HCC Connection April 25, 2006

HCC's Board of Trustees approves two capital projects

On April 25, the Board of Trustees gave the college permission to move forward on two new capital projects, totaling $4.5 million.

According to Vice President for Administration and Finance Michael Giampietro, the first project involves renovating 1,200 square feet in the third floor of the C building to accommodate an expansion and relocation of the Visual Arts Department. When completed, this renovation will bring together the electronic media and photo departments which are currently housed in the C building and the Donahue building. Course enrollments in these academic programs have grown substantially over the last few years – from 556 students in spring of 2001 to 816 students in the spring 2005.

The second project involves major renovations to the exterior of the Campus Center. This building has long been plagued with water penetration problems and failures in the windows, walkways, and patio decks, Giampietro said. The problems have been well studied over the years, but there have not been any funds available in the operational budget to address them all, Giapietro said. The Campus Center renovations will cost around $2.3 million, an amount that exceeds the college’s annual repair and maintenance budget of $1.5 million.

The trustees’ vote enables the college to expend $2.2 million from its reserve fund to begin the Visual Arts Department renovation sometime in the next six months, Giampietro said. That expenditure will leave around $6 million in the reserve fund, Giampietro said.

The funds for the Campus Center repairs will be raised through borrowing, a process that requires approvals from the Board of Higher Education the Massachusetts Legislature, and current bond holders. Giampietro said he didn’t expect all of the approvals to be in place until spring 2007, at which point the job would likely go out to bid.

Take Our Kids to Work day comes to HCC

HCC was overrun by younger-than-usual students April 20 as the college participated in the annual “Take Our Kids to Work Day.” The event gave 42 children, ages 9 to 15, a chance to see what their parents, all employees of HCC, do each day.

11-year-old, Maggie Mastrioni
and 14-year-old Amanda Bessette find a bug in frog's belly

Pat Sandoval coaches a
group of aspiring actors

10-year-old, Taylor Marshall
checks our the insides of
her frog

Left to right, Naomi Cooper Munice,
Michael Dunson, Owen Mastroianni

"move over guys, I got it!"

Erica Mazuch, 9 and
" Tucker"

"can't I take him home?"

“This is my fourth year coming with my mom,” said Ryan Meyers, 13 son of Kim Gifford, staff assistant in the president’s office. “I know she is the secretary to the president, but I’m not sure what it is she does.”

From the sounds of it, Ryan was not alone in that observation.

The day was coordinated by HCC’s Human Resources Office and included several fun-filled activities such as theatrical acting tricks, mathematical games, a look at aquatic life, broadcasting at the HCC radio station, and a visit to the rodent room.

The young ladies who attended “Aquatic Life” had no problem handling the dead frogs or snakes.
“ I am so sorry I have to do this to you,” said 10-year-old Taylor Marshall, daughter of nursing lab technician Cynthia Marshall, as she pulled out the brain and the eggs from a dissected frog.

Maggie Mastroianni, 11 and Amanda Bessette 14, were proud of the digested bug they pulled out of their frog’s belly. Michael Dunson, 9, Naomi Cooper-Monice, 8 and Owen Mastroianni, 9 had difficult grabbing hold of the live crayfish before the crayfish grabbed them.

Over in the veterinary laboratory, Erica Mazuch, 9 played with Tucker the rat in HCC’s rodent room.

“ I have no problem with rats he’s nice, soft, warm, and I think he is cute. I wish I could take him home with me. But I have two hamsters at home so I don’t think my mom will let me,” she said.

After lunch the kids were able to work off some energy by participating in either a nature walk or a whiffle ball game at the Bartley Center. Kids and parents got together at around 3 p.m. to make their own sundaes.

“It was a great day. The committee did a wonderful job. I’ve been working for HCC for 18 years and I have seen parts of the campus I never knew existed,” said Kendra Sherwin, who works in the student records office. “I tell you I’m ready for bed.”

