House in Newport Beach a couple of months ago for an organization called Women on Course. The group was founded by Donna Hoffman as a way to expose more women to the game of golf in a non-threatening atmosphere. The game can be very intimidating to a new golfer, especially a woman, who arrives at a golf course and sees mostly males.

Elia Powers Three nights a week, in a cookie-cutter strip mall, this asymmetrical dance studio becomes a "no man zone." Women come to unwind here after a day's work. They wear hip-hugging pants and groove to pop tunes. Hair flies and platform shoes stomp on the parquet floor. There's no room for inhibition between these green-painted walls. The drapes are pulled shut and a cloth is placed over an open doorway. Husbands and boyfriends aren't allowed.

The circus could use guys like Chris Gould, who knows how to juggle with the best of them. But Gould doesn't juggle flaming sticks, or knives, or anything like that - it only seems that way. Gould juggles his time, a challenge for anybody in this day and age, but particularly for a soccer coach who coaches two college teams - at the same time. Gould, 30, is Concordia University's "director of soccer," which means he heads both the men's and women's teams for the school.

COSTA MESA — There's nothing Helen Olson likes to see more than a roomful of women with hands raised and tough-to-ask investment questions on their minds. The annual Women Investing in Security and Education (WISE) Signature Financial Event, which returns to the Costa Mesa Center Club for its second year Tuesday, is a place where women are encouraged to do just that, said Olson, president of the Irvine-based nonprofit. "What we have found in our events, and maybe because most people attending are women, is that women seem very comfortable asking questions in our events," Olson said.

To many newly single women, cleaning out the closet can be just as cathartic as sitting on a therapist's couch. The Divorcée Sale, which runs Friday through Sunday at the Resort at Pelican Hill, is a way for women to shed pieces of their past for a good cause. Jill Alexander, founder of The Divorcée Sale , wanted to find a way to combine her love for fashion and philanthropy with a point of transformation in many women's lives: divorce. "I've never even been married," Alexander said with a laugh.

Competitors in the Mrs. Globe 2001 Telecast worked their charm busing tables, playing maitre d' and serving food at Nello Cucina at South Coast Plaza on Monday evening. The 40 competitors and international delegates, each winners of their respective country competitions, participated in the Nello Cuchina event and donated the tips they earned to Women In Need. The women are scheduled to compete Saturday in the Mrs. Globe Telecast, an annual international pageant for married women that benefits the Women In Need Foundation.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL UC Irvine 86, Long Beach State 61 IRVINE - Senior Kassandra McCalister had 17 points, 10 rebounds and six assists to lead the host Anteaters in the Big West Conference game Thursday. Sophomore Jacquelyn Marshall had 18 points and nine rebounds, while three other Anteaters scored in double figures. The win for UCI (10-12, 6-3 in conference), sets up a first-place showdown with visiting Cal State Northridge (7-2 in conference) on Saturday at 4 p.m. Anete Klintsone had 11 points, four rebounds and four assists for UCI, which avenged a 63-51 loss at Long Beach State on Dec. 31. Kiara Belen had 10 points and six rebounds, while Kelly Meggs had 12 points off the bench for the winners.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL Westmont 73, Vanguard 58 SANTA BARBARA — Allison Burns scored 14 points to lead the No. 9-ranked Lions in the Golden State Athletic Conference game Tuesday. Esther Timmermans and Paige Halberg scored 11 points each for Vanguard (15-4, 9-2 in conference). No. 4-ranked Westmont is 21-1, 11-0 in conference. * MEN'S BASKETBALL Westmont 82, Vanguard 80 SANTA BARBARA — Taylor Kelly scored a game-high 27 points to lead the Lions in the Golden State Athletic Conference game Tuesday.

Question: I can't decide whether I should get a flu shot. I'm two months pregnant. What are your thoughts? Answer: It's a good idea for everyone 6 months of age and older to get a vaccination against influenza. This is especially true for pregnant women and those who expect to become pregnant. Pregnancy puts women at a higher risk of getting serious health problems if they get seasonal flu. Still, I understand your uncertainty. For most pregnant women, protecting the health of their unborn baby is their No. 1 concern.

A man on the Orange County district attorney's Most Wanted list was sentenced to 61 years to life in prison Friday for sexual assaults that took place in Costa Mesa and other parts of Southern California, authorities said. Ali Achekzai, 34, formerly of Ladera Ranch, was convicted Dec. 15 of six felonies for assaulting three women. One of the cases involved him following a woman and luring her into his car - under the pretenses of warning her about another man - before he raped her, according to the district attorney's office.

MEN'S BASKETBALL Vanguard 73, San Diego Christian 61 EL CAJON — Christopher Raybon scored 17 points to lead the Lions in the Golden State Athletic Conference game Tuesday. Taylor Kelly had 15 points, while William Thompson and Noel Larkins added 10 points each for the Lions (10-6, 2-3 in conference). San Diego Christian is 4-8, 0-5. * WOMEN'S BASKETBALL Vanguard 74, San Diego Christian 66 EL CAJON — Esther Timmermans had 27 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Lions in the Golden State Athletic Conference game Tuesday.

They did it once again. The amazing Fashionable Women of Chapman University presented Christmas at The Ritz. It was the 25th anniversary of the ultra-glamorous holiday luncheon that attracted a who's who crowd from high society, dressed to impress and prepared to donate significant funds to the O.C. university. Chaired by Anne Manassero with support from Kathy Hamilton , president of the Fashionable Women, and a committee of dedicated fundraisers — including Sue Hook , Charlene Prager , Donna Bunce , Adrienne Brandes , Barbara Eidson , Nora Jorgenson Johnson , and Chapman's Joanne Jurczyk — an impressive $237,500 was raised by the close of the holiday gathering.

Nicki Minaj once said, "When you're 'assertive', as a girl, you get called a bitch, but a boy gets called a boss … it is a double-standard. " When women aim for success, they have to deal with many different stereotypes and issues, whereas a man can be a "boss" in every aspect of his life: work, relationships and family. While trying to become successful, women have to deal with much more than men in having to also undertake their gender roles to please the societal norm.

Dan Fisher's cell phone still starts with area-code 808, even though he moved from Hawaii to take the women's volleyball coaching job at Concordia University several months ago. He really hasn't had time to do much of anything other than coach, virtually hopping off the airplane and landing in his new digs at the Irvine campus just in time to meet his players, the administration and get started. The Eagles had a remarkable season, going 18-0 in winning the Golden State Athletic Conference and rising to the No. 1 ranking in the NAIA poll.

I got a kick out of Joanna Clay's article regarding the newly turned 99-year-old woman who once played the drums during the second World War ("Still jazzing it up," Nov. 27). Marie Kolasinski, 90, threw a birthday party for her cousin Viola Smith, the birthday girl, at Piecemakers Country Store in Costa Mesa. Smith said she pretty much had the field to herself during the war years, due to very few women with the ability to handle the sticks on a drum. I don't remember ever seeing a female drummer in any of the more-modern bands, unless of course it was an all-girl band.

FRESNO - The Orange Coast College cross country programs capped off a solid season with a pair of top-five team finishes at the California Community College State Meet, held at Woodward Park Saturday. For the OCC women, the Pirates were topped only by state powerhouse Glendale and finished second overall with 115 points. The Vaqueros (30 points) used four top-10 performances to run away with the state title. Leading the OCC team was sophomore standout Analicia Silva, who used the near-perfect conditions to rip through the 5K course with a fourth-place time of 18 minutes, 21.68 seconds, just 22 seconds off of the championship pace, set by Glendale's Karen Rosas (17:59.61)