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Feature Photo by Linda Simpson Priscilla Homola and her daughter Heidi pose with artifacts brought back from Bulgaria. TOP TEN BY Scorr REru STAFF WRrrER TOP 10 BAD THINGS ABOUT ALPENA COMMUNITY COLLEGE #10. Goose poop does not blend in nicely with the sidewalks. #9. Some students confuse the par.king lots with the Indy 500. #8. Bookstore will not special order anything written by MadoMa. #7. The NRC is really a landing pad for space aliert~. #6. 1be campus address is 666. #5. No Elvis look-alike contests. #4.There really is a tunnel connecting Besser Tech and Van Lare Hall , but it is off limits to civilians because it ends up in Atlantis #3. Computers in computer labs don't have Pac-Man. 12.Student use of faculty bathrooms is punishable by death. And lhe number one had thing about Alpena Community College . Snack bars do nol sell powdered toast. C H A 0 s BY BRIAN .._SHUSTER TOP 10 GOOD THINGS ABOUT ALPENA COMMUNITY COLLEGE #10. Goose poop blends in nicely with the grass. #9. Ross Perot does not endorse ACC #8. You can get all the free hooks you want because library's alarm system has been broken for years. #7. Telling your instructor you missed class because you were watching Beavis and Butt-head is a valid excuse. #6. Ex-Bulls star Michael Jordan will sign to the ACC men·s basketball team #5. Besser Tech pool table dispenses Gummi Bears when flrubbed the right way." #4. East Campus building will be the sight of the 2012 Olympics. #3. Free tuition next semester. #2. The campus actually looks like the pictures in the brochure. And the number one good thing about Alpena Community College .. ACC is the geographic center of the universe. The Amputation Diet Plan page 4 ~ POLEMIC Vol. 3 Issue 3 October 2 7, 1993 Homola returns from Bulgaria with much to share BY JEN GoonBHRNI! Co-Eorro1t Dr. Priscilla Homola, English and writing instructor, has returned co ACC after a year in Bulgaria. Funded by a federal Fulbright scholarship, Homola spent the year teaching Bulgarian students in Sofia, the country's capital. The courses were taught in Engl ish to students with a strong English background. Bulgaria has been free of com- munism for a mere three years; de- mocracy is present in thecountry, but the system has yet to develop into something an American could relate "It's an empty hole of needs. They just need, , need," said Homola. "The people look like they might be homeless . in fact . those peop le who look so much like that are just regular population. The aver- age wage is maybe $100 a month. and this is with incredible inflation How lhey manage, we do not know. fl Amidst the poverty of a nation struggling to rebuild, Homola was ahle to share the enrichment of edu- cation. Bulgarians, unlike Americans, stress !earning through groups. The same group of students is likely to go through our equivalent of junior and senior high. as well as college, to- gether. According to Homola. "The individual student has a much worse time there than here. They aren't into the concept of individual perfor• mance." "At the final exam. I saw a good example of this. They were all cheat- ing ... they all had crib sheets. One hundred student.~! I never saw any- thing like that. [Stopping them] was like puning ants back into a bag.· Contrary to this, Homola holds the students in high regard. "[They] were well prepared and very, very bright . the best stu- dents I've ever taught. The quality [of their English! was very high." The high level of education is not a coincidence. When entering the eighth grade, Bulgarian student.~ are put through what is called a prepa- ratory year. They must study a spe- cialized curriculum, such as English language or Russian language. All classes are taught in this language, with the exception of Bulgarian and cla..•>ses like math that are nearly im- possible to learn in a foreign language. rience. She met many friends of sev- eral nationalities, and spent weekends skiing in the mountains and taking oictures of the sights and people In the months prior to the trip, Homola spent much time researching Bulgaria. Unfortunately, what she found when she got there was quite unexpected. "You couldn't prepare for this, ff she said. "It's like preparing for childhirth. I wa's in shock for about ~ month." When she noticed that none of the cars had windshield wipers on them, she was told that they were all stolen. Anything manufactured out- side of Bulgaria (including wind- shield wipers) is considered a luxury item. "The