Plugged In Winter 2013

FACULTY & STAFF NEWSLETTER

FIELD TRIP: A CAPITAL IDEA TRIO TOUTS AMARILLO 101 ACCLAIM FOR DR. CLUNIS TOP COP ON THE DODGE?

W I N T E R 2013 VOLUME V

A MESSAGE FROM A DEPARTMENT CHAIR

E X P L O R E ,

D R E A M ,

D I S C O V E R

We Did in D.C.!

By Bruce Moseley Business Department Chair

G

reetings Fellow Faculty:

If you have a chance to take students on a field trip, do it!

Toni Gray and I started the Legal Society of Amarillo College in the fall of 2012 and took 11 students to Washington, D.C. in November. We had the most amazing and educational trip I can possibly imagine. All of the credit for planning the trip goes to Toni and Kathryn Lankford. I am very thankful for them, as I saw more of D.C. in three days than I had in three previous trips combined.

Here is the short version of our itinerary:

Thursday

Saturday

We split up the first afternoon. Some of the girls went shopping, some went to the Holocaust Museum, while Luis (vice president of the Legal Society) and I went to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. There we watched 2 IMAX films and learned that every human has about a teaspoon of 13-billion-year-old stardust in our bones.

We saw A Christmas Carol at Ford’s Theater where Lincoln was shot.

Flew to D.C. and checked into a hotel in the Georgetown area.

We all met up for dinner at Martin’s Tavern, where JFK proposed to Jackie O, and had a fabulous meal. The hard core went to the State Theater and saw a band from San Francisco called Tea Leaf Green.

Friday

We got a private tour of the White House and the Capitol building, which was set up through Mac Thornberry’s office.

We had to have background checks run for all visitors well in advance, but somehow I got in, so security isn’t too stringent.

We had dinner at Old Ebbitt’s Grill and then did a “D.C. After Dark” tour from 9 p.m. until midnight where a bus drove us to all of the major monuments, including MLK, FDR, Jefferson, Lincoln, World War II, Vietnam, and Arlington Cemetery.

The hardcore (down to just Luis and me) went to the 9:30 Club to see a band from Philadelphia called G. Love and the Special Sauce.

We went to the National Archives and saw the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights.

We went to several museums, including the National Portrait Gallery, the American Art Museum, the Native American Museum, the Natural History Museum, and the American History Museum. I would love to tell you all about them, but space here is limited.

We all went on a dinner cruise along the Potomac River where Toni taught us how to do “The Hustle” (which reflecting back was one of the most entertaining moments of the trip).

Sunday

We attended a church service at the National Cathedral, had lunch, went to the Crime & Punishment Museum, and then headed to the airport.

Back to reality.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore.

Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

LINES ARE DRAWN.

T H E S T A G E I S S E T.

PLANS ARE TWEAKED.

Winter Commencement Two hundred and forty-one gradates took part in Commencement at the Civic Center, where AC alumnus and Texas Representative John Smithee gave the address. If you toiled behind the scenes and/or participated in the actual ceremony, you helped make Dec. 15 a most memorable day for some of our favorite people—deserving completers.

AND . . .

PROCESSIONS PROCEED.

“Commencement,” as Dr. Matney says, “is the best thing we do.”

T A M A R A

C L U N I S

N A M E D

Outstanding First-Year Advocate D

r. Tamara Clunis boldly deemed Amarillo College capable of becoming a model of student success, “a national leader,” she predicted upon her arrival as dean of academic success in June of 2011.

The early returns more than support her premise: AC’s student-success initiatives have drawn recent laurels from the National Council of Instructional Administrators and a collective windfall of more than $3 million in state and federal grants.

What Clunis could not predict, what she never saw coming, was that her efforts would evoke a personal accolade.

Clunis has been named one of 10 educators to receive the Outstanding First-Year Advocate Award presented by the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition.

The award honors college faculty and administrators for outstanding work on behalf of first-year students and for the impact their efforts have on the students and the culture of their institutions.

The 10 recipients were chosen from a field of 128 given consideration for the award. Those 10 will formally be recognized at the Conference on the First-Year Experience Feb. 24 in Orlando, Fla. “Of course I am honored, but I am also humbled because this is an award that recognizes what our College has been able to accomplish,” Clunis said.

