All employees are encouraged to participate in ASC's Day of Reflection, Thursday, Oct. 29. Activities will examine the college's successes, challenges, and potential. ASC's accrediting agency, the Higher Learning Commission, urged the college to set aside a day each academic year to bring faculty, staff, and students together to discuss progress and ways to better to serve students.

The day includes free lunch at the SUB cafeteria. Activities begin at 8:30 a.m. in Richardson Hall Auditorium with a keynote address by acclaimed best-selling author Victor Villasenor. He brings a fresh perspective to a number of universal themes: pride in heritage, the strength of family, world peace, the power of the written word, and dedication to education and personal achievement.

Born in a California barrio and raised on a ranch, Victor Villasenor spoke only Spanish until he began school. Today he is a best-selling author and known as a gifted speaker. A number of Villasenor's nonfiction books are used in schools throughout the country.

Three roundtable discussions will follow, facilitated by Barbara Catbagan, M.Ed., who served on the leadership team for the Title V 2009 CELT Fellows Institute. She is the Director of Counseling for the Transpersonal Counseling Psychology Department at Naropa University and the coordinator of multicultural courses for the undergraduate program.

The roundtable sessions will cover student support, assessment, diversity, outreach, technology, and budget.

Click here for a complete schedule.

Dave Hargis, Extended Studies production coordinator, wrote a thoughtful piece on the value of this event.

For details on the Wellness Fair, click here.

Open enrollment runs from Oct. 27 to Nov. 25. This is the time to make changes to benefits and renew flexible spending plan authorizations.

ASC's Classified Employee Council will again sponsor its holiday gift card program for needy people on campus. Donations are appreciated, as are referrals of needy students and employees.

Upcoming Craft Fair

The Classified Employee Council will present its second annual Holiday Craft Fair Saturday, Nov. 14, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Student Union Building. All are invited to attend, and potential vendors may go to the website adams.edu/committees/cec for more information on how to participate.

CEC Picnic

Classified employees enjoyed a picnic July 30 at Cole Park. The weather may have dampened some spirits but those who braved the early afternoon rain had a great time as the clouds cleared and it became a beautiful San Luis Valley evening.

Jeff Cook and Kevin Ruybal manned the grill with style, as they cooked up delicious hamburgers and hot dogs with an added flair of green chilies for those who could stand the heat. A wonderful variety of pot luck items ranging from watermelon to lemon cream pie were provided by attendees.

New revenue streams and a favorable bond market will help bring four campus improvement projects to fruition at Adams State College, according to Bill Mansheim, vice president for Finance and Administration. The projects, totaling $7.7 million, include construction of a community room, installation of energy saving fixtures, renovation of student housing, and creation of a campus green.

The college is pursuing refinancing of existing 2004 bonds, supported by Adams State housing and food service, through Building America Bonds issued as part of the Federal Stimulus Plan. Mansheim explained the municipal bond market is offering the lowest interest rates in 40 years.

"We expect to refinance these bonds at about four percent interest, which will allow us to borrow enough to support these exciting new projects," he said. "This is only possible through some creative partnerships that will produce additional revenue." Read more.

New parking lot open

The college's new parking lot on First St., just west of the Neilsen Library, is open to holders of campus parking permits.

Street Closure

Construction work on Adams State College's Residences at Rex will necessitate street closures through Nov. 24, while construction crews tie the new campus building into city water, storm, and sewer systems.

Stadium Drive will be closed to traffic between First St. & El Rio Dr. through Tuesday, Nov. 24. During this time, Stadium Dr. traffic will be detoured to Murphy Dr. and Monterey Ave.

The intersection of First St. and Stadium Dr. will be closed from Friday, Nov. 6, through Monday, Nov. 9. Westbound traffic on First St. east of the intersection will be detoured north on Monterey to El Rio; while eastbound traffic west of the intersection will be detoured south to Edgemont and Hwy. 160.

