Thursday, April 25, 2024

Monthly Archives: September 2014

Message from Joe Sopcich: ‘JCCC Police department has closed its investigation of the matter’

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Message from President Joe Sopcich:

Dear Colleagues,

A few weeks ago the college endured its first – and we hope its only – lockdown experience.  Our campus community handled the situation in exemplary fashion. Nevertheless, in the days since the situation occurred, several areas have held debriefings to go over what our strengths were and what we could do to improve. This has proven a tremendous learning experience for all of us.

The JCCC Police department has closed its investigation of the matter, concluding that the two reports of a person with a weapon on campus on Sept. 4, 2014, did not corroborate each other and neither could be substantiated.

As I said in my initial message to you all, I am very grateful for the safe resolution of the situation and the quick, calm actions of JCCC Police, Emergency Preparedness, faculty, staff and students. We are also grateful to the commanders, police officers and officials from Overland Park Police, the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, Johnson County Park Police, the Kansas Highway Patrol, Johnson County Fire Department and Med-Act, who arrived on campus and assisted in keeping our campus safe.

We learned that our training paid off. We also saw where we could make improvements – for example, how the installation of classroom phones that function as extended public address systems will reinforce messages sent on the public address systems in the hallways. That effort was already underway and should be completed in January.

Our common goal is to make the JCCC campus community the safest learning environment possible.  This experience will help us achieve that goal.  We appreciate all you do to keep our community safe.

Sincerely,

Joe

Money is raised in an effort to save a counselor’s life

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BY VALERIE VELIKAYA

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A college counselor is in need of a heart transplant in order to survive.

Melissa Wells was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy — a life-threatening abnormality of the heart muscle that makes it difficult to pump blood — seven years ago.

A left-ventricular assist device (LVAD) is supporting her heart as she awaits the possibility of a heart transplant.

Despite being treated and cleared by physicians, Melissa has undergone several hospitalizations and suffered from cardiac arrest.

Melissa is in critical condition, and the only chance of survival, doctors say, is a costly heart transplant, priced at $1 million. That doesn’t figure in additional medical expenses associated with the operation, which involves annual checkups and anti-rejection medications.

Faculty members, students, family and friends are raising funds in an effort to pay for Melissa’s medical expenses. The National Foundation for Transplants (NFT), a 31-year-old nonprofit organization that raises money for transplants through fundraising, is contributing in Melissa’s survival.

Melissa has a husband, Alex (also a counselor at the college), and a son, Sebastian.

In order to donate via credit card, visit: http://patients.transplants.org/melissawells.

If by check, address it to the National Foundation for Transplants, Kansas Transplant Fund, 5350 Poplar Ave., Ste 430, Memphis, TN 38119, with “in honor of Melissa Wells” on the memo line.

Melissa’s road to recovery can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/Melissasheartbeat.

For more information, contact NFT at 1-800-489-3863; or Kris Downing, dkris@jccc.edu, or Michelle Heffron, mheffron@jccc.edu.

Contact Valerie Velikaya, managing editor, vvelikay@jccc.edu

Cavs fall to Blue Devils in barnburner

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BY JAMES HOWEY – THE CAMPUS LEDGER

09/25/2014 11:15 | Update: 09/25/2014 11:17

jhowey@jccc.edu

The Cavaliers faced one of their toughest tests of the season Wednesday night, with a daunting Jayhawk Conference road contest. The Number four ranked Cavs traveled to their arch rival number five ranked Kansas City Kansas Community College Blue Devils. As expected, the two top five teams delivered a thriller that didn’t disappoint. In front of a ruckus crowd, both teams’ traded close sets until the Devils won a heart stopping final set 19-17 and won the match 3-2.

The loss was the first in conference for the Cavs and dropped them to 3-1 and 12-5 overall. The Devils moved to 4-0 in conference and 16-3 overall. Cavs head coach Jennifer Ei did see a resiliency in her team Wednesday night.

“One thing that they did was they continually fought even when they were down,” Ei said. “So I definitely will take that away from it.”

The Cavs still have some issues to fix though.

“The thing that we can work on is definitely not having our errors in critical times,” Ei said. “Those are the things that we talk about, we need to work on, and we will get better at.”

The road does not get easier for the Cavs. This weekend in the JCCC Challenge, the squad will face four teams, three of which are ranked, including the number one ranked team in Division I in Iowa Western.

“It’s going to be another tough weekend,” Ei said. “We knew when we scheduled this we were scheduling them extremely tough.”

Coach Ei does continue to see improvement in the mostly inexperienced Cavs roster.

“We’re young and we’re getting better.”

Cavs suffer first conference defeat

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BY JAMES HOWEY – THE CAMPUS LEDGER

09/25/2014 11:15 | Update: 09/25/2014 11:19

 jhowey@jccc.edu

The Cavaliers traveled to the number 18 ranked Hutchison Community College Dragons on Wednesday. Unfortunately, the Cavs would be dealt their first Jayhawk Conference loss of the season. The Dragons struck first with a goal with 10 minutes left in the half. Courtney Hughes answered back with the lone goal scored by the Cavs in the game and the Dragons closed the half with a goal. Neither team would score in the second half, so the game finished 2-1. The Cavs fell to 3-1 in conference play and 7-4 overall. The Dragons improved to 4-0-1 in conference and 5-1-1 in total. The Cavs will host the Dodge City Community College Conquistadors at 1 p.m. this Saturday.

Maintaining a long-distance relationship is agonizing in the sweetest sense

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BY FRANCAIS OWEN HEALY — THE CAMPUS LEDGER

09/25/2014 3:30 p.m.

fhealy@jccc.edu

For the past three years, I have been a massive hypocrite. Whenever the topic of long distance, intimate relationships pop up, I immediately inform anyone asking not to bother with it. I would say it isn’t worth your time, that it’s hopeless, and that it’ll just get you hurt.

I feel those statements are generally true, but despite those feelings, I’ve been involved in a long distance relationship of my own.

My significant other and I went to prom together in a duct tape gown and suit. To see each other, we buy $11 round trip tickets and take 12-hour “megabus” rides back and forth between Chicago and Kansas City. These excursions hap­pen a few times every year.

When we’re together, the trivial things in life that usually make me sad or an­gry roll off like water. When I tell people about my relationship, the reaction is al­ways affectionate. They comment on how admirable and cute it is that our relation­ship has worked out despite the distance.

If anyone asks me if my relationship is “worth it,” I don’t even blink before I say yes. When I’m asked why, I tell them the truth: because at this point in my life, I wouldn’t have it any other way unless it was right beside her.

Even though I feel my advice is solid and something to be followed, I don’t fol­low it myself. It’s a “do as I say, not as I do” type situation. I wouldn’t doom anyone else to a long distance relation­ship because of the sinking feeling that surfaces anytime I go to a place they like without them, or when I hang out with friends of theirs and they speak as if they are a long gone part of their lives.

It’s hard to remember to respond to texts sometimes, and down right impos­sible to determine the tone of a text. Find­ing time for our “quick” chats that evolve into four-hour long discussions about anything and everything can be like a blast from a railfun for my sleep schedule. Simple misunderstandings can stem from a poorly worded message and sometimes need to be ironed out later on. Even if ev­erything between us is great, and things are slowly progressing towards the life you want to have together, there is pain in little things as days go by.

My best friend once told me some­thing that stuck to me. An elderly man said to him that the long distance rela­tionship is the curse of the modern age. A sort of awful state of relationship that can only exist due to the increased avail­ability of inexpensive travel and easy to use video chatting and texting. In the past, if your significant other was mov­ing away or you were moving away from them, the polite and forward thing to do was it break it off. Don’t beat around the bush. It wasn’t worth the heartache of expensive, long distance phone calls and letters to keep the embers alive. That has all changed, for better or for worse.

Despite the life I live, when I say don’t have a long distance relationship, I still mean it. If you don’t know whether or not you can do it; if even a tiny part of you doesn’t feel right, just don’t. Never stay in a relationship you’re not happy with, especially a long distance one.

But I will say this: if you do think it’s worth it, if you do think you have what it takes to make it work, don’t shy away from it. Ride that train for all it’s worth. If you and your significant other want to make it work, there will always be ways to come out on the other side triumphant­ly. I too hope to be able to be on the other side celebrating soon.

 

Gallery: JCCC Cross Country

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CBS set to launch first all-women’s sports show

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BY JAMES HOWEY

CBS Sports Network will premiere the first ever all-women sports show this coming Tuesday at 9 p.m. The show will feature younger and older women jour­nalists, TV personalities, and former ath­letes. The show will be called “We Need To Talk.” Allie LaForce, Andrea Kremer, Tracy Wolfson and Lisa Leslie are some notables in the crew. For me, personally, this idea is intriguing and somewhat en­couraging. I think women covering sports is great and only can help sports journal­ism. The growing presence of women in sports journalism has helped build diver­sity in what was once primarily a male-dominated industry.

But I’m not sure that an all women sports show is desperately needed. There are plenty of women in the sports media world that excel at their jobs and they cer­tainly do more than hold their own with the men in the business. Just this Satur­day, ESPN’s Samantha Ponder was given a chance to comment on the Jameis Win­ston situation during the highly watched “College GameDay” morning show. Pon­der gave a very insightful and educated take on the issue even though the seg­ment wasn’t even planned until the show.

At Roger Goodell’s press conference on Friday, CNN and Turner Sports re­porter Rachel Nichols grilled Goodell on a number of issues about the NFL’s handling of the Ray Rice incident, includ­ing the fact that Robert Mueller, who the league hired to investigate the incident, has a long standing relationship with the league. Nichols was the star of the press conference and someone cleverly changed her occupation on her Wikipedia page to “Owner of Roger Goodell.”

I’m not saying that this show isn’t an important step, but from what I see on a daily basis, women are already a big part of sports journalism and contribute sig­nificantly to the business. I will say I’m not a fan of the title. I don’t like the im­plication that women are desperate and needing coverage when they get plenty and take full advantage of it. I do hope the show is successful enough to stay on the air, because if the show fails we will unfortunately hear from some “idiot-nobody-sports-guy” who will say “Oh they’re just girls they can’t talk sports.” Which if people look around at ESPN, FOX, CBS and NBC is simply not true.

 

Contact James Howey, sports editor, jhowey@jccc.edu

Review: ‘Atlas Shrugged Part III: Who is John Galt?’

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BY ANNA FREIJE

High expectations tarnished by a colorless adaptation

atlas-shrugged-part-3
PHOTO COURTESY OF ATLAS SHRUGGED DISTRIBUTION

I was extremely excited for “Atlas Shrugged Part III: Who is John Galt?”. Set as the final movie in the trilogy linked to the famous Ayn Rand novel “Atlas Shrugged,” expectations were high, but I was left disappoint­ed. Not only did the movie look cheap, it makes the story cheap by not giving it the attention to details it deserved.

The story progresses and the viewer finally gets to meet the elusive, almost God-like char­acter, John Galt. As society has been taken over by egocentric elitists, John Galt creates a utopic world by taking the best out of the money-hungry, corrupted world they wanted to leave be­hind.

The problem with his story is that it also leaves open the ques­tion, “Aren’t they also creating an elitist society by only taking select people?” The answer is a simple: yes. So on top of a faulty storyline that could be over­looked if you truly fell in love with the character, you never even have the option with these movies to love the characters.

Every “Atlas” movie has had a new leading lady, playing the same character. Now, some­times, this can work well, but since each version is entirely different, even down to the age of the character, it doesn’t work well. The original film was, in my opinion, the best, but as the films decreased in budget, the quality lowered substantially.

All this being said, if you have seen the first two I do rec­ommend finishing the tril­ogy. There are answers given and some twists that you wouldn’t see coming. You just have to be able to get past the quality of the film being so low. In addition, the added view may help if you decide to enter the scholarship contest.

The Ayn Rand Foundation holds a yearly essay contest with the possibility of winning up to $10,000 for a great paper. They have a new set of three ques­tions about the book every year and you can pick your own topic from those three to write on. The due date for submissions is Fri­day, Oct. 24.

 

Contact Anna Freije, reporting correspondent, afreije@jccc.edu

Lockdown leaves students questioning campus safety

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BY VALERIE VELIKAYA

The lockdown that took place a little over three weeks ago sent a shockwave across the metro. No one was hurt, but the alleged suspect was never caught, leaving on and off-campus residents with more questions than answers.

