Spring Break
Judging from the numbers for the better part of the last decade, the number of fulltime faculty members at OCC has been steadily decreasing while both student enrollments and tuition have increased significantly. Could eliminating fulltime faculty be a way to deal with problematic staff members? Since 1998, when Milton Shaw was still president of the college, the percent of faculty who teach fulltime has gone from 32.
Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most common bacteria found on the largest human organ, the skin, and frequently cause skin infection, pneumonia and surgical-wound and bloodstream infections. What most people do not know is staph can be carried on the skin or in the nose of healthy people.
The Viking baseball team has come back down to Earth. After starting the season 7-2, which included wining the first five contests, the Vikings have dropped five of their last seven. The only wins came when they swept a doubleheader from Bergen County College Sunday.
Another season meant more honors for OCC athletes. Sophomore guard Anthony LaBruno was named to the All-American first team by the National Junior College Athletic Association. LaBruno, a sophomore guard, accumulated 562 points last season, an average of more then 19 points per game, to lead the Vikings.
Judith Icklan, executive vice president, lost her battle with leukemia Apr. 5. Icklan began as an instructor at OCC and held several positions throughout her career, including acting dean of science, the position she held when Eric Antonelli, assistant professor of biology met her.
Arbor Day is customarily reserved for planting trees, so it came as no real surprise to Ken Olsen, director of facilities and operations, when he received a recent call from the Shade Tree Commission through Ocean County Forester Rich Reenstra, he said. A fully funded offer was made by the commission to plant 16 flowering fruit trees on campus.
Those whose handicaps force them to use the elevator to get to second-floor classes in the Russell Building have been out of luck for at least three weeks, since classes resumed after the spring break. A sign has been posted announcing the elevator is out of service, and e-mail communication has said restoration of service is indefinite.
Some form of campus construction is everywhere, and students have to make accommodations to get around. The expansion of the Fine Arts Center and now the redesigning of the campus mall to create a new garden have added to the disruption. Jessica King, a student, said, "Last semester, when I had public speaking, the construction was inconvenient on my way to that class," and that was before the garden construction began.
Advance Wars: Days of Ruin was released recently for Nintendo DS. It is the fifth game in the Advance Wars series of turn-based strategy games. The storyline in Days of Ruin is completely separate from previous games. It begins when a centuries-long war between the fictional nations of Rubinelle and Lazuria is halted by a devastating meteor shower that wipes out 90 percent of the human population of the planet.
Ten new awards have been added to the Viking News' trophy collection of more than 70 since 1998. The latest round contains three national citations and seven state awards. The new group of winners, students who are learning the craft of journalism on the campus paper, garnered their recognition from the Society for Collegiate Journalists and the New Jersey Collegiate Press Association through the New Jersey Press Association Foundation.
