9/11/01: Remembering Nine Years Ago

I first published this two years ago. It brings back some not so good memories and the same raw feelings of 9 years ago.

I was walking into the office when our technician told me a plane had hit one of the towers - he said "they think it was a small plane" and I did not think too much about it. 20 minutes or so later I was in a meeting and the same tech came in saying it was an airliner. We all left the meeting and turned on a small television in our lab. I also made sure I had a computer close by so I could watch email.......

At the time we were running a national listserv for a large group of faculty and administrators involved in a Working Connections grant with Microsoft and the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC). I've pulled out a few emails that came to the list. Here's one of the first from Mete at Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC):

11:50 AM, 9/11/01

It is chaos here, but everybody at BMCC is OK. We are closed for the day and the roads/subways to in/out of Manhattan are blocked. I am in Brooklyn (home) now and the sky is dark from smoke/ash/soot. I have a feeling it is going to take a long time to recover from this one.
Hope all is well with everyone around the country,

Mete

BMCC is on Chambers Street, next to ground zero and a college building was damaged from the attack. Mete was on the subway on his way in when the attack started and I believe he walked home to Brooklyn.

Here's a reply message from Lynn at the AACC in Washington, DC::

12:05AM, 9/11/01
We are ok here, but our office is closing so people can try to get home. The smoke from the Pentagon is visible from our 4th floor conference room. Most of the federal offices have now closed, a couple of subway stations near the Pentagon are closed, the streets are crowded with people driving and walking home from downtown offices, and cars with sirens go by every 5 minutes or so. Folks who live near Capitol Hill are sticking around the office until things calm down in that part of town.

Lynn

A flurry of emails went back and forth during the day from people all around the coutry. We were all worried, frustrated and upset about the attacks and our friends in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. Here's a sample of the response from Paula at Richland College in Dallas:

11:50AM, 9/11/01
Thank you both for taking the time to provide us with an update of your safety. Our prayers are with you and all Americans during this tragedy. As in other states, thousands are donating blood. A major sports arena in Dallas has been setup as a blood donation facility. Churches are conducting special services. Please assist us to remain informed as to organizations/drives that are established that will provide direct support.

Paula

This came from Chris at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York City a few days later:

10:50AM, 9/14/01
FIT is safe and sound and open for business but few classes are running normally. It is hard to describe the experience of walking south on Manhattan's avenues and seeing a column of smoke where the World Trade Towers should be. When the wind shifts, the smell of the fire comes to Chelsea with a light dusting of the cement that is ankle deep a few blocks away.

We are glad to hear that all are well at BMCC and in Washington.

Chris

Here's a followup from Mete that was also sent on September 14:

12:36AM, 9/14/01

The building that we (CIS) dept was suppose to move this Sept., (but did not because of delays) is quite damaged. They are using our main building as command/triage/morgue center. We will be closed until the end of next week. The cleanup is going very slowly and there is very limited access to downtown Manhattan.

The subways are not running and all the outer borough are choked with traffic with people bringing their cars and parking them as close to Manhattan as possible. The air quality is bad, there is possibility that some more buildings (including our own that was next to a collapsed building) may come down aggravating the situation.

There are a number people that I know, with families, that perished in the bombings (we were going go to a 10th bday party this weekend, but the mother is missing - what do we do now ??) from my daughter's school and our neighborhood. But they are defiant, and most of the businesses try to operate as usual with a backdrop of surrealism...

Thanks for all of your e-mails and good wishes. We appreciate it and find comfort in them.

Mete

Hundreds of emails went back and forth over the next few weeks and things slowly went back to as close to normal as they could get.

Hey Amazon - When It Comes To That New Textbook Kindle - Don't Overlook Community Colleges!

Tomorrow, Amazon will be holding a press event at the Pace University New York City campus to announce a new version of the Kindle e-book reader with (according to the Wall Street Journal ) a larger screen and other features designed to appeal to periodical and academic textbook publishers.

A total of six excellent universities will be involved in this project according to the Wall Street Journal. They are Case Western, Pace, Princeton, Reed, Darden School at the University of Virginia, and Arizona State.

It's exciting to see this product coming but discouraging not to see a community college on the list. Why should a community college be included? Here's some interesting fast facts from the American Association of Community Colleges:

Number and Type of Colleges:
Number of Community Colleges in the US: 1,195
Total Student enrollment: 11.5 million
Average age: 29
Women: 60%
Men: 40%
Minorities: 35%
First generation to attend college: 39%

Community College Students Constitute the Following Percentages of Undergraduates:
All U.S. undergraduates: 46%
First-time freshmen: 41%
Native American: 55%
Asian/Pacific Islander: 46%
Black: 46%
Hispanic: 55%

With 46% of all undergraduate students attending community colleges in this country doesn't it make sense to have at least one on the list?

