September 2018 Issue

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College to eliminate departmental chairs The college will eliminate departmental chairs starting next fall, AACC Vice President for Learning Mike Gavin told faculty on Aug. 17.

As part of a restructuring, 10 new assistant deans will take over the administrative tasks that chairs traditionally have tended to and coordinators within each department will take care of issues relating to teaching and curriculum.

In addition, the college will hire an assistant vice president.

For the full story, visit www.thecampuscurrent.com.

Campus to experience construction come fall Alexandra Radovic Co-Editor AACC this semester is continuing construction to prepare for the building of a multi-million-dollar Health Sciences and Biology Building.

The college will complete

Health Ctr. offers free STD testing, referrals Sarah Noble Co-Editor AACC’s Health Center is offering free tests for sexually transmitted diseases for students and faculty members this semester.

The college has partnered with Anne Arundel County and the Maryland Department of Health to

test, diagnose and treat gonorrhea and chlamydia.

“It’s treatable,” Brooke Raino, an employee in the Health Center, said. “You just have to have the knowledge and be aware of it.”

“It’s all urine testing, so that’s an easy test to collect and run,” Beth Mays, the manager of Health Services, said.

“We get a specimen, send it to the state lab, the state lab tests it, sends it off to the county, and the county forwards the results to us,” she said.

According to Mays, the program offers treatment for patients who test positive by referring them to nearby

Continue on Page 3

the $117 million project, which is half funded by the county and half by the state, in August 2021.

The college demolished the pool and the old Schwartz Building on East Campus this summer and rerouted surrounding walkways to accommodate the construction

of the new building.

“Anything to help the school is good … and [the construction] isn’t too bad to walk around,” first-year media production student Daniel Chatmon said.

Vice President for Learn-

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The AACC Health Center offers free STD testing to faculty and students.

Graphic by Kenzie Airey

Int. design dept to start new 3-year certificate Alexandra Radovic Co-Editor

This design is by architecture students Tharin Thomas and Gene Bauer. Interior design students can take take junior-level classes this fall.

Photo by Alexandra Radovic

September 2018

AACC’s interior design major this fall will become the college’s first program to offer three years of classes instead of two.

Although interior design students cannot earn a fouryear degree at AACC, they can take junior-level credits before transferring to a fouryear school.

The new 3+1 program

will allow them to complete freshman-, sophomore- and junior-level interior design courses that will transfer to four-year schools. This way, they will need to finish one year’s worth of credits at a university to complete a bachelor’s degree in interior design instead of the two they would have needed if they took a traditional, twoyear program here.

Morgan State University in Baltimore this fall became

the only four-year school in Maryland to offer a bachelor’s degree in interior design after AACC and Montgomery College proposed their own four-year applied bachelor’s degrees in that field last spring.

Students who finish all three years of classes will earn an associate degree plus a new, post-associate certificate, according to Dr. Lance

Continued on Page 3

2 | Campus Current | 2018 | September

Editorial

Meet the Staff

Gov. Hogan: It’s not far enough Editorial Board

Co-Editors

Kenzie Airey Alex Fregger Sarah Noble Madeleine Pedersen Alexandra Radovic Daniel Salomon Ashley Sokolowski Faculty Adviser

Sharon O’Malley

Photographers on page 1, top

From left to right

Alexandra Radovic Daniel Salomon

Gov. Larry Hogan signed the Community College Promise Scholarship law in May to make community colleges in Maryland affordable for people in financial need.

Campus Current supports a state law to make community college more affordable, but this one doesn’t go far enough.

We applaud the state government for becoming more involved with community colleges. But the government should offer this program, which offers $5,000 a year to cover tuition for some students, to everyone interested in attending a two-year school like AACC. If everyone who applies to AACC qualified for the Promise Scholarship, it would make college more accessible to a greater number of people.

Then, more students would attend AACC and other community colleges. More

students would earn degrees.

More students would qualify for better jobs.

Some say free college isn’t a good use of government resources. Others argue that students should have “some skin in the game”; that is, if they pitch in for at least part of their tuition, their education will be more valuable to them.

But the Promise Scholarship isn’t commitment-free: A beneficial aspect of the law is that it requires students who accept the state’s money to work in Maryland for one year for each year they use the scholarship.

As AACC students, we know first-hand how valuable community colleges are.

One of the college’s slogans, “Redefine yourself,” encapsulates what community college is for: working on bettering yourself to achieve your goals.

Although the governor’s Promise Scholarship will help some students afford

For the first time, the state is offering the Community College Promise Scholarship, which helps students better afford tuition bills. Gov. Larry Hogan signed the bill in May. Photo courtesy of Maryland GovPics on Flickr their education, some isn’t enough. The state should make community college free for everyone.

Hogan is merely dancing around the idea of free college with this scholarship.

So many news headlines have said the law offers free tuition to community college students, which is not true.

The Promise Scholarship does not mean free tuition for everyone. First, only students who earned a high school diploma or GED with-

in two years of applying for the scholarship can qualify for it.

Second, those students can qualify only if they earned a 2.3 GPA or better in high school.

Also, those whose parents earn more than $150,000 are excluded.

The Promise Scholarship is a big step in the right direction, but Maryland should take a leap toward free tuition to community college for all.

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Grandmother finds her passion in printmaking Alexandra Radovic Co-Editor Great-grandmother, wife, proud Corvette driver and professional artist Gretchen Amazeen said she found a home in AACC’s printmaking lab.

In 1989, 70-year-old Amazeen moved from Alabama to Maryland, where she studied art education and fine arts at Bowie State University and the Montpelier Cultural Arts Center— in Prince George’s County—before hearing rave reviews about AACC’s art department from a friend in 2006.

“I needed a press,” Amazeen said, “and I got so much more. … The community here is wonderful.”

Amazeen said she found her passion for printmaking while taking classes at the University of South Alabama to become an art teacher.

“I love teaching art to anybody. … I really enjoyed teaching K-6, because [young

children] came with motivation,” Amazeen said.

Amazeen said she loved art so much that during her first teaching job she created her own art program at Robertsdale Elementary in Alabama.

Gretchen Amazeen holds a screen-printed picture of her daughter that she made in her printmaking class.

Photo by Alexandra Radovic

Before she started the new program, Amazeen said she had to clutter all of her art supplies onto a small cart and push it around to each

classroom to teach students.

This tedious task, as Amazeen described it, required patience, much like printmaking does.

According to Amazeen, her longest print took 40 hours. “You really learn self-discipline,” she said.

Although Amazeen explained that the process of printmaking can be lengthy, she described the printmaking club as “a big happy family. [AACC] is a great place to grow as an artist and as a person,” she said.

Swimming, hiking, tennis and “riding around in my Corvette when I really feel like smiling big” are some other activities that Amazeen said help her grow as a person.

Amazeen, who recently celebrated the 49th anniversary of the day she andher husband met on a blind date, said she is looking forward to the “Moods of Blue” faculty-juried art show coming this December.

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September 2018 | Campus Current | 3

News

AACC to offer free STD testing Continued from Page 1 healthcare providers for antibiotics.

“It’s important to get tested and the fact [that] it’s free is a huge plus,” Will Smith, a first-year cybersecurity student, said.

The county has offered free HIV tests for years, but Mays said she hopes the on-campus tests will lower cases of gonorrhea and chlamydia in the county.

Raino said she believes

students will start getting tested soon, because chlamydia and gonorrhea are prevalent STDs among college students.

In 2017, the Maryland Center for Sexually Transmitted Infection Prevention reported 33,416 cases of chlamydia and 10,978 of gonorrhea.

“The gonorrhea and chlamydia results have skyrocketed within the past years, which is unbelievable,” Mays said. “Gonorrhea was gone

for a while but now the numbers have increased tremendously.”

In a survey by the CSTIP and Maryland Department of Health, 15- to 24-year olds are most likely to become infected with gonorrhea and chlamydia.

Gonorrhea is more common in recent years because fewer teenagers are using condoms, according to the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The number of Anne

Arundel County residents with these diseases more than doubled from 224 in 2008 to 583 last year.

The number of county residents infected with chlamydia also doubled since 2008, by 2,234 cases.

Anyone on campus, regardless of financial and insurance status, can receive treatment.

“It sounds like a great program,” Morgan Lada, a first-year student, said. “Not a lot of college students have

AACC students can take a free urine test for STDs in the Health Center.

Photo by Sarah Noble health insurance or the money to get treated.”

“Knowledge is power,” Raino said. “When you know about your body … and you have access to tests, it will help you tremendously.”

Int. design to add certification

Continued from Page 1

Interior design students can take third-year classes and create models like this one, by architecture student Matthew Tuckfield.

Photo by Alexandra Radovic

Bowen, dean of science and technology. “You don’t have a really good shot of getting a job with just an associate degree,” Bowen said.

