News

PAGE 2 Campus News

W W W . N I C S E N T I N E L . C O M MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2012

Aaron Oswald, 26, Spokane Emily Oliver, 18, Maple Valley, Kodiak Oak, 20, Hayden Clara Carr, 21, Coeur d’Alene Wash.

The Faces

Brendan Scott, 21, Wallace

Gabriel Green/Ethan Schlussler/Sentinel

of North Idaho College NIC releases its fall enrollment report and reveals just who the student body really is

Christina Villagomez News Editor

NIC has released its official fall enrollment report. According to the report, total headcount was down 2.6 percent, but full-time enrollment (FTE) has increased 1.4 percent from the previous fall semester’s numbers. “NIC’s fall enrollment numbers reflect trends on the national scale where years of unprecedented growth is beginning to level off,” said North Idaho College President Joe Dunlap. The Vice President of Student Services Graydon Stanley said that while total headcount fell in line with administrator’s predictions, the increase in FTE was a surprise. Enrollment in professional

6,574 total enrolled

technical programs showed a bigger drop in both headcount and FTE, with 12.9 percent fewer students attending than last year. “We had two programs in PT [professional technical] department that were grant programs that have ended,” Kylene Lloyd, Student Services Data & Information Analyst, said. “That is were a large amount of out decrease in headcount went.” Lloyd said that the students that had been enrolled due to these temporary grants had actually inflated the programs numbers, and if they had not been originally counted, the professional technical programs would actually be showing growth this year. Stanley said that currently, many professional technical cours

4,601 total enrolled full time

es have long waiting lists. “We started looking at it, because the numbers made no sense when you here about the demand for professional technical programs,” Stanley said. Mike Mires, dean of professional technical and workforce education, said typically the majority of the students are lost from second-year programs and high demand fields such as machining and welding. Mires said often after students from these programs get a one-year certificate, they will immediately receive offers from a competitive job market and ultimately decide not to continue on to a degree. The report also showed that the amount of dual credit students on campus had the largest increase, with the numbers showing All numbers for the report a 5 percent increase over the prewere tallied up on Oct. 15, and vious year. released on Oct. 16, reflecting a The majority of these stuchange in educational institutions dents continued to be from Coeur across the state who will no longer d’Alene High School, with Lake be releasing enrollment numbers City High School having the second highest number. Stanley said with the steady growth of JOE DUNLAP “NIC’s fall enrollment numbers reflect trends on the national scale.” on the 10th day of the semester as was done in previous years. Stanley said the change took place in order to more accudual enNIC President rately reprer o l l m e n t , sent the inforN I C i s mation, which beginning to look into hosting these classes at the high schools was often previously skewed by late start dates for dual credit to take the logistical pressure students, or by those who might off the campus and to help with withdraw or be dropped from the college’s waitlist problem. various classes.

Racial breakup of the student body

5,404 199 71 60 25

Caucasian Students American/Alaskan Native Students Asian Students African American Students Hawaiian/ Pacific Islander Students

678 67.7% 27 NIC students that are dual enrolled of NIC students are from Kootenai County The average student’s age at NIC Top majors at NIC

60% of NIC students are female 40% of NIC students are male 2,213 426

234

Working Class Heroes

Our heroes gathered to enjoy a meal

(From left to right)Joel Akins, Julie Salinas, Christopher Deane, Duncan Menzies, Joshua Brands, Benaiah Cheevers, and Jantzen Hunsaker

As a whole, I think this group functions “ as a Justice League or as the X-men. ” Alex Harris Director of Student Development

