On Tuesday April 16th, Community College of Philadelphia’s annual Magner Nichols speech competition was held. This year fourteen people competed in the speech competition, and fifty-one originally auditioned. 186 people were in attendance at the speech competition.

Professor Kristen Quinn has been coordinating the event since 2004, with the exception of 2012.

“It [Magner Nichols] is a great opportunity for students and gives them the chance, not only to showcase their work, but to compete for awards that are recognized at the official Academic Awards Ceremony the night before graduation,” Quinn said.

The competition is split up into two different categories: public speeches and acting monologues.

In the speech division of the competition the first place winner was Kang Lee with “The Comfort Women,” in second place came Adib Waheed with “Stop the Violence” and in third place came Jane Zacher with “Understanding the Effects of Heart Attacks on Women.”

In the monologue division of the competition the first place winner was Joshua Lynch with “The Orange Paper” by Brandon Hall, in second place came Kemar Jewel with “The Fact Checker” by Gabriel Davis and in third place Keith Brown with “A Soldier’s Story” by Charles Fuller. 

Holley Fok, Hannah Bellinger and Nassim Husuam also competed in the public speech portion of the competition. Shareen Jarrells, Damarilis Rodriguez, Darlene Smith, Mirra Watkins and Jasmine Spence also competed in the monologue portion of the competition.

The competition began with honorary guest speaker, Neil Hartley, who spoke to those in attendance. Neil Hartley is a famous actor, director and educator. Then the competition began, followed by a choreographed dance by students in Dr. Hall-Karmambe’s Movement and Dance class. Winners received prizes which could be any of the following: bookstore prizes, trophies and also recognition at the official Academic Awards Ceremony the night before their graduation. Finally a free catered reception followed.

The event has been held since the 1987-1988 semester. It was founded by former CCP Professor Adele Magner. The competition is now held in honor of former CCP professors Adele Magner and Daphne Nichols to keep their legacies going.

This past Wednesday, CCP’s main campus library held a focus group in its auxiliary classroom on how to improve its services to students.

The focus group was conducted without the presence of library faculty and staff to let students know they could freely speak their minds. All discussion was conducted under the condition of anonymity so none of it will be printed here.

“We want students to be partners in directing our services,” Jamie Bowers, a librarian at the Northeast Regional Center said.

The moderator, English Professor Jason Esters, led the group in discussion about the library’s performance. Questions pertained to the library’s services such as online databases and access to on-site material. The library staff’s ability to assist students was also inquired about and whether or not the library provides a comfortable work environment.

Students who participated were given a $5 gift card from Barnes and Noble and a copy of, “Create Dangerously: The Immigrant Artist at Work,” by Edwidge Danticat.

“I thought it was very productive. Everyone was very insightful. Everyone was able to say what the library needs and what the library is lacking,” biology major Olly Brown said.

The idea came from the Dean of Education Support Services, Joan Bush. It was voluntarily organized by Bowers and fellow librarian Jessica Rossi. The original plan was to have two focus groups with eight to twelve participants but out of the nine students that rsvp’d, only seven attended. The smaller number was still able to yield useful information.

From here the information will be compiled into a report by Bowers and Rossi to be used internally in order to inform the library and the administration of what they should focus on to improve the library’s services.

On January 2, 2014 several changes will be made to the General Educational Development test (GED), according to a press release from the Community College of Philadelphia (CCP).

The test is being updated in order to keep pace with national high-school standards. This will help prospective students be better prepared for college and the workforce. The price of the test will rise to $120 dollars.

The difficulty of the test will also increase.

“The paper and pencil version of the test will be eliminated… For individuals that may lack proficient computer skills, the new test format may present a challenge,” David E. Thomas, Dean of the Division of Adult and Community Education at CCP, said in an email.

Desiree Rivers, Administrative Associate with the Division of Adult Education Services expressed concern about this as well. She pointed out that if a student who lacks basic computer skills would want to develop those skills through CCP, the CIS 103 Applied Computer Technology, which is the most basic course offered, might prove too difficult.

According to Thomas, the exam will involve four tests covering reasoning through language arts, social studies, science and mathematical reasoning. Written portions will be included in the language arts, social studies and science sections. A student’s results will be broken down into two scores. One will show their results for their high school equivalency. The other will indicate their readiness for college and a career.

“Test takers will have to infer or evaluate to get the right answer rather than simply recall what they have read or solve an equation,” Thomas said in an email. “Test takers will also receive a diagnostic report whether they pass or fail, indicating areas of strength and deficit.”