The state approved AACC’s 3+1 program in May, and it will activate once Michael Ryan, chair of the Department of Architecture and Interior Design, completes a contract that will ensure the AACC credits will transfer from AACC to Morgan State.

Although Dr. Mike Gavin, AACC’s vice president for learning, called threeyear classes at AACC a “huge

step in the right direction,” he said four-year schools have expressed “significant resistance” to the idea of full bachelor’s degrees at community colleges.

“A lot of the decision the state has to make is if there would be competition,” architecture professor Rob Lowe said. “Would we be competing [with four-year schools] or serving a different community?”

Bowen said the intent of the degree is “not to compete with other universities … but really to help complement the workforce needs.”

“Certainly the four-year

derstand the limited number of students that this will be applicable to,” he said.

Former SGA President Jonathan O’Dea testified in support of the law in the spring, saying the new program could lower studentdebt.

“I think this law will help because it will make students realize that they have more financial help than they did in the past,” O’Dea said. “So, the debt problems … it’s not as daunting.”

Two Maryland community colleges, Community College of Baltimore County and Carroll Community College, will offer similar scholarship programs this semester.

College officials have estimaed that approximately 26 percent of AACC students will qualify for the scholarship.

Dr. John Grabowski, dean of enrollment services, said the state’s 16 commu-

nity colleges will share $15 million worth of awards, so colleges will have to decide, independently, which students they will grant the scholarship money to.

“One of the factors could be first come first serve,” Grabowski said. “So it is really, really important that a student who applies for the college … also completes the [Free Application for Federal Student Aid at] this very same time.”

Because the award is part of what is called a “last-dollar” program, students eligible for the Promise money are required to first exhaust all opportunities to recieve help through financial aid and other scholarships at AACC. “The new tuition law makes it a lot more open for single students and students who come from low-income families,” Nikko Maresca, a first-year computer science

Students to be eligible for $5,000 in tuition aid Ashley Sokolowski Co-Editor Community college students in Maryland can receive up to $5,000 in tuition assistance from the state through a new scholarship program starting next fall.

Full-time students who have graduated from high school or earned a GED within the last two years may qualify for the Maryland Community College Promise Scholarship, as long as their family has an income of less than $150,000.

SGA President Jacob Smith said the law “shows Maryland’s commitment to having students have access to higher education. … I think [the law is] really great just as long as people don’t mistake it for being free tuition for everybody.”

Dr. Mike Gavin, AACC’s vice president for learning, said the public “does not un-

universities were nervous,” Bowen said about AACC’s proposal for a bachelor’s degree.

“It kind of made the state and the universities [say], ‘Look, you know, [AACC] can serve a very important niche market here and meet workforce demands.”

According to Gavin, the state has said AACC is first in line for approval of an applied bachelor’s degree in interior design if it decides in December to allow community colleges to offer them.

Students who graduated and are returning to AACC this fall for continuing edu-

cation said they support the idea of community colleges offering bachelor’s degrees.

“If we had a bachelor’s in interior design, it could get the ball rolling for bachelor’s degrees in other fields,” Jennifer Fisher, who graduated in 2015 and is now a thirdyear medical coding student, said.

“Tuition is a big factor as to why people choose AACC, said AACC graduate Alex Esfan, who took classes here over the summer. If he could get a bachelor’s degree here,“Why would I go to a four-year school and spend more money?”

An AACC student, who could be eligible for $5,000 in tuition support next fall, visits the financial aid office in the Student Services Center.

Photo by Alexandra Radovic student, said. “It gives them more of an opportunity to actually go to college and not worry about having to pay such exorbitant fees to go to school.”

AACC President Dawn Lindsay said she is “very pleased that the Legislature passed the bill establishing [this program] and that the governor signed the bill into law.” However, she added, “We also know that these new programs will not solve the financial challenges that

many of our students face.”

Gov. Larry Hogan, in announcing the scholarship, pointed to the nearly 60 percent of Maryland college students who graduate with thousands of dollars in student debt.

“This financial burden is preventing young Marylanders from achieving financial security and has become a roadblock to homeownership and saving for retirement,” he said. “That changes today.”

4 | Campus Current | 2018 | September

News

Construction covers campus Continued from Page 1 ing Resources Management Melissa Beardmore said because the building is still in the design process, work will continue through the fall semester to clear the space needed, but the college won’t actually start putting the new structure together until next summer.

Catherine Jackson, a second-year biology student, reported she frequently got stuck in the elevators of the former Schwartz Building.

“The construction is a little inconvenient, but it will be good in the long run,” Jackson said.

According to Beardmore, the biggest change for students this year will be the extension of Ring Road, which circles East Campus.

Beardmore said the extension of Ring Road around the new building to decrease traffic flow will begin early in

the spring semester.

The college will build a new parking lot by the main entrance of the college, near the tennis courts, from December through June.

According to Beardmore, the pool and the old Schwartz Building were underused and the health and science programs were in danger of losing their accreditation because they lacked the space necessary to support those fields of study.

“At the end of the day we are going to have a beautiful, huge, contemporary building for the health science and biology programs … a 21st-century building with really cool facilities that are appropriate for students,” Beardmore said.

By the start of the fall semester, Dean of Science and Technology Lance Bowen said, “Students will know that something is going on,” but won’t see much until spring.

A team of construction workers demolished the pool and the old Schwartz Building on East Campus to make way for a new Health Sciences and Biology Building.

Photo by Alexandra Radovic

AACC is rerouting sidewalks on East Campus because of construction.

Photo by Maddie Pedersen

NEW YEAR, NEW LOOK!

Beginning this fall semester, and continuing until summer 2021, East Campus will undergo construction, as it builds a new Health Sciences and Biology Building.

Photos by Alexandra Radovic

Beginning this year, and continuing until summer 2021, the college is constructing a new Health Sciences and Biology Building on East Campus.

Photo by Kenzie Airey

September 2018 | Campus Current | 5

News

AACC reroutes road for traffic

closed

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Construction on Ring Road will begin in March 2019 and last until June, officials said in August.

The planned Health Sciences and Biology Building— where the Olson Memorial Pool and old Schwartz Building once stood—will house AACC’s growing science program and will require the college to reroute Ring Road, which circles around Arnold’s East Campus.

Starting in March, construction crews will redirect traffic through Lot D, which is on the north side of East Campus next to Siegert Field.

Vice President for Learning Resources Management Melissa Beardmore said it “might be a little inconvenient to students but ultimately, when the project is finished, Ring Road will go through [a] new parking lot

[and] it’ll be a little bit easier to get around campus.”

According to Beardmore, the rerouting of Ring Road should be complete by June.

Montana Hoover, a third-year computer science student, said the college should save the construction until the summer “when there’s less people here. ...

Of course there’s going to be more traffic. That’s when most students are here.”

Olorunjuwon Ajayi, a fourth-year computer science and engineering student, said the traffic will be worst by the police station because it will take longer to drive through Lot D than around it, and that might cause issues for students going to the library.

AACC Police Lt. Gary Vernon advised students to be aware of heavy equipment on campus and that not all of it will stay on Ring Road.

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Alex Fregger Co-Editor

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AACC will reroute Ring Road through Lot D in March.

Graphic by Kenzie Airey

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6 | Campus Current | 2018 | September

News

College pays ex-admin $35K in gender action Alexandra Radovic Co-Editor The college paid a former AACC administrator $35,000 in May to settle a gender-discrimination lawsuit he filed in 2016, according to a court document obtained by Campus Current through a Maryland Public Information Act request.

Richard Cerkovnik, who worked at AACC as a special assistant to the vice president for learning and was the former chair of the Physical Science Department, sued the college for nearly $2.4 million in December 2016.

He claimed the school denied him job promotions in favor of “less-qualified” female contenders, according to court documents.

Cerkovnik resigned in 2015.

Neither Cerkovnik nor college officials agreed to talk to Campus Current about the confidential settlement.

In court documents, the college said Cerkovnik’s

“own conduct, acts or omissions” influenced its decision not to promote him.

According to the settlement agreement, neither Cerkovnik nor college officials may discuss its terms.

Dr. Lance Bowen, dean of sciences and technology since 2017, holds the job Cerkovnik applied for.

“I work with an exceptionally talented group of colleagues, whether they are male or female, black, white, Hispanic, Latino or Latina. … It’s a fantastic place to work,” Bowen said.

Students on campus this summer said they disagree with Cerkovnik’s decision to sue the college.

The lawsuit “doesn’t make any sense. It’s pretty crazy,” first-year information systems student Jordan Apollo said. “It seems like he was looking for an excuse [to get money]. I’ve never heard of a guy suing for that reason.”

Third-year undecided student Love Alana, who works at the front desk in

the library, said she has never had an experience where she felt discriminated against because of her gender at AACC. “[Cerkovnik] shouldn’t have done that,” said Alana. “It seems weird; people don’t just get jobs based on their gender.”

