As the admissions recruiter for Washtenaw Community College, Julie Killich spends a lot of time these days visiting high schools throughout the county and conducting multiple tours as part of an initiative to strengthen WCC’s presence. “From the standpoint at the high school, I let the prospective students know that a two-year college can be viable option upon graduation,” she said. “They don’t realize they can get all of the same things at WCC rather than a university.” While the program was put into effect this winter, WCC has also invited all of the Washtenaw County public high schools to offer sections of courses on their high school campuses. “We’ve been contacting the high schools because when we had met with the superintendents and principals, a message that came through clearly was that we could best partner with them by offering classes on the high school campus,” said Linda Blakey, associate vice president of Student Services In addition to the initiative, Killich is also working with the high school students on the possibility of enrolling into dual-enrollment classes whether they are at the WCC main campus or one of the extension sites. “They are coming to the campus, taking the compass test and seeing if they’re ready for dual enrollment,” she said. “There are even talks of possibly offering a class on how to be a dual-enrolled student.” While visiting area high schools, Killich is often asked about WCC’s sports department and class sizes. “The students support the small class sizes,” she said. “A lot of students are interested in knowing that we have Club Sports at the college level. They think they have to go straight to university for that.” Although the Admissions Department is becoming more aggressive in the recruiting process through high schools, Trustee Richard Landau believes that resources like social media such as Facebook and Tumblr are being under used. “We rely largely on guidance counselors who may be focused on placing students in four-year colleges rather placing students at WCC,” he said. “We have all of these students at the college who have tremendous contacts, and I’ve always thought our students are our greatest ambassadors.” And while Killich has confirmed that social media can be a viable option when recruiting high school students, Landau also believes that WCC will see more customers with the increase in dual enrollment sections. “I think social media is a viable option and it’s a direction we’re heading,” Killich said.
 After discovering a drainage problem during the 2011 baseball season, $24,000 was needed to install draining tiles thorughout the infield. (Courtesy photo) WCC’s baseball team finally set to play after college pours more money into new diamond
The baseball field that doesn’t drain properly has become a drain on the college’s budget. After a $2.2 million investment to build the athletic fields, Washtenaw Community College has to spend another $24,000 to build drain tiles around the infield in an effort to make it playable—and safe. News like this comes as a relief to coach Brian Moeglin, who would often spend up to eight hours on the field with players to get it ready for games. “I can’t say we would do all the work. Facilities would usually come out and help me and the team get it ready for games,” he said. “One time it rained on a Tuesday and on Saturday, we spent eight hours taking water off the field so we could play on Sunday.” According to Rick Westcott, superintendent of Grounds and Fleet, the problem made baseball unplayable for most practices. “It was a bad problem. It was so bad that if it rained, it would most likely take four to five days before the field would dry out,” Westcott said. “The problem was the clay. It was like a swimming pool and would hold water.” After several meetings with college officials, Westcott called in a consultant who was responsible for building Comerica Park. “He suggested the drain tile would take care of the problem,” Westcott said. “Then we hired a company that specializes in ball fields and they spent about a week out here.” Bob’s Landscaping Services, of St. Clair Shores made the repairs. “There is 480 feet of weeper tile that went into the ball field. It’s all drained into the bio-swell that’s at the field which is a good thing,” Westcott said. “We haven’t experienced any similar problems on the softball field like this.” According to Conference Service Manager Patrick Downey, the baseball field will be rented out to community groups for $50 an hour at a two-hour minimum. Currently, the field is reserved for 10 hours externally and 80 hours for WCC’s team. Although athletes competing in soccer and lacrosse experienced wear and tear problems on the soccer field, the problem on the baseball field is not same. “We weren’t really aware of all the play that was going to happen on the baseball field and didn’t know about the clay problem at first,” Westcott said. “We knew we had to do something to this field due to the initial problem from the original installation.” And Moeglin is looking forward to an improved season on the field. “Last year, we were only able to get on the field twice before our first game. We were doing practices on the (outside) basketball court and in the parking lot,” he said. “We were trying to do drills in the outfield grass. I’m just ecstatic they took care of the problem as soon as the weather broke for this season. “This year I can do proper tryouts on the right field,” he said. “And it’s great to see the baseball field draining even better than the softball field.”
