Tied to murder
By Lonnie Allen
Editor-in-Chief

Two GRCC students are among the accused in last month’s high-profile beating murder of Jonathan “Jono” Krystiniak outside a downtown nightclub.

GRCC students Ryan Simonson and Eric Freeman were charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter in the beating death of Krystiniak outside the Margarita Grill. The conflicting stories swirling about on what happened the night of Jan. 10 are still not clear. Family members took Krystiniak off life support on Jan. 22 after they were informed nothing more could be done.

Simonson and Freeman, free on bond, are awaiting the next step in the court process.

The preliminary exam was scheduled Feb. 12. It was expected to be waived, then the case would bound over to district court.

Simonson and Freeman both graduated from Wyoming Park high school in 2007 and Krystiniak was a Grandville high school student and recently played football at Ottawa University in Kansas.

GRCC freshman Jason Peters, who graduated from Wyoming Park with Simonson and Ryan Simonson Eric Freeman described them as part of the prep crowd in high school.“They participated in sports,” Peters said, “both played football and Ryan wrestled for a long time.”

Jason Vance, another graduate from Wyoming Park. said Freeman liked to joke around and described him as easygoing, but that depended on whom Freeman was around. “When around certain people he could get carried away,” Vance said.

Their attitudes during high school were like any other students “talk with friends and then go to class,” Peters said.

Some GRCC students who knew “Jono” believe Simonson and Freeman should still be in jail.

“I don’t think it is fair they aren’t in jail,” GRCC freshman Jessica McClellan said.

It also makes McClellan nervous that they might be right next to her on campus.

“I wouldn’t want to be by them,” she said. “I just don’t understand why they are not in jail.”

One student does not like that Simonson and Freeman could still be in the classroom with them.

“Everyone does deserve an education,” GRCC transfer student Kelly Dremth said.

A neighbor to Krystiniak, Dremth doesn’t feel comfortable that she could run into either Simonson or Freeman on campus.

“I myself would not be able to sit next to them in class,” Dremth said They have only been charged and rightly are innocent until proven guilty, Peters said.

It could not be confirmed if Simonson and Freeman are still attending classes at GRCC while awaiting the next step in the process. However, Peters said Simonson is still attending his classes.

“Someone is driving his car. We both have the premium parking and I see his car there,” Peters said.

Privacy laws will not allow GRCC officials to confirm if Simonson and Freeman are still attending classes this semester.

New grade policy
By Ashley VanderLoon
Collegiate Staff Writer

A new policy will begin in the fall, requiring GRCC students to maintain a specific GPA based on credits attempted.

If the average is not maintained, students may be at risk for being academically suspended or put on probation.

GRCC recently mailed postcards all students in order to properly reference the new procedure.

The policy requires full-time students with 12 to 14 credits to maintain at keast a 5 G PA . Students attempting 15- 28 credits will need at least a 1.75, and 29 above will need a 2.0.

Page 22 of the GRCC Catalog explains the Satisfactory Academic Policy in greater detail to defi ne and support what it means.

Other community colleges around the area have successfully adapted to this policy, but some have different suspension periods.

According to Dean of Student Affairs, Howard Shanken, the main reason the policy was set was for clarification of theAcademic Progress stated within the GRCC catalog.

John Cowles, the Associate Dean of the Counseling Department, believes the plan is a good idea.

“The policy is quite fair and is based in part on the current Satisfactory Academic Progress policy already in place for students who need fi nancial aid,” he said.

The Academic Governing Council approved the policy, and it was later sent to the Provost Gilda Gely, Executive Vice President, for final decision making.

Over the last year, the Academic Standing policy has been discussed in “collaborative” detail, according to Cowles.

Students who get academically suspended and want to continue at GRCC must complete a written success plan and meet with a counselor.

“The purpose of the meeting will be to assist the student in coming up with a plan to be academically successful. It will increase the number of students coming to see us, but this will be good for the students who need assistance,” Cowles said.

GRCC student Dustin Kingsley disagrees with the new policy.

“I don’t think it’s fair because it doesn’t give us an equal chance. You’d think they’d have the decency and respect to talk to the students fi rst or have a vote on it,” Kingsley said.

Jessica Weist, fourth-year GRCC student, thought the policy was a reasonable idea.

“A 2.0 is not that hard to maintain. If you are coming here for your gen-eds, those are easier to maintain,” she said. Shanken addressed how he wanted the policy to be clearly defined in order for GRCC students to achieve success. He wanted to bring their attention to the services that are available for them to use.

A few examples of the free services available are tutoring and career workshops, all at the benefi t of the student.