AACC, student to work out deal to settle suit Ashley Sokolowski Co-Editor AACC and a former physician assistant student who sued the college in March are trying to settle the case out of court instead of going to trial.

“What happens in a settlement conference … is hopefully a process leading to a compromise that will resolve the case,” Robin Cockey, a member of former student

Canvas will display a new link on every student’s dashboard this semester that will lead to videos and information about possible majors.

According to Assistant Dean of Liberal Arts Dr. Marjorie Rawhouser, the new link, dubbed “campus communities,” will support AACC’s new fields of interest program.

Rawhouser explained fields of interest as a new way the college is organizing majors this semester.

She said although the college will not add or remove any majors, it will organize them into fields of interest based on common skills to

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Keshea Tyrell’s legal team and a partner at the Cockey, Brennan & Maloney law firm, said. “The objective is to produce the middle ground.”

In her lawsuit, Tyrell, who is black, claimed the college discriminated against her because of her race and because she has sickle cell anemia, a disease most commonly found among those of African descent.

Tyrell claimed her professors dismissed her from

the program after treating her different from other students in her classes.

Tyrell had asked the court to force AACC to reinstate her into the physician assistant program; pay her legal fees; and grant her “other and further relief” as “her cause may warrant.” Cockey declined to comment on the amount of money Tyrell would settle for.

AACC did not comment on the case.

help undecided students narrow down what they want to study.

Each major that links to the campus communities feature on Canvas will have its own module, which will include upcoming events and contact information for faculty liaisons. The module also will contain a brief video previewing the classes students would take within a chosen field of interest, and which types of jobs are available in that field.

Rawhouser said all students can use the new Canvas link to explore information about any field of interest, whether they have chosen a specific one or are undecided.

“This sounds extremely useful,” Elijah Richard, a

first-year undecided student, said. “I will definitely use it, because I’m undecided. …

Being able to pick a field I’m interested in [using the new link] would save me time and effort.”

Students who are not undecided will also have a link to the fields of interest “Even if you have a major, you still might want to know more about another field,” Rawhouser said.

Kevin Thompson, a firstyear environmental science student, said he might consider changing his major in the future. “This will help new students figure out what they want to do, but it can also help if you are curious and looking to switch,” Thompson said.

New Canvas link takes users to ‘interest’ info Alexandra Radovic Co-Editor

Students can view fields of interest such as anatomy and art in a new Canvas link.

Photo by Alexandra Radovic

The college has settled one of two discrimination lawsuits brought against it over the past two years.

Photo courtesy of Flickr

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September 2018 | Campus Current | 7

News

Ex prof tackles term time limit Kenzie Airey Daniel Salomon Co-Editors A former secretary of the Maryland Higher Education Commission on Aug. 6 called for the AACC Board of Trustees to have term limits.

In an opinion column for The Capital Gazette, Patricia Florestano, a former member of the University System of Maryland Board of Regents, said she “strongly supports” a proposal by AACC professor emeritus E. Joseph Lamp for the governor to institute term limits for trustees.

AACC’s Board of Trustees includes eight members whose tenures have ranged from one to 34 years. The trustees are appointed by the governor for six-year terms, but they may be reappointed indefinitely.

“I don’t look at that as term limits at all,” Lamp said.

“That sounds to me like 1 SU_CC_10x8-Ad042018.qxp_Layout there’s some way that you

could simply allow somebody to continue as long as they wanted to. I would absolutely, vehemently disagree with that.”

Lamp made his proposal in a column for The Capital Gazette after the trustees declined his request to name a room in Truxal Library after the school’s first librarian, Harry Foster, and to rename the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame after the late Dr. John Laycock, AACC’s first athletic director.

Carey Laycock, Laycock’s granddaughter, worked with Lamp on the request.

“We didn’t even ask them to pay for it,” Laycock said.

“Joe Lamp and I were going to pay for it. Pay for the signage and pay for it to be hung with our own money, and they still denied it. [The trustees] are all in cahoots.”

Florestano pointed to USM’s term limits for regents, 12:21 whoPM may two, 3/22/18 Pageserve 1 five-year terms.

The granddaughter of AACC’s first athletic director and a professor emeritus call for term limits for the college’s Board of Trustees.

Photo by Daniel Salomon “Most places … have put in term limits ... so that you get the benefit of really good citizens, and you also get the benefit of turnover and fresh ideas,” said Florestano, who was married to former AACC President Thomas E. Florestano, who died in 2012.

The Florestano building on the Arnold campus is named for him.

“The principle of turnover has been a part of bringing new ideas, innovation [and] diversity to these boards” she said. “And in Maryland—for as long as I’m aware—we have never had term limits on our boards for [the] 16, two-year colleges.”

Chairman Lawrence W. Ulvila Jr. of AACC’s Board of Trustees noted that it would

be up to the state Legislature to limit trustees’ terms. “It’s not something that we control,” he said.

Ulvila said he has served on multiple local boards, most of which have term limits. “Most organizations do, but the college does not,” he said, “and that’s just because it’s part of the state’s statute.”

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8 | Campus Current | 2018 | September

Campus Life

Capital shooting victim profiles AACC student Alexandra Radovic Co-Editor The digital editor of Campus Current was the subject of the final article a Capital Gazette journalist wrote before she died in a mass shooting in June.

On June 28, 38-year-old Maryland resident Jarrod Ramos allegedly fired shots through a glass door and opened fire on the Capital Gazette office in Annapolis, killing five people.

One of the victims was Wendi Winters, a 65-yearold community correspondent, recognized in Annapolis for her Teen of the Week column, which captured the lives of teenagers in the community.

Some of the teens Winters wrote about attended Broadneck High School, which was home to Campus Current’s Digital Editor Sarah Noble from 2014 to 2018.

Noble said she knew

Winters before they met for an interview because they went to the same synagogue.

Noble said Winters interviewed many of her friends for Teen of the Week.

Noble said she recalls her June 6 Teen of the Week interview with Winters as “very casual.”

“She talked about journalism exactly the way I would talk about it,” Noble said. “It’s amazing to cover stories and it’s a fantastic opportunity that will always serve you well in life.”

The night of the shooting, Noble was sitting at her friend’s kitchen table, joking around about school and summer vacation, when she got a text saying Winters was one of the victims of the shooting at The Capital Gazette.

“I just kept saying to my friends, ‘Holy sh*t, I just talked to her. … I just talked to her. … I just talked on the phone with her. I was just

emailing her,’” Noble said.

Noble said she hopes to write for a major publication someday, and “now I have to think about the safety of it.”

Noble described herself as “incredibly angry” to find out that Ramos publically tweeted threatening comments about The Capital shortly before the shooting and nobody did anything.”

Noble and other AACC students reported their dismay over gun violence and mass shootings.

“I don’t want to say [to students], ‘Don’t be afraid, chase after your dreams, keep pushing forward,’” Noble said. “I want to say ‘Be conscious of your workplace.’”

Mark Davis, a second-year architecture student, said gun violence is minimal in London, where he is from. “[The shooting] brings gun crime close to home,” he said. “Anyone can be affect-

First-year journalism student Sarah Noble reads an article Wendi Winters, a victim of this summer’s Capital Gazette shooting, wrote about her.

Photo by Alexandra Radovic ed, and it’s not just restricted to people involved in bad things.”

“It was a crazy … eyeopening day,” Maia Eichel-

berger, a second-year paramedic student, said. “I hear about [mass shootings] in the paper, but it’s not usually local,”

September 2018 | Campus Current | 9

Advice from an editor: Get involved right away Alexandra Radovic Co-Editor

Fun and Games

Although AACC doesn’t have dorms, students here can still make it feel like home.

Coming to college for the first time can be an overwhelming adjustment, but making yourself at home is easier than you think.

Student Government Association President Jacob Smith said he entered AACC curious and looking for things to do other than go to class and go home.

He said SGA gives him “a voice on campus,” and it allows him to “see really cool changes” that students make at the college.

“The Nest,” AACC’s website for all student clubs, “is the easiest way to see events and student organizations that are up to date and active,” student engagement Program Coordinator Leslie Cook said.

Joining a club can inspire what Dean of Student Engagement Tiffany Boykin described as a “magical” college experience, through which students can “learn about themselves.”

“We’re not a residential, traditional college setting, but that’s no excuse as to why we can’t provide really fabulous and engaging programming that our students can participate in,” said Boykin.

Assistant Director of Advising Bonnie Lasher-Kimmel said students should seek time management assistance from an adviser.

That way, they can start off their school year with a comfortable balance between academic and social life.

Lasher-Kimmel recommended that students prepare their schedules with the expectation that they will need two to three hours of studying a week for every hour they spend in class.

But how can you possi-

bly have room for a social life between work and school?

Aside from student clubs, AACC offers learning communities, which connect two back-to-back courses with similar themes, so the same group of students will be in two classes together.

