GRCC In The News, 01-10-19

Community college drops lawsuit against state over payments to retirement fund
1/9/19 MLive
DOWAGIAC, MI — A lawsuit brought against the state of Michigan by a local community college was dropped after legislation changed how Michigan’s community colleges should contribute to the state-run teacher retirement program in the future, and after unpaid contributions were paid off.
… Southwestern Michigan College, a community college in Dowagiac, sued the state of Michigan’s Office of the Auditor General over the investigation.
… Grand Rapids Community College was billed about $93,000, according to the September estimations from the Office of Retirement Services. Kalamazoo Valley Community College owed about $330,000.

‘Racial discrimination’: Players sue Maricopa Community Colleges over cutting football
1/9/19 Arizona Republic
Eleven African-American football players are suing the Maricopa County Community College District in federal court over its decision to end the football program.
… Among the junior colleges that have cut football since 2010: Rock Valley College, Joliet Junior College and Harper College, all in Illinois, and Grand Rapids Community College in Michigan. All of those schools cited financial reasons.

Jayhawk women use strong third quarter to pull away from Grand Rapids
1/10/19 Local Sports Journal (Muskegon)
The Muskegon Community College women’s basketball team defeated Grand Rapids Community College 69-56 on Wednesday night.

Tony Annese radio interview: Coaching ‘greatest fraternity known to man’
1/10/19 MLive
MUSKEGON — Tony Annese was one of the guests on The Power Hour weekly radio show Wednesday, Jan. 9 on WLCS-FM 98.3.
The Ferris State University football coach, who led the Bulldogs to the Division II national championship game, guided Muskegon High School to three Division 2 state titles (2004, 2006, 2008) during his nine seasons at the helm.
(This article doesn’t mention it, but Tony Annese coached football at GRCC.)

Ranger Steve’s Nature Niche: Birds Collide with Buildings
12/27/18 The Rockford Squire
Nearly one billion birds are estimated to die annually by colliding with building windows. Gathering definitive data is a monumental task. Scientists have two ways for analyzing events in nature.
… My salvage bird permit allows me and people I list on the permit to collect dead birds for educational and scientific analysis. Many birds at HCNC were collected and mounted in life-like position for visitors to see closely and others were mounted in what is called a study skin. Study skin mounts look like the bird is lying dead on its back. Those specimens were used when I taught ornithology at Grand Rapids Community College and for natural history programs. Visit HCNC to see birds you might not get to see easily in the outdoors.
(Column by Steve Mueller.)

Avoid plugging drains with flushable wipes

The Facilities Office requests that sanitary wipes, even when termed flushable, NOT be flushed down toilets. Wipes, flushable or otherwise, should be disposed of in the trash.

There have now been several recent instances of campus bathroom drains being plugged by flushable wipe masses in the pipes. The cost of remedying the situation has been hundreds of dollars in one case, and several thousand in another.

They might flush, but they don’t clear the piping! Please contact Jim Van Dokkumburg, Executive Director of Facilities, with any questions at jvandokk@grcc.edu. Thank you for your understanding.

Winter 2019 professional development opportunities

New Year = more learning!

Dedicate time this year to grow professionally and personally by participating in the several sessions offered for our GRCC family!

Sign up for a Human Resources Professional Development Opportunity. Various topics, days, times and locations are available!

And don’t forget to get “Google ready” at the G Suite training sessions! You can find those dates and times and sign up on the Google for GRCC Professional Development page.

Questions? Contact Angela Salinas at angelasalinas@grcc.edu or ext. 2567.

Hope to see you soon!

“The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey” opens tonight

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GRCC Players present The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey by James Lecesne.

The Story: Chuck unravels the story of Leonard Pelkey, a tenaciously optimistic and flamboyant fourteen-year-old boy who goes missing. A luminous force of nature whose magic is only truly felt once he is gone, Leonard becomes an unexpected inspiration as the town’s citizens question how they live, who they love, and what they leave behind.

• January 10 – 12 at 8 p.m.
• Spectrum Theater Lab Space (Room 201)
• Limited seats; call 234-3946 for tickets
• Cost: $5 GRCC students; $10 GRCC staff

GRCC Student cast includes: Eden Heimer, Elijah Lewis, Alexus Voss, Nio Walton, and Trent Woodman.