“I realized as soon as I got to AC that we had all the components to become a model of student success that other colleges might one day emulate. It was just a matter of infusing synergy.”

That mission may still be in its infancy, but it’s well enough on its way to have snared recognition in 2012 from the National Council of Instructional Administrators, which chose AC’s Adult Basic Education Innovation Program, spearheaded by Clunis, to receive honorable-mention kudos in its 2012 Exemplary Initiatives competition.

Recent grants of $2.5 million from the Department of Labor and more than $800,000 from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, all aimed at innovative student-success initiatives that increase the matriculation and accomplishments of underprepared students, also directly reflect AC’s new synergies.

“Tamara is an inspiration to me personally and without a doubt deserving of this award,” said Dr. Russell Lowery-Hart, vice president of academic affairs. “She has been with us at AC for less than two years, yet her innovation, passion, leadership and deep commitment have already transformed lives. She is an amazing, transformative leader, one AC is truly fortunate to have.”

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT Dr. Paul Matney, in recognition of H.Q. Wrampelmeier’s unselfish donation of a kidney in December to coworker Buster Bonjour, presented her with a President’s Special Achievement Award. The ceremony took place, with Buster looking on, during the January Board of Regents meeting in the CUB. H.Q. and Buster both work in the Center for Teaching and Learning.

During post-presentation networking, Boyd discovered something that is not widely advertised: CellaVision provides free software to worthy educational programs. So she submitted the necessary documentation and swiftly secured about $11,700 worth of new software she was able to introduce into classes last fall.

“This is technology that enables virtual medicine,” Boyd said. “It opens up a new spectrum for our students because we can view a whole world of interesting specimens and participate in live case studies without exposure to biohazardous organisms.

The MLT Program has about $15,000 worth of new technology thanks to its enterprising faculty: Kim Boyd, left, and Jan Martin.

Medical Technology Program Acquires Valuable Resources

T

hanks to the diligence of its proactive faculty, the Medical Laboratory Technology Program recently received a shot in the arm, a veritable technological transfusion worth nearly $15,000.

The windfalls—there are two—come to AC in the form of firstrate software and classroom-clicker technology separately sought and secured by Jan Martin and Kim Boyd.

Boyd, associate professor of MLT, got the ball rolling last spring when she took a group of students to a Panhandle Regional Lab Conference. There they witnessed a presentation

by CellaVision, which develops cutting-edge systems for microscopic analysis of blood and other body fluids.

“Since the hospitals are now acquiring the same technology, this not only strengthens our relationships with them, it also means our graduates will have experience with these systems when they are hired at these facilities.”

Martin, professor of MLT and program director, was steered to a whole different opportunity late last year by Dr. Kelly Jones, director of the Physical Therapist Assistant Program.

Jones told Martin that applications were being accepted for highly competitive Community College Classroom Improvement Technology Grants through the Turning Technologies Foundation.

But the deadline loomed and she would have to act fast.

Martin did just that and was notified over Christmas break that AC is one of only five community colleges in the nation that soon will receive a package of 40 clickers and accompanying software worth about $3,000.

Not the ordinary clickers with mere multiple-choice response capabilities, these superior tools will arrive sometime in February and afford students the opportunity to submit short answers and even solve math problems.

“These are going to be invaluable as a teaching aid,” Martin said.

“Typically, medical lab technology students are introverted and perfectionists and are unwilling to ask questions, so we don’t always know if they fully understand essential concepts.

“Clickers are a very safe way for students to submit feedback and, thus, for instructors to discover what students do and do not understand.”

Creative Mind Tackles Social Media The Creative Mind Humanities Lecture Series for the past 29 years has celebrated the exchange of information on topics ranging from the heritage of Islam to the world of Leonardo Da Vinci. The only difference in this, its 30th year, is that the lectures will be about information itself, the way it is exchanged in today’s world—electronically.

“Social Media: Consequences” will feature noontime and evening lectures on March 21st and 28th, and April 4th. Doctoral experts from Ohio State University, Hamline University and Eastern Kentucky University will be here to lecture on subjects like “Facebook and the Ethics of Human Fulfillment” and “Averting Today’s Biggest Public Health Epidemics with Social Media.”

