GRCC Players present ‘Detroit ’67’

Panel discussions, with coffee, will follow the Dec. 7 and 8 performances!

GRCC In the News, 11-29-17

Man pleads in $150K student loan scheme at GRCC, KVCC

Nov. 28, 2017; MLive

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – A Grand Rapids man pleaded guilty Tuesday, Nov. 28, to federal charges after obtaining student loans in others’ names to defraud the U.S. Department of Education of about $150,000.

… (Brandon Kenon) Rogers told Magistrate Judge Phillip Green that he obtained the identities of others and applied for student loans and Pell Grants in their names. He enrolled online at Grand Rapids Community College and Kalamazoo Valley Community College after his aid applications were approved.

Five students complete second round to black belts

Nov. 28, 2017; Ionia Sentinel-Standard

Five students of the Ramos Institute of The Park Tae Kwon Do completed the second round of required testing for their 1st degree Black Belt at Grand Rapids Community College, Friday, Nov, 10.

 

Course packs due Wednesday, Dec. 6

All course pack files, planner sheets, and orders are due Wednesday, December 6, for the Winter Semester. All new files and planner sheets need to be emailed to grcceprint@grcc.edu. The bookstore needs to be notified of any and all course packs needed for the semester, and please let them know if it is a new or updated course pack or if it is a reprint. The bookstore will then place the order with us to be printed.

Condolences to Nicole Dekker, Cathy Noviskey

GRCC extends condolences to Nicole Dekker, of Staff Development, and Cathy Noviskey, of Student Affairs, upon the death of their grandfather and father-in-law on Monday, Nov. 27. Cremation has taken place, and a memorial service is being planned for a later date. Interment will take place at Ft. Custer National Cemetery.

Bragg, Harvard, MuhammadSmith Why We Can’t Wait Fund launches $3,000 scholarship

The Bragg, Harvard, MuhammadSmith Why We Can’t Wait Fund launches its $3,000 inaugural GRCC Student Scholarship for students studying in criminal justices, education, and health-care areas and planning on public service careers!

• First scholarships will be awarded for the Winter 2018 Semester.
• Applications due by 5 p.m., Friday, December 15, 2017.

Basic eligibility:

• Non-GRCC Police Academy applications: 12 credit hours & 3.0 cumulative GPA.
• GRCC Police Academy students: Must be currently enrolled in the academy.

Application requirements:

• Complete application by 5 p.m., Friday, December 15, 2017.
• Include one letter of reference.
• Application link.
• PDF application.
• Note: All applications must be submitted using Google form

Scholarship selection committee members:

• Geoffrey Beene, Social Science Department adjunct faculty member.
• Kathleen Hall, English Department adjunct faculty member.
• Judith Kienitz, retired Language & Thought faculty member.

Contact person: Mursalata Muhammad, mmuhamma@grcc.edu .

Condolences to family, friends, colleagues of Tom Worthington

Tom Worthington, a respected faculty member at GRCC/JC for nearly 50 years, died over the weekend following an extended illness. His colleagues in the Math Department have put together this retrospective and memorial:

August 20, 1964: Grand Rapids Junior College was about to celebrate its 50th anniversary. We had approximately 3,500 students and 90 full-time faculty.  In-district tuition was $6 per credit hour. Semesters were 18 weeks long, with the second semester ending in mid-June. All Mathematics, Physics and Engineering instructors were in the same office, 326 Main; some taught courses in all three disciplines. Total mathematics enrollment was around 700 students each semester, in roughly 30 sections.

It was in this environment that a 21-year-old Tom Worthington began his 47-year career at GRJC/CC. Having recently completed his MS in Engineering at MSU, Tom was hired to teach Physics. Over the next 19 years he taught Physics 125, 126, 245 and 246; Engineering 208 (Statics), and a course that sounds fascinating but no longer exists: Physics 101, “Physics Theories,” in which “…emphasis will be placed on the social and philosophical implications of scientific theories, rather than on mathematical and technical applications.”

Tom created the college’s first computer programming course. Since there was no Computer Applications Department at that time, it was listed under mathematics as Ma 120 “Computer Mathematics.” In a 2-hour lecture plus 2-hour lab format, students wrote programs in Fortran II to solve problems involving Newton’s Method, Simpson’s Rule and solutions to systems of equations. Programs were run on an IBM 1620 computer that sold for $45,000 in 1966 (about $350,000 today). It was slower and had less memory than today’s simplest graphing calculators.

In 1983, Tom made the move from Physics to Mathematics, and in the ensuing 28 years taught Ma 004/104 (now 098), 107, 108, 110, 131, 133, 134 and 255. That he taught at least 15 different courses in two separate departments is a testament to his versatility as an instructor. He also exhibited a great deal of curiosity and creativity, especially when it came to technology. When graphing calculators came to GRJC in 1990, his initial skepticism quickly changed to enthusiasm, and his ability to write useful calculator programs became legendary.  Tom shared his knowledge with the greater GRCC community at three of the Mathematics Department’s Monthly Seminars, giving talks on Chaos, Curve Fitting and the Doomsday Algorithm. 

Tom will be remembered for many things. His 47 years as a full-time faculty member has been surpassed only once, by Dick Foster (Electronics, 50 years).  The 400-plus sick days he accumulated must rank at or near the top. And how he was able, day after day, year after year, to arrive on campus at 8:58 for a 9:00 class will forever remain a mystery.      

Visitation will take place from 4-7 p.m. Nov. 30 at Metcalf-Jonkhoff Funeral Home, 4291 Cascade Road SE. A memorial service will be held at 12:30 p.m. Dec. 1 at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 47 Jefferson Ave. SE, with visitation from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Exam Cram includes snacks, tutoring

Tell your students about the library’s Exam Cram!

Mathematics Seminar looks at geometry figures

The Grand Rapids Community College Mathematics Department is pleased to announce that it will host its final Mathematics Seminar of 2017 on Wednesday, December 6, 3:00-4:00 PM in 103 Cook.

Our speaker, GRCC Mathematics Instructor Alejandro Saldivar, will discuss a seemingly simple topic from geometry that leads to intriguing examples and unexpected consequences. For the title and abstract of Alejandro’s talk, please see below.

This presentation will appeal to a wide range of students and faculty; no previous mathematics background is required. All are welcome!

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

Reassembling Pieces of a Figure to Form Other Ones

Given two figures with the same area, can we always cut one into pieces so the pieces can be reassembled to form the second figure?  We investigate this question and provide some very interesting examples. This talk is suitable for an audience with a wide range of math backgrounds.

APSS, Campus Police collecting donations for veterans

The APSS employee group and the Campus Police will be collecting donations of new items for the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans, from Oct. 16 to Dec. 14 for the holiday season.

Items needed:

• Gift cards or certificates to fast food restaurants (McDonald’s, Burger King, etc.)
• Small lap blankets
• 100-piece puzzles
• Stationery sets
• Personal toiletries:  toothbrushes, soap, body wash,
• mouthwash, deodorant, cologne for men or women

Donations will be accepted at the following locations:

• Lt. Robert Decker (x3579) – Campus Police
• Colleen Copus (x3119) – Math Tutorial Lab – Rm 105 – Cook Bldg.
• Kim Zinger (x4253) – Math Dept. – College Park Plaza – 2nd Floor
• Janice Holton (x4129) – Rm 118 – Main Bldg.
• Janis Qualls (x4248) – Rm 320 – Science Bldg.
• Tracy Payne (x3673) – Rm 313 – Student Center

Donations will be collected each Friday.  The total collection will be delivered to the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans on Thursday, December 14.  Please help us support our veterans!