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'°L 3 ~ 8 lWaICh. 16, 1994 ACC faculty showcased at Jesse Besser Museum BY DEB HASKE STAl'P WRITER Instructors get to critique, evaluate and comment on stu- dents' work daily. March 27 through May I students will have the opportunity to tum the tables. ACC art department in- structors Joe Donna, Joy Skiba, and Laurie Wade, and Humani- ties Chairperson Terry HaJI will be featured in the second annual Faculty Art Show at Jesse Besser Museum. The show affords art in- structor Skiba, who teaches drawing and painting classes as well as Art for the Class Room Teacher, • ... a special aware- ness to collect, collaborate and cultivate my thoughts and expres- Skiba used water color, pencil, paint, and a printing technique tO create new works for the show. Ceramic pieces were cre- ated by Wade, ceramic instructor. On her work Wade comments, "The form is very important initially but then it in- stantly becomes a surface to put texture on and to draw on." "The art show is a way to show what you are about to the students and community " commented Wade! "It allows the community to come in and see what is going on in the art department. The show lets them know the really talanted people they have working at ACC." our work: shown loca11y as well as around the state and nation- ally." Hall painted new pieces for the show at his newly opened art studio and gallery, Windcrest. Design and sculpture in- structor Donna is contributing a piece which toured in a national exhibit. He is also showing clay structures and paintings. "I figure I have to do it to stay fresh -to show my students I can do it too,• commented Donna. "It would be like hav- ing a creative writing instructor who did no creative writing. Why would this person be leach- ing it if he never did it?" ".;:::..::.._~~~~2_:_:__::!. ________ _j :~~~- ~r:;1nd ';~~ w:rco: Hall, humanities instructor, contributes to the show "because ii helps me focus and set goals. It is also good for the college, especially, to showcase the art and humanities program, to have The show will be opening March 27 with a reception from 2 - 4 p.m. Wade said she hopes to see a lot of people there, "es- pecially the faculty and administration.• Painting instructor Joy Skiba welcomes the opportunity or the faculty art show to release the opportunity to share . • her art spirit. Photo by Linda Simpson From pop music to popcorn -- don't junk that mail BY Scarr REED STAFF WRITER Junk mail is something we are all familiar with: Publisher's Clearing House, 1we\ve CDs for the price of one, etc. But is it all really junk? Recently, The Polemic of- fice has been overrun with mail that some people might place into this ca1egory. Looking at it and taking the time 10 read it through, however, one might re- alize that there is some good in those envelopes after all. But some do sound a bit silly. First of all, there's the Al- pine Mint Total Yodel Contest. Sponsored by Care-Free sugar- less gum, the Total Yodel is valid until April 30, 1994. Just call toll-free, i-800-94ALPINE. Contestants will then have sixty seconds to give their name, ad- dress, phone number and best yodel. The first200callers receive a free T-shirt and the first 100,0CM) are eligible for the grand prize: a six-day, five-night vacation for two to SwilZerlandt If yodeling isn't your bag, then maybe video production is. All college students are eli- gible to enter The Christophers' Video Contest. The Christophers is a New York-based interna- tional media organization which produces the syndicated TV se- ries, "Christopher Closeup." The contest goes as fol- lows: make a video, five minutes in length or less, based on the theme, "One Person Can Make a Difference." The grand prize is $3,0CM). Second prize is $2,000. Third prize is $1,000, and five comes- tants will receive honorable mention awards of$500. Deadline to enter this con- test is June 10, 1994. The Amy Foundation in Lansing is sponsoring a writing contesl. The Amy Foundation Writ- ing A wards program is designed to recognize creative, skillful There once was a pretty good studem, Who sat in a pretty good class And wa~ taught hy a preuy good teacher, Who always lel pretty good pass. He wasn't terrific al reading He wasn't a whiz-bang at math, But for him education was leading Straight down a pretty good path lie didn't find school too exciting. But he wamed to do pretty well, And he did have some trouble with writing, And nobody taught him to spell. When doing arithmetic problems, Pretty good was regarded as fine. Five plus five needn't always add up to be 10, A pretty good answer was nine. The pretty good class that he sat in, Was part of a pretty good school. And the student was not an exception, On the contrary. he was the rule. The pretty good school that he went to. Wa~ there in a pretty good town. And nobody there seemed to notice He could not tell a verb from a noun. The pretty good student in fact was Pari of a prelly good mob. And 1he firs! time he knew whal he lacked was When he looked for a pretty good job. It was then, when he sought a position, He discovered that lift: could be tough. And he soon had a sneaky suspicion Pretty good might not be good enough. The pretty good town in our story Was part of a pretty good state, Which had pretty good aspirations, . And prayed for a pretty good fate. There once was a pretty good nation, Pretty proud of the greatness it had, Which learned much too late, If you want to be great. Pretty good is. in fac1, pretty bad. Reprinted by permission from the Charles Osgood File Copyright CBS, 1986 writing that presents in a sensi- tive, thought-provoking manner the biblical position on issues affecting the world today. First prize in this contest is ten thousand dollars! There are also fourteen other prizes ranging from one to five thou- sand dollars. Rolling Stone magazine is offering $2,500 to college jour- na1ism students. Entries