During the shutdown, faculty and stu­dents followed protocol, barricading and steering clear from doors and windows.

However, there have been reports of professors continuing their lectures.

“Yeah, we had some people. We ran across a few of them,” said Crime Pre­vention Officer Dan Robles. “We just sug­gested that they not do that. I think it was kind of interesting that you see that and that’s happened in the past other shoot­ings. Well, like some of the major ones, you know, like Virginia Tech and a couple of the other ones … they found people still in their desks and some were de­ceased, but they were still in their desks just like they were watching the teacher teach.”

In fact, there has been an undercurrent of concerns pertaining to the way the situ­ation was handled.

Robles said that this is the first inci­dent the college has ever experienced, and there was definitely room for im­provement.

The campus police are thinking of new ways to deal with these situations.

“It’s all dynamic,” said Robles. “It’s all dependent on what goes down.”

“I think it should have been immedi­ately a lockdown on the entire campus rather than just the buildings that were connected or an immediate threat or whatever,” said Andrew Tady, student. “As soon as other students heard that the lockdown was on [COM] they kind of just headed for their cars just because they didn’t want to get stuck on campus.”

A.L.I.C.E. (Alert-Lockdown-Inform-Counter-Evacuate) is the school’s go-to defense mechanism, developed by Alisa Pacer, emergency preparedness manager.

“One of the main parts of A.L.I.C.E. is to alert and inform,” said Pacer. “Because there wasn’t an exact location listed, it was good that we were locked down.”

Tady, who helped barricade the Stu­dent News Center with newspapers at the time of the lockdown, thinks the college should come up with a more tactful ap­proach to deal with these situations.

“Perhaps having a specific classroom plan. I mean, obviously there’s signs up on the door – what do you do when there’s a tornado, you go this way; fire, this way. It might be a good idea to have that at least discussed … some kind of set plan of some sort, you know, make sure certain doors lock.”

 

Contact Valerie Velikaya, managing editor, vvelikay@jccc.edu

Student juggles multiple talents

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BY FRANCAIS HEALY

Megan
PHOTO BY GABE ALEJOS

Megan Gladback lays the foundation for her future

So, what do you do?

A question that chills the blood of even some of the most interesting and well-articulated individuals, but a question that student Megan Gladbach an­swers in style.

“I usually say I work in the writing center at JCCC, I really like sustainability stuff, kind of a modern hippy, and I talk about my band,” giggled Gladbach.

She has been a student at the college for three years.

“Technically I’m done with my degree from JCCC, I’m just getting some extra credit hours because I’m actually interested in studying permaculture,” she said.

Gladbach’s interest in sustain­ability and permaculture are cur­rently at the forefront of her life.

“Basically [permaculture] is like this design sort of philoso­phy. It’s just designing sustain­able communities,” said Glad­bach “It’s not just buildings, it’s also landscaping.”

Gladbach’s self described modern hippy lifestyle extends to her participation in the Sus­tainability Committee on campus.

“One dollar of your credit hours goes to our committee, we decide what to do with that mon­ey,” she said.

The solar picnic tables, the new lighting, and the Britta wa­ter filtering stations are all things the committee has brought to the campus.

Another huge part of Glad­bach’s life is music.

“I’ve been playing guitar since I was nine, so like 11 years now? That’s more than half of my life,” said Gladbach “I also play piano, I’m not very good at it but I try.”

Gladbach also plays in the band I Am Nation, who accord­ing to her is temporarily on unof­ficial hiatus.

“I love doing the band but I don’t know where to go with it. This past year we’ve done a lot of discovery as individuals,” she said. “We’re still writing and hoping to get our stuff back to­gether.”

“I think there’s separate parts of me that wants to do [the band], there’s a part of me that is full out, go for it, and do nothing but fo­cus on that,” asserted Gladbach “But there’s another part of me: I’m kind of a nerd. I really love school. I want to do that too, but I really want to do both. I think I would only be satisfied if I was doing both.”

When Gladbach isn’t study­ing or writing music, she works at the writing center on campus.

“It’s a super no stress envi­ronment, and I think that’s re­ally good when a lot of these people come in with papers, they’re freaking out, so it feels good to actually know you’re helping someone in need,” she said, “reading different papers, you get to learn a lot of random stuff.”

In the future Gladbach hopes to attend Prescott College in Ari­zona, a college known for their focus on experiential learning. Gladbach said she liked experi­ential learning because it stimu­lates all five senses.

While Gladbach’s time at the college may be coming to an end, her journey through life is just beginning.

 

Contact Francais Healy, copy editor, fhealy@jccc.edu

 

College leaders from Pakistan fight terrorism with education

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BY VALERIE VELIKAYA

Pakistan
PHOTO BY VALERIE VELIKAYA

A panel of Pakistani educators dis­cussed the role education plays in the fight against terrorism in their homeland.

Five professors from the Sukkur Insti­tute of Business Administration (IBA) in Sukkur, Pakistan held a conference in the Hudson Auditorium last Thursday, Sept. 18.

The institute is Pakistan’s first commu­nity college, and JCCC, funded by a U.S. Embassy grant, collaborated with Sukkur leaders to create a developmental educa­tional program in order to strengthen the country’s literacy rates while discourag­ing terrorism involvement in the youth.

Approximately 40 attendees listened to each instructor express their dismay with the educational system in Pakistan.

“It’s a problem, and we think that it’s not only our problem, but a problem of the world,” said Noor Hussain Shar, co­ordinator, IBA Community Colleges. “It’s a problem of terrorism living on the globe.”

According to the South Asia Terrorism Portal, 3,268 deaths were recorded last year, and as of today, over 2,467 fatali­ties since the beginning of the year – all associated with major acts of terrorism in Pakistan.

In March, about 19 civilians, including 10 women and four children, were killed as a result of gang-related violence. The number of casualties continues to escalate due to unhindered terrorist attacks.

Lack of attention towards the edu­cational system, renders the country vulnerable to violent acts, said Sher Mu­hammad Daudpota, director, Replicating Community College Best Practices.

“If we address those issues then I think we’d be in a better position,” he said. “The whole world will be in a better position to fight against the terrorism and then ev­ery educational institution … will take responsibility.”

“The solution is very, very simple,” said Ali Gohar Chang, principal, Public School Sukkur. “We need to provide ev­ery kid a revision; we need to provide every kid with facilities and we have to make sure that all the teachings … edu­cate our children and then make sure, making sure that they have a normal life.”

According to Nisar Ahmed Siddiqui, director and dean of Sukkur IBA, 50 per­cent of Pakistan’s population is within the age group of 15 to 23. UNICEF lists the male population as currently hold­ing a literacy rate of 79.1 percent while the female rate falters at a 17.6 percent difference; 60 percent of the population is working for an education while 40 per­cent have never seen a school.

“We have to find out the reason for each type of terrorism activity … and then erase it,” said Siddiqui. “All these reasons can be eliminated [with] educa­tion.”

The long-term solution is education, he said.

 

Contact Valerie Velikaya, managing editor, vvelikay@jccc.edu

Don’t count the Chiefs out just yet

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BY MIKE ABELL

In the first two games, the Kansas City Chiefs were already off to a rough start. They lost Eric Berry, Derrick Johnson and Mike Devito just to name a few. However, the performance the team gave against Miami was awe-inspiring.

I wasn’t the only person who was wor­ried about the Chiefs’ secondary this sea­son. A lot of people were, especially after that play-off game against the Colts; but, I have to commend them based on their small sample size of games this year.

The Chiefs’ worst opponent at this point has been the injury bug. Somehow they managed to hold the infamous Den­ver Broncos to only 24 points, which is impressive since they have the best quar­terback in the NFL.

If the Chiefs want to make a second consecutive appearance in the play-offs then their defensive players all need to step up consistently. The Chiefs’ defense can’t afford to lose steam like they did last year.

Additionally, Alex Smith seems to be significantly more comfortable with his receivers. I hope he proves that he is worth the large sum of money that he is getting payed in the coming weeks. How­ever, he needs a good offensive line and, right now he doesn’t have one.

It seemed that a lot of teams weren’t where they needed to be last year, wheth­er it was lack of a healthy roster or just not enough synergy. The Chiefs were healthy and playing well at the right time. The play-off victory just came out from un­derneath their feet.

Out of all the players that the Chiefs lost to free agency in the off-season, I wish they would’ve re-signed Ryan Suc­cop. A good kicker can win games in the NFL. Santos is already off to a rocky start. He has missed two field goals which is one too many, given how close they both were to the goal.

The Chiefs definitely have problems on both offense and defense that they will need to address and fix in the com­ing weeks. I have faith that they can go 2-3, but they need players to step up on defense and somehow compensate a bit. Alex Smith didn’t play a good game against the Titans. Simple as that. If he wants to be payed like a franchise quar­terback, he needs to act like one, which he is more than capable of.

I’m not slamming the Chiefs, but if they want to be taken seriously again, then they need to keep playing like they did against the Dolphins. I met Alex Smith this past week. He is a cordial guy. He seemed like he really cared about his fans, this city and producing good num­bers. He clearly has faith in his team. Now let’s reciprocate.

 

Contact Mike Abell, editor-in-chief, mabell@jccc.edu

Staff Editorial: E-cigarettes are different, let’s treat them as such

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A look around campus would re­veal some students who think it’s okay to smoke e-cigarettes on cam­pus. The truth is that they’re differ­ent from regular cigarettes and we think they should be treated as such. Maybe a college campus isn’t the best place to try this, but there are public places that should consider it.

The use of an e-cig causes a bit of a social policy enigma amongst com­munities. More research needs to be conducted on the products them­selves because they’re only increas­ing in popularity.

If people want e-cigs to be legal here on campus then they should speak up about it instead of com­plaining. We consider the devices as a little tacky and they’re still experi­mental due to the little information that is known. However, the FDA should at least look into the second­hand smoke factor.

It is normal for people to fear what they don’t understand, so before gov­ernment officials write off e-cigs, they should be fully aware of what they’re banning. If e-cig users want to be tak­en seriously by the higher-ups then that needs to be proven in the right way.

A lot of people who use e-cigs will tell you that they use the products to “kick the habit,” but have they really kicked anything? If e-cigarettes are significantly better for humans then they need to be marketed and treated as such. The little information that is known needs to be expounded upon if users would like to see a change amongst social policies.

New Dance Partners brings innovative and original choreography into the spotlight

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BY CHRISTINA LIEFFRING

dance-partners
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE COLLEGE

Take three nationally renowned cho­reographers, each with a unique style and artistic sensibility; pair them with one of the top three dance companies in Kansas City and give them the opportu­nity to create and perform new works of choreography in Yardley Hall, and you get New Dance Partners.

“New Dance Partners represents a unique collaboration in the Kansas City area,” said Emily Behrmann, general manager of the performing arts at the college. “It’s exciting to realize that the college is making work possible that didn’t exist before this project.”

New Dance Partners is partly funded by a $10,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and a $36,649 Creative Support Grant from the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission.

“We’re truly investing in the Kansas City dance community,” said Behrmann.

San Francisco-based choreographer Amy Seiwert’s work, titled “Concer­tino,” was inspired by the music by Ar­cangelo Corelli, a baroque-era composer.

“I’ve made ballets to Bach and Mo­zart, Patsy Cline and Leonard Cohen,” said Seiwert. “This is the most classical I’ve been in a while but it felt nice to do something a little more classical.”

While the music inspired her initial concept for the work, flexibility is key to creating a new work of choreography.

“You start kind of seeing the struc­ture, so you can kind of sketch a plan,” said Seiwert. “Then you meet the danc­ers and allow the plan to be blown to smithereens. You learn not get too at­tached to any one plan.”

Learning about the dancers and building the choreography around their strengths is key for Seiwert.

“Kansas City Ballet is a wonder­fully diverse group of artists in their strengths,” she said. “If you actively col­laborate with them, see them as individ­ual artists, really let the piece follow its course by following their strengths … it starts to have its own life.”

For Kansas City Ballet company danc­ers, Danielle Bausinger and Liang Fu, this presents an opportunity for them to show their best.