In addition to ASC President Svaldi and Vice President Mansheim, panelists included Alamosa County Administrator Barry Shioshita, Alamosa City Manager Nathan Cherpeski, Alamosa School District Superintendent Robert Alejo, Tom Scarlett and Lori Weber from Trinidad State Junior College. Valleywide Health Systems CEO Marguerite Salazar, and San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center CEO Russ Johnson.

For more information on the state's budget crisis, Dr. Ed Lyell, professor of business, recommends this website.

During these open-houses, from 9 a.m. to noon, visitors are invited to experience hands-on science activities in one of two formats. Emeritus Professor of Physics Dr. Randy Emmons is coordinating the events.

A common group activity will begin at 9 a.m. on a variety of topics. The first session will emphasize basic electronics and engage participants in building simple timing circuits as an introduction to robotics. In the second session, Nov. 21, participants will learn about lenses and mirrors, and construction of optical devices such as microscopes and telescopes.

The second class of activity is purely open exploration. The center will have equipment available for use. Initially, this resource will be limited; on Nov.14, microscopes interfaced to computers available. On Nov. 21, besides the microscopes, materials will be available for the construction of small roller-coasters. As additional activities are developed for the K-12 outreach, these activities will also be made available for open explorations. Visitors may come at any time between 9 a.m. and noon and use the equipment to explore in their own directions.

The grant of $12,738 supports The San Luis Valley Digitization Project, which will scan and digitize the more than 10,0000 old, rare, and unique photographs housed in Nielsen Library Special Collections. These photos will be made available for viewing through the online photo sharing service Flickr.

Grant funds will support purchase of a computer, scanner, storage device, and the ability to hire work study students Christian Magtoto and Delonte Wallace to help with the project. Photos range from images taken by local historian Ruth Marie Colville to photos from the San Luis Institute and Adams State College related photos. This collection will be preserved for many generations to enjoy and use.

Last year, an LSTA grant funded the library's Mobile Learning Center & Laptop Loan Program. The grant allowed purchase of 20 laptops, a laptop storage cart, and projector. The program includes teaching computer literacy classes to SLV community members. When the laptops are not in use, they are available for check out to ASC students. Now in its second year, the grant funds also supports employment of ASC student Esteban Salazar to help teach the classes. The work will be continued thanks to another LSTA grant recently received by Peaks Public Librarian Salai Taylor and Carnegie Librarian Carol Lee Dugan.

Faculty in the Counselor Education Department recently attended the Association of Counselor Educators and Supervisors national conference in San Diego. Participants included Drs. Barbara Andrews, Don Basse, Laura Bruneau, Teri McCartney, and Susan Varhely, and Kristella Mata-Hartshorn. Drs. Andrews, Basse and Bruneau gave three different presentations regarding online teaching and online counselor ed programs. Dr. Varhely presented on Mindfulness and the Counseling Relationship. Dr. McCartney presented on adding crisis intervention to the counselor education curriculum.

Dr. Rick Baker, professor of English, had his article "Some Fragile Member of the Human Absurdity with Erectile Dysfunction: Faulkner's Existentialist View in Sanctuary" published in "The Icfai University Journal of American Literature" this past month (Volume 2: Numbers 3-4). The article explores the influence that William Faulkner's novel "Sanctuary "(1931) had on Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus, notably with reference to their novels and philosophical works in the later years. Some of the literature of Sartre and Camus serve as analogous texts to Sanctuary, and certain existential motifs emerge as a result: Sartre's hole theory, evil, bad faith, the look, and nausea, not to mention Camus's notion of the absurd. These motifs would later be apparent in Sartre's " Nausea" (1938), "Being and Nothingness" (1943), "No Exit" (1944), and "Saint Genet: Actor and Martyr" (1952), as well as Camus's "The Stranger "(1942) and "The Myth of Sisyphus" (1942). Ultimately, Horace Benbow, the main character in "Sanctuary" who suffers from erectile dysfunction, would be revealed as an existentialist hero because he lives in good faith and confronts the forces of evil, as he tries to help Ruby Lamar (a former prostitute), Lee Goodwin (a man falsely accused of rape and murder), and their sickly child. From this experience, Horace will return home to renew his relationship with his wife and stepdaughter whom he had left earlier to fend for themselves in this absurd world that we all share.

