Friday, April 20, 2007

 

MWCC NAMED 4TH TOP COLLEGE IN NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION’S CHILL OUT CONTEST

MWCC was ranked the fourth top U.S. college that is shifting away from using fossil fuels to heat campus buildings by judges in the National Wildlife Federation Chill Out Contest in Washington, D.C., Wednesday, April 18.

The competition, featured on a live webcast shown at the Gardner campus, recognizes colleges and universities around the country which are implementing innovative programs to reduce the impacts of global warming, the No. 1 environmental threat facing the nation. MWCC was one of eight winning schools chosen from over 100 competition entries received from colleges nationwide.

MWCC student Jim Wilson speaks about the significance of the college’s renewable energy systems in reversing global warming during a live National Wildlife Federation Chill Out Contest webcast shown at the Gardner campus.

“Colleges and universities are key places for demonstrating how to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, the major culprit of global warming,” said Julian Keniry, director of campus and community leadership for the National Wildlife Federation. “Mount Wachusett has demonstrated its leadership in promoting renewable energy options both on campus and throughout the surrounding community.”

“We are so honored to be recognized with this well-regarded award from the National Wildlife Federation,” said MWCC President Daniel M. Asquino. “I am very proud that what we’re doing here is helping the environment and inspiring our students to find innovative solutions to this crisis.”

“I congratulate Mount Wachusett Community College for receiving this well deserved award,” said Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Ian Bowles. “When it comes to switching to renewable energy sources, conserving energy, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Mount Wachusett is truly leading by example.”

The National Wildlife Federation noted that this prestigious award was given because MWCC’s renewable energy team, which includes Edward Terceiro Jr., executive vice president and resident engineer; Bill Swift, director of maintenance and mechanical systems; and Rob Rizzo, director of facilities administration, has aggressively pursued numerous initiatives and projects to decrease the college’s dependence on fossil fuels and to educate its students and community on the benefits associated with utilizing renewable energy options.

The college’s conversion of its all-electrical campus to a heating system run on locally available bio-fuels has drastically reduced greenhouse gas emissions while having a positive impact on the college’s operating budget. By eliminating electricity as a primary heat source, MWCC has reduced electricity use by 45.9 percent and saved $2 million.

This project, along with related energy conservation measures, has resulted in a 24 percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions over the past four years, the equivalent of 7,638 tons of carbon dioxide.

The college’s efforts in renewable energy have led to a number of grants from the U.S. Department of Energy, including $1 million to install and test a biomass combined heat-and-power gasifier that will produce electricity and thermal energy for heating and $100,000 to coordinate the efforts of eleven state energy offices to encourage the use of bio-fuels for large private and public users. MWCC is also working with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to install a large-scale wind turbine on campus and partnering with GreenFuel Technologies Corp. to build a world-class training and research facility to recycle carbon dioxide profitably into bio-fuels. Furthering their commitment to sustainable energy, the college will soon install a 100kW photovoltaic array.

For these impressive efforts, the National Wildlife Federation featured MWCC in their Chill Out webcast, broadcast live from George Washington University in Washington, D.C., which included a taped address from Al Gore and testimonials from leading climate experts and campus sustainability heroes, including MWCC Executive Vice President Edward Terceiro Jr. The webcast was part of global warming events scheduled on over 70 college campuses throughout the nation.

The college will receive a $1,000 grant to continue innovating global warming solutions.

The judges ranked the University of California at Santa Barbara No. 1, Monmouth University in West Long Branch, N.J., No. 2; and Richard Stockton College in Somers Point, N.J., No. 3. Other winners were California State University, Chico; Oregon Institute of Technology, Klamath Falls, Ore.; Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio; and the Lawrenceville School, Lawrenceville, N.J.

The National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology Program has been an integral part of the campus greening movement since 1989. The nation’s 4,100 colleges and universities educate more than 15 million students in any given year making these schools important laboratories for creativity and innovation – keys to tackling a monumental crisis like global warming.

MWCC RESPONDS TO VIRGINIA TECH TRAGEDY

MWCC students, faculty and staff are offering condolences and honoring the memory of the victims of the Virginia Tech shooting in a variety of ways.

A sympathy card will continue to be available for signing on Monday, April 23 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Student Government Association booth in the cafeteria hallway.