Puerto Rican Studies Seminar presents findings

All members of the HCC community are invited to a presentation entitled “Exploring Community/University Partnerships in Holyoke & Puerto Rico” on Thursday, April 27 from 6 to 8 p.m. at El Mercado, a meeting space at 413 Main St. Holyoke.

This free event is sponsored by the Puerto Rican Studies Seminar (PRSS).
To reserve a spot call Irma Medina (413) 552-2551.

Presenters will include HCC faculty and staff, as well as PRSS members from five other area colleges. There will also be representatives from five community-based organizations.

The main goals of the PRSS are to develop and disseminate knowledge on the history, culture, and social conditions of Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rican diaspora in Western Massachusetts. The seminar seeks to promote better university-community partnerships and develop community-based curriculum that’s links student learning and research with the Puerto Rican/Latino community.

Speakers will discuss their recent visit to Puerto Rico where their delegation met with professors from the University of Puerto Rico and various community-based organizations that work on health, education, and empowerment. This is the first time HCC faculty and staff have participated in the PRSS, which seeks to create authentic collaborations between the Puerto Rican/Latino community and area colleges.

As part of the seminar the 12 member delegation spent a week in areas such as Vieques, Fajardo, and Barranquitas, Puerto Rico. The delegation met with professors from the University of Puerto Rico and various community-based organizations that work on health, education, and empowerment.

“ The majority of the Latinos that live in Holyoke are from Puerto Rico, or whose families originated from Puerto Rico. What better way to connect and understand the culture, politics, and socioeconomic of the Latino community in Holyoke than by visiting Puerto Rico and sharing this dialogue with our counterparts,” said Medina.

The Puerto Rican Studies Seminar is funded by grants the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Outreach Partnership Center (COPC). There was additional funding from Amherst College and Mount Holyoke College’s Weissman Center for Leadership and the Liberal Arts. Participating colleges include Mount Holyoke, Smith, Amherst, Hampshire, and the University of Massachusetts.

Two members of the HCC community have been recognized by the Men’s Resource Center for Change and will be officially celebrated at that organization’s 10th annual Challenge & Change banquet, Sunday, May 7 at 5 p.m.

Orlando Isaza, HCC’s special assistant to the president will be the recipient of the men’s Challenge & Change award, while HCC student Raul Matta will receive the Ozzie Klate Memorial Youth award. Joining Isaza and Matta on the podium will be Felice Yeskel, co-director of Class Action, who will receive the Challenge & Change women’s award. The awards ceremony will take place at the Log Cabin Banquet and Meeting House in Holyoke.

Tickets are free but limited. For more information call (413) 252-9887 ext. 16.

Men’s Resource Center Executive Director Rob Okun said the Challenge & Change awards annually recognize men whose lives and work reflect healthy values: a commitment to nonviolence and personal growth, respect for women, and women’s rights, commitment to community, and opposition to sexism, racism and homophobia.

“Orlando’s commitment to a social justice vision and his way of being in the world – gentle, strong, dignified and clear – embody the vision we have of men becoming the best they can be,” said Okun. “We are impressed with the way he tries to improve the lives of others – not just through social services, but with a broader social justice agenda.”

Okun said the Ozzie Klate Memorial Youth Award recognizes those same qualities in men between the ages of 16 and 23. The award was named after an Amherst youth who showed tremendous talent and promise as a writer and social activist. Okun said Matta, who is involved in peer education, theatre and volunteering at the American Friends Service Committee, was an obvious choice for this honor.

“ Raul is someone who, at a young age, sees the importance of working for a healthy society and a healthy world, and he’s willing to work for it,” said Okun.

For more information about these awards or the Men’s Resource Center, please contact Gretchen Craig at gcraig@mrcforchange.org.

HCC Welcomes educators from Indonesia

On May 2, the public is invited to explore education and religion of Indonesia when Holyoke Community College hosts a discussion with 12 Indonesian educators in the Frost Building, room 309, from 1:15 to 2:30 p.m.