“You get to show off what you’re good at, especially with [Seiwert],” said Fu. “She’s very good about seeing what everyone’s good at, which makes every­one look better on stage.”

“We’ve all contributed fragments and pieces to the choreography as a whole,” said Bausinger.

Rehearsals took two weeks, but re­quired dancing full six hour day instead of dancing half days over a longer re­hearsal period.

“It keeps you on your toes,” said Bas­inger. “You get tired but you build stam­ina. This process pushes you to be on top of yourself all the time.”

“It’s a lot of time with the dancers,” said Seiwert. “You create together for six hours a day, then go home and stare at the video for the day. It’s pretty intense.”

In spite of the decades of long hours and fatigue, Seiwert still finds inspira­tion in dance.

“You can always find something new, I think to me, as a dancer, and as a dance creator,” she said, “you keep finding an­other level, keep finding other ways to do things. There’s always something dif­ferent to try. There are so many beautiful dancers all over this country. Getting to meet them and work with them is such a gift.”

 

Contact Christina Lieffring, news editor, clieffri@jccc.edu

E-cigs fall under the tobacco-free policy

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BY MIKE ABELL

e-cigs
PHOTO BY MIKE ABELL

E-cigs seen as tobacco derivative

While e-cigarettes, or e-cigs are viewed as a healthy alternative to cigarettes for some, there are health and environmental risks in­volved, and because of that they’re banned on campus.

There aren’t many published health stud­ies on e-cigs. However, e-cigs are viewed as a derivative of cigarettes due to the nicotine in them.

As of now, the college is a tobacco-free campus, which includes e-cigs. E-cigs aren’t exactly stated in the tobacco policy but em­bedded. However, the policy could be modi­fied to include them. The Student Senate would then have to vote on it. According to Dennis Day, vice president of student suc­cess and engagement, the current classifica­tion of e-cigs is unlikely to change until a court case ruling deems otherwise.

“Until either a court case or science changes that [classification] that has been put forth, then we’ll stick with it as a tobacco product,” said Day. “The use of any tobacco product on campus is prohibited other than in the privacy of your own car.”

E-cigs are considered hazardous for mul­tiple reasons. Firstly, they’re igniters. The battery in an e-cig creates a sort of hot coil, similar to a car’s cigarette lighter. A lot of e-cigs are rechargeable. However, some are disposable. Regardless of the mechanism, it’s still an igniter.

“Let’s say you’re carrying around a ciga­rette lighter and you flick it. You may think that’s no big deal, but on a college campus with all the stuff, its probably not the best thing,” said Day “You could toss that in a trash can.”
Additionally, the vapor that they create has yet to be proven harmless. Day said that if e-cigs were healthy then they would back up their advertising with science.

“If there is a vapor then there is still go­ing to be something. You’re ingesting some­thing, are you exhaling something, too,” said Day.

“Not much has come out in the news as far as court cases,” said Day. “ That’s going to be the determining factor moving for­ward. Right now, based on the information we have, the federal government has said that e-cig products are tobacco derivatives.”

E-cigarette use among the U.S. youth nearly doubled from 2011 to 2012, accord­ing to the National Youth’s tobacco survey. It has also been repeatedly asked if e-cigs help smokers quit. According to Hotspot Vapes Owner, Mark Boswell, a lot of cus­tomers that come through his shop are try­ing to drop the habit.

“Most people are coming in here to quit. I mean there are some people that just do it as a hobby, like myself. It’s more of a hobby for me,” said Boswell.

Boswell opened his store three months ago and he said that business has been good. What attracted him to selling e-ciga­rettes was the industry and everything that he had heard about it.

The goal for people who try to quit using e-cigs is usually to smoke with less and less nicotine in their e-cig.

“There are some that don’t have nicotine in them. It’s what you choose to do. But most people do use nicotine and then they’ll eventually go down,” said Boswell.

 

Contact Mike Abell, editor-in-chief, mabell@jccc.edu

15 days of fame: How the age of information can help solve problems

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BY FOREST LASSMAN

In 1968, Andy Warhol famously said, “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes”.

Almost 50 years later, that idea seems to have come true, with topics and celebrities rising to fame fast and falling just as fast. It’s a strange phenomenon, but those 15 minutes can create some great things.

One of the causes of these 15 minutes is the fact we live in an ultra contented world. We can watch Japanese television shows and communi­cate with someone from Sweden without leaving our homes. This leads to billions of people sharing new and stories, flood­ing our airways with information, funny videos, and more.

When somebody or something becomes popular, it spreads fast and world-wide, enabling millions to grow aware of a topic within a few days. What may start as large rallying point soon turns into yesterday’s news. Everything comes fast and keep coming. Missing a day’s worth of stories can leave you coughing in the dust. As millions of ideas fight to be heard, the ideas that be­come big are quickly buried under others.

The video “Kony 2012” spread at a rapid rate and gained tens of millions of views within a matter of days. The documen­tary spiked an interest in Joseph Kony, African warlord, but just a month after the original video came out, the spotlight vanished. The follow-up video failed to achieved even five percent of the initial video’s views, and two years later, Kony is still at large.

As bad as this may seem, Kony 2012 is not the only way these 15 minutes can be used.The problem with the “Kony 2012” fad was that the topic was too big to be solved within a few weeks, but many problems can be solved in that time frame.

By making a subject public for people to see, many more minds with differentiating viewpoints can work collec­tively, and this can often lead to great breakthroughs.

Researchers spent 15 years trying to decipher the Mason-Pfizer monkey virus, an AIDS causing virus; but when it was put online, others collab­orated in the virus’ research, decoding it in a matter of 10 days. Problems similar to this are solved on a day-to-day basis, and even if they aren’t solved during the given time period, they can have a great kick-start.

Recently, amyo­trophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) had the same short period of fame due to the ice bucket challenge. Even though it somewhat feels like a distant memory, the challenge raised over $100 million for the ALS foundation from over three million donors in 30 days. That money was over 30 times the previous year’s fund-rais­ing effort during the month, and even if next year doesn’t come close to this year, that money can be put to good use for many years to come. The challenge also likely inspired the general public to gain more insight into ALS.

A new generation may be inspired to look for new ways to cure this disease. Even if the majority of the popula­tion stops paying attention to a subject after its 15 minutes are over, it can inspire others to become deeply invested in the issue for years, and those people can continue to make a large impact in the long-run. Bigger starts live shorter lives, and right now those stars are exploding as fast as new ones can be created. As strange as these short periods of fame can be, they can help solve the world’s major problems.

 

Contact Forest Lassman, copy editor, flassman@jccc.edu

 

Mike West brings past experiences to help students flourish in the business world

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BY HANNAH STRADER — THE CAMPUS LEDGER

09/25/2014 10:16 a.m. | Update: 09/25/2014 11:30 p.m.

Mike-West
PHOTO BY JULIA LARBERG/THE CAMPUS LEDGER

hstrade1@jccc.edu

Mike West, the new dean of business, is no stranger to the world of finance, nor the administrative position he’s taken over at the college. After 15 years of ex­perience in higher education, both as a professor and dean as well as time spent owning small businesses along the way, West admits he was reluctant to take the position.

“I knew Johnson County was a great college, but [I thought], ‘I’m not sure I want to get back into educational admin­istration. I’m enjoying teaching. If I move, it’ll probably be back into business,” said West.

“I was actually thinking along those lines, but then the more I thought about it, I thought. It’s a great college, very inno­vative, good people. The position is high enough in the organizational hierarchy where you can have some positive impact and help expand on what we’ve already got going, yet it’s not high enough that I have to get into the political arena and deal with the folks outside other than through working with businesses. You know, that might be the best administra­tive job in higher education in the whole city.’”

West currently oversees all the pro­grams in the business department, in­cluding specialized programs such as In­terior Design or Hospitality and Culinary Arts, among a handful of other business-related programs.

“My role in all of this is to try to make sense of all that and keep all of us moving in a direction that contributes to student success going through those programs as well as satisfying some of the employ­ment needs in the community and help­ing forward the goals of the college in a broad base or broad perspective. So my job is to kind of keep us focused on what we need to do in order to serve the stu­dents, the community and the college,” he said.

Though West had some experience as the Dean of Instruction at Maple Woods Community College in Kansas City, Mo., he has had some troubles adjusting to his similar position on the Kansas side of the state line.

“The acronyms are different so it actually reminded me [of when] Alex Smith comes into the Chiefs and he talks about how learning the system and the terminol­ogy is kind of a tough transition, and through­out the season, he keeps learning more and more about it and gets bet­ter and fits into it better because he understands better what is expected and how it’s going to op­erate. I always thought that was kind of an exag­geration … but now I re­ally have strong sense of how the difference in sys­tems and terminology re­ally make a difference.”

However, West stress­es the importance of a good group of co-work­ers and how huge of a difference this can make.

“We do have some re­ally phenomenal people who work here. I really am enjoying getting to know and work with the chairs, and now the faculty are back so I’m learning more about them and working with them. I’m really ener­gized by working with what they have.”

This has helped with the various changes and improvements West has been striving to make in the business department. Along with improving schedules, West wants to work with students on building portfolios of their experiences in the classroom to better their employment opportuni­ties. In this way, he hopes to give students a form of exemplifying their expe­riences in school to show hands on experience in their desired field.

West is adamant that the business program at the college is one of the best in the Kansas City metro, and while he may not be able to claim any hand in building that reputation, he plans to do his best to expand upon it.

 

Cavalier Star Watch: Bri Pontius

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BY JAMES HOWEY

Bri-Pontious

The college’s volleyball squad is once again at the top of the nation this year. A big reason is because of sophomore Bri Pontious. Pontious was a key part of the team finishing third in nationals last season and continues to be instrumental this season. She leads the team in kills this year and is sixth in the Jayhawk confer­ence with 201 on the season and was vot­ed KJCCC player of the week three weeks ago. Pontious and the 12-4 Cavs play four games this weekend in the JCCC Chal­lenge.

1. What has it been like to be at a place with so much tradition in volleyball?
“It’s really fun. It makes you love the sport even more and want to work even harder for your goals as a team.”

2. What made you get into volleyball when you were younger?
“I really didn’t start playing until my eighth grade year. I didn’t really know much about the sport or anything; I just decided to go out because my parents told me to try it out, but I’m glad I did.”

3. What has been the best moment or most memorable part of your career so far?
“The best moment would be winning the state championship my senior year. From the very beginning of my high school career I wanted to win state my senior year and go out with a bang. Our school also had never won a state championship in volleyball so getting to put up that very first banner was pretty cool too.”

4. What has it been like to play for Coach Ei?
“It’s a lot different from high school and club coaches. She’s a great coach and really knows how to push us to be better players. She’s tough on us as a team and individually because she believes in us so much and I don’t think we ever thank her for that. It’s been great and I’m really glad I get the opportunity to play for her. She really has taught me a lot.”

5. What do you enjoy the most about the team this year?
“We really get along this year. From the very beginning we clicked and just came together. The girls are all great players and we really push each other every practice.”

6. What do guys do best and what can you guys improve on?
“We do best at playing together as a team. We pick each other up and work together. We could still work on some things here and there but overall we are a great team in every aspect.”

7. Do you plan on playing at a four year?
“Yeah, I have no idea where I want to go yet though.”

8. Who is your favorite athlete?
“It’s a tie between Destinee Hooker and Kerri Walsh.”

9. What is your favorite food?
“I love wings and Mexican food.”

10. What is your favorite movie?
“My favorite movie is ‘The Conjuring’.”

11. Who is your favorite music artist?
“Mike Stud.”

12. What is your dream job?
“I want to be a Veterinarian at a zoo.”

 

Contact James Howey, sports editor, jhowey@jccc.edu</a<
 

The sky’s the limit: Band prepares for the new year

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BY FOREST LASSMAN

band
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE COLLEGE

As another new semester has started, the college’s bands aim high.

The college’s bands have many new members this year, and Ron Stinson, professor and chair of the department of music and theater, is excited.

“It’s always fun and a challenge,” Stinson said about teaching new stu­dents. “The chal­lenge is because most of them come from high school, and the schedule for music is a little dif­ferent in high school … Here at the col­lege level we practice 50 minutes three times a week, so it’s far less time for rehearsals than they’re used to in high school. The challenge is to get them to understand that and to make sure we get the effort needed to prepare the music in those short time spans.”

