A couple of stories in the news this week: Nov. 9

This Sunday our President Quintin Bullock delivered the keynote address at the local Schenectady NAACP Freedom Fund dinner  which will honor six people including a student from Schenectady High School.

SCCC is not the only school with booming enrollment. It seems that many community colleges are experiencing record enrollments .

Columbus celebration or not so much?

It's Monday, week 6, here at SCCC, and I know what you're probably thinking, "We're the only school that's open on Columbus Day."

Well, you're probably right. Most schools in the area are off from school today. If you have children, they're definitely home. I never understood why a community college, which has many nontraditional students, ages twenty-four and up, many of whom have children, didn't give its students holiday's like Columbus Day off.

When I was a student at SCCC, I dreaded the College's "non-holidays". The Schenectady City School District gets, on average, about four days off from school a month. That means that almost 4 days out of the month I had to struggle to find childcare and dip into my savings to pay for it. Many of their days off are due to staff meetings and conferences- things inapplicable to a universal calendar.

On the other hand, all of our calendars designate Columbus Day as a holiday, and I think that SCCC should recognize this. St. Rose does. HVCC does.  SUNY Albany students don't have to go to classes on Yom Kippur- yet another holiday that is recognized by the Schenectady City School District.

If we could organize our school's schedule to include some of these days off and still meet the minimum number of hours required to be an accredited school, SCCC could make the lives of many of its students much easier.

Perhaps our attendance today means much more than we realize.

There are conflicting beliefs and interpretations about our national hero, Mr. Christopher Columbus. Some believe that Columbus discovered America in 1492. And, that's why today we celebrate his designated holiday.

However, there is another school of thought that is often omitted from our elementary school books. Some believe that Columbus's actions were cruel including: his use of slavery and violence against the American Indians, forceful projection of Christianity, and the transmission of diseases that would have lasting effects on the native population.

Are SCCC and other institutions that do not honor Columbus Day as a holiday suggesting that we believe that we should not honor Christopher Columbus as a American hero?

The Rated G version of Christopher Columbus
This morning, I asked my five year old if he knew why he had the day off from school on a Monday.

 "No," he said.

"It's Columbus Day. Do you know who Columbus was?"

He was anxious to answer, "Yes, he came to our island on a boat."

Maybe I shouldn't have, but I did.

I informed my five-year-old, little boy that, "When he came here he wanted to build houses for people to live in, and so, all of the Indians who used to live in the forests had to leave."

"Did they die?" he asked me. Big Brother often worries about death.

"No. Wait, yes, some of them died from diseases. Those men on the boats didn't bring their toothbrushes and use the soap when they took their showers, and so, they were full of germs when they landed in America. The Indians weren't used to all these germs and some of them got sick and died. The others, they moved to little communities away from the European men who were busy building house and taking over the forests."

The moral of this story: Brush your teeth and wash up with soap!

For those of you who do have today off, Say Schenectady has a list of things to do and celebrate the holiday.

For more information...

As a employee of Schenectady County Community College's Student Activities and an alumni of the College, and current student at The College of Saint Rose, I am designing a blog that incorporates these three different yet, overlapping perspectives to provide information about Schenectady County Community College events, special features, and student life.

Who?
Anyone can do it...

-Want to see what other colleges and college students are blogging about check out, the students of Cornell University, MCC, & Hesston College.

-Clubs can blog too! At Wake Tech each club has its own blog.

-Confessions of a Community College Dean, not ours, but even college administrators like to blog.

-Are you an English teacher? Are you taking an English class? Community College English is an insightful blog written by English teachers and has links to other English enthusiasts.

-Culinary Arts students-- check out your instructor's blog Gastronomical Inspirations.

Why?
Just one of the many reasons to blog...

-Want to find out what events are happening at other colleges you can check out the president of Campus Activities at Adrian College, or read the student activities blog by the Student Activities Coordinator at West Virginia Northern Community College. These, and other blogs, are great places to get ideas for our own campus events.

What?
You can learn a lot from a blog...

-The Study Break: The world in B-flat blog is maintained by a public media specialist it explores 21st century literacies. This blog is helpful to both teachers and students because it incorporates strong educational strategies along with special programming that can be used for educational student activities.

You can report your campaign..

-Students at NYU blog about their campaign to Take Back NYU. There is power in blogging for college students.

Where?
Check out these web sites for more local information...

-Schenectady is full of history. There are blogs about historical events in and around the Capital Region. (eg. the Stockade Walkabout).

-Local newspapers report all over the area and are active bloggers.The Daily Gazette's blogs about high school sports among other things and so does the Times Union which has a blog specifically for Schenectady. This information allows students and faculty to consider larger community perspectives and may be useful resources for student prospects.

- Say Schenectady is a website that has a calendar of events in the area and links to other local sites.

-The Official Home of Schenectady County, provides more than news; it has resources to area networks. SGA and Criminal Justice majors should check out this site.