This past Friday, CCP held an event called College for a Day. It was held to give those who are in local GED programs a chance to tour the college and see what educational opportunities CCP has to offer.

In attendance was Khalil Glover who was there through YesPhilly, a program designed to help those who have dropped out of school. He has known about the upcoming changes to the GED test and is planning on completing it before the end of the year.

Despite the increase in difficulty, Don Butler, Manager of Adult Education Services at CCP believes that students will still be able to succeed.

These changes are not just affecting the test locally. The changes are being made across the nation. According to Thomas, local organizations have collaborated to help spread the word about these changes including the Mayor’s Commission on Literacy, the Center for Literacy, Temple University and District 1199C, a local health care training provider.

Washington DC — In a game that had a 16 minute delay, the Washington Nationals improved to 5-2 on the season with a 5-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday night. The umpires got caught in a traffic jam, causing the game to be delayed. The Na tionals received much more expectations with the addition of Dan Haren, the three time All Star, making their team much more formidable. Dan Haren thus far has not had a great start to the season.

Dan Haren looks to bounce back from an average season debut, as he will once again play before the home crowd at Nationals Park Thursday night in Washington D.C. Desmond had a triple and a pair of doubles in the contest; Bryce Harper homered, and Danny Espinosa provided his first two RBI’s of the season. With the win over the White Sox, the Nationals improved to 5-0 at home on the season, and won 5 out of their first 7 games.

With the loss the White Sox have dropped to (4-4) on the season. Adam Dunn, who played for the Nationals in 2009-2010, made his appearance against the Nationals, and received a chatter of applause from the Nationals crowd. With the loss the White Sox have dropped to (4-4) on the season, and has dropped four of six. The White Sox will play the Nationals tonight at National Park, for their back to back against the Nationals.

Students at Community College of Philadelphia (CCP) and nationwide are struggling with math. According to figures from the CCP Office of Institutional Research, 49% of students here at the college, place below the college math level of Math 118 and fall into developmental mathematics courses Math 016 or 017.

In an effort to produce better numbers, Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Judy Gay released a proposal that would divide the Math Department in two, one for developmental courses 016, 017 and in a new move, the Math 118 course would fall under this department as well, losing its “credit” bearing status.

Dr. Gay’s plan would be considered a centralized approach, which means that developmental courses are provided by a separate Developmental Education Department. Currently the College is using a decentralized approach, which means developmental courses and credit math courses are taught together by the same faculty and are a part of the same department. This method is the most common approach amongst colleges and universities in the U.S. according to a Department of Education report.

In the proposal, Dr. Gay states the reason for the change is, “Our current approach to developmental mathematics is not working.” She further highlights the success of neighboring community colleges such as Delaware and Bucks County Community Colleges for the improvements in developmental math.

Dr. Gay opened her proposal with a quote by Dr. Uri Treisman, professor of mathematics and Executive Director of the Charles A. Dana Center. It read, “Developmental mathematics has become a burial ground for the aspirations of a myriad of students trying to improve their lives through education.”

Dr. Treisman is a well-known leader in math and science. In 2006 he won the Scientist of the year award by Harvard.

“Uri’s notable contributions to mathematics and his admirable work with minority students deserves special recognition,” said Dr. S. Allen Counter, Director of the Harvard Foundation.

After contacting Dr. Treisman on the split of the math department here at CCP he responded by email with the following: “In general, I do not think it good practice to segregate programs for students needing remediation from regular departmental programs. I do understand that sometimes campus administrators who lack confidence in their Math Departments pursue this strategy. In such cases there are often better solutions to the issues at hand.”

In Department Head of Mathematics, Brenton Webber’s, eleven-page response to Dr. Gay’s proposal, he states, “The Mathematics Department is firmly against this proposal” and “has evidence of improvement within reasonable expectations.”

Webber also points out that Delaware and Bucks County Community Colleges are having success, but also have different students than that of CCP’s. The average CCP student is older and has spent more time away from high school. In addition, as Webber notes, CCP students are also coming from an already troubled Philadelphia School District, which struggles with math.

Webber further mentions that there, “is a trend away from centralized math models,” referencing a 1997 move by Bucks County Community College that placed their Basic Algebra course back into the regular math department.

Student responses to the split and the Math Department in general are mixed; however, the consensus from students was that most CCP math instructors are doing a poor job of covering the material and preparing students who are already unfamiliar with math.

Sarah, a current 118 student said, “It’s [math 118] complex enough for me to gather all the information and stop right there. I don’t need to go any further; we touch on everything from basic common numbers to dividing fractions It covers everything full circle. If I’m a Communications major then why [take more math classes]? That’s just greedy.”

