GRCC In the News, 3-25-15

Makerspace partners with community college

March 24, 2015; Grand Rapids Business Journal

A nonprofit makerspace and community college are partnering to help give students more hands-on skilled trades experience.

The Geek Group in Grand Rapids said this month that students enrolled in a workforce development program at Grand Rapids Community College will be offered a scholarship through the college, covering 50 percent of a special $150 cost for a six-month membership at the makerspace.

Kentwood honors police officer of the year

March 16, 2015; MLive

KENTWOOD – A police officer who has been instrumental in building a group that pairs officers with students in need of support has been honored with the city’s Officer of the Year award.

… “It was truly a surprise and honor to receive the award,” said (Officer Jeff) Augustyn, who leads the Kids and Officers Partnering in Schools, or KOPS, program at Crossroads School and Lighthouse Academy Charter School, and also serves as a community services officer, reality-based training instructor, Kentwood Citizens Police Academy instructor, and Grand Rapids Community College’s Police Academy instructor. He is a former member of the Special Response Team as well.

Mathematics Seminar features instructor Andrea Hayes

The Grand Rapids Community College Mathematics Department will host its next Mathematics Seminar on Thursday, March 26, 3:00-4:00 PM in 103 Cook. Our speaker will be GRCC Mathematics Instructor Andrea Hayes. The title and abstract for Andrea’s talk may be found below.

Whether you are a math maven or a math avoider, the question of how we learn mathematics (or anything else) is deep and difficult to answer. Are we hard-wired to “know” that 1 + 1 = 2, or do we learn it? Is such knowledge/learning unique to humans? This talk does not require a strong background in mathematics – all are welcome!

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

Number Sense: A Biological Look at How Our Minds Create Mathematics

How can an infant know that 1 plus 1 equals 2?  Why is it that, even after years of school, many of us still aren’t sure if 6 times 7 is 42 or 54?  How can animals without a language know some elementary arithmetic?  This talk will take a biological look at how the human mind creates mathematics and its implications on the teaching of mathematics.

100 Ways to Give: Books for Safe Haven Ministries

As we move into the last week of March and our 100 Ways to Give campaign of collecting children’s books on behalf of Safe Haven Ministries winds down, we would like to express our thanks for the books that have been donated so far. If you are struggling for ideas, Safe Haven Ministries has provided a list of recommended books that are very beneficial in their counseling sessions:

• Today I Feel Silly by Jamie Lee Curtis
• The Way I Feel by Janan Cain
• My Many Colored Days by Dr Seuss
• I’m Gonna Like Me by Jamie Lee Curtis
• Beautiful Ooops by Barney Saltzberg
• Brave Bart by Caroline Sheppard
• Wemberly Worried by Kevin Henkes
• When I Feel Afraid by Albert Whitman
• What if it never stops raining? by Nancy Carlson
• Hands are not for hitting by Martine Agassi
• Jessica and the Wolf by Ted Lobby
• Wings of Change by Franklin Hill
• I was so Mad (Little Critter) by Mercer Mayer
• The Five Love Languages of Teenagers by Gary Chapman
• Hear My Roar: A Story of Family Violence by Gillian Watts
• A Terrible Thing Happened by Margaret Holmes
• Glad Monster, Sad Monster by Ed Emberley and Anne Miranda

Books can be dropped off at one of these locations:

• Academic Support Office, 232 LRC or to any GRCC Tutorial Lab
• Academic Testing Center, 325 SCC
• Student Life
• Library
• M-Tec
• Enrollment Center
• College Success Center

GRCC Anthropology Professor Attracts Standing-Room-Only Crowd

Dillon Carr, assistant professor of anthropology, lectures as part of the Race, Ethnicity and Identity Conference.

On Tuesday, Dr. Dillon Carr, Assistant Professor of Anthropology in the Social Sciences Department, delivered a lecture titled, Race, Class and the Legitimacy of Power: An Anthropological Perspective on Ferguson, MO, which captivated an audience of more than 140 people attending the annual symposium on Race, Ethnicity, and Identity. Dr. Carr discussed the importance of community policing in fostering the stability of local communities characterized by socioeconomic and racial disparities. He also showed that in some cases a seemingly arbitrary imposition of citations and fines is encouraged by municipalities seeking to generate revenue to support local governments, and this can fuel unrest.

Also on Tuesday, Dr. Courtney Gallaher, Assistant Professor of Geography at Northern Illinois University, delivered a keynote lecture on environmental justice, and on Monday, Dr. Marie Price, Professor of Geography at George Washington University, delivered a keynote lecture on immigration. GRCC Sociology Professor Cedric Williams gave a talk on income inequality on Monday as well. All lectures drew in large numbers of students, as well as faculty and members of the local community. The conference continues today with a Diversity Lecture Series presentation by Rolling Stone journalist Matt Taibbi at Fountain Street Church at 7:00 pm this evening. Events are also scheduled to take place on Thursday. Professors Carr and Abid will discuss the role GRCC has played in the local community throughout the last hundred years, and Dr. Anne Bonds, Assistant Professor of Geography at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, will give a talk on the geographies of racial violence.

This year’s Race, Ethnicity, and Identity Conference is sponsored by the GRCC Social Sciences Department and Grand Rapids Community College, as well as Pearson Education, the International Geographical Honor Society, and the Association of American Geographers. All lectures are free and open to the public.

International Guitar Series features Canadian Guitar Quartet

GRCC’s International Guitar Series concludes with a performance by the Canadian Guitar Quartet. It starts at 7:30 p.m. March 26 in the Music Center’s recital hall. Admission is $15 for adults and $10 for students and seniors. Parking is available in the student parking ramp for $1 with a guest parking voucher sold at the door.

Call (616) 234-3940 for further information. Click here to see the entire lineup for this series.