Montgomery County Community College – Page 6

Montgomery County Climate Leadership

Posted on February 7, 2012 by admin

For the fifth consecutive year, Montgomery County Community College will participate in RecycleMania, an eight-week nationwide contest during which colleges and universities compete to see who can reduce, reuse and recycle the most campus waste. The 2012 RecycleMania tournament runs from Feb. 5 through April 6.

This year, for the first time, MCCC qualifies to compete in RecycleMania’s Competition Division based on the way its waste materials are collected and measured. Previously, MCCC participated in the contest’s Benchmark Division.

Each week the College’s facilities team will collect and weighs recyclable materials – including paper, cardboard, glass, aluminum and plastics #1-7 – and will enter the totals into RecycleMania’s database.

In 2011, MCCC’s West and Central campuses ranked second and third in Pennsylvania for their cumulative recycling rates of 38.64 percent and 34.68 percent, respectively. When compared to Benchmark Division institutions nationally, the West Campus ranked 27th in the country and the Central Campus ranked 33rd.

Nationally, 630 colleges and universities from across the county recovered 91 million pounds of recyclable material in 2011. This prevented the release of more than 127,553 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO2E) into the atmosphere.

MCCC was among the first institutions to sign American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) in 2007. The College’s sustainability efforts are led by a team of faculty, students, administrators, support staff, alumni and community members that comprise the President’s Climate Commitment Advisory Council.

In recognition of its deep commitment to sustainability, MCCC was one of only five institutions in the country to earn a 2011 Award for Institutional Excellence in Climate Leadership from Second Nature.

To learn more about MCCC’s Sustainability Initiative, visit its “Think Green” blog at mc3green.wordpress.com.

RecycleMania, Inc. is governed by a steering committee made up of collegiate recycling managers from participating institutions. The competition is managed by Keep America Beautiful, with support from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s WasteWise program and the College and University Recycling Coalition (CURC). Sponsors include The Coca-Cola Company, Waste Management, SCA Tissue, Alcoa, America Forest & Paper Association and HP.

For information on the national effort, visit www.recyclemaniacs.org.

by Alana J. Mauger

Grammy Music At MontCo

Posted on January 11, 2012 by admin

Class of 2004 Fine Arts alumnus and photographer Matt Carlin, Lansdale, returned to Montgomery County Community College a few years ago to enroll in some Biology courses. However, after seeing what was happening in the music and audio production studios in the Advanced Technology Center, his focus changed.

“Music was always a hobby. I already had the mentality, but I didn’t have the [production] skills,” Carlin explained. “The classes taught me proper production techniques.”

Carlin’s enthusiasm for the music industry led him to intern with a Grammy-nominated engineer and producer who co-teaches two digital audio production courses and serves on the advisory committee for MCCC’s Communications program.

“It’s cool seeing the business side of working in a studio. It’s stuff that you don’t get to experience by just going to classes,” said Carlin, who continues to work on projects with Ivory beyond the scope of his initial internship.

“It’s helpful to observe interaction with the bands and see how he gains their trust before helping to shape their songs and music. We work with people who are trying to make a living in music. As a result, we work on projects from start to finish, so there’s a lot of good opportunity there.”

Through Carlin’s engineering work on national recording projects, he accumulated enough credits to become a voting member of Grammy Association in the engineering category. He received engineering credit on Candlelight Red’s album “The Wreckage,” which appeared on the 2011 Grammy ballot.

“I used to think award shows were silly, but by going through the process, I now see that they really mean something to the people who worked on the various projects,” he said.

Carlin plans to continue working in the Gwynedd Valley studio and is seeking out musicians to mentor. He also plans to continue building his photography career. You can check out his photography online at www.mattcarlinart.com.

Digital Audio Production is just one of more than 85 programs that students can complete at MCCC’s Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. Registration is going on now for spring semester classes, which start on Jan. 18.

New students can learn about the admissions and registration processes by visiting www.mc3.edu/admissions or by calling 215-641-6300 (Central Campus) or 610-718-1800 (West Campus).

Returning students can register for classes online via WebAdvisor, by mail or in person at the College’s campuses. For more information, visit www.mc3.edu/admissions/registration.

To learn more about MCCC and to see all the College has to offer, schedule a visit to one of our campuses. Visits can now be scheduled online at www.mc3.edu/admissions/visiting.

by Alana J. Mauger, class of 1997

Think About Climate Change

Posted on December 15, 2011 by admin

For all the debate about global warming, one thing’s certain: Today’s students will live with the outcome, so it’s wise to look ahead.

That’s why two faculty members at Montgomery County Community College’s West Campus have launched a pair of courses to spark thinking and planning about the earth’s future.

“This is going to emerge as one of our greatest challenges,” says Assistant Professor of Geography Sam Wallace. “Students should address it before leaving college.”

In “Sustainable Climate Communities,” Wallace examines the cultural and economic impact of global warming, as well as mitigation and adaption strategies.

Geology Professor Rob Kuhlman delves into the geophysical basis of climate change and the impact human behavior has on it in the other course, “The Science of Climate Change.”

“I think it’s exciting. I think Montco is cutting-edge,” says Kuhlman. “It’s a contemporary and socially important suite of courses to meet future needs.”

A three-year, $64,000 grant from NASA enabled Kuhlman and Wallace to participate in a prestigious training program, from they developed the new courses. Both sustainability courses complement Instructor Jill Beccaris-Pescatore’s “Introduction to Environmental Economics,” which was offered for the first time last spring at the Central Campus.

In Kuhlman’s introductory survey class, students explore “patterns and trends that might indicate climate change” through data such as temperature records, rainfall measurements, and frequencies of floods and tropical storms.

Strengthening their analytical skills, students are encouraged to independently weigh the numbers to decide for themselves whether predicted changes are occurring.

Often, the course takes in a discussion of real events and their practical outcomes, such as last summer’s near-drought followed by heavy rain. Though the rainfall balanced out statistically, “corn production will be way down,” Kuhlman notes.

Wallace’s class examines climate change from a geographer’s point of view: its varying impact from nation to nation, diverse attitudes toward it and what countries should do — mitigate or adapt.

Even if Pennsylvanians don’t see big changes, he notes, it could one day afflict our nation’s trading partners. For example, rising oceans have already robbed the nation of Tuvulu of its fresh water.

Students come to Kuhlman and Wallace’s courses from a variety of majors because they want a peek ahead, for better or worse, at the Earth they’ll inherit. Kuhlman says he doesn’t “tell people what they should believe,” but that it’s foolish to ignore the possibility that the planet is heating up.

To Wallace, the issue isn’t debatable “when you have towns in Alaska falling into the ocean. Yeah, it’s changing.”

“I’m not going to see most of these changes,” says Wallace. “My students are the ones who are going to be left with this.”

Registration is going on now for spring semester classes, which start on Jan. 18.

New students can learn about the admissions and registration processes by visiting www.mc3.edu/admissions or by calling 215-641-6300 (Central Campus) or 610-718-1800 (West Campus).

Returning students can register for classes online via WebAdvisor, by mail or in person at the College’s campuses. For more information, visit www.mc3.edu/admissions/registration.

To learn more about MCCC and to see all the College has to offer, schedule a visit to one of our campuses. Visits can now be scheduled online at www.mc3.edu/admissions/visiting.

by Rebecca Rhodin