Victory Valentine Vagina
By Yirssi Bergman
News Editor

Va-gi-na. Say it out loud. Vagina.

Eve Ensler came to the Fountain Street Church Feb. 7. She is the woman who a decade ago catapulted this word into “vagina history,” as she called it. Ensler is the writer of the“Vagina Monologues,” a play based on her interviews with more than 200 women.

When it started it was an off-off Broadway play in a small theater in New York City. Ensler admits her main concern was “to get the word vagina out of my terrified mouth.”

It has become a phenomenon that has lasted over a decade, and that gave birth to V-Day.

The ‘V’ in V-Day stands for Victory, Valentine, and Vagina. V-Day, taking place on Feb. 14, is a movement aimed at stopping violence against women. During V-Day, the “Vagina Monologues,” show is performed, different workshops and events take place in order to raise awareness about the violence that women face, and funds are raised to support antiviolence organizations.

“ Women are still profoundly unsafe everywhere,” Ensler said, adding that the movement was started with the intent to “stop rape, stop violence, and protect women.”

Ensler related funny facts about the effect of VDay during her lecture to community members and students from around Grand Rapids, one example was the New Orleans mayor C. Ray Nagin calling himself a “Vagina Friendly Mayor,” and this Feb. 14 a flight from Paris to Barcelona will have a V-Day Monologue performance. But talk quickly turned serious, even when Ensler gave a little nuggets of humor.

She spoke of a visit to the Congo to what she called a “village of raped women.” Where four-month-old babies to elderly women who were raped lived.

She described the specifics of a little girl’s story:

Ensler called her Noella, an eight-year-old whose father had been killed and whose mother was raped and then killed. Noella was held for two weeks and was gangraped by militia. At eight years of age, she had been raped with guns and sticks.

Ensler spoke of how this girl was now incontinent and traumatized because of her ordeal.

“I want to live in a world where something like that will never ever happen again. Femicide has to be challenged and stopped if the human race is to survive,” Ensler said to a wave of applause.

Josh Sadowski, a 22-yearold former GRCC student who is now a psychology senior at GVSU, said Ensler was fantastic and inspiring. He is a self-declared male feminist who went to a performance of the “Vagina Monologues” a couple of years back.

“I heard the word vagina, so it sounded fun,” Sadowski said.

He went up to microphone to ask about Ensler’s beliefs about raising boys, since he has a little one of his own.

Ensler’s response was that “violence against women is not inherited, it is taught.”

Bev Pels, a junior at Aquinas College, said Ensler had a lot of insight.

“It’s really cool how she talked about global feminism, and how she expressed that it’s not only a woman’s issue, but a human issue,” Pels said.

Ensler is on tour celebrating the tenth anniversary of V-Day, which will end in New Orleans where a “V to the Tenth” celebration will take place. On April 11 and 12 the Louisiana Superdome will host women and men from all over the globe and artists such as Rosario Dawson, Jessica Alba and Common to celebrate women and learn of ways to stop the violence.

Ensler’s talk was sponsored by the West Michigan Women’s Studies Council and funded by the Nokomis Foundation. The Council, a non-profit organization, was founded in 2000.

Maria Cimitile, a member and co-founder of the council, said it was formed to “function as a feminist voice in West Michigan.”

The next Vagina Monologues performance in Grand Rapids will be at 7 p.m. Feb. 15 in Wealthy Street Theatre. GVSU students will be performing the show.

Snow causes more problems as GRCC shuts down again
By Rose Stoppels, Charles Jurries
Collegiate Staff Writer, Web Design Editor

On Jan. 30 and Feb. 6, the GRCC facilities department put in 32 hours of overtime due to inclement weather.

The executive director of facilities at, GRCC Tom Smith, deals with snow removal and maintenance of the campus.

After school was cancelled the last two Wednesdays, the facilities staff took care of shoveling the snow off the sidewalks, and the top of the parking decks at the parking ramps. Although overtime hours were put in, this did not affect the pocketbook of the school.

“The budget is put in a set amount each year, no separate funds for snow removal,” Smith said.

Every year a separate service is called in to clean off the parking decks and ramps, however this is also included in the annual budget figures. Therefore, the staff and the financial department is not at a loss, as overtime hours are paid and have been planned of ahead of time.

The weather “Does not influence the faculty staff, because we are here all the time and we budget throughout the year,” Smith said. Although the faculty and staff may not be influenced by the weather changes, the effects inside the classroom may have an entirely different outlook.

Gilda Gely, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic & Student Affairs for GRCC, said technology is helping to minimize the impact of missing classes weeks in a row.

Through e-mail and Blackboard, Gely said she believes there will be minimal to no negative effects on students.