Rashad, also in math 118 says that his biggest barrier to 017 was, “He [math instructor]did not speak good English. Nearly everyone in the class complained. Many people dropped the class.” Rashad said that his peers did not know the proper steps to take to file a complaint against the instructor.

Claudia, a non-traditional student said that her experience in 017 was horrible. She took the class twice. She said, “One time we did get him to try and teach us things and he said well you should know these things already. But for someone like me who hasn’t been in school for a while how am I supposed to know? There were kids right from out of high school that didn’t understand [the math work].”

I asked her what she did to resolve the matter and she said she complained to department head, Brenton Webber, and his response was ‘well you should have came earlier in the year’. When asked about her math 118 class Claudia said her biggest challenge was the final exam.

According to statistics provided by the Math Department, between Fall 2009 and Spring 2010 there was an average drop of 11.9% in overall passing grades (A, B, or C) for math 016, 017 and 118 classes. Withdraws also doubled for 016 and 118 for that same period. Webber correlates this dramatic decrease in results to the “implementation of the departmental final exam.”

Students are unfamiliar with the new computerized testing and the time counter for the final exam is unforgiving to human error. There is already a mixed message from different Math 017 and 118 instructors in regards to using the mymathlab website that would help familiarize students with the computerized final exam format. Creating a new department could possibly further complicate communications.

The mathematics department has been making attempts to produce better student numbers as outlined in Webbers response; however, the key to this lies with the students as they are the ones with the problem.

A popular student opinion based website, ratemyprofessor.com, rated one CCP math instructor and 24 times students had complaints they could not understand the teacher’s English; two said he was just a bad instructor.

On Thursday, April 4th, Community College of Philadelphia’s Eta Sigma Chapter of Alpha Beta Gama held their largest initiation ceremony to date inducting 52 students for the spring 2013 semester in P2-18 (The Cube) of the Pavilion Building on Main Campus.

To quote words from the Initiation Ritual and the organization’s websites: “Alpha Beta Gamma is an international business honor society established in 1970 to recognize and encourage scholarship among college students in business curricula at community, junior and technical colleges. The society has over 35,000 members from 140 member colleges.”

Photo By Justin Clarke

The College’s Eta Sigma Chapter, which now has 198 memers total is still fairly new having only been established in 2010. Cory Ng, Assistant Professor of Accounting & Business Programs Supervisor, currently serves as Eta Sigma Chapter’s Faculty Advisor and Desilava Pavlova, Eta Sigma Chapter President. Ng could not attend the April 4th ceremony due to workshop obligations as one of the professors of the upcoming Goldman-Sach’s Initiative (see Volume 41, Issue 2) being introduced at the college.

The Initiate’s guest were ushered into the Cube by Student Ambassadors to await the beginning of the ceremony while the initiates were ushered into an adjacent room to check-in, have corsages pinned to their chest and have photos taken while waiting for stragglers.

Photo By Justin Clarke

The ceremony began roughly at 5 p.m. after the initiates entered the Cube and was seated with opening remarks from speakers Rainah Chambliss, National Student President of Alpha Beta Gamma and Dr. Judith Gay, Vice President of Academic Affairs at the College, to name a couple. After Dr. Gay spoke to those in attendance, Keynote Speaker, Honorary Alpha Beta Gamman and Shareholder at Shechtman Marks Devor PC, Bruce Marks, gave a speech to theaudience that most directly related to his own business practices as an Accountant. The initiation ritual followed Marks’ speech.

First, the ceremony is called to order and the person conducting the initiate’s induction addresses them in front of the audience mostly comprised of their friends and family. This semester the traditional words were spoken by Assistant Dean of Business and Technology, Dr. Marian McGorry. McGorry asks the initiates questions like, “Do you subscribe to the high ideals of scholarship, leadership and cooperation of Alpha Beta Gamma?” and “Do you have an appreciation of the worthiness and distinction of studying business as well as an appreciation for the opportunities of service in your profession,” to which the initiates responded, “I do.”

Next, three candles are lit. A gold candle to represent education, a red candle to represent leadership and a white candle to symbolize cooperation are all lit.

Photo By Justin Clarke

Third, the traditional pledge is recited by the initiates in front of everyone in attendance and then the initiates await the calling of their names. Each initiate is called up to the front one at a time to pick one of the three candles and state which of the three principles they hope to embody the most as they are recognized as full new members of Alpha Beta Gamma – Eta Sigma. Most inductees at the ceremony chose the red candle representing leadership.

