Community College Week articles from January 2002

Community College Week archives from January 2002

College ordered to pay ex-athletic director $1.5 million for racial discrimination, defamation. (around the nation).(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... AUBURN, Wash. -- Green River Community College must pay its former athletic director $1.5 million for racial discrimination and defamation, the Washington Court of Appeals has ruled. However, the three-judge panel trimmed about $500,000...

Court: adjuncts don't qualify for minimum wage. (around the nation).(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... SEATTLE, Wash. -- Part-time faculty at community colleges are professional employees who are not covered by the state's minimum wage law, the Washington Court of Appeals has ruled. In a unanimous decision, the three-judge panel rejected a...

Fla. student arrested in anthrax hoax.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... GAINSEVILLE, Fla. -- A college student who said he mailed white powder to a friend as a joke has been arrested for causing an anthrax scare that left 84 postal employees and customers quarantined. Eric Jerome Scott, 21, of Hawthorne, was...

Islamic cleric who made anti-Semitic remarks fired.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... CLEVELAND -- An Islamic cleric who was criticized after anti-Semitic remarks he made 10 years ago were broadcast on local TV has been told he can't teach a class on Islam at a community college. Fawaz Damra, imam of the Islamic Center of...

Va. Gov.-elect names community college head as Sec. of Education.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... RICHMOND, Va. -- Gov.-elect Mark Warner has chosen Dr. Belle S. Wheelan, president of Northern Virginia Community College, as Virginia's next secretary of education. If confirmed by the General Assembly, Wheelan would become the first...

Congress clears reform bill.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... As expected, the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate have approved a K-12 education reform bill that also may affect colleges and universities. The bill, approved in December, creates new programs to promote teacher training through...

New deputy named at Dept. of Education.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... A former college dean who later oversaw Virginia's community colleges is joining the senior ranks of the U.S. Department of Education. Wilbert Bryant was named deputy assistant secretary in the department's Office of Postsecondary...

Budget bill finally clears Congress. (dateline washington).(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... Following months of delicate negotiations, Congress approved a federal education budget for fiscal 2002 that will permit a record $4,000 maximum Pell Grant for needy college students. The Pell Grant funding level, an increase of $250 from...

Expanding the definition of success. (point of view).(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... Performance-based funding is clearly a wave that is spreading across the nation's higher education. More than half of the nation's states have adopted performance indicators for colleges and universities, and a recent national survey indicated...

Higher education for prisoners in lower rates for taxpayers. (point of view).(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... What would you think if you were told that there are 1.6 million potential students who could be served by community colleges? Wouldn't you consider this a great opportunity? Throughout the United States, without much fanfare, some...

Look on the bright side. (point of view).(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... Dear Editor: I am writing in response to the article "Part-time Profs Protest `Intellectual Sweatshops'" that appeared in the Nov. 26, 2001 issue of Community College Week. Part-time faculty perform a valuable service for community and...

All the write moves: after decades in the shadow of university writing programs, the literary lights at community colleges are beginning to shine through.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... In the tower of Babel known as the literary world, where new journals and magazines fight to get noticed by readers and writers and often disappear with hardly a whisper, New York Stories is quickly becoming a star. Work by literary lions Frank...

Ariz. instructor fired for displaying gun.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... PHOENIX -- A Glendale Community College instructor has been fired for displaying a derringer to a student in a classroom building hallway. The Maricopa County Community College District voted to terminate Charles Sohn, an English teacher at...

Tape leads officials to dorm arsonist.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... WORCESTER, Mass. -- A student charged in five small dormitory fires at Fitchburg State College was linked to the case after a piece of tape found at a stairwell fire matched tape the student used to hold up posters in his room. Timothy...

Audit: thousands of college dollars stolen, spent on pornography.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... BOSTON -- Poor financial controls' at Massachusetts Bay Community College allowed the theft of almost $50,000 in checks and cash and $1,300 in fraudulently obtained access to pornographic Web sites, an audit found. Auditor Joseph DeNucci...

Student accused of lying to grand jury posts bail.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... WASHINGTON -- A college student accused of lying to a federal grand jury about his alleged associations with hijackers involved in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks went home to California last month after posting bail. Osama Awadallah, a...

La. Gov. picks Bumphus for system pres., short-circuiting national search.(Walter Bumphus)(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... BATON ROUGE, La. -- With some pressure from Gov. Mike Foster, the governing board of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System agreed in December to dispense with the normal national search for its next system president and to...

States offer unemployed workers tuition break at community colleges.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Continental Airlines flight attendant Karen Niv recently found herself unemployed and anxious about looking for a job in Philadelphia amid the economic fallout of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. After Continental...

