Crusader
April 30 Claymation
Former Seward student John McCluggage throws a pot out of 350pounds of clay on campus. —Page 1B
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SEWARD COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE/ AREA TECHNICAL SCHOOL www.crusadernews.com
Year 41, No. 11
2010
Liberal, Kansas
Seward graduation May 8 The 39th annual graduation at the college will be 10 a.m. Saturday, May 8, in the gymnasium. Daniel L. Love, chief district judge for the 16th judicial district, Dodge City, will be the speaker. The public is also invited to the Nursing Capping and Pinning Ceremony at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 7 in the college gymnasium. A reception will follow.
Finals begin next week Evening classes beginning at 5 p.m. or later will have final exams during their regularly scheduled class times on Tuesday, May 4, to Monday, May 10. Finals for day classes will be Tuesday, May 11 to Thursday, May 13. For a schedule of final times see www.sccc.edu.
Staff hosts anniversary party for college An end of the year celebration for the college’s 40th anniversary will be 7 p.m. May 8 in the center of campus. The theme is “Evening Under the Stars.” The price of tickets is $40 per couple, and are available in Tammy Doll’s office. Online registration is also available for those wishing to pay with credit card at https://sccc.site-ym.com/events/event _details.asp?id=104887. Prime rib dinner and chicken will be available. The RBC Band will be playing and dancing is optional.
Drama sells live DVDs The drama department is selling live performance DVDs of the “Beauty and the Beast.” They can be ordered in the humanities office for $15. After the DVD is copied and edited, the drama department will ship the DVDs via mail or those who purchase them may pick them up in the humanities office.
Five employees leave college for new paths Wi l l Rector Crusader staff Seward County Community College/Area Technical School has announced four resignations and one retirement. Hillary Anderson, secretary of admissions, has worked at SCCC/ATS for two years. Anderson will be attending cosmetology school at Seward. Ryan Stock, assistant men’s basketball coach, has been assisting Coach Bryan Zollinger for three years and will be accepting an assistant coaching job at Pitt State University in Pittsburg. Karen Cress, financial aid officer, has worked at the college for four years and is now working for Occidental Petroleum Corporation better known as Oxy. Mike Myers, biology teacher, has been teaching at Seward for three years and will be taking a position doing research at Wichita State University. Steve Hecox, director of nursing and Allied Health division chair, has been at Seward for 29 years and plans to work on his golf game during retirment.
Crusader photo/ Alfredo Anaya
Director of nursing and Allied Health division chair Steve Hecox reflects on all the nursing classes he’s seen graduate in the 29 years he has been with the college. Hecox plans on devoting his retirement time to family and golf.
Nursing director retires after 29 years Dana Loewen News editor Steve Hecox is retiring this year after 29 years of teaching and supervising in the Allied Health department of the college. Hecox grew up in Tyrone, Okla. where he graduated from high school. He went to college in Alva, Okla. at Northwestern Oklahoma State University where he started dating his future wife Vicki. They married when they were sophomores. When Hecox first came to Seward County Community College/ Area Technical School, the Allied Health division was not a separate division but was part of the math and science division. The biggest change he’s seen
is when it was moved to the Epworth Allied Health Center in 1983. Hecox is now the director of nursing and Allied Health division chair. Hecox decided to retire this year because he felt it was a good time in his life to devote more time to his family, church and other activities. After retiring, Hecox has two simple plans for his time. “Family and golfing,” Hecox said. “Outside of work, those are the most important parts of my life.” It was easy for Hecox to explain what he has enjoyed most about his work. “I’ve always enjoyed working with students and helping them accomplish their goals,” Hecox said. “In doing that I’ve also worked with a wonder-
ful faculty who is very dedicated. It’s something that I’ll miss.” Hecox has a big heart for students. During the past few years, one of his students was having issues. Hecox had the chance to work with and spend time with her, and she was able to work out her issues, graduate and become an RN. “That could apply to quite a few students,” Hecox said. “Each year I’m watching students as they struggle, and to watch them go through the graduation ceremony and see them out working as an RN is a special time.” Hecox is praised by the people he works with. “He is an awesome boss,” nursing instructor Sandy Brisendine said.
“Working with him is such a relaxed atmosphere. We know he’s always on task and organized and very approachable. The thing that’s so nice is that he trusts us to do our job.” Ed Anderson is the respiratory therapy instructor and coordinator. He started in 1999 and Hecox was the primary reason he came. “He was someone I wanted to work for,” Anderson said. “I think the best way to describe him is fair. He’s very honest and there’s no doubt where his heart is. He’s always been a student advocate. His primary focus is on student education, and there’s never any doubt about that.” Hecox speaks as fondly of the people he works with as they do of him.