Closing remarks were made by both McGorry and Chambliss and everyone was then ushered out of the Cube to the second floor of the Pavilion Building Cafeteria which was closed off for a celebratory banquet catered by students of the culinary department, ending the ceremony.

The election process for the new 2013-2014 officers has already taken place and winners were announced via email on April 19th. Erika Lawrence was elected President; Yvonne Ellis, Vice President-Elect; Renee King Hudson, Secretary-Elect and Cindy Ngo, Marketing Officer-Elect. The newly elected officers’ term is from 7/1/2013 through 6/30/2014. To learn more about the Eta Sigma chapter of Alpha Beta Gamma visit https://sites.google.com/site/abgccp/.

Chicago Ill — It was just 2 weeks ago when the Chicago Bulls ended the Miami Heat’s 27 game winning streak. The Heat’s streak was a streak that lasted for 2 months without a defeat. Win number 9 on the Heat’s streak was the Chicago Bulls, and their first loss ended the streak at 28 games, suffered at the hand of the shorthanded Bulls on March 27, 2013. Some would say the number 27 has some sort of significance as it relates to the Miami Heat’s winning streak. It ended at 27, and it ended on the 27th of March.

The banged up Bulls have been suffering injuries all season long. The Chicago Bulls await the much anticipated return of their All Star Derrick Rose, still recovering from Knee surgery, and they have had a number of various injuries to different players. Joakim Noah (Foot) Plantar Fasciitis, Rip Hamilton just recovered from the same injury, but despite the injuries, the Bulls continue to win huge games.

Thursday night at the United Center the Bulls were in familiar territory, as they had a chance to end the current winning streak of the New York Knicks at 13. In a game where there were 2 lead changes and three ties, the Knicks opened the game with a 23-6 lead, a 17 point deficit for the Bulls. The Bulls played most of the game from behind, until the third quarter, where the Bulls entered the quarter within five at halftime at 59-54. The Knicks at the beginning of the quarter went 11-4 run, leading 73-58.

Carmelo Anthony came out of the half on fire, but went cold down the stretch of the contest, as Nate Robinson, the former Knick, exploded for 35 points, including the 3 point bucket in the third to pull the Bulls within 2 at 82-80, which was the closest that the Bulls had been since the start of the game. The Bulls took the lead late in the fourth, but altered it as Knicks Forward Carmelo Anthony hit two free throws after getting fouled by Jimmy Butler to tie the game, but missed a key shot to end the game with 1.5 seconds. The Bulls entered the O/T with a Nate Robinson layup and a foul, resulting in a three point lead and the Bulls won it in O/T. The Win makes the Bulls the second team in NBA history to end multiple streaks of 13 games, or more in a single season.

On Thursday, April 11, the Community College of Philadelphia (CCP) unveiled plans for a new English degree. The Associate Arts (AA) degree in English is designed to be transferable to any state run college in Pennsylvania and functions as the first two years of a Bachelor’s of Arts (BA) degree.

“An AA in English will do a number of pretty important things for you,” said Program Coordinator Simone Zelitch. “It will help you read closely and write clearly. But perhaps the most important foundation it will provide you is the ability to go on to a number of other programs. It’s a very flexible degree… It’s a very common degree for pre-law. It’s a strong degree for those who want to go on to public relations or advertising. It actually is a degree that some doctors have.”

The program is 61 credits and a student must finish with at least a grade point average of a 2.0. Along with General Education requirements, the English Degree includes:

• English 190:  Introduction to Literature
•  Three of the following Survey Courses:
•  British Literature I and 2
•  American Literature 1 and 2
•  One  of the following
•  World Literature 1 and 2 
• Public Speaking
• Two Literature or Creative Writing Electives

“The more I thought about the degree the more I realized what a good match the program is for the institution and its students,” Zelitch said. “Really being able to communicate clearly is essential… It’s about being able to read between the lines and saying what you mean on paper.”

The launch began with a welcome ceremony that outlined the wide range of courses in the English program and a chance to speak with the faculty. Next was a panel where representatives from Temple, Arcadia, Saint Joseph’s University, Rosemont and La Salle discussed transfer opportunities to their own BA programs in English. 

Lunch was served after the seminar concluded and the faculty held an English and Creative Writing mixer and trivia contest. After lunch a panel (including a lawyer, a journalist, and an advertising and PR person) discussed what could be done with an English major. For many the highlight came next when last semester’s Judith Stark Creative Writing Contest winners read excerpts from their award winning works and discussed their favorite authors. The day culminated in an open mic hosted by the Director of the Creative Writing Certificate, Jeffrey Markovitz.