David Brands

Staff Writer

This past month NIC has been in the process of updating school security in the wake of the Columbine-like threat made in September by an NIC student. Spear-heading the effort to update campus security is Vice President for Student Services, Graydon Stanley and NIC Vice President for Resource Management Ron Dorn. Both Stanley and Dorn met earlier this month to hear a presentation on Rapid Responders, an online program. Rapid Responders is used to organize emergency protocol and allow emergency responders access to necessary info such as floor plans for the buildings, locations of control panels, photos from vantage points across campus. “During the gun incident, the administration had to manually reproduce photos and floor layouts.” Stanley said. All of which, Stanley said, would have been available at the click of a button if Rapid Responder had been in place. “The program’s use is in turning chaos into something you can manage and work with,” said Coeur d’Alene City Police Officer Jon Spranget. “It’s better to plan, than to make it up as you go.” Spranget said a program like this pays for itself with the first incident. “It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when,” Spranget said. Stanley said the last time NIC looked into the program the price was $62,000 though he suspects the price has dropped since then and that grants will be available from either the state or homeland security. “Price is always an issue [when] trying to balance what’s right for the college. Though I’m convinced we’ll invest, you can’t spend to much money to make sure you have a safe place on campus,” Stanley said Stanley said he has also asked staff to research comparable programs and will be looking into reference checks from universities with similar size campuses. “We want to be a smart shopper, though Rapid Responder is the favorite horse in the race,” Stanley said. Stanley said the best-case scenario is the program will be implemented in January, worst case July. In addition, NIC has created a new behavioral intervention team, who met for their first meeting last week. According to the National Behavioral Intervention Team Association (NABITA) website, the purpose of behavioral intervention team is to receive reports, target “red flag” students, conduct an investigation, and to then “determine the best mechanisms of support.” “Our goal is to create a safe and healthy environment,” said Linda Michal, dean of students. The dawn of a new day climbed over the horizon as the ASNIC senators suited up for their last mission: heading home. After an eventful four day leadership conference hosted by the University of Oregon, (U of O) ASNIC senators were ready to return home and exercise the new ideas they had conceived. The Association of College Unions International (ACUI), a professional organization made up of student service programs, put on the super hero themed event along with Lane Community College (LCC) to help students expand their leadership skills and opportunities, said Director of Student Development Alex Harris. “The conference was informative, thought provoking, and fast paced,” said Christopher Deane, vice president of ASNIC. “The administrators from U of O, and Lane Community College were successful in filling our days with lectures, activities and performances.” Deane said that he returned with some interesting ideas from the conference regarding sustainability, in addition to smaller changes that would make a big difference in the college’s energy use. “I would like to look into reducing the cost of coffee if you bring your own mug,” Deane said. “I also liked the idea of making the roles in student government more defined and focused. I would like to include Michal organized the behavioral intervention team. The team will meet twice a month, except in cases of emergency. “If it’s an immediate threat were going to act fast,” Michal said. Michal said administrators have begun to push for updated campus-wide infrastructure. “It’s a new administration with a new focus on support and preparedness,” Michal said.

more students in ASNIC through the “Students at Large” program and other such efforts.” Student Senator Benaiah Cheevers said he also had positive experiences at the conference. “One of the things I took away from the conference was improving the networking between students from other colleges and our own campus,” said Cheevers. “I would like to see NIC achieve better networking between the senators and students.” When the senators were asked which session of the U of O conference they enjoyed most, they unanimously agreed it was the leadership presentation given by Tyson Wooters, the former Duck mascot of U of O. “He was amaz5 4 1 Oct. 08 - A parked vehicle rolled from its space and struck another unattended vehicle in the N.

Molstead lot. 2 Oct. 10 - Campus Security was notified that battery chargers were facility. 3 Oct. 16 - The Couer d’Alene

Christina Villagomez

News Editor A collision took place on College

Drive between a NIC Physical Plant golf cart and a student’s truck. Witness Mike Morgan, CITE major, Post Falls, said the cart was coming down College Drive after getting off of Hubbard Ave. at the same time the truck was approaching the parking lot outside the Hedlund building. ing,” said Senator Duncan Menzies. “He was very interactive with the students and the way he conveyed his point was through showing it to us through his experiences—His point was that the mascot (the person behind the mask) is someone you never see, but who represents the school with a servant’s heart.” Harris commented later that he was approached after the conference by some of his peers and applauded for his senators. “I had three different people, who are professionals in the profession, tell me that we had by far had the best group of students, as far as being involved and contributing goes,” said Harris. Harris said he was really impressed with this group of senators and hopes they take up the challenge of putting into practice what they’ve learned. “As a whole, I think this group functions as a Justice League or as the X-men,” said Harris, commenting on how the senators work together. “They seem to really connect with each other and work together great. They really are team

C A M P U S S E C U R I T Y L O G

players.” 1 3

Administrators may implement a new security program as soon as January. Gabriel Green/Sentinel

Staff seeks security strategies

Administrators search for a more effi cient way to handle emergencies

Nels Carlson Staff Writer

Other ways NIC is looking into updating campus security

Hosting an incident debriefing, Nov. 30, with the NIC President’s

Cabinet, CDAPD and Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department. The debriefing will include a discussion about how the situation was handled after the threat was made and how threats in the future can be dealt with better.

