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Features Page 5 October 1, 2002 Student Senate Links Students and Faculty Together ISRAEL S. MUNSEY Staff Writer One of the many important organizations here at ACC is the Student Senate. The Student Senate was formed to build communication links between students, faculty, and administration. Every Year in October, ACC's budget committee meets and allocates various funds to the clubs and organizations around campus. Approximately $15,000 is given to Student Senate. The money is used to promote student involvement at school. Various activities such as dances, ski trips, and movie nights are made possible through these funds. The gaming tables in the student lounge were bought with this money. Two new TVs that will go in the Lumberjack Shack have been approved for purchase. Student Senate also sponsors blood drives and participates in fundraising. Another great accomplishment is their continued support for Habitat for Humanity. At a recent meeting, Tom Brindley spoke for Habitat. He asked members to volunteer time and support to help with building the three houses currently under production. Brindley told members that skill doesn't The Learning Center; Tools of The Trade KARENSCHUMAN Staff Writer The Learning Center, located in 101 Van Lare Haff, offers a wealth of tools to help students get the most out of their education. Tutoring is available in all subjects. Jewel Lancaster is the tutoring coordinator and is always happy to match students with tutors to help them in their courses. Tutors at The Learning Center are usually students who have taken a course and done well in it. The service is free forACC Students seeking help. The tutors at The Leaming Center are paid by the college. Students seeking tutoring or those who are interested in becoming tutors should feel free to stop in at the Leaming Center and talk to Jewel. In addition to peer tutors, The Leaming Center currently has two professional tutors, Jane Speer and Kristin Berles. Jane helps with all aspects of writing. Kristin works with virtually all levels of math. The Learning Center also offers courses entry-level classes and can be paid for and taken for credit, or, after the drop/add period, the course can be taken without earning credit for free. Anoth,er aid offered to students at the Leaming Center is The computer lab. The ACC library has a computer lab too, but the library is open to the public. The lab at the Learning Center is only open to students, so there are usually less distractions. There are also three professional counselors at The Leaming Center including Dana LaBar, Dick Sanderson, and Monica Bushey. They are available to help students with academic, career, or personal matters. If there's any issue holding a student back, the student can come in and talk to a counselor to help get the matter resolved. The Learning Center also does test proctoring. This is arranged between the instructor and the student, and offers a convenient way to take make-up tests. An additional service offered that must to help students succeed, not be forgotten is including becoming a disability accommodations. master student, reading Students needing classes, and directed accommodations to be study. Each of these successful can arrange for courses work with those through The different aspects of Leaming Center. becoming a better Any students student. seeking help in their The directed studies should feel free study course is designed to contact The to prepare students for Learning Center. Photo Chris Oposnow Senate President John Brege Makes Plans for the Future matter; there is a job for teachers should follow this everyone. Student Senate example. Anyone wishing to encourages everyone to buildtheirresumeortosupport volunteer for Habitat for the Alpena community is Humanity.Evenanhourortwo encouraged to contact Tom a week is enough to keep a BrindleyatExt. 7280. strongcommunity. This year Student Brindley saidtheutility Senate plans to streamline a tech students could possibly get process of goals and focus on extra credit by helping. Other quality and diversity. This will incorporate more people into participation. They plan on one major activity per month. In September they had free ice cream sundaes for all students as a welcome back activity. Talk for a Halloween dance in October is still undecided. Students need to realize that Student Senate is here to facilitate a promising environment and achieve objectives of the student body. Students and faculty will be united if they will participate in the events Student Senate helps to sponsor. Tim Kuehnlein, a history and political scien~e instructor at A CC, is the faculty advisor for Student Senate. Kuehnlein believes that other instructors could get involved. They could do this by recognizing promotions of students and takingalittletimeto encourage student participation Last April new sophomore members were chosen.Mathew J. Purol, Stacy Townsend and Israel Munsey are new sophomore reps. Later, _a fourth sophomore representative,JessicaSlominski, was also added Laura Partyka is the secretary, Kati Maki is the treasurer, Audrey Haske is the Vice president and Jonathan Brege is the president. Richard Spaiser is the Public Relations chair. The freshman reps are: Kiersten Siegert, Tina Farrier, Ryan Pokorzynski, and Sara Townsend. You can contact student senate members at their office, Ext. 7287 or Tim Kuehnlein Ext. 7310. Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center Provides National Training, Local Income DAWNTRIM Staff Writer The Combat Readiness Training Center here in Alpena is one of only four here in the United States. It's mission is to provide a regional location for the Air National Guard, as well as all branches of the military to do their annual training which is one or two weeks per unit, per year. According to Major Dempsey who is in charge of public relations at the base approximately 150 units visit this base each year bringing in nearly 6 to 7 million dollars annually to our local economy. The Alpena Air National Guard Combat Readiness Training Center (CRTC) here in Alpena and its employees are very strong supporters of the community and are involved in almost every facet of volunteering according to Major Demp&ey. They support many programs such as United Way, Red Cross, Kiwanis and Habitat for Humanity. They also donate money to many sports and athletic teams, youth groups and places like Aces Academy. The air base itself sits on 800 acres of ground located on M-32 West, next to the Alpena County Regional Airport. The CRTC has its own lodging, it is able to sleep 1,000. It has provisions for meals and has its own base exchange. Although no fighter planes are stationed here in Alpena many of the units Photo Chris Oposnow A Routine Security Check at the Combat Readiness Training Center that utilize the base bring their own planes including A-10 andF-16 fighters. Major Dempsey says the base has 130 full time employees, 90 active duty national guard, and 40 state and seasonal employees. Grayling, which is located 75 miles west of Alpena, has an air to ground range. This is where these planes can practice dropping bombs on targets. 98% of the bombs are lazer targets. The CRTC here at Alpena has two new firing ranges including a rifle range and small arms range. A unique quality of this CRTC is that it is also a medical readiness training site. Six years ago a fire suppression unit was put in. This is a mock up of an airplane. There are hundreds of small outlets for propane gas to come through. Military as well as civilian firefighters use this for training exercises. Dempsey said this mock was the first of its kind here in our country. The Air National Guard has many joint programs in conjunction with other branches of the military such as the Freedom Academy, which is for those in their junior year with at least a 3.0 grade point average, who have an interest in finding out about the military. Other programs include the Michigan Youth Academy, for those ages 6- 12, the Reserve of Training Corps, and the Civil Air Patrol to name a few. In October of 2001 the Army National Guard moved into a new 1 million dollar Armory located at the CRTC. Two years ago a 4 million dollar fire station was constructed, as well as many other state of the art facilities. According to Dempsey, Senator Levin and Congressman Stupak have much to do with lobbying for the specific needs of the Air National Guard. Since September 11 oflast year, Dempsey said that the only major differences here at this base are of course that security has been tightened, but also that many who would have retired have had their retirement put on hold. According to Dempsey, 12 people have been deployed either to state wide locations or over seas depending on their areas of expertise.