VICE PRESIDENT and PROVOST
Dr. Judy Ackerman, vice president and provost, was a member of the Maryland State team that was invited to participate in the National Math Panel Forum on October 7. The purpose of the forum was to provide a venue for regional teams to develop action plans to improve mathematics education. The Maryland State team proposes to develop an institute to serve as an umbrella organization for professional development for mathematics educators and to identify ways to recruit prospective teachers.

ATHLETICS
The new Interim Athletic Director Ms. Veronica Franklin is excited to report that all coaching vacancies have been filled. The volleyball, women’s soccer, and men’s soccer teams will begin Regional playoffs by the end of this month. The women’s soccer team is ranked 2nd in the National Junior College Athletic Association. Additionally, one of our players, Lilian Trujilo, ranks sixth in Division III. The men’s and women’s basketball teams had tryouts and are making final cuts this week. Overall, the athletic department is preparing for at least four teams to make trips to nationals in Texas, New York, and Minnesota. Student athletes are still looking for Spanish, math, and biology tutors to volunteer at our study table.

ARTS
“Portraits of Life: Student Experiences,” a tribute in words and photographs to Montgomery College student experiences of resilience, transformation and inspiration is on exhibit in The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Arts Center, October 15 to November 28. This project was made possible by the Freeman Foundation and the Montgomery College Foundation.

HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
On Friday, October 17, students from the Hospitality Management and Hotel Restaurant Management programs at MC and UMES at Shady Grove attended an Etiquette and Networking Luncheon at the Washingtonian Marriott. Carol Haislip of the International School of Protocol guided students, faculty, and industry sponsors through a three-course lunch while explaining the finer points of conversation and dining etiquette. The event was free to students and made possible by donations from several corporate sponsors and a substantial donation from the J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation.

INTERIOR DESIGN PROGRAM
Kudos to MC students: Fall 2008 graduation candidate in Interior Design, Marilou Ortega won second place in the American Society of Interior Designers Washington Metro Live Jury Student Design Competition; and Vala Albolghasemy, interior design student, was awarded Judges Choice, Bentley Prince Carpet, Ample Sample Competition. Three $5,000 student scholarships from the National Executive Women in Hospitality were awarded to Camie Bingham (MC 2006 AA in Interior Design) and Nora Nentcheva (MC 2008 AA in Interior Design) who are furthering their studies in interior design at Marymount University, and Olajumoke Ogunfiditimi who studies hospitality management at the University of Phoenix.

PAUL PECK HUMANITIES INSTITUTE
The Paul Peck Humanities Institute (PPHI) project Portraits of Life received a $10,000 grant in June from the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County to exhibit the printed panels throughout the county. The proposal was especially geared toward introducing the subject of the Holocaust to middle and high school students. Portraits began the exhibition season at the Black Rock Center for the Arts in Germantown. A reception was held on September 27 at which three Holocaust survivors spoke about their experiences. Portraits will travel to Gaithersburg High School on October 13. On October16, the school will hold an assembly in the auditorium on the subject of the Holocaust in conjunction with Portraits of Life. Two survivors will be addressing the student body and answering questions.

PPHI welcomes Harry Rubenstein, curator and chair of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History (NMAH), Division of Politics and Reform, to Montgomery College on October 21, 2008. Rubenstein's talk, "Abraham Lincoln: An Extraordinary Life," takes its name from an upcoming NMAH exhibit, and marks the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth. To be delivered at 9:30 a.m. in the Theatre Arts Arena, the talk will provide a venue for discussing the American presidency during a very interesting presidential race. This event is in collaboration with The Paul Peck Institute for American Culture and Civic Engagement.

SCIENCE, ENGINEERING and MATH
The National Institutes of Health approved renewal funding for the Biomedical Scholars Program. Under the superb leadership of Principal Investigator Dr. Barbara Hoberman from the Biology Department, the program will be funded for another five years through 2013. The current award is for a total of $985,000 contingent on achieving specified annual outcomes and NIH’s budget. The Biomedical Scholars Program is a nationally recognized program established by in 2001 by co-founders Dr. Hoberman and Dr. Weiner (recently retired from the Math Department) with funding from NIH. This innovative, model program successfully prepares students from under-represented groups in the biomedical science profession to transfer to four-year bachelor’s degree programs in the natural sciences.