Lasher-Kimmel said this helps students become closer, because the class sizes are smaller and the professors go more in-depth with class discussions.

There are also more creative, non-traditional ways to get involved in the AACC community, aside from just joining a club or enrolling in a learning community.

Boykin said she recommends that students tag AACC alumni on Instagram and share photos, experiences and advice with each other.

We have our faces in our phones 24/7, so a simple and easy way to get involved in campus life is to follow club

Campus Life

Third-year education student and Campus Current Editor-in-Chief Alexandra Radovic shares advice.

Photo by Daniel Salomon pages on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Search the hashtag AACC and see what you find. There are all kinds of cool and interactive activities taking place on campus almost every day that you may not even be aware of.

Incoming Riverhawks, don’t be afraid.

Ask for help, because no-

body expects you to fly alone.

Join a club, or say “hi” to the person next to you on the first day of class.

Come by the Campus Current newsroom in HUM 206 any time; the door is always open.

That’s where I found my home, and I couldn’t have wished for a better experience at AACC.

Did you know?

AACC renamed the Student Union over the summer.

The Student Union Building on the Arnold campus has a new name: It’s the Lila R. Schwartz Student Union Building.

Schwartz, an optometrist, served on the college’s Foundation Board and Board of Trustees from 1970 to 1990. She was chair of the foundation from 1973 to 1976.

The college tore down the original Schwartz Building over the summer.

?

Looking for answers?

Check TheCampusCurrent.com on September 31.

?

Reporting by Sarah Noble Photo by Madeleine Pedersen

10 | Campus Current | 2018 | September

Campus Life

New dept chair to run English Ashley Sokolowski Co-Editor An English professor at AACC took over as the new chair of the English and Communications Department on July 1.

Professor Dave Meng, who specilizes in early-American literature, took the job after teaching here for 24 years.

On Aug. 17, however, the college revealed that it would eliminate the school’s approximately 45 department chair jobs next fall. (See related story on Page 1.)

“I haven’t had much time to process this,” Meng told Campus Current on Aug. 17.

“By nature, I’m an optimist, an idealist and a stoic. ... I know how the world works.

These things happen. I am hoping it is for the larger good of the college.

Meng said he might ap-

ply for one of the 10 new assistant dean jobs the college is creating to take over the administrative portion of the department chairs’ jobs.

Once Meng started as department chair in July, he noted, “I saw my future. So now I need to pull back from that, and reimagine a different future.”

Meng replaced Dr. Steve Canaday, who was the department chair for five years before returning to teaching.

Meng said he will continue as chair until his job is eliminated next year.

“Professor Meng has been at the college for a long time and he [has been] a great teacher and I think he is going to do a fantastic job as department chair,” Canaday said. “He knows the department very well, he knows the curriculum, he knows the way the college operates. So that’s fantastic

Dave Meng has stopped teaching classes in order to focus on being the new chair of the AACC Department of English and Communications. His job is one of approximately 45 department chair positions the college will eliminate next year.

Photo by Alexandra Radovic he’s got all the experience.”

Meng said he will not teach any classes while he is department chair.

After Canaday announced he would be stepping down as chair, some English Department faculty members made a proposal to split the position between a

Drones will take flight at AACC in fall of 2018 Alex Fregger Co-Editor AACC will offer 12 non-credit courses this fall that will help qualify students to fly drones.

The college will add credit courses next year as part of a partnership with Warrenton, Virginia-based Unmanned Aerial Systems Academy, whose Land.Air. Sea Robotics program comes with a new, $2 million college resource center that will house more than 30 drones.

The LASR@ AACC resource center in the Careers Center will be a place where students and faculty can get help with science and technology work and learn “things that may not be taught in your classroom,” said Jim Blanchard, chief scientist of UAS Academy.

Previously, contractors from Dayton, Ohio, and Annapolis hosted online drone pilot training courses here and those will continue.

The new, noncredit classes this fall will take place in physical classrooms.

“I want to see [AACC] as the expert on drone technology in the Mid-Atlantic

region,” Dean of Science and Technology Lance Bowen said. “I want everybody to say, ‘Drones? Oh, that’s AACC.’” More than two dozen faculty members, from landscape architecture, construction management, cybersecurity, environmental

science, biology and criminal justice have taken groundschool classes, and 14 of them also have finished flight school training, according to Blanchard. “Those 14 will be the keystone faculty that will lead us through the fall.”

In September, faculty members who have already completed their certifications will sponsor 24 hand-

picked students to take ground and flight school at no cost. By the end of the spring semester, AACC should have 48 FAA-certified faculty and staff members.

Faculty drone pilots will incorporate the use of drones into three landscape architecture classes this fall, Bowen said.

For example, students in ACH 115, ACH 242 and ACH 254 will learn how drones can monitor work sites from above and take aerial photographs of properties to help with the design process.

Jacob Bollinger, a firstyear physician assistant student, said he does not plan to take any of the offered courses, but he believes they are good for STEM—science, technology, engineering and math—at AACC. “Technology nowadays focuses too much on convenience factor for people,” Kenneth Drake, a fourthyear creative writing and psychology student, said.

He added he is “OK with the program being here at the college so long as [drones are] put towards a positive use.”

chair and an assistant chair.

“We feel that taking the chair out of teaching, out of the classroom, actually hurts the chair’s ability to represent the faculty in that way,” Dr. Wayne Kobylinski, an associate English professor, told Campus Current.

The Aug. 17 announce-

ment, however, took Kobylinski by surprise, he said.

“We’re all still processing it at this point.,” he said.

“We were hoping we could spread [the work] out among more people—not that there would be another level of administration created to absorb that.”

The college brings drones to campus through LASR@ AACC flight school training.

Photos by Daniel Salomon

Campus clubs introduce tech Alex Fregger Co-Editor Two clubs at AACC will include drones this semester.

With the introduction of LASR@ AACC, which stands for Land.Air.Sea Robotics, Wendy Chasser, assistant professor of computer science and faculty adviser for the student Computer Science Club, said the group “intends on using a brain im-

aging unit to read our brain pulses, and we want to be able to move the drone with our brain.”

Nick Kiraly, president of the Drone Club, said the group’s first meeting andkick-off event will be Sept.

12, and will feature food trucks and life-sized inflatable hamster balls.

Kiraly said the club is recruiting students who are interested in drones.

September 2018 | Campus Current |11

AACC releases ’17 crime stats Alex Fregger Co-Editor

20

2016-2017 AACC Crime Comparison

15 10 5

ing for trained employees and they want them … trained in certain things,” said Ewart.

AACC is in the process of Maryland legalized medsetting up the country’s first ical marijuana in 2014 and college credit certificate to the state’s first dispensary train entry-level workers for opened in December 2017. jobs in the cannabis industry. According to the Maryland Shad Ewart, chair of Medical Cannabis Commisthe Business Management sion, the state has about Department, has proposed 65 licensed dispensaries in a 16-credit program that Maryland, including two in teaches business students Anne Arundel County. the ins and outs of the medAACC may be the only ical marijuana industry. college in the state to teach “The reason I want to do cannabis-related courses for this is because I believe … the a while. The University Sysmembers of the Maryland tem of Maryland has advised cannabis industry … are look- its 12 affiliated colleges not

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Other Offenses Indecent Exposure Disorderly Conduct Vandalism Fraud Forgery Assaults Larceny Stalking Weapons Law Arrests Weapons Possession Referral Drug Law Arrests Drug Abuse Violation Referral Liquor Law Arrest Hate Crimes Burgulary Robbery Fondling

Recently released 2017 crime statistics show a decrease in theft, assault and vandalism, and an increase in disorderly conduct, compared with 2016.

Chart by Kenzie Airey jail and is no longer enrolled at AACC. In another incident, a professor notified police after a second-year psychology student reported that another student waited for her outside of her classes against her wishes. Police had her fill out a report and made sure

Maryland universities deny cannabis classes Ashley Sokolowski Co-Editor

2017

Other Offenses Indecent Exposure Disorderly Conduct Vandalism Fraud Forgery Assaults Larceny Stalking Weapons Law Arrests Weapons Possession Referral Drug Law Arrests Drug Abuse Violation Referral Liquor Law Arrest Hate Crimes Burgulary Robbery Fondling

0

2016

Theft, assault and vandalism decreased across AACC’s four campuses between 2016 and 2017, according to the Department of Public Safety.

However, disorderly conduct increased, according to a report the department will issue this fall.

“I don’t really see any need at this point to change anything,” Campus Police Chief Sean Kapfhammer said. “I think that we’re getting safer.”

AACC’s four campuses— Arnold, Arundel Mills, Glen Burnie Town Center and Center for Cyber and Professional Training—had a collective 16 thefts, two assaults, seven instances of vandalism and 18 reports of disorderly conduct in 2017. That compares with 18 thefts, five assaults, 11 vandalisms and 13 cases of disorderly conduct in 2016, according to police.

