Students, faculty on NW Campus to discuss election
A roundtable discussion of the presidential campaign and other hot topics will be held Oct. 24 on NW Campus.
Scandals, Scoundrels and Dirty Tricks will be 12:30-2 p.m. in the Walsh Library (WTLO third floor) and will feature NW government and history instructors Paul Benson, Bryan Calvin, Brian Cervantez, Robert Little, Jessica Patton and Laura Wood.
Assistant director of library services James Baxter said students who attend should gain a better understanding of the campaigning process and will have the opportunity to ask questions about current political topics.
“Each of the six instructors will discuss an American political campaign from the past and compare it to the current presidential campaign,” he said. “The discussion will be important because it will give students a historical context in which to place our current political milieu.”
Sandra McCurdy, NW library director, had the idea of hosting the roundtable, Baxter said.
“The idea came to her after talking to some of our instructors about various current topics in the news,” he said. “She said she enjoyed hearing what the instructors had to say when the idea occurred to her to host a discussion that everyone, including instructors, students and staff could join in.”
McCurdy said the session would give students a chance to meet with instructors in an informal setting to discuss political issues important to them.
“It’s an incredibly good venue for students to ask questions, express opinions and hear the issues discussed by experts in the field,” she said. “I think it’s important for students and faculty to be able to come together in a more casual setting to discuss the important topics of today.”
The event is meant to be casual, and students can bring a lunch.
For more information, students can contact Baxter at 817-515-7720.
— Taylor Jensen
Silence to envelop TR in Deaf World immersion event
It’s a Deaf Deaf World will be held in honor of Disability Awareness Month 1-4 p.m. Oct. 25 in the Idea Store on TR Campus.
“This total immersion experience is designed to provide you with an opportunity of what life is like living in the deaf community,” said Laura Escamilla, TR student development associate. “During this program, you will be given specific tasks to perform at various stations as though you are deaf or hard of hearing.”
Participants will get a passport with tasks to complete, using no words and no written notes. Stations will be set up, and the tasks include running errands such as withdrawing money from a bank.
Some stations may include deaf and blind activities where participants are blindfolded as well.
According to Escamilla, participants in the past received traffic tickets during the event and had to deal with the incident without words. The main purpose of the event is to give participants a better understanding of life in a deaf world and learn to communicate better, Escamilla said.
The event is sponsored by disability services, student activities and the sign language program on TR. Volunteers who help facilitate the event are usually deaf citizens from the community.
Students will need to register to participate in the event. Registration begins at 12:45 p.m. the day of the event. Students can also register online at tccd.student-hub.com.
— Kirsten Mahon
Leadership group on NE to examine TCC mentoring
The NE Campus Student Leadership Academy will unveil for students just how a new TCC mentoring program will work at 10 a.m. Oct. 25.
Amity Womelsdorff, session facilitator, will introduce a panel of faculty ready to discuss how they will mentor students from NE Campus.
“We have invited several faculty members, and they are excited about this new program,” she said.
A previous session discussed what it means to be a mentor. In this hourlong session, some mentors will discuss how they will mentor and their goals for this program. Students will discuss personal mentoring experiences as well as their expectations for mentors.
Most TCC campuses have a Student Leadership Academy or are putting one together this year, Womelsdorff said.
In its first year, the NE academy has researched similar groups on the university level to match that same experience at TCC.
“This should be a very informative session for the students,” she said.
The session will be in the Galley (NSTU 1506). Students can register for this session at http://tccdne.volunteerhub.com.
For more information, contact Womelsdorff at 817-515-6234.
— Craig Barnes
Harvard teacher to discuss political party polarization
The extreme positions of both major political parties and their resulting effects on the upcoming election will be discussed by a Harvard University professor Oct. 23 on NE Campus.
Party Polarization and the 2012 Election will be at 11 a.m. in NSTU Center Corner. Thomas Patterson, Bradlee Professor of Government and the Press, will speak.
Patterson has authored four books on the political process — The Unseeing Eye, Out of Order, The Vanishing Voter and The Mass Media Election — plus numerous articles on media and elections. Out of Order won him the 2002 American Political Science Association’s Graber Award as Outstanding Book of the Decade on political communication.
He currently is conducting a long-term study at Harvard on voter alienation.
For more information, contact student activities at 817-515-6234.
— Shameaka Jones