Despite changing industry, jobs are out there and WCC has programs to get you there
While some may think that manufacturing in Michigan is dead, Mark Sturtevant believes that his training in automation technology is going to get him a job. He attends classes in the building around campus that many students aren’t even aware exists, the Industrial Technology building. It is filled with much of the machinery used in the industry. “I started full-time this semester,” said Sturtevant, 39, from Addison. “I believe I will get a job out of this, and I really enjoy the robotics. When I looked around at other schools before I came here, I saw that this school was teaching what’s going on in the real world.” According to Ross Gordon, the interim dean of Vocational Technology, many companies are looking to fill positions in the manufacturing industry. The companies often struggle to find enough skilled workers to fill these openings. Some companies even hire workers and then train them through Washtenaw Community College. Detroit resident, Andre Wallace, 21, a welding major, hasn’t been able to find steady full-time work. With a recent grant class provided by Washtenaw Community College, he is able to have a 100 percent guarantee that even before completion of this welding and computer numerical course, he’ll be able to start working immediately. “It’s been difficult due to a lot of high-paying work being seasonal,” he said. “I look at this course and it being paid for as a blessing and it gives me hope that I can find a career in Michigan without leaving my family.” With professional equipment like towering robots and hydraulic machinery, these are daunting programs to enter. While learning to use this equipment isn’t easy, there are jobs in the field, which is much better than unemployment, according to Gordon. Expertise in hydraulics could be used to test products, such as car doors. While a person couldn’t slam a truck’s door precisely the same way every time, hydraulics could be used to do so. Even though there are many jobs available in these fields, there aren’t a lot of students in the corresponding programs. “It’s very much a high-demand job right now,” said Jim Popovich, a vocational technology instructor. “It’s hard to find people with these skills. It’s not a very big program. Some people are convinced that there are no longer jobs making things anymore.” With only about 138 students enrolled across several of the main manufacturing disciplines, four sections of classes ended up being canceled due to low enrollment this semester. This is bad for the programs, because according to Gordon, they are cautious when scheduling classes by putting up only the ones they think will succeed. “People believe manufacturing is dead, and that’s just not true,” Gordon said. “Industry is d esperately calling out to us, telling us they need qualified employees.” While the manufacturing game has changed, there are new positions that need to be filled. Within the robotics discipline, people are needed to program and maintain the robots in order to keep them performing the correct tasks. Instead of picking up heavy pieces of metal and putting them onto a conveyer belt, a robot can now be automated to do so. These programs are always being updated so that they stay current with the industry practices, Gordon said. There is even a program that offers some training in most of the fields known as Manufacturing and Industrial Computing, allowing students to take classes in robotics, fluid power, numerical control and machine tool technology. This means that students will have training in all of the major disciplines of the field, and become that much more employable. Gordon thinks that while parents may urge children to take a more academic path in college, students should remember that when choosing this field they are more likely to get a job. Welding and fabrication major Ben Gerber, 21, of Dexter, sees a lot of jobs he can get as a welder, so taking advantage of resources that WCC provides is essential to him. “I decided that taking more advanced classes would make my resume look even better,” he said. “Education like this is where the jobs are at. This course has a lot of pressure to make deadlines but when I’m done, I know I’ll have a job. And I’m very grateful that this course is paid for – and so are my parents. I’m already getting calls for jobs, and I’m not done with the class.”
