Learning about avoiding probation
By Ashley VanderLoon, Charles Jurries
Collegiate Staff Writer, Web Design Editor

Web Editor's Note: This is an update of a story that originally ran on Feb. 12, 2008 (New Grade Policy) by Ashley VanderLoon. New portions have been written by Charles Jurries.

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.

The Counseling and Career Center is hosting a workshop on March 17 to provide students with information about the new GPA requirements

The workshop will explain the new Academic policy, the difference between probation and suspension, and will give strategies for students to improve their GPA.

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 define and support what it means.

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

GRCC recently mailed postcards to over 1,400 students in order to properly reference the new procedure.

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 benefit of the student.

The workshop "Strategies to Avoid Academic Probation" will be held on March 17 two seperate times. One session will be from 1 p.m. - 2 p.m., the second from 4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Both sessions will be held in the Multipurpose Room on the second floor of the Student Center.

Winchester makeover is undecided
By Lonnie Allen
Editor-in-Chief

Student Life and Student Congress are flirting with the possible renovation of Winchester Alley.

Eric Mullen, Director of Student Life, and Eric Williams, President of Student Congress, have been in talks with the Facilities department and an outside consulting firm about a new look for Winchester Alley.

“We have been discussing the idea of renovation Winchester Alley for some time now,” Mullen said.“Facilities initiated the idea of renovation but didn’t have enough money.”

The Faciities Department is allocated dollars every year for rouitine maintenance, equipment repiar, and minor renovaitons, Tom Smith, Executive director of facilities, said.

“These dollars are not specifi cally earmarked for a major renovation, such as Winchester Alley,” Smith said. “We do have $14,000 set aside for Winchester Alley carpeting.”

Winchester Alley is a major renovation project and Smith said that kind of funding would have to be requested by Student Life. Mullen and Williams have been meeting with the Dean of Student Affairs Tina Hoxie, Director of Facilities Jim VanDokkumburg, and Mary Ellen Fritz, Interior Design of Progressive AE of Grand Rapids. The recent meeting with Fritz produced a new floor plan that gives details of what the new space would look like if a few hundred thousand dollars were available.

The conceptual renovation would be in the approximate neighborhood of $260,000 Smith said. Mullen doesn’t foresee any obstacles in this project. “We have a lot of support behind this floor plan,” Mullen said. “We polled around 30 students. On the idea other than a few students not caring about what happened, the rest displayed good support for the idea.” Smith listed that many factors go into an actual start date on a project like Winchester Alley, such as bidding processes: material ordering availability, and architectural and contractor availability.

It is up to the funding allocation. “Student Life would have to request the project approval and funding allocation through their appropriate echelon and budgeting process,” Smith said.

The plans display a coffee house type of space with raised tables and bar seating. The vending machines would be moved and more seating would become available.

Mullen said the flooring would be a recycled rubber material similar to the floor in Cook one. “The atmosphere would be more subdued along with new traffic patterns.”

Avery Sedore, Subway owner in Winchester, is excited of the new plans. He believes they did a nice job choosing more earth tones and giving the space a sophisticated feeling for students.

“They did a real nice job with the planning,” Sedore said. “It would be a big plus for students if funding happens to renovate this space down here.”

With all the excitement about this renovation, Smith believes if the project would begin and end in the summer of 2008.

“If funding were approved would be predicted on class scheduling because of noise," Smith said. “Depending on the least amount of student activity in Winchester Alley over an extended period of time.

New floor plan design for Winchester Alley was provided by Progressive AE of Grand Rapids.

Book store issues
By Charles Jurries
Web Design Editor

Some instructors at GRCC are having issues with the campus bookstore. Recent concerns include the bookstore recommending unnecessary class materials and possibly unfairly using financial aid money, according to Faculty Council minutes.

Jeff Nuemann is the Faculty Council liaison to the bookstore. The liaison’s job is to attend meetings and bring any faculty concerns to the attention of the bookstore “and bring any concerns back to Faculty Council,” former liaison and current GRCC math instructor Julie Hess said.

Dennis Sutton, a GRCC communications instructor, has had a problem with the bookstore in getting enough course packs printed for his students.

“Often it would be two weeks into the term and students didn’t have the course pack yet. I consider that lack of support to hinder my efforts in the classroom,” Sutton said.

The bookstore is not run by GRCC. The college has a contract with book distributor Follett. According to council minutes, the college makes a “six figure” amount a year from the bookstore.

According to the contract, faculty does not have contractual obligations to have students purchase books from the bookstore.

According to the council minutes, students can spend money at the bookstore before receiving a check. The concern is that the bookstore may be making money off financial aid by selling items not related to the classroom. Concerns are that financial aid money should not be released to an outside company.

Interview requests from the bookstore have gone unreturned.

GRCC student awards
By Lonnie Allen
Editor-in-Chief

An upcoming awards ceremony will honor some of this year's GRCC leaders on campus.

The annual student Leadership Awards Banquet honors nominated students, faculty and staff for a variety of categories.