Jill Biden at Northern Virginia Community College

You've probably heard by now that Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, is teaching two English as a Second Language (ESL) courses at Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA). Here's a short 2 minute and 47 second clip from the Today Show about her new job.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

It's impressive that she selected NOVA - I'm sure she could have had her choice of any of the private four-year universities in the DC area but.... she picked a community college!

Here's a quote from Dr. Biden on the NOVA website :

“I am thrilled to return to the classroom to continue working with community college students, whom I greatly admire and enjoy teaching,” Biden said. “I have always believed in the power of community colleges to endow students with critical life skills and I am pleased that I can make a difference by doing what I love to do, teaching people who are excited to learn.”

According to the American Association of Community Colleges, 46% of all undergraduate students in the United States attend a community college. Excellent education and - especially in today's economy - community colleges are an excellent alternative to the first two years of a four-year degree.

Congrats Jill Biden on a very wise decision!

Remembering Seven Years Ago

I was walking into the office when our technician told me a plane had hit one of the towers - he said "they think it was a small plane" and I did not think too much about it. 20 minutes or so later I was in a meeting and the same tech came in saying it was an airliner. We all left the meeting and turned on a small television in our lab. I also made sure I had a computer close by so I could watch email.......

At the time we were running a national listserv for a large group of faculty and administrators involved in a Working Connections grant with Microsoft and the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC). I've pulled out a few emails that came to the list. Here's one of the first from Mete at Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC):

11:50 AM, 9/11/01

It is chaos here, but everybody at BMCC is OK. We are closed for the day and the roads/subways to in/out of Manhattan are blocked. I am in Brooklyn (home) now and the sky is dark from smoke/ash/soot. I have a feeling it is going to take a long time to recover from this one.
Hope all is well with everyone around the country,

Mete

BMCC is on Chambers Street, next to ground zero and a college building was damaged from the attack. Mete was on the subway on his way in when the attack started and I believe he walked home to Brooklyn.

Here's a reply message from Lynn at the AACC in Washington, DC::

12:05AM, 9/11/01
We are ok here, but our office is closing so people can try to get home. The smoke from the Pentagon is visible from our 4th floor conference room. Most of the federal offices have now closed, a couple of subway stations near the Pentagon are closed, the streets are crowded with people driving and walking home from downtown offices, and cars with sirens go by every 5 minutes or so. Folks who live near Capitol Hill are sticking around the office until things calm down in that part of town.

Lynn

A flurry of emails went back and forth during the day from people all around the coutry. We were all worried, frustrated and upset about the attacks and our friends in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. Here's a sample of the response from Paula at Richland College in Dallas:

11:50AM, 9/11/01
Thank you both for taking the time to provide us with an update of your safety. Our prayers are with you and all Americans during this tragedy. As in other states, thousands are donating blood. A major sports arena in Dallas has been setup as a blood donation facility. Churches are conducting special services. Please assist us to remain informed as to organizations/drives that are established that will provide direct support.

Paula

This came from Chris at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York City a few days later:

10:50AM, 9/14/01
FIT is safe and sound and open for business but few classes are running normally. It is hard to describe the experience of walking south on Manhattan's avenues and seeing a column of smoke where the World Trade Towers should be. When the wind shifts, the smell of the fire comes to Chelsea with a light dusting of the cement that is ankle deep a few blocks away.

We are glad to hear that all are well at BMCC and in Washington.

Chris

Here's a followup from Mete that was also sent on September 14:

12:36AM, 9/14/01

The building that we (CIS) dept was suppose to move this Sept., (but did not because of delays) is quite damaged. They are using our main building as command/triage/morgue center. We will be closed until the end of next week. The cleanup is going very slowly and there is very limited access to downtown Manhattan.

The subways are not running and all the outer borough are choked with traffic with people bringing their cars and parking them as close to Manhattan as possible. The air quality is bad, there is possibility that some more buildings (including our own that was next to a collapsed building) may come down aggravating the situation.

There are a number people that I know, with families, that perished in the bombings (we were going go to a 10th bday party this weekend, but the mother is missing - what do we do now ??) from my daughter's school and our neighborhood. But they are defiant, and most of the businesses try to operate as usual with a backdrop of surrealism...