Famous English Majors:

• Harold Varmules- Noble Laureate in Medicine and current Director of the National Cancer Institute
• Bob Woodward- Journalist whose writing about the Watergate scandal lead to the resignation of President Richard Nixon
• Clarence Thomas- US Supreme Court Judge
•  Barbara Walters- Television broadcast journalist
• Brandon Tartikoff- Television executive credited with turning around NBC’s low prime time television reputation
• Steven Spielberg- Director/Producer of many of Hollywood’s biggest movies
• Sting- Singer/Songwriter and former English teacher
• Martin Scorsese- Award winning director of Raging Bull, The Taxi Driver, and Goodfellas
• Sally Ride- US Astronaut
• Conan O’Brien- Talk show host, comedian, and writer
• Mario Cuomo- Former Governor of New York

For More Information Contact:

Simone Zelitch, Program Coordinator at szelitch@ccp.edu,

The Division of Liberal Studies, Room BR-21, 1700 Spring Garden Street, Philadelphia, PA 19130, Telephone (215) 751-8450; or the College Information Center (215) 751-8010.

Or check out the website: http://www.ccp.edu/site/academic/catalog/degrees/english_degree.php

On Mon., April 22nd, Chechnya born Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was formally charged by police from his hospital bed for his involvement in the April 15th Boston Marathon bombing in downtown Boston, Massachusetts which left three people dead and another 200-or-more injured.

Tsarnaev was charged with using a weapon of mass destruction and malicious destruction of property resulting in death. He faces state and federal charges and if convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison or even given the death penalty.

Tsarnaev, still badly wounded from the April 19th capture that put the 19-year-old in critical condition and left his 26-year-old brother and accomplice in the bombing, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, dead began communicating with police in writing over the weekend of the 21st.

Police found Tsarnaev in Watertown, Mass. hiding in a boat during their manhunt for the suspect after he escaped the same shootout with police earlier that day which left his brother dead. The two young men left two bombs made from pressure cookers in book bags. The explosions went off as participants in the race neared the finish line.

Not far from CCP’s Main Campus, crowds of Latinos gathered and closed off on 19th and Spring Garden Streets. Sunday mass became a protest of peace on April 21, 2013 which was also the last mass at the church. Latinos were all gathered and united for a simi lar cause which was to
save La Milagrosa, a church that has been of great importance in the Latino community.

CCP’s own Senior Designer from the Office of Communications, Gilberto Gonzalez, organized this event in order to bring awareness and unite the Latino community. He introduced numerous speakers that shared their own personal histories with the church. Organizations like the National Conference of Puerto Rican Women, Latino Partnership, Occupy El Barrio and many more showed their support. Not only were there Latinos supporting each other but all members of the community stood together that Sunday.

The Archdiocese has sold La Milagrosa and will be closing it down in the summer. According to the Executive Director, of the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia, Jenny Clark, litigation might be an option in the case of saving the church. Her legal team is a nonprofit law firm that takes on matters important to community members. Even though, the church would rather not resort to litigation they still have not received the answers they are looking for from the Archdiocese. The church wants to work with the Archdiocese and the community in order to avoid the court process.

Protestors

The lawyers have sent letters to the archdiocese and the real-estate agents that will be selling the church asking them to not sell until these questions were answered. Clark’s legal team will be contacting the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office which is responsible for making sure that charitable contributions are used in an ethical way.

Many speakers like the Director of LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transsexual) Affairs of Philadelphia, Gloria Casarez, were outraged at the decision of the Archdiocese.

“Once again the Archdiocese has put finances before faith. It has once again put a giant collection plate in front of our community. If you want it you must buy it and we will still sell it out from under you if you do. Disgraceful,” Carasez said.

Many in the Latino community feel forced out of their homes. A place that welcomed migrated Latinos in the fifties, fed them, gave them shelter and even helped Latinos learn the English language. La Milagrosa is a place where many were baptized and where many funerals, weddings and Quinceañeras were held. La Milagrosa is a part of the Latino history in Philadelphia. Many feel like this decision is one of many that have been slowly but surely erasing the history of the Latin community.

To show support and help save the church a petition at www.change.org/organizations/save_la_milagrosa is easily accessible for anyone interested in keeping it open to the community. There will also be upcoming events to help raise money for the church. Follow Gilberto Gonzalez on twitter or add him as a friend on Facebook for more information on events.

Protestors