• See Hecox page 3
Student Government elects next year’s officers Al fredo Anaya Crusader staff Student Government Association elections for president, vice-president and secretary took place April 24-26. A total of 130 ballots were cast this year. It was one of the closest elections there has been in a while, according to director of student activities Wade Lyon. The two main candidates running for president of SGA were Victor Rodriguez and Jonathan Yowell, and Kelsey Cook running for vice president; however, in the end Rodriguez won the office of next year’s student government president and Jonathan Yowell will be secretary-treasurer. The candidates had two very different reasons for running for the office of SGA. “It was spontaneous,” Rodriguez said. “I was the only freshman and I
Rodriguez was like, ‘I’ve never ran for anything.’ So I decided to run. I also felt like I needed more responsibility, so that’s also why I decided to run for president.”
Yowell, on the other hand, decided to run in order to make the college and the technical school more unified. “I felt it would be good for a student from the technical school to participate and have a voice in the student government,” Yowell said. Both students have changes they would like to see happen next year with their involvement in SGA. “I hope we can update the small union we have here at the technical school,” Yowell said. “Nothing has been changed since it was first put in, so it would be good to see some upgrades done.” Rodriguez is trying to help fix problems that he’s heard students complain about around the dorms. “I’ve been getting a lot of complaints about the dryers at the dorms and how old and expensive they are,” Rodriguez said. “So next year I want to try and get them fixed or replaced
and hopefully try to lower the prices.” Vice president Cook also foresees room for improvement around the campus, although this year has already seen several changes. “I hope that we can make more big changes like we did this year to the student union; change is always a good thing. Maybe we can do something in the dorms, like get new washers and dryers, but whatever it is, I hope it makes a difference,” Cook said. Rodriguez has plans to make next year a good year, and is open to suggestions and input from students in order to help fix any problems or concerns they might have. “Next year is going to be really cool, and I’m looking forward to making it a great year,” Rodriguez said. “I want students to be able to contact me if they have any suggestions or concerns.”
Nine SkillsUSA members to compete at nationals in June Anti goné Lowery Crusader staff Nine Seward SkillsUSA members will be heading to the national competition for placing first in their selected events at the SkillsUSA state contest in Wichita April 13-16. Seward has had teams compete in the SkillsUSA opening and closing demonstration contest, but never had they achieved a gold medal in that contest. Opening and closing demonstration contestant Jonathan Yowell is proud of their efforts.
“We have all worked very hard to achieve the gold medal at the state level, and we are hoping to win the gold at nationals,” Yowell, who also placed third in precision machine technology, said. In the opening and closing demonstration contest, the students are judged on their knowledge and skills to properly open and close a SkillsUSA meeting. Yowell, along with other opening and closing team members Ethan Zweygardt, Brandon Bruner, Jesus Salais, Cory Bransgove, Zachery Sandoval,
Matthew Olson and alternate Cody Brennon, will all go to nationals. Jesse Rosas will also be attending nationals for placing first in the job interview contest. This will be the first time that this year’s team members will be in the national competition, and all plan to put their best efforts forward against teams from around the country. Team member Salais has plans for his first national competition. “I hope to gain leadership skills and, of course, win first
place,” Salais said. Others are also looking for gold. “I hope my team wins the gold medal at the national competition, because my team has worked very hard this year, and I’m so proud of my team,” Bransgrove said. Team sponsor Sybil Wagner — who won a Kansas SkillsUSA State Sponsor award at the state competition after being nominated by students, an administrator, an instructor and the chamber president— will take the
team to nationals. This will be the fifth gold medal team that Wagner has taken to the national competition, and she is proud of the hard work that they have put in to compete. “I felt the students did a fabulous job at the contest,” Wagner said. “I was extremely proud of their knowledge and their behavior.” The SkillsUSA students also won 18 statesmen awards for completing questions on their knowledge of the SkillsUSA.
Wagner noted that this year’s team members won the most awards of any other school at the state competition, and she is pleased with their accomplishments. “I love my students, and I love helping them with their achievements,” Wagner said. “Thank you to a bunch of students who give their all.” Wagner and the SkillsUSA team will head to the national competition in Kansas City, Mo. in June.