Even though it’s a challenge in band, Stinson loves seeing the joy music can cause.

“Learning music is a fun task, but there is also a lot of work involved, and you gotta be willing and ready to put forth a lot of effort when you come into the music program, but the result is you get to play some great music,” said Stinson.

It’s about celebrating new be­ginnings. Since this particular semester I have a whole lot of new students to the music pro­gram, it’s just kind of a way of getting started in the program and the music we preform.
-Ron Stinson

The band’s first performance is Tuesday, Oct. 7. The concert name, “Celebrating Our New Horizons”, was chosen not only because of the song selections, but also because of the new school year.

“It’s about cel­ebrating new beginnings. Since this particular semester, I have a whole lot of new students to the music pro­gram. It’s just kind of a way of get­ting started in the program and the music we perform,” said Stinson.

The next concerts happen Dec. 2, when the bands join forces with New Horizons Band, and Wednesday, Dec. 3, when the department holds a Jazz Night.

The New Horizons Band is a com­munity band led by UMKC profes­sor Lindsey Williams aimed at older musicians, and this is the second year the college has performed with the band.

“We [performed with the New Horizons Band] last December. It’s just kind of fun. His band and my band, we each do a couple of sepa­rate numbers and this year we’re go­ing to put both the bands together and make one big band for the finale of the concert,” said Stinson.

To prevent the concert from being too long, the department’s jazz bands will perform the following day.
According to Stinson, music is a way of life, and he has been follow­ing it for as long as he can remember. As a new day begins in the music de­partment, Stinson is excited to reach for the sky, and go beyond the hori­zons.

 

Contact Forest Lassman, copy editor, flassman@jccc.edu

Lockdown update

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BY CHRISTINA LIEFFRING

crimeprevention_kate
PHOTO BY KATE JACOBSEN

Investigation continues and A.L.I.C.E. inconsistencies addressed, suspicious person remains unconfirmed

Campus police received two reported sightings of a suspicious person possibly carrying a long gun on campus on Thurs­day, Sept. 4. One sighting was outside the GEB building, while the other occurred in the parking lot outside the fitness center. The college was locked down for three hours as campus police searched for the suspect. No shots were fired and nothing was confirmed.

After scanning the surveillance foot­age during the time of the threat, cam­pus police have still not located anyone matching the description given.

“We’ve looked everywhere we can look, viewed everything we can view,” said Officer Scott Wargin. “We’ve just not come up with anything.”

Unless more information comes to light, the case may soon become inactive – not closed, but not being actively inves­tigated. Officer Dan Robles says this is typical of a case that size.

“When you have something that hap­pens like this as big as this was it could take several weeks or months,” said Robles. “I think sometimes people get this feeling when they watch [crime] TV shows that they’ve got to get it wrapped up in an hour and it takes a long time to do all that. “

Anyone with additional information on the suspect should contact the campus police in the Carlsen Center, room 115. In any emergency or suspicious situation, it’s encouraged to call campus officials at 913-469-2500.

Alisa Pacer addresses A.L.I.C.E. incon­sistencies and misunderstandings.

The lockdown was the first time the college had enacted A.L.I.C.E. proce­dures, and Alisa Pacer, the college’s emer­gency preparedness manager, had to re­spond to a perceived threat.

“I think that overall the campus did a good job of using the protective actions in place,” said Pacer. “I know we weren’t 100 percent consistent campus-wide, but I think the campus took the lockdown very seriously.”
The first reported sighting was at 3:11 p.m. and the alert did not go out until 29 minutes after the fact.

Student, Haley Bonebrake was on campus during the lockdown and she said that the time delay was disconcert­ing.  “There was this big chunk of time where no one knew anything but there was a possible weapon on campus,” said Bonebrake. “That scared me more than anything else.”

Pacer said the alert was withheld because policy is to send alerts once the threat has been confirmed.   “Whenever a report is made, the ini­tial priority is to investigate to determine the validity of the report,” said Pacer. “Al­ways.”

Officers with the Police Academy on campus are permitted to carry their fire­arms and Pacer said there have been inci­dents where someone reported a firearm on campus, but it was one of those offi­cers wearing a coat over their uniform.

“Typically, we’ve been able to locate and identify that person very quickly,” said Pacer. “One time an umbrella was perceived as a sword.
“If shots had been fired, we would have seen many many reports, many calls to substantiate much more quickly [what was happen­ing],” she said. “We would have gotten the information out so folks would have been able to protect themselves.”

Bonebrake was sitting out­side of the SCI building when she received the first alert message and found herself locked out of communications class until a teacher recog­nized her and let her in. They and several other students were in a back conference room watching the news.

“What just kind of irked me was the fact that the news was getting more informa­tion than the students inside the school were getting,” said Bonebrake. “The only updates we got were, ‘We’re still look­ing for this person. This per­son has not been found. The school is still on lockdown.’ We wanted to know, is this a male, is this a female? We wanted a description, what building they were seen in and we had to find all that out from Twitter and the news.”

Pacer said the description of the suspect was not sent out again due to the lack of sub­stantiated information.

Announcements over the PA system were heard in some areas and not oth­ers, which Pacer said was intentional in order to direct messages to targeted areas. Bonebrake didn’t hear any announcements, outside nor inside COM.

“That’s one of the reasons why I was confused when I got the text [alert]”, said Bone­brake. “I feel like there should be some kind of announce­ment, some kind of intercom system telling us the school’s on lockdown.”

Pacer said the feedback she has received on the TV moni­tors was that all except one were on alert once the lock­down was implemented. The alert that was supposed to go out over all the computers on campus malfunctioned, but her department has fixed and tested it.

Pacer advises all students to make sure their phones are set up to receive campus alerts and that their current phone number is in the sys­tem. Students can add two additional phone numbers for their loved ones to receive alerts as well.

“The intention [is to] to do unified messaging, from all systems, from web to social media,” said Pacer. “JCCC Alert is an output program; the information is only as good as the information they’ve been provided.”

 

Contact Christina Lieffring, news editor, clieffri@jccc.edu
 

News Briefs

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Prescription drug drop-off

The college’s police department will be accepting unwanted or unused pre­scription drugs for National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, which is organized by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. According to a DEA’s press release, the last Take-Back day on April 26, 2014 col­lected 390 tons of pills.

“This is important because the non-medical use of controlled substance medications is at an all-time high,” said the release, “with 6.8 million Americans reporting having abused prescription drugs in 2012.”
Campus police will be collecting un­wanted prescription drugs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 27 in the circle drive in front of the Carlsen Center.

 

College debaters win six speaker awards

Six members of the college’s debate team brought home speaker awards from a tournament held at UMKC between Sept. 13 and 15. The team of Cunning­ham and Owen finished second overall, the team of Moncure and Domme made it to the semi-finals and team Moore and Babrakzai finished in third place in the novice division.

 

Teen collapses at track meet on campus

A student from Overland Trail Mid­dle School collapsed during a track event on campus that was hosted by the Blue Valley School District. The 13-year-old was running when he collapsed, was un­responsive and went into cardiac arrest. Paramedics resuscitated him and took him to Children’s Mercy, saying he was breathing on his own. As of press time he is still in critical condition and his name had not been disclosed.

 

Compiled by Christina Lieffring, news editor, clieffri@jccc.edu

Police Briefs

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Industrial carpet cleaner stolen

One of the college’s industrial-grade carpet cleaners, valued at approximate­ly $2000, was stolen sometime between Aug. 8 and Sept. 5. The machine was last seen on the second floor of the Carlsen Center. On Sept. 5, it was discovered that the inventory decal had been moved from the missing machine and place on another similar machine and that ma­chine’s serial number was scratched off.

 

iPad stolen in food court

A student dining in the north side of the food court, left his lunch and iPad on the table when he went to get napkins from the serving area. When he went back to his table 15 minutes later, the iPad was gone. It was valued at $800. The incident took place on Tuesday, Sept 16.

 

Phone stolen in ITC

A student placed his phone in his sweatshirt, rolled up the sweatshirt and carried it under his arm on the way to his BNSF class in ITC. An hour later, he checked for his phone and realized it was missing. The student then retraced his steps but didn’t see the phone. The inci­dent was on Tuesday, Sept. 16 between 7:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. The student re­ported he was not concerned with the phone’s monetary value but with his per­sonal information stored on the phone.

 

Wooden pallets stolen

Four wooden pallets, valued at ap­proximately $60 dollars were stolen from a trailer by the south recycling com­pound when the gate was left unlocked. The trailer was clearly marked with a sign that read, “NO Stealing, JCCC Prop­erty.” A sign adjacent to the trailer read, “NO TRESPASSING VIOLATORS WILL BE PROSECUTED.” The theft was re­ported on Wednesday, Sept. 17.

 

Cash stolen from fanny pack

A woman left a fanny pack containing her identification, credit cards and cash on the bench in front of the lockers in the dining service’s women’s locker room in the commons basement. She started her shift at 7 a.m. and when she returned a 3 p.m., the money was missing though the ID and cards were not.

 

Compiled by Christina Lieffring, news editor, clieffri@jccc.edu

Middle School track runner collapsed at the college

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By Mike Abell

BREAKING NEWS: A 13-year-old boy collapsed at the college and is being taken to Children’s Mercy Hospital. The boy is in critical condition.

Check back on @ campusledger.com for any new information.

Review: ‘As Above, So Below’ lingers below expectations

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By Valerie Velikaya

vvelikay@jccc.edu

Forget about the “Temple of Doom.” Join a team of amateur archeologists in an adrenaline-fueled escapade through the Parisian Catacombs.

Don’t expect to survive… through the movie, that is.

From Director John Erick Dowdle, who brought us forgettable films such as “Quarantine” and “Devil,” “As Above, So Below,” is reminiscent of “The Blair Witch Project” with a twist of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” – let’s throw in “The Descent” just for kicks.

as_above_so_below_Poster

The title itself is an inscription, symbolizing the gateway to hell, and as the group treads through the maze of bone fragments in search of an alchemical stone, the cryptic message is brought to fruition.

Scarlett, the unspoken, Lara Croft-esque heroine, persuades a team of inquisitive thrill-seekers into a sadomasochistic-type predicament in the hopes of rectifying her deceased father’s unfinished work.

With the exception of cameraman, Benji, and Scarlett’s ex-boyfriend, George, the rest of the group reluctantly tags along after word of undiscovered treasure.

Each member of the expedition sports a headset camera, enabling audiences to catch awkward glimpses from their perspectives.

The shaky cameras top off the film’s cheap scares; however, like most movies with sporadic camera movements, the concept grows into an annoyance.

The groups’ initial meeting with the downright bizarre is through a satanic cult as they’re in the midst of their candlelit sing-along.

While those with common-sense would typically bail after such a sight, these guys continue to follow a determined, and rather, manipulative Scarlett on her voyage to find the Philosopher’s stone.

But soon after, the walk through the catacombs turns into a suspenseful escape from the depths of Hell where members are haunted by lost ones from the past.

The frightened team becomes increasingly aware of the threatening presence in the underground passageway; a hooded figure, presumably the devil – though the entity looks suspiciously like Voldemort’s long begotten French brother.

Corpses from the Middle Ages are found preserved, phones ring through the eerie passageways as other unspeakable occurrences take place.

The team of explorers winds up going in circles, discovering tunnels that take them deeper into the abyss.

“As Above, So Below” will sit on the shelves as one of the worst horror films of the season. It leaves audiences confused and disturbed at the fact that they’d spent an hour and 40 minutes watching the eradication of a historical site.

Otherwise, the catacombs are an extraordinary landmark.

… As long as one doesn’t venture too far.

Gallery: Buddy Guy at the JCCC Carlsen Center

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Who needs a GPS?: Reviewing Rebecca Solnit’s “A Field Guide to Getting Lost”

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By Julia Larberg

jlarberg@jccc.edu

I’m going to begin by saying this book took me seven months to get through. It’s 206 pages of anecdotes that set you loose in thought. It’s jam-packed with powerful ideas that can only be comprehended by staring at the ceiling for two hours. “A Field Guide to Getting Lost” by Rebecca Solnit is a well-written collection of nine essays covering art and politics, love affairs and deserts – to list a few topics. Solnit threads little factoids and anecdotes together to weave a beautiful tapestry that not only makes for a good book, but also a sort of guiding light to letting go and surrendering to the universe.