may be submitted in three categories: entertainment writing (reporting on popular music and television, etc.); feature writing (narratives and profiles); and essays and criticism (commentray on any subject, including opinion and humor). Entries must have been published in a college-student newspaper or magazine between September, 1992, and June, 1994. Students are limited to one entry in each category. Entries must be receiv~ by July 1, 1994. Winners will be an- nounced in September, 1994. So maybe all that mail you receive isn't always junk. You never know what you can find until you look. If you have any questions or interests about anything men- tioned in this article, call 1he Polemic at ext. 264. If you·re 30 or older, you may be eligible for a $1,000 scholarship from - are you ready - Orville Redenbacher! Orville's Second Start East meets West in reunion Scholarship offers everyone an BY ANGELA BEAUBIEN opportunity. For the fifth year STAFFWRITER the program will be offering adults the chance to receive a scholarship for their efforts in Chika Nakamui, previ- obtaining a "second start" in life .ously a Japanese exchange via higher education. iudent at Alpena High School, altended various ACC classes Scholarship applications for the 1994-1995 academic year will be accepted through May 1, and can be obtained by writ- ing to: Orville Redenbacher's Second Start Scholarship Pro- gram, P.O. Box 39101, Chicago, Illinois, 60639. wil.h host Jody Harris, February 28-March 4. Before she arrived, Chika celebrated her twentieth birth- day. At age twenty, the Japanese gain voting privileges and cus- tomarily travel. The birthday presem Chik.a received from her parents was a trip back 10 the United Stales for a two-week stay. Chika wanted to return to Alpena so she could visit stu- dents she mel as an exchange student in 1991-92. But most of all. Chika wished to stay with a particular friend she met in Jour- nalism class at Alpena High school, Jody Harris. "I couldn't wait for her to get here. I didn't know when I would see her again," Jody ex- pressed. Chik.a and Jody buill a last- ing friendship during Chika's stay two years ago. Chika prom- ised IO visit someday but could not say exactly when that would be. Through Chika's knowl- edge of the English language. the two have kept in touch over the past two years and will con- tinue to do so. The next time they meet will not be in Alpena, hut Ja- pan. Jody plans to travel there after she completes her Bachelor's degree. Solutions to the problem are very simple ■ Instructors clue students for success BY ll'N GoooDURNl LAYOITT-EorTOR EDJTQN 's NOTE: This is part three of a three part series dealing with the poor academic achie11emen1 of students during the fall 1993 semester. The in- structon,· who rook rime to conrrihute their 11iewpoints did so out of concern and with the hope of .\'Ol'lling the problem. Complaining about stu- dems' academic performances and trying to guess the reasons behind the sudden drop in grades can do nothing to solve the prob- lem. Bui once the situation is defined and potential causes de- lerrnined, an effort can be made 10 offer solutions. The follow ing are sugges- tions made by some of ACC's faculty. ■ Do your homework be- fore you watch TV. "Students are going to have to rearrange their schedules and set aside blocks of time 1hat they are go- ing co dedicate to these classes," began Kendall Sumerix, physi- cal science instructor. ■ Be accountable on a dally basis. Once you fall be- hind, ifs a losing hattle. Complete all homework and reading assignments, on time, and stay ahead of the game. "If," according to Keith Titus, speech instructor, ~,here is noth- ing else that they are told that will make a difference - that they can do - is 10 come to on education - what you know, class." not what you buy. ■ Take care of and be · 1 don't think, for most of responsible ror yourselr. my srudents, that ability is the ~society's not responsible. It limiting fac1or, " said Sumerix. !seems to bel our fault if they "They lack the motivation." don't pa~s." said Gerald Hardesty agreed. "It's their Hardesty, of the industrial tech- work ethic. They lack self con- nology department. "They're fidence in doing something on not laking notes or anything, but their own." it's our fault if they don't pass. Study. Go 10 class. Take I don't think the young people responsibility. Rid yourself of are being responsible." Depression Demons, Confidence ■ Be happy. "They think Thieves, and Motivation Mooch- that self esteem has more to do ers. with what they can acquire, or consume, or purchase," com- mentecl Roger Phillips, English instruclor. Base your self es1eem "One thing we can't do is lower our standards,' said Phillips. "I have felt that temp- tation in the past, but I don't feel it anymore because there ha~ been such a drop in student per- formance. If anything, we need IO raise standards. " One asset of a community college is the faculty. They are much more accessible than uni- versity professors. Their advice is based on years of classroom experience -- and they are the ones who give the grades. The instructors who contributed to this serie..~ want their student~ to succeed. "Unive~ities should be safe havens where rnthless ex- aminatum of realities will not be distorted .•. " - Kingman Brewster. College Wide Grade Distribution Grade Fall '92 Fall '93 Grade Fall '92 Fall'93 % % % % A ..... 25.0 22.8 !DECREASE! O+ .... 0.9 1.3 !INCREASE) A- ...... 9.9 8.9 (DECREASE! 0 ....... 1.6 2.0 (INCREASE) B+ . .. 9.4 7.0 !DECREASE! 0- ..... 0.6 0.6 {NO CHANGE) B ..... 12.5 11.9 (DECREASE) E ....... 4.5 4.9 (INCREASE) B- ...... 5.9 6.0 (INCREASE) s ....... 3.5 6.6 (INCREASEI c+ .... 4.8 4.5 (DECREASE I u ...... 0.0 0.0 (NO CHANGE) c ....... 7.4 6.7 !DECREASE) 1 ........ 1.6 1.5 (DECREASE) C- ...... 2.7 3.0 !INCREASE) w ..... 9.6 11.9 !INCREASE) AU/NG0.1 0.2 (INCREASE) Statistics courtesy of Dean Cun Da11is