Liz Tyrell, Administrative Assistant in Student Life, is handling the nominations coming into the Student Life Office.

“This is an exciting program,” Tyrell said. "Students, faculty, and staff have the opportunity to nominate an individual for one of these categories.”

Nomination forms are located in the Student Life office next to the bookstore.

Last year’s winner of the Brian Kloet award was Eric Williams, this years Student Congress President.

Williams said this about the importance of honoring individuals on campus:“I think honoring students for leadership is extremely important,” Williams said. “I think most times leaders on campus are entirely stressed out, and from my experience, they feel like they are alone in most of their endeavors.”

The Brian Kloet Student Leadership Award is presented annually to the student who best exemplifies the following attributes: a student who has been active and involved in Student Activities. A student who has established a cross-college interest in campus life and has been helpful in promoting the overallcollege experience through outstanding citizenship, and a student who has minimum GPA of 2.75.

Other awards include the Cedric Ward learship award, Martin Luther King Jr. award, and The Jerry Benham Service Learning award. Each award has a set critertia Tyrell said. Williams was nominated for two awards in 2007 was reluctant to turn in his essay.“I was almost debating not turning in my essay for the award because I was so scared.” Williams said. “To have your community say that you are one recognized out of 27,000 people is amazing. It’s so amazing I really felt like I was going to throw up when they said my name.”

The presence of student leaders on campus is important to Williams. He says that without these amazing people things wouldn’t get done.“ I think that all leaders really are people who step up when someone else needs help.”

Williams believes that good leadership is more than accomplishing goals and the process of getting others to do things.

“Leadership is about small things,” said Williams, “trying to make things a little better then when you got there. If the world is a little better because you stepped in, then you really can’t be seen as anything less then an amazing leader.”

The awards ceremony will be held on Apr. 15 and the deadline for nominations is March 12 said Tyrell.

Event brings awareness about violence
By Marcus J. Reynolds
Collegiate Staff Writer

Dr. Wade Noble visited GRCC to address the problem of black-on-black violence in the community.

On Feb. 18, the Black Student Union (BSU) of GRCC collaborated with other organizations to bring Noble from San Francisco State University.

Sarah Hill, BSU advisor, opened with a monologue sharing a testimonial of losing a family member to violence.

Elias Lumpkins, member of the Kent County Black Elected Offi cials, was also given time to speak.

“There are people here in Grand Rapids working on the violence…there is too much violence around the world,” Lumpkins said.

Between 60-70 citizens, faculty and students attended the event located in GRCC’s Caulkins Science Center.

Spoken word artist Nercity –pronounced inner city from Oakland, Calif. warmed the crowd by describing this generation of black people as “New Millennium Slaves”.

“No one white president runs this country… but my brothers are gigga, wigga, nigga watts… like batteries we keep going and going…to prison… that’s why they call them charges,” Nercity said.

Taalib El-Amin, community activist, introduced Dr. Nobles. Before doing so, he spoke to a class of GRCC police recruits, who were almost all white.“In the future when you are doing your job, remember blacks are caught in a spider web… like a bull chasing the matador’s cape of genocide… victims of a system,” El-Amin said.

El-Amin followed the African tradition of pouring libation. While pouring water from a cup to a bowl he prayed for the spirit of African ancestors, renewed community, culture, and family. The crowd replied to each prayer by saying“I shah,” which El-Amin said is like saying “amen.”

Noble opened by explaining this is family business, to solve the problem of black-on-black violence and that it can’t be solved by a drive-by speech. He explained there are two laws that will give blacks a foundation to work from. The law of miss-knowing explains that if you don’t understand white supremacy, you will be confused by everything else you think you know.

Secondly, if you don’t exist according to your ethnicity, everything else you do will be a diminishment. This laid the groundwork for him to explain that black psychology is different from white psychology.“They have used laws, art, and psychology to disconnect us from our culture,” Noble said.

He explained literary works taught in schools, by authors such as Mark Twain and Harper Lee, suggest black people are less than human. Going further, he elaborated on the Barbados Slave Act of 1688 that defi ned black people as savage.

He likened this to the contemporary law of “three strikes and you’re out,” which sends youth to prison for life.“They got us believing our children are savage and wild,” Noble said. “All this imaging gets internalized…the seeds and ideas of the past are now blossoming… we are now seeing spousal abuse… we are out of our character.”

Noble explained that white psychology is deeply rooted. Words are used such as nigga, nigga rich, and nigga please, and nigga luck, which is all used to dehumanize the African. “If I can see you as a nigga, you are dehumanized and I can shoot you," Noble said.

He then transitioned to the importance of Africa, explaining that humans all are from the continent, and the importance of that reality.“Our natural progression of African culture got derailed… there was an attempted murder of our minds shattering the idea of Africa… we have to repair it,” Noble said.

Noble analyzed the size of Africa, associating its size with the depth of knowledge we hold.