Miss. college president pays to settle suit over wife's college job.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... JACKSON, Miss. -- Hinds Community College President Clyde Muse will pay the state $35,000 to settle a six-year-old lawsuit stemming from circumstances surrounding his wife's employment at the school. The state Attorney General's Office and...

Fla. college photography curator steps down, citing censorship.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The director of a community college's photography museum stepped down last month after accusing administrators of censorship by telling her to cancel an exhibit on Afghanistan. "It's clear that there is no place for...

Accreditor gives Ky. college 1 year to clean house.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Jefferson Community College has a year to resolve problems in the way it operates or faces losing its accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The warning came nearly eight months after a...

Nev. legislator's wife sues college over racial slur.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... LAS VEGAS -- The wife of a state assemblyman has filed a federal lawsuit against the Community College of Southern Nevada, its president and a former vice president who allegedly used a racial slur to refer to her. She is seeking $1.5...

Vincennes trustees affirm support for Ind. college system.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... VINCENNES, Ind. -- Trustees at Vincennes University have agreed to support the Community College of Indiana, reaffirming their commitment to the state's junior college program amid lingering disagreements with partner Ivy Tech State College....

Accreditor sanctions 8 Tenn. colleges, Universities.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools placed six Tennessee higher education institutions on warning and two others on probation at its annual meeting last month. The University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, Free...

Rating agency gives Wis. college `negative outlook'.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... MILWAUKEE -- Moody's Investors Service issued a "negative outlook" last month for the financial picture of Milwaukee Area Technical College, noting it has only limited prospects for raising more money. The national financial rating...

Judge dismisses confession in student slaying.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... DENVER -- A judge has thrown out the confession of man accused in the slaying of a Saudi Arabian student whose body was found in a Denver-area landfill. District Judge Joseph Meyer III last month said it took police only 18 seconds to read...

Instructor dedicates herself to grisly discoveries. (faculty lounge).(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... LITTLETON, Colo. -- Susie Sycamore is missing. An investigative reporter for her college newspaper, Sycamore had been looking into rumors that another student had been growing marijuana in the college greenhouse and making amphetamines in the...

Instructor heads to NYC to lend Christmastime help at ground zero. (faculty lounge).(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... WAUSAU, Wis. -- A technical college psychology teacher headed to New York late last month as a volunteer for The Salvation Army to help with the cleanup of the World Trade Center. "I felt very compelled to help," Donna Schuh of Wausau...

Honors & awards. (faculty lounge).(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... CASE and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching have named Dr. Albert Celoza, a liberal arts instructor at Phoenix College, as the 2001 Arizona Professor of the Year. Celoza was one of nine faculty nominated by Arizona colleges...

Tribal colleges get big boost toward a wireless network. (technology today).(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... BELCOURT, N.D. -- The very remoteness of Turtle Mountain Community College -- the tribal college sits just a few miles away from the Canadian border in northern North Dakota -- makes the creation of a high-tech wireless computer network for...

Computers help students avoid anthrax-related mail delays. (Bits & Bytes).(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... PORTLAND, Maine -- Bowdoin College said students seeking early acceptance can avoid anthrax-related mail delays by filing applications by computer or fax machine. The liberal arts college in Brunswick is among schools around the country...

The perils of prophesying the future of digital technology. (technology today).(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... "If you can look into the seeds of time, and say which grain will grow and which will not, speak then unto me." Shakespeare's words are just as wise today, but they haven't stopped people from trying to divine the future. The latest...

Students protest tuition hikes. (around campus).(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... MASON CITY, Iowa -- Students at North Iowa Area Community College have written more than 1,000 letters to the governor and state lawmakers, protesting budget cuts that prompted an increase in tuition. "It was outstanding. We have never done...

Anthrax license plates problematic for student. (around campus).(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... LINCOLN, Neb. -- Every time Ryan Onstad gets behind the wheel of his sport utility vehicle, he's reminded of how the world has changed since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The personalized license plates once attracted little attention,...

Firefighter calendar raises scholarship money. (around campus).(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... AUGUSTA, Maine -- Charlie Squires never appeared on a calendar before, but don't call him "Mr. April" just yet. Call him that next year. The Augusta Fire Department battalion chief is in uniform in the Firefighters 2002 Calendar, which portrays...

Archaeology program goes deeper. (around campus).(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Long Beach City College will be the first school in the state to develop a unique underwater archaeology and anthropology program. While the 18-unit Maritime Cultural Resource Management Program won't be under way for...