These lectures are always free. More information about the Creative Mind Humanities Lecture Series will no doubt find you in the weeks ahead.

SPECIAL RECEPTION As a prelude to the aforementioned events, a reception to honor Carol Nicklaus, founder of the Lecture Series, is scheduled from 4-6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28 at the Amarillo Museum of Art. You are cordially invited to attend.

For more information, please call Kristin Edford at Ext. 5205.

FACULTY & STAFF

Accolades McAnally Named to Elite Network of Women

A

s chief of planning and advancement at AC, Danita McAnally is constantly seeking fresh perspectives and new solutions to challenges faced by higher education.

Marcia Julian, instructor of nursing, had a manuscript accepted for publication this spring in the journal Nursing Made Incredibly Easy. Her manuscript is titled “Caring for a Patient Receiving Total Parenteral Nutrition.”

Lee Colaw, chief information officer, has been appointed chairman of the membership committee for the new Texas Association of Community College Chief Information Officers (TACCIO). He also is presently serving on the Adobe Customer Advisory Board, helping to evaluate prototypes and set the corporation’s course for higher education.

Soon she will lend her creative energy to a broader set of concerns—national and global in scope.

McAnally has been selected to join an elite network of women as a member of the Leadership America Class of 2013. She is one of 54 exceptional women leaders competitively selected from across the nation to participate in what is the longest-running women’s leadership development program in the U.S. “I’m absolutely ecstatic,” McAnally said. “Just getting to sit at the same table and network with so many leaders will be invaluable to me personally and, I hope, to the College as I return from each conference with new perspectives that can be put to use.”

Leadership America, in its 26th year, is a program of Women’s Resources, a Dallas-based organization that aims to advance the power of leadership and legacy through programs that connect, inspire, empower and honor women.

The theme of the 2013 program is “Surveying the Landscape . . . Shaping the Future.” Participants will travel to Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and Detroit in April, June and September, respectively.

Dr. Deborah Harding

Macy Kohler

Upon the recommendation of the Rank and Tenure Committee, two members of the faculty were approved for tenure at the January meeting of the Board of Regents: Dr. Deborah Harding, assistant professor of psychology and social sciences, and Macy Kohler, instructor of mathematics.

Jason Norman, director of advising, is the recipient of a prestigious scholarship to the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) Administrators Institute in Savannah, Ga. The program is geared to both aspiring and experienced administrators looking to improve their advising capabilities and programs.

Giving Thanks & Giving Back!

Donations flowed into the CUB when the Classified Employees Development Committee sponsored its Giving Thanks & Giving Back! luncheon Dec. 7 at the CUB.

Enjoying chili and camaraderie at the luncheon are, from left, Nan Kemp and Barbara Sherrill of the library, Cynthea Rannals of HEP, and Rebecca Archer of career and technical education.

Classified employees who attended the event were asked to donate nonperishable food items and personal hygiene products for the AC Pantry.

They did not disappoint, and their reward was a meal of hot chili and plenty of good fellowship.

Terry Knight of the Registrar’s Office, and Kathy Martin with the health sciences STEM grant, transport a portion of the donations from the CUB to the AC Pantry.

Persons of the Year Have AC at Heart The Amarillo Globe-News actually left a mark when it caromed off the Amarillo College doorstep on Jan. 1st —a mark of distinction.

That’s because two of AC’s most stalwart advocates were named the paper’s Man and Woman of the Year: Profiles of former AC President Bud Joyner and Sharon Oeschger, a former AC regent who chairs the AC Foundation’s board of directors, dominated the front page.

Both honorees were lauded for far more than their AC involvements, each having spent countless hours serving on numerous boards and supporting nonprofits throughout the community; however, their hearts clearly remain close to the College.

Joyner, AC’s lone President Emeritus, presided over the College from 1992-1999 and again as interim in 2002-2003.

Among his major achievements was garnering support for a successful $26 million bond issue for AC. “Bud Joyner was one of the best things to ever happen to AC,” today’s President Paul Matney was quoted in the AGN profile.

“He is a leader in the truest sense of the word.”

Bud Joyner

Oeschger was a three-term regent, a tenure that spanned from 1990-2008. Today she continues her AC allegiance by chairing the Foundation Board.

