GRCC in the News – 1/25/12

Works of Nick Antonakis on display at NCCA-Artsplace
Published: Tuesday, January 24, 2012, 4:02 PM Updated: Tuesday, January 24, 2012, 4:28 PM

FREMONT — The oil paintings of Nick Antonakis are on exhibit at NCCA-Artsplace through Feb. 4. Antonakis is an artist who was born in Athens, Greece, and now heads the visual arts department at Grand Rapids Community College.  (More)

Some experts say new election law benefits rich
7:58 PM, Jan 24, 2012 | WZZM

GRAND RAPIDS (WZZM) — In the 2012 election, it will be more difficult to find out who is funding your candidate, and there’s no limit to the amount of money donors can give. […] Back in the day corporations could give an unlimited amount of money. GRCC professor Keith St. Claire says, “They were basically owning these candidates in the 19th century.”  (More)

Wind power industry takes advantage of State of the Union to trumpet their tax credit
Published: Tuesday, January 24, 2012, 6:47 PM | Grand Rapids Press

HOLLAND — With Holland manufacturing worker Bryan Ritterby sitting as a guest of the First Family at the State of the Union tonight, the wind technologies company he works for, Energetx Composites, is enjoying some national spotlight on their operations. […] Energetx, which hired Ritterby in 2010 following a federally-supported workforce-training program though Grand Rapids Community College, currently employs about 50 people separate from the Tiara Yachts operation.  (More)

Harper College drops football: Community college sets refreshing example on sports’ proper place
Yesterday at 7:09 a.m.

I’ve driven past the football field at Harper College a million times, but somehow it never quite registered that the field belonged to a team. It does — or at least, it did. […] Two schools in its conference, Joliet Junior College and Grand Rapids Community College, had just shed their squads, prompting Harper officials to rethink whether it still made sense to offer the sport.  (More)

GRCC Visual Arts Faculty Nick Antonakis has Work on Display at NCCA-Artsplace

As noted in the Grand Rapids Press, GRCC Visual Arts Department Head and Professor Nick Antonakis now has some of his paintings on display through February 4, 2012:

Works of Nick Antonakis on display at NCCA-Artsplace
Published: Tuesday, January 24, 2012, 4:02 PM Updated: Tuesday, January 24, 2012, 4:28 PM

FREMONT — The oil paintings of Nick Antonakis are on exhibit at NCCA-Artsplace through Feb. 4. Antonakis is an artist who was born in Athens, Greece, and now heads the visual arts department at Grand Rapids Community College. (More)

Last Call for “Excellence in Teaching with Technology” Award Nominations

Attention faculty! Last call for nominations… please take a moment to nominate a colleague that demonstrates excellence in teaching with technology!  The form is available here: http://bit.ly/ettnomination

The deadline is February 10, 2012.  Also, be sure to save the date for the Teaching, Learning, and Technology Showcase which is March 22nd. More information about this event is located here: http://www.grcc.edu/showcase

Mathematics Seminar Today – Sangaku and Geometry – 1/25/12

The Grand Rapids Community College Mathematics Department will be hosting its next monthly Mathematics Seminar on Wednesday, January 25, 3:00 – 4:00 PM in 111 Cook. Our speaker will be GRCC Adjunct Mathematics Instructor Wayne Hsieh. The title and abstract of Wayne’s talk may be found below.

This talk should accessible to anyone with some knowledge of algebra and geometry. As always, anyone from the greater GRCC community is welcome.

Pop and cookies will be served at 2:45 PM.

Buddha loves geometry… at least according to Japanese?

Sangaku (or San Gaku) are Japanese geometric puzzles carved on wood tablets that are used as offerings at Shinto shrines or Buddhist temples. The puzzles consist of circles and triangles utilizing concepts from Euclidean geometry, and they typically ask the solver to find the relationship between the circles and triangles.  In this particular Sangaku, we will be looking at three circles placed inside a particular right triangle, and will investigate the radii and areas of the circles.