The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

March 2001 News The Lumberjacl 3 ITT SHUTS THE DOOR AND ACC OPENS IT STEPHANIE NEHRING Staff Writer When adults lose their jobs, it not only affects the workers but it affects their families also. About 220 adults were dismissed from ITT, a business in Tawas that makes air conditioners for nu- merous car makers like Chrysler and Ford to name a few. Lorraina Alderman and Missy Ross are two women who lost their job at ITT. Lorraina worked at ITT for about three and half years and Missy worked there for about a year. These two ladies as well as the other work- ers received excellent benefits. medical and dental insurance, time and a half on Saturday and double time on Sunday. Even if the workers did not work their full 40 hours a·week, they still got paid for 40 hours. Even though these employees were working hard and putting a lot of their time and also putting their skills to work, it did not matter. At first there were crazy ru- mors going on around the plant about shutting down the doors for good. As a result, the rumors turned out to be a solid fact. September 1, 2000 ITT shut its doors in Tawas for good and moved to Mexico, for workers Missy Ross and Lorraina Alderman there will only be making two dollars an hour. When the plant moved their business to Mexico, the workers there made a whole bunch of mistakes and some of the old maintenance crew from the plant got the option to go train these new workers to do the job right. Our economy in the U. S.A is starting to take a complete downfall lately and ITT is one of "Bottom line is choice" the many examples just how bad the economy is getting. "Bottom line is choice," states Charles Wiesen, Associ- ate Dean of Economic and Hu- man Resource Development. Mr. Wiesen is "Able to provide displaced people and help them move on." Don Mac Master is also here to provide help. A.C.C . and Michigan Works provide help for adults who lost their jobs due to a shutdown. Recently, A.C.C. added a list of opportunities of short courses that are non college credit: Weld- ing, Computer Aided Drafting (C.A.D), Concrete Machine op- erator, Computer skills (word, Microsoft, excel) and also Hos- pitality Management. These courses range from four to five days a week for about a half an hour to an hour a day, the objec- tive of these courses is too quickly improve employability for skill. Michigan Works helps these adults by helping them through college and.help them with their skills, they also provided a letter to each individual updating their unemployment and how much they have left and if these work- ers who got dismissed go back to school, Michigan Works will renew their unemployment or extend it. Basically, A.C.C is here to help, "breakdown fears" and give you a "choice" and A.C.C is the best "choice" to choose from because they are here to help and provide oppor- tunities and skills that you never knew you had before . As for Lorraina and Missy, they made a choice to come back to college, they started in the fall semester in 2000 and NAFTA (North American ·Free Trade Agree- ment) is paying their way through college. Board meeting minutes Action Items: Approve letter of agreement- the original master agreement between the College and the ESP II unit provided for a job study and wage survey for technician positions which resulted in a Letter of Agreement amending the master agreement. It was also ratified by affected employees and is retroactive to July 1,2000. Monthly Reports: Student Report- Kati Wiegand said Student Senate was a bit disappointed with only about 50 people attending the homecoming dance F~b 3. and only 2 people signing up for a proposed trip to the basketball game in Flint Feb. 10. They will work aggressively to promote the special "ACC Late Night" student performance of the Irish pub band Mogue Doyle March 10. The group performs for the spotlight Series that same evening at 7:30 p.m. Wiegand shared the winning entry in the contest to design a Student Senate flag and said they also received from Rep. Bart Stupak a U.S. flag flown over the Capitol. Info Item: Final enrollment Report- I;Ieadcount is up about five percent a 2,363 and credit hoprs are down about 1.93 percent. Non-credit headcount is up 50 percent, and credit activity at community sited, including Rogers City, Atlanta, Whittemore, and the Tawases, is up nearly 36 percent in headcount(144)andjustover20 percent in credit hours (660). Huron Shores Campus headcount is up nearly 9 percent at 232 and credit hours there are up over eight percent at 1,459. Learning Grant touches all of ACC ALICIA WELLS Staff Writer Many instructors and . faculty of Alpena Community College have had the opportunity to make learning much more ex- citing for students because of a campus program called Empha- sis on Learning Grant. The focus of this grant is to provide funds for projects that will enhance learning in the classroom. ACC faculty who are inter- ested in taking learning to a dif- ferent level can apply for funding from the Emphasis on Learning Grant. It has touched almost ev- ery department from Law en- forcement to the Fine Arts de- partments. Not covered by the general budget, these funds and grants are managed and distrib- uted by the ACC Foundation. Catherine Rogg, Executive Di- rector of the ACC Foundation and Chair of the EOL Grants Committee said, "The neat thing about this program for me is that I really get to learn about all the different departments." The Grants Committee is compro- mised of seven faculty and staff members who review grant ap- plications from faculty over the course of the academic year. Emphasis on Learning has provided equipment