Although campus police

responded to these reports, not all led to arrests.

“I think they just need to keep doing what they’re doing because whatever it is, it works,” Logan Gibson, a second-year computer science student, said about campus police. “I’ve never seen or heard of any crimes done on camwwpus so whatever they must be doing is working.”

The year’s highest profile crime involved an unattended backpack that police found on May 4 on the second floor of the Schwartz Student Union Building. When searching the bag to determine ownership, police found packaged marijuana in a Mason jar, a semi-automatic handgun and a separate loaded magazine, Kapfhammer said.

According to Kapfhammer, when police checked the security camera to see who left the bag, they discovered student Keshawn Chambers leaving it unsupervised.

When confronted by the police, Chambers ran. He took a plea deal for 18 months in

Campus Life

to start cannabis programs on campus.

In a statement to Campus Current, USM said Maryland law “provides no authorization for institutions to engage in medical marijuana research or education.

Therefore, the USM has advised that institutions avoid engaging in educational programs in furtherance of these activities at this time.”

Ewart said he understands why colleges would be nervous about offering cannabis-related programs because the federal government has not legalized the use or sale of medical marijuana. Still, Ewart said he “still believe[s] there are job opportunities out there and that’s the most important thing that should drive us.”

Ewart already teaches the course BPA 227, Entrepreneurial Opportunities in Emerging Markets: Cannabis Legalization, at AACC. The class helps students understand regulations and businesses in the cannabis industry.

the student didn’t bother her again.

Kenneth Drake, a fourthyear creative writing and psychology student, blamed the increase in disorderly conduct on “people that just want to watch the world burn, and they’re going to find a way to do it. They’re just doing it on

a smaller scale.” Drake said he is “happy with the safety and security that we have here on campus.”

Student victims or witnesses of anything suspicious can call campus police at 410-777-1818 or fill out an anonymous Silent Witness form on the AACC website.

Department of Business Management Chair Shad Ewart pushes for education on marijuana regulations.

Photo by Madeleine Pedersen “The course was awesome,” said Patrick Marnell, a May graduate of AACC who took the class. “When you look at the cannabis industry and how it is having an impact on jobs and availability of jobs … it gave [me] a great insight on all the regulations.”

Ewart compared the cannabis industry in Maryland to the California Gold Rush of 1848 to 1855. He said AACC cannabis classes are geared toward those in the businesses supporting this new rush.

“I think the opportunities are not for the people who find the gold nuggets but for the people who sell the picks and shovels,” Ewart said. “So, I try to steer people to those ancillary businesses to start those up as well.”

Ewart’s course list will

be part of a Medical Cannabis Specialist certificate program if the college and the Maryland Higher Education Commission approve it. The courses in the program will cover cannabis-related business, chemistry, botany and addiction psychology.

“I think [this program is] much needed,” Laura Toskov, a former student and co-owner of Green Point Wellness in Linthicum, said.

“From my end with the cannabis dispensary, there are a lot of people very educated in medical cannabis, but to be able to actually have a credit-bearing course that they can take, that helps us because if they say, ‘Hey, I have this certificate that I got from the community college,’ then we know they are really serious about it.”

12 | Campus Current | 2018 | September

Campus Life

AACC surveys campus for use of drugs, booze Alexandra Radovic Co-Editor A drug and alcohol survey the college emailed students last spring will help AACC decide how to begin improving its prevention and treatment resources on campus this fall.

According to Dean of Student Engagement Tiffany Boykin, the college administers the survey every two years, in even years, to assess whether its drug and alcohol programs are successful in helping substance abusers on campus. “[The college must] keep our finger on the pulse of alcohol and drug and substance use and think about our different programming and activities and how we are responding [to] and addressing the needs of the students,” Boykin said.

Boykin said the college will complete the analysis of the survey this October to identify the substance abuse prevention and treatment programs in place and their

goals; how many participants are in each program; and any drug- or alcohol-related incidents recently reported on campus.

The college looks to see, “Are we responding adequately and are we responding in a fair and consistent manner?” Boykin said.

“The survey allows us to know whether students are aware of the services available,” Dr. Felicia Patterson, vice president for learning support services, said.

The data the college collected so far shows that 843 of the 10,963 students and 287 of all full-time employees filled out the survey.

Boykin said the college takes a “multi-tiered approach” to educating students about alcohol and drugs by teaching them about treatment and prevention.

Boykin pointed to AACC’s peer recovery program, its heroin and opioid prevention education program, and Hoops for Hope—a basketball fundraiser for recovering ad-

dicts—as the most notable of its many programs offered.

Third-year mechatronics student Robert Samson-Krebs said AACC’s drug and alcohol-related programs are an “eye opener” to the drug problem in Anne Arundel County. “It’s gotten way out of hand. … It’s good that [AACC] can save people.”

“We are a dry campus.

We don’t engage in drugs or alcohol and we are tobacco free,” Boykin said.

According to Boykin, the college has been sending out this survey since “at least 2010.”

Since then, Boykin said, the college has used the results to enhance the Collegiate Recovery Center, which is located in the Schwartz Student Union Room 217 and offers free resources and support to addicts and their families.

“Last year it was enhanced as a result of the survey showing that some students didn’t know about it,” Boykin said.

The center “added more hours, more support from

The new Student Government Association president said on Aug. 1 he wants to increase student participation in SGA and campus clubs this semester by marketing them better.

President Jacob Smith said he plans to hold more campus events and meet with groups of students to get advice.

At some of the events, Smith said, SGA will engage

Students can find free, more affordable books Daniel Salomon Co-Editor College students spend an average of $579 a year on textbooks from campus bookstores, according to the

National Association of College Stores. Here are some ways to save money on your textbooks, and in some cases, get them for free.

• Look at all the options for buying textbooks.

peers and more training. We noticed [from the last survey] that there are students who may not they themselves be in recovery, but are still dealing with it and negotiating those challenges … so we [enhanced] the Collegiate Recovery Center so we would also have efforts to engage and support family members and friends.”

Sixth-year communications student Jimmy Reyes said the school should do a better job of promoting its drug and alcohol programs.

“I didn’t even know we had [a recovery center]. …

That’s awesome,” he said.

“People should know help is out there.”

Since the last survey the college has started training students to administer an opioid overdose-reversing drug to others.

This, Boykin said, is because the last survey results revealed that students are more likely than trained faculty or police officers to come in contact with someone who has overdosed.

students by giving away food.

“A lot of people come to AACC, go to class and go home, and they don’t even think about the student engagement side,” Smith said.

“I want to do some more creative things.”

Events and giveaways are “good idea[s] because a lot of people don’t want to get engaged with [student government] … so if you do something that brings people [in] … it helps,” Kirsten Adams, a first-year computer science student, said.

Smith said every student should know about The Nest, AACC’s website for student clubs at nest.aacc.edu, and how to use it.

Smith said he is drafting guidelines for focus groups— meetings with students to collect ideas about topics that affect them.

“I feel like, in his leadership, he should be open to advisement from kids around the school,” Ellie Jefferies, a second-year transfer studies student, said. “That’s what a good leader does.”

SGA president desires increased involvement Daniel Salomon Co-Editor

SGA President Jacob Smith says he wants to get advice from students on topics that affect them.

Photo by Daniel Salomon

The Collegiate Recovery Center in the Schwartz Student Union Room 217 offers its members the option to cope by decorating the walls with uplifting messages.

Photo by Daniel Salomon

• Get used textbooks from the bookstore at 25 percent off.

• Buy electronic versions of textbooks and look for free open source books.

• Ask about the book-

Students can buy, rent and even get free textbooks from the AACC Bookstore and Truxal Library.

Photo by Daniel Salomon store’s Amazon price match for textbooks.

• Check out rental and buying prices on chegg.com.

September 2018 | Campus Current | 13

Campus Life

Fill out FASFA early for best chance at awards Roxanne Ready Reporter By filling out one form, students can start the process to get money for college from the U.S. government, the state or AACC’s scholarship foundation—or all three.

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid—or FAFSA—is a form students can fill out each year to see if they qualify for financial aid.

Credit and some continuing education students may qualify for the federal Pell Grant, which they do not pay back; federal student loans, which they repay after graduation; or work-study programs, which allow students to work part time on campus.

“It was actually pretty easy,” Gerald Maravinyanka, a first-year engineering student and Pell grant recipient, said of filling out FAFSA. The U.S. Department of Education gives students more than $120 billion each

year, according to the Federal Student Aid website.

“Most students will qualify for some type of federal aid” as long as they meet “basic eligibility requirements,” Tara Carew, AACC’s director of financial aid, said.

AACC offers more than 200 scholarships to students studying fields from athletics to engineering. Students can apply for all of them at once using a single form on the MyAACC website. Some require proof of financial need, so students must complete FAFSA to be considered.