The SGA booth will also feature a collection of donations to the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund that has been established to aid in the healing process and generate financial support for grief counseling and memorials and more. This donation will be sent on behalf of the MWCC community early next week. Donations may also be made directly through the Virginia Tech website that has been established for this purpose: www.vt.edu/tragedy/memorial_fund.php.

Ribbons of remembrance in the Virginia Tech colors are available beginning today (Friday, April 20) at the cafeteria cash registers.

The commencement Thursday, May 17 will feature a moment of silence in memory of the victims of the Virginia Tech tragedy, and faculty and graduates will be encourage to wear ribbons of remembrance in their honor.

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION PROGRAM TO HOLD WEEK OF THE YOUNG CHILD ART SHOW

By Maureen Provost

In celebration of the Week of the Young Child, the MWCC Early Childhood Education community is hosting a Children’s Art Show in the commons area on Thursday, April 26 and Friday, April 27.

The art exhibit, hosted by students in the Curriculum and Program Planning class, will showcase artwork created by the children attending the Garrison Center for Early Childhood Education.

The Early Childhood Education Club will sponsor a bake sale at the event. Additionally, note cards with children’s artwork, designed by Computer Graphic Design student Candace LaBonte, will be sold. Proceeds will benefit the purchase of a new sandbox for the playground at the Garrison Center.

As part of their service-learning project, students in the Curriculum and Program Planning class created design boards that will describe the benefits of open-ended art for children. The students also matted and labeled the children’s art.

Support has come from Early Childhood Education Chair Rosanne Morel, Professor Maryann Kane and the teachers at the Garrison Center. The teachers have been collecting the children’s artwork throughout the semester.
Andrea Dudley Hart, assistant coordinator of civic engagement, will provide health and safety brochures to families attending the show on behalf of the Molly Bish Institute for Child Health and Safety.

A panel of eating disorder experts address students, faculty and the public during Eating Disorder Awareness Day organized by students in Professor Sheila Murphy’s Abnormal Psychology courses, Corrie Ares, Melissa Brewer, Kristyn Hanifyn, Brittany Brassard, Lisa Niskala, Krystle Ricard, Brittini Burns and Melissa Asante.

More MWCC News:

• Tickets are on sale for a special performance by renowned fiddler Eileen Ivers & Immigrant Soul at Theatre of the Mount. The show will also feature Irish dancers. Tickets for this May 5th performance are $35 each, with a $2 online service charge, and can be purchased at the Theatre at the Mount box office and online at http://theatre.mwcc.edu. Proceeds will benefit Theatre at the Mount. Doors open at 7 for the 8 p.m. show. Sponsor Gardner Ale House will be selling sell their beer beginning at 7:15 p.m. The Olive Garden in Leominster is also a show sponsor.
• MWCC’s Campus Crusade for Christ Club is sponsoring a scholarly discussion entitled “Creation or Evolution?” tonight (Friday, April 20) from 6 to 8 p.m. in the south cafeteria at the Gardner campus. Associate Professor of Biology Dr. Tom Montagno will give a presentation on evolution and Attorney Michael Walsh will give a presentation on creation. Professor of History and Political Science Dr. Oliver Hooper will be the moderator. Light refreshments will be served. For more information, contact club advisor Glenn Roberts at (978) 630-9237.
• The LIFE program at MWCC is hosting a Victorian Tea Saturday, April 21 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Colonial Hotel. Create a memory with your daughter, granddaughter, mother, aunt or friend. This is a fancy party and guests are urged to “dress up”, even hats and gloves would be welcome. Enjoy scrumptious desserts, and enjoy conversation. Sheila and Sherrill Murphy will weave a tale with their skit set in Edwardian/Victorian times. They will use clothing and accessories from their collectibles business “Robins in the Trundle Bed” to enhance the story. Reserve by calling MWCC with a credit card, or send a check to MWCC: 444 Green Street, Gardner, MA 01440. (The check’s memo line should read "LIFE Tea".) Tickets are $20 for adults; $10 for children 12 and under. For further information, contact Lorraine Wickman at (978) 630-9176 or lwickman@mwcc.mass.edu.