The visiting delegation is made up of school leaders and district educational administrators from the Brebes, Cilacap, Majalengka, and Indramayu districts of central and western Java. In addition to their visit to HCC, the educators will meet with government and educational leaders throughout the Pioneer Valley during their three-week stay.

The delegation’s visit is a part of a three-week educational program that has been facilitated by the Institute for Training and Development and sponsored by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, under the Fulbright-Hays Act of 1961.

The delegation’s visit to HCC will give local audiences a chance to ponder the different cultural and religious influences that affect education in Indonesia. It will also give the visiting educators an opportunity to examine how American civic life relates to, and is manifested in, education.

According to ITD’s Julie Hooks Davis, the Indonesian educational system has been making serious efforts to decentralize over the last 10 years. The staff of district education offices in that country are considered national civil servants, but are managed by locally-elected district heads or bupatis. The bupatis appoint members to District Education Councils to bridge the gap between community and government.

Are you concerned about the financial aid process? HCC has you covered. Each Friday at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., the Financial Aid office will host FAFSA FRIDAYS, to help you file the 2006-07 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

Representatives from the Financial Aid office will provide private, individualized sessions to help students process their FAFSA forms through the web. The students do not need to make an appointment. We will see them on a walk-in basis in our office (Frost 201.) The students should bring with them documentation of their 2005 income.

The Valley Advocate has named HCC as the Best Two-Year College in Springfield, the result of its annual reader poll. This is the fourth year in a row that HCC has garnered this honor.

Since the last edition of the HCC Connection, the college has hired three new staff. Please welcome Raul Lorenzo, who was hired to fill the position of program manager for the Upward Bound program; Patrick Houghton, who was hired as a receiving teller in the HCC Bookstore, and Miguel Martir, who will serve as a staff assistant in the Division of Allied Health, Human Service and Early Childhood Education.

The HCC radiography program is off to a good start in its efforts to endow the Barbara I. Murray scholarship fund, named after a clinical instructor that has been inspiring students and staff for more than 35 years.

The department has raised $2,500 of the $15,000 needed to endow the scholarship, which will provide financial support for students enrolled in the HCC radiography program. More than $700 of that amount was raised from a March 18 event at Holyoke Medical Center.

Ganson to be honored

HCC’s Vice President for Academic Affairs Lisa Wyatt Ganson has been chosen to receive the Community College Members’ Professional Development Award by the Massachusetts Women in Public Higher Education.

The MWPHE award will support Ganson’s participation in a two-week management development workshop that will take place this summer through Harvard University’s Institute for Higher Education.

Ganson and three other award recipients will be recognized at the April 28, 2006, MWPHE spring conference in Holyoke.

Come to April 26 forum on free speech and civility

Everyone in the HCC community is invited to an April 26 open forum sponsored by the Independent Commission on Free Speech and Civility in room 301 of the Kittredge Center from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Come share your ideas on how to create a climate of free speech and inquiry within an environment of civil discourse. If you are unable to attend this meeting or would prefer an individual meeting with the commission, please contact Marsha Ryan at (413) 552-2231 to arrange an interview.

HCC's Walk for Life team needs you

Students, faculty and staff are invited to join the HCC Helping Cure Cancer team, which will participate in the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life fund raiser on from 6 p.m. on May 12 until 3 p.m. on May 13.

Team members will take turns walking around the HCC track for as long as they like during a 21-hour fund raiser, which is being organized by the Holyoke/Chicopee chapter of the American Cancer Society. Some people may choose to walk all night, others, for a few laps after work. You decide. Financially, you may support this worthy cause either by purchasing one of the luminaria that will line the course or by making a donation directly to the ACS. To find out more about helping, call Kris Ricker-Choleva at (413) 552-2565 or Marsha Ryan at (413) 552-2231.

There will be musical bands, pilates instruction, face painting and other fun activities during this event.

Human service workshop focuses on cultural competence

A day-long conference “Seeing Our Reflection: Cultural Competence in Education and the Helping Professions” will be held at HCC on Saturday, April 29, 8:15 a.m. to 5 p.m.