like digital cameras and software. It has also helped groups take trips all over the world to make learning more realistic and fun. According to Rogg, the pro- gram has existed for four years, and has provided an amazing benefit for students. Many of the things purchased have a long term effect on learning by staying in the classrooms for years. "It's a fun program to imple- ment and it's fun to see the ben- efit it has on students,"said Rogg. The Emphasis on Learning Funds were made possible by a gift of over $300,000 from the Jessie C. James Estate. The money was invested by the foun- dation in which a percentage is used each year for the Emphasis on Learning grant and the Per- forming Arts Scholarships. There are two different per- forming arts scholarships that are available here at ACC. The Jessie James Performing Arts Scholarship gives out 10, $500 scholarships to students applying for the fall semester. An appli- cation must be filled out and sometimes an audition process takes place. The other scholar- ship available is made possible by faculty fundraising. All proceeds of the ACC Players also go to scholarships for students in the drama program. The foundation is looking to increase participation in applying for these scholarships, and to develop them further. For more information, contact Catherine Rogg at Ext 297, Dean of Stu- dent Affairs Max Lindsay at Ext. 200, or drama instructor Nan Hall at Ext 392. Military offers alternative to·· College expenses LANCE SPENCER Staff Writer Large tuition bills, costly ex- penses, and no definite plans for the future. This describes Col- l~ge life for most students. Many students are faced with these problems if not similar ones. All of these problems can be solved through the military. You are probably thinking, "Why should I join the military". The answer is simple, for the ben-· efits. The military offers many benefits that are unequaled by most civilian jobs. Some of the benefits are 30 days paid vaca- tion each year, full insurance cov- erage, free on base housing or money to live off base, free foqd or money for it, tuition assistance and up to 50,000 for college, possibly a selective ROTC or NROTC 80,000 college schol- arship, free training in the field of your choice, government holidays off, enlistment bonuses averaging 6-8 thousand dollars, reenlist- ment bonuses ofup to $60,000 depending on the field. Monthly pay of937-11,500 depending on rank and time in service. Special pay for haz.ard- ous, technical, or optional jobs, discounts on traveling, plus many more to mention. These are just a few of the main benefits and advantages. The military can of- fer many benefits for college and high school students alike. The military benefits would definitely be hard to find in a ci- vilian job. What civilian job gives you 30 days paid vacation start- ing out? If there are any there's not very many. In most cases a person has to be with the com- pany for many years before they could get 30 days paid vacation. Fµll insurance coverage is also very rare; some may not even have insurance. No civilian job that I know of offers free hous- ing; usually an apartment. Tuition assistance and money for college so you can go to college at the same time as being in the military. Government holidays, which a lot of their holidays aren't celebrated by non government businesses. Bonuses and special pays for j~t about anything. A person would also be making close to 250 dol- lars a month gross pay just start- ing out. Now this may not be a lot but after you consider your free housing, food, and insurance it comes out to be really good. ., ' Basically the benefits ~t theruli- tary has are better then most any civilian job ifnot all of them; After doing some interviews of college and high school; stu- dents going into the military I found out what the major rea_sons were. The biggest reason ~hey were going into the military.was to learn a trade or skill an\;! get money for college to start their life. Basically they all saw g9ing into the military a good way to start out their life. All of the other benefits also helped to influ~nce them. But everyone is eager to go and start their military career. I have also talked to a fe~ people who are currently i11 the military. Their response to the military is that they really li~e it. They said it brought them expe- riences they are glad to have}1ad and seen. They don't regref:go- ing into the military and feel _that they have made a good chcice. Basically they are happy with everything. : If you are possibly interested in the armed services t)ie~ you should definitely talk to a re- cruiter and see what they have to say. Their are many jobs011t-their for just about any kind bf :ger- son. The military can bring you a head start on life with many ben- efits to spare. Set your goals high. We'll help get you there. Sometimes reaching your goals seems like an impossible task. In the Air Force you'll get the tools you need to reach any goal you set. We'll help get you there by: • providing education opportunities with tuition assistance • establishing leadership skills for a promising future • preparing you for a career in life You can earn up to $12,000 enlistment bonus, if you qualify. So, if you 1re between the ages of 17-27 - call 1-800-423-USAF \,J to request additional information, or visit our website at www.airforce.com ••• • U.S.AIR FORCE Gar<1.ges~ Porches, Decks Remodeling/ Repair A&L CONSTRUCTION GLENN LANDRY 354-7591 Licensed & Insured JERRY ANDERSON A wonderful collection of fi,ne gemstones and unique designer jewelry, complemented by a full gem lab, complete repair facility and GIA trained staff. ( 51 7) 354-4860 1-800-523-6239