March 2008 Articles
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COD Counselors Respond to NIU Tragedy by Karin Evans
Between Here and There by Jason Snart
IEA Invests in Excellent Answers by IEA News Bureau and Tom Tipton
Dental Hygiene Takes on Middle-School Mouths by Lori Drummer
Kidjazz! Jazzed up Kids with Kazoos by Tom Tipton
Committee Spotlight: Permanent Art Collection by Marina Kuchinski
What's Your Story? Let Us Know! by Karin Evans
COD Counselors Respond to NIU Tragedy by Karin Evans
Driving home on an ordinary wintry Thursday afternoon, I turn to WBBM to listen for the traffic
report. At 4pm, the news is still breaking. A shooter in a classroom at NIU... Student voices
on the radio, shockingly young and clear, describe fear and chaos. Reporters and anchors pick their
way cautiously through what is known and confirmed, what is rumored and repeated. At first no one
is confirmed dead. Then the body counting starts.
Among my first thoughts is this: any of the victims might have attended COD. I pick up my cell phone and call my division office. Sheryl Mylan, our Associate Dean, answers her phone on the second ring; she has not heard the news. I say to her, our students will be affected, there is no way COD will not be touched. I say, maybe you should call Counseling...
COD's response to the events at NIU proceeded in accord with crisis planning that the College has been putting in place for the past several years. Counseling faculty play key roles, not just working with individual students touched by tragedy, but also helping our community formulate its collective response. Many of our counselors have received special training in community-based crisis response through NOVA, the National Organization for Victims Assistance.
Four members of the Counseling faculty form our Crisis Response Team: Dennis Emano (chair), Nathania Montes, Margery Walters, and Dana Thompson. These faculty members rolled up their sleeves on Thursday as soon as they heard the news. They met early Friday morning to formulate an action plan, then led a discipline meeting focused on COD's response to the NIU events. We all witnessed many of these efforts—such as information posted by email and in MyCOD and Blackboard, and the forum table and handouts available in the SRC walkway.
Our counselors also worked with students in private sessions, personal conversations, and classrooms, as well as at the forum table. Many students raised questions about what plans COD has in place, whether they are safe on our campus, and what more can be done to protect us. Counselors Terry Jackson and Dennis Emano explained that people handle the stress of a crisis better when they can articulate their fears and make decisions about what to do. As Terry said, "It's easy to feel isolated and at risk by yourself. It's better to share strategies. A goal is to find ways of getting back to the business of living, with this new sense of reality, less secure than we thought." Counselor Barb Fried emphasized helping students make connection with other people, in order to see that many of us have the same fears.
And what about the rest of us—all the faculty without special training in counseling, how should we respond in a situation like this? Dennis suggested that faculty should take a few minutes to acknowledge crisis situations in the classroom, without letting a crisis take over the class. Mention resources that we have available and refer students who need more support. Ron Jerak stressed that an important role for faculty is to "allay fears, keep crises from escalating or being sensationalized."
Dennis also emphasized that it's most helpful to give students specific information about safety plans, "because their fears become worse when information is vague." Christine Kickels, Coordinator of Faculty Development, will continue to formulate resources and opportunities for faculty to learn more about COD's crisis plans so that we can do just that.
Between Here and There by Jason Snart
English faculty member Jason Snart wrote this poem following the shooting event at Virginia Tech
last spring. The poem, originally published in the Courier, spoke to us again.
I lived in daily fear lest the monster whom I had created should perpetrate some new wickedness. —Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
The sharp moment of a bullet's split
second through the door, and the pulse
of blood from the heart, to the body,
to the world outside that had made it.
A moment too soon for any cold language,
blown in the chaos of spiraling snow
on a wind driven day in Virginia.
An immense silence – this could never be filled –
it will be filled by tomorrow,
as we're imposing an order between here
and there, the elevator, the stair.
Between first stories and second, monsters inside and out,
to the third, and the fourth, and then back
on themselves, we imagine a way
between here and there. Courageous and scared,
we are left to give witness. We are the authors
of all the small histories that will need to be kept.
They counted the bodies; we are the counters
to desperation and violence:
Now, when you are ready, raise up
into the radiant halo of kindness,
of beauty and friendship, to descend,
again, as we must, into the everyday moment.
Here and there could be blood on the sidewalks.
Together we rescue grace from the monstrous,
and memory from tragedy.
IEA Invests in Excellent Answers by IEA News Bureau and Tom Tipton
Governor Blagojevich announced his 2009 budget on February 20, 2008. Now the legislative games
will begin. Despite a struggling state economy, the Governor proposes a $300 million
tax break for businesses, a $900 million tax break for families with children, and a $25 billion
capital plan. Education and pension obligations received scant mention. It seems to be business as
usual in Springfield. But what can we do about it? The IEA has some answers. We should Invest in
Excellence.
For three decades, the system for funding public schools in Illinois, including community colleges, has made winners of some students and losers of others, all based on where those students live. IEA has taken an official position in favor of changing that system and is committed to executing a plan that will accomplish that goal.