“She is extremely generous with the College,” Ellen Green, chief of communication and marketing, said in the AGN profile. “She knew more about the College than probably any other regent.”

Sharon Oeschger

Any college anywhere will be hard put to start a year off with more flattering attention than AC did when two of its foremost champions where named Man and Woman of the Year.

Don’t Miss Distinguished Lecture An Equal Opportunity Community College

No one has authored a more aptly named book than Aron Ralston, whose Between a Rock and a Hard Place, describes how he was forced to amputate his own arm to get free from a boulder that fell and held him trapped for five full days.

Ralston, subject of the Academy-Award nominated film 127 Hours (2010), will deliver this year’s Distinguished Lecture at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 5 at the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts. We are assured that it will be riveting. A 6 p.m. reception will precede the lecture, and a book signing is set follow it.

For tickets ($5 for students, $15 for us), visit an Assistance Center at Washington Street, Moore County or Hereford, or call AskAC at Ext. 5000.

Steve Chance Named Chief “I’m honored to have the opportunity to do everything I possibly can to ensure that our students, faculty and staff have a safe environment to study and work.

It’s an awesome responsibility and one that I take very seriously.” — Steve Chance

V

eteran peace officer Steve Chance, who launched his career as a student in the Law Enforcement Academy right here at AC, officially became chief of police Jan. 1.

He had served the previous four months as interim chief following the departure of Mike Duval, AC’s longtime chief who retired last August.

Chance brings 33 years of law-enforcement experience to the post, the past 13 at AC. He joined the ACPD as a patrolman

in 1999 and rose through the ranks to corporal, sergeant, lieutenant—and now chief.

“Steve has demonstrated over the years, and certainly over the past four months as interim chief, that he is committed to creating a culture of public service in our Police Department,” Dr. Paul Matney said. “We are most appreciative of Steve and of all our AC police officers for their excellent work.”

Chance oversees 10 officers and 2 civilians. He came to AC after service as the chief of police in Tahoka. Prior to that, he worked for police departments in Pampa and at Texas State Technical Institute.

EDITOR CONTEMPLATES CHANCE WITH CHIEF oil paintings, landscapes mostly.

By Joe Wyatt Plugged In Editor

A proper portrait of Steve also should include his purported attendance at the Woodstock Festival of 1969, not to mention the segment of his teenage years spent living in the infamous HaightAshbury district of San Francisco, a nostalgic locale he recently revisited over both Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Some of the many rules I’ve bent along life’s highway actually sustained hairline fractures, a consequence commonly frowned upon by certain nitpickers and the occasional grand jury.

It’s sad but true: Your Plugged In editor is no angel. Fact is, I’m borderline pathological when it comes to jaywalking, and intermittent brushes with delinquency, truancy and vagrancy have jeopardized my very independency.

There’s also a pretty fair chance I’ve smoked within 20 feet of a door hereabouts.

Nevertheless, I am pleased to point out that while I’ve occasionally been conflicted, I’ve never been convicted.

Steve Chance threatened to run me in, though. Steve, who became AC’s chief of police on Jan. 1, took extreme exception to my suggestion about profiling him in this newsletter. “Let your fellow employees get to know the man behind the badge,” I urged.

You’d think I had proposed smoking inside Lynn Library.

“Why? No! Why?” he demanded, declared, demanded. “I’m no more interesting than the next guy. Nobody wants to know about me.”

So I started rattling off some low-hanging fruit on the Steve Chance grapevine, rumored tidbits that might make for a fine literary wine. His hat collection alone would make for a colorful feature, I hinted.

“Aren’t you partial to Panamas?”

Or, if I were to write about collections in general, Steve’s are said to far exceed what is available at the local haberdasher; I hear he also is drawn to historical literature, classic films, WWII memorabilia and the stuff of Nazis.

Yet if it is truly color we seek, the chief is reputed to have created upwards of 100

Me: Just give me 40 minutes, Steve. I’ll buy you coffee and we’ll talk.

Steve: Talk about what? I hate interviews, and I don’t want you writing about my lava lamps.

Me: Just give me 38 minutes and I’ll leave out the lamps.

Steve: OK. No. I’ll let you know.