           

In her book, Solnit addresses a variety of topics from French artist Yves Klein’s leap into the void to exploring the “blue of distance;” then to the rapid extinction of many species of life. She uses the common theme of getting lost in each experience. Whether it was letting go of expectations of reality like Yves Klein had with his work or the tule elk returning from the brink in her hometown, Solnit connects each of these experiences back to the idea of consciously being lost. Losing any expectations or hopes or desire for control over reality. Making the decision to surrender yourself to the universe and what it has in store for you as a human being on the planet.

           

To leave with a teaser, here’s my favorite quote from the book: “Nothing is lost but you yourself, wanderer in a terrain where even the most familiar places aren’t quite themselves and open to the impossible.”

Staff Editorial: Lingering thoughts surrounding the lockdown

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It’s easy to say that the media over-hyped Thursday’s lockdown when nothing came to fruition, but that isn’t the point. Those who’ve lived through a school tragedy most likely wish everyday of their lives that their situation would’ve ended up like ours.

People should put their cynicism aside and be thankful for the fact that we have staff members like Officer Dan Robles who take every threat seriously. What could have escalated into a devastating incident was extin­guished by awareness and immedi­ate action. Thank you to Dan Robles, faculty, Overland Park Police Depart­ment, Kansas highway patrol and everyone else who put their lives at stake for the sake of this school. Your heroism will never be overlooked.

For all we know, the immediate at­tention of the Campus Police Depart­ment could have deterred the alleged suspect from discharging her weap­on. It’s disturbing to hear reports of instructors who put their syllabus ahead of their students and contin­ued lecturing during the lockdown. Have we learned nothing from the past few years?

With that surplus of ignorance set aside, it’s heart-warming to see that everyone came together when a cri­sis could have developed. Twitter and Facebook posts were through the roof as on and off-campus residents checked if others were alright; even popular student-run account
@JCCCProbs touched base – kudos to you guys.

We’d like to commemorate every­one’s receptiveness.

While it’s simple to complain that the college took this matter way too seriously, joking or not, it shouldn’t be taken for granted. The actions and words conveyed by everyone, campus-wide, displayed a whole lot of heart.

We shouldn’t criticize the media outlets, for what easily could have been another tragedy was a false alarm, and we need to give thanks to the faculty and staff for taking proper precautions.
Let’s be grateful that our family and friends are still with us and carry on; and never take advantage of one another.

The Ledger would like to add that if you see anything suspicious, please contact the Campus Police Depart­ment at 913-469-4476.

NFL given black eye from domestic abuse

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By James Howey

jhowey@jccc.edu

The National Football League rarely is the victim of something off the field stealing the headlines from what happens on the field. Needless to say that was not the case Monday after the first NFL Sunday. The fallout from the horrific video of Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice hitting his fiancé, now wife, Janay Palmer, has hit the NFL harder than anything ever has. The NFL and Rodger Goodell have completely botched a situation that happened in February that should have been dealt with swift and harsh punishment.On Monday Rice was sus­pended indefinitely and was cut by the Ravens. The NFL and the Ravens said they had not seen the video until Mon­day which may be true but either way the NFL completely ignored a domes­tic abuse issue until they were forced to deal with it. What really damaged the NFL is that public perception is they did not handle this situation un­til they realized the public found the video.

This makes the NFL look absolutely ignorant when it comes to the issue of domestic abuse against women. Do­mestic abuse has been an issue in the NFL and football in general; 48 per­cent of the NFL’s arrests are domestic abuse while the national public is just 21 percent. Rice is rightly not going to be in the league this year or maybe ever. I would say even with the huge black eye this has left with the league, I think this will slowly go away be­cause of the fact that Rice is gone. It is up to the NFL to handle future issues of domestic abuse right and stick up for the women that are victims to this disgusting problem. Two players have also recently been subject to domestic abuse accusations. Carolina Panthers Defensive End, Greg Hardy and San Francisco 49er Defensive End, Ray Mc­donald are facing potential discipline for domestic abuse. Although neither have yet to go through the legal sys­tem, the Hardy story is very disturbing and scary. It makes it hard to watch.

What is lost in this is that domestic abuse against women is just an abso­lutely horrific and evil act that needs to stop. A man should never hit a woman under any circumstances. If they do they are not a man, they are a pathetic coward, if you don’t believe me go google War Machine/Christy Mack. Fair warning, it is not a pretty story but it is important for people to see it and recognize the horrors of domestic abuse.

Cavalier Star Watch: Brooklynn Meinke

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By James Howey

jhowey@jcccc.edu

meinke-small
Photo by Kate Jacobsen

Sophomore Brooklynn Meinke is the only two-sports star at the college. Mein­ke started on the girls’ soccer team last year as a freshmen and was fourth on the team with 11 goals last season. Meinke also runs indoor and outdoor track and had a very successful freshmen campaign in indoor track. This year Meinke is one of six sophomores on the soccer squad that looks to knock down the door and advance to nationals, which they were so close to last year. The Cavs are 3-2 on the season and Meinke has scored two goals in the season.

1. What do you think the team needs to do to make it further in the playoffs?
I definitley think we need to build our confidence. We have a young team, so I think once we all find that we have it in us, then we probably can’t be stopped by many teams in our conference.

2. What are some major strengths of the team and maybe some weakness?
Our strengths are that we have a lot of athleticism and we have a really good bond with each other. Our weakness is that we are hurt pretty much all the time so we have like no subs right now.

3. What has it been like for you this year in taking more of a leadership role on the team?
I’ve definitely gotten to know my coaches better. I’ve built a better relationship with them. I’ve been able to talk to them and see what we can do to be a better team and it’s just a different view on everything as opposed to just being a player.

4. What is it like playing two sports at the college? What are some challenges and things you like?
The worst is the lack of a break, my body kind of started to breakdown after a while. I definitely really enjoy getting to meet all the different people and like having two different things to take my mind off of; you go from soccer and you change your mentality and go to track. It’s definitely a totally different group of people and different coaching. It’s just really neat to get a feel for both of those.

5. What helps motivate you on the field to work your hardest and give it your all?
Well I definitely like to win. Winning is definitely a motiva­tor, but personally, I play and I do all the things for God, so that’s my biggest motivator.

6. What are some goals you set for yourself in either sport this year?
For soccer, it was definitely to do what I can for my team to get us to nationals. Definitely we deserved it last year and we just didn’t provide so just to show up to every game and give it my all for my team. The only reason I’m doing track this year is to end on a better note. Last year indoor was good, outdoor wasn’t so good. I’ve just been doing it for so long, I want to go out on a good note and work hard and see what I can do with it.

7. Who is your favorite athlete?
Sydney Leroux. She’s a women’s soccer player for the US national team.

8. What’s your favorite food?
Ice cream.

9. What’s your favorite movie?
Probably Warrior.

10. Who’s your favorite music artist?
Paramore.

11. What is your dream job?
I want to be an athletic director for a university.

Sports Briefs

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Volleyball

The Cavs volleyball squad opened the gates ranked third in the nation and have mostly lived up to that ranking this year. The team has had a solid start to the season with high quality wins against ranked teams in tournaments. The Cavs did lose to Parkland Community College, the number one ranked team in the nation who the Cavs will face again in their next tournament at Parkland and potentially could meet them in nationals. Sophomore Brianna Pontious leads the Cavs in kills with 128 and is fourth in the conference. Sophomore Alexis Hartzog leads the team in digs with 202 and is also fourth in the conference. The Cavaliers are 7-3 on the season and will play at Hesston Commu­nity College on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.

Men’s soccer

The college’s men’s soccer team has had a mixed start to the clubs season. Af­ter winning the first two matches in thrill­ing fashion by a combined two goals, the Cavs lost three in a row and were shut out in all three matches and allowed 10 goals. The team rebounded with a 1-0 win and a 0-0 tie. Freshmen Andrew McClanahan and Trae Hunjak both have two goals which leads the team. The Cavs 3-3-1 and will play Cowley Community College Friday at 4 p.m.

Women’s soccer

The women’s soccer squad is 3-2 on the season and is gearing up for the be­ginning of conference play this season. Freshmen Ashlynn Summar has stepped in and played a big role for the Cavs early in the season. Summar leads the team with three goals this season. Courtney Hughes, Brooklynn Meinke, and Nina Parker are second with two goals. The Cavaliers start their conference against Cowley Community College Friday at 2 p.m. with more critical conference con­tests to come.

Compiled by James Howey, sports
editor, jhowey@jccc.edu.

The “F” word: thoughts on feminism

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By Hannah Strader

hstrade1@jccc.edu

I had never felt such a hot surge of anger than I did when my best friend uttered, “Beyoncé is the fur­thest thing from a feminist” during the 2014 MTV VMAs. Standing before the word “FEMINIST” lit stories high on a LED screen, all I could think of while studying the strong stance of the silhouetted pop star was how this woman had been the first person to make me realize what feminism re­ally meant. And according to a sur­vey done by Ms. Magazine, there’s proof in numbers that I’m not alone. Just from 2006 to 2012, the number of women calling themselves feminists has seen a 12 percent rise, due in part to pop culture. Still, there seems to be a lot of confusion surrounding the feminist movement. Many of us don’t understand what feminism is or why it’s important.

Feminism is the belief in equality between the sexes on points of social, economic, and political rights. De­spite the plain clarity of the definition, there’s a haze of misunderstanding that shrouds the word. Even the likes of Lady Gaga, a well-known advo­cate of LGBT rights has been quoted as saying, ““I’m not a feminist! I love men!”

The misconception that feminism means hating men is just as ridicu­lous as the notion that supporting gay marriage will wipe out the exis­tence of traditional marriages; that’s simply not how it works. There is no choice between men or women, gay or straight, and that is exactly the point. It’s about the equality between the two.

Beyoncé and her role in feminism is often criticized because she’s not shy about her sexuality. Because she’s so blatantly a sex symbol, people like to nit pick that she’s doing exactly the opposite of what is expected of women behind the feminist move­ment; prancing around in skimpy outfits and encouraging objectifica­tion. However, there’s something to be said about the way Beyoncé wields her sexuality like a weapon, making sure everyone knows that feminism doesn’t mean being conservative, it means being whatever you want. Just because Beyoncé sings about sexy rendezvous in the back seat of a limo does not mean she’s broken down to something as simple as a mindless ob­ject. There’s something about a wom­an as undeniably strong as Queen Bey embracing the fact that just because a girl likes sex, that doesn’t make her a lesser human being. It sends a state­ment.

Still, none of these things explain why feminism is making a come­back right now. In a society where being informed is starting to be seen as “trendy” instead of “nerdy”, tak­ing a stance on a major political is­sue is just what all the cool kids are doing, and despite what all those hipster blogs on Tumblr say, we do need feminism. Otherwise, women will continue to be under-represented and have judgments forced on them by the likes under-informed men in legislation. What pop culture is do­ing right now is getting people to talk, which is where all change begins. By making feminism “cool”, the younger generation is getting informed, creat­ing hope for equality in the futures of our own daughters.

Take a moment

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By Christina Lieffring

clieffri@jccc.edu

When I’ve imagined a shooter-on-cam­pus scenario, I never imagined finding out via text message. It was surreal, al­most comical.

I was in the Regnier Center with an hour left of my last class when the lock­down started. We shut the doors and continued class. After class finished, we stayed and worked on homework. It was like a mandatory study hall.

The first hour was frightening. But no shots were fired, nothing was confirmed and I became bored and frustrated. I tweeted, “The most newsworthy thing to happen at my school, and I’m locked in a room watching it on tv and twitter.”

We were fortunate that nothing hap­pened. I know that some people had more dramatic stories. They huddled in the dark, silently praying. No one should have to go through that, but they did. And millions more do – at shootings across the country and wars around the world. Take that moment of terror and imagine it with actual gunfire and bombs exploding. We are fortunate.

