T he E agle ntcceagleonline.com
Volume 35 Issue 7
Thursday April 5, 2018
NORTHEAST TEXAS COMMUNITY COLLEGE
TUITION
Northeast board raises tuition by 3 percent By Kenzie Messer Editor-in-Chief
about, NTCC President Dr. Ron Clinton said the college has adopted a philosophy that The Northeast Texas Com- it is better to increase tuition munity College Board of gradually rather than having Trustees made the move to big spikes. raise tuition an average of “There have been quite 3 percent for the 2018-2019 a few colleges in our area school year at the February that have made some larger board meeting. increases in tuition,” Clinton While the increase said. in tuition does have the He added the board potential to affect NTCC members always considers student’s bank accounts the economy and enrollment some, the 3 percent increase numbers when making the means there will only be a decision to raise tuition rates. $10 increase for in-district, “If you look at the cost $15 dollar increase for out- of living, 2 to 3 percent is a of-district, and $21 increase fairly conservative amount,” for non-resident students per Clinton said. “We’ve had hour. other issues. The ones that Although the tuition all colleges face. We’ve had increase is something some declines in enrollment, students are not too pleased and that is a trend that
is happening around the country.” Clinton said community college enrollment across the board is closely connected to the economy. He added that whatever is going on in the economy has a large impact on enrollment numbers. “Jobs are plentiful, people are working and not going back to school and getting their training,” Clinton said. “On the other side, when the economy is not doing so well, the enrollment rate starts to go up.” Clinton added when U.S. Steel laid off their workers, NTCC’s enrollment went up because we were providing See Tuition on pg. 2
staff photo
| kenzie messer
Adviser Jimmy Smith helps student Gracee Darmon register for classes for the summer semester. The rise in tuition will not take place until the fall semester of 2018.
INDIAN POTTERY
AGRICULTURE
Kiwi farming begins this fall By Chelsea Elrod Staff Writer
Relics from the past
staff photos
| daniel yanez
Art teacher Debbie Strong helps student Alina Castanon from her Art Appreciation class with some projects that they are doing. The Caddo Indian pottery is on display in the computer lab in the Learning Commons.
Pottery display fulfills donor’s vision By McKay Patrick Staff Writer As Northeast students make their way around the Charlie and Helen Hampton Library, they are surrounded by a wealth of knowledge that goes beyond the pages that line the bookshelves. Behind specially-designed glass panels, sits unique and historical treasures of the Caddo Indian Nation. These pieces are part of a vast collection of rare Caddo artifacts donated to NTCC by Margaret Hinton and Guaranty Bond Bank in 2011. Hinton, who passed away later that year, acquired the large collection of Caddo pottery and other artifacts in the 1970s from an individual who was attempting to sell the relics off in individual pieces. NTCC Executive Vice
President for Advancement Dr. Jonathan McCullough said it was Hinton’s vision to share the collection and its history with people throughout the local community. “She knew that we, through our Communities in Schools (CIS) program, bring out thousands of kids to the college on a yearly basis for tours and so she hoped that we could incorporate the tour of the Caddo into visitations for the local school kids,” McCullough said. With more than 400 pieces of pottery and other artifacts, McCullough said the collection is worth well over $500,000. “What makes it unique,” he said, “is that it’s one of the biggest, intact Caddo pottery collections in the United States.” The Caddo were farmers who made their home in the East Texas area. One major Caddo tribe was the Kadohadacho. This tribe lived in large
villages along the Red River near the present-day Oklahoma and Arkansas borders. The other was the Tejas or Hasinais Caddo who lived in the Northeast Texas region. Mrs. Hinton’s son, Ross Hinton, said preserving the history and sharing the story of the Caddo Indian tribe was especially important to his mother. “In school, we learn history from all over the world. Sometimes we don’t know the history that is literally right under our feet,” Hinton said. “I am very proud of my mother and delighted for the community that her efforts have helped so many people to have a better understanding of the people that inhabited our area and how they lived.
A little piece of New Zealand is making its way to Northeast Texas this fall. NTCC will be collaborating with Stephen F. Austin (SFA) for the second phase of a grant to grow golden kiwi fruit. The primary researcher based out of SFA was awarded a grant through the United States Department of Agriculture. The Northeast Ag department will be building a site on the southernmost part of the property that will become the home of the golden kiwi. “Stephen F. Austin and Texas A&M-College Station have been working for the past three years with a company farm from New Zealand to determine a place in Texas where they can start producing them,” Renee McCracken, director of Agriculture said. “They’re [kiwis] grown primarily in Asia and that’s the number one consumer of the kiwis and they can’t get enough of them.” McCracken said that most Asian countries have little land and large populations, which means that they are unable to produce enough kiwi fruit. New Zealand is the number
one exporter of kiwi and is looking to the states for a solution to the problem. “Stephen F. Austin (SFA) and Texas A&M both have looked for the past three years in doing a trial work there. It’s all part of a Texas Agriculture grant that funded their research,” McCracken said. “They were able to get them to grow in both locations but not produce like they should because they simply do not have enough cold temps to be able to produce like they need to.” McCracken was contacted by one of her former professors, Dr. David Creech, who is the primary researcher at SFA working on the project and is the principal investigator for the grant. “He knew me and he was looking for a location to really test and see what we could do to develop the system for growing kiwis in the United States,” McCracken said. “We’re not necessarily doing a research project, we are doing more of a demonstration project, a real world project, which is more what our farm is about.” Creech said that the SFA gardens are also open and the opportunity presented itself. See Kiwi on pg. 2
WHAT’S INSIDE
CULINARY ARTS PG. 4
See Caddo Pottery on pg. 4
UPCOMING EVENTS
Graduation Fair.................................................................................................April 9 Transfer Scholarship due................................................................................April 14 Murder Mystery Dinner..................................................................................April 14 Suicide Awareness Walk.................................................................................April 21 Spanish Club Soccer Tournament...................................................................April 21 Earth Day........................................................................................................April 22
TIPA AWARDS PG. 5