Headline Stories

Says Who? You're going to kick yourself...

Mystery person

We’ve received some rather interesting guesses on this month’s “Says Who?” mystery person. Many of those guesses reveal a little bit of a generation gap. “Who’s Ruth Buzzi?” people ask me. So, for all of you who weren’t born or couldn’t stay up late enough to watch “Laugh-in”, here’s a high school photo of our mystery person that kind of gives it away.

Please remember: pelting our mystery person with “I know it’s you” claims will not count as submissions to this contest. You should send your guess to nmunoz@hcc.mass.eduby April 16. All correct guesses will be pooled and one correct guess will be chosen. The winner receives an HCC gift pack, which includes an HCC back pack, glow-in-the-dark pen, and calendar. Still stumped? Click here for original interview.

HCC: 60, CAPS: 30

That’s not a score; it’s a birthday card – sort of.

As Holyoke Community College gets ready to celebrate its 60th commencement on June 2, the college’s Center for Academic Program Support (CAPS) is celebrating its 30th year of helping students with their academic pursuits.

You are cordially invited to join the CAPS Center on April 17, 2-4 p.m. when it officially celebrates its 30th birthday in the PeoplesBank Conference room of the Kittredge Center. There will be light refreshments and plenty of reminiscing from the many students, tutors and friends who have been touched by the CAPS Center.

The college’s 60th birthday will be celebrated on June 7, 5-9:30 p.m. at the Bartley Center. To get on the invitation list for this gala, simply go to 60thgala@hcc.mass.edu.

HCC grad headlines World Poker Tour

Sabina Gadecki

If you have tuned into the 2007 World Poker Tour over the last few days, you might have seen a familiar face. The reigning hostess of this year-long “sporting” event is none other than HCC grad Sabina Gadecki.

The 2003 HCC graduate has been stealing the small screen since March 28, when she began her newest gig on the Travel Channel. If you haven’t yet seen the show, you can check out the viewing schedule – and the action – at worldpokertour.com

A student at New York’s Fordham University, Gadecki, a Chicopee native, has taken time off from her studies to concentrate on dealing the cards at this much-celebrated event. Never a big card player to begin with, Gadecki prepared for her new job the way any aspiring actor would: she studied the game. Not only did she ask friends about the game of poker; she watched clips of past tournaments, and even played in some tournaments over the summer.

When her card-dealing days are over, Gadecki will work hard to keep herself in the public eye as an actress and dancer. While the World Poker Tour takes up a lot of her time, she continues to study all forms of dance and has recently been accepted as an acting student at New York’s William Esper Studios

Lynn Margulis comes to HCC

Lynn Margulis

April 16 is the deadline to reserve a seat for “Gaia: New Science, the Living Earth from Space” a multi-media presentation by world-renowned scientist Lynn Margulis that will take place in the Leslie Phillips Forum on April 23 at noon.

At 1:30 p.m., Margulis will again be available in the HCC bookstore to sign copies of her recent book, “Luminous Fish” which will be sold for $21.95.

Both events are free, but those attending the talk should register by April 16 by calling James Knapp at (413) 552-2398 or by filling out an online form at www.hcc.edu. Anyone with a disability that may require accommodations to fully participate should contact the HCC Office for Students with Disabilities at (413) 552-2417 by April 9.

A professor of geosciences at the University of Massachusetts, Margulis has been hailed as one of the most influential and gifted scientific thinkers of our time. Her multimedia presentation will look at a new scientific paradigm that explains how the biosphere of Earth functions as a well-integrated living system. Margulis’s theories have implications for pollution, deforestation, and global warming.

This event is co-sponsored by HCC and the Massachusetts Space Grant Consortium. For more information about Margulis’s Gaia theory, please visit: http://www.forestmeister.com/global-online-essays/Beluzo.html.

PeoplesBank awards scholarship to Marsh

PeoplesBank presdient Doug Bowen and HCC student Cori Marsh

Westfield resident Cori D. Marsh, daughter of Frederick Marsh of Westfield and Kim Gangwisch-Marsh of Heath has been named as the 2007 recipient of the Marjorie Green Scholarship by PeoplesBank.