It’s been a dark few weeks in the news, with ISIS, Ebola, the crisis in Ukraine and children by the thousands fleeing to our border. It’s been 13 years since the attacks on Sept. 11. For 13 years we’ve been waging a “war on terror”. Do we feel any safer?

We (and I include myself) are driven to hysterics at the thought of gunmen, terrorists and murderers – outside forc­es bringing death and mayhem. But the leading non-health causes of death according to the Census Bureau are ac­cidents and suicide. I would argue that we are terrified, but of the wrong things. Within the US, the biggest danger we should fear is ourselves.

Take a moment to be grateful for what you have and take care of your loved ones. You’ve had a taste of what others live through. Use that moment of fear to empathize with those who are less fortu­nate. For you, at least it’s over.

The player becomes the creator

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Brandon Baker studies video game development at the college

By Francais Healy

fhealy@jccc.edu

When asked, many people will say their dream job would be making a ca­reer of what they enjoy doing in their free time. Brandon Baker is going to school to do just that.

“Growing up I played a lot of video games, and there was no other path I was set on going towards. When thinking of what to go for in college, I was thinking I like playing video games so I’m going to go for video game design,” Baker said.

Baker looks forward to someday be­ing on the other side of the creative pro­cess of video games. He is inspired by the games he grew up with, like “Jak and Daxter” or “Rachet and Clank”, and the games he loves.

“My favorite game of all time is prob­ably ‘Fallout 3’. I look for the more MMO type games to inspire me with their level design, quest design, and world build­ing,” Baker said.

When creating a game, Baker believes the subject matter should dictate how a game is designed.

“It depends on the genre. A lot of de­tail, good detail. Small little details. Like if you’re trying to make a dark, creepy, scary game then the lighting would be important,” said Baker.

One of Baker’s focuses is level design, and he aims to find what makes each lev­el enjoyable.

“A lot of the things we talk about in class is finding the fun,” said Baker. “I think immersion is the most important things to make a great game. If the player isn’t immersed in the game, they won’t find it fun. They won’t play it. ”

Even though Baker develops for PC in class, he aspires to develop for consoles later on. Despite the growing market for mobile and PC games, Baker thinks that consoles will continue to be at the fore­front of the industry.

“Developing for PC is generally easi­er, but I’m more of a fan of the console games, so I would much prefer to devel­op for consoles if I could,” Baker said.

In the future Baker hopes to be either a level or game designer for a big name developer.

“I’d like to work for a big compa­ny like Bethesda or Gearbox down in Texas, start as QA and move up to like a level designer or game de­signer.”

A few years from now, Baker could be creating something that mil­lions of people will play.

Clubs intertwine passion and valued knowledge

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Diverse clubs give students an ability to express themselves

By Forest Lassman

flassman@jccc.edu

yoyostory
Photo by Mike Abell

Swing Club

As a new semester starts, swing club steps up to teach about the classic dance.  Swing dancing started in the 1920s, and is still being done today. There are many different forms of the dance, with the most popular being east and west coast swing. While east coast swing is very bouncy, west coast swing is smooth and linear.

Swing dancing can be used with al­most any song on the radio, Rachel Georges, president of the club, said.
“It allows you to do slow dancing, where you’re really interpretive, or fast dancing where you have no time to re­ally think about it. You’re just moving,” Georges said. “Dancing is a beautiful form of expression.”
Swing club encourages dancers of all skill levels to come.

“Everyone in this club is here to do the same thing, and because it can go from anywhere from beginner to advanced … It’s open to interpretation from the rest of the club members,” Georges said. During the course of each club meeting, Georges and the vice-president teach students new moves, walking everyone step-by-step through the dance, then let­ting them free to experiment and test out their new moves. The club meets every Tuesday from one to three.

Anime Club

The lights dim as Anime club starts to watch an episode of the show “Tsubasa Chronicles.”

Anime is the encompassing term for animation from Japan. Anime has been growing in America for decades, first gaining fame with mature films like “Aki­ra” and “Ghost in the Shell,” and later winning the hearts of younger audiences with TV shows like “Attack on Titan,” “Naruto,” and “Pokemon.”

The anime club is based around the club members’ love for the animated medium. Each meeting starts with a dis­cussion of news. Everything from the latest “Digimon” trailer to a blood drive sponsored by the vocaloid girl, “Hatsune

Miku,” are discussed during this part of the club.

Mary Kelly, the president of the club, loves the feeling of finding a new show or movie.

“[I’ll] get on the internet, I’ll go on my sites and there is something new there to interest me,” Kelly said. “It’s never dull.There is always something new.”

After all the news has been talked about, the club shifts to watching a few episodes of a show or movie. The club also occasionally has bigger events like pizza parties, swap meets and more.

The anime club meets every Monday and Friday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. The club also has an active Facebook page for dis­cussing and planning events.

Yo-Yo Club

The yo-yo has been around for thou­sans of years, and continues to be used even in the modern age.

Kyle Hickey, the president of the yo-yo club, loves the object. Any moment he can, he fidgets around with the small de­vice. He loves to test out different moves and mastering new tricks.

Yo-yos have two major forms: respon­sive and unresponsive. Responsive yo-yos come back and are easily returned. Unresponsive yo-yos don’t come back automatically, which while harder, gives the opportunity to perform more com­plex tricks.

For people wanting to learn the way of the yo-yo, Hickey recommends getting a quality yo-yo and practicing every day.

“[Learning how to yo-yo] is kind of like first learning to skate … The ol­lie [and] the jump, is like one of the first things you learn but then you tie that into so many more things later,” Hickey said. “It gets easier as you learn more.”

The yo-yo club meets every Monday from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. People interested in the club can come in at any time, and Hickey has extra yo-yos for those who don’t have any yo-yos to practice with. The club also has a website where people can contact the club, check out the sched­ule, learn new tricks and more.

Website: http://www.oneaweekchal­lenge.com/index.php.

Artists connect with students through Third Thursdays

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The Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art will host monthly art shows

By Anna Freije

afreije@jccc.edu

 The Nerman Museum at the college will welcome Gina Adams and Michael Krueger to kick-start this school year’s Third Thursdays on Sept. 18.

Third Thursdays is an event on cam­pus where local artists give lectures. It is located in the Hudson Auditorium and admission is free.  The lectures are stu­dent-friendly, starting at 3:30 p.m.; con­venient for art students who are out of their classes. However, being an art stu­dent isn’t a requirement, and Karen Folk, the curator of education for the Nerman Museum, encourages students in other majors to attend.

“A broader culture is being celebrated as well as being an artist and I think stu­dents can benefit from that,” said Folk.

Along with the interchanging guest speakers that the series will host, Third Thursdays will present a variety of differ­ent mediums to the students. Folk loves the fact that they are short lectures fol­lowed by a 20-minute Q&A session with the artists displaying their work.

“Students will get to learn about dif­ferent career paths by hearing from dif­ferent perspectives and learn about dif­ferent ways to locally fund artwork”.

The artists attending are hand-chosen by a board for the Nerman. The event provides the opportunity for students to create connections with the individual artist. The artist will also meet with the students one-on-one for a conversation.

Every “third” Thursday of the month, there will be new and exciting ways to ex­plore different areas of art.

College community remembers Dr. Terry Helmick

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By Valerie Velikaya

vvelikay@jccc.edu

helmick
Photo courtesy of the college

Dr. Terry Helmick passed away on Monday, Sept. 1 after serving at the col­lege for 22 years. She was 60 years old.

Professor and Chair of the Speech and Debate Department, Dr. Helmick was also a member of the faculty senate and served as co-adviser for Phi Theta Kappa.

In a video titled, “Why I Teach at JCCC,” Dr. Helmick said, “When I think about why I teach at [the college], there’s just really one answer for me: it’s the stu­dents. I can be having a bad day and I go into class and they make me laugh. They challenge me. I learn something every­day from them.”

Friends and colleagues describe Dr. Helmick as an insightful, passionate and committed person.

“With the death of Dr. Terry Helmick, [the college] has suffered a great loss. Dr. Helmick was a dedicated teacher and a valued colleague. And as a charter member of the faculty senate, she was [a] thoughtful and intelligent senator,” said Vincent Clark, professor and chair, history.

“Terry always seemed to treat both students and colleagues more like family members, about whom she cared deep­ly, than like ‘customers’ or ‘coworkers,’” said English professor Mark Browning. “Virtually everyone pictures her with a smile on her face, even during trying times. Her passion for learning and de­velopment, both for students and fellow faculty, will be sorely missed at JCCC.”

Dr. Helmick was an avid traveler and enjoyed the writings of David Whyte, Mary Oliver and William Stafford. She leaves behind two children and a lasting impression on the school.

Donations can be made in memory of Dr. Helmick to Lawrence Family Promise: P.O. Box 266 Lawrence, KS 66044 or law­rencefamilypromise.org/donate-now; established to JCCC Foundation: 12345 College Blvd., Overland Park, KS 66210 (checks may be made out to JCCC Foun­dation) or http://www.jccc.edu/founda­tion/.

 

Meet your Student Senate executives

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secretary“I’ve been at the college since the Fall of 2012. A friend of mine invited me to one meeting [of student sen­ate], and after attending one meeting I thought it was something I wanted to be involved in.

My favorite part of Student Senate is the feeling that I am actively involved in decision making and shaping ideas from a student point of view that will actually be heard. I hope that during and after my service, myself and the rest of the senators will leave our mark or even improve on what is already a great senate body. My hope is that by the end of our terms in office, students will be more aware of who their sena­tors are and how they can use us to promote and encourage action on the issues that matter to them.

I try to connect with those around me by just listening. Most people have fascinating stories that I have been ex­posed to just by listening. Our campus is also very overwhelming for a first time attendee. Many people I have met and made connections with were new and probably just happy to have some­one to speak to.

The senate as a whole, has only just had our first meeting today. Many of the issues that need to be addressed have been internal and in prepara­tion for the upcoming weeks. I have no doubt many issues will arise, and I hope the work we have put in dur­ing the summer and up until now will stand us in good stead to face them.

I am an avid sports watcher, and I like to do that in my spare time. Soc­cer, Rugby and Cricket are my favorite sports. American sports are also grow­ing on me now though. I recently joined a fantasy league for the NFL and I won my first game! I love watching movies the only problem is I watch the same ones over and over, so my knowledge of them is impeccable, but not so much anything else. I’m from South Africa, hence my love for weird sports and I also enjoy reading and watching topi­cal news shows.”

 

vice-president“I’ve been attending the college since June of 2013. When I came to the school, I had received a position as a Student Activities Ambassador. I was fresh out of high school and I didn’t really know anyone or have any connections to the campus besides my job. One day, while I was working, I saw that at the front desk there was a stand that listed the executive board members for Student Senate. I thought it sounded cool, and gave it a try with some encouragement and help from my manager, John Ha­nysz.

I love that I have an opportunity to really make a difference and give back to the students and the community. I love it here so much and have come to appreciate the school, not only as a student, but also as a club member and employee. I’ve learned a lot, and I just want to give that experience and feeling to other as well.

This year, I aim to get more partici­pation on campus and help students make connections amongst each other, with other clubs, and outside of the col­lege with the community as well. I hope to help students establish relationships that’ll last beyond the walls of this cam­pus and assist them in their futures.”
We have addressed the issue of not being able to share our experiences enough, and also needing to build more relation­ships. Many students at the col­lege go to school then go home. There’s not much of a connec­tion established and we need to focus on that more this year, and work to help improve that.

I am majoring in Interna­tional Business and Entrepre­neurship. My hobbies include piano and flute. I’ve played pi­ano competitively for 12 years, and played flute in concert and marching band for a total of three years. Besides being Vice President of Student Sen­ate, I am the Secretary of Model United Nations [and] a mem­ber of International Club.”

 

treasurer“Hello, I’m Ricardo Aristiguieta. I’m an international student from Venezu­ela. I’ve been here at the college and the United States for about two years. I’m on the fourth semester of the Marketing and Management Program and I just added Ac­counting as second major. I joined Student Senate to give back to this college which is an awesome place to study. Students, fac­ulty and staff are really welcoming and I felt that I needed to give back to it.

My favorite part about Student Senate is hearing from the achievements of the clubs and organizations that we have helped go out and compete, learning about those stu­dents we have helped and the recognition they bring to the college. I hope that this year we can continue to help the college with the funds that are provided to us for that purpose.