While I’ve been waiting for him to get back to me—an intermission akin to police brutality for any deadline-dependent newsletter editor—I have tried to be at least half as cool as Steve by painting a landscape, reading a couple histories, watching several old movies, listening to some Jefferson Airplane…

Whoa, someone’s just entered the outer office, must finally be the chief.

Nah, it’s only the delivery guy with my new lava lamp.

A C

T R I O

T A C K L E S

AMARILLO 101

Joy Brenneman handles a fireman’s ax.

L

ee Colaw got to wield the Jaws of Life.

Mark Rowh not only drove a garbage truck, he and Joy Brenneman were aboard a vehicle that effectively discouraged a coyote from crossing the path of a plane aiming to land at Rick Husband International Airport.

The AC trio took part in Amarillo 101, the city’s inaugural citizen’s academy that stretched from Oct. 18 to Nov. 20 and featured meetings, tours and demonstrations of the city’s abundant services, capabilities and resources.

Lee Colaw and Mark Rowh examine the bomb squad’s robotics.

to comprise what the city dubbed a “pilot program” in which “participants will gain a new appreciation of how many ways the city of Amarillo serves residents.”

The pilot cohort met at various locations—like the water treatment plant and the emergency operations center—for three hours on each of five consecutive Thursday evenings.

The group also undertook a couple of half-day Saturday field trips so they could operate city vehicles and get the feel of tools used by first responders and maintenance crews.

They were nominated for the program by Ellen Green, chief of communication and marketing (also a city commissioner), and among the many things they collectively discovered is that the city of Amarillo is comprised of a great deal more than meets the everyday eye.

“We made a lot of connections with people, leaders of our community,” Rowh said. “We met police, firefighters and the bomb squad. We have really good people taking care of us. I also understand better where our taxes go and how much Amarillo does to save money; we even make our own street signs.

“I’ve lived here 36 years and I did not know we had a reservoir— it’s huge,” said Brenneman, executive assistant to the vice president of academic affairs. “Our whole city is huge. I didn’t realize how much we take for granted.”

They studied the history of the city, and after they plowed through information about the airport, utilities, public health, parks and recreation, libraries, community development and more, Colaw drove an actual plow—a really big one.

Ditto for Colaw, chief information officer, and Rowh, dean of health sciences.

“It’s the largest snowplow in the state of Texas,” he said. “It’s 30 feet wide, a massive beast, and I was amazed at the precision that’s needed to operate it. I’m thoroughly glad I went.”

“I have a whole new respect for the people who work for the city,” Colaw said. “They sometimes do the worst jobs at the worst hours, like standing in a ditch full of water when it’s dark and about to freeze, yet they take pride in what they do. I’m glad I went. It was way beyond anything I expected.”

Each city commissioner was encouraged to nominate two or three citizens to take part in the program. In all, 14 turned out

So is Brenneman, who was particularly enamored by the city’s first-responder capabilities and its fire-fighting operations.

“I’m very glad I did this,” she said. “I got to drive a mower and ride on a fire truck, and of course there was that coyote we chased off the runway. It takes a lot to run a city, and it’s not a bad thing to be reminded of that once in a while.”

A C

P A R A M E D I C

P R O G R A M

Achieves Lofty New Accreditation K

nowing that new rules governing the paramedic profession in Texas loomed on the immediate horizon, faculty in the Emergency Medical Services Program at Amarillo College took action to ensure future compliance of what has long been a highly successful program.

Their efforts paid off in the form of a new and largely exclusive accreditation— certainly within the Texas Panhandle.

AC’s Paramedic Program on Jan. 24th became the only such program in the Panhandle to hold accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP).

Texas now requires that paramedics not only pass a pre-employment national registry exam, but that they graduate from a CAAHEP-accredited program before they even qualify to sit for the exam.

That means AC is the only school in the Panhandle capable of producing professional paramedics at this time.

“This is a confirmation of the commitment of both our College and our program to provide the highest level of education possible in emergency medical services,” said Doug Adcock, director of the Emergency Medical Services Professions Program.

AC is the only school in the Panhandle capable of producing professional paramedics at this time.

“This is validation of what we’ve long believed: Our program is comparable to the best programs anywhere.”