Thanks for all of your e-mails and good wishes. We appreciate it and find comfort in them.

Mete

Hundreds of emails went back and forth over the next few weeks and things slowly went back to as close to normal as they could get.

Virtual Worlds in the Workplace

NCTT has recently purchased a Second Life Island and we are in the process of partitioning and building out the sixteen acres of virtual space.

We'll formally announce the island on July 28 at our summer conference in Austin. We believe virtual world use will continue to grow - especially as the price of fuel continues to rise and travel costs grow.



Here's a few interesting virtual world quotes from an online Special Report at BUSINESSWEEK.COM:

• IBM uses different virtual worlds for a range of activities, including project collaboration and welcoming new employees.
• On any given day, more than 50% of employees at Sun Microsystems work remotely.
• A group of Xerox researchers from across the globe meets in Second Life each week to explore how they can use virtual worlds in various areas of their business. One idea is to use these spaces to demonstrate new technologies to customers.
• When Cisco held a summit for international partners in Honolulu in April, it wanted to include participants who couldn't be there in person. So it held a virtual summit in conjunction with the physical one.
• Architect Jon Brouchoud has used Second Life for about two years to help clients of his Wisconsin-based firm Crescendo Design visualize what their homes might look like.
• Some health-care professionals see virtual worlds as a way to help train doctors and nurses in a setting that doesn't jeopardize patient safety. The spaces can also be used to train drug salespeople in a realistically busy setting, with patients and nurses bustling about.
• Retailers are using virtual worlds to experiment with different configurations for new or existing stores. The software also lets consumer product manufacturers gauge customer reactions to new promotional displays or to the relocation of their favorite products.

Colleges that have lots of commuter students (like community colleges) have an incredible opportunity to offer classes, in part, using virtual worlds like Second Life. AT NCTT we look forward to offering our partners space on our island. For more information on how you can participate write to me via email at gsnyder@stcc.edu or say hello "in-world" on Second Life using "Gordo Book".

And....... know you read here....... HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY MOM!

Community Colleges: Preparing Workforce

Last week, on April 16, I had the opportunity to attend Community College Day at the National Science Foundation (NSF). The NSF hosts this annual event in acknowledgment of the importance of community colleges to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education and the STEM "pipeline" to the workforce.

Each year the NSF invites a featured speaker with a community college background and Uri Treisman, professor of mathematics and executive director of the Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas at Austin, was invited last week. The Chronicle of Higher Education has an excellent writeup of Uri's keynote speach linked here.

Uri was studying landscape design and employed as a campus gardener at Los Angeles City College in the 1970's , when he stumbled upon a Calculus course lecture. The course instructor allowed Uri to sit in on the course during his lunch break. Uri changed his major and, as a math professor, has dedicated much of his professional life to helping minority students succeed in math courses.

There are tens of thousands of community college success stories like this - if you are not familiar with community colleges - here's some interesting stats from the American Association of Community Colleges website:

Number and Type of Colleges:

Total: 1,195
Public: 987
Independent: 177
Tribal: 31

Enrollment:

Total: 11.5 million
Enrolled full time: 41%
Enrolled part time: 59%

Selected Demographics:

Average age: 29
Women: 60%
Men: 40%
Minorities: 35%
First generation to attend college: 39%
Single parents: 17%

Community College Students Constitute the Following Percentages of Undergraduates:

All U.S. undergraduates: 46%
First-time freshmen: 41%
Native American: 55%
Asian/Pacific Islander: 46%
Black: 46%
Hispanic: 55%

Employment Status:

Full-time students employed full time: 27%
Full-time students employed part time: 50%
Part-time students employed full time: 50%
Part-time students employed part time: 33%

What do I see when I take a quick look at these?

Almost half of all undergraduate students in the U.S. are community college students... Interpretation: If you are an employer, almost half of the people you hire with college experience will have attended a community college.

Almost 60% of current community college students attend college part time... Interpretation: They are likely working and paying their own way through school. As a result, they have a good understanding of commitment and know what it is like to work hard.

Many community college students work at least part time while going to college... Interpretation: They multi-task very well, juggling work, school, family, etc.

Many community college students are older, with an average age of 29... Interpretation: Community college students in general are more mature because they are older. Younger community college students are also typically more mature because they have been around older students in the classroom.

If your business is in the market for well prepared, hard working, intelligent, mature and committed people that can hit the ground running - don't forget your local community colleges.

To locate community colleges in your area, use the AACC Community College Finder Site linked here.