A business administration major, Marsh received the $1,000 scholarship from PeoplesBank President Douglas Bowen in March. She will use the funds to continue her education at Bryant University this fall.

The scholarship was created by PeoplesBank to assist HCC business students who are not receiving aid from other sources. It was named after Marjorie Green, who rose to the position of senior vice president of the bank during the 1960s.

“There weren’t a lot of women in banking at that time,” said Bowen. “This scholarship honors her pioneering spirit.”

Marsh, 19, has earned a place on HCC’s Deans List each semester since she enrolled at the college in the fall of 2005. As co-captain of the Lady Cougars soccer team, she also played a pivotal role in the team’s first-ever Division III New England championship in the fall of 2006.

“I was accepted to Bryant right out of high school,” said Marsh. “But I went to HCC to get my first two years out of the way because I couldn’t afford four years (at Bryant). Now, all of my HCC credits are going toward my degree at Bryant. All of them. HCC helped me to plan it out so it all worked.”

MassMutual contributions help library, Ludlow center

Two donations from the MassMutual Financial Group will make a huge difference to HCC students who are scrambling to get some computer time. A $60,000 donation has allowed the HCC library to install 25 new computers, an LDC projection system, computer tables, and a walled-off study area.

The donation is part of a $100,000 grant that MassMutual made to the college; the balance will be used to renovate rooms and purchase new equipment for the college’s Center for Academic Program Support (CAPS).

In a separate act of philanthropy, MassMutual donated three computers to the Ludlow Area Adult Learning Center (LAALC). According to LAALC Director Kermit Dunkelberg, the computers will be invaluable tools for students of the center, many of them learning language and life skills.

“ We integrate computer instruction into the English classes because it’s essential for job searching and also other kinds of employment,” said Dunkelberg. “It’s a pretty invaluable and indispensable resource for daily life.”

HCC Vice President for Institutional Development Erica Broman echoed Dunkelberg’s sentiments.

“ The new computers and increased capacity for research will make it so much easier for our students to tackle their school work,” Broman. “For students who work or have family commitments, the time that they are able to steal in our library is often the only time they’ll get for school work. Mass Mutual has made a significant commitment to their futures.”

CampusBriefs

HCC fashion show will benefit Our Place Homeless Shelter

Do you think you have what it takes to hit the runway?

On Wednesday April 11, you’ll have a chance to strut your stuff at the Our Place Shelter Benefit Fashion Show, to be held in the courtyard at 11 a.m.

Sponsored by the Student Activities Office and MassPIRG, the show will feature HCC’s own fashionistas – students, faculty and staff – each of whom will make a $15 donation to Our Place Shelter for the chance to be a runway model for an hour. You can come to watch, or come to strut. To sign up for your runway walk, call Vivian Ostrowski at (413) 552-2418 or leave your name on the sign-up sheet outside her office in the G-Building.

The event is free, but donations are welcome.

Funds raised from fees and donations will go to support Springfield’s Our Place Shelter, which assists homeless families.

Models will be judged for creativity, design, and “ability to work the crowd.” One person will be named “Ms./Mr. Runway Diva.” Mall gift certificates will be awarded to the winners in each category:

• Ready for the Club
• Ready for a Black Tie Affair
• Over the Top.

Let's put a face to "Futures Inspired"

In the next month, the Marketing and Public Relations department will be taking nominations for the 2007 Graduation Profiles – a group of stories that we write and distribute to the media during graduation season so that the world can see what we already know: HCC inspires futures.

In the end, we can only do 4, maybe 5 of these feature stories, but we can use other inspiring (but shorter) testimonials for our college publications, like the catalogue, viewbook, and brochures. So don’t be shy.

Please consider the following criteria and email your nominations (with their contact information) by April 27 to nmunoz@hcc.mass.edu

Do you work with a student whose graduation this June is a dream come true? Someone who worked past some unusual obstacle in his/her personal life or in the classroom? Someone whose education at HCC paved the way for a successful new career? Someone who is going on to an exciting internship, hot job, or great educational opportunity? (Note: they should be graduating from the college.)