“The scholarship gives me confidence that I can … turn my lifelong academic dreams into reality,” Montana Hoover, a third-year computer science student, wrote to AACC’s scholarship committee. “I will no longer be held back by my financial obstacles.”

AACC’s institutional scholarship application period opens in March, with a

priority deadline of April 15.

While the deadline for consideration is July 20, the scholarship committee chooses some award recipients “as early as May,” Carew said.

The Maryland Higher Education Commission uses information from FAFSAs it receives before March 1 to determine which students qualify for its need-based grants: Educational Assistance and Guaranteed Assistance.

The MHEC website also lists 14 scholarships for groups ranging from nursing students to veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq. Some require completed FAFSAs. In May, Maryland lawmakers approved a program giving some recent high school graduates with at least a 2.3 GPA up to $5,000 per year toward full-time community college enrollment, starting in 2019. (See related story on Page 1.)

Students may start filling out FAFSA for the 2019-2020

Important Dates Oct. 1

FAFSA application period opens

March 1

Deadline for MHEC grant consideration

April 15

Priority deadline for AACC scholarships

July 20

Final deadline for AACC scholarships

school year on Oct. 1. There is no federal deadline for submitting FAFSA, but Carew recommended completing it

by March to meet the deadlines for the various grants and scholarships that require

completed FAFSAs. “The most important recommendation for students is to apply early,” Carew said.

“If you have all of your tax documents with you, it usually takes less than an hour.”

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Entrepreneurial Studies Institute Open House Thursday, Sept. 6 4:00 - 6:00 p.m.

The Hatchery Careers Building Room 326 Enjoy light refreshments and learn more about our $12,000 scholarship, academic programs, the Entrepreneurs’ Club and the Hatchery small business resource center and makerspace.

Entrepreneurs’ Club Meeting and Welcome Back Social Tuesday, Sept. 11 2:30- 3:30 p.m.

Careers Building Room 326 Enjoy ice cream and learn about this year’s events. Get involved and network!

Big Idea Kick-off Meeting Tuesday, Sept. 25 2:30 – 3:30 p.m.

Careers Building Room 326 Video 101 workshop and handson technology to try. Learn how you can compete to win up to $1,000 for your Big Idea.

14 | Campus Current | 2018 | September

CAMPUS LIFE

County comes up with half of ’19 budget ask Alexandra Radovic Co-Editor The Anne Arundel County executive in June approved about half of the budget the college requested this year.

The county, which shares funding of the college with the state and student tuitions, agreed to contribute $2.1 million toward AACC’s budget for the new school year—$1.7 million less than it requested.

AACC’s new student trustee Caleb Schaeffer said he plans to hold focus groups this year.

Photo courtsey of Caleb Schaeffer

According to Melissa Beardmore, vice president for learning resources management, the county usually increases the amount it funds AACC every year. This year, however, it based the budget reduction on an expectation that AACC will not need the full, requested amount to compensate faculty and staff.

Beardmore said the college can work around the reduction.

“Our assumptions [about

how big our budget needs to be] differed from theirs,” Beardmore said. “However, we are very grateful that the county has been a generous and reliable funding partner for the college over the years.”

She said the college will save money by filling job vacancies slower and hoping for a mild winter to save on utility expenses.

Community colleges request 29 percent of their

Sarah Noble Co-Editor

dent trustee to vote.

Schaeffer said he became interested in the position last year.

“I was looking for opportunities to get more involved than the level that I was currently at,” he said. “After learning that it was a great opportunity to represent our large student body in the highest form of governance

AACC’s chief diversity officer is restarting the college’s diversity committee after a two-year break.

Dr. Deidra Dennie is organizing the committee to meet once a month to promote inclusion, diversity and fairness.

The team is made up of approximately 37 representatives from administration, academic departments and other areas of the college.

Dennie said because the committee is so large, she will appoint subcommittees to tackle specific problems.

“We have to be very specific with our work so we can get the best bang for our buck,” she said.

Committee member and Student Government Association President Jacob Smith said the committee should focus on inclusion.

Smith said he wants to focus the committee’s efforts,

funding from the state. This year, AACC will receive 22 percent, Beardmore said.

“First, [the college] should figure out why the [county] is reducing the

budget, and fix things from there,” first-year undecided student Christian Burgos said.

“Holding jobs open could waste people’s time,” he said.

at AACC, I wanted to apply.”

According to Schaeffer, last semester he took 21 credits and joined multiple clubs on campus.

Schaeffer said he wants to continue participating in the organizations he was involved in last year. Some include: Student Government Association, Chemistry Club, Biology and Environmental

Club and Campus Ambassador Board.

Schaeffer describes himself as “a strong communicator and a good listener.”

SGA President Jacob Smith said Schaeffer is “extremely motivated and … hardworking.”

Schaeffer said he plans to hold focus groups for students to learn their concerns.

Gov. appoints student trustee Gov. Larry Hogan in July appointed second-year nursing student Caleb Schaeffer as the student member of AACC’s Board of Trustees for the 2018-2019 school year.

AACC is the only one of the 16 community colleges in Maryland that allows a stu-

Campus team to focus on inclusion, fairness Sarah Noble Daniel Salomon Co-Editors

The Anne Arundel County executive has approved half of AACC’s 2018-2019 school year budget request.

Photo courtesy of Pixabay

in part, on minority students and how engaged they are.

“If there’s a barrier gap … [we should] address it,” he said.

Dennie said the makeup of the Diversity Committee reflects the campus in terms of race, religion, gender and

AACC’s renewed Diversity Committee will focus on college diversity and inclusion. Pictured from left to right: business student Colby Bosset, cyber secruity student Noah Bennett and education student Trinidi Ford.

Photo by Daniel Salomon

sexual orientation.

Javanika Mody, a committee member and biology professor, said the college should offer more curriculum that fits the diverse needs of students.

“It’s common to think of diversity as race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, skin color, whatever,” Mody said. “For me, the diversity is mainly the diversity of ideas and as a professor I think of diversity of learning styles of students. To me, that’s diversity.”

Dennie said the committee needs to meet first to decide what projects the teams will work on this year.

One project for the entire committee is selecting a student, faculty member and staff member to receive the Ideal Diversity Champion Award.

Also, at the end of every school year, the Diversity Committee will send a diversity progress report to the Maryland Higher Education Commission.

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September 2018 | Campus Current | 15

Diversity

Diversity chief celebrates 1 yr Sarah Noble Co-Editor AACC’s chief diversity officer celebrated her first year at the college in August.

Dr. Deidra Dennie, a Kentucky native, said she works non-stop to make the college a more inclusive and diverse school. She said her previous job at Armstrong University in Georgia was both similar and different from her new career at AACC. Armstrong, a four-year university with about 8,000 students, had a different environment from the community college, according to Dennie.

Here, she said she primarily works with students to discover what can be changed about the college.

At AACC, Dennie said she relies on students who walk into her office to keep her up to date on student concerns But Dennie said that’s

not happening here as much as it did at Armstrong. “[At Armstrong,] I could see a student and offer to buy them dinner and they would tell me everything,” Dennie said. “Who’s dating who and what is what.”

AACC President Dawn Lindsay said Dennie is “the exact leader [the college] needs in the position.”

Dennie said her greatest accomplishment so far is her new “chosen name” project.

(See related story on this page.)

Dennie’s effort allows students to put their preferred names or nicknames on most school records and files.

Dennie spent her time this summer prepping this year’s Diversity Committee.

The committee of about 37 representatives from different areas of the school will work to make the college more inclusive, she said.

SGA President Jacob

Students may pick own name Daniel Salomon Co-Editor

AACC’s chief diversity officer celebrates her first anniversary at the college.

Photo by Daniel Salomon Smith, a committee member, said having student representation is valuable so the college can “better serve the community.”

“I’m excited to work with [Dennie],” Smith said. “She seems like she’s ... extremely committed to campus.”

Dennie said right as the fall semester begins the committee will start new projects.

Dennie said she is always looking for new ideas.

College program helps Hispanic h.s. graduates Daniel Salomon Co-Editor

vides, an Adelante English professor, her class read the book “Barrio Boy” by ErnesA group of Hispanic high to Galarza—an autobiograschool graduates phy about moving who are attending to an urban area of AACC this semesthe United States ter transitioned from a village in into college life by Mexico. taking a free, twoMarvin Canales, week course over another student in the summer. the program, said, Created in “Adelante definitely 2008, the Adelanhas helped me make te program helps that transition.” graduating high To apply for school students Adelante, students of Hispanic demust apply to scent adapt to a AACC, take the Acfull-time college cuplacer test, subschedule. mit an Adelante ap“Adelante is a plication and bring Spanish word, like a parent to a manto ‘move forward’ datory meeting. and that’s pretty Students must much what we’re First-year Hispanic students Jenifer Luz also be eligible for trying to make,” and Alejandra Lopez learn about transithe Student AchieveAdelante Program tioning to college life at an Adelante event. ment and Success Coordinator Sam- Photo by Daniel Salomon Program. To qualify uel Cordero-Pufor SASP, a student chales said.