After the abrupt shut down of the soccer field last October, it’s finally up and running full-time again. For athletes competing in sports at Washtenaw Community College, this comes as a relief after the college closed the field due to excessive wear and tear and a record rainfall last summer. In an attempt to protect the college’s $2.2 million investment in the athletic fields, only WCC Sports will only have access to the soccer field. In the past, the college would rent it out for $50 an hour to outside community groups for games, practices or camps. That is no longer an option. College ofcials have decided that 450 hours of playable time were feasible for the soccer field before further investments would have to be considered. WCC Sports needs 425 of those 450 hours. “We only have two options. Either reduce the number of hours of play on the field or change the turf and go to a more expensive artificial turf which has more financial implications,” said Damon Flowers, associate vice president of Facilities Management. “We decided the first right of refusal would be the college and Club Sports, so that only left over 25 or so hours for the whole season to external users. We decided we can’t really have external users on the soccer field.” According to Patrick Downey, Conference Services manager, the soccer field was rented out to external users for 347 hours in 2011, which at $50 per hour resulted in $17,350 in revenues. Club Sports reserved the soccer field for 235 hours before it was closed just five weeks into the Fall semester totaling 582 hours. “I’m technically going to continue to reserve the fields for (WCC) Sports, but will not be renting out to external users at all,” Downey said. With the quick-changing weather in Michigan this time of year, when it is difficult to accurately forecast a frost, grounds personnel needed a one-to-two-week window with no play to allow the seed to germinate before freezing temperatures hit. The drainage on the field didn’t help either. “We have a lot of clay on this campus just generally,” Flowers said. “Clay is not a soil material that drains well. Rain plus clay equals a muddy mess.” According to Flowers, the decision to keep external users from using the soccer field will help the field recover for future play. “We have had record-setting rain in September 2011. If you play on the field, it needs time to recover,” Flowers said. “So with rain and saturation, it didn’t appear that it would be very viable to continue renting out to external users. “From the point of view on injuries and physical appearance, who wants to play on dirt? Glass is alive. You just can’t keep running cleats on it day after day. Eventually it dies,” he said. “So it came down to how many hours does the college need and how many hours can the field be active?” Club Sports Coordinator Erica Lemm said she regrets that the community can’t rent the field out, but sees it as an opportunity for the athletes. “If the community could use the field, it would be a great resource. A lot of community members talk about how much they liked the field, but it did put WCC Sports (teams) at a disadvantage halfway through their seasons,” she said. “WCC also needs the field through the season, not just summertime.”
Madonna nears end with immature ‘MDNA’
No one knew Madonna would age so gracefully. At 53, 12 albums later and a shattered divorce, Madonna can confidently say she’s experimented as an artist and crossed the line – sometimes for the good and sometimes for the bad. Her newest installment, “MDNA” is just bad. Opening with an addictive hook produced by Benny and Alle Benassi, “Girl Gone Wild,” experiments with some European flavor and electronic beats. The lyrics, however, open with an apology: “Oh my God/ I’m heartily sorry/For having offended thee/And I detest all my sins. And that’s not even the actual song; what’s the apology for? As the album progresses, it’s a downward spiral of lyrics that haven’t matured over the years. “MDNA” is full of teeny-bopper lines that rip off Katy Perry and Kesha and that’s not a compliment. At 53, she hasn’t grown. And then there’s, “Give Me All Your Luvin,” featuring Nicki Minaj and MIA that opens with a cheerleading, “L-U-V Madonna” chant. Later on in the track, she boasts, “ Every record sounds the same, you’ve got to step in my world.” And she’s right. This entire track sounds the same. Add Minaj and it’s dumbed down for the manic love-lost high-schooler. The best track on this garbage-ridden installment may be, “Love Spent.” Madonna experiments with a Bollywood beat. It’s one of the only tracks in which her mess of a relationship with her ex-husband shines through and her feelings are exposed in the rawest form for the world to see. The club-dance sound governs the entire record. However, Madonna trips over her aged disco ball most of the time. She sounds best when she brings down the tempo in, “Falling Free.” Not only does Madonna take us to the club, she beats us up with her ridiculously stupid lyrics, exhausting us to the point of never wanting to hear her again. Retirement should be in Madonna’s near future. ARTIST MADONNA ALBUM MDNA LABEL INTERSCOPE GENRE POP half star
 Sparks fly as students in the vocational technology grant program are hard at work learning to weld — among other skills necessary for their future employment. (Adrian Hedden/The Washtenaw Voice) New grant class guarantees 100 percent placement