In choosing graduates to profile, we look for stories that underscore some general themes:
• HCC provides a university caliber education – one that can launch a four year degree anywhere;
• HCC’s innovative, creative instruction – that ignites students’ natural talents, curiosity, and ambition for greater things;
• HCC’s comprehensive individualized support – that helps students overcome personal and academic obstacles to achieve more.
• HCC trains its grads to be engaged and responsive to the community.

Your cell phones can help others

During the month of April, members of the HCC community are invited to donate their working cell phones so they can be used by victims of domestic violence.
Sponsored by the Green Key Honor Society and Holyoke Medical Center, the cell phone drive will collect old phones that are still in working order so that they can be used in emergencies. The collections will take place at several locations during the month of April:

• The Office of Academic Affairs (Frost 317)
• Counseling Services (Frost 224),
• The Bartley Center
• The HCC Bookstore, (G 119),
• The HCC Library (Don 202),
• The Marieb Building, (318).

All of the donated cell phones will be re-programmed to connect with 911 emergency services only. If a donated phone cannot be re-programmed, it will be disposed of in an environmentally friendly way. Organizers hope to collect 1,000 phones.

According to the Green Key Honor Society Advisor Idelia Smith, “This drive would enable Green Key members to help Holyoke Medical Center serve members of this community.”

HCC Open House

If you know people who are curious about attending HCC, the April 12 Open House at the Kittredge Center is the place to be.

This drop-in event will be held at the Kittredge Center from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. and will feature free food, door prizes, Spanish interpreters, hands-on demonstrations of online classes, and information on the more than 100 degree and certificate options available at HCC. Visitors can even fill out a free application on the spot. Representatives from financial aid, transfer affairs, and student services will be on hand to answer questions as well.

For more information about HCC or about this Open House, please call the HCC Admissions Office at (413) 552-2321.

Larson tapped to serve on panel

HCC Vice President for Student Affairs Doreen Larson has been selected to serve on “Futures Forecasting” a panel established by the National Association for Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA). Larson will serve as the Region I Community College liaison. Congratulations Doreen!

Happy Birthday Mr. President

HCC President Bill Messner got a little surprise on April 4 when the HCC Cougar stepped in to wish him a happy birthday. Besides a heart-felt rendition of the song "Happy Birthday,” Messner was treated to a beautiful birthday cake and an unusual birthday greeting: well wishers signed the dry-erase board in the President’s Conference Room.

HCC President Bill Messner was surprised by Colleen "Cougar" Cameron

Poetry rocks!

The capacity crowd that gathered for the March 28 Poetry Slam proved once and for all: poetry rocks!

Sponsored by the Black Student Alliance, the hour-long gathering showcased the writing and performance pieces of 14 students, including Mike Lewis, Hussein Abdallah, and Coleen Dempster.

HCC Connection is published every other Wednesday (or thereabouts) and is distributed to the campus community, and friends of the college, and local media.

To be added to our email distribution list, please email: Kimberly Wilson, kwilson@hcc.mass.edu

To submit campus event information for inclusion in HCC Connection, email Natalia Munoz, nmunoz@hcc.mass.eduwith details including date, time, location, cost if any, open to public or not, web links (if appropriate) and contact information (name, phone number, and email). Deadline: end of day Friday before publication.

Natalia Munoz
Assistant Director of Marketing and Public Relations
Holyoke Community College
Phone: (413) 552-2183 Fax: (413) 552-2479
nmunoz@hcc.mass.edunmunoz@hcc.mass.edu
Holyoke Community College is the Commonwealth’s oldest community college, serving almost 9,000 students annually in 82 associate degree options and 42 certificate programs, and over 4,000 in noncredit and workforce development courses. The college has the highest transfer rate of any community college statewide, holding articulation agreements with 27 colleges and universities. Recognized for its Honors Program, distance learning curriculum, learning communities, and service to students. HCC now serves as the site for the UMass Isenberg School of Management Professional MBA program.