Cardio Circuit session canceled for November 19

Employee Wellness Cardio Circuit will not meet due to event in the fieldhouse on Thursday.

Adjunct Faculty Spotlight: Patricia Dockham

Patricia Dockham

Patricia Dockham is an adjunct instructor the Physical Science Department where she currently teaches Chemistry 120 — Survey of General Chemistry Laboratory. She began teaching Chemistry 130 Lecture at GRCC in August, 2011. She enjoys teaching and tutoring at the high school and college level. Both her parents were high school teachers, as were many of her aunts and uncles. Her grandfather, Verne Dockham, was a Michigan conservation officer and field guide for ornithologists who explored the habitat of the Kirtland Warbler. Learning about his service, she was motivated to pursue a career in science, research and teaching.   Patricia studied chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Nebraska where she was awarded a doctorate in Biological Science in the field of biochemistry. Currently, in addition to her work at GRCC, she tutors high school physics and chemistry for two home school groups in Kent County. She also works as a free-lance editor for Words and Numbers, a science educational service.

Dr. Dockham spends a considerable amount of time volunteering in the legal profession as a litigation preparation expert. She started volunteering as a licensed residential builder in the rough and tumble area of construction law support, and later expanded into the area of civil litigation and criminal defense. She reviews case files, court records, trial transcripts, and media reports to take a fresh look at a case, and compare hard evidence to the timeline and fluid witness testimony. Motivated to do volunteer work, in large part by GRCC’s 2014 challenge for the College’s 100 Years of Community Service, last year she took a look at the case of Michael Elliot, the Ionia 2014 Super Bowl escapee, who has long maintained his innocence in his original convictions for over 20 years.

Patricia learned that Mr. Elliot’s DNA samples were taken during the initial investigation even before his trial in 1994. Interestingly, the prosecution did not use the DNA results at trial, meaning they looked for his DNA but did not find it at the murder scene, in vehicles or at secondary crime scenes. It is often said “Absence of evidence is evidence itself”, especially DNA evidence, so a convincing argument can be made that Mr. Elliot was not at the crime scenes. An attorney statement found in a co-defendant’s file confirms how weak the case against him actually is: “As the Court is aware, there may have been some serious problems with at least one of these persons ever even being bound over on those charges….” Her special interest is in researching and providing support in innocence cases such as his, where she researches and obtains the documents that an incarcerated, but wrongly convicted individual does not have access to.

In addition to teaching, tutoring, and volunteering, Patricia enjoys gardening and caring for cats and dogs. She works with a friend who raises mastiff pups for whom she does website maintenance and advertising.

 

United Way Campaign update

Thank you to those of you who have made your United Way pledges! As of yesterday we have hit 133 donors (21% participation).  Those generous employees have pledged $31,091.36 – 69% of our $45,000 goal!

Your pledge matters.  UW Schools of Hope currently pairs volunteer tutors with over 400 students to provide reading support. For a pledge of $3 per day UW can continue to send a trained reading tutor to work with students in grades 1-3 to help them improve their literacy skills.

Do you have lunch plans tomorrow?

You do now.  Bakers from across campus have toiled to create their favorite desserts to share with you at the UW Bakeoff, and you get to decide who among them has created the best sweet treat.

Join us Nov. 19 in the SCC multipurpose room, TIME to sample all the entries and vote for your favorite, for just $5 per person – and participate in the dessert auction. Plus, if you attend the UW Bakeoff you will be entered to win a $25 Heritage Restaurant gift card.