Grants & gifts. (around campus).(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... An information technology program will be launched at Westark College in Fort Smith, Ark., with the help of a recent $787,278 National Science Foundation grant. The program will develop a national prototype for educating the information...

Giovannini appointed president of Gateway. (Presidents).(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... Dr. Eugene Giovannini has been appointed president of Gateway Community College in Phoenix. Currently the vice president of academic programs at Burlington County College in Pemberton, N.J., Giovannini is expected to begin his tenure in March....

Shomar and Hoffman picked for Miami Dade campuses. (Presidents).(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... Miami-Dade Community College in Florida has appointed interim presidents for two of its campuses. Dr. Wasim Shomar, with Miami-Dade since 1995, has been selected to lead the Wolfson campus. Shomar has served as an engineering faculty member on...

Sasser heads Santa Fe. (Presidents).(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... Dr. Jackson Sasser has been appointed president of Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville, Fla. The president of Lee College in Baytown, Texas, since 1992, Sasser was to assume the presidency at Santa Fe on Jan. 1. He has a bachelor's degree...

Deaths. (professional notes).(Brief Article)(Obituary)
January 7, 2002... Joseph McMurray, a former president of three New York Colleges -- Queensborough Community College, Queens College of the City University of New York and the College of New Rochelle -- died recently on Long Island; he was 89. McMurray was also...

Florida Community College.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... Dr. Christine Arab is the new vice president of human resources at Florida Community College at Jacksonville. Before accepting the position at FCCJ, Arab was the general director of human resource services at Duval County Public Schools. She...

Florida Community College. (Appointments).(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... Florida Community College at Jacksonville has selected Jim Simpson as associate vice president of workforce development and adult education. Simpson most recently served as the associate dean of business at Tomball College in Tomball, Texas. He...

Atlantic Cape Community College. (Appointments).(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... Dr. Michael Kolitsky has been appointed dean of academic computing and distance education at Atlantic Cape Community College in Mays Landing, N.J. Kolitsky comes to Atlantic Cape from Rowan University, where he was the director of instructional...

Conn. college official with violent past charged with killing wife. (around the nation).(Brief Article)
January 21, 2002... BRISTOL, Conn. -- Police have charged a college administrator with stabbing his wife to death in their condominium. Casmier Zubrowski, Naugatuck Valley Community College's fiscal administrative supervisor, was charged with murder....

Indiana trustees agree to compromise. (around the nation).(Brief Article)
January 21, 2002... INDIANAPOLIS -- The trustees of Ivy Tech State College have voted to accept a compromise agreement with Vincennes University and continue with Gov. Frank O'Bannon's plan for a community college system in Indiana. The 11-2 vote came without...

Pima chancellor to step down.(Brief Article)
January 21, 2002... TUCSON, Ariz. -- The chancellor of Pima Community College plans to step down before his contract expires in 2003. Chancellor Robert D. Jensen informed school employees a day before the college's winter break that a new chancellor could be...

College adopts nepotism policy.(Brief Article)
January 21, 2002... TULSA, Okla. -- Officials at Tulsa Community College have adopted a nepotism policy to correct several cases of relatives working too closely together. The school went 31 years without a policy, but officials recently identified 52...

Amid congress' welfare review, colleges point to higher ed's benefits. (dateline washington).(Brief Article)
January 21, 2002... Congress is slated to soon review the landmark 1996 welfare reform law, which included new work requirements for mothers on welfare and others seeking public assistance. But some community college officials say welfare recipients also need more...

Hispanic colleges to see increased funding in 2002.(Brief Article)
January 21, 2002... Community colleges with large numbers of Hispanic students will receive more federal funds this year, thanks to a 2002 budget bill signed by President Bush. The bill provides a funding increase for Hispanic-serving institutions - colleges and...

Students' child care costs gain federal funding.(Brief Article)
January 21, 2002... The federal government will provide $25 million this year to help meet the child care needs of college students. Congress approved the funding as part of its year-end budget bill for fiscal year 2002, which runs through September. The...

Ensuring quality from a distance. (point of view).(Brief Article)
January 21, 2002... Colleges and universities adapt to what their publics want. This has always been the case in higher education; the differences between each institution only reflect the different needs of consumers of higher education. Currently, higher...

The unsuspecting, the uninformed and the unaccredited. (point of view).(Brief Article)
January 21, 2002... As an academic adviser at a community college, I have had the privilege of working with many students. From the student overcoming difficulty with math to the student graduating with high honors, student success stories are many. But stories of...