result is tha! al every street corner, there is someone wailing to squeegee your windshield for you." "Their type of poverty is not as sophisticated as ours, where we actu· ally steal cars, but they have linle beggar kids wandering around. I 'm talking about a little four-year-old sit- ting there crying on a street corm;:r, Homola tonk her two children, collecting money." Roland, 14, and twelve-year-old Heidi This extreme and widespread along with her. The change proved to level of poverty in Bulgaria is appar- be too much for Roland. who went ently new, brought about by the fall home after only five months. "He was of Communism and the lack of a pre- depressed every day," said Homola. fabricated government to step in ;:md She later learned that four other teen- take over. "The Bulgarian.<s are just as aged children of Fulbright scholarship shocked by [the povertyl as we are," winners in Bulgaria went home early. said Homola. Heidi, who unlike Roland had "The people are proud, they're the opportunity to study in an inter- intelligent. hut their system ha.<s just national school, had a different expe- collapsed on them." Biology instructor finds her niche at ACC BY SARAII EDWARDS SrAl'fWRITD " I always thought Biology was interesting and I liked things which were more of a challenge,• said Deborah Hautau laughingly. Coming in oo theheels of ACC's retired professor Russ Garlitz, she continued to ad if for a greener greenhouse and lfiC 'llcement of the botany room. Hautau comes to ACC after being an instructor at a private institution in Ohio. She began her education at a community co!lege in Tennessee. After two years, she transferred to the University of Tennessee in Knoxville where she science fiction/fantasy book or · received her Bachelor's Degree. Then listening to soft chords of her favorite she returned to her Detroit home and New Age music with her two cats, to Wayne State to finish her Master's Mini and Rambunctious, nearby. of Science. Though at lhis moment Though her life is filled with she doesn't plan 10 pursue a higher many activities, she plans to wander degree, Hautau would like to through Montana, Hawaii, and Alaska eventually take classes for personal because they are the three remaining enhancement. states she hasn't been to. And then Even outside of her Jabs and she's off to explore New Zealand, lectures, you will find a preny down- the Amazon, and the Galapagos to-earth, energetic woman. Between Islands mite collecting, baking, and pattern- But in the mean time this soft free sewing, Hautau enjoys doing spoken woman with a cheerful many hands-on indoor and outdoor disposition. who feels, "unless you've activities. been away from Alpena you can't And when the day draws to an hardly appreciate it,· hopes to end, you may find her reading some establish her roots in the area. Deborah Hautau, shown watering flowers, enjoys the time she spends in ACC's greenhouse. The Detroit native has replaced Russ Garlitz as biology instructor. Photo by Linda Simpson l expands studio into art gallery BY Scarr Rl'-HD STAl'I' WRITER two miles north of Alpena on US-23. display in his upcoming show. Ibat Windcrest came about because was when he decided to rent a studio. of an offer received from Jesse Besser The building he found was Museum. perfect for his needs. Not only does Art is more than jllt a hobby JBM asked Hall 10 do an art he now have enough studio room 10 for Humanities Instructor Terry Hall. showinSeptemberandOctober, 1995. do his large format paintings, but he It is soon to become partP work. There was only one problem; Hall's now has enough room for display as On November 15, Ball will be basement was too small to do the kind well. opening Windcrest Gall41l', located of large-scale work he wanted to Hall said it was then that he =====;;:;;,=,=.,.,,,,,=:e;i ~:de~ :i o=ea 0}a1~~?rr~:~10.: chance to display their work: and probably make enough money to pay the rent." The laner is not the main reason for the gallery, however, because as Hall says, "It's not a money-making activity.• Hall has made some money in his brief days as an artist. He says he has only been doing art for about two to tw~and-a-hal.f years and has sold, so far, approximately thiny paintings. The type of art on display in Windcrest will be kept exclusively to pottery. fine art glass. oil paint- ings. acrylics and possibly some steel and wood sculptures. Ona: the gallery opens. it will be in optration Thursday and Fri- day evenings and Saturdays and Sundays during the day, probably year-round