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Capturing light: Photography by Cathy Gregg on display

When doctors diagnosed Cathy Gregg with a debilitating neurological condition, the retail manager’s life was sent into a tailspin that eventually set her on the path toward finally fulfilling a lifelong dream and becoming a photographer.

Thirteen years later, Gregg has mastered her illness and her art, and she’s ready to show the world through “Frames of Light,” an exhibit of her work on display through Sept. 5 at Allan Hancock College Student Center Gallery.

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COMMUNITY CALENDAR

CITIZEN COMMENTARY

Addiction to oil must change

We hear about buying oil imported from the Middle East, and sending all that money overseas.

Here are the facts:

According to the official statistics of the U.S. Government Energy Information Administration, Canada is the largest supplier of oil to the U.S., sending us 1.840 million barrels per day. Next is Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Venezuela and Nigeria.

The oil in Canada is tar sands, the “dirtiest oil in the world,” and requires an eight-story-tall tractor to gulp tons of the sand into huge trucks, uses large quantities of water, consumes more energy and emits more carbon than any other method of oil production, and leaves huge lakes of contaminated water that can be seen from space.

The North American Free Trade agreement (NAFTA) has rules in Chapter 6 that govern how oil is traded in North America — all buyers in the three countries of North America have equal rights to buy oil. This oil is sold on the global market. The multinational oil corporations have no loyalty to any nation — they just want the highest price for their products.

The oil industry in Mexico was nationalized in 1938, and the Mexican Constitution does not allow foreign investment in their oil industry.

In Mexico, the country owns the oil. PEMEX is Mexico’s biggest source of revenue. Second biggest source is remittances from Mexican workers in other countries. Too bad the riches from oil are not used to improve the lives of poverty-stricken Mexican people.

Our addiction to oil must change. Money does leave our country and goes to corporations and the elite of Mexico. The corporations could drill on already-leased 68 million acres in the U.S. But creating alternate energy sources is our best guarantee that we will end our dependence on foreign oil.

Joan Leon/Santa Maria