Basilio Arecheja is a single father of three children, has a felony, and, like so many others in Michigan, has not had consistent work for the last three years. For the Belleville resident, Arecheja, 38, and 24 other students at Washtenaw Community College, there may be a light at the end of the tunnel. WCC has partnered with Macomb Community College in an effort to create qualified candidates for the increasing job demand in welding and computer numerical control. The grant is worth $150,000, and it is being used to fund supplies for the course and tuition for the students. Arecheja counts it as a blessing. “When work shut down, I was just surviving on unemployment, and that barely pays the bills,” he said. “There was no grant class for me unless I could apply for a grant and get a shot to show that I could do it.” Half of the students will spend January and April in welding and the other half in CNC and then swap in the beginning of May to finish the course in July. The students meet every Friday from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. and, according to Ross Gordon, interim dean of Vocational Technology, they will have 100 percent job placement upon completion of the course. “We’re actually going to bring a recruiter down at the end of March that’s specifically tied to this program, and we’ll be ready to hand off as many resumes that are ready and let the students start working with her to find placement,” he said. “I’m anticipating that some students will fall off. I’m hoping that the students can work for these companies while finishing this course.” And job placement isn’t the only resource Gordon is providing to the students. The students will go through CPR training, resume writing, interviewing and networking skills and will also obtain the 10-hour Occupational Safety and Health Administration card showing employers that they’ve been trained in how to be safe. “This is not always the safest environment. Students may be doing heavy lifting, doing a redundant process over and over again or standing next to these machines,” he said. “Or welding, it gets hot, and so the CPR training is provided so they can protect themselves and the people around them.” When WCC was approached by MCC, the main objective was to employ people who had never done welding or CNC work and then immediately send the students into the work force. Welding instructor Coley McLean, 35, of Detroit, immediately saw a problem in the objectives and went to work to form a syllabus dedicated to higher-paying jobs in welding and CNC. “Department of Defense jobs are intense,” she said. “When I designed this course, it was in mind that students applying for this course would already have a welding background and then they would start learning more DOD materials like thicker plates and special welding techniques.” “It’s a totally different course than what the other community colleges are teaching,” she said. “I sat down with several companies and asked them, ‘What do you need?’ and modeled the course after that so these students look good on paper and have the skill set necessary to handle an intense job.” Welding major Stephanie Domeier, 30, of Willis, is spending the first half of the course on the CNC training side as a new mother. “I probably wouldn’t have been able to take this course if it hadn’t been for the grant,” she said. “I’m very confident that I’ll be able to find a job when I leave. I’m working immensely hard to ensure I’m placed as soon as possible.” With the growing demand for talent in welding and CNC, Gordon is worried that if students aren’t trained fast enough to fill jobs, that companies struggling to hire qualified candidates will leave southeast Michigan. “We’re going to be satisfying those high-end welding jobs,” he said. “With the combination of welding and CNC, that gives the students a well-rounded skill so that way they have twice as many job opportunities available to them.” As for Arecheja, Gordon believes companies are in dire need of skilled employees and will thus provide job security to candidates with felonies. “We’re focused on these students trying to turn these jobs into careers, and I think companies will overlook past records because they need qualified people in these positions,” he said. “These jobs are not seasonal and lets these students plan for their lives. “I always tell students to stay with us for one year and we’ll get you a job. Stay with us for two years, and we’ll get you a career.”
 The Farm at St. Joe’s, located on the campus of St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor College to get on agriculture bandwagon?
While Washtenaw Community College students were enjoying their spring break, Special Project Administrator Victoria Bennett conducted a farm tour for several instructors from biology, health and business to evaluate the need for an agriculture program. “Michigan produces the second-largest number of crops next to California,” she said. “If you look at a map of agriculture produce in Michigan, the bottom half of Michigan is the heart of the produce. We’re already producing the agriculture; we’re just not training people to do it to carry on other farms.” And as small farms pop up, such as the Farm at St. Joe’s, Tantre Farms and the Tillian Farm Development Center, Bennett saw a need for a small-niche market that would eventually need to be filled. “Farms are popping up at schools, hospitals and jails and we anticipate that’s an emerging area,” she said. “On a somewhat larger scale, the average age of a farmer is 58. Farms are not being passed on from parent to child anymore, so who’s going to take over for these older farmers once they pass?” And with that realization, Bennett went into action. Calling in Dean of Business and Computer Technologies Rosemary Wilson and Dean of Math, Science and Health Martha Showalter, Bennett put together a strategic proposal of the possible needs a program in agriculture would need, and the trustees were briefed on it as a strategic initiative at their annual retreat held earlier this month. “The research we’re doing right now is a cross-disciplinary approach to this,” Wilson said. “We’re not talking about putting together a program that’s going to rival Michigan State University’s agriculture program. We’re particularly looking at small-scale farming.”
