It's a wonderful lunch

Yesterday, my boss took the departement out to lunch at Aperitivo Bistro in Downtown Schenectady. What a treat!

We all preordered. I got the Grilled Cheese Panino with soup. Which humored my co-worker: "You go out to a nice place and order a grilled cheese? When my daughter was younger, it didn't matter where we went to eat; she always ordered a grilled cheese."

But this isn't the same grilled cheese that you make at home with two pieces of Wonder bread, some butter and a slice or two of American Cheese. This was a grilled bacon, tomato, mozzerlla, and provolone panino- Sue.

[Thanks for the photo Donna]

The soup made the meal even more grown up looking and tasting. It was a "tomato something" soup. And, several of my co-workers commented on how good it looked.

More important than my choice of lunch, or the appearance or taste of the food, was the company. I work with a very fun group of people who can always make me laugh no matter how messed up things are. Sharing this special holiday meal was such a treat. We got to get away from the office and relax after a long and trying semester.Some of our department are new to the College and have brought new ways of thinking and ideas. More than that, they have brought ambition and drive to make the College a better place for the students. I guess that's what makes our division so special-- our connections with the students and the importance of these students to each of our staff member's work.

 Thanks, Martha, for the wonderful holiday meal. It was nice to sit down with our work family and share the holiday spirit.

ChrismaHannaKwanzaka?

SAB is planning an event for Thursday to celebrate the holidays. We are having our final planning meeting today at 11:30 in Elston 334. Come and help us put the finishing touches on the event. We hope to see you there!

A devistating week in Schenectady: link round-up

UGG! I missed the Schenectady Holiday Parade this year because I was too busy doing school work.


It was hard to find more jolly happy souls in Schenectady this week.

One Schenectady woman was arrested for neglecting to provide needed care for her puppy. Sadly, this happens to a lot of animals in the city. I've seen owners toss their kittens out on the street because they couldn't afford to get them fixed. It's really sad.

You know what else is sad? A man burning to death in a truck in Delanson. I wonder why he couldn't get out.

On a more positive note, it looks like you still have one more chance to get the H1N1 vaccine if you missed the clinic on Friday. But, the fact that this flu is so rampid that you have to get vaccinated for it is not very comforting.

I guess that's it for happy news in Schenectady for the week. The rest seems to be robbery after robbery and even a rape conviction.

What is this world coming to?

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.