The Adelante experience must belong to a minority According to Corde- “helped me understand my group, be a veteran, be eliro-Puchales, the program culture,” Angelica Silva, a gible for financial aid, take includes four classes in lit- first-year early childhood de- one developmental course, or erature, art, math and com- velopment student, said. have parents who are not colmunication. These classes According to Ferol Bena- lege graduates.

She also pulls ideas from other schools. Recently, Dennie visited Cecil County Community College to learn about its summer programs.

That school hosts an annual summer LGBTQ conference. Dennie wants to replicate the event at AACC this school year.

“I always ask myself, ‘Why don’t we have that?’ and then I get to work,” she said.

Students who prefer their nicknames—or go by names other than the ones their parents gave them— may choose how the college identifies them, starting this fall.

Chief Diversity Officer Deidra Dennie said students also may choose which names appear on their student IDs, class schedules and college emails.

“I think, for transgender people, it’s probably a good idea,” Tiffany Makepeace, a third-year nursing student, said.

“I feel like that would help them out a lot and help people understand [them] more,” she said.

According to Dennie, students must use their given names and not their legal ones, on transcripts and cashier’s checks.

Hispanic Heritage Month Events 9/14 Movie “Coco”

by Campus Activity Board @ West Campus Amphitheater, 7:30 p.m.

intertwine the use of works by famous Hispanic authors, poets and mathematicians with a typical course.

Week of 9/17 “A Taste of Traditional Hispanic Food” Dining services will feature Hispanic food on its menu.

9/24 “Dress-up/Show & Tell” activity by former Adelante students, faculty & staff @ SUN 102 10/1 Salsa Lessons by Leah Needham (AACC Adjunct Dance faculty) @ SUN Dining Hall at 12:30 p.m.

10/8 “Club Cafe” event

by Campus Activity Board @ SUN Dining Hall at 12:30 p.m.

10/9 Latin Dance event @ SUN Dining Hall at 12:30 p.m.

All Month

Storytelling @ Truxal Library Art Exhibit by Professor Valladres @ Pascal Art Gallery

16 | Campus Current | 2018 | September

Entertainment

AACC student’s play in Capital Fringe Festival Ashley Sokolowski Co-Editor

AACC ARTS

The 2018 Capital Fringe Festival at Arena Stage in Washington featured a 75-minute play in July by an AACC creative writing student.

Third-year student Jonas Pallaro-Sonneborn wrote “Dragon Hunting Support Group.”

“I just felt like I wanted to do something that was personal to me and my friends, that was meaningful, that I could put myself into,” Pallaro-Sonneborn said.

The student actors in “Dragon Hunting Support Group” performed the stories of five young adults who met at a suicide support group.

AUG 16SEP 28

Four of the characters in the play had experienced the aftermath of the deaths of their friends who committed suicide. The fifth was a suicide hotline counselor who had talked to each of the lost friends in their last moments.

“I wanted it to be honest and I wanted it to be respectful and not like romanticizing anything,” Pallaro-Sonneborn said.

Dr. Garrett Brown, an associate professor of English, was on the panel that selected Pallaro-Sonneborn’s play for consideration by Capital Fringe.

“I loved the way that Jonas had a number of different stories that were going on at once and the way that he thought about stagecraft,”

Brown said of the play. Pallaro-Sonneborn’s set consisted of five chairs and relied heavily on the use of sound and lighting to indicate scene change.

Capital Fringe is a non-profit arts organization in Washington, whose goal is to expand theatergoers’ taste for independent and fringe art. “Dragon Hunting Support Group” is the first play from AACC that Capital Fringe has accepted.

“It is our debut production … at Capital Fringe so there were a lot of growing pains along the way,” said Sean Urbantke, assistant professor of theater in AACC’s Performing Arts Department and the play’s producer.

“We tried to set some-

F A L L

OCT 5

AACC Symphony Orchestra Concert Kauffman Theater 7:30 p.m.

OCT 19

Fall Music Faculty Recital HUM 112 7:30 p.m.

S C H E D U L E

NOV 2

The Ian Wardenski Quintet* HUM 112 8 p.m.

NOV 9-18 NOV 30DEC 1

Ed Smith - Sculpture Exhibit* CADE Gallery Mon-Thu: 8 a.m.-6 p.m.

Fri: 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

Sat: 8 a.m.-3 p.m.

Coffee

Theatre at AACC Fall Musical: “Hairspray” Kauffman Theater NOV 9, 10, 16, 17 at 8 p.m.

NOV 11, 18 at 2 p.m.

AACC Dance Company: “Breaking Legs” Kauffman Theater NOV 30 at 8 p.m.

DEC 1 at 2 p.m. & 8 p.m.

SEP 12

with the Current

Ed Smith - Public Reception* CADE Gallery Reception: 5-7 p.m.

Artist Talk: 5:30 p.m.

Student actors rehearse “Dragon Hunting Support Group” before heading to the Capital Fringe Festival.

Photo by Corey Hennessey thing up last year but we ended up producing it at the college … so this was a new experience of actually bringing it to Fringe.”

Corey Hennessey, an adjunct faculty member in the Performing Arts Department and the play’s director, complimented Pallaro-Sonneborn’s knowledge and passion

for the play’s subject matter.

“He really [proved] that he knew a lot and wasn’t just speaking without having done the research behind it … and so getting to use his passion and his expertise to try to make it something more was really worthwhile,” Hennessy said. “It is heavy, but it is worth it.”

DEC 2

AACC Music Department World Music & Dance Festival* Kauffman Theater 7:30 p.m.

DEC 4

AACC Jazz Ensemble (Small Combo) Fall Concert HUM 112 7:30 p.m.

DEC 7

AACC Jazz Big Band Fall Concert Kauffman Theater 7:30 p.m.

DEC 8

AACC Symphony Orchestra Kauffman Theater 7:30 p.m.

DEC 9

AACC Concert Band Kauffman Theater 2 p.m.

DEC 11

AACC Concert Choir & Chamber Singers Mad Regal Holiday Concert

OCT 11

Kauffman Theater 7:30 p.m.

Ken Gonzalez-Day - Visiting Artist* CADE 219 5-8 p.m.

For tickets: 410-777-2457 or boxoffice@ aacc.edu *Free

Monday Aug. 27, noon-1 p.m. on the Quad Free coffee Free newspapers Meet the Campus Current staff

September 2018 | Campus Current |17

Anne Arundel Community College/Arnold Campus

FALL 2018 JOB FAIR David S. Jenkins Gymnasium-101 College Parkway Noon-3 p.m. Wednesday, September 26 Open to the Public!

Job Opportunities in the Following: - Accounting - Addictions counseling - Administrative support - Automotive mechanics - Casino positions (various) - CDL drivers - Construction management - Criminal justice - Cyber security - Early childhood development - EMTs - Electricians - Financial management - Food service (various) - Health care (various) - Hospitality management - Human services (various)

Preview partic ipating employ ers and jobs at: http://bit.ly/2L 2JMSK Scroll down to “Job Seekers” and click “Sea rch Employers ”

- Human resources - HVAC maintenance and repair - Law enforcement - Network technology and security - Nursing and patient care - Paramedics - Pharmacy technicians - Production management - Project managers - Purchasing specialists - Radiologic technology - Residential counseling - Retail management - Sales and marketing (various) - Telecommunications - Web developers + More!

l attire Professiona required

https://www.aacc.edu/resources/careers-and-employment/employment-services/ 410-777-2770 or 410-777-2512

18 | Campus Current | 2018 | September

Sports

AACC Softball gets nod for Division II upgrade Roxanne Ready Staff Writer AACC Athletics will upgrade Softball to Division II in spring.

Division II programs are able to offer scholarships and play against more competitive teams.

The move comes in part as a response to the National Junior College Athletic Association’s plans to categorize colleges by division in 2022, instead of letting schools choose each sport’s division separately.

“I think it’s great because

this program is competitive with other [Division II] teams,” Logan Endley-Abbott, a Softball utility player, told Campus Current.

Athletics Director Duane Herr said the department has been considering moving Softball up to Division II “for quite some time,” to bring it alongside Baseball, which has been Division II since spring 2013.

AACC’s other sports are Division III. “While Baseball and Softball aren’t … the same sport, certainly we do want to have alignment,” Herr said.

Herr said the change to Softball will act as a pilot for deciding whether to move more teams up to Division II. The department plans to evaluate how offering Softball scholarships affects recruiting and to see how the team plays when seeded as a Division II team.

“I think based on our resources, our support, our competitiveness, we are a Division II institution,” Herr said. “[But] there’s some behind-the-scenes work that’s being done … that we’re monitoring very closely so that we don’t get ahead of ourselves.”