Gregg Elliott, director of the Counseling & Career Center will speak at the National Behavioral Intervention Team Association (NaBITA) conference December 10-11. NaBITA is a national organization of college and university behavioral intervention and threat assessment teams, such as Adams State's Students of Concern committee. The purpose of these teams is typically to proactively identify students who may be becoming a threat to themselves or others. His presentation will be "Behavioral Intervention and Threat Assessment Without a Budget."

Ken Marquez, dean of Student Affairs, was recently elected president elect of the Kiwanis Club of Alamosa.

Oneyda L. Maestas and Karen A. Lemke, Dept. of Developmental Education, will present a workshop, "Bongos, Boomboxes and Self-Published Books: Accessing Curriculum Through Cultural Connections," at the International Conference of Education, Research, and Innovation November 16-18 in Madrid, Spain. They will discuss how to incorporate culturally relevant pedagogical practices at the post secondary level and model interactively with hands-on examples.

Lemke presented a paper titled "Becoming College Material: STAY (Structured Transitional Academic Year) for underprepared college students, comprehensive pre-collegiate programming" at the Colorado Association for Developmental Education Conference Oct. 9 at Western State College. She also attended the Governor's Commission on Community Service State Service Conference,October 12-13, to learn more about the Americorps UCAN Serve Education Award program. Adams State College became a member of the Colorado Campus Compact Americorps UCAN Serve Program in August 2009, allowing ASC to enroll students who participate in 300 hours of community service within a calendar year to receive $1,000 education awards. Community Service is a component of the STAY program, but students in any discipline can receive the scholarship, provided that they are committed to serving their communities approximately 6 hours per week. Students in programs like Nursing and Teacher Education easily complete over 300 hours of unpaid service with their clinicals, observation hours, and student teaching and are strongly encouraged to enroll in this program. For more information, contact Karen Lemke.

ASC Police Officer Johnny Romero attended the annual conference of gang investigators in Denver. He will be working with the local gang task force on identifying gang activity and intervention efforts.

ASC Police Officer Alycia Riggs was reappointed to the Prevention Coalition's Underage Drinking Task Force. The task force researches and implements ways to reduce underage consumption and abuse of alcohol.

ASC Police Officer Tresa Rupright recently attended an Open Records course designed to help public agencies navigate privacy concerns and the public's right to know. Rupright was appointed Division Manager of Records and Reports for ASCPD. Copies of her book for children about sexual abuse, "Kendra The Brave," were donated to the Alamosa Public library, Tu Casa, and the Boys and Girls Club by ASC Police Chief Joel Shults. The book is available online at lulu.com publishers.

Dr. Joel Shults, Chief of the ASC Police Department, was appointed to chair the Subject Expert Committee to validate and revise the Peace Officer Standards and Training certification test for all Colorado police academy graduates. He has served on the curriculum committee for the POST board for two years. He also attended the International Association of Police Chiefs annual meeting in Denver and presented on his research on assaults on officers and victims' rights.

Dr. Diana Wenzel, associate provost for Extended Studies, was recently appointed to Colorado's Concurrent Enrollment Advisory Board.

Erik van de Boogaard, associate vice president for Facilities Planning, Design & Construction,was re-elected to a three-year term as secretary-treasurer for the Rocky Mountain Association of Physical Plant Administrators, the regional chapter of the Association for Physical Plant Administrators.

New Employees

Brandon Campbell, Asst. Track and Field Coach
Drew Houston, Technical Records Coordinator
Catherine La Roche, Housing Residence Director