 Dean Martha Showalter (Math, Health, Science), Dean Rosemary Wilson (Business), culinary instructor Alice Gannon-Boss, recycling manager Barry Wilkins, owner of Goetz farm John Goetz and computer science instructor Ernest Clover are led through a recent farm tour to determine whether an agriculture program is necessary at WCC. As part of several career days and talks with the community, Bennett and the faculty team realized that the children of farmers are not taking over farms like they used to. Many farms are closing up shop. “The upcoming generation doesn’t necessarily have a clear career path or a way to study farming and pick up all that knowledge that was traditionally handed down in families,” Wilson said. “People who are going into farming very often will have some basis of knowledge in the actual growing part of it but not the business part of it and that’s critical for survival if you’re going into farming.” For now, the goal of the program is to fill the smaller-niche farms such as the Tillian Farm Development Center. For the actual program, it would primarily be focused on the entrepreneurial side with a small education series on the actual growing of crops. It is not intended for campus green to be dug up to make way for the program, but rather through internships at local farms. “That’s the important piece of partnering with area farms to make sure the applied things are put into place. We’re not going to plow up 40 acres of campus green,” said Stuart Blacklaw, vice president of instruction. “There’s a possibility we could do a hoop house on campus so there’s some application on campus, but those are fairly minor in comparison to the amount of work that farms are actually involved in.” According to Associate Vice President of Facilities Development and Operations Damon Flowers, the space is available. “The location and soil conditions would have to be correct. Direct sunlight, or no direct sunlight and shade would have to be considered,” he said. “Accessibility to students would need to be looked at. Protecting it from other animals on campus would need to be considered.” Flowers even has a location in mind for the potential program. “There’s a clearing over at the Occupational Education building that’s a bit elevated facing the north. It’s basically a big planter box,” he said. “It’s clear and free from animals so that could be a possible place.” And as far as job demand in Southeast Michigan, Wilson says research is being done quickly to evaluate it. “People think as farming as the kind of thing where you see endless farms as far as the eye can see,” Blacklaw said. “So many more people are in agriculture now and these little micro farms are popping up everywhere. The Home Grown Local Food Summit will be held April 2 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Morris Lawrence building.
 A view of the platform tennis court from the second floor of the Health and Fitness Center building as it sits empty. (Przemek Ozog/The Washtenaw Voice) After spending $55,000 to build a platform tennis court adjacent to the Health and Fitness Center, and seeing it used about once a week, officials are beginning to question the wisdom of the expense. According to HFC Executive Director Greg Hanby, the court has been used only 60 times over the past year. “I don’t think you’re going to see the magnitude of people use it as our core niche,” he said. “Platform tennis is much more popular out on the east coast so some of our members that grew up out there are familiar with it.” The game, which can be described as a cross between tennis and racquetball is situated on a heated platform designed to melt snow off in the winter. Lights are available for night-time competition. Damon Flowers, associate vice president of Facilities Development and Operations, isn’t surprised at the low numbers of usage. “In hindsight, could we have used $50,000 for something else? My opinion? Yes,” he said. “Platform tennis is something you find at country clubs. It’s a high-brow sport.” Trustee Stephen Gill is a weekly player of the game at the HFC and thinks it would get more use with more advertising. “We’re trying to get more people interested because it’s a great sport,” he said. “It’s easy to learn how to play, but hard to become good at it.” Gill also believes that one of the main benefits to the sport is that players don’t have to be members of the HFC to use the court. Sign-ups for the game are booked through the HFC because access and equipment is signed out there, but membership is not required. “The court is managed like the athletic fields: Open to everyone,” Flowers said. Part of the problem with the low numbers is the lack of advertising amongst the college. Sports coordinator, Erica Lemm, however, has only spoken to one student interested in platform tennis and wasn’t aware of the availability of the court to the students and community members. Which is why Gill insists on the need to spread the good word. “I think that more advertising is necessary and it’ssomething that can be brought up with the board,” he said. “It’s not being used as expected in the original plan of the HFC.”