Can this marriage be saved? (What Others Are Saying).(Brief Article)
January 21, 2002... In accepting a compromise with Vincennes University, Ivy Tech's board of trustees has for now kept the state's community college system from disintegrating. Yet the inflammatory rhetoric coming from Ivy Tech administrators, especially...

After the fall: against the ruined backdrop of ground zero, the wounded Borough of Manhattan community college is struggling to rebuild.
January 21, 2002... NEW YORK -- Before Sept. 11, students at the Borough of Manhattan Community College worried about the kinds of things most college students do: exams, grades and how to juggle jobs, school, sleep and personal time. But since the attacks, BMCC...

Nev. rethinks selling student lists to credit card companies.(Brief Article)
January 21, 2002... LAS VEGAS -- The Community College of Southern Nevada was hoping to earn itself some extra credit when Denise Wilcox signed up for a creative writing course. Wilcox said she was dismayed to find out her name had been sold to a credit card...

A year later, repairs continue after Wyo. fire.(Brief Article)
January 21, 2002... ROCK SPRINGS, Wyo. -- Repairs at Western Wyoming Community College are continuing more than a year after a fire burned a hole in the roof. Workers installed carpet in a hallway near the fire area earlier this month, and they are still...

Aid gone, colleges turn away hundreds of unemployed.(Brief Article)
January 21, 2002... SEATTLE -- Washington's community colleges are turning away hundreds of unemployed workers from a retraining program because increasing demand has diminished financial aid funds. "We have done everything we can to stretch our tuition funds....

Congress approves funding for college-based fatalities center.(Brief Article)
January 21, 2002... DES MOINES, Iowa -- A project to establish a national training center for professionals who handle mass fatality incidents will receive $700,000 in federal funding if President Bush signs an appropriations measure passed by Congress. The...

Iowa transcript probe nears conclusion.(Brief Article)
January 21, 2002... FORT DODGE, Iowa -- A state investigation into discrepancies in academic transcripts at Iowa Central Community College is close to being finished, according to prosecutor Doug Marek of the Iowa Attorney General's Office. "The case is still...

Palliative proposed for nursing gap.(Brief Article)
January 21, 2002... SANTA FE -- A proposed partnership between the University of New Mexico and four other colleges could help increase the number of nurses earning higher degrees in New Mexico. UNM's College of Nursing is seeking $2.4 million from the state...

Student admits immigration fraud, denies terror connection.
January 21, 2002... LOS ANGELES -- A Pakistani student detained for questioning after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks has pleaded guilty to lying about his legal status on an employment form, authorities said earlier this month. Ahmed Atta, 20, admitted to...

Wash. College helps forestall expected mechanic gap.(Brief Article)
January 21, 2002... EVERETT, Wash. -- Someday, the airline industry will rebound. And when it does, there could be a serious shortage of structural mechanics, says Chuck Masonic, training director for Goodrich Corp. For that reason, Goodrich and Everett...

Prof. finds herself and her Navy students steaming for war zone. (faculty lounge).(Brief Article)
January 21, 2002... DURANGO, Colo. -- The adventure for part-time college instructor Dr. Shelley Hatfield started last spring, when she decided to volunteer for the Navy's teaching program, which recruits college instructors for two-month tours aboard ship. ...

Honors & awards.(Brief Article)
January 21, 2002... Dave Owens, chairman of the criminal justice department at Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, N.Y., recently finished his work as a member of the external Review Committee of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Owens was selected for a...

Higher ed. called key to Arkansas' K-12 reform.(Brief Article)
January 21, 2002... LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- From ongoing teacher education to technical training of students in the impoverished Delta, the higher education department has a role to play in Gov. Mike Huckabee's education plan, department director Lu Hardin said...

Mother of five scores basketball double-double. (around campus).(Angela Kier)(Brief Article)
January 21, 2002... MADISON, Wis. -- A 39-year-old mother of five accomplished a double-double for the Madison Area Technical College women's basketball team, a feat none of her three high school-age sons has accomplished so far. Angela Kier scored 13 points...

Survey: Sept. 11 attacks fail to squelch students' optimism. (around campus).(World Trade Center and Pentagon Attacks, 2001)(Brief Article)
January 21, 2002... DEKALB, Ill. -- This is supposed to be their test -- the first real adversity for a generation of college students who grew up basking in a golden age of prosperity. The nation is fighting terrorism. The economy is sputtering. And yet,...

College communications program casting a broad net. (around campus).(Salt Lake Community College, Salt Lake City, Utah)(Brief Article)
January 21, 2002... SALT LAKE CITY -- Derek Spalding knows multi-tasking. He can direct others, answer questions, listen to a professor and run an editing bay -- all at the same time. Multitasking is a hidden talent for Spalding, a student at Salt Lake...

