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Monday, October 10, 2011 Vol. 36, Iss. 7
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University of Colorado Colorado Springs Weekly Campus Newspaper
Chancellor named ‘Champion of Change’ Molly Mrazek mmrazek@uccs.edu
It’s easy to think that a little commuter university like UCCS could never actually make a difference. But Chancellor Pam Shockley-Zalabak has recently been named a “Champion of Change” by the White House. In September, ShockleyZalabak flew to Washington D.C. to contribute to a discussion with other college and university leaders about what they were doing to make a difference in their institutions. Shockley-Zalabak described how she was there mainly to represent the Southern Colorado Education Consortium and went on to explain what their partnership is doing and how they are contributing to change in southern Colorado post-secondary education. The Southern Colorado Education Consortium is comprised of 10 highereducation institutions in southern Colorado There are five community colleges and five four-year universities, UCCS being among them. According to ShockleyZalabak, the 10 schools of the Southern Colorado Education Consortium have partnered together to increase the transferring of credit hours among community colleges and fouryear universities. They are also working to create more scholarships for students that transfer. She also spoke of what they call a two-plus-two degree, where a student gets an associate degree and then transfers it to a four-year university and studies for two more years to earn a bachelor’s. “I was excited because really, I was designated this [title] along with the University,” said ShockleyZalabak. “I was pleased
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that we were recognized for really trying to work in our community, and in rural Colorado to try to better the educational outcomes of this region,” she continued. Shockley-Zalabak was unsure of the selection process, but believes she was chosen because of the visibility and outreach of the programs that are offered at UCCS. For example, the school is using video conferencing technology to help teach nursing at community colleges in Lamar, La Junta and Trinidad. This honor will help the school in a number of ways. “It means that people are seeing the quality of our work, and it’s making a difference,” said ShockleyZalabak. It will also help the school to be able to point to the fact that we have a “Champion of Change” when dealing with grant and philanthropy proposals. Shockley-Zalabak believes that another reason she was selected is because she believes that students should be given every opportunity to succeed no matter what their background. “Somebody comes here, and if they work hard and they want to succeed, it shouldn’t be their economic background that predicts whether they can or not.” “We’re really focusing on trying to expand opportunity and at the same time create some really good learning experience and we’re all working together to do that,” she continued. Up next for the Southern Colorado Education Consortium are 30 college credit hours that will be offered in high schools. These credits can be applied to a college degree and are designed to help high schools with their concurrent enrollment programs. These credit hours will begin to be offered in Fall 2012. S
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Photo by Shandi Gross
Fall colors appear around campus as fall activities commence. See page 10 for upcoming activities on campus.
Bedbug infestation possible in the University Center Aaron Collett acollett@uccs.edu
Bedbugs are scourges that have recently resurfaced across the country. News media have focused on the problem in New York City, where even office skyscrapers have been found with bedbug infestations. Now, UCCS has discovered an infestation of these parasites on campus. A female student, who has remained anonymous, noticed a bedbug on her backpack while in a math class on Oct. 4. She reported that she had previously spent some time in the game room of the University Center. The game room was then blocked off with a plastic sheet and a space heater was brought in. As far as anyone knows, this was the extent of the treat-
ment that the game room received. A janitor in the building, having heard a rumor that there were bedbugs in the game room, went to Jeff Davis, the director of the University Center, to ask him about this possibility. “It made me angry, because I can end up taking that stuff home,” the custodian said. “I’m a custodian; I can go over there to vacuum, not knowing what I’m vacuuming, and carry it home to my house.” The custodian said that Davis was dismissive, quoting him as saying that the process was “precautionary.” No extermination service was called, and Davis performed the inspection himself. Davis said, “From what I’ve seen in previous infestations, when I looked, we didn’t have an infestation.” When asked about the
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exact treatment, Davis said, “Three heaters that are rated to 140 degrees ran for all night. The maintenance staff put it up after the building closed, and then took them down when they came in in the morning.” Anybody who was near the pool tables on Tuesday, however, saw the game room closed off all day. Bedbugs were also seen in Centennial Hall, room 201, also on Oct 4. Orkin was called to perform an inspection and extermination, which confirmed the presence of bedbugs, and they treated for them in that room only. Orkin provided the college with receipts detailing the steps taken. These receipts, filed by Facilities, state that the inspectors found two bedbugs and then treated the room chemically. Orkin was not asked to
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do any inspections of other locations on campus, nor were they asked to treat any other area of campus for possible bedbug infestations. This is not the first time that UCCS has experienced bedbugs. Over the summer, one of the dorms had an infestation, but that issue was quickly dealt with by Orkin. Stephanie Hanenberg, the director of the Student Health Center, when discussing how often they have to deal with bedbugs on campus said, “We get bedbugs about once a year. They’re not that common. They are getting more common across the country, though.” According to the Mayo Clinic website, bedbugs are parasites that feed on the blood of mammals, most often humans. They Continued on page 2...
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