Hiring a Campus Resource Officer, who would be a shared employee of both NIC and the CDAPD.

Updating addresses of campus buildings.

Currently, NIC has a single address which posses a security threat Spranget said. NIC administration plans to assign addresses to each building so that in case of an emergency, responders can get to the scene of the incident in shorter time.

Marijuana confi scated

stolen from an off campus storage2 Police Department and Campus Security were called to the residence hall for marijuana that was confiscated. 4 Oct. 22- Campus Security recieved a report of a medical emergency in the SUB. 5 Oct. 22 - A student reported the theft of personal property from the Meyer Health & Science Build

Campus collision leaves no injuries

ing. Morgan said the collision occurred when the golf cart swerved to the right in a failed effort to avoid the truck. Both the student and the driver of the golf cart, Director of Facilities Operations Mike Halpern, declined to comment. Neither party appeared to have suffered injury. The truck appeared to have minor damage, but the golf cart had to be removed from the scene by a trailer.

Goats green on the

Alex Rodal-Cubillas Staff Writer

NIC hosted a herd of goats for a week in the area around campus. Twenty-five goats were used along the NIC beach and Spokane River to get rid of weeds and noxious vegetation. The Coeur d’Alene Street Department contacted Green Goat Rentals to use their goats to dispose of unwanted weeds along the NIC beach. “It’s a great way to remove the weeds without using chemicals,” said Terry Leigh, Field Supervisor at the Coeur d’Alene Street Department. Suzanne Forte, owner of Green Goat Rentals, said the area along the Centennial Trail by NIC is rocky and certificates. That means over the the subject came up in a question, and she made a pun out of Browning, saying which order the candidates go when giving their answer. “So you’ve already made it partisan by starting on the left, Mark?” Meyer teased. Meyer, who has received endorsement from local Democrats, has repeatedly stated that she feels political affiliation should have no place in a trustee election. Her opponent, Matthews, who has been endorsed by the Reagan Republicans, said he couldn’t disagree more. “In my answers in my questions today, I’ve tried to give you as much as I can, and give you a little bit of a look into my heart. Maybe that’s overblown, but my background, my thoughts, my beliefs, and, yeah, a part of that is my political world view,” Matthews said. If Meyer and Matthews stressed their differences in their answers, Armon the other incumbent of the race stressed the fact that he would not be given the opportunity to do the same, due to the absence of his own rival. “I only regret that my opponent wasn’t here. It’s very difficult to make a decision when you only hear from one candidate,” said Armon, who attempted to point out his opponent Todd Banducci’s absence as a sign of his lack of commitment. Banducci and another candidate named Jim Ruch were the only two unable to attend the forum.

hard to keep maintained. Leigh said the main purpose is to help keep the area maintained as well as making it look better When goats eat the weeds, the seeds are naturally sterilized and unable to spread after the digestion process. “Goats have four stomachs like cows and can consume 25 percent of their body weight each day, so the more goats used the faster it is,” Forte said. The city has used goats in the past to get rid of noxious vegetation and likes to use this method, as it is an eco-friendly way to dispose of the unwanted weeds. The goats were placed in the southern part of the Centennial Trail next to the

Photos by Rachel Single-Schwall

NIC pushes prospective graduates to college completion

Administrators push to meet sweeping statewide graduation quotas by 2020

Kaycie Baird Staff Writer

NIC is getting involved with a statewide initiative called Complete College America to boost graduation rates. "Its a huge thing across our state, and all the colleges and universities are being held accountable for making progress toward our goal,” said Graydon Stanley, Vice President for Student Services. The program has been localized to Complete College Idaho. Currently only about 32 percent of Idahoans between the ages of 25 and 34 have degrees or certificates that make them eligible to work open jobs in Idaho. "The goal is, by year 2020, that in that same age range, 60 percent of Idahoans will have degrees or water treatment plant.