I am always trying to help around the college. I try to learn people’s names and why they have come to the college or at the very least acknowledge that they are there and they exist; a smile and a hearty hello can change someone’s day. I am proud to have cooperated with other clubs and or­ganizations during the last academic year, especially helping the campus community through JCCC Gives.

I am a geek at heart; video games, books and TV are my thing, I know a bit about a lot of stuff, especially “Doctor Who,” “Star Wars” and “Dungeons and Dragons.”

I also hope to make it pos­sible for students to be able to rent technology so that they can have what they need but reduce their costs.

Affordability is an impor­tant aspect to students and we want to make it possible for them without sacrificing qual­ity or accessibility.

 

Compiled by Valerie Velikaya, vvelikay@jccc.edu

Photos by Gabe Alejos

Newly elected Student Senate president takes a non-traditional approach in student involvement

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By Valerie Velikaya

redmond2

  Photo by Mike Abell – THE CAMPUS LEDGER

vvelikay@jccc.edu

Before he became Student Senate Presi­dent, Jeffery Redmond fit the mold of a typical student attending a community col­lege.

Looking back, he recalls his first year as a cross between maintaining a bleak rou­tine of making ends meet and working on a degree, which only encouraged the forth­coming of a long hiatus.

Organizations he has now built a rap­port with like Student Senate, Model UN, International Club and others were not on the radar then.

“When I look back on the time when I wasn’t involved, it just seems so gray,” he said. “Now everything is full of color. It’s just really opened up and alive and there’s so many opportunities abound that are just waiting to be picked up.”

During his break from school, Red­mond, 29, worked an array of dead-end jobs, eventually returning to develop a background in mechanical engineering.  In contrast to prior experience, he re­turned with a purpose-driven mentality.

“There’s a huge difference between in­spiration and motivation, and motivation comes and goes, but when you’re inspired, that is long-lasting. That’s just what it was. I got this epiphany where I got tired of waiting for someone else to write the laws or someone else to build the sustainable water systems or equipment that’s needed in these other countries or places around the world and it’s like … I’m just going to get the degree, and I’m going to go do it because… why should I wait on anybody else to do what I can do?”

On top of working three jobs, including one at a metal shop, Redmond became a full-time student. He participated in numerous organizations while fulfilling the role of Student Senate vice president.

“This time returning I was determined … I wasn’t going to let anything get in my way.”

Redmond’s persistence and personable way of communicating escalated him to Student Senate President where one of his primary ob­jectives includes emphasizing “community” in community college.

Mindy Kinnaman, manager of student life and leadership development, thinks the Student Senate will move forward this year.

“So far, in his work with the executive board, [Redmond] has been committed to developing them as a team. If he is able to take that commit­ment to the full Senate, now that they have been elected, I believe that he will do a very good job as the president … one of the goals they set is to build more school pride,” said Kinnaman. “It is Jeff’s role as president to help lead that charge, and I am confident that he can guide the Senate as they develop a plan on how to move forward this year.”

“It’s just about trying to reach out to the com­munity as much as possible and the best way to do that is word of mouth. The more people you can get to share their experiences, the better feedback we’ll get,” said Redmond. “It’s a chal­lenge to interact because I can only interact with people as much as they want me to interact with them, and all I can do is just be persistent, and just keep going, and hold out longer than any­one else.”

Documentary captures transformation of Troost

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“We Are Superman” shows the challenges and hopes of a divided community

By Christina Lieffring

clieffri@jccc.edu

supermanstory
Photo courtesy of the college

Troost has been and continues to be an economic and racial dividing line in Kansas City. Filmmaker Kevin Bryce knows Troost well: he received his film degree at UMKC and worked at Brainroot Light and Sound LLC, a film production company based in Midtown. It made sense for his first docu­mentary to be about the transformations he was seeing in his neighborhood.

“I chose 31st and Troost because that’s what I was familiar with,” said Bryce. “I worked at 31st and Troost, I lived near 31st and Troost and that was the community I was getting to know.”

Rodney Knott, one of the main figures in the film, hired Bryce to film Knott’s “Man Class” in order to make a tutorial film.

“[The Man Class] tries to re-engage men back into the lives of their families and com­munities,” said Bryce. “It’s a very moving program, a very important program. [The tutorial] never happened but I had all this          great footage and so I began to think, ‘What else can I do with it?’

Producer Christopher Cook got involved in the project because of his own interest in the area.  “[Bryce and I] were both transplants to Kansas City,” said Cook. “I was always fascinated by the stigma that [Troost] had. I’d hear people say ‘Don’t go there, it’s not safe.’ But when we investigated it, it was just another street.”
Bryce set out to document the efforts of organizations and individuals to re-unite a divided community and rectify the systemic problems in their neighborhood.

The challenges faced by the neighbor­hood are many and include a myriad of social and economic issues, from banking to education to food. But their ambitions are just as lofty, ultimately hoping to form “Troost Village”- a self-sustaining commu­nity that includes banking, local businesses and a community garden.

“I was moved by the fact that there was a group of people that were transforming the divide of Troost Avenue and their story wasn’t being told,” said Bryce. “So that was a story that I was very compelled to tell.”
The filmmakers saw their role as film­makers to help the people of Troost tell their story.

“As a documentary filmmaker, I guess as a storyteller in general, hopefully we are always aware of our role, for the most part, as an outsider,” said Cook. “One thing I am very happy that we were conscious of; we worked very hard to make sure the story we did tell was the story that all of these organi­zations felt were true to their cause.”

31st and Troost can seem a world away from Johnson County, but the filmmakers think there’s plenty for suburbanites to take away from the film.

“I want them to know their city, Kansas City’s urban core on a different level than what they see in 10 p.m. News,” said Bryce. “I want them to be inspired to be involved in their city… And I want them to know that if they want to see change, then its up to them.”

“I want people to take away a sense of hope,” said Cook. “That while these are pretty big problems, there are solutions out there.”

 

 

Police Briefs

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Children left in car during a heat advisory

College Police responded to a call that a child was left unat­tended in a car during the heat advisory on Tuesday, Aug 26. Police found two children in a van parked by the Clock East parking lot. One child said her mother had gone into a store to buy some candy. The children were removed from the vehicle and taken into protective cus­tody. Forty minutes later, the children’s mother contacted the police who then took her into custody. Campus Police trans­ported the children to Johnson County Juvenile In-take and As­sessment Center. Their mother has been released pending fur­ther investigation.

 

Cell phone stolen in Student Lounge

A student’s cell phone was stolen when he walked to the front desk to return a game con­troller. The student had left his phone on his chair in the back corner by the foosball table and when he returned, the phone was gone. He checked with the Student Lounge and Campus Police to see if the phone had been turned in, but it had not. The investigation is ongoing.

Compiled by Christina
Lieffring, news editor,
clieffri@jccc.edu

News Briefs

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Message from President Sopcich

President Joe Sopcich sent an email to the student body regarding the lockdown on cam­pus on Sept. 4.
“Our students are to be com­mended for the way they re­sponded to the situation,” said Sopcich. “We are also proud of the way our JCCC Police Force responded to the initial report. Their performance reassures us that we’re in good hands.”

Sopcich called the experience, “alarming and sobering.”

“Security on our campus is of paramount importance to us all,” Sopcich added. “There’s no reason to feel afraid at JCCC. Our thanks.”

 

‘Diversidad’ conference

Education professionals and organizations that work with the Latino community will gather to discuss issues and strategies for recruiting and retaining Latino students in higher education. Er­nesto Mejia, the keynotes speak­er, will discuss his experiences in higher education. Mejia is the son of Mexican immigrants and was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome when he was 16 years old. The event will also include a session to train metro-area Latino students on motiva­tion and leadership. The confer­ence is from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, Sept 19. For more in­formation, contact Patricia Don­aldson at ext 2638 and Melisa Jimenez at ext 2304.

 

Professor presents research on women in politics

Terri Easley, associate pro­fessor of speech, will give two presentations on her research on women and politics. The first will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 17 in the Hudson Audi­torium. The topic will be how women in emerging democra­cies (ie Afghanistan, Egypt, Mo­rocco) view their role in politics and government. Her second talk at 11 a.m. on Sept. 25 in the Craig Auditorium will discuss American women and political participation.

 
Compiled by Christina
Lieffring, news editor,
clieffri@jccc.edu

A message to the students from President Joe Sopcich

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To our students,
 
On Thursday, we experienced our college’s first “lockdown” situation. It was an alarming and sobering experience. As you know from our alerts, we had reports of a weapon on campus. Please know that our police force takes such reports with extreme seriousness. We are all fortunate that they do. In this case, as we will in all cases, our decisions were based on what is the safest approach possible for our campus community. The outcome of this situation was a good one, and the room-by-room search was lifted with a final alert sent at 7:05 p.m.
 
Our students are to be commended for the way they responded to the situation. You and your professors followed your training and calmly did what you needed to do to ensure your safety. We are also proud of the way our JCCC Police Force responded to the initial report. Their performance reassures us that we’re in good hands.
 
Security on our campus is of paramount importance to us all. There’s no reason to feel afraid at JCCC. Our thanks go out to everyone on campus for handling this situation so well.
 
Sincerely,
 
Joe Sopcich
President

A message from President Joe Sopcich: Key Performance Indicators

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sopcich_joe photo

A message from President Joe Sopcich:

Last year, we spent a lot of time talking about our Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), which are data sets that we use to measure how well our students – and the college – are doing. We published them in our annual report to the community, our League for Innovation reaffirmation document, on the web and on the digital signs in the hallways. I’ve used them in countless presentations to groups in the community.

One year later, we haven’t forgotten them by any means. In fact, we’ve updated them, based on benchmarking information and our annual survey results. I’m happy to report that we’re making progress in some areas and trying hard to improve in others! You can see for yourself by checking the KPI web pages.

   As a reminder, JCCC’s key performance indicators

· Measure student success.

· Are nationally accepted indicators.

·  Can be used as benchmarks to assess our performance against the performance of peer institutions (community colleges similar to JCCC).

· Provide institutional focus and accountability.

 Here’s what we’re seeing:

· Both our full-time and part-time student graduation and transfer rates (for first-time, degree-seeking students) are up! The percentage for full-time students increased from 39% to 42% over the last year, while the percentage for part-time students increased from 32% to 36%. We haven’t yet reached our goal, which is to be at the 75th percentile of community colleges’ performance nationwide, but we are certainly closing that gap.

· Fall-to-fall persistence rates dropped ever so slightly, comparing fall 2011 to fall 2012 and fall 2012 to fall 2013 – from 46% to 45%. We can take a look at the 20th day census figures in September to see if that changes from fall 2013 to fall 2014.

· The GPA of students who transfer to KU was up – moving from 2.98 to 2.99.

· Four of the five student satisfaction indicators showed significant progress. (These are based on student responses to the annual Noel-Levitz survey measuring student responses regarding instructional effectiveness, registration effectiveness, concern for the individual, academic advising and counseling, and safety and security.)

o    Student satisfaction with instructional effectiveness moved from 5.51 in 2012 to 5.54 in 2014.

o    Student satisfaction with registration effectiveness increased from 5.51 in 2012 to 5.61 in 2014.

o    Student satisfaction regarding the college’s concern for the individual increased from 5.33 in 2012 to 5.35 in 2014.

o    Student satisfaction with safety and security increased from 5.12 in 2012 to 5.18 in 2014.

o    Academic advising and counseling decreased from 5.23 in 2012 to 5.19 in 2014.

 I applaud you for your efforts this past year to move the needle on our KPIs. As the saying goes, if nothing changes, nothing changes. Well, as the numbers show, many things here have changed for the better, and those changes are reflected in our KPIs. That was the result of your hard work and your willingness to try new ideas, new processes and new procedures and do things a little differently to help our students. Indicators that were flat or declined are opportunities for future growth. Obviously, we can make a difference when we work together as ONE!

 I know some of these changes haven’t been easy or comfortable, but we as faculty and staff have made them anyway, and they’re paying off in better results for our students. Ultimately, it’s not about us, it’s about our students. I thank you for your efforts to put students first, but far more importantly, our students thank you. Let’s keep pushing the envelope and be persistent in moving the needles in a positive direction. We can do this, because we’ve proven that we can!