“I want to put us in the context that we are a unique and cultural people, the fi rst man was black and realized that all of reality is a totality of God,” Noble said.

He explained that the visible world and invisible world are one. The spirit is in human form.

“The solution is not to get white folks to stop being racists or get us more jobs but for us to recognize and redefi ne our image,” Noble said.“If I see you as divinity and a reflection of myself I can’t kill you… if I kill you I kill myself,” he said.

BSU named the event ‘Homicide is Suicide’ in response to this year’s bloody summer when the inner city experienced an increase of black-on-black violence.

“I think it was important he came because it’s going to get worse,” BSU president Brandon McCall said.

New Web site aims at success
By Ashley VanderLoon
Collegiate Staff Writer

GRCC students looking for volunteer and service learning opportunities have a new option to choose from. The college’s Academic Service Learning Center now has a Web site linked to Blackboard, where recent events can be found about the needs of the community.

According to the GRCC Web site, the mission of the Academic Service Learning department is “to provide students, faculty, and staff with learning opportunities to encourage them to become responsible citizens.”

GRCC Community Liaison and Web site creator Michael Schavey said the idea was “successful”.

“It’s good for a real world experience, unique skills, networking, and the field you think you might be working in,” Schavey said. “You won’t waste any money.”

The Web site information is available for everyone– students, faulty, and anyone else who ventures upon the domain.

According to Schavey, the Web site features a video introducing more on what the center has to offer. The left hand side of the menu shows information from volunteer opportunities, frequently asked questions, and scholarships students can receive.

GRCC adjunct professor Terry Stockton uses service learning in his classes.“I started implementing it in my Social Problems classes,” he said. “It’s a symbiotic relationship using experiential learning, teaching students in the community.”

Stockton said service learning could be used in the direction of a valid working skill.

“Students should see it as a move to the next level of academia and a practical experience for real life,” hesaid.

GRCC Communications Professor Dennis Sutton thought about using service learning for his Public Relations classes. “I’m glad people are using it,” he said.“It’s a very hands on experience.”The Director of the Center, Wayne Sneath, was also excited about the new service. “The center made its fi rst attempt to make opportunities available online that directly connect requests from the community to the campus,” he said.

Schavey and Sneath agreed the benefit of the service-learning program was that their hours were recorded on their academic transcripts.

Sneath said a new approach could be a co-curricular transcript just for students.

“The co-curricular transcript would help to show employees looking for students who show community involvement and have practical experience,” Sneath said. Students looking for new ways to volunteer can also use the Web site to find positions in the area.

“Volunteering is one way to explore different careers and make a difference in the community,” Sneath said.

The Academic Service Learning Center can be contacted at 234-4162 and the hours are Monday thru Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Web site can be accessed at http://www.grcc. edu/servicelearning

News Briefs for Feb. 27, 2008
by Collegiate Staff

Collegiate’s Blog
Writers from the award winning 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.

The journalism blog is written by Steve Fox the Collegiate advisor. The blogs have been started as a labor of love (or spite, perhaps) with the sole intent of expressing the writer’s opinion. Visit http://www. Collegiatelive.com/blogs to read more!

Spring Holiday
The break will be held from March 21 to March 23. The GRCC campus will be closed over this weekend.

Preliminary exam continues
There was a crowded court room on Feb.13 as the preliminary exam started in the beating death of Jonathan Krystiniak. Witnesses described the event as a commotion and not knowing who was fi ghting Amber McGreary said on the stand. She didn't know what was going on as she walked to her car outside the Margarita Grille on the night of Jan. 10.

The six charged are to be in court again on Feb. 27. to continue the preliminary exam. The judge will decide if there is enough evidence to send the defendants to circuit court for trial.

Campus Police Report for Feb. 27, 2008
Compiled by Ben Rooisen
Copy Editor

Larceny 1-15-08
Ram 1 Bostwick: A box containing about $200 of goods was stolen out of a locked car on level 5 of Bostwick Ramp 1.

Larceny 1-23-08
Ford Fieldhouse: An iPod and car keys were stolen from a locked locker in the men's locker room of the Ford Fieldhouse. The rest of the items originally in the locker were found in the locker room's bathroom stall.

Larceny 1-28-08
Student Center: A backpack containing several textbooks was stolen from the hall outside the Quiet Cafe.

Larceny 2-1-08
Main Building: A purse left unattended in the Math Lab was stolen while its owner used the restroom. A student returned the purse to the campus police after receiving it from another person. The purse was returned to its owner.

Larceny 2-6-08
Ford Fieldhouse: A number of items, including a wallet, were stolen from an unlocked locker in the Ford Fieldhouse.

Larceny 2-14-08
Student Center: A student fell asleep in the Student Center and noticed his Blackberry cell phone was missing when he woke up.

WAIT! CLICK HERE FOR THE REST OF THE NEWS ON PAGE 2

Speak Out! Have something to say? Sound off to The Collegiate at grcc_collegiate@yahoo.com for your tips or views on the current news, sports, arts & entertainment and opinion.