This conference will offer participants a wide range of workshop topics, including: Child Sexual Abuse and Latino Families; Cultural Competence for Human Service Professionals; Cross-cultural Education through Service-learning; and The Voyage Home: The Culture of Addiction and Recovery.

The registration fee for New England Organization for Human Service Education members is $15 for students, $30 for faculty/practitioners. The fee for non-members is $25 for students, $65 for faculty/practitioners. To find out more or to register, contact Jackie Griswold at jgriswold@hcc.mass.edu or (413) 552-2333.

Upcoming Campus Events:

Wednesday, April 26, 7:15 p.m., Holyoke Public Library, 335 Maple St.
“ Smuggled Out of the Ghetto: A Survival Story of a Lithuanian Child.”

Sponsored by HCC, the Holyoke Public Schools, and Council for Human Understanding this Yom Hosha observance will recognize the millions of people who died during the Holocaust. It will include a performance by the Holyoke High School Madrigal group, a candle lighting ceremony and a talk by Henny Wisgardisky Lewin, who, as a child, was smuggled out of a ghetto and Lithuania. For more information contact Orlando Isaza at (413) 552-2537.

Tuesday, May 2, 1:15 to 2:30 p.m. Frost 309
HCC Welcomes Visiting Educators from Indonesia

HCC will host a dialogue with 12 visiting Indonesian public and private school leaders to discuss issues of education and culture. Refreshments provided. For more information contact Orlando Isaza at (413) 552-2537.

Thursday, May 4, 5:30 p.m. Kittredge Center, PeoplesBank Conference Center
The 29th Annual Distinguished Alumni Award Dinner

Tickets are still available for this event, which will celebrate HCC alum Edward P Mazur ‘78, owner of Kapinos-Mazur Funeral Home in Ludlow. Tickets are $40 and may be purchased by calling Joanna Brown, director of alumni relations, (413) 552-2253.

May 4, 5, and 6
Tossing Back the Apple

On May 4, 5, and 6, you are invited to the HCC Studio Theatre for “Tossing Back the Apple” a theatrical adaptation of Mark Twain’s “Diary of Adam and Eve.”

All performances are at 8 p.m. Tickets are $2, and proceeds will benefit the HCC Drama Club.The Studio Theatre is located in the basement level of the C building. Tickets may be ordered by calling the Arts Center office at (413) 552 – 2485 or the Humanities office at (413) 552-2270.

Adapted and directed by HCC’s Dean of Arts and Humanities Marcia Morrison, “Tossing Back the Apple” takes a slightly different look at the Biblical story of Adam and Eve.

“For me, this play triggers my own personal exploration into gender roles,” said Morrison, a resident of Easthampton. “What defines feminine? What defines masculine? What do women do? What do men do? What emotional responses are feminine? Masculine? What behavior patterns evoke masculinity? Femininity? And as a director, how can I effectively translate this work for a Pioneer Valley audience?”

Morrison said she answered those questions by involving the cast and the production crew in a six-week rehearsal investigation of male and female roles. The result, she says, is a theatrical experience that challenges traditional male-female casting.

On May 4, the roles of Adam and Eve will be cast traditionally. On Friday, May 5, two males will be cast as Adam and Eve and on Saturday, May 6, two females will have an opportunity to portray the two Biblical icons. Due to the small size of the studio theatre, reservations are especially recommended.

Student Activities and Events:
Contact Vivian Ostrowski (413) 552-2418; vostrowski@hcc.mass.edu for more information.

HCC Music Events
All concerts and events are free and open to the public unless otherwise indicated. For information, call (413) 552-2485.

HCC's Taber Gallery
Contact Amy Johnquest (413) 552-2614; ajohnquest@hcc.mass.edu for more information.

HCC Connection is published every other Tuesday (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
cell: (413) 348-8515 (emergency)
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 anticipates opening its state of-the-art Kittredge Business Center in Spring 2006.