College forces radio station to remove web site. (around campus).(Santa Fe Community College, New Mexico)(KSFR-FM)(Brief Article)
January 21, 2002... SANTA FE -- Santa Fe's public radio station, KSFRFM, was ordered by Santa Fe Community College to shut down its Web site recently because the station did not heed college policy in establishing the site. Because the college funds the...

Grants & gifts. (around campus).(Brief Article)
January 21, 2002... The National Science Foundation is contributing $2 million toward a project to enhance the skills of people working in information technology. The foundation has awarded a grant to the Kentucky Community and Technical College System and to...

For an alternative to Windows, an unclear future. (A Tech Perspective).(Brief Article)(Evaluation)
January 21, 2002... The recent appearance of Lindows, a novel fusion of the ubiquitous Windows and the maverick Linux operating systems, could mean a changing of the guard for academic computing in this new century. Why? It's not often that a new operating...

College outsources IT management. (Bits & Bytes).(information technology )(Brief Article)
January 21, 2002... SALT LAKE CITY -- Salt Lake Community College has signed a $26.5 million contract with Collegis Eduprise to manage its information technology services. SLCC officials say the agreement with the Florida firm is different from outsourcing...

Spam Snafu Hampers Harvard. (Bits & Bytes).(Brief Article)
January 21, 2002... BOSTON -- Dozens of recent e-mail messages informing Harvard University applicants whether they had been admitted or rejected never arrived after America Online interpreted the messages as junk e-mail and bounced the messages back to the...

Fear and loathing and multitasking madness. (A Tech Perspective).(Brief Article)
January 21, 2002... Are you afraid of computers? Do you know someone who is? If you've grown up with personal computers or been around them for any length of time, you probably take them for granted. After all, PCs have become nearly as common-place as...

Buettner next president of Fox Valley. (Presidents).(David Buettner)(Brief Article)
January 21, 2002... Dr. David Buettner launched his presidency at Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton, Wis., on Jan. 7. Buettner comes to Fox Valley after serving as president of North Iowa Area Community College in Mason City, Iowa. He has a bachelor's...

Voss to head Suny Rockland. (Presidents).(Thomas G. Voss)(Brief Article)
January 21, 2002... Dr. Thomas G. Voss has been appointed interim president of SUNY Rockland Community College in Suffern, N.Y. Voss will serve as interim president through Dec. 31, or until a new president is appointed. Voss is currently president and chairman of...

Hughes is founding president of Northern Kentucky. (Presidents).(G. Edward Hughes)(Brief Article)
January 21, 2002... Dr. G. Edward Hughes has been appointed founding president of the Northern Kentucky Community and Technical College District, which was established by the Kentucky Community and Technical College System. Hughes served most recently as the...

Alabama educator to head Wisconsin Technical College System. (Presidents).(Richard Carpenter)(Brief Article)
January 21, 2002... Dr. Richard Carpenter, president of Calhoun Community College in Decatur, Ala., since 1992, has been picked as president of the Wisconsin Technical College System in Madison, Wis. -- a system of 16 colleges and 47 campuses. He has an...

Landrum is interim president at Hazard. (Presidents).(Fred Landrum)(Hazard Community College, KY)(Brief Article)
January 21, 2002... Fred Landrum, dean of business affairs at Hazard Community College in Hazard, Ky., has been named interim president of the college. Landrum received his associate's degree from Lees College, his bachelor's from Eastern Kentucky University and...

Appointments. (professional notes).(Brief Article)
January 21, 2002... Hillsborough Community College in Tampa, Fla., has appointed Dr. Emery Afford as the new dean of academic affairs for the Ybor City Campus. Alford comes to Hillsborough from Warner Brothers Publishers in Miami. He has an associate's degree from...

Pa. Gov. candidates Court Community Colleges.(Robert Casey)(Edward Rendell)(Brief Article)
January 21, 2002... HARRISBURG, Pa. -- The state's three remaining gubernatorial hopefuls appeared before leaders of Pennsylvania's community colleges this month, voicing support but warning of the fiscal pressures that await the state's next chief executive. ...

Ga. student's slayer gets life.(Brief Article)
January 21, 2002... COLUMBUS, Ga. -- A Columbus man has pleaded guilty to the April 17, 2000, slaying of a 23-year-old student, avoiding the possibility of a death sentence. Superior Court Judge Doug Pullen sentenced Randy Gene Smallwood Jr., 21, to life in...