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enton's here Pg. 3A llwe Pg. 6A uto ho Pg. 8A The Alpena Community College new-spaper. 666 Johnson Slreel. Alpena. Ml 49707 Center nears completion BY HOLLY MACE STAFF WRITER According to Alpena Community College President Dr. Don Newport, there are two significant ongoing projects that will develop fa- cilities to better serve the students. eventually, East Campus will be closed and all activities there will be moved to the main campus. "Everything will be more centralized, and students will be able to access spaces more conveniently. It will be in a more compact, integrated kind of fashion," explained Newport. appropriation, $112,000 is from the Base Conversion Au- thority, and $239,000 comes from the college's capital bud- get, which will be repaid from the rental income that other services, such as the Iosco In- termediate School District, pay to use portions of the building. One of these projects is the large $8.2 million construc- tion project on campus. The construction is now seventy percent complete, said New- port, and pieces of the new building will start to become occupied this spring. By the fall semester the new build- ing will be completely finished, and some of the ex- isting facilities will be remodeled. The other project is the development of a permanent home for Huron Shores cam- pus activities on the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base in the old headquarters building. Another type of project that affects the college, but is more widespread, is the GI Bill of Rights for Workers that President Clinton mentioned in his State of the Union ad- dress. ACC President Dr. Don Newport and Henry Lyngos, con- struction coordinator, review construction project. activites for the health and growth of the state of Michi- gan," commented Newport. Michigan," responded Dr. Newrort. Newport said that, in- stead, the college will engage in a lot more partnerships with four-years institutions such as Lake Superior State University and Central Michi- gan University. Newport said that this is a much smaller project. It in- volves about 10,000 square feet of remodeling to accom- modate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). According to Newport, there are well over 100 frag- mented job training programs across the country that aren't linked very well. This bill will bring coordination to these programs. "If you want to get trained to be a welder, a ma- chinist, a computer operator, or a nurse, you will probably attend a community college." Fehraary 21, 1996 Volu e S "For example," said New- port, "when the library moves into the new facilities the Health Occupations classes will be moving into that ex- isting space which will be remodeled to fit their needs." The project also includes a heating and ventilating sys- tem for the entire facility, and is scheduled to be complete for the summer session. This project will provide assistance for the individual that has a need for skill de- velopment. Recently, Alpena's new mayor, Camille Nerkowski, said that her dream was to see Alpena Community College become a four-year institution. "These partnerships in- clude graduate programs with other partners that have those facilites and faculties to de- liver those services to Northeast Michigan," com- mented Newport. Is According to Newport, Funding for this project comes from three different sources: $311,000 is from state "The major reason for community colleges to exist is to provide those job training "I don't see us within the state plan to have a new, 'stand alone' four-year in- stitution in Northeastern Internet services drrive at ACC By CELESTE KASKY STAFF WRITER The internet is a very interesting way to interact with many people from around the world. Imagine talking to someone in another state, or even in another country. Well, it's go- ing to happen, right here at ACC. Mr. Carl Bourdelais, the leader of the internet installation, is very excited to see this happen at ACC. . Every student and faculty member will be able to tap into the internet from any computer in Van Lare Hall, Room #110, the student lab at Besser Tech, or from their own office. Plans for the new World Center for Concrete Technology were unveiled in VLH 120 on Friday, February 19. Pictured from left are Jim Park, CEO of the Besser Company, Dr. Don Newport, President of ACC, Representative Bev Bodem and Michigan Jobs Commis- sion CEO Doug Rothwell. Options available to ACC include every- thing from the World-Wide Web, which will be ACC gets World Center for Concrete Technology available in approximately 30-45 days, catalogue _B_Y_KE_N_T_A_N_D_E_RS_O_N _____ project will bring together browsing, and even the ability to "chat" to some- NEWS EDITOR concrete technology research one from far away. and training to help job de- There are many advantages to the internet. ACC and the Besser velopment in the area. It gives research capabilities that weren't there Company recently announced Half of the expected cost before, so it saves time. Instead of borrowing a plans to construct a World will be funded by a State of book, which may be either out-dated or not Center for Concrete Technol- Michigan capital outlay. The available, the internet allows you to receive data ogy, to be located just north other half is slated to come almost instantaneously. of the Natural Resources Cen- from the Besser Company, In the fall semester of 1996-97, a couple of ter on a previously Lafarge, Presque Isle Corpo- classes, credit and non-credit, will be available undeveloped nine-acre site. ration and industry suppliers to not only the students interested in the internet The proposed $6 million from out of state. but also the community. The classes will be This proposed structure, expected to be a 40,000 square-foot facility, housing six state-of-the-art classrooms, a complete laboratory, and testing areas, will be geared toward researching concrete production. A world-wide computer hook-up for com- municating with others in the concrete industry will also be available at the new site. broken down into lessons that are about an hour in length. The classes will teach the students how to send and receive E-mail and how to browse through the web. The students will also be able to have "live conversations" with Project seeks zero unemployment people from around the world. E-mail requires a separate computer called a "server," which is currently in the process of "Internet" continued on page 2 Carl Bourdelais pauses to chat about E-Mail. BY KELL y MARTINSON STAFF WRITER Alpena was recently cho- sen to be one of six communities as a test sight for Project Zero, intended to help all welfare recipients to gain employment. Governor John Engler says he will put $40 million into the plan for child care and transportation. He also says there will be more effort to enforce child support collection. According to Depart- ment of Social Services supervisor Harold Corless, many changes intended by Project Zero have already been made, due to the efforts of the MOST and Work First programs, which have gotten dependent people involved in programs at ACC, adult edu- cation, job search and community service. Corless says people involved in the MOST program are "hustling and highly motivated." Al- pena alreaqy has 50 percent of 441 w fare recipients working, above the state av- erage of 30 percent. Currently, low income families can receive financial aid for child care while work- ing. A major concern to wel- fare recipents is whether they will lose their medical insur- ance, cunrently provided under medicaid, if they return to work. According to Corless, Governor Engler has mentioned a plan for transi- tional medicaid up to one year after a family gets off welfare. Corless is concerned about what will happen after the first year. He says there has been mention of a plan to al- low low income families the opportunity to buy low cost insurance from the medicaid program. Corless says at first the MOST program presented dif- ficulties to recipients who wanted to receive higher edu- cation, but has since been Project Zero" continued on page 2 PHOTO COURTESY OF ALPENA GENERAL HOSPITAL Connie Schoon will be remembered with a scholarship. Schoon will be missed BY JENNIFER DONAJKOWSKI STAFF WRITER Alpena Community College part- time instructor Connie Schoon passed away of a sudden death of unknown cause on Saturday, January 20. She taught Medical Terminology and Medi- cal Office Procedures, both classes in the medical assistant program. Connie also worked at Alpena General Hospital doing utilization re- view, and worked independently doing transcription for various health profes- sionals. When not working, Connie sat on the Advisory Board of the Medical As- sistant program, and helped students having difficulty in her courses. She was also active in her church women's group, and enjoyed sewing. As a momento of Connie Schoon's importance at ACC, the medical assis- tant students are developing a scholarship in her name. The scholar- ship will be offered to second year medical assistant students only, to guar- antee their commitment to the program. As a part of this scholarship a plaque will be hung in the Health Sci- ence building. Each year, the student awarded the scholarship will have their name added to the plaque. According to the Assistant Dean of Health Occupations, Kathleen McGillis, "Connie will be missed, espe- cially by her students." The scholarship ensures she will not be forgotten.