“We believe that even though students’ classes were affected, the content matter will still be covered,” Gely said.

Gely added that instructors know how to adapt to cover the material for their classes when situations like these arise.

According to Gely, GRCC has a Crisis Management Team that decides to close the campus in case of bad weather. The team’s decision is impacted by“reports from Michigan State Police on road and driving conditions, the National Weather Forecast, and other important data,” according to Gely.

Students can find out about school cancellations from the GRCC Web site, local media, or by signing up for text message alerts at http://www. grcc.edu/textmessage.

BSU celebrating "OUR" Story month
By Sandra Sabin
Collegiate Staff Writer

GRCC's Black Student Union is attempting to teach students the power of creating an equal bond between races during African American History Month.

"African-Americans have helped in the founding of this nation in countless ways. They've continued to play a critical political, cultural, and social role in every sphere of our nation's life," Sarah Ellis, duel-enrolled GRCC Upward Bound Student said.

The BSU is hosting events and speakers during this month’s celebration.

Psychologist Dr. Wade Nobles will be speaking about “Psychological Perspective of Black on Black Violence in the Community.” The event will be Feb. 18 at 5:30 p.m. in the Science Auditorium.

Feb. 19 is an event called Empowerment Day. Spoken word artists "NerCity" will be reading poetry of empowerment.

BSU will be encouraging students to vote by holding a voter registration drive. It will be on campus offering interships and empowering oppertunities. This will be held at noon in the Raider Grille.

Sen. Bill Hardiman, R-Kentwood, will speak on Feb. 21 in the Science Auditorium at 6 p.m. He will discuss what he does for Michigan, while students can ask questions, state their concerns and give suggestions. This event is in collaboration with the College Republicans and InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

The last event is Feb. 29 in the SCC Multipurpose Room in the Student Center at 8 p.m. There will a cover charge of $5 before 9 p.m. and $10 after 9 p.m. All the proceeds will go toward BSU scholarships and child care grants.

“African American History Month is a good thing. All races should know about other races. You should have knowledge and background of everyone because it prevents ignorance,” fi rst year GRCC student Nicole Trestrail said.

GRCC is holding other events around campus the month of February in celebration of African American History Month.

News Briefs for Feb. 13, 2008
by Collegiate Staff

Collegiate’s Blog
Writers from the acclaimed Grand Rapids Community College student newspaper The Collegiate are going into cyberspace. So far, staff writers have started seven blogs, with topics ranging from movies, to student life, and passing through books, music and journalism. The blogs have been started as a labor (or spite, perhaps) with the sole intent of expressing the writer’s opinion. Visit Collegiatelive.com/blogs to read more!

Lack of interest
The Diversity Conference scheduled for Thursday has been canceled due to low registration from area schools. In the past, conference registrations have averaged 250 + participants. The conference has been highly successful for 13.

Some school representatives have cited the following as factors in the low registrations: Budgets - registration fee transportation. Multiple Snow Days already taken - schools reluctant to have students miss additional day. Participation in the KISD ninth-grade Diversity Initiative - again schools are reluctant to have students miss additional day.

Students evicted for poor grades
By Christina Hernandez, MCT Wire
NEW YORK - State University of New York-Old Westbury has removed 87 residential students from their dormitories for having grade point averages below 2.0.

Faculty and students have blasted the policy, but an administrator said Friday that the rule - which he described as an effort to raise academic standards - would continue.

“Our goal is to have students with us who are serious about their studies,” said Michael Kinane, assistant to the president. “I have not heard yet a single faculty member support this policy,” she said.

Campus Police Report for Jan. 30, 2008
Compiled by Ben Rooisen
Copy Editor

Larceny 12-10-07
Barclay Parking Lot: A student’s car was broken into in the Barclay Parking Lot. The passenger-side window was broken, as was the dashboard CD player. The student’s Raider Card was missing, and it appeared there was an attempt to steal the car.

Larceny 1-14-08
ATC: A VCR/DVD combo player was stolen off a portable television cart from the ATC during a weekend.

Larceny 1-15-08
Cook Hall: An unattended backpack was stolen from room 420 of Cook Hall. The total value of the stolen property was nearly $300.

Larceny 1-16-08
Ford Fieldhouse: A cell phone was stolen from a locked locker in the men’s student locker room of the Ford Fieldhouse. The lock, provided by the student, was also missing.

Larceny 1-21-08
Ford Fieldhouse: Over $200 of goods were stolen from a locker in the men’s student locker room of the Ford Fieldhouse. The locker was left unlocked only what the student showered.

Larceny 1-21-08
Music building: A lap top computer was stolen from room 130 of the Music Building while its owner was talking with a friend in the hallway.

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