Fight for your right to a decent film: avoid ‘Project X’Everyone at one time or another would love to jump into a time machine and skip back into their 17th year and experience “Project X” for what it’s worth – a combination of, “Can’t Hardly Wait,” meets “Blair Witch Project,” meets “Superbad.” However, this film just isn’t worth it. Plagued with enough footage to make the audience seasick and enough drugs, boobs and anarchy to fill the room, “Project X” opens with the disclaimer apologizing to the residents of Pasadena for the events that occur in the movie. An apology doesn’t come close to how out-of-control this film gets. Shot in ‘found footage’ style, camera-man Dax and the audience prove to be the only two sober people at this boorish party. As Thomas Kub (Thomas Mann) and his best friend, Costa (Oliver Cooper) get the typical rules for being alone for the weekend of Kub’s 17th birthday, secretly they’re planning the party of the century. And of course, all of the things they weren’t supposed to do on the parent-free weekend, they predictably end up doing. As setting up commences and ripping off the local drug dealer prankster-style happens, Thomas sets the standard rules of “the party stays in the backyard, no one is allowed in the house and no more than 50 people.” However, as scandalous young vixens and testosterone-ridden boys arrive, Thomas quickly loses control and enjoys every second of it. It’s every teenage boy’s dream. But as the party progresses, it becomes just another buzz-kill. Boredom aside, “Project X” is filled with plot holes. Simply put, there’s no story here. While “Project X” offers little substance, colossal shock value and few laughs in between, it’s difficult to believe that $12 million was spent to make this diabolical crash of a film. As Kub struggled for 17 years to reach the cliché of popularity, it only took one riot-infested party for him to achieve his dreams and just as soon lose almost everything – predictably except for the girl. And as the saying goes, no one will remember you 10 years after graduation. The same will go for Thomas Mann and “Project X.” GENRE COMEDY RUNTIME 88 MINUTES RATING R
When Dan Bifano awoke on the morning of Feb. 18, it wasn’t just a bowl of Cheerios waiting for him. There was also a message from Washtenaw Community College video instructor Matt Zacharias informing the community that Bifano and three of his peers had been invited to the 50th annual Ann Arbor Film Festival.
“Right now, I feel like I’m walking down a hallway of high-fives,” said Bifano, 35, of Ann Arbor, a digital video production major. “I feel good about it and didn’t think my film would be invited for something like this.” Jeremy Liesen, 26, of Ypsilanti, a double major in digital video production and music production and engineering, is singing to the same tune. “I think it was weird how we found out. We didn’t even know we were being submitted.” Liesen said. “And it was a big surprise.” Liesen’s film entitled, “Listen;” along with Barb Morrissey’s, “Belle Isle Zoo;” Scott Allen’s, “Turn the Camera Around;” and Bifano’s, “Forward Aikido Roll” have all had the prestigious chance to showcase this year at the festival. “Listen” was filmed around the Michigan Theatre and Liesen used his second major in MPE to link together natural sounds of the city for the soundtrack of the film. “I composed music out of sound effects out of car doors slamming, mail boxes, change and keys,” he said. “I had a vision matching up the visuals of the sound.” For Morrissey, 31, also a DVP major, shooting “Belle Isle Zoo” was a challenge as she had to reshoot a second time for higher quality. The Brighton resident initially used her cell phone. “I originally filmed at the (Belle Isle) Zoo in July (2011). Martin (Thoburn, video instructor) said the quality looked like crap so I went back and filmed it again in one day,” she said. “And then only had a couple weeks to edit it in the fall.” The event will take place from March 27 to April 1 and is the longest running independent and experimental film festival in North America. DVP major Scott Allen, 28, of Livonia, earned his invitation by documenting photographer Doug Coombe of the Metro Times. After struggling for ideas for his assignment, Allen was lucky enough to run across Coombe at the Hamtramck Blowout last year. “I went along with him for three days and edited for three weeks,” he said. “Doug is a beautiful individual. He is somebody that anybody can relate too. There’s some sort of character about him, some sort of charisma that I’ve always liked.” While boiling down the films available to 10 for submission was tough, Thoburn thinks that the invitations are only good things for the student’s resumes. “It’s a good resume builder and potentials for getting into other festivals,” he said. “The committee that selected these films was looking for unique artistic vision and each of these four pieces delivers that.” Zacharias has always been adamant in ensuring his students know that films have to be original and says he can see “the true artist” in each film. “These films stood out because they look professional in terms of style and content or both,” he said. “It’s all of the layers working together in terms of the photography and subject matter. From Barb to the three boys, the work is signature to who they are.” For more information on the Ann Arbor Film Festival, visit aafilmfest.org.
|
|