 Joe

Photo courtesy of JCCC.

Dan Robles Q&A on lockdown with sound bytes from students

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Text by Christina Lieffring

Audio clips courtesy of Michaela Hines of ECAV Radio

Editor’s note: We will be sure to keep everyone posted as new information surfaces. Be sure to read additional coverage of this topic in the next issue, which comes out Thursday, Sept. 11.

Crime prevention officer Dan Robles believed the lockdown “worked out really well,” he said.

Robles spoke with The Campus Ledger about the reported armed individual, the subsequent shutdown, including what he believed went well yet could be done differently in the future.

Christina Lieffring: First of all, when did [campus police] initially get the call about the suspicious person on campus?

Dan Robles: We got the call at 3:11 p.m. yesterday, about a person on campus, possibly armed with a sidearm, a firearm or a shotgun.

CL: And there were mixed reports: there was a text message coming out from the college that said there were two reports? But then I saw a news interview with you which said there was one.

DR: Yes, what happened is we think it was the same person overheard somebody saying something and they just — it’s like when you tell somebody next to you something and then you pass it on down the line like that game. If you’ve ever played, that gets mixed like that. And that’s what we think probably happened was it got mixed like that. But we had the one initial report.

CL: This is the first major incident like this, is that true?

DR: Yes this is. For our college, it’s the first major incident we’ve had like where we’ve actually received national attention on that scale, it is. But I think when you look at the scale and the way things turned out, I think it all worked out really well for us.

CL: So this was kind of a first run of the A.L.I.C.E. procedures. How do you think faculty, staff and students did following those measures?

DR: I think we did actually really well. When you look at the type of situation that we had: a report that came out, classes going on — just a lot of activity going on, that we were able to go ahead and get the campus for the most part shut down, hallways clear; some people locking themselves in the classrooms, people leaving the campus… I think when you look at the type of incident  …  that happened, it occurred really well. It couldn’t have gone any better for the most part.

CL: Were there some areas that could have used some improvement?

DR: I think some of the things that we do, you know, trying to get the message out; some people not hearing the message being broadcast, seeing the TV monitors, those types of things that we can try to improve on. I think that’s part of, if we’re going to critique it, that’s some of the things that we’re looking at. Just trying to get the students out maybe a little bit faster. Faculty, staff getting them aware of what’s going on, those types of things.

CL: And then the Overland Park police came out–

DR: Yes.

CL: How many police force were actually on campus?

DR: We had representation from Overland Park police, highway patrol. We had Johnson County Med-Act was here. Johnson County Park Police and the sheriff’s office here. So we had about an additional 50 to 60 officers here on campus, which was great support.

CL: Yeah, I was impressed with the fact that you were able to block all the entrances and exits onto the campus because there’s a lot of them.

DR: Oh yes, there are a lot, and we try to do the best we could with the people, the personnel we had available to do what we did; to not only block the access/entrance but also to make the campus as safe as possible. You know, during this incident.

CL: I saw an interview you did with one of the TV stations and you pointed out that you’re trying to find one person out of 15,000 students with a 250-acre campus.

DR: Yes, when you look at it like that it makes it very difficult, especially when a person may gel in, they look kind of like all the other people that are here. It makes it a little more difficult.

CL: So is there anything from this experience that you guys are going to carry forward about? Just the scale of trying to find that one person and realizing how challenging it may be. Are there going to be any changes to how you guys may approach this type of situation in the future?

DR: I think we’re probably going to use a similar approach but maybe lockdown the whole campus instead of locking down part of it, which is what we did, have the whole place locked down. And when we say that, you can go ahead and get off campus using our A.L.I.C.E. principles, but the other is if you are in your room and you don’t think you can get out or do not feel safe getting out, locking yourself in. And the A.L.I.C.E. principles worked great during this event because we did find out during the incident that people had barricaded their doors, they had put file cabinets against the doors. We realized this when we were going room to room, looking for the individual but at the same time also making sure that the doors and rooms were secure.

CL: When you guys were going room to room did you get a sense if the students felt prepared or that the teachers felt prepared? Or that they felt a little not sure of what they should be doing?

DR: I think we had – I want to say that the majority of them felt prepared on what to do with the ALICE training, with what their teachers and instructors have been through with that training. That helped a lot. There were students who were unsure. Some didn’t receive the message right, they didn’t have a phone — you know, those types of things; didn’t know what was going on and that happens. Not everybody is going to be in the know. Can’t have your phone on if you’re in class and the class lets out and you’re standing in the hallway and you see all these people running around, that type of thing. That’s understandable. So with our officers, we try to just get the message out and with our system here that we have with the dispatch. Get it out to as many people as possible. Trying to keep that confusion down but at the same time getting people informed.

CL: Was there ever confirmation of the presence of the suspicious person or a weapon on campus?

DR: Well, we did have a person tell us that they did see what they saw, a weapon on campus. And we have to go with that like that being 100 percent truth with what that person is saying. We still are doing an investigation on it. We have our detective following up on any leads that they have, phone calls that came in, making the contacts, etc. But we never did find any person on campus. But, that being said, you’ve got to act like there is a person like that on campus.

CL: Nothing was seen on security cameras?

DR: No. Not that we know of yet. We still have to review cameras. Hundreds of cameras on campus, to sit there and look at video, between those time frames you know how long that could take. It can be a long process.

CL: I was actually in the Regnier Center. We were actually stuck in there for like three hours.

DR: Yes, we understand that. There were some people who were in some places for a long time and when you are in a place like that and you’re not prepared for that, it can make it difficult for you. And that’s why we try to get things done as, I don’t want to say as quickly as possible, but get done things in a professional matter we could let the people what was going on.

CL: Any other last thoughts about what happened yesterday?

DR: I just want to — I would like to say just keep your updates on your phone, keep abreast of the monitors, take some A.L.I.C.E. classes training if you have not and just be aware of your surroundings.

Audio clip:

President Joe Sopcich issues a statement about the lockdown

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A message from President Joe Sopcich:

To members of our campus community,

 Yesterday we experienced our college’s first “lockdown” situation. Rest assured it was not a drill. It was an alarming and sobering experience. As you know from our alerts, we had reports of a weapon on campus. Please know that our police force takes such reports with extreme seriousness. We are all fortunate that they do. Their challenge is always to verify the reports before we take action. The margin for error is non-existent. In this case, as we will in all cases, our decisions were based on what is the safest approach possible for our campus community. Ultimately, in this case, the first alert was sent out at 3:40 p.m. and was followed by seven additional alerts. The outcome of this situation was a good one, and the room-by-room search was lifted with the final alert sent at 7:05 p.m.

 We would like to thank everyone on campus for their calmness and clear-headedness. We are proud of the way our JCCC Police Force responded to the initial report. Their performance reassures us that we’re in good hands. Our emergency preparedness group was on top of it all and proved excellent. Additionally, we got reports that, throughout the college, people were following their ALICE training and doing what they needed to do to ensure the safety of our students and colleagues. Lastly, members of our leadership team assumed their pre-assigned responsibilities and performed them admirably. We’d also like to thank the Overland Park Police Department, the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department, the Kansas Highway Patrol and MedAct for their professionalism and quick deployment on campus. We are fortunate to live in a community blessed with such professional law enforcement.

 As we all know, security on our campus is of paramount importance to us all. This experience proved to be a learning opportunity for everyone involved. We will now set out to evaluate our performance and identify ways we can make it better. Lastly, and again, special thanks go to everyone on campus for handling this situation so well.

 Sincerely,

Joe

Campus police lift lockdown after a suspicious person on campus was reported

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jccc 1By: Christina Lieffring

Campus police were called to the scene after an unnamed source informed of a young woman carrying what they believed to be a long gun, possibly a shotgun, on campus this afternoon. Officers arrived at the General Education Building (GEB) within minutes, and by 3:40 p.m., the college sent an alert by text to all students and staff, detailing that the Carlsen Center, Office and Classroom Building, Communications, Billington Library, GEB and areas surrounding the college were all under lockdown.

At press time, it is still unclear if the suspicious person was reported by one or two sources. Campus Police have been unable to confirm the presence of the suspicious person nor whether they were actually carrying a weapon. The source claimed she was a young, white female, 5 feet 10 inches, sporting dark clothing with her hair in a ponytail.

By 4:00 p.m., the Overland Park Police had arrived to assist in the investigation, and shorty after, the entire campus was ordered on full lockdown. Entrances to the campus were closed and guarded by police. All classes were cancelled for the rest of the day.

Officer Dan Robles reported that police were checking security cameras to aid in tracking down the suspicious person, adding it’s finding one person out of the 15,000 on a 250-acre campus.

Police inspected each building thoroughly, including checking the closets. By 5:40 p.m., the school began to release the students and faculty.

At 7:10 p.m. the college formally announced the lockdown was over and classes would resume Friday, Sept. 5.

There still hasn’t been any confirmation of the suspicious person nor the weapon.

10:00 p.m.: It has been confirmed that the call was made by one source.

Speech professor passes away over Labor Day weekend.

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By: Mike Abell

It was announced via email on Tuesday that Professor of Speech, Terry Helmick, passed away over Labor Day weekend.

Helmick worked at the college for 22 years. Survivors include her two children.

There are no memorial services planned as of yet, but refer back to campusledger.com for new info.

UPDATE:  A memorial service for Helmick will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 6, at 946, Vermont St. Lawrence, Kan.

Donations can be made at:

 lawrencefamilypromise.org/donate-now/

Video courtesy of the college:

.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoiJJ82JrCE

 

Harvest Dinner connects students and community

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Attendees enjoyed a three course meal during the Harvest Dinner at Capitol Federal Conference Center.

BY MIKE ABELL – THE CAMPUS LEDGER

09/02/2014

Attendees enjoyed a three course meal during the Harvest Dinner at Capitol Federal Conference Center. MIKE ABELL/THE CAMPUS LEDGER 

The annual Harvest Dinner on Friday, Aug. 22 featured the best of both worlds this year. Attendees of the event enjoyed a three course meal that was prepared by students from the Hospitality Culinary Academy with the help of a couple of local chefs inside the Capitol Federal Conference Center.

Students and faculty from the Sustainable Agriculture program harvested the crops, however Kristy Howell, sustainability education and engagement coordinator, said that there are multiple areas where students can get involved, but it is not just students who got to enjoy the fruits of their labor.

“Students are welcome to attend the event obviously,” said Howell, “but it is typically its students who benefit from the event and donors that attend.”

The Harvest Dinner is usually attended by community members, donors, and anyone who has a part in making the Harvest Dinner possible. The amount of guests can range anywhere from 100 to 130.

Howell, who is recently new to the college, was assisted with the planning of the event by her predecessor, Kim Criner. It is tradition for the sustainability education and engagement coordinator to be the primary planner for the Harvest Dinner.

“This has always been central to the education and engagement person’s position,” said Howell. “This is something Kim [Criner] did for years while she was here and it fits really well with the overall aim with the position.”

Criner planned the Harvest Dinner since it’s inception and she said it has been growing in terms of attendance and quality. She also said that the Harvest Dinner has created a strong partnership between the two programs.

“The dinner has really evolved with the farm over the years,” said Criner. “Honestly we wouldn’t have been able to have an event like this if it weren’t for everyone involved.”

Kriner said that while she worked at the college she noticed an increase with the amount of attendees from one year to another, which may be in part to the Harvest Dinner’s reputation of having excellent food. This year local chefs Aaron Prater, Alex Pope and Lindsay Laricks utilized their talents along with produce, grown at the college.

The chemical-free produce was grown on the campus farm, approximately 2.5 acres and located on the northwestern part of the campus. The farm is maintained by students and faculty from the Sustainable Agriculture program.

Stu Shafer, professor and chair of sustainable agriculture, said that he enjoys helping out each year not only because of the attendees, but also the students.

“The thing that I enjoy the most is having our students be able to share with our donors and supporters the rich experiences they’re getting from our program.”

To finish off the evening, attendees were presented with a free performance  by Kelly Hunt at Nerman Museum of Contemporary art afterwards.

For more info on the concert, visit thecampusledger.com

Contact Mike Abell, editor-in-chief, mabell@jccc.edu