next eight years we have got to push really hard to get students in the system and get them graduated and working," Stanley said. plan to do this with five steps towards success. The first step is to “Strengthen the pipeline.” Stanley said this step would be to make the transition from grade to grade smoother. "Students should be ready for college when they graduate high school," said Stanley To make this possible, high school curriculum must be aligned to first year college courses and there should be support programs in place to ensure students make a smooth transitions to college. The second step is transform remediation. In Idaho 41% of all first time full time freshman who have been out of high school for less than 12 months, and 46% of

Idaho students out of college for more than a year need remedial services, or extra help for certain classes. To change this, Complete

College Idaho wants to revise policies regarding placement, delivery, and evaluation of remedial services.

Possibly creating a new way for the remedial classes to be presented to the students. "There's this idea of transforming remediation, so that instead of you having to take a whole semester, math being an example, maybe you can take Math Boot Camp this summer, maybe you can take a two and asks what colleges can population that they anwith Kecia Siegel, coordinator of veteran services, has been to provide the veterans at NIC with resources to help them complete their schooling to enter into the workforce or move on to a fouryear institution. “There’s a lot that can be done,” said Lawson. “We want to partner with the agencies of the local community and the resources in local community to provide our veterans with their services.” Lawson knows that there are still several veterans on campus that have not identified themselves, but hopes that their new club room will become a community where they can go to feel safe and understood.

week intense course to bring your math skills up to where they are supposed to be." Instead of having semester based classes, there would be places where you could get help in short-term training. The third step is structure for success. Complete College Idaho is creating a state-level student success plan that will help students better identify their career goals, what degree they want so their not changing their major so many times. "It [Structure for Success] is for helping you identify what your good at and what you want to do, then helping you identify the next step, and to help you get there and get a job in the field you want to go into." ple don’t understand,” said LawStep four is reward completion. This is where the NIC gives you some incentives to stay in and complete college. "If you stay in college and you complete this degree, your going to get this amount of money, this kind of recognition, this kind of job,” Stanley said The fifth and final step is leverage partnerships. This is basically how NIC, business, industry, secondary schools, chamber of commerce, government, everything is working together, so that they are all on the same page striving for the same goal. "We are very actively involved. Right now we are putting together plans so that we can contribute to

A trumpet player named Richard Jacobson appeared on campus

on Oct. 12 to spread his message of faith. Gabriel Green/Sentinel

>TRUSTEES from page 1

A room of one’s own

The veteran’s club gets it’s own space on campus

David Brands “We tend to speak in a lanStaff Writer guage of acronyms that most peoThe new space granted for the son. “Many veterans need a safe veterans club has created a comenvironment that they can control, munity at NIC that other campusand if we bring them together, es will follow in the future. they can succeed together. This Curley Lawson, multicultural increases the veteran experience and veteran adviser, recognizes at NIC and we can’t put a price on that a lot of that.” veterans have “If we bring them been coming back to coltogether, they can succeed lege because of the GI bill, together.” do to prepare CURLEY LAWSON for the veteran Multicultral and Veteran Adviser ticipate will grow for some time. Members of the veterans club Lawson said that currently this also shared their vision. campus has the best model that “From the beginning we’ve other colleges will soon take up. been trying to create a community Lawson’s primary focus along for veterans that provides a safe that success."

and welcoming environment,” said member Joey Peña. Peña said that there has been a lot of good things have come about as the result of this new space that NIC has provided them. “The community on this campus has really become the template for the Pacific Northwest” said Peña. “We’re about to put together a forum in which we take all of the Pacific Northwest colleges and explain to them what we’ve done here and then have them take that back to their colleges, because the idea is not so much a college base but a veterans base and were helping everyone in the northwest with that so hopefully we grow as a community.” The veterans club is located on the lower level of the SUB, room 004.