John Muir Elementary School students run during the 5th annual jog-a-thon on Thursday, December 4, 2008. The 325 students ran 7,148 laps and drank 50 gallons of water during the jog-a-thon and raised more than $15,000.00. The proceeds will directly benefit the students at John Muir Elementary School by funding science, art, technology, and field trips.

Keith Reilly, 40, strings up lights onto a 12 foot Christmas tree at the California Heritage Museum on Friday, December 5, 2008. The Christmas tree will be officially lit on Saturday during the annual Main Street Holiday event. The tree lighting event will feature caroling, awindow decorating contest and a sidewalk sale.

Director of engineering at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel, Ernesto Carrillo, 60, works on the 'Ginger Bread City' on Thursday, December 4, 2008. The 'Ginger Bread City' will debut on Sunday during the Annual "Meet Me Under The Fig Tree, " at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel.

(1) Santa Monica College Board of Trustees' Vice Chair Louise Jaffe  bangs the gong on Wednesday, Dec 3, 2008, as part of the dedication ceremony for the new quad and Humanities & Social Science Building at the main campus. (2) SMC Board of Trustees' Vice Chair, Louise Jaffe, and SMC President Dr. Chui L. Tsang admire the quad and Humanities & Social Science Building's new Lead Plaque. (3) The SMC Synapse Dance Theatre performs "Fountainhead" during the dedication ceremony. (4) Rose peddles drop from the sky. (5) Guest enjoy delcious treats.

With the beautiful new Quad and environmentally sensitive and handsome Humanities & Social Science Building, the college has experienced one of its most dramatic facelifts in decades.

"We're getting tremendous feedback on the Quad, and people like the indoor-outdoor and airy feel of the HSS Building," said Greg Brown, director of facilities planning. "The Quad gives the college a finished feel, a university feel, and students have been using it to study, relax, visit with friends, listen to outdoor concerts and more."

The four-acre Quad opened in late August at the start of the current semester. The $9 million project - funded by Measure U, the SMC bond approved by voters in 2002 - features a handsome promenade of pavers lined by palm trees and flanked by two large water fountains. Grass areas, trees, large planters and seating areas fill out the Quad. It was designed by tBP Architects and Meléndrez landscape architects.

The $26.6 million HSS Building was constructed in two phases - the north wing opened in fall 2006 and the south wing in fall 2007.

The new 53,000-square-foot complex, which faces onto the Quad, is connected with pedestrian bridges and walkways. Its contemporary design features the use of Roman brick, painted metal, white concrete and glass. For its environmentally sensitive features, it has earned a coveted LEED silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

The HSS Building has 22 classrooms, as well as faculty offices and lab and tutoring space. Each classroom is wired for computer and Internet access. The complex houses the history, social science and psychology departments.

The structure replaces the Liberal Arts Building, which was constructed in 1952 and was heavily damaged in the 1994 quake, and college officials say repairs have not satisfactorily restored the structural and seismic strength of the building. The Liberal Arts Building will be demolished.

The north wing of the HSS Building was designed by Renzo Zecchetto Architects of Santa Monica, a renowned firm that also designed the SMC Performing Arts Center. The project architect, as well as the designer of the south wing, is the Santa Monica office of Gensler, an award-winning international design, architecture and planning company that has done major projects and buildings throughout the world.

Funding for the HSS Building came from four sources: City of Santa Monica Earthquake Redevelopment Project funds ($10.2 million), Federal Emergency Management Agency ($3.08 million), the state ($4.4 million), and Measure U, the 2002 Santa Monica-Malibu bond measure ($8.9 million).

(1) Santa Monica College Theatre Student, Frida Appelkvist, 26, performs Spamalot's "Diva's Lament" during the Santa Monica Kiwanis clubs Luncheon on Wednesday, December 3, 2008, at the Santa Monica Family YMCA. (2) SMC Theatre Student Jordan Segal, 21, performs the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee's, "I'm Not That Smart," during the luncheon. (3) SMC Theatre Students (left to right) Sara Slocum, 19, Kristina Darrow, 18, and Nathalie Touboul, 19, perform A...My Name Is Alice's "All the Pretty Young Men," on Wednesday. The musical pieces are  part of SMC's musical theatre workshop "How We Got Where We Are ," that is scheduled at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Dec. 5 and 6, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 7 in the Theatre Arts Studio Stage, located on the SMC main campus at 1900 Pico Blvd. Tickets are $10. The musical theatre workshop is a revue of numbers from a wide range of musicals that have been influenced by genres ranging from opera to vaudeville and from film to comic strips."We will be performing a wide range of numbers with an eye on the roots of the modern American musical," said Janie Jones, director. "Over the years, musicals have been influenced by opera and operetta, vaudeville, films, novels, comic strips, cartoon films, women's theater and more." Jones noted that the influence of opera - specifically, Puccini's "La Bohème" - is seen in "Rent," while vaudeville was a source material for "Thoroughly Modern Millie." Films, novels, comic strips, cartoon films and more were adapted for such musicals as "Spamalot," "Jekyll and Hyde," "The Wizard of Oz," "Wicked," "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown," "The Little Mermaid" and "Aladdin." Current trends have been influenced by theater of diversity ("Avenue Q"), women's theater ("A. . . My Name is Alice"), and more, she said."All in all, the show should be a lot of fun," Jones said. The music director is Gary Gray and the pianist is Leigh Anne Gillespie. The cast is made up of 15 students. The SMC Musical Theatre Workshop performances.

A woman walks past the Edgemar Holiday Shopping Cart Tree at Main Street on Monday, Dec 1, 2008. The Edgemar Holiday Shopping Cart Tree is constructed by Artist Anthony Schmitt. The sculpture is built from 30 shopping carts.

(top) Shemed Bayard, 34, hammers in the base  to a 15-foot Christmas Tree at Delancey Street Christmas's Trees lot at Santa Monica Blvd. and 18th Street on Monday, December 1, 2008. (center) Richard Avila, 25, saws through a 7 foot Christmas Tree.  (above)  Avila,  carries a 7 foot Christmas Tree on his shoulder. The Delancey Street Foundation, often referred to simply as Delancy Street, is a non-profit organization based in San Francisco that provides residential rehabilitation services and vocational training for substance abusers and convicted criminals. It reintegrates its residents into mainstream society by operating various businesses - such as restaurants, moving companies, and print shops - all of which are wholly managed and run by the residents themselves. The foundations' methods have been widely praised and have been emulated internationally.

Saxophonist Josh Remington, 33, plays jazz at the Third Street Promenade on Saturday, November 8, 2008.