By Joyce Wagner
Tobacco-Free Campus
Daytona State College will become a tobacco free campus, projected to take effect August 1, 2013. During the April 18, 2013 Board of Trustees meeting, Policy 7.16, Tobacco Free Policy, was passed, almost unanimously, with one board member, Bob Davis, voting against it.
The meeting opened with comments from the public. Three people spoke, each giving their reasons for wanting a tobacco-free campus. Melanie McDonough, Program Director for the Respiratory Care Program, brought visual aids. She compared a healthy set of lungs to ones that had been exposed to cigarette smoke. The exposed set had black spots caused by carbon particles from cigarettes, and also had a different texture from the healthy ones. Pointing out quitting cigarettes is a process; McDonough stated, “It takes on average seven times to quit smoking. That means you stop and start six times before you are successful.” DSC does offer cessation classes to help. Mitch Pietras reiterated facts concerning other campuses that are already tobacco or smoke free. Robert Hill compared the right of smokers to that of someone who owns a weapon. Even with a concealed weapons permit, the right to bear arms is not permitted on campus. Hill noted, “Just because you cannot smoke here, doesn’t mean you lose your rights, you just cannot exercise it here.”
Opening the topic the board members, it quickly became apparent that they did not need any further discussion. A motion was made, and the matter went to a vote almost immediately. The Tobacco Free Policy passed 7 – 1.
Next spring’s Cigarette Butt Pick-Up should have less butt’s after DSC becomes tobacco free. The 2013 event yielded approximately 9,000 butts.
Students, Staff, Alumna Honored
Dr. Carol Eaton, DSC President proudly shared details of a few recent ceremonies involving outstanding students and faculty. These included a Phi Theta Kappa International Honors Society induction ceremony on April 7 at the News Journal Center. DSC hosted the All-Florida Academic Team Awards Ceremony, sponsored by Phi Theta Kappa, on April 9. Students from across Florida attended and were honored. Trustee Bob Davis also hosted an awards ceremony that same day. Students from the culinary program were honored and scholarships awarded. April 10 was the annual Awards Convocation, held at the Gale Lemerand Center. More than 150 students, three employees, and an accomplished alumna were honored. Robin Davis received the Presidential Teaching Excellence Award, representing administrative employees was Keith Kennedy, and representing career employees was Paige Sempsrott who both received the Employee Excellence Award. Dana Johnson received the Accomplished Science Alumnus Award. A listing of honorees and a link to a video of the event are available on the DSC website by going to the announcements and news link on the homepage.
College Connection
Mike Vitale, Academic Affairs, shared two faculty led events that are designed to bring high school students onto the DSC campus. The Physics Olympics, headed by Dr. Gajendra Tulsian is a fun, educational way to introduce students to physics. The program originally started in 1993, when Dr. David Riban was hired as a physics instructor and held the event at DSC. He managed and held this event through 2005. Dr. Tulsian picked it up again this year and revived it. Held April 5 at the Gale Lemerand Center, a little more than 150 students from six high schools participated. All high school in Volusia and Flagler counties were invited, but these six chose to attend. Some of the events that were featured include: Bridge Building, Egg Drop, Foil Barge, Soda Straw Strong Arm, and Laser Zap. Bridge Building is accomplished by using lightweight material to build a bridge and find out how much weight it will hold. According to Dr. Tulsian, they could hold 200 to 500 times their weight. The Egg Drop checks if a raw egg will survive intact when dropped if packaged properly. Making a barge out of foil is easy, but then pennies are added to see how many it will hold prior to sinking. Using only straight pins and straws, they were challenged with building an arm that would hold 100 grams, which is about a quarter of a pound. The goal was to have the longest arm capable of supporting the weight. Shooting a laser and bending it back to hit a target necessitated the use of prisms. Trustee Forough Hosseini was impressed by the presentation, which included pictures and a short video, and offered to sponsor the event next year.
The College Connection Committee, initiated by Dr. Richard Tamburro, offers college experience days during the fall and spring semesters. This brings high school students onto the college campus where they attend short versions of college-level courses. They move from class to class taking notes and doing assignments, some of which were assigned as homework to be completed before class. The program is geared mostly to at-risk students and has been very successful.