Pierce College News

Date: September 16, 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media contact: Dale Stowell, (253) 964-6780 or dstowell@pierce.ctc.edu

Pierce Presents kicks off new season with TV journalist Ray Suarez Oct. 7

Pierce College Puyallup will launch its 2004-2005 artists and speakers series, Pierce Presents, on Thursday, Oct. 7, with Media, Politics and Washington: An Evening with Ray Suarez. The event will begin at 6:30 p.m. in L244 (lecture hall). Admission is $15 general/$10 Pierce students. The series is sponsored by Pierce Student Programs, The News Tribune and KPLU 88.5 FM.

With more than 25 years of experience in journalism, Ray Suarez, one of the most respected news anchors in Washington, D.C., today, continues to make major contributions to the public understanding of the most important stories of our times.

Currently Senior Correspondent for the PBS program The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Suarez previously hosted National Public Radio’s nationwide call-in news program “Talk of the Nation.” He is the author of the recent book “The Old Neighborhood: What We Lost in the Great Suburban Migration,” and has been honored with a number of prestigious awards including the 1996 Ruben Salazar Award from the National Council of La Raza, Current History Magazine’s 1995 Global Awareness Award, and a Chicago Emmy Award.

One of America’s most experienced political journalists, Suarez helps audiences understand the stories behind the headlines. In his Pierce Presents presentation, he will discuss Washington politics and the role that the media play in influencing policy. Suarez thinks that the media are the tool by which people can best voice their opinions about those who govern. Yet, he says, the media spend more time with the talking heads in Washington than they do getting feedback from the people. He points out that the Washington news media were once an investigative tool for the people and offered the best way to learn the truth behind what goes on in Washington. Now, he asserts, the media are most aptly used by politicians to promote their own agendas.

Suarez, a longtime member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, holds a bachelor’s in African history from New York University and a master’s in social sciences from the University of Chicago, where he studied urban affairs.

Upcoming events in the Pierce Presents series include:

Getting Through the Tough Years with Loveline’s Dr. Drew
7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 3, 2005
Admission: $15 general/$7 Pierce students
L244 (Lecture Hall)

Naked in Baghdad: The Iraq War as seen by NPR Correspondent Anne Garrels
7 p.m. Thursday, March 3, 2005
Admission: $20 general/$10 Pierce students
College Center

“MiddleSex” with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jeffrey Eugenides
7 p.m. Thursday, April 7, 2005
Admission: $15 general/$10 Pierce students
College Center

General Information: For tickets or information visit the ticket office in Room A120 at Pierce College Puyallup; call (253) 840-8416 or contact any Ticketmaster location. Tickets purchased through the college will not include a service fee.

General seating only. No refunds or exchanges. Seating is limited, and early purchase is recommended.

Date: September 16, 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media contact: Dale Stowell, (253) 964-6780 or dstowell@pierce.ctc.edu

Faculty exchange agreement with Beijing university to be renewed on 10th anniversary

Pierce College representatives will renew a groundbreaking faculty-exchange agreement with Beijing Foreign Studies University Sept. 17 in Beijing that will mark the 10th anniversary of the program. The event will coincide with a trade trip to China by Gov. Gary Locke, who will attend the signing ceremony.

The exchange program has brought 10 visiting faculty members to teach Chinese language courses at Pierce College, with the eleventh scheduled to arrive this week, according to Patrick Cavendish, director of International Studies. Fourteen Pierce instructors have taught English language, computer science and business classes at BFSU over the course of the program.

“It is clear that a successful program such as this really does contribute a lot to international friendship and understanding,” said Beth Willis, a member of the Pierce Board of Trustees who will participate in the ceremony, “Our Pierce College instructors have returned from Beijing with wonderful memories and a fund of good will towards the Chinese people.”

The exchange program was created in 1994 to promote the study of Chinese and English languages and civilizations and to further mutual understanding and friendship among the peoples of the United States and the People’s Republic of China.

Date: Sept. 2, 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media contact: Dale Stowell, (253) 964-6780 or dstowell@pierce.ctc.edu

Pierce GED classes on the menu at Old Country Buffet

Some of Pierce College’s GED preparation students will get a few unexpected perks as they prepare for their high-school equivalency exams – complimentary sodas, the tantalizing aromas of the day’s menu, and cushy booths in which to relax during classes conducted at Old Country Buffet.

Old Country Buffet manager Dave Hill and his staff roll out the welcome mat for GED prep students who meet four mornings a week at the restaurant in Lakewood Towne Center. GED Preparation Coordinator Bill Orrange arranged with Hill to have the classes at OCB last year after space they had been using at Lakewood City Hall was no longer available.

“This is an ideal location,” Orrange said. “The Old Country Buffet is in the heart of Lakewood, and it’s half a block from the transit center. There’s a relaxed atmosphere, we have the free soda bar and comfortable chairs.” A college setting can sometimes be intimidating for people who didn’t complete high school, Orrange said, so the nurturing ambience at OCB can help to relieve anxious feelings for people who may not have the fondest of classroom memories.

“Bill does a fantastic job of making people feel welcome,,” said Hill, who himself was a GED graduate in the 1980s. “I didn’t complete high school, and I got my GED at Green River Community College, so I see the benefits and the sense of accomplishment for students to be able to complete their educational process.”

For Hill, offering up space at OCB for the classes is a natural fit with his company’s emphasis on community involvement. The restaurant takes an active role in a number of local education initiatives, including Lakewood’s Promise, and gives a wide range of awards to K-12 students for academic achievement, back-to-school assistance, and even a “Bee Brave” award from the OCB’s bee mascot for kids who demonstrate courage during visits to the doctor or dentist.

The OCB location is one of six sites for GED preparation classes in the Pierce College District. Classes also are offered at the Puyallup and Fort Steilacoom campuses, Tillicum Elementary School, Bethel Family Center, and Thompson Elementary School in Spanaway. Fall classes at OCB begin Sept. 22, and will meet from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Monday through Thursday.

Orrange arranges a Next Step day each quarter to introduce GED students to Pierce. They are given a tour of the campus, and representatives from the financial aid and advising offices explain the programs and services that are available. “We want to help (students) feel a part of Pierce College, ” he said.

The goal of the program is to help people get their GEDs in the shortest amount of time, said Orrange, who teaches math two days a week at the OCB site. Most students are able to finish up in one or two quarters. He invites potential students to come in, sit in on a class and see how they like it before making a decision to enroll.

For more information about GED classes at Old Country Buffet or Pierce’s other sites, contact Bill Orrange at (253) 964-6657, or come to class on the first day. No pre-registration is needed.

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Date: August 31, 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media contact: Dale Stowell, (253) 964-6780 or dstowell@pierce.ctc.edu
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Pierce College designated as Center of Excellence for Homeland Security

The Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges has designated Pierce College as the Center of Excellence for Homeland Security (COE), with the responsibility for facilitating and coordinating homeland security initiatives for a coalition of the state’s 34 community and technical colleges.

The creation of the COE will help ensure that the state’s emergency first responders in a wide range of disciplines will be prepared and fully qualified for responding to a Weapons of Mass Destruction terrorism event, according to COE Director Mike Campbell. Estimates indicate that more than 101,000 first responders need to be trained statewide by 2006, he said.

Campbell, who has been a full-time instructor in the Criminal Justice program at Pierce College for the last two years, has had extensive experience in law enforcement and homeland security. He served as a special projects officer for the Pierce County Dept. of Emergency Management, where he conducted the 2003 Homeland Strategy and Security Assessment. A retired U.S. Army colonel, he is a former provost marshal of Fort Lewis.

The Center of Excellence will be based at the International House on the Pierce College Fort Steilacoom campus beginning this fall, but much of its work will actually be done in cyberspace. Online courses will be made available through WAOL, the virtual campus of the state’s 34 community and technical colleges, and will address the training needs of disciplines and groups including law enforcement, fire service, emergency management services, military department/Emergency Management Dept., public health, hospitals, public works, transportation, elected officials, private industry, and volunteers.

The COE, which is supported through state Workforce funds, will help to define a statewide infrastructure for homeland security initiatives, improve coordination among emergency responders, and make it easier to track participants and ensure that their training credentials are recognized nationally.

“The COE will be a one-stop shop for homeland-security training, information and resources,” Campbell said. “It will become the place that industry can rely on to understand their particular homeland security needs and help them solve their homeland security-related problems.”

Pierce also is engaged in another initiative related to homeland security training. Pierce College District Chancellor Steve Wall serves on a national task force to define the role of community colleges in training programs to support homeland security. In response to a growing national need to develop better training and new programs related to homeland security, the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) appointed the 21-member task force last January to define a long-range strategy for the nation’s 1,173 two-year colleges.

For more information on the Center of Excellence for Homeland Security contact Mike Campbell at (253) 912-3622.

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