Adcock praised assistant professor Wade Olsen and associate professor Paul Whitfield, along with Dr. Darrell Morgan, the program’s medical director, for their hard work in helping AC overcome the rigorous challenges of obtaining CAAHEP accreditation.

The process took almost two years and entailed a vast amount of data collection, a thorough self-study, and a site visit by the accrediting agency. AC’s initial accreditation from CAAHEP is five years in duration and will not expire until January of 2018.

EAST CAMPUS BUILDINGS RENAMED

Show me a sign!

THE OLD NAME (Building Use)

Building S

(Automotive and Aviation)

By M.J. Coats Marketing Consultant I considered myself a competent navigator until I got lost trying to find the administrative offices on the East Campus. After leaving the highway I ended up in Alphabet City … alphabet streets and alphabet buildings so far apart I didn’t even think they were on the same campus … heck they weren’t even on my GPS! Did you know there’s a legend about an adjunct instructor who went out there in search of her class never to be heard from again? It turns out she ended up at Textron and was offered a job.

But no more … new building names and new wayfinding signs were approved for East Campus at the January meeting of the Board of Regents (perhaps because they couldn’t find it either!). Seriously though, as part of the capital improvements currently under way, buildings on the East Campus have been renamed to better reflect their purpose and function.

Building V

(Industrial Maintenance, Instrumentation, Utility Power Worker, Welding)

Building L

(Contract Classes, Potter County, Fire Academy)

Building R

(Truck Driving)

Building T

(Spillover classrooms for multiple uses)

SAC

(Advising, Learning Center, Activities, Housing, Dean’s Office)

THE NEW NAME

Transportation Career Center Manufacturing Education Center Public Service Training Center Logistics Training Center Academic Classroom Center Student Services Center

The old names, a legacy of the original B 52 Air Force Base and Texas State Technical Institute, had managed to hang on through the years. Now it’s time for something new … and easier to find.

LYNN LIBRARY

Open Saturdays

SUZUKI GROUP

Recital Set

The Suzuki Program, celebrating its 35th year of childhood development through music at AC, will perform its Annual Group Recital at 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 3 at the Polk Street United Methodist Church.

About 125 students ranging in age from 3 to 18 comprise the group, which will be led at times by special guest clinicians.

The recital is free and open to the public.

Give Camille Day Nies, assistant professor of music, a call at Ext. 5346 for more information.

Lynn Library has long been dormant on Saturdays, but that changed Feb. 9th—at least on the first and third floors and the basement—giving students additional access to resources to enhance their success.

The library will henceforth be open from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Saturdays. Please let students know.

Saturday visitors will have basement access to the Reading Center lab, the SSS-STEM study center and plenty of group study space. Visitors to the first floor will have access to the Collaboration Stations and the CTL Help Center, where students can check out laptops. Third-floor resources available Saturdays include the ESL Lab and the ACcess Learning Center.

WINTER RECIPE

Butternut Squash Risotto Recipe and photos compliments of Sammie Artho, Advising Ingredients

1 large butternut squash 3 tablespoons olive oil

6 cups chicken stock (reduced sodium) 6 tablespoons unsalted butter 2-3 chopped shallots

1 ½ cups Arborio rice ½ cup dry white wine

1 tsp. saffron threads (if you don’t like saffron, just use more rosemary)

1 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese Fresh garlic Rosemary

This is an excellent main dish or a great side.

Fresh ground kosher salt and black pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 425. Peel the squash, remove seeds, and cut into ¾ inch cubes. Place squash on sheet pan and toss with olive oil, garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper. Roast for 25-30 minutes until tender and caramelized. Set aside.

Heat chicken stock, leave on low heat. In large heavy pot or Dutch Oven, melt butter and olive oil, add shallots and cook until translucent (It smells like heaven). Add the rice; stir to coat the grains. The edges of the rice will begin to be translucent. Add the wine and cook for several minutes. Add 2 full ladles of stock to the rice along with the saffron, salt and pepper. Stir and simmer until stock is absorbed, continue to add stock, 2 ladles at a time – if it seems dry add more stock. Continue until the rice is cooked through, but al dente. Take off the heat and add squash cubes and parmesan cheese. Mix and serve.