"What we have is an intolerable situation. IEA, as the state's largest education employees' organization, has an obligation to show leadership on this issue," said IEA President Ken Swanson. "This is about the future of our students and our profession. We can settle for nothing less than the complete reform of a system that hurts students, education employees and the economy of our state."
Background
In March 2006, the IEA Representative Assembly approved a new business item, previously sanctioned
by IEA officers, managers, staff and the IEA Board of Directors, endorsing the initiative known as
Invest in Excellence.
The goal is to pass legislation that will
- Provide adequate resources to all preK-12 public schools
- Provide adequate resources to all public higher education
- Provide a long-term solution for pension system stability and funding
- Do no harm to any public education entity
- Incorporate positive components resulting in increased student achievement
Since January 2007 there have been dozens of organizational meetings, including four stakeholder summits, meetings comprised of IEA governance, management and staff members. "We all come to the table from different places but with the common goal of wanting to live up to the IEA mission," Swanson said.
In addition, spring hearings were held statewide to allow IEA members to weigh in on the program, and hundreds of IEA members who gathered in Bloomington for the IEA Summer Leadership Academy, were briefed on the Invest in Excellence initiative and had a chance to offer their own opinions and suggestions.
Next Steps
IEA regions and locals will hold organizing meetings to discuss how rank and file IEA members can
participate in this program at the grassroots level. Also plan to attend the Higher Education Lobby
Day on April 9, 2008 in Springfield (contact Tom Tipton for details). There you will have a chance
to speak directly with your legislators about the inequities of education and pension funding.
Looking to the Future
Last year IEA set a June 30, 2007 target date as the goal for passing legislation reflecting the
Invest in Excellence principles. Since last year's budget made few strides in that direction, the
fight will continue in this upcoming legislative session.
"We mustn't stop until we have achieved the ideals referred to in the IEA Mission Statement: 'to effect excellence and equity in public education and to be THE advocacy organization for all public education employees,'" Swanson said.
Dental Hygiene Takes on Middle-School Mouths by Lori Drummer
The dental hygiene program has been awarded a $6000 grant for Middle School Healthy Mouth
Mania, a pilot health education and preventive program for at-risk middle-school
children. The DuPage Community Foundation Board of Trustees approved the grant in November of
2007.
Middle-school children will be bused to the on-campus dental hygiene facility to receive oral hygiene instructions and toothbrushes and toothpaste, and they will also have dental sealants placed in their teeth. First- and second-level dental hygiene students will partner in the clinical setting in the roles of clinician, mentor, and teacher. The dental hygiene students will place sealants working as a team (experienced and novice clinician), and they will also educate the children. The kids will rotate through three different stations: one clinical area and two educational areas. One educational area will teach them how to brush and floss properly, and the second will address the risks of chewing tobacco and oral piercing.
This program will not only benefit the children, but also the dental hygiene students, who will actively participate and learn as part of this professional experience, working with faculty to treat over 400 children over the course of four days!
Kidjazz! Jazzed up Kids with Kazoos by Tom Tipton
Start with a stage full of some of Chicagoland's best jazz composers and musicians, add
hundreds of kids with kazoos, a very hip band director and horn player in a handsome
guayabera shirt, and what do you get? The 15th annual Kidjazz! concert on February 15, 2008 was
another honking success.
The concert began with award-winning composer, pianist, and Chicagoan Reginald Robinson, emerging from below the stage on the orchestra pit lift, seated at a grand piano. If the kids in the room thought that trick was magic, they hadn't yet heard Robinson play. His version of Jelly Roll Morton's "Mamanita" and his original work "Footloose" set a mood of fast-paced awe.
Two arrangements by Tallman, one of Miles Davis's "Dig" and another of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," sung by perennial favorite Darryl Boggs, got toddlers who were pushing their bedtimes up in the aisles dancing and clapping. Even now, T.J. Tipton (age 3) occasionally bursts out with a line from John McCutcheon's "Travelin' in the Wilderness." But the music got more than just toddler toes tapping. Faculty member Marty Attiyeh "enjoyed being able to move around to music that releases everybody's boogie, and was able to recapture that long-ago thrill of 'I know somebody in the band!' every time my esteemed colleague, Tom Tallman, took the mike."
Running through a "Chicago All-Star Medley," including works by Louis Armstrong and Thomas Dorsey, as well as some very funny and self-deprecating schtick by Tallman and Boggs involving Eddie Harris's "That's Why You're Overweight," the kids could sense what was coming.
The ushers appeared at the ends of the rows with shopping bags full of brightly colored kazoos. If the musicianship up to this point had been flawless, it was now almost overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of hundreds of budding jazz musicians. "My favorite part of the concert was when everyone got to play on kazoos," says Stephanie Tipton (age 10). "And it was so funny when Dad was playing a kazoo."
Seven-year-old Evelyn, daughter of faculty member John Stasinopoulos, said that she thought it was really awesome to see girls on stage playing saxophone, and she also thought it was really fun that she didn't have to just sit in her chair and listen. Or be quiet. Says Evelyn, "I got to sing and dance and hear good music all night! And I got autographs from the band! Awesome!"
