MVCCGLACIER.COM
APRIL 15, 2016
VOLUME 49, ISSUE 14
Disability Seminar sends smiles to students
Moraine Valley Student Riley Spreadbury plays basketball with fellow attendees. [James Lang] By James Lang Views Editor Gleeful smiles and laughter radiated through the H
Building’s gymnasiums as students and faculty came together to learn about and explore the lives of the disabled.
Sponsored by Sports Management and Recreation as well as the Recreation Therapy Club, H Building’s Apr. 14 Disability Seminar was
Black minds empowered By Devonte Parks Staff Writer On Thurs., Mar. 31, Dean of Student Services, Chet Shaw created an event, Black Minds Empowered: Dinner and Dialogue, which served as a catalyst to create a conversation that would become a major movement here at Moraine Valley Community College. The origin of this movement began as a response to meet the needs of the African American population here on campus. Declining retention and graduation rates among this demographic has become a major topic of interest, particularly to the administrative staff here at Moraine Valley. Chet Shaw spoke candidly on this issue in an interview that was conducted with him prior to
the event. When Shaw was asked about what inspired him to create this event, he responded, “Based on our numbers, it shows that African American retention and graduation rates are not as high as other groups, and us as administrators really want to see what can do to change that,” This event more or less has been created to focus on increasing the number of African Americans scholars. Fortunately, this is just a trend here at Moraine Valley; this has also been an issue at several other community colleges and universities. The order of service was constructed in a conversational format. At each table there were about five students and two faculty members. One faculty member moderated the discussion at the table to ensure all students
MVCC Glacier
were given the opportunity to answer and share their thoughts on the particular question, while the other faculty member recorded the students’ responses. There were numerous questions asked during the dinner and dialogue by the moderator, DeWitt Scoot, to engage students to share their perspective and concerns about being an African American Student at Moraine Valley Community College. One of the questions Mr. Scott asked was, “What internal and external factors positively influenced your entry into college?” Many students agreed their role models such as family members that have previously graduated, strongly encouraged them to attend college. There was also a large amount of students who SYMPOSIUM| page 6
theglaciermvcc
a huge success and not only gave awareness about various disabilities, it also gave the students and faculty a unique look into the lives of people with disabilities by playing various games and activities. Wheelchair basketball was the most popular of the games. Students and faculty members were in wheelchairs and playing a rather aggressive game. Some of the students were disabled and some were not. It was hard to tell who was who which was the point of the games. Students were strapped into the chairs and teams were divided as they laughed,
banging into each other and trying their best to shoot the ball, often to much avail. Another game involved participants wearing googles that were blacked out, simulating blindness, and rolling a ball with a sound device in it toward their opponent’s team in a sort of “blind soccer” match. This was the most challenging of the games and also the most fun as the players would roll the ball in random directions since they had no bearings at all. It really made one realize how difficult life would be without the gift of sight. It was hard watching it and not think how lucky it is to be able to see as well as having the use of other senses. Volleyball can be a challenging sport even for the most seasoned athlete, but for somebody without the use of their legs it can be nearly impossible. Teaching this lesson was the point of the DISABILITY| page 5
CTU attempts to teach the Illinois Power Elite By Mike Reddy Staff Writer Bleak, bitter, and dark; the Windy City lived up to its name on a day teachers claim was anything but. On Apr. 1, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), donning red, took to marching through the streets downtown in a daylong strike they deemed a “day of action”. The strike comes after a recent slew of cutbacks that left Chicago educators feeling strangled of their abilities to deliver quality educations and learning environments to their students for reasonable wages. The state budget, or rather lack thereof, is at the heart of the issues being protested,
MVCCTheGlacier
resulting in midyear cuts, furlough days, and classroom sizes being pushed beyond their comfortable limits in order to simply keep some schools open. More than 330,000 students went without classes on the Friday because of the strike, putting parents in an unavoidable position of either watching over their children themselves or finding someplace else to watch over them. When asked about conditions on the day of the strike, one protester who wished to remain anonymous said, “You see, this bad weather on the outside is how us (sic) CTU| page 7
mvcctheglacier