SOCIOLOGY, ANTHROPOLOGY and CRIMINAL JUSTICE
This fall the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice and the Department of History and Political Science are participating in a research pilot which relates to voting behavior. This project is being coordinated by the Fair Vote, a nonpartisan, nonprofit voting rights and election reform organization located in Takoma Park. The research is funded by a grant form The Carnegie Corporation of New York and will include participants from several Maryland community colleges and universities. Daytime sections of Introduction to Sociology and American Government were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups for this pilot project. Prior to the November election, a presentation is being made to each of the experimental sections which will include the history of suffrage rights in the U.S., the importance of voting participation, a discussion about reform proposals to increase participation and the mechanics of voting. Students in both groups (experimental and control) are being asked to submit a card with their NAME, DOB CITY/TOWN, and COUNTY, which will be used to determine if the student votes on November 4th. Names on the cards will then be compared to the official voter turnout data provided by the Maryland Board of Elections. Shortly after the election, both the control and experimental groups will complete an identical survey. The survey will ask students about their political behavior and attitudes about the political process more generally.

OFFICE of STUDENT LIFE
Involvement Fest (formerly known as Club Rush)
On Wednesday, September 17, 2008 from 11am to 1pm students had the opportunity to learn about the various co-curricular opportunities available at the Rockville campus. A variety of student clubs and organizations had tables in front of the Theatre Arts Building, sharing information about their particular student groups, recruiting new members, and identifying potential faculty/staff advisors. During this outdoor event, there was music, food, and other activities to get students excited about getting involved on campus moving an ordinary college experience to an extraordinary college experience.

Peace Day
A progressive series of events to celebrate International Peace Day took place on all campuses of Montgomery College on September 22, 2008. At the Rockville campus the Office of Student Life co-sponsored with the Montgomery College Global Peace and Justice Studies Community, the Paul Peck Humanities Institute, and the Office of Equity and Diversity, guest speaker Mr. Colman McCarthy who spoke on “How to be an Effective Peacemaker.” In addition, there was a Peace Concert and an all-day interactive student peace art activity in Amphitheater.

Student L.I.F.E. (Leadership Institute For Everyone)
Everyone has the capacity to be leaders in their own right. The purpose of Student L.I.F.E. is to provide ALL students at the Rockville campus the opportunity to develop and enhance their leadership skills. We seek to recruit a diverse group of students whether they are current on-campus leaders and/or students that aren’t involved in any campus activities. Workshops will be going on throughout the fall semester and academic year on topics from self-awareness to networking to communication styles, plus much more.

Volunteer and Community Organization Fair
On Thursday, October 16tth, 2007 - The Office of Student Life Rockville Campus will host its 2nd Annual Volunteer and Community Organization Fair. This scheduled outdoor event will have over 45 organizations serving the Montgomery County area will be staffing tables showcasing ways their respective groups are working to make a difference in our community.

RV Student Senate Induction Ceremony
On Thursday, October 16th the new Rockville Campus Student Senators will be formally inducted into the Senate and introduced to the campus community they serve. This event is scheduled to take place in the Humanities Amphitheater from 4:00PM to 5:00PM.

WOMEN’S STUDIES
On Wednesday, October 15, at 11:00 am, in HU 205, the Women's Studies Program will sponsor an event in observation of National Love Your Body Day. Our guest speaker will be Carolina Robertson. Carolina Robertson presently teaches permaculture, natural architecture (learned from women in Ghana) and sustainable living to women in the high Andes of Argentina. She is a medical ethnomusicologist who receives patients at her farm, Sonussana (Healing Sounds) and offers alternative approaches to patients who are refusing chemotherapy and radiation. From 1979 to 2006 she taught ethnomusicology at the University of Maryland, emphasizing gender studies, sound healing and music and ritual. She has done extensive field research among the Maya of Chiapas, México, the Mapuche of Patagonia (her dissertation at Indiana University in 1975), the Kassena-Nankani of Ghana and Burkina Faso, and Hawaiians involved in the resurgence of Polynesian culture. She has taught at many institutions, from Spain and Morocco to Argentina and Chile. Her central focus has been performance as a means of expressing identity and humanness.