Of course, there was a downside to Kidjazz!. Marty laments that she had to institute a "No kazoos at the breakfast table" rule the next morning and thereafter. "It's a most unpopular parental decision in my house, on a par with 'No more Guitar Hero,'" complains Marty.
Committee Spotlight: Permanent Art Collection by Marina Kuchinski
The College of DuPage's permanent art collection consists of 148 artworks valued at $831,450.
The college's first acquisitions were made in the 1980's through the Illinois Arts
Council Percentage for the Arts Program. This program required that 1 percent of new building
construction budgets be used for purchasing art works for new buildings. Rainbow Dancer by Jerry
Peart outside SRC and Lightship Power by Tom Scarff in the Art Center Lobby were purchased with
these funds, in addition to other smaller artworks. The Board of Trustees funded two sculptures,
Conduit 15 by Mike Baur and Kiosk by Michael Graves. In addition, the collection includes of
numerous art donations that were accepted without any criteria or maintenance schedule.
In the past, committees have handled the selection and maintenance of the collection. One committee, chaired by Jody Zamirowski from 1993 to 1999, handled situations affecting the college's art collection on an as-needed basis. This committee's accomplishments included obtaining funding to restore one artwork and clean the rest of the works in the collection. The committee members ultimately became frustrated and lost interest in staying active, as many art proposals were received but none were funded.
In 2001, after realizing there was no one to oversee the collection and no budget to do so, Barbara Wiesen, Director and Curator of the Gahlberg Gallery formed the Permanent Art Collection Committee, which included a team of some previous and new members. In collaboration with the team, Wiesen identified, evaluated, and cataloged the condition and location of the collection. In addition, the team created vision and mission statements, developed a database for the collection, digitally documented the collection for the database, reviewed donation guidelines and procedures, and created criteria for the acceptance/denial of artworks.
The committee continued to refine its vision and mission as follows:
The College of DuPage Art Collection Committee's vision is to be a leading cultural environment that houses a significant contemporary art collection that is challenging and thought provoking to its viewers and complementary to its educational programs.
The College of DuPage Art Collection Committee's mission is
- To provide a culturally rich environment where students, faculty, staff and visitors will be exposed to the visual arts, therefore broadening their knowledge, increasing their sensitivity, and sparking the development of creative talents through the visual arts.
- To provide College of DuPage and its surrounding communities with a public art museum that weaves its way through every building on campus, creating a more beautiful and interesting environment for learning.
- To provide a welcoming open-air art environment where significant art can be viewed, studied and appreciated by everyone (faculty, staff, and the public).
The committee's recent accomplishments include receiving COD funding for an Appraiser who had appraised the entire collection and a Preparator who has been providing care and maintenance for the artwork. The Library has funded the acquisition of two new artworks: Overlap Series: Double Motorcyclists and Landscape by John Baldessari, and Canoe Island by Peter Doig. Since funding for purchase of new artwork is still rarely available, Barbara Wiesen has been approaching artists for donation of their art. The committee targets accomplished living artists' work that is challenging, sophisticated and progressive, with focus on local, national, and international art executed no earlier than 1967, the founding year of COD. Interior and exterior space and placement of works are carefully considered when additions are made to the collection. Recent donations by artists include Poet's Lifemask by Buzz Spector, Along the Southern Coast by Steve Harp, Desert Radiator by Barbara McDonnell, Wave 1 by Jin Lee, and IN THE GARDEN by Carol Jackson.
The Permanent Art Collection Committee members are Fred Bruney, Professor of Art; Stephen Cummins, Director of Performing Arts; Alain Hentschel, Associate Dean of Fine and Applied Arts; Brad Killam, Assistant Professor of Art; Marina Kuchinski, Associate Professor of Art; David Leary, Professor of Art; Wendolyn Tetlow, Dean of Liberal Arts; Michael Trench, Chief Development Officer; Barbara Wiesen, Director and Curator of the Gahlberg Gallery; and Jody Zamirowski, former Design Coordinator at COD.
Additional information about the permanent art collection can be found at the Permanent Art Collection page on the College web site.
Image of "Poet's Lifemask," by Buzz Spector, Internal dye diffusion print (Polaroid) 2006. On display in the MAC 2nd Floor hallway, near room 201.
What's Your Story? Let Us Know! by Karin Evans
Step up and brag—please! The Faculty Advocate needs your good news. You
should definitely tell on your faculty colleagues who are too modest to tell their own stories, too.
COD faculty are so busy doing amazing things that they hardly ever take a minute to talk about it...
but we want the world to see what we're up to. What are your outreach and community service
initiatives? What programs are you developing? What grant did you get? What talk did you give or
book did you publish? What curriculum or teaching innovation can you share?
We don't have a staff of reporters nosing around for stories. You are all we've got. You're not a writer, you say? Don't worry about that. A few paragraphs from you, a little editing from me, and voila, an article is born. No pain, no problem.
Send comments, suggestions, story ideas, photos, etc., to facultyadvocate@gmail.com. Thanks!!