Some of that work, Herr said, includes securing money for scholarships long-term.

Historically, scholarship eligibility across sports at AACC has depended on various factors—including a student athlete’s financial need, GPA, chosen sport and what program a student is studying—because the donors could choose the qualifications.

Division III sports do not

offer scholarships.

But Herr said this spring the school created a scholarship fund for its Division II programs with money it can award to athletes who meet NJCAA requirements.

The department is also considering moving other teams up to Division II before the NJCAA’s 2022 change, according to Herr, but has not made any final decisions.

AACC Women’s Soccer is bringing back eight returning players for the fall 2018 season.

Women’s Soccer will play 18 games this season, including eight at Siegert Field.

Last season, the Riverhawks won nine games, lost five and tied one. They scored 35 goals, averaging about 2.3 goals per game.

Second-year athletes

Reyna Bocanegra, Randal Graham, Gabriell Keogh, Melissa Stagnitta, Ashley Sherwin, Angela Sarrach, Madeline Stevenson and Angelina Horan are the returning players this fall season.

“We are working together to make this the best season,” Sarrach said. “The [returning players] definitely help with getting everyone adjusted to this new environment.”

“It’s a little bit better every year,” coach Karin Victorio said. “I think we are all

doing a good job.”

“Girls that are returning … they cheer on the new players,” incoming freshman Karina Murillo said.

“As long as the offense does their job and keeps it up in the front half we’ll do great,” Sarrach said.

Murillo said she is “excited to play.”

Women’s Soccer’s next game is Sept. 9, at Community College of Baltimore County at noon. The team’s first home game is on Oct. 2.

science student Derrick Alleyne, a forward and defenseman last season, said he hopes the team will get further this season.

“If we can do well in the season we can put ourselves in a position to be seeded in a good way [in the regionals tournament] to help us advance,” Cosentino said.

“At a certain point coaches are done coaching, [and] it is on the players at that point,” Owen said.

Men’s Soccer prepares for the upcoming fall season by running sprints.

Photo by Alexandra Radovic

Women’s Soccer preps for upcoming season Madeleine Pedersen Co-Editor

Women’s Soccer players dribble during an August practice on Siegert Field.

Photo by Madeleine Pedersen

Returning players help new freshman adjust This season’s Men’s Soccer lineup will include three second-year players who will return to the field and lead the team to the regionals, the coach told Campus Current in August. the “leaders of the field,” head coach Nick Cosentino said, are center-back Ryan Owen, mid-fielder Noah Beall and goalie Austin Noland.

“They have experience; they know what to expect,” Cosentino said of the team.

“It’s really making sure we have momentum going into the end of October when playoffs start.”

Cosentino said Prince George’s and Howard community colleges are the team’s biggest threats this season.

Last year, the team had a record of seven wins, eight losses and one tie.

Second-year computer

FALL 2018 1st GAMES

CC

Madeleine Pedersen Co-Editor

Softball at AACC will be a Divison II sport, starting in the spring 2019 season.

Photo by Madeleine Pedersen

Cross Country 1st Meet: 9/1, 9:45 a.m. at Salisbury University

Volleyball 1st Home: 9/5, 6 p.m. vs. Frederick CC 1st Away: 9/6, 7 p.m. at NOVA CC

Men’s Soccer 1st Home: 9/4, 4 p.m. vs. Allegany College of MD 1st Away: 9/8, 2 p.m. at CCBC Essex

Women’s Soccer 1st Home: 10/2, 4 p.m. vs. Howard CC 1st Away: 9/8, 12 p.m. at CCBC Essex

September 2018 | Campus Current |19

Sports

New coordinator to aid athletes with progress Madeleine Pedersen Co-Editor

AACC is trying to fill a new student athlete success coordinator position this fall.

Photo by Madeleine Pedersen

AACC Athletics has approved a new position for a student athlete success coordinator, who will help student athletes.

According to Athletics Director Duane Herr, the coordinator will schedule pre-season and in-season educational meetings with student athletes, and keep up with their academic progress during the semester.

The coordinator will monitor student athletes’

progress from their first semester until graduation by completing class checks, organizing study halls, scheduling classes, tutoring and assessing eligibility to play on an AACC sports team.

Herr said student athletes will be required to meet with the new success coordinator, in addition to meeting with a traditional academic adviser in the Student Services Building.

“I think it’s a great step to improving our Athletic Department,” Men’s Soccer coach Nick Cosentino said.

worry about eating out every meal and be stuck with some of the options you get.”

Having the national tournament on campus “is a great opportunity for the school,” said Sam Brown, a second-year student.

Incoming freshman Abby Ball agreed. “I would love for them to come to AACC,” she said. “It would be a huge attraction for the college.”

Women’s Lacrosse will have a new coach in the spring. Jim Griffiths retired after last season.

If AACC Women’s Lacrosse makes it to Nationals this fall, they will play on Siegert Field.

Photo by Madeleine Pedersen

Women’s lax Nationals to play on Siegert Field Madeleine Pedersen Co-Editor AACC will host the National Women’s Lacrosse Tournament for community colleges this May. The women’s lacrosse season begins in February.

If the Riverhawks make it to the finals this spring, they will get to play at their home—Siegert Field.

Women’s Lacrosse made it to Nationals last season but lost in the semi-final round 23-8 to Monroe Community College. The team’s regular

season record was 13 wins and 5 losses.

“We have no reason not to [win],” Duane Herr, AACC athletics director, said of the team’s chances to make it to Nationals in the spring and play on their home field.

According to Herr, playing at home would give the Riverhawks an advantage.

“It’s comfortable to play at home,” Herr said. “You don’t have to stay in a hotel ... you don’t have to travel, you don’t have to get off a bus six hours away, spend the night in an uncomfortable place,

Re-designed Athletics site will launch in fall Madeleine Pedersen Co-Editor

AACC Athletics will redesign its website this semester to replace the old Pioneers (top) mascot colors of red, white and blue with the up-to-date teal and white colors of the Riverhawk (bottom).

Logos courtesy of AACC Public Relations and Marketing and AACC Athletics.

Sarah Jackson, a Women’s Volleyball setter, said having this adviser help with scheduling will relieve stress.

“I feel that it would help with eligibility, throughout all sports, not just soccer,” Derrick Alleyne, Men’s Soccer forward and defenseman, said.

Joseph Niles, Men’s Lacrosse team mid-fielder, said he likes the idea of a student athlete success coordinator because his goal is to “move on and get accepted at the next level.”

AACC Athletics will unveil a redesigned web page this semester.

When AACC changed its mascot in 2015 from the red, white and blue Pioneer to Swoop, a teal Riverhawk, the “colors were not changed properly” on the website, said Zach Malone, sports information specialist.

Malone said “certain screens” on the website still feature the red from the Pioneer mascot days.

The redesigned site will feature new colors and easier navigation for its visitors, Malone said.

The new design will include white and teal.

It also will feature Riverhawk blue and “Swoop’s beak gold” as accent colors, he said.

Physics student William Johnson said the new design “sounds like a good idea” and the existing design “doesn’t seem like the best design.”

Transfer studies student Daniele DeGrandchamp said the site “needs to be updated.”

The background of the home page will feature black and white action shots of Riverhawk student athletes.

Each time a user refreshes the page, new photos of Riverhawk athletes will ap-

pear on the screen.

“We are considering … partnering with a streaming company,” Malone said. “If we go this route there would be a more centralized location for the game footage that gets captured when we live stream events.”

Malone said the department has already improved the site by updating its fall schedules, rosters, news releases and past score reports.

According to Malone, AACC Athletics has been working closley alongside PrestoSports, a Rockville web design company, to revamp the old website and give it a more modern look, with an updated color scheme.

20 | Campus Current | 2018 | September

SUPPLEMENTAL INSTRUCTION (SI)

What is Supplemental Instruction (SI)?

An internationally recognized program that improves student success in targeted courses.

HOW DOES SI WORK? A student who excelled in one of the designated courses is recruited to be a peer student leader for study sessions outside of class. At SI sessions, students review notes, discuss questions, apply concepts, learn study skills and more. If your course offers SI, it will be announced the first day of class.

Students who attend SI sessions consistently do better than those who do not.

Learn how to learn; be a student superstar!

BECOMING AN SI LEADER SI leaders are paid to attend lectures, prepare session plans, direct sessions, meet with the targeted course faculty member, attend trainings and keep attendance. Effective leaders are mature, communicate clearly and demonstrate strong subject knowledge. SI leaders need a faculty recommendation, must complete an application and attend an interview.

SI Student leaders are needed year round. APPLY NOW. Help fellow students to be more successful!

Visit us at www.aacc.edu and select the School of Science and Technology to learn more about SI sessions or how to become an SI leader; and call JosĂŠ Barata, STEM Initiatives, at 410-777-2376.