• Eileen Ivers

  MWCC’s new Biotechnology program will host information sessions at the Leominster campus, 100 Erdman Way, on Monday, April 23 and Wednesday, May 23 from 6 to 7 p.m. Another session will be held Wednesday, May 16 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 6 to 7 p.m. at the main campus. With the decision by the drug manufacturer Bristol-Myers Squibb to locate a large biotechnology company at Devens, the college anticipates starting the biotech program in fall 2007 at the Devens and Gardner campuses. Registration is required. To register and for more information, contact MWCC’s Dean of Science Charles Weitze at cweitze@mwcc.mass.edu or (978) 630-9207.
• Pulitzer-prize-winning author Lucinda Franks will visit MWCC’s Gardner campus on Wednesday, April 25 to talk about her experiences as a writer. Franks will give two talks—one from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in room 127 and another in the Leo & Theresa LaChance Library from 6 to 8 p.m. Franks has a long, distinguished record as a journalist. Early in her career, she shared a Pulitzer Prize with Thomas Powers for their investigative series on Diana Oughton and the radical antiwar student group Weatherman. Franks began writing for the New York Times in the mid-1970s and has written one novel, Wild Apples. Her recently published book entitled “My Father's Secret War” is, according to the Los Angeles Times, “a bold, moving account of a daughter's efforts to understand her father.” Copies of the book are available for sale in the college bookstore and will be available at both talks. For more information, contact Heidi McCann at (978) 630-9255 or hmccann@mwcc.mass.edu.
• MWCC is partnering with Fitchburg State College and MASSCAP to host the Montachusett Opportunity Council, Inc.’s 40th anniversary "Poverty at Home/Reasons for Hope" symposium on Thursday, April 26 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30. This all-day symposium at the Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel, Fitchburg, is intended to explore the causes of poverty in our community and provide inspiration to change the patterns that lead to poverty. The registration form is available at http://democracy.mwcc.edu/pages/PovertySymposium.html. The $35 fee includes a continental breakfast, lunch and reception.
• After witnessing firsthand the economic and environmental benefits of renewable energy systems and conservation measures, MWCC will bring the compelling, Academy Award winning documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” to the Gardner campus on Thursday, April 26 at 6 p.m. in observance of Earth Day. This free showing, in the south cafeteria, will be followed by a brief discussion, led by climate change experts, including a representative from Clean Air – Cool Planet, on ways ordinary citizens can save money while saving the environment. MWCC’s Green Society will be selling compact fluorescent light bulbs. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Kimberly B. Caisse, MWCC’s public relations specialist, at (978) 630-9547 or kcaisse@mwcc.mass.edu.
• The Entrepreneurial Resource Center at MWCC and SCORE will co-sponsor a free seminar “Marketing Your Small Business” Thursday, April 26 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. in room 125 at the Gardner campus. The topics they will cover include turning your idea/product into a money-maker by marketing more effectively; discovering what to tell and how to tell it to sell your product; taking advantage of the expertise of the presenters by coming prepared with questions about marketing your small business. This seminar is free, but pre-registration is requested. To pre-register, contact MWCC Enrollment Services at (978) 630-9123. For more information, contact Denise Whitney at (978) 630-9124.
• The conclusion of a three-part Iraq War forum at the Gardner campus, sponsored by several faculty, will feature a lecture by David Entin, a Vietnam veteran who will speak about the parallels he sees between the Vietnam War and the war in Iraq, on Friday, April 27 at 11:30 a.m. in room 127. The film “The Ground Truth” was shown on April 13, and Tyler Boudreau, a Marine officer who served in Iraq, gave a lecture about his experiences in Iraq and his lessons from the war April 20. For more information, contact Kimberly B. Caisse, public relations specialist, at (978) 630-9547 or kcaisse@mwcc.mass.edu.
• The annual Alpha Beta Gamma Induction Ceremony will be held Friday, April 27 starting at 6 p.m. in the south cafeteria. State Representative Lewis Evangelidis, R-Holden, will be the keynote speaker. For more information, contact ABG advisor Linda Bolduc at (978) 630-9385.
• The Center for Democracy and Humanity has rescheduled the next Democracy Café panel discussion on all the presidential hopefuls for Monday, April 30 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the north cafeteria at the Gardner campus. WTAG talk show host and former Worcester Mayor Jordan Levy will moderate. The panelists include MWCC Political Science Professor William Welch, MWCC student Jack White, Gardner Mayor Gerald St. Hilaire, Worcester State College Director of Student Affairs Sybil Brownlee and Fitchburg State College Political Science Professor Rodney Christy. Complimentary coffee and refreshments will be served. The event is free and open to the public. Register by emailing ahart@mwcc.mass.edu or calling (978) 630-9458. Learn more at http://democracy.mwcc.edu/pages/DemocracyProject.html.