Pierce College News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media contacts: Nancy Butterfield, (253) 964-7331 or nbutterfield@pierce.ctc.edu
Dale Stowell, (253) 964-6780 or dstowell@pierce.ctc.edu

Pierce Presents kicks off 2005 season at Fort Steilacoom with singer/songwriter Jonathan Kingham Jan. 13

Pierce College Fort Steilacoom will launch its 2005 artists and speakers series, Pierce Presents, with a special performance featuring award-winning folk singer/songwriter Jonathan Kingham. He will perform at Noon – 1 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 13, in the Performance Lounge. Admission is free and open to the public.

Jonathan Kingham is a rising star on the international folk music scene, winning overall grand prize in a field of 33,000 entries from around the world in 2000, as well as First Place in the USA Songwriting Competition in the folk category. He makes his home in Seattle, where he is a full-time musician and manages the operations of Exact Records, an independent recording label.

All events in the Pierce Presents series are open to the public, and include:

World Music with solo artist Todd Green
7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 4
Performance Lounge
$5 general admission, students free

The musical sensation The Paperboys
Noon – 1 p.m. Thursday, March 17
Performance Lounge
Free admission

Inspirational Comedy: An evening with Debbie Wooten
7 p.m. Friday, April 22
Performance Lounge
$5 general admission, students free

Sponsors for the Pierce Presents series include Pierce Student Programs, The News Tribune and KPLU 88.5 FM.

Pierce College Fort Steilacoom is at 9401 Farwest Drive S.W., Lakewood.

If you are a person with a disability who requires accommodation, please contact the Disability Support Services Office at least 48 hours in advance: (253) 964-6527 (voice), (253) 964-6228 (TTY) or bnewson@pierce.ctc.edu.

For immediate release
Contact: Nancy Butterfield, (253) 964-7331 or
Dale Stowell, (253) 964-6780

Pierce College Puyallup will celebrate the grand opening of its new College Center Building at 4 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 6. The public is invited to attend the event. The college is at 1601 39th Ave. SE, Puyallup.

The $23 million, 60,000-square-foot facility houses technology and general classrooms as well as cafeteria and student gathering space. Classroom space in the college’s first two buildings is in near-continuous use between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. Until now, a student body of 3,000 has jockeyed for space in a 60-seat cafeteria, and college and community events have been crammed into either a lecture hall or atrium that seated just 150 people.

Temporarily at least, the College Center relieves some of this congestion. It joins Pierce College Puyallup’s two existing permanent structures, the Gaspard Building and the Brouillet Library/Science Building, which were opened in 1989 and 1996, respectively. In addition to needed space, the new College Center gives form to functional areas that had been relegated to cramped campus space carved from shared areas.

The new facility includes:
· electronics engineering labs
· computer engineering labs
· six advanced-technology classrooms
· expanded campus bookstore
· student dining area with an online café
· meeting and conference space
· child-care center
· new central student computing lab
· adjacent 450-space parking lot
· new access road and campus entry point
The building’s three wings are designed to be in synergy with the activities taking place within them. Student services and conference areas occupy one wing, while academic classrooms and labs, and faculty offices dominate the other two.

“This facility not only gives us much-needed instructional space, it really provides the other kinds of services and gathering space you expect to find on a college campus,” said Pierce College District Chancellor Steve Wall.

Because more than 300,000 people call Pierce College Puyallup’s service area home, college officials expect that the new building will be filled to capacity within two years – a pattern the college has seen with its first two buildings. A fourth building, designed to serve health professions and communication and arts programs, was approved by the 2002 Legislature and could begin construction as soon as 2005.

The College Center project has been on the drawing board as part of the Pierce College Puyallup master plan since the college moved from a series of rental spaces to the forested campus, purchased in 1987. The college officially became the state’s 34th community college in 1999, and joined Pierce College Fort Steilacoom in Lakewood as the Pierce College District’s second comprehensive community college.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media contacts: Nancy Butterfield, (253) 964-7331 or nbutterfield@pierce.ctc.edu;
Dale Stowell, (253) 964-6780 or dstowell@pierce.ctc.edu
For information contact: 253-964-6657

For those thinking of earning their GED or taking Adult Basic Education classes, registration is open for Pierce College’s winter quarter. Tuition is only $25 per person per quarter, and tuition waivers are available for students who qualify. Students may register at the orientation session or at class at the site where they wish to attend.

Daytime classes:
· Old Country Buffet at Lakewood Towne Center. Classes meet 9 – 10:30 a.m. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Orientation is at 9 a.m. Monday, Jan. 3.

· Bethel Family Center, Building P, 18020 “B” Street East, Spanaway. Classes meet 9 – 11:30 a.m. Tuesday and Thursday. Orientation is at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 4.

· Tillicum Elementary School, 8514 Maple SW, Lakewood. Classes meet 8:15 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Monday and Tuesday. Orientation is at 9 a.m. Monday, Jan. 3.

Evening classes:
· Pierce College Fort Steilacoom, C529, 9401 Farwest Dr. SW, Lakewood. Classes meet 6 – 8:30 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday. Orientation is at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 4.

· Thompson Elementary School: 15701 “B” Street East, Spanaway. Classes meet 5:30 – 8 p.m. Monday and Wednesday